the arbutus review is produced by the learning and teaching centre (ltc) and the mcpherson library. it has a small print run and can be found online at http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/arbutus. the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009-10 as the undergraduate research scholarship program by the then vice-president academic and provost, and current university president, dr. jamie cassels. it was designed to provide support and create truly formative learning experiences for exceptional undergraduate students who might not otherwise obtain direct research experience. the ltc administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. more recent issues of the arbutus review have accepted submissions that were not produced with the support of a jcura award in order to encourage undergraduate research. all papers, projects, and creations are accompanied by a supporting letter from the student’s instructor. publishing a journal is the work of many people. the people listed below have been integral to the creation and production of the arbutus review. teresa dawson, director of the learning and teaching centre, who created the journal inba kehoe, scholarly communications and copyright officer of the library, who shepherds the online portion of the journal laurie waye, managing editor of the journal and manager of the writing centre michael lukas, guest editor of the journal shu-min huang, journal designer and coordinator of the writing centre in addition to the team that publishes the journal, there are two more sets of people to acknowledge: the peer reviewers and the supporting instructors. all submissions are reviewed blind by at least two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, staff, and alumni from the university of victoria. we thank them for their valuable contributions to the arbutus review. http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/arbutus akina umemoto helen kennedy anirban kar ilijc albanese behn skovgaard andersen jennifer smith bethany coulthard jonathan schmid brendan boyd judy walsh brian coleman julia serena ready brian vatne leslie bragg carrie hill linnea gay perry christina suzanne marion selfridge clarise lim scott kouri constance sobsey sheri gitelson emma hughes stephanie field heike lettari we also thank the instructors who supported their students’ submissions. their weaving together of research into the undergraduate experience has enriched their students’ education. dr. alexandra d’arcy, department of linguistics dr. charlotte schallié, department of germanic and slavic studies dr. daniella constantinescu, department of mechanical engineering dr. jillianne code, faculty of education dr. kevin walby, department of sociology dr. laura cowen, department of mathematics and statistics dr. martin adams, department of pacific and asian studies dr. rustom bhiladvala, department of mechanical engineering dr. valerie irvine, faculty of education the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) i the arbutus review is produced by the learning and teaching centre and the mcpherson library. it is an online journal with a small print run. the online version can be found at http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/arbutus. the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. however, volume 3, number 2 is a special issue that focuses on indigenous governance. adam gaudry, a doctoral student and sessional instructor at the university of victoria, approached the learning and teaching centre to cocreate this themed volume. his vision and dedication have resulted in this impressive collection of essays. we thank adam for bringing this issue into being. publishing a journal is the work of many people. the following people have been integral to the creation and production of the arbutus review. teresa dawson, director of the learning and teaching centre, who created the journal inba kehoe, scholarly communications and copyright officer of the library, who shepherds the online portion of the journal tusa shea, managing editor of this special issue of the journal and acting coordinator of the writing centre laurie waye, journal coordinator and manager of the writing centre shu-min huang, journal designer and coordinator of the writing centre the learning & teaching centre team university of victoria http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/arbutus the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) ii all submissions are reviewed blind by two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. kelly aguirre, political science, university of victoria dr. chris andersen, faculty of native studies, university of alberta aimée craft, law alumna, university of victoria lindsay delaronde, visual arts alumna, university of victoria dr. robert l.a. hancock, le,nonet, university of victoria robyn heaslip, indigenous governance, university of victoria damien lee, native studies, university of manitoba daniel morley johnson, comparative literature program/faculty of native studies, university of alberta angela polifroni, indigenous governance, university of victoria kerry sloan, law, university of victoria eva jewell, indigenous governance alumna, university of victoria gina starblanket, office of indigenous affairs, university of victoria dana wesley, gender studies, queen’s university thanks are also given to timothy smith, political science, university of victoria, for his assistance copy editing and proofreading. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: sheen 180 women’s hairstyles: two canadian women’s hairstories rhonda sheen abstract: the physical appearance of women matters in contemporary north american societies. one important element of appearance is hairstyle. most sociological studies examine the influence hairstyle has on others or the problems that ethnic women encounter when faced with north american and european standards of beauty. this study takes a different approach by examining how peers, fashion, and trends have a subconscious influence on the hairstyle choices of two canadian women. unlike the existing body of scholarship, this research illuminates the role of structure and habitus in order to illustrate the illusion of agency these women have about their choices in hairstyles. although the participants feel that they do not follow fashion trends, this study argues that the words they use to describe their hairstyles reveals that fashion does dictate their hair-style choices. key terms: identity, self-image, fashion, hairstyle, archetypes of beauty introduction this case study examines how two canadian women, one caucasian canadian and one jamaican canadian, view their hairstyles as reflective of their individual personalities, while in actuality the structures of north american societies also shape their choices. unlike the current body of scholarship which tends to focus on how others view women‟s appearance (e.g. kyle & mahler, 1996; weitz, 2001; onwuachi-willig, 2010), this project focuses on how the structures of north american standards of beauty subconsciously influence these two canadian women‟s choices and their desired self-images. the distinction is subtle but significant because it acknowledges an illusion of agency. 1 these women feel that they are not influenced by peers, trends, or fashion; however, by revealing the subconscious directives constructed by the standards of north american beauty, the 1 the researcher has used the phrase “illusion of agency” to convey that each of the two women feels her choice of hairstyle was determined by her own feelings. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: sheen 181 researcher illuminates the integral role that “structure” and “habitus” play in their choice of hairstyles. the concept of structure relates to societal norms, which are the patterns and values – such as fashion, hairstyle, or speech patterns – that individuals adopt to assimilate into society (porpora, 1989, p.201). the concept of habitus takes the idea of structure even further: applied to the two women, habitus refers to their subconscious adoption of societal patterns (“habitus,” oxford dictionary of sociology). structure and habitus are indeed underlying factors in these two women‟s hairstyle choices. even though both women state they make choices based on personal preference, those personal preferences are, to some degree, also dictated by peers, trends and fashion. i therefore cautiously argue that peers, trends, and fashion play a larger role in these women‟s style choices than they consciously realize. but first, how do other studies treat the significance of hair style? the sociological significance hairstyles hold in western societies has been studied from many angles, with particular focus on the relationship between hairstyle and public perception in the workplace. kyle & mahler (1996) have examined how employers consider hairstyles and hair colour as pivotal in identifying female job candidates. weitz (2001) has examined how women, regardless of age and ethnicity, try to achieve power through their hairstyles. onwuachi-willig (2010) has examined how employment policies that regulate workplace hairstyles do not take into account the intricacies of black hair. each of these studies is focused on how others view and react to women‟s hairstyles. they do not address women‟s reactions to their own hairstyles, nor do they question what causes women to choose a particular style. discussion with the theoretical concepts developed in the above studies in mind, i interviewed two canadian women in order to find out 1) how they feel their hairstyles reflect their self-image, 2) why they choose their hairstyles, and 3) what they think their hairstyles convey to others. one participant ,cw, is a 29-year-old jamaicancanadian woman and the other, bd, is a 61-year-old caucasian-canadian woman. the data was cross-referenced and indexed according to the methodology explained by ritchie, spencer, and o‟connor (2003). although the participants in this study differed in age and ethnicity, common themes emerged involving the reasons behind their choices of hairstyle, their maintenance preferences, and the influence of fashion trends. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: sheen 182 i first asked the participants to describe why they chose their current hairstyle. the women responded that each chose their hairstyle because it was easy to maintain. cw stated, “i wanted something light, that i can get in and out of the water . . . something i could just wash, dry, and go and i did not have to worry.” likewise, bd stated, “it‟s easy to keep. it‟s easy to maintain.” both women expressed that neither their friends, peers, nor fashion dictated their choices. nevertheless, their words reveal that on some subconscious level structure and habitus do influence how they wear their hair. each woman stated that her choice of hairstyle is based on what best suits her face shape. for example, to explain her hairstyle choice, bd stated, “i think because also it suited me better . . . i have a very round face and . . . i think it suits my structure of my face.” bd also chose her hair colour because she felt it suited her face: “my colour is light auburn, and i choose the colour because . . . it goes great with my complexion.” when asked if her hairstyle conforms to her peers‟ hairstyles, cw stated, “none of my friends are wearing single braids.” however, just a few more lines down in the interview, she was asked if she has more confidence on the days that her hair is braided opposed to days where it is not. she replied, oh definitely. well, after i get my hair done, just get it done i have to collect maybe ten good compliments before i grow to like it. without the compliments, i feel like, oh well maybe it‟s good and maybe it‟s not good, and i always ask what do you think? to see how people perceive it on my face and what i should do. but i very much . . . take a poll and see who likes it and who doesn‟t like it. cw‟s words illustrate that her peers do influence her choice in hairstyle, even if it is on a subconscious level. this influence is a direct reflection of the concepts of structure and habitus. in choosing hairstyles, both women adopt societal norms and are influenced by their peers without realizing it. bd‟s adoption of societal norms is illustrated in how she describes her hairstyle. when asked to describe her style bd replied, “short, cut around the ears, short in the back, over to the left side.” when asked to describe how her hairstyle reflects her personality bd stated, “i keep it short and neat. i think it means that i am a well-organized individual.” her choice of a short hairstyle could be considered an age-appropriate hairstyle as reflected in the findings of clarke and korotochenko (2010). the authors found that in older caucasian women, long hair was not a desirable, age-appropriate style to wear. older women with long hair were viewed as looking witch-like and unattractive. the preferred style for older women was a short, neat and stylish cut. clarke and korotochenko‟s findings illuminate the structures surrounding north american ideals towards hairstyles for the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: sheen 183 older caucasian women, and bd‟s words illustrate that she is adhering to these structures by choosing a short age-appropriate hairstyle. cw also subconsciously follows trends on what is considered ageappropriate length for her hair. cw stated, “i want to look younger. i am going to turn thirty … but i am trying to look younger. so, i put on the single braids and get a little curly and do the smiling and batting my eyes, and they think i am about twenty-two, and that suits me just fine.” single braids are a style in which longer extensions are braided into natural hair. the braided appearance is close to the scalp and the extensions are soft, voluminous, flowing waves. cw stated, “i wanted my hair to say „sexy, fabulous‟ . . . that`s what i‟m hoping. i‟m paying for.” cw‟s hairstyle choice showcases her femininity and sexiness. cw`s feelings about her hair correspond with weitz‟s study (2001), which demonstrates that caucasian men judged the most attractive and sexy hairstyle on a younger woman of any ethnicity to be long and flowing with a wavy curl. clarke and korotochenko (2010) have similarly noted that long hair on a woman is associated with femininity and overt sexuality. indeed, cw‟s desire to appear younger and more attractive through her hairstyle corresponds with the findings of these studies. conclusion both women attach some aspect of self-image to their hairstyles. cw feels her hair increases her sexuality and femininity, whereas bd feels her hair symbolizes neatness, organization, youth, vitality and vibrancy. neither feels influenced by fashion trends in choice of hairstyle. yet, the researcher found that on some subconscious level, the two women chose hairstyles that fit north american ideals of what is considered an attractive and age-appropriate hairstyle, and, in this way, their agency is at least partially an illusion. the comments from both of these women illustrate the concept of habitus because neither woman seems to be consciously aware of the influence that societal norms has on her choice of hairstyle. the researcher acknowledges the study is limited due to the small number of interviewees and the inability of the interviewees to represent the cultural and ethnic diversity of canadian women. thus, this claim cannot be related to the larger body of canadian women because of its small sample group; more interviews are needed for such a broad claim to be made. references clarke, l. h., & korotochenko, a. (2010). shades of grey: to dye or not to dye one‟s hair in later life. ageing and society, 30, 1011-1026. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: sheen 184 kyle, d. j., & mahler, h. i. m. (1996). the effects of hair colour and cosmetic use on the perceptions of a female‟s ability. psychology of women quarterly, 20, 447-455. onwuachi-willig, a. (2010). another hair piece: exploring new strands of analysis under title vii. the georgetown law journal, 98, 1079-1131. “habitus.” oxford dictionary of sociology online. oxford reference. 2012. web. 1 aug. 2012. porpora, d. v. (1989). four concepts of social structure. journal for the theory of social behaviour, 19(2), pp. 195–211. ritchie, j., spencer, l., & o‟connor, w. (2003). carrying out qualitative analysis. in j. ritchie & j. lewis (eds.), qualitative research practice (47-76). london: sage publications ltd. weitz, r. (2001). women and their hair: seeking power through resistance and accommodation. gender and society, 15(5), 667-686. contact information rhonda sheen, from the department of sociology, can be reached at sheenra@shaw.ca. acknowledgments i would like to extend my gratitude and acknowledgement to all those who helped make this paper possible. first and foremost, i would like to thank dr. andré smith for his support, guidance, and encouragement. i would also like to thank the two participants whose words helped make this paper come to life and for their years of friendship. finally, i would like to thank my husband darren for his tireless proofreading and my editor adam yaghi. mailto:sheenra@shaw.ca the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) gaudry 1 editor’s introduction adam gaudry the university of victoria, in many ways, is a special place. it is one of the few universities in canada where indigenous issues are taught, discussed, and debated with the attention and care they deserve—and thanks to a cadre of excellent faculty and instructors, the debate has been a respectful one. the sizeable indigenous faculty presence on campus, as well as a variety of programming options has created a healthy space for indigenous scholarship. perhaps one of the most important aspects of uvic is the constant acknowledgement that uvic is situated on the lands of the coast and straits salish people. the presence of local indigenous peoples—students, faculty, staff, and community members—as well as indigenous peoples from further afield, makes for an enriching intellectual and social environment for those of us who study indigenous issues here. in this atmosphere, learning extends to places outside of the classroom and provides for dynamic relationships with new people from different places with different perspectives. the university of victoria has, quite deservedly, also developed a reputation as a world leader in indigenous studies, something that i have been reminded of at the many conferences i have attended across the continent. it is well known for producing some groundbreaking scholarship and attracting world-class students. i had the good fortune of teaching some of those students in the fall of 2011, in a course on the theory of colonialism and decolonization. we read frantz fanon and albert memmi, as well as uvic professors taiaiake alfred and james tully, among others, discussing some of the most violent events in human history—the violent dispossession of the americas, the colonization and decolonization of africa, and the hidden violence of contemporary colonialism. while at times heavy, the course also opened up space for us to talk about the alltoo-familiar colonialism in our everyday lives. it was a powerful experience for me as an instructor, as well as for many of the students. it is also an experience that is much rarer than it should be in academic settings, as many institutions shy away from the harsh realities of contemporary colonialism. in doing this, however, many people are missing out on beneficial learning experiences that decolonizing education creates. it is in this decolonizing spirit that the contributors to this volume share their work with you, as a chance to transform perceptions, speak truth to power, and ultimately deconstruct the oppressive social structures that underpin contemporary social and political relations in this country. the articles in this the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) gaudry 2 volume represent a sampling of some of the leading minds in the uvic indigenous studies student community, and the questions they ask, and problems they pose should cause us to take a second look at the ways we conduct ourselves, and the ways we live our lives. in the first article, wsanec: emerging land or emerging people, jack horne examines the division of the wsanec people by the us-canadian border, followed by further administrative partition into four different reserves within their homeland. this fragmentation of the wsanec homeland was part of explicit tactics to make way for european settlement on wsanec territory. horne discusses the process of dispossession and colonization as they occurred in wsanec country, while providing an alternative understanding of the douglas treaties using the oral history testimony of tsawout elders. horne’s work demonstrates the on-going and pervasive nature of colonial dispossession in victoria and on vancouver island, as he documents the continual resistance of wsanec people to resource extraction and harmful development on their lands. horne eloquently demonstrates how wsanec have reasserted their understanding of the treaty relationship established with james douglas in the nineteenth century. horne’s work ultimately provides an alterative (as well as more honest) understanding of the relationship envisioned by both wsanec and europeans at the time of the first settled european colony on what is now vancouver island. this hidden history is of immense importance to all of us who live on the island, as we are all parties in this treaty, and are thus, bound to live by these agreements. alexandra kent’s article the ‘van der peet test’: constitutional recognition of constitutional restriction examines the ongoing colonial nature of canadian resource policy as it attempts to restrict the traditional livelihoods of stó:lō people living on what is now the british columbia mainland. after deconstructing the court’s absurd assumptions that the stó:lō were at a primitive level of social and political organization, kent elevates the traditional knowledge and oral history of the stó:lō to a place of prominence, where it can be better understood as a holistic and self-constituting social, economic, and political system. anything but undeveloped, stó:lō lives in the past, were much as they are today, closely attached to the salmon of the fraser river. kent also takes a step back to situate the court’s decision within the larger colonial power dynamics that underpin the canadian polity in order to raise the question of canada’s legitimacy to pass judgement on the practices of indigenous nations. next, cameron brown challenges common conceptions of place and citizenship in global hegemony & place-based resistance: citizenship, the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) gaudry 3 representation & place in canadian multiculturalism & the zapatista movement. brown begins by examining the transformative praxis of the 1994 zapatista uprising and its impact on other indigenous movements around the world. by examining the novel developments of the zapatista political movement, brown challenges the common understandings of liberal citizenship, envisioning a more organic form of belonging in its place. brown further challenges state-sponsored notions of multiculturalism, as they fail to ultimately live up to their promise of full citizenship and belonging for non-dominant groups. looking instead to grassroots movements and the self-assertions of indigenous communities, brown articulates a way of being that moves away from representation and mediation of citizenship to a more direct and self-represented citizenship, informed by indigenous knowledges and experiences. in her article, humour in contemproary indigenous photography: refocusing the colonial gaze, meaghan sugrue shifts gears to questions of indigenous art, and examines the role of humour in contemporary photographic self-representations of indigenous people. through this examination, sugrue draws a connection between misrepresentation by others to a movement by indigenous artists to represent themselves using an age-old indigenous skill: humour. by poking fun at past representations of native people, parodying older photographic styles, and presenting works intended to break the seriousness of contemporary art culture, sugrue shows how indigenous artists have reclaimed this artistic medium to subvert its messaging. the end result is that indigenous artists strip colonial images of their power and control and create a new series of images and, thus, new ways of viewing the world. jodi beniuk presents a critical analysis of the missing women’s commission of inquiry recently held in vancouver in indigenous women as other. weaving feminist and anticolonial critiques, beniuk describes how othering operates to exclude indigenous women from state institutions of justice—be that the courts or the police. after thoroughly analyzing the myriad of exclusionary and marginalizing practices that underlie the missing women’s commission of inquiry, beniuk advocates for the breakdown of the binary logics of self-other, instead arguing for the establishment of multi-faceted alliances. by recognizing the interconnectedness of anti-oppressive struggles, beniuk convincingly shows how a multitude of people can work together to confront multiple sites of marginalization and exclusion, without reproducing the same systems of oppression that make these kinds of alliances necessary in the first place. christina iwase thoroughly deconstructs common interpretations of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship in fiduciary relationship as the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) gaudry 4 contemporary colonialism. a fiduciary responsibility is a legal relationship where one party has the obligation to exercise their rights or powers for the benefit of another. in this case, canada has a supposed fiduciary responsibility to indigenous nations. approaching the issue as a problem of reconciliation—between the prior aboriginal “occupation of territory”, and crown assertions of sovereignty—the court has attempted to subordinate indigenous peoples to crown sovereignty. pushing back against this tactic, iwase questions whether there exists a mutually acceptable understanding of the historical relations between the crown and indigenous peoples in canada’s common law. the ultimate question for iwase is whether or not the fiduciary relationship is used to deny aboriginal sovereignty, which would place aboriginal rights as legal rights derived from crown sovereignty. by unmasking the colonial nature of the fiduciary relationship in canadian law, iwase identifies the problematic legal underpinning of terra nullius that informs canadian legal thought. * * * each of these articles presents us with a complex examination of critical issues in the study of canadian colonialism and indigenous resistance. all six articles demonstrate the viability of indigenous forms of governance, economics, sociality, expression, and self-representation, as well as an appreciation for the shape-shifting nature of colonialism. this alone would be impressive, but what makes it more so is that each of these authors is an undergraduate student, several of whom have studied these issues for only a few years (at least in the academic sense). these works show a remarkable level of comprehension and offer hope for the future as a critical mass of self-aware indigenous students and justice-seeking canadians begin to find their footing in the academy. uvic, as i said before, is special because in many disciplines this critical mass has led to substantive indigenous content in graduate and undergraduate programs. it has also brought these long suppressed issues to the political forefront. as these young scholars go on to grad school, activism, and community leadership, they will go forth with a more complete understanding of the long-standing, historic and on-going social, political, and economic forces that are at the root of this uneasy relationship that we live in. with knowledgeable people on both sides of the colonial relationship—the colonizer and colonized as it is sometimes called— we can begin to work towards a new type of relationship and a realization of our common humanity. colonialism is about the denial of humanity—it dehumanizes some, while producing special (and sometimes invisible) privilege for others. this distortion of the human nature of both settler and native— with some elevated to a position of near super-human the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) gaudry 5 prestige and others relegated a subhuman status—leaves us all at a loss for healthy human relationships. it is less a question about right and wrong, or assigning blame, than it is about seeking justice and truth and a new way forward. this does not mean forgetting the past. it means seeking restitution; it means taming the beast and producing the substantive changes that these articles highlight. in many ways we are reaching a tipping point where the contradictions of colonialism meet with a reinvigorated generation of young people who envision something different. as the economic development courses charted by the political elites of this country seem more nakedly opportunist, and as new and important cross-cultural alliances emerge, there is a new opportunity for real and lasting change. in this volume, a number of those issues will be approached by different voices, from different social and political locations. these are the voices of a changing politics, and they are building on a long unacknowledged desire for a more just existence. readying ourselves for the challenge of what is to come is not only desirable, it is a necessity. change is coming, and the question that these authors ask is: how can we get ready for it? contact information adam gaudry, from the department of indigenous governance, can be reached at ajpgaudry@hotmail.com. mailto:ajpgaudry@hotmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: shand 185 dining in victoria, british columbia: vegetarianism and the unaccommodating restaurant industry paul k. n. shand abstract: this paper, a work-in-progress, uses the dining experiences of two vegetarians in victoria, british columbia to explore the unequal treatment they generally receive from victoria‟s dining industry. even though the participants felt that victoria is a great place for vegetarians, findings from three interviews, four food menus, and my direct experience as a cook suggest that the restaurant industry—which is primarily geared towards nonvegetarians—treats diners in victoria unequally, especially vegetarians. by identifying vegetarians as a distinct social group this project shows how inequality against vegetarians in victoria operates. the thesis of the research project, however, cannot be generalized to include the larger body of vegetarians in victoria because of the small sample group. this research project recognizes that far more interviews and further research are needed to verify its hypothesis. key terms: vegetarian, social space, inequality, restaurant industry, food hierarchy, dominant food culture introduction as a professional cook in victoria, i have observed many restaurants offer minimal accommodations for vegetarians. consequently i set out to investigate the unequal treatment of vegetarians by examining individual experiences of dining out in victoria. in this “in-progress” research project, i rely on the perspectives of two vegetarians, identified as candace and dawn to protect their privacy. i contextualize their perspectives by also incorporating the viewpoint of a cook (oscar), analyzing a number of menus, and, when necessary, referencing my own culinary experience. contrary to what the two vegetarians believe, the collected data show that the restaurant industry, primarily geared towards a non-vegetarian population, does not equally accommodate vegetarians. consequently, i hypothesize that the two vegetarian participants—and maybe the larger body of vegetarians in victoria—are forced into a distinct, marginalized, social group. but the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: shand 186 first, from what angles does the available literature approach food and vegetarian diners? little attention has been paid to studying inequality against individuals or groups who choose a specific diet. most literature focuses on food consumption as an expression of cultural membership (caplan, 1994; goody, 1982; inness, 2006; mennel, murcott, & van otterloo, 1992), investigates minorities‟ access to food in specific sectors of the restaurant industry (freeman, 2007), explains eating in relation to the physical space in which it occurs (bell & valentine, 1997), and researches the social activity of eating in restaurants (finkelstein, 1989). as finkelstein (1989) established, dining out is an important social event. this study expands on finkelstein‟s work, specifically looking at how vegetarians experience inequality when they dine out. by focusing on vegetarians, i examine food from a different angle: rather than treating dining habits as a representation of existing cultural distinctions between social groups, with vegetarianism at the center, this study views diet as the cause of inequality between vegetarians and nonvegetarians. discussion are vegetarians a distinct social group? the fact that “vegetarian” has become a common descriptor establishes them as a social group. bourdieu (1986) explains that a group may have a distinct identity that can “be socially instituted and guaranteed by the application of a common name” (p. 249). this leads to the creation of a specific social space for vegetarians. importantly, the distinction between “vegetarian” and “non-vegetarian” is connected with levels of social inclusion: vegetarians are less included and separate from the socially normal, dominant non-vegetarian group. the inclusion/exclusion dichotomy is what makes inequality possible. the non-vegetarian group rewards its members for conforming but rewards are unavailable to the excluded group, in this case, the vegetarians. in victoria‟s restaurant industry the rewards manifest as levels of accommodation. diners who are vegetarian are offered fewer food options and are excluded from the dominant group. initially both vegetarian participants, candace and dawn, said that victoria is a great place for vegetarians. however, i found evidence that there is a distinction between vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and that the nature of the relationship between the two groups is unequal. candace and dawn both mentioned that victoria is an “easy” place to be vegetarian. candace said “it‟s easy to be vegetarian in victoria… there‟s a lot more options than there used to be” and dawn said, “in victoria it‟s super easy, every restaurant has at least a couple vegetarian options here.” they were both happy the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: shand 187 with their choice and felt that most establishments offered them something to eat. however, when asked to give specific examples of the food that is usually available both said they often just order the salad or a veggie burger. in addition, both vegetarian participants have started to eat fish regularly, in foods such as sushi, because of nutrition and convenience. on one hand, this suggests that it is difficult to maintain a healthy vegetarian diet, even in victoria where they had said it is quite easy. but, this discrepancy might be better explained by the inequality of treatment offered by victoria‟s restaurant industry to vegetarians as compared with non-vegetarians. it is the distinction between these two groups that allows for the inequality in the first place. indeed, two main themes in my data indicate that vegetarians are a distinct, yet marginalized, social group in victoria: a) victoria has an established vegetarian social group, and b) a person requires certain personal traits to enjoy vegetarianism. vegetarian venues support social networks that allow vegetarians to develop a sense of belonging to a community, a safe and comfortable place where one need not be forceful to get decent food. in these places vegetarians feel “normal” because most diners have similar diets. dawn said, “i know there is a vegetarian culture in victoria.” both vegetarians‟ interviews suggested the existence of a common identity and distinct social space for vegetarians. candace noted that “we have a ton of vegetarians in my family,” while dawn explained that people who are vegetarian are also likely to agree on other matters: “it‟s not a coincidence that there are a lot of vegetarians in my social circle,” she said. these findings parallel bourdieu‟s (1986) theories that people who have similar cultural tendencies will likely occupy a common social space. candace and dawn, however, mentioned they had been excluded from a group because of being vegetarian. candace said, “a lot of the time people go out and they want to share „appys,‟ i can‟t really do that” and dawn said “sometimes it could be a bit awkward (being vegetarian)… but it doesn‟t bother me, i‟m used to it by now.” because of the insufficient accommodation offered by many restaurants, both vegetarians felt different from others. furthering the idea of a social separation, candace stated that “there are veggie restaurants in town,” indicating a difference between establishments who welcome vegetarians and those who do not. i assert that the unequal treatment in victoria‟s restaurant industry may have led candace and dawn to believe that becoming a successful vegetarian locally requires developing a particular type of personality. candace said, “it totally depends on your personality how successful it‟s going to be… i‟m an extremely blunt person.” dawn said, sometimes “there‟s negotiations with the kitchen.” choosing vegetarianism requires confidence and not being embarrassed by the the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: shand 188 limitations encountered in accessing the appropriate foods. in my experience, servers and cooks will often associate a sense of nuisance or even disdain people who wish to alter the menu choices or ingredients. oscar suggests that he sees vegetarians as different from non-vegetarians, stating that they often require more work, creativity, and sometimes disrupt the production of food at meal times. if customers demand vegetarian food, they are more likely to get it because it will not always be offered initially. however, the inequality in the treatment of candace and dawn in victoria cannot only be explained by the logistics of running a restaurant. though it would be feasible to fully accommodate vegetarians, many restaurants do not. as a professional cook for many years, i know that planning a menu that will better accommodate vegetarians is simple and cost effective, because vegetables are cheaper than meat. still, many restaurants continue to limit the level of service they offer to vegetarians. i selected four of the forty-dollar menus available during dine around victoria 2012 to represent the range of establishments that participated in the event. the dine around 2012 menus, which have only three options for each course, showcase the availability level of vegetarian food in victoria‟s restaurant industry. these menus are carefully designed to appeal to large numbers of people, and aim to portray local restaurants as more accommodating to vegetarians than they are usually. i have observed that whether the menu has three or ten choices there will often be only one or two vegetarian options, much less than meat and fish. some of the menus have no vegetarian options other than dessert, and only half of the menus have a vegetarian main course option. the lack of choice on dine around 2012 menus is not the only way that inequality against vegetarians takes place. all participants spoke of experiencing anti-vegetarian sentiment in certain restaurants. oscar suggests that vegetarians‟ failure to conform to the norm results in inferior treatment from the restaurant industry. he said, “if vegetarians want good food they should eat at a vegetarian place.” but oscar also said he enjoys the challenge of cooking for vegetarians: “it does bring out like the creative aspect of some cooks.” the discrepancy in his statements might explain how individual cooks can be sympathetic towards the needs of vegetarians while the industry continues to exclude them. as oscar said, “it‟s kinda weird that vegetarians get the flack.” but further than specific experiences in restaurants, the inequality between vegetarianism and non-vegetarianism in victoria involves a hierarchal relationship. this may privilege people who eat meat over vegetarians. and, as oscar indicated, at a vegetarian restaurant it is likely “that the guys in the back (the cooks) aren‟t omnivores.” as well, my own experience has shown that a cook who is vegetarian the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: shand 189 is not taken as seriously or seen as having as high a level of skill as one who eats meat. also, when listing the names of high-end restaurants that candace attends for professional reasons, she mentioned no vegetarian restaurants. likewise, dawn did not mention vegetarian restaurants as destinations for a celebration dinner, while oscar ranks victoria‟s vegetarian restaurants as only moderately prestigious. evidence suggests a link between eating meat and social status in the form of “prestige.” in a list of high-end ingredients given by oscar, all are meat or fish except for truffles. to candace, “meat is much more expensive than veggie food.” dawn likewise noted that meat is more expensive than vegetarian food. both statements agree with bourdieu‟s (1986) concept of economic capital: higher quality and more prestigious food costs more money. conclusion both candace and dawn have to justify to friends and servers why they are vegetarian. dawn said, “you often have to justify why you eat (vegetarian)…. i shouldn‟t have to justify why i choose to eat the way i do.” the need to justify one‟s diet indicates that vegetarians in victoria may occupy a lower spot on the social hierarchy than non-vegetarians. the underlying logic being that those who are in a powerful position do not have to justify it, while people who choose to be different need to explain. because vegetarianism is viewed as a dietary choice, those who choose it have to explain why. it is not as easy, functionally and socially, as dawn and candace think to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle in victoria. hence this study concludes that vegetarianism may be the basis for inequality in victoria‟s restaurant industry. however, it is important to note that this is not a large study and its findings cannot be generalized. a question that requires further investigation is: who determines what food culture is? regardless, more research must be done to comprehensively explore and establish these findings beyond the limited scope of this project. references bell, d. and g. valentine. (1997). consuming geographies: we are where we eat. new york, ny: routledge. bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j. g. richardson (ed.), handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). new york, ny: greenwood press. bourdieu, p. (1989). social space and symbolic power. sociological theory, 7(1), 14-25. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: shand 190 caplan, p. (1994). feasts, fasts, famine: food for thought. oxford, england: berg. finkelstein, j. (1989). dining out: a sociology of modern manners. cambrige, england: polity press. freeman, a. (2007). fast food: oppression through poor nutrition. california law review. 95(6), pp. 2221-2259. goody, j. (1982). cooking, cuisine and class: a study in comparative sociology. cambridge, england: cambridge university press. inness, s. a. (2006). secret ingredients. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. mennel, s., murcott, a., & van otterloo, a.h. (1992). the sociology of food: eating, diet and culture. thousand oaks, ca: sage. tourism victoria. (n.d.). retrieved march 7, 2012, from tourism victoria website, http://www.tourismvictoria.com/dine contact information paul k. n. shand, from the department of sociology, can be reached at paulshand@ymail.com. acknowledgements i would like to express my thanks and gratitude to those who made this research project possible. i am grateful to dr. andré smith in the department of sociology at the university of victoria. dr. smith spent many hours consulting and encouraging me and without his support this project would not have been possible. i would also like to thank the people in victoria's restaurant industry who in one way or another contributed to this research. finally i would like to thank the participants of this study who graciously shared with me their personal experiences. mailto:paulshand@ymail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: march 174 does this profile picture make me look fat? facebook and the presentation of self tim march abstract: with over 800 million users worldwide, the popular online social networking service, facebook, has become a cultural phenomenon. this working research paper examines one aspect of facebook: the presentation of self. using information collected through face-to-face interviews with two participants, one male and one female, i investigate the reasons why and how these participants alter their online self-images. this research project hypothesizes that professional users project a controlled image to those who view their profile. they limit and remove undesirable information from their facebook accounts. such practices indicate these educated users are aware of the negative consequences they might encounter if they were to post all information, especially that which they consider of low quality, on facebook. the research project acknowledges the need to conduct more interviews and further research to test and verify its hypothesis. key terms: facebook, presentation of self, privacy maintenance, stigmatization introduction over the past decade, online social networking services such as facebook, myspace and twitter have become increasingly popular with individuals young and old. facebook has become the gold standard of these services with over eight hundred million users worldwide, much more than any other online social network (facebook press information, 2011). with the increased use of such services, sociologists have developed growing interest in the presentation of self through this new medium. emma teitel (2011) points out that facebook, and social media in general, can act as a “personal tabloid” (p.1). teitel suggests that facebook is now affecting social lives in ways never before imagined. self-presentation is relevant to this impact. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: march 175 facebook is a cultural phenomenon that affects the lives of many of its users. sociologist erving goffman (1959) stated that when an individual enters a new social setting others immediately judge him or her while they seek information about this new individual, including his or her socioeconomic status, conception of self, competence and trustworthiness. since facebook offers a social setting, albeit in an online environment, users could draw conclusions about someone they have not met solely through the examination of an individual’s facebook page. in response, individual users of facebook alter their profiles to reflect a specific selfimage. the alteration may include or exclude certain photographs and written posts. this in-progress research project investigates how and why two facebook users achieve a desired self-image. it does so by interviewing two regular, active facebook users, identified here as stella and robert to protect their privacy. the participants are in their twenties. each interview is between twenty and thirty minutes in length. to determine my sample group, i used criterion-based sampling. additionally, my sample comprises the main elements of convenience sampling. my sample group can be looked at as a convenience sample because i am facebook-friends with both of the participants. the interviews mainly involved the participants responding and giving their opinions on topics related to facebook use and the ways they alter the image they portray on facebook. due to the small number of participants, which limits the scope of this research project’s claims, the study hypothesizes that certain users of facebook control their self-image online by altering their profiles. discussion the first interview was conducted with stella, a twenty-one-year-old university of victoria student from vancouver, b.c. stella noted that she uses facebook to connect with friends in vancouver and to stay informed about what everyone is doing socially. when i asked her about the privacy settings she uses on her facebook page, she talked about how she categorized her facebook friends into groups: friends, family, or just herself. each group can only see certain information. this categorization demonstrates that she is conscious of who can see her facebook page and what information they may access. the second interview was conducted with robert, a twenty-four-year-old law school graduate who lives in vancouver. robert attended law school in europe. thus, his friends are spread throughout the world. during our interview, robert stated that he uses facebook to keep in touch with friends who live outside vancouver, specifically people he went to school with in europe. regarding his the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: march 176 privacy settings, robert limits access to only his friends so that future employers will not pre-judge him based on his facebook account. robert explained that “the information on facebook has no context, and this can lead people [such as employers] to misconstrue their perception of people [especially prospective employees].” robert stated that he keeps his facebook page private to ensure that others will not judge him based on information presented out of context. clearly, in both interviews privacy is a common theme. both participants take the necessary steps to keep their facebook pages private from the general public. similarly, these two participants are mindful of how they will be perceived through their facebook pages. this awareness is tied closely to the main topic of this research project – the presentation of self through facebook. the interviews revealed that the overarching theme was the projection of a controlled image over facebook. other relevant themes that came to light during the interviews involved vanity, judgment, control and articulating that a facebook profile is a façade. stella uses different ways to control the image she presents over her facebook page. she controls who can see certain information on her page through the security settings integrated into facebook. she further noted that she removes tags that identify her in photos if the photos are not flattering. she may even have the person who uploaded the photo remove it outright from facebook. stella actually removed photos of herself with her ex-boyfriend once they broke up, explaining, “facebook is truly an extension of my life and i didn’t want him [exboyfriend] to be associated with me anymore.” this revelation shows that she is mindful of the self-image she broadcasts over facebook as this image will reflect on her in real life. stella admitted that she puts up a façade on her facebook page by posting more positive pictures and content when her life is going well and when she is feeling good about herself. when i discussed with robert how he maintains a certain image over facebook, he answered in ways similar to stella. robert noted that he has removed pictures from his facebook account because he felt that he did not look good in them. additionally, he removed posts that others had made on his page because he felt they were annoying; he did not want these unprofessional posts to be associated with him. robert articulated that he believes facebook is a controllable image. he stated, “you can show people a controlled image based on what you wear, who you’re seen with, if you travel or not and if you have varied experiences.” robert noted that his main goal on facebook is to seem “less ordinary.” he achieves this through posting pictures of his varied experiences and controlling the display of posts from others on his wall. he stated that “not doing this would defeat the purpose of being able to control your image over facebook.” perception, judgment the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: march 177 and self-image are common themes within robert’s interview. he is concerned with how others, especially the general public and future employers, will judge him based on content that has little or no context. robert wants the information that he presents to be positive and reflective of his best self. during the interview, robert gave an example of a friend of the same age who represents an extreme of facebook users. he spoke of a friend who has a bland facebook page with few pictures, posts or friends. he stated that in real life this person is one of the most popular people he knows. this contradiction brings up a question: are frequent facebook users who attempt to create a façade on their profile actually popular? the answer in robert’s opinion is no. he believes that people who overuse facebook seek attention and attempt to validate an aspect of their lives through the construction of what they consider to be a popular image. this could include the daily posting of photos of their activities in order to suggest to their viewers that they have an interesting and eventful life. to illustrate this point, robert provided another example, though this time of someone who overuses facebook. this person, who graduated from high school with robert, is said to use facebook as “a form of psychotherapy; she expresses her feelings and complains about people who she knows can see her facebook page.” it is likely that this user is unaware of the negative self-image she is portraying over facebook. robert stated that he keeps this person as a friend on facebook to “keep up with people who have failed in life.” he added, “their bad decisions help to reinforce my good decisions.” this reinforcement provides robert with a justification for keeping this type of facebook friend. during our interview, stella also provided an example of one of her friends. this friend, however, was the opposite of robert’s minimalist friend. stella’s friend had over 1500 facebook friends and had thousands of photographs on her facebook page. stella believed this person’s façade was obnoxious and she was flaunting her life. this person allows anyone on facebook to browse all aspects of her facebook page, including pictures and other personal information. this example represents an extreme segment of facebook users and the façades they present. robert and stella are both examples of medium-use facebook users. when examining the statements made by both robert and stella, i have found no overt gender differences with regard to the presentation of self over facebook. they both alter their facebook pages in similar ways and attempt to project similar images, in this case, their best selves. in addition to the previously mentioned themes that came up during the interviews another common theme was that of stigmatization. using facebook may result in stigmatization. for example, it is becoming increasingly common for individuals to stigmatize those who share little over the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: march 178 facebook. the issue became apparent in the interviews. robert stated that he believed these users had something to hide because they anticipate how others will judge them. similarly, stella believed these users are putting up a façade with their lack of sharing; however, she understood that facebook is one social element and these hesitant users should be granted their right to privacy. conclusion my research speculates that users like stella and robert, who belong to the same age group and seek professionalism, project a certain image to the viewers of their facebook profiles. this image is altered in several ways including the removal of negative photos and comments and the addition of positive material. stella and robert further suggest that even those users who share very little on facebook seem to anticipate negative reaction from their fellow facebook users. the former preemptively react by sharing as little as possible, and, by so doing, a façade is created. indeed, the image users project through facebook is what future employers, friends, or others will perceive these individuals to be. based on the two interviews that i conducted, i have found that both facebook users are aware of their online self-image and alter this self-image in similar ways regardless of their gender. ultimately, their goal is to advance their self-image. in parallel with these specific findings, this research speculates the presence of similar practices among other users who may or may not belong to the same age group and in search of professional careers. however, this working paper cannot verify this inference because of its narrow sample group. more interviews need to be conducted. references goffman, e. (1959). excerpts from: the presentation of self in everyday life (pp. 112-121). statistics (2011). in facebook press info. retrieved november 15, 2011, from https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics teitel, e. (2011). can teens escape embarrassment on facebook? retrieved november 15, 2011, from http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/11/01/the-newpaparazzi/ contact information tim march, from the department of sociology, can be reached at tmarch89@hotmail.com. mailto:tmarch89@hotmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) working papers: march 179 acknowledgments i would like to acknowledge and thank those who made this research project possible, especially dr. andré smith for all of his guidance and support. additionally, i would like to thank my two participants for becoming involved in my project and for their willingness to answer my questions. without these individuals, this research would not have been possible. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: kepkay 168 death of the watchdog, death of democracy joshua kepkay abstract: in a democracy, journalists are expected to safeguard the public interest and to provide truth and accountability to citizens. the media should not function as a megaphone for someone else’s agenda. it is meant to have an active place in society. but the career span of an investigative reporter is relatively short, and maintaining the freedom from censorship, in sean holman’s case at least, means going it alone as a freelancer. unfortunately, the rise and fall of public eye demonstrates that independent investigative journalism is not a sustainable practice in canada. times colonist reporter lindsay kines shares holman’s convictions regarding the media’s watchdog function. to do good investigative reporting a journalist needs at least three to four months to focus on a story. but that is not good business – a lesson that holman learned the hard way after receiving only $500 for his 2004 jack webster award-winning five-month investigation into what became known as the doug walls affair. key terms: media, democracy, investigative reporting, journalism introduction if the media is supposed to serve as the public’s watchdog, then why has the investigative reporter been rendered half-starved and toothless, locked behind an invisible fence? in a democracy, journalists are expected to safeguard the public interest and to provide truth and accountability to citizens. but in the “24/7” information age, falsehoods outpace the reporters who expose the lies. syndicated columnist sean holman says that, when it comes to covering the backrooms of politics in canada, staying informed should be a full-time job. holman has spent the past eight years on the politics beat in british columbia. he has written for major publications such as the globe and mail, the times colonist, the vancouver sun and the dow jones news service. his greatest achievement, however, is the now disbanded public eye online. what started as a free weekly, email-distributed pdf publication, advertised by word of mouth, grew into one of canada’s most celebrated daily journals: “the granddaddy of political blogs in b.c.,” according to holman. in its seven years as an online publication, public eye published more than 6,000 stories, both big and small, focusing on public officials and institutions in british columbia. with a voice neither conservative nor progressive, public eye (“the love of my life, before i met the love of my life,” quips holman) broke the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: kepkay 169 headlining stories before they became headlines. just one week after suspending its investigative coverage, the site rose to become canada’s top trending twitter topic, giving him hope for the future of investigative journalism in this country. “a future that i will be part of,” holman told his readers in his farewell entry. investigative journalism investigative reporting is essential in a democracy because it alerts citizens to the “failures within society’s systems of regulation and to the ways in which those systems can be circumvented by the rich, the powerful, and the corrupt” (de burgh, 2000, p. 3). most journalists become reporters not for the cheap fame that comes with seeing their names in print, not for the money – there is none – but to make a difference. they feel compelled to seek out and cast light on the important illegal or unethical behaviour of those who hold power and supposedly act in the public interest. for holman, “it’s not about the journalistic act in and of itself, it’s always been about the subject matter” and holding power to account. when you’re following your passion, even 16-hour days are “damn fun” and “extraordinarily exciting.” the media should not function as a megaphone for someone else’s agenda. as the fourth estate, it is meant to have an active place in society. but the career span of an investigative reporter is relatively short, and maintaining the freedom from censorship, in holman’s case at least, means going it alone as a freelancer. unfortunately, the rise and fall of public eye demonstrates that independent investigative journalism is not a sustainable practice in canada. investigative journalism is the “reporting of concealed information” (anderson and benjaminson, 1976, p. 5) and it includes anything from public institutions to private enterprise. it concerns matters that are difficult to discover, prove, and reveal (kieran, 2000, p. 156). investigative reporters intend to "[justifiably] defame some person or an organization to expose a scandal and/or speed up institutional or legislative reform” (franklin et al, 2005, p. 122). the objects of journalistic investigations may be obtained in several ways; attracting and encouraging tips, developing and cultivating sources, and evaluating and using that information all require forethought and preparation (anderson and benjaminson, 1976, p. 25). times colonist reporter lindsay kines shares holman’s convictions regarding the media’s watchdog function. over his 30-year career, however, he has only ever worked as a staff reporter. holman did a bachelor of arts in history and political science at the university of victoria and a masters in journalism at carleton. kines opted for community college in winnipeg, where students are sent out right away to write stories and are given internships in the second year. with a modest education, kines built a name for himself over seven years at the brandon sun before moving to the vancouver sun, where he stayed for another 13 years. in the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: kepkay 170 his 30 years of reporting, kines says he has only ever broken four stories that he thought had a substantial impact on public institutions. barriers to in-depth reporting it seems that journalistic longevity is wrought from mixing investigative work with the daily reporting required to fill the ever-expanding content hole – more of a black hole in the age of internet and social media. to do good investigative reporting, kines says, a journalist needs at least three to four months to focus on a story. but that is not good business – a lesson that holman learned the hard way after receiving only $500 for his 2004 jack webster award-winning five-month investigation into what became known as the doug walls affair. for every big scandal kines publishes, he needs to write 100 smaller process stories. the power of profits predominate over journalism. kines accepts this situation, as he peels back the layers of a story each day, while filing and tweeting his findings on the fly, rather than dropping one major story. “it seems a bit more exhausting than it used to be because by the time you come back to write your story for the next day, you may feel like you’ve produced two or three stories already.” for holman, working 14-to 16-hour days was not enough to fill the content hole. “when i launched public eye, i thought it was simply going to be the first of several similar sites that would be launched in b.c. as time went on. i didn’t figure i was going to be the only person doing that work, and that, to a certain extent, is surprising to me.” surprised at how little competition he had, holman neglected to consider that when you are “independent and irreverent, biased only against pomposity and hypocrisy,” you are burning bridges with the same people and organizations that you are looking to for funding. reader charity has its limits, and that is why public eye stopped evolving. independence only takes you so far. speaking to the critical reporting holman’s done on the media, kines acknowledges that “sean’s done some good media reporting, but it’s tough to do that when at the same time you’re hoping to break into the business… media people are a pretty thin-skinned bunch.” before becoming a journalist, holman served as a communications advisor under both the new democrat and liberal governments. he remembers the consequences a good story can have, how much it can reverberate through an administration to have consequences for specific people. having triggered the resignations of public officials, he says the worst part about his job as a journalist “is every single time i have a high stress story… it’s stressful, man.” every time he publishes a story, he wants to be certain that the facts are right and that he is being fair and balanced. but that is not easy when he is writing about situations and events that he did not witness. instead, he must rely on his “spy network” of sources to get the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: kepkay 171 inside information. the dread of being manipulated or misinformed adds to the stress; for him, it is “by far the toughest aspect of the job.” unfortunately, canadian media operate against a disinformation industry during a “24/7” information age, which creates a reporting lag. reporters are inundated with news releases and press conferences that make producing content easier, though the actual substance lacks the quality of a hard day’s muckraking. when big stories finally do break, the public gets the misimpression that few secrets get past reporters. in other words, readers (i.e the electorate) think they have all the information they need to make informed choices. reporters would be doing the nation a service if they would only admit what important info they lack because access is denied. journalists, however, do little more than grumble about the ludicrous wait times for freedom of information requests or about publication bans because complaining about secrecy looks like whining and smacks of defeatism. lessons learned? public eye diverged from the norm and refrained from news release regurgitation – that is why it went under. holman exhausted all avenues that might keep it alive, falling victim to an awkward time in content production. when daily newspapers are coming up against barriers in their attempts at establishing content pay walls, it is not surprising that holman’s project lapsed into an induced coma. his readers can only finance the online publication to a point. even if he did create a pay wall, he is not certain people would be willing to pay for the service as much as they enjoyed reading it. “besides,” he says, “there’s numerous ways to get around a pay wall.” reflecting back on his government communication days, holman argues that the separation between media and communications is largely a false divide. what distinguishes one from the other is the public purse and the vested interests of the actors who control those resources. kines and holman agree that politicians and communications workers are not bad people. “but the offices are set up as a buffer between the media and what is really going on,” says kines. “they’re trying to direct you in certain directions to present their minister or ministry in the best light.” they have a message to get out, and sometimes it is a valid message. kines, however, warns that “you shouldn’t take it as gospel. you need to look for other avenues – what they’re not telling you.” there are lots of talented young reporters capable of putting brakes on the spin, but sadly there are no decent paying jobs. reporters today cover multiple beats; others have switched teams to work in communications because entry-level reporter salaries start at around $35,000, says holman. unfortunately, when the media is cut back, crucial stories go uncovered and democracy suffers. recently married, holman now finds himself at the beginning of a new chapter in his life. much like kines, starting a family has forced him to introduce the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: kepkay 172 balance into his life, and now he spends much of his time teaching his trade to journalism students at the university of victoria. the investigative stories that his second and third-year students produce regularly goes on to appear in the b.c. online news magazine tyee. “the lack of original content that we see is not necessarily the way it has to be,” says holman. “we’re making a choice for it to be that way, and that choice is informed dramatically by the amount of resources that the media has available. but we are also making a choice; it is within our power to change the kind of content and the kind of service that we are proving to the public. the question is: does the public want it to change? and are we able to make that change? i don’t know the answers to those questions.” conclusion with investigative journalism’s shaky economic profile, i often wonder what democracy will look like in canada in a decade. will there even be a link between media and democracy? or will news releases dominate and turn the media into a privatized propaganda machine? active citizenship has been outsourced to lawyers and lobbyists, while ever fewer journalists are left to dig through the jargon-filled fine print, where injustices hide. references anderson, d., & benjaminson, p. (1976). investigative reporting. london: indiana university press. de burgh, h. (2000). introduction. in h. de burgh (ed.), investigative journalism (pp. 2-25). london: routledge. franklin, b., hamer, m., hanna, m., kinsey, m., & richardson, j.e. (2005). key concepts in journalism studies. london: sage. kieran, m. (2000). the regulatory and ethical framework for investigative journalism. in h. de burgh (ed.), investigative journalism (pp. 156-76). london: routledge. kines, lindsay. personal interview. 9 mar. 2012. holman, sean. personal interview. 12 feb. 2012. contact information joshua kepkay, from the department of political science, can be reached at jdkepkay@gmail.com. acknowledgments i would like to thank dr. janni aragon, who encouraged me to write this essay and who continues to support me in so many ways. special thanks goes out to sean the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: kepkay 173 holman for his perpetual guidance and kind words, as well as for participating in the interview that prompted this essay. finally, i cannot express enough thanks to david leach for his supervision and editorial contributions. and also, thanks to the staff who assemble the arbutus review, which provides such a great opportunity for interdisciplinary student publication. shrestha 97 packing heat: energy storage using phase change materials pranay shrestha abstract: many technological applications that involve intermittent energy demand and supply, such as solar or building energy systems, function more effectively if there is a storage mechanism to act as a buffer. phase change materials (pcms) can greatly increase the energy storage capacity of conventional (sensible energy) storage systems because of the high-energy transfer during their phase transition. with the help of pcms, larger amounts of energy can be stored in smaller volume and at lower temperatures (resulting in lower insulation costs). this research paper discusses the problem-solving process of selecting a novel pcm (myristic acid) and designing a model apparatus to measure its thermal properties and behaviour. experiments were conducted on water to calibrate the apparatus and estimate the errors in the experiment. key terms: phase change materials (pcms); energy storage; latent heat; solar energy; heat storage; myristic acid introduction many applications in our daily lives require efficient storage and transport of energy in the form of heat. for example, for a solar system to be reliable, the energy available during sunny days should be stored for use during sundeprived periods. most heat storage systems use sensible heating of a fluid like water to store heat. to store a substantial amount of heat using sensible heating, either the amount or final temperature of the fluid should be increased, both of which increase the insulation cost for storage. phase change materials (pcms) have great potential to enhance the efficiency of heat storage by increasing the amount of heat absorbed and released within a narrow temperature range. despite efforts in using pcms for energy storage, some practical difficulties complicate the widespread use of pcms, such as density change, low thermal conductivity, instability of properties (under repeated use), and subcooling of the pcm below melting temperatures (farid, khudhair, razack & al-hallaj, 2004). this research paper compares different types of pcms to propose a novel pcm, with properties favorable for use in energy storage applications. this paper also presents an experimental apparatus designed to measure the thermal the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 98 properties of the novel pcm, and presents results for preliminary experiments performed in the apparatus. phase change materials phase change materials (pcms) are substances that are capable of absorbing and releasing large amounts of energy (latent heat) within a particular temperature range due to phase change. for solid-liquid pcms, latent heat of fusion is the energy absorbed during melting and released during solidification. applications energy storage is a topic of pressing importance in various aspects of technology. for example, solar energy is a renewable energy resource with great potential to solve growing ecological problems, like global warming, by reducing the dependence on fossil fuels for energy. however, most solar energy systems are greatly limited by the availability of the sun, and are rendered inadequate at nights and on cloudy days. thus, the storage of solar energy becomes vital for a reliable solar energy system. most solar systems use sensible energy for solar storage (farid et al., 2004), which is not efficient for storing large amounts of energy and requires an extensive insulation system. energy in buildings can be stored and transported effectively using pcms. heat energy rejected from one part of the building (as in refrigeration systems) can be utilized in heating systems elsewhere in the building. some researchers (khudhair & farid, 2004) suggest the use of encapsulated pcms in the walls, ceilings and floors of buildings to store heat energy more effectively. the heat storage system thus serves as a buffer to reduce temperature fluctuations of the air inside the building. the use of latent energy systems with the help of phase change materials (pcms) can greatly increase the energy holding capacity (effective thermal capacity) of water or other sensible energy systems at reasonably low temperatures. a considerably high amount of energy is absorbed during the phase change (solid to liquid) of the pcm at the melting point. the stored energy can be reused whenever required by the reverse phase change process, yielding a more efficient energy storage system. classification of pcms pcms absorb or release a considerable amount of energy during their transition from one ph shrestha 99 , cabezab, & mehling, 2003): 1. gas-liquid pcms 2. solid-liquid pcms 3. solid-gas pcms 4. solid-solid pcms for the purpose of storage using water or any other carrier-liquid, solidliquid pcms (that are insoluble in the given liquid) are convenient to use. the solid-liquid pcms can be further categorized into the following types. 1. inorganic pcms, which can be further divided into the following (sharma, tyagi, chen & buddhi, 2009): a) salt hydrates: salt hydrates are inorganic compounds combined with water in a definite ratio to form a characteristic crystalline solid. salt hydrates actually undergo dehydration (or hydration) to some degree during the phase change process. b) metallics: metallics have high heat of fusion per unit volume and high thermal conductivity. however, they are unfavorable for use as a pcm because of high density (and low heat of fusion per unit mass). 2. organic pcms, which undergo phase change without degradation of their latent heat of fusion. they also crystallize with no supercooling (i.e. the process of lowering the temperature of a liquid or a gas below its freezing point without it becoming a solid) and are usually non-corrosive. organic pcms are divided into the following two types: a) paraffins: paraffins consist of straight chain alkanes (alkanes are organic compounds consisting of only carbon and hydrogen in single bonds). the values of melting point and latent heat of fusion increase with increase in carbon number of the alkane (sharma et al., 2009). b) non-paraffins: non-paraffins include a wide range of organic compounds including fatty acids, alcohols, glycols, and esters. the novel pcm chosen for this research (myristic acid) is a fatty acid. 3. eutectic pcms: a eutectic is a minimum-melting composition (mixture) of two or more components that usually melts and freezes without any segregation (sharma et al., 2009). the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 100 novel pcm selection pcms can be classified into various categories based on their operation phases or chemical composition. based on the criteria for selection of pcms (farid et al., 2004) and comparison of the different types of pcms, myristic acid was chosen as a novel pcm for this research due to the following favorable thermal, physical, kinetic, chemical, and economic properties: thermal properties 1. phase-transition temperature range: the temperature range of interest was 50-60°c because it is well above atmospheric temperature in most areas (to ensure that the phase transition does not occur due to atmospheric heat), and low enough to reduce the cost of insulation. the melting point of myristic acid is 49-51°c (sarı & kaygusuz, 2001). 2. high latent heat of fusion: the latent heat of fusion of myristic acid is 199 kj/kg (sharma et al., 2009), which is high compared to the other pcms in the temperature range considered. physical properties 1. density: the density of myristic acid is 990kg/m 3 (sharma, won, buddhi & park, 2005) which is comparable to that of water at 1atm. and 4°c (1000kg/m 3 ). the density of water decreases on increasing temperature and attains a value of 990kg/m 3 near the temperature range of interest. this property will be interesting to observe in the experiments to determine if density plays a role in clumping of myristic acid during solidification. 2. insolubility in water: myristic acid is insoluble in water. thus, the physical properties of myristic acid will remain unchanged when added in water. kinetic properties no supercooling: myristic acid does not undergo supercooling because of self-nucleation. chemical properties non-toxic: myristic acid does not have any serious health hazards. shrestha 101 economics availability: myristic acid occurs in nature in cow’s milk, some fish oil, some seeds (e.g. coconut and palm kernel). furthermore, it can also be manufactured using nutmeg. myristic acid is also used as a food additive. due to its availability and low health hazards, the cost associated with chemical safety precautions for myristic acid is low. experimental apparatus an experimental apparatus was designed and built for the purpose of determining the thermal properties and observing the behavior of pcms used for thermal storage. experimental objectives the main purpose of the experiment was to measure the thermal properties (thermal conductivity, and effective thermal capacity) of the pcm (when mixed in water in different concentrations), in order to estimate the increase in energy-holding capacity of a simple water-based solar-energy-storage system. to obtain the desired results from experiments using simple and achievable data and calculations, the following features were required: 1. a one-dimensional heat flow system (i.e., heat flow only in the vertical direction with negligible losses through the side walls) 2. no convection effects to simplify the calculations 3. insulated heating system, where the amount of heat input in the system and the temperature of the liquid-pcm mixture were measured constantly. design requirements the design of the experimental apparatus required fulfilling all the experiment objectives. thus, the design requirements were as follows. 1. small size: the size of the whole experimental set-up required to be small (in the order of mm) to reduce boundary effects (higher boundary effects would lead to more errors in the result) 2. high aspect ratio: the aspect ratio of the pcm-liquid container needed to be high (more width than height) to ensure one-dimensional heat flow. 3. high conductivity of heating plate: to reduce heat loss from the heating plates, the thermal conductivity of the plates required to be high (i.e., low thermal resistivity). the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 102 4. minimal convection: convection effects increase the complexity of the experiment by increasing the amount of data and calculations needed to obtain results. thus convection effects needed to be minimized. 5. insulation: the heat loss from the system was required to be negligible. 6. watertight: the entire system needed to be watertight, to prevent water from leaking out and hampering the results. 7. controlled heat flow: a source of heat energy (that can be controlled and measured) was required. 8. temperature measurement: the temperature of the liquid-pcm mixture needed to be measured and recorded at frequent intervals (approx. 0.5 seconds). final design the final design of the apparatus included a stack of six copper discs (with high thermal conductivity) with grooves for a heater and 8 thermocouples. an acrylic glass ring was sandwiched between the middle copper discs (containing four thermocouples each for recording temperatures across the pcm-water chamber) to store pcm-liquid mixture or water. heat was supplied from the top to avoid convective currents. a cylindrical acrylic glass insulation minimized heat losses from the copper stack. o-rings were used to ensure that the pcm-liquid chamber was airtight and watertight. a heater wire of known resistance was used to provide steady heating. using the value of resistance and the current/voltage supplied, the heat input was calculated. t-type thermocouples were connected to sr630 thermocouple reader to obtain frequent measurements of temperature. the design was compact, small and had a high aspect ratio (approximately 15:1). figure 1: copper stack (with liquid-pcm container) in exploded view in the order of assembly (author’s image) shrestha 103 figure 2: photograph showing the assembled apparatus (without thermocouples and heater wire) (author’s image) the apparatus was also modeled in comsol (a computer simulation software used for heat transfer calculations) to simulate the experiments performed. this would allow for better comparison of theoretical and experimental results to gauge inconsistencies or errors in the experimental values. experimental results to check the accuracy of the apparatus, experiments were performed with water alone. the first experiment therefore focused on the determination of the thermal conductivity of water. steady heat was supplied using the heater wire for a specified period of time. the temperature of copper plates just above and below the water layer was recorded, plotted and analyzed. the experiment approximated steady state heat transfer (as seen in the almost parallel section of the graph in figure 3). this approximation was used to find the thermal conductivity of water. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 104 figure 3: graph of temperature vs. time for thermal conductivity experiment another experiment was conducted by controlling the heat supply, so that the water temperature cycled between two extremes. the data of this experiment was used to find the thermal capacity of water. the temperatures recorded above and below the pcm-chamber are shown in blue and red, respectively, in the graph in figure 4. figure 4: temperature vs. time graph for specific heat experiment the results obtained from the experiments were consistent. however, the experimental errors due to heat loss through the acrylic glass insulation were larger than expected, and affected the accuracy of the results. to resolve the issue, the error term needed to be calculated by comparing the obtained results with expected theoretical values or virtual simulations shrestha 105 (using comsol). with the help of the error term, the experimental apparatus can be calibrated to yield more accurate results. recommendations based on the research and design discussed in this paper, some recommendations for further research or experimentation on pcms (or myristic acid) are as suggested. the experiment should be conducted in the apparatus discussed in the paper by varying the concentration of myristic acid (or other pcms) in water, as a slurry, in order to determine the concentration of the mixture that performs most suitably as a pcm (in terms of energy storage capacity and repeatability). during the experiment, any sign of agglomeration (or clumping) of the pcm (in solid or liquid phase) should be observed, and its effect on the thermal properties should be measured. in case of agglomeration, the possibility of encapsulating pcms should be considered (alvarado et al, 2008). furthermore, the pcm should be tested for long-term stability by repeating the experiment many times. the pcm will be preferable if its performance does not decrease considerably in successive cycles. the possibility of enhancing heat flow in the pcm-liquid mixture should also be considered (e.g., use of finned tubes (zalbaa et al., 2003)). additionally, the experiment should be simulated in comsol to estimate errors due to heat losses. finally, the cost benefits of using pcms in thermal energy storage systems should be analyzed with an effort to maximize the cost efficiency of the system. conclusion after comparing the different types of pcms in the desired temperature range (50-60°c), the novel pcm selected was myristic acid. myristic acid was shown to have many favorable properties for use as a pcm, such as appropriate phase-transition temperature range of 49-51°c (sari & kayjusuz, 2001), high latent heat of fusion of 199 kj/kg (sharma et al., 2009), no supercooling, non-toxicity, and availability in nature. the final apparatus design satisfied the design requirements to measure the properties of pcms. however, the heat loss error term needs to be calculated using computer simulations (using comsol) and/or theoretical calculations to calibrate the apparatus, following which the thermal properties of myristic acid (and other such pcms) can be measured. using the calculated error term, experiments (as described in the paper) can be used to calculate thermal properties of myristic acid and other pcms. thus, the relative increase in energy-holding capacity of the conventional storage the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 106 systems using different pcms can be calculated and compared, to develop a safe, compact, and efficient energy storage system for numerous technological applications in the future. references alvarado, j. l., jones, b. g., marsh, c. p., kessler, d. a., sohn, c. w., feickert, c. a., ... & carlson, t. a. (2008). thermal performance of microencapsulated phase change material slurry (no. erdc-tr-084). engineer research and development center, vicksburg, ms. farid, m. m., khudhair, a. m., razack, s. a. k., & al-hallaj, s. (2004). a review on phase change energy storage: materials and applications. energy conversion and management, 45(9), 1597-1615. khudhair, a. m., & farid, m. m. (2004). a review on energy conservation in building applications with thermal storage by latent heat using phase change materials. energy conversion and management, 45(2), 263275. sarı, a., & kaygusuz, k. (2001). thermal performance of myristic acid as a phase change material for energy storage application. renewable energy,24(2), 303-317. sharma, a., tyagi, v. v., chen, c. r., & buddhi, d. (2009). review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications. renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 13(2), 318-345. sharma, a., won, l. d., buddhi, d., & park, j. u. (2005). numerical heat transfer studies of the fatty acids for different heat exchanger materials on the performance of a latent heat storage system. renewable energy, 30(14), 2179-2187. , j. m., cabeza, l. f., & mehling, h. (2003). review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications. applied thermal engineering, 23(3), 251283. contact information pranay shrestha, from the department of mechanical engineering, can be reached at pranay@uvic.ca. shrestha 107 acknowledgements i would like to thank my supervisor for the research, dr. rustom bhiladvala, and student mentor, ali etrati, for their continuous guidance and support. my research was supported by a jamie cassels undergraduate research awards (jcura) and artindale fellowship. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 86 haptic virtual prototyping of buttons pranav shrestha abstract: the design of any physical product involves prototyping. building physical prototypes of the products can be expensive and time consuming. an alternate to physical prototyping is haptic virtual prototyping, which simulates the product using a computer and a haptic device. a haptic device is one that produces the forces similar to that of the product, giving the user a realistic feel of the product. since the feel of a product plays a significant role in its commercial success, the importance of haptic virtual prototyping as a design tool is increasing. this paper discusses the haptic simulation of a push button on a low cost and commercially available haptic device called novint falcon. two different models were created – the first one was a simple push button, and the second was an on/off click button. the parameters of the two models were selected such that they have the most accurate tactile response or feel of the product. the two models successfully simulated the feel of the buttons, and it was found that haptic virtual prototyping of buttons is achievable using a low cost haptic interaction system. key terms: haptic simulation; haptic virtual prototyping; physical prototyping; novint falcon; buttons; force feedback introduction the increasing use and advancement of computers has created the opportunity of building virtual objects that mimic real life objects. computer simulations usually mimic real life objects using human senses of sight and sound. the sense of touch is added to computer simulations using haptic simulation with the help of a device called a haptic device. by incorporating touch into simulations, haptic technology makes the virtual products feel more realistic than computer simulations. the haptic device produces forces and vibrations similar to the physical product, which gives the user a realistic feel. for instance, if a user compresses a virtual spring using a haptic device, he/she would feel the spring pushing back just as expected in reality. one of the uses of haptic simulation, haptic virtual prototyping, allows users to create and test virtual prototypes using the haptic device. physical prototypes of products are usually expensive, take time to build/assemble, and include additional costs that come with any successive design changes. shrestha 87 virtual prototyping, unlike physical prototyping, enables quick modifications and design changes to the prototype (colton & hollerbach, 2007). once the dynamics of a product are properly modeled for virtual prototyping, the model parameters can be changed easily to modify the physical properties, and hence the feel of the product. along with the advantage of faster implementation and rapid modification, virtual prototyping also involves lower costs compared to physical prototyping, due to the absence of material, machining and assembly costs of the prototypes. the only major cost involved in virtual prototyping is that of the haptic device. consider the prototyping of a spring involved in a product, such as a button. if the product was too hard and needed a spring that was less stiff, a completely new spring would be required for the physical prototype. the spring would either have to be ordered, or manufactured, and then assembled with the rest of the components of the prototype. for virtual prototyping, however, altering a few parameters in the computer could change the stiffness of the virtual spring, and the change would not affect the other components of the product. this research paper discusses haptic virtual prototyping of a button, and shows the possibility of implementing it using a cheap, commercially available haptic device. the idea of virtual prototyping of a button can be extended to complicated products, including automobiles, musical instruments, and surgical tools. as with the virtual spring, the design of virtual prototypes can save time and money for the development of a wide variety of products. related work previous research has applied many different approaches to simulate the feel of buttons and switches. some researchers have generated models of push buttons and knobs using first principles, and implemented these general models (allotta, colla, & bioli, 1999). other researchers have based the models on experimental data gathered using an instrumented probe, creating a position and direction dependent model that was played back on a haptic device (colton & hollerbach, 2007). to accurately capture the feel of switches, some researchers have used human actuation to record a haptic profile. this haptic profile uses the projections of the plots of force, position, and velocity to derive meaningful relations between the graphs and the characteristics of different buttons (weir et al., 2004). unlike most of the work done for virtual prototyping of buttons, the models created in our the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 88 research were not played back. the forces applied by the haptic device were calculated in real time using the position and velocity at the current instant. related work done by past researchers was, though, helpful in recognizing the salient features and the variation of characteristics, like the stiffness and damping of different types of buttons. novint falcon the haptic device used for the research was the novint falcon, a 3-d device developed by novint technologies, inc. the novint falcon is commercially available as a 3-d game controller that applies forces and vibrations according to different events in the game. the application of force is called force feedback, since it is directly related to the visual actions in the game. the device provides force feedback in all three spatial directions and is particularly popular for first-person shooter games, where the normal grip for the controller can be replaced with a pistol grip. haptic simulation of a button requires only one degree of freedom, and movement in the other two directions should be restricted. for the purposes of the research, the users operate the novint falcon by holding the novint grip, and pushing it like they would push a normal button. the workspace of the novint falcon is 4”x4”x4,” and the update rate is 1 khz (martin & hillier, 2009), which are sufficient for the application of the research. it is also a good choice for this research, since it is relatively inexpensive compared to high-end haptic devices, costing only about $250. applications haptic virtual prototyping has been employed in many industries and is becoming increasingly popular. it has already been used to model automobile systems (buttolo, stewart & marsan, 2002) and dial knobs (kim, han, shin & park, 2008). apart from haptic virtual prototyping, haptic simulation has a wide range of applications. indeed, haptic simulation is currently being used in the field of medicine for surgical training, where prospective surgeons train in a virtual environment with force feedback, and gain motor skills beneficial for real surgical proficiency (sewell et al., 2007). the novint falcon itself has been used to model street intersections as a haptic map for blind people (mason & manduchi, 2008). haptic simulation is also being used to create haptic musical instruments that mimic the feel of real musical instruments (berdahl, niemeyer & smith iii, 2009). shrestha 89 basic model a spring-damper model can be used as a general model to describe the nonlinear behavior of a button. a spring-damper system is shown in figure 1. figure 1: the basic model of a button any displacement of the button from its equilibrium or resting position causes the system to exert a force. the force depends on the stiffness (k) and damping coefficient (b) of the system. the force exerted by the button can be expressed as: where x is the signed distance from the equilibrium position (negative for compression and positive for expansion of the spring), and v is the velocity of the button at the current instant. the calculated force, exerted by the button on the finger, has a direction opposite to the force shown in figure 1. the equation of the general model does not describe how the model parameters (k, b) vary with displacement (x). the choice of the model parameters decide the tactile response of the button, and hence, the feel of the button. since the novint falcon measures the position of the cursor, the distance from the equilibrium position can be calculated by setting an arbitrary resting position for the button as its equilibrium position. the haptic device, however, does not measure the velocity. the average velocity between the current position and the previous position of the cursor was used to approximate the instantaneous velocity of the cursor. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 90 motion of the button the button is modeled as a cube, whose center is taken as the origin for the coordinate system. the orientation of the coordinate axes is shown in figure 2. the front face of the cube is taken as the front face of the button, and the equilibrium position is half the distance of the side of the cube from the origin along the positive z direction. figure 2: orientation of the coordinate axes with its origin at the center of the cube (button) the motion of the button is only in one direction (z direction), with the motions in the other two directions needing to be restricted. to restrict the motion along the z-axis, forces were applied to the novint grip whenever the values along the x and y directions were not close to zero. this enabled the haptic application to have one degree of freedom, like that of a push button. the variation of the force along the x direction is shown in figure 3. shrestha 91 figure 3: the variation of force with the x-axis for restriction of motion if the cursor moves along the positive x direction, as seen in figure 3, there is an increasing force in the negative direction (opposite to the direction of motion) on the novint grip. this force tends to bring the grip back to its resting position, where the value of the x coordinate is zero. similarly, if the grip is moved in the negative x direction, a positive force is applied that brings the grip back to the resting position. the force shown in figure 3 is the force due to a spring, whose stiffness is modeled by the slope of the graph. damping was also added to make the motion smoother. a similar variation of force with the y-axis was done to restrict the motion in that direction. models by varying the model parameters (stiffness and damping coefficient) of the basic spring-damper model, two final models were created. the first one was a push button, and the second one was an on/off click button. the novint falcon could switch easily between the two models, showing the versatility of haptic virtual prototyping. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 92 model 1 – push button a simple model to simulate a push button, like an elevator button, was created. the stiffness and the damping coefficients varied non-linearly with the displacement from the equilibrium position. they were modeled as opposite parabolas with the same axis of symmetry. the stiffness was modeled as a parabola that opened upwards, while the damping was modeled as a parabola that opened downwards. this was done to account for the detent, or the temporary resistance to motion, that is encountered while pushing this type of button. the experimentally determined variation of the distance from the equilibrium position with the damping coefficient and the stiffness are shown in figures 4 and 5, respectively. figure 4: the variation of damping coefficient with the distance from the equilibrium position -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 d a m p in g c o e ff ic ie n t (n s/ m ) distance from equilibrium position (m) relation between damping coefficient and distance from the equilibrium position shrestha 93 figure 5: the variation of stiffness with the distance from the equilibrium position model 2 – on/off click button the second model simulated a button with different on and off positions, similar to a button for a retractable pen. the button had two resting positions: the “off” position was the original equilibrium position of the button, and the “on” position was at a distance of about 0.9 inches (0.0229 meters) from the equilibrium. the force applied on the grip varied linearly with distance, thus only the stiffness of the spring was included in this model, while damping was ignored. a memory of the state of the button was recorded by triggering a flag whenever the cursor crossed the "on" position. when the button was in its “on” state, the motion back towards its original equilibrium position (“off” position) was restricted at the new resting position (“on” position). the restriction of motion was done in a similar way as was done for the x and y axes. the forces felt by the novint falcon grip, during the motion of the button were plotted, and are shown in figure 6. the jump in force seen at around 0.0229 metres indicates the “on” position, while the “off” position is at zero (equilibrium). 0 5 10 15 20 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 s ti ff n e ss ( n /m ) distance from equilibrium position (m) relation between stiffness of the model and distance from the equilibrium position the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 94 figure 6: variation of force with the distance from the equilibrium position conclusion the models discussed in the paper successfully simulated both the buttons. the first button modeled was a simple push button, while the second one was an on/off click button. the model parameters of the buttons could be instantly changed to meet different design requirements for stiffness and damping of the buttons. by implementing haptic simulation of buttons within a span of a few months, it was found that haptic virtual prototyping of simple products could be easily achievable. an iteration of such a process using physical prototypes would require more time for assembling, and more money for materials and manufacturing. moreover, by using the novint falcon, it was shown that haptic virtual prototyping of buttons could be implemented using a relatively inexpensive and commercially available haptic device. the only major drawback of the models discussed was the unnecessary vibrations felt when the grip was close to the equilibrium positions. the vibrations were not accounted for in the current models, and by including them in future iterations, the feel of the buttons would be more realistic. to further improve the feel of the buttons, the model parameters can be chosen based on the parameters of a human-actuated physical button. virtual prototyping of buttons can be useful for appliances that constantly use buttons, such as washing machines, elevators, automobiles, -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 f o r c e ( n ) distance from the equilibrim position (m) relation between force on the grip and distance from the equilibrium shrestha 95 computers, and so on. additionally, the concepts of haptic prototyping done on a button can be extended to any kind of industry that requires iterative design processes. for instance, virtual prototyping can extend from the buttons of an automobile to the steering wheel, and ultimately, all the components of the vehicle involving the human sense of touch. thus, haptic virtual prototyping can greatly improve the feel of products in a quick, easy and affordable way. references allotta, b., colla, v., & bioli, g. (1999). a mechatronic device for simulating push-buttons and knobs. in multimedia computing and systems, 1999. ieee international conference on (vol. 1, pp. 636642). ieee. berdahl, e., niemeyer, g., & smith iii, j. (2009). using haptic devices to interface directly with digital waveguide-based musical instruments. in proceedings of the ninth international conference on new interfaces for musical expression, pittsburgh, pa (pp. 183-186). buttolo, p., stewart, p., & marsan, a. (2002). a haptic hybrid controller for virtual prototyping of vehicle mechanisms. in haptic interfaces for virtual environment and teleoperator systems, 2002. haptics 2002. proceedings. 10th symposium on (pp. 249-254). ieee. colton, m. b., & hollerbach, j. m. (2004). automated modeling of nonlinear mechanisms for virtual prototyping. in proc. asme design engineering technical conferences (detc) and computers and information in engineering conference (pp. 1349-1355). colton, m. b., & hollerbach, j. m. (2005). identification of nonlinear passive devices for haptic simulations. in eurohaptics conference, 2005 and symposium on haptic interfaces for virtual environment and teleoperator systems, 2005. world haptics 2005. first joint (pp. 363368). ieee. colton, m. b., & hollerbach, j. m. (2007). haptic models of an automotive turn-signal switch: identification and playback results. in eurohaptics conference, 2007 and symposium on haptic interfaces for virtual environment and teleoperator systems. world haptics 2007. second joint(pp. 243-248). ieee. colton, m. b., & hollerbach, j. m. (2007). reality-based haptic force models of buttons and switches. in robotics and automation, 2007 ieee international conference on (pp. 497-502). ieee. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 96 kim, l., han, m., shin, s. k., & park, s. h. (2008). a haptic dial system for multimodal prototyping. in 18th international conference on artificial reality and telexistence (icat 2008). martin, s., & hillier, n. (2009). characterisation of the novint falcon haptic device for application as a robot manipulator. in proc. australasian conf. robotics and automation. mason, r., & manduchi, r. (2008). haptic modeling of a street intersection using the novint falcon. informally published manuscript, computer science department, university of california, santa cruz, ca, retrieved from http://surfit.soe.ucsc.edu/sites/default/files/mason_report_0.pdf sewell, c., blevins, n. h., peddamatham, s., & tan, h. z. (2007). the effect of virtual haptic training on real surgical drilling proficiency. ineurohaptics conference, 2007 and symposium on haptic interfaces for virtual environment and teleoperator systems. world haptics 2007. second joint(pp. 601-603). ieee. weir, d. w., peshkin, m., colgate, j. e., buttolo, p., rankin, j., & johnston, m. (2004). the haptic profile: capturing the feel of switches. in haptic interfaces for virtual environment and teleoperator systems, 2004. haptics'04. proceedings. 12th international symposium on (pp. 186-193). ieee. contact information pranav shrestha, from the department of mechanical engineering, can be reached at pranav@uvic.ca. acknowledgements i would like to thank dr. constantinescu for her valuable guidance and encouragement throughout this project. this work was supported by jamie cassels undergraduate research awards (jcura). spanier the evolution and prevalence of knee injuries: repair at what cost? rachel spanier* university of victoria rspanier@uvic.ca abstract knee injuries are a common nuisance in the lives of many active individuals. they can stem from tissue damage, ligament damage or bone and/or cartilage damage. through the exploration of major knee injuries, prevention and more efficient rehabilitation can be attained. the most common knee injuries are analyzed and each of their main cause is examined in this paper. orthopaedic surgery techniques are discussed, such as, acl reconstruction, meniscal resection/meniscectomy and high tibial osteotomy. these surgical techniques have evolved immensely in response to the high occurrence of serious knee injuries in active individuals. many of these injuries originate from too much torque and/or torsion on the knee joint occurring during sports. the faulty anatomy of the knee joint and the glacial pace of evolution play a much larger role than just prevalence of injuries. the economic cost of major knee injury repairs is far too high in private health care systems, which in turn results in a poorer quality of psychosocial health in those injured and unable to receive the corrective surgeries. keywords: knee injury; knee anatomy; knee joint; surgery; ligament injury; meniscal injury; meniscal repair; meniscectomy; high tibial osteotomy; sports injury; rehabilitation *i would like to give a special thanks to emily arvay – my english professor. without her encouragement and support, this article would not have been possible. 120 mailto:rspanier@uvic.ca the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 i. introduction knee injuries are a common nuisance in the lives of many eliteathletes. injury to a major joint, such as the knee, can besubstantial. knee injuries can stem from tissue damage, ligament (band of fibrous connective tissue that serves to connect bones) damage, and bone or cartilage damage. this paper will examine the anatomy of the knee joint and major knee injuries. the prevalence of knee injuries is demonstrated through statistics and an analysis of high-risk populations. orthopaedic surgery techniques such as acl reconstruction, meniscal repair/resection, and high tibial osteotomy will be discussed. hopper and grainger (2010) suggest that knee injuries are so widespread because physical activity and participation of sports are more readily accepted by the general population as a part of everyday life — more individuals engage in such activities, at higher intensity levels, and at a higher frequency than ever before. most of these injuries result from too much torque and torsion on the knee joint, which has not evolved in sync with the demands of physical activity. due to this imbalance, major knee injuries occur in greater numbers — in the us, over 200,000 acl tears are reported annually, with over half being reconstructed. advanced surgical techniques coupled with increased awareness can potentially prevent undesirable and extremely painful consequences of a knee injury. in situations where the injury is not prevented, accessibility to surgical and rehabilitative resources should be readily available. however, in private health care systems and undeveloped nations, the cost of repair is too high. the economic cost of repairing knee injuries impedes the quality of life in patients. therefore, the anatomy of the knee and glacial pace of evolution become much more important in the overall quality of life in active individuals. the failings of the knee joint and the financial cost of repair have a direct effect on the psychosocial health of the injured in private health care systems. in public health care systems, repairing major knee injuries can lead to greater gain in the economy by reducing the period that an individual is injured and unable to work 121 spanier and by removing the negative factors of injury that can impede the quality of life. ii. anatomy the knee joint consists of the tibiofemoral joint (which connects the two main bones in the leg – the superior femur and the inferior tibia) and the patellofemoral joint (which connects the femur and the patella – the “knee cap”). the menisci – two cartilaginous pads separating and reducing friction between the femur and the tibia — and the ligaments keep the joint stable (hopper & grainger, 2010). the menisci are divided into the medial meniscus, which is u-shaped, and the lateral meniscus, which is c-shaped; both consist of fibrous cartilage (hopper & grainger, 2010). they function as shock absorbers for impact on the knee joint. only one third of the menisci retain vascularity by adulthood, creating a challenging atmosphere for repair of damaged menisci, as lack of blood supply discourages healing (hopper & grainger, 2010). the cruciate ligaments consist of the anterior cruciate ligament (acl), which attaches to the anterior portion of the tibia, and the posterior cruciate ligament (pcl), which attaches to the posterior portion of the tibia (hopper & grainger, 2010). the acl and pcl cross over each other, forming an “x” deep within the knee joint (atanda jr, 2012). the x formation also accounts for the name cruciate as it means “crossing over”. together, they help keep the knee joint stable and prevent the tibia from moving too far forward (atanda jr, 2012). both cruciate ligaments can be seen in figure 1. the collateral ligaments include the medial collateral ligament (mcl) and the lateral collateral ligament (lcl), which both function as stabilizing elements of the knee joint (hopper & grainger, 2010). the term “collateral” in anatomy is defined as a subordinate or an accessory part. the mcl prevents the knee joint from buckling inwards, while the lcl prevents the knee joint from buckling outwards (brown education, 2004). 122 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 figure 1: head of right tibia seen from above, showing menisci and attachments of ligaments. image: gray’s anatomy (public domain) 123 spanier iii. common injuries knee injuries account for one quarter of all sporting injuries and take the longest time and effort to heal (brown education, 2004). the most common knee injuries are torn or severed ligaments (both cruciate and collateral) and meniscal tears (fadale & hulstyn, 2000). ligaments tears can be caused by contact, such as a football tackle or non-contact injuries, such as coming to a quick stop combined with a directional change (brown education, 2004). the combination of stopping quickly and changing direction simultaneously is the motion that most commonly induces ligament tears. meniscal tears occur due to a combination of stopping quickly and changing direction simultaneously. meniscal tears are more problematic than ligaments tears as there is a lack of blood supply for healing (kurzweil & friedman, 2002). medial meniscus tears are more common than lateral meniscus tears because the medial meniscus is attached to the mcl, making it more robust, less flexible, and less adaptable to rotation (hopper & grainger, 2012). for most elite athletes, tears in the ligaments and menisci of the knee joint require corrective surgery to allow for full rehabilitation (brown education, 2004). 1. ligament tears collateral ligament tears rarely require surgical intervention as they receive sufficient blood supply to promote optimal healing (lee et al., 2014). for collateral ligaments that are severely torn in the middle of the ligament, the torn ends of the ligament are sewn back together. for collateral ligaments that are torn at the point of connection with the femur or tibia, the collateral ligament can be sewn back to the point of connection using large sutures or reattached through the use of a bone staple or metal screw. cruciate ligament tears require surgical intervention ninety to one hundred percent of the time; for severe tears of the acl and pcl, reconstruction is necessary (brown education, 2004). acl and pcl reconstruction involve harvesting an allograft — a portion retracted from a specific type of cells such as, the 124 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 hamstring tendon or patellar tendon, then using the harvested graft to replace the severed ligament (atanda jr, 2012). after acl/pcl reconstruction, there is an extended period of rehabilitation, which lasts 6–18 months (brown education, 2004). intense physical therapy must be executed promptly after surgery and continued throughout the entire rehabilitation period (atanda jr, 2012). it should be noted that following pcl reconstruction, special emphasis is placed on the rehabilitation and strengthening of the quadriceps to protect the healing pcl (brown education, 2004). 2. meniscal tears meniscal tears require surgery for the majority of cases (hopper & grainger, 2010). if a tear is located in the region of available blood supply, then a meniscal repair is done, which simply involves sewing the torn ends back together (brown education, 2004). for tears that do not receive blood supply, a meniscal resection (meniscectomy) is necessary. a meniscectomy involves resecting, or cutting out, the damaged meniscus portion and then smoothing out the remaining portion of the meniscus (kurzweil & friedman, 2002). the recuperation period following a meniscal surgery is 4–6 weeks, but for elite athletes who devote hours of rehabilitation a day, the period can be as short as 2 weeks (fadale & hulstyn, 2000). however, there are disadvantages of meniscectomies, such as the development of osteoarthritis, which is defined as the degeneration of the bone and cartilage in a joint due to excessive impact (brown education, 2004). osteoarthritis can only be accommodated through a high tibial osteotomy or a full knee replacement (mauro & bradley, 2014). a high tibial osteotomy involves cutting the tibia and creating a wedge in the bone, then filling the wedge with a allograft of bone and fixing it in place with a plate and multiple screws. through this procedure, the weightbearing axis is shifted onto the healthy part of the knee, which improves the overall function of the joint (mauro & bradley, 2014). 125 spanier iv. the injured individual injuries affect the quality of life of the injured individual. injuries affect the physical aspect of a human being — major knee injuries can directly affect the ability to participate in sports, daily activities and employment requirements (louw et al., 2008). a sedentary lifestyle is considered a risk factor for systemic disease, disability, and death (louw et al., 2008). knee injuries reduce mobility, which can affect performance in employment settings and can lead to financial stress. injuries affect the psychological aspect of a human being as well — being injured often takes away an individual’s independence: “hope and social support are very important features in providing psychological help as people face life challenges such as sport injuries” (lu et al., 2013). independence plays a critical role in bringing personal meaning and enrichment to an individual’s life (zirkel & cantor, 1990). the injured individual must manage the pain of the injury but also manage detrition in other areas of their life due to said injury. therefore, the quality of life and the psychosocial health of the injured individual are often much lower than that of an individual whom is not injured. v. socioeconomic cost in new zealand, 238,488 knee ligament injuries were reported over a course of 5 years, and eighty percent of all knee ligament injuries required acl reconstruction surgery (gianotti, 2009). high-risk populations that are vulnerable to major knee injuries include females and adolescents (louw et al., 2008), and men between the ages 20–39 and 50–59 expose themselves to higher risk situations regarding potential knee injury than other age groups (gianotti, 2009). with the knowledge of the injury-inducing motion, it is apparent how easily the knee joint can give out by simply planting the foot the wrong way. knee injuries are becoming an epidemic and it is clear that the faulty anatomy of the knee cannot be changed by humans and will not be changed by evolution for thousands of years. therefore, the 126 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 surgical techniques discussed above begin to bear more importance in terms of quality of life of those injured. in most developed nations, knee repair surgeries are quite accessible. in public health care systems, these surgeries tend to have long wait times but they are actively performed upon all those that desire the surgery. however, in nations with private health care, affording the surgery then becomes an issue. the average cost of an acl reconstruction surgery is $10,326 us dollars (lubowitz & appleby, 2011). the median household income in the united states was $51,017 in 2012 (denavas-walt et al., 2013). the average household will not and cannot afford to spend one fifth of their total annual income on an elective knee repair surgery. even with health insurance, the patient would still get billed a large portion of the cost. therefore, in private health care systems, the quality of life of most injured patients is lowered and remains lowered for a prolonged period of time as a result of being unable to afford the corrective knee surgery. in contrast, in public health care systems nations such as canada, individuals do not have to spend any money out of pocket to receive corrective knee injury surgeries. canadians (and those in other public health care systems) have decreased periods of being injured, accelerated periods of recovery, and overall a greater quality of life. public health care systems provide the correct resources to remove the detrimental factors surrounding an injury without forcing injured individuals to finance one fifth of their total annual salary. through the process of surgically repairing major knee injuries for no cost out of pocket, society is in turn putting more money back into the economy by reducing the period individuals are injured, unable to work and collecting employment insurance. by increasing the quality of life of injured individuals through surgical repair, the society and the economy is stimulating itself. there are many components to the public versus private health care system debate, however, in terms of repairing major knee injuries and the general well-being of those injured, the public health care system is arguably more successful. in public health systems, the cost of a major knee repair is justified by the reduction in socioeconomic cost. 127 spanier vi. conclusion through the examination of the anatomy of the knee, the most common injuries, and corrective surgical techniques, a major issue is apparent – active individuals are not equipped to deal with the intense physical activity that they put their bodies through. evolution has not caught up with the demands that active individuals are placing on their knee joints and these joints eventually break down, leading to injuries that require surgical intervention. until evolution catches up with our desired demands, we can only use these preventative techniques to avoid major injuries to the imperative knee joint. the faulty anatomy of the knee joint and the glacial pace of evolution play a much larger role than just prevalence of injuries. the economic cost of major knee injury repairs is far too high in private health care systems, which in turn results in a poorer quality of psychosocial health in those injured and unable to receive the corrective surgeries. however, in public health systems, repairing major knee injuries can lead to societal and economic growth by reducing injury time and increasing quality of life. 128 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 references atanda jr, a. 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(2010). knee injuries. in p. robinson (eds.), essential radiology for sports medicine. new york: springer. kurzweil, p.r., & friedman, m.j. (2002). meniscus: resection, repair, and replacement. arthoscopy: the journal of arthroscopic & related surgery, 18(2), s1, 33–39. lee, y.h.d., siebold, r., & paessler, h.h. (2014). implant-free acl reconstruction: a review. archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery, 134(3), 395-404. louw, q. a., manilall, j., & grimmer, k. a. (2008). epidemiology of knee injuries among adolescents: a systematic review. british journal of sports medicine, 42(1), 2–10. lu, f.j.h., & hsu, y. (2013). injured athletes’ rehabilitation beliefs and subjective well-being: the contribution of hope and social support. journal of athletic training, 48(1), 92–98. lubowitz, j.h., & appleby, d. 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(2014). high tibial osteotomy. current orthopaedic practice. 25(1), 71–74. physioworks web site (n.d.). retrieved may 23, 2014, from http:// physioworks.com.au/injuries-conditions/regions/ligament-injury smith, j.o., wilson, a.j., & thomas, n.p. (2013). osteotomy around the knee: evolution principles and results. knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthoscopy, 21(1), 3– 22. snyder, j. (2013). acl reconstruction: when can i play again? retrieved may 23, 2014, from http://orthopedicmanualpt.com/tag/ physical-therapy/page/2/ zirkel, s., & cantor, n. (1990). personal construal of life tasks: those who struggle for independence. journal of personality and social psychology, 58(1), 172–185. 130 http://physioworks.com.au/injuries-conditions/regions/ligament-injury http://physioworks.com.au/injuries-conditions/regions/ligament-injury http://orthopedicmanualpt.com/tag/physical-therapy/page/2/ http://orthopedicmanualpt.com/tag/physical-therapy/page/2/ text box http://dx.doi.org/10.101 6/j.arthro.2011.06.001 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/bco.0000000000000053 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00167-012-2206-0 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.1.172 introduction anatomy common injuries ligament tears meniscal tears the injured individual socioeconomic cost conclusion the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 113 medicine for the masses: the placebo effect of early modern medical frontispieces and the commercialization of socialized medicine ryan church abstract: by focusing on a single case study of girolamo ruscelli‟s famous secreti del reverend donno alessio piemontese (1555), i argue that the frontispiece contained in this manuscript transformed the knowledge and practices contained within it through the placebo effect, thus helping to generate and mobilize social power through medical self-sufficiency. this tremendous change undercut the economic power of institutional medicine, thus altering the medical landscape toward a utilitarian model in the early modern period. key terms: early modern, books of secrets, placebo effect, frontispieces, socialized medicine. introduction secrets are things, whose reasons are not so clear that they might be known by everyone, but by their very nature are manifested only to a very few; nevertheless they contain certain seeds of discovery, which facilitate finding out the way toward discovering whatever the intellect may desire to know (eamon, 1994, p. 135) – so wrote the italian humanist tommaso garzoni (1549-1589) in his la piazza universal di tutte le professioni del mondo. here, we have a definition that fulfills the modern day criteria of secrets as “secretive,” but also one that describes secrets as a type of knowledge that “the intellect might desire to know” (eamon, 1994, p. 135). to be sure, that meant experimentation. this is an important distinction to make when discussing early modern books of secreti. recent studies on renaissance and early modern medical history have used a “ground up” approach, instead of focusing on academia, by looking at “the sick person‟s viewpoint” (gentilcore, 1998, p. 177), which can be described as a view of the medical world from those in the lower classes. in addition, books of secrets – instructional books for the lay-audience – have only recently begun to catch the attention of historians the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 114 of science. my discussion, therefore, will be less on academia‟s role and more on how these books transformed the medical landscape through this ground-up approach. these books, used by the literate population, give us a sense of how urban culture viewed medical treatment and what was believed to work – a stark difference from what academia uttered. figure 1: frontispiece of girolamo ruscelli’s secreti. 1555. http://honors.nmsu.edu/weamon/sci_secrets.html although there has been extensive research on the history of popular medicine in early modern europe, the role of visual imagery in healing practices has been largely overlooked. this article redresses this gap by examining the http://honors.nmsu.edu/weamon/sci_secrets.html the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 115 healing role of the frontispiece in books of secrets. by focusing on a single case study of girolamo ruscelli‟s famous secreti del reverend donno alessio piemontese (1555) (figure 1), i argue that the frontispiece contained in this manuscript helped transform the knowledge and practices contained within it through the placebo effect, thus helping to generate and mobilize social power through medical selfsufficiency. this tremendous change undercut the economic power of institutional medicine, altering the medical landscape toward a utilitarian model that benefited the masses in the early modern period. it is important to remember that during this period, imagery held a special place of significance and power (freedberg, 1989). due to the lower literacy rates of the period, great attention was placed on visual imagery as a source of knowledge and explanation. before turning to the frontispiece itself, first, i develop my argument by first examining the medical marketplace; second, i discuss the author girolamo ruscelli‟s remarkable story in the production of this book; and third, i examine the placebo effect from the modern perspective and try to transpose what we know today about what may have been happening back then. as i conclude, i draw these topics together while investigating aspects of performance theory to help unlock the power of the frontispiece in transforming the medical landscape. the medical marketplace by all accounts, it seems that the climate of exchange for knowledge, ideas and finance was perfect for the introduction of books of secrets to italian society (gentilcore, 1998). beginning in the renaissance, a gradual increase in consumerist attitudes took hold. as welch explains, “between 1400 and 1600, the daily business of buying and selling was an act of embedded social behavior” (2005, p. 8). to be sure, by the time the early modern period arrived, this flicker of financial flame had been cast into a fiery inferno of economic indulgence. italians were buying, and how! from silk and spices to majolica, there was not much the italians were not interested in (brown, 2004). one of the more specialized areas of indulgence was medicine, for this was also a time rife with pandemics (boeckl, 2000, p. 72). these two colliding factors, the increase of pandemics paired with an inflated marketplace, provided a powerful force for driving the demand of medicinal books of all kinds. in addition to these physical forces, there was also a moral force pushing a particular type of medicinal book, the “how-to” book of secrets, written in italian. indeed, the sixteenth-century protestant reformation preached ideas of self-help; in certain aspects, this also meant the ability to heal oneself, and these books were the tools to do it. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 116 books of secrets provided the best option available for gaining utilitarian medical knowledge. during the reformation and counter-reformation, the catholic church stood vehemently in the way of these books; the spanish inquisition‟s prosecution of research leading to the publication of secreti is evidence of this stance. likewise, academia was also against the free movement of medical “knowhow.” from about the 12 th to the 15 th centuries, physicians were seen as the heirs of ancient texts from revered sources (siraisi, 2007, p. 64). many of these ancient texts are attributed to hippocrates, who was viewed as a divinely appointed discoverer of medical knowledge (siraisi, 2007, p. 79). these beliefs also reflected the common attitude of the college of physicians that people outside the profession were not supposed to know the contents of these revered books – an idea delivered in the 10 th and 11 th centuries from islamist sages and their medical cryptograms (eamon, 1994, p. 40). there was, it seems, a faustian mentality of overstepping your bounds when it came to seeking excessive knowledge in treacherous subjects (eamon, 1994, p. 62). along with this secrecy came the belief from the college of physicians that their form of medicine was supreme, which led them to “enforce the superiority of university medicine” (gentilcore, 1998, p. 159). but what was “university medicine,” and how did it differ from lay medicine practiced by charlatans, peddlers and, eventually, the philanthropist authors of books of secrets? here, it should be noted that in this medical landscape there were two different streams of thought flowing through both sectors of medicine. in the university curriculum, reason was seen as a more trustworthy and higher form of knowledge, while empirical experimentation was left to peddlers (eamon, 1994, p. 56; gentilcore, 2004, pp. 151-66). thus, experimentation was seen as a fringe science practiced by those who were set, as we will see, to change the medical landscape. some doctors actually practiced both forms of medicine, reason in the classroom and experimentation at home (mcvaugh, 1971, p. 111). from the perspective of modern medicine, we can now understand that medications brought about through experimentation would almost certainly outperform those brought about through reason alone. the increased cure rate among those medications created through empirical study would have fostered their own success. alessio peimontese’s secreti it is with these scientific thoughts that self-styled philanthropist and humanist ruscelli set forth in creating his famous secreti. disguising himself by using the pseudonym alessio piemontese for at least the first twelve years of publication, (eamon, 1994, p. 147), ruscelli formed the first italian medical academy in 1541 the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 117 dedicated strictly to the scientific pursuit of experimentation, the academia segreta (eamon & peheau, 1984, p. 329). within a compound built by a “generous duke” in a “famous city in naples” (eamon & peheau, 1984, p. 329), ruscelli and 27 members (eamon, 1994, p. 148) set forth in proving all the secrets of nature they could find (eamon & peheau, 1984, p. 333; findlen, 1994, p. 159). for a secret to be valid, it must be successful three times (findlin, 1994, p. 159) – thus forming the very beginning of the experimental method. within the secreti, we find 108 out of the 350 recipes to be medicinal in nature (eamon, 1994, p. 144; bell, 1999), with another third covering domestic recipes. these recipes are introduced to the reader through the preface that reads: “truly, i would not sette my selfe to write fables and lies, … there is nothing in this boke but what is true and experimented” (eamon, 1994, p. 139). the preface continues to tell about alessio piemontese‟s life, his collection of all the secrets of nature he could find, and the circumstances that arose whereby he relinquished these secrets because of his guilt and remorse for refusing treatment, which ultimately led to a patient‟s death. ruscelli almost certainly wrote this story, but it fits nicely with the paradigm of amassing faustian levels of knowledge and then needing a moralizing tale to release them. after all, it is out of kindness that he published this data, perhaps to clear his conscience. humanists such as ruscelli also believed that they were doing another service in divulging secrets jealously and selfishly guarded by practitioners (eamon, 1994, p. 139). he warns his readers that physicians “moved with a certaine rustick and evyll grounded envie, with a passion of jalousey, are wont to blame and contempne thinges that come not of themselves (eamon, 1994, p. 144). this then, sets up a showdown in the medical arena. as print culture expanded during the 16 th century – to be sure, some 15000-17000 books were printed in venice alone (eamon, 1994, p. 127) – physicians grew nervous. if you were sick, where would you turn? it seems a great deal turned to books of secrets. this new utilitarian medical landscape was made possible by the printing press (eisentein, 1979; eamon, 1984), an agent of social change that enlivened and reinvented print culture in italy during the early renaissance. by the early modern period, books of all sorts flooded the marketplace. one of the best sellers was ruscelli‟s secreti, which went through 70 editions and translations between 1555 and 1600 (eamon, 1994, p. 140; findlin, 1994, p. 229). the rise in popularity of books of secrets during the latter half of the 16 th century can be traced as far back as the black plague of 1348 and the great western schism. these events ultimately undermined the catholic church and helped foster the reformation some centuries later. william eamon, a noted and respected (barnett, 1996; dear, 1995) scholar in the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 118 renaissance and early modern books of secrets and italian cultural history, has noted “the role of the protestant reformation in stimulating self-improvement” (eamon, 1994, p. 126). this role was obviously noted by ruscelli, who chose as his pseudonym, alessio piemontese (alessio of piedmont) – an area in northern italy known as a center for protestantism, and one geographically close to the publishing houses of venice, the location of its production. to this end, it should also be noted that in 1548, the spanish inquisition arrived in southern italy, an area not as tolerant as piedmont to ideas of utilitarian medical knowledge. this caused ruscelli to flee to venice to avoid persecution. his ideas on experimental knowledge were dangerous to the catholic church, since they wanted the monopoly on salvation through their institution. the frontispiece: a powerful vehicle for the placebo effect in modern science, the placebo effect is well known (nuhn, et al., 2010; beedie & foad, 2009). as john welch states,“the power of placebo relies on ritual, the interaction with the patient [and] the space in which it‟s performed” (2003, p. 21). the placebo effect also gives power and authority (mctavish, 2005) through display and ritual to an object that may otherwise not have such power. put scientifically, the “effect a drug has upon an individual [is also] due to the meaning of symbolic importance attached to its use, rather than to its pharmacologic or physiologic properties alone” (brody, 1998).these aspects of the placebo effect can be seen in secreti. in the frontispiece, we can see that alessio piemontese is displayed prominently at the top. this would be a powerful indicator of the possibilities of self-improvement lying within the book, since it is implied that alessio of piedmont wrote this book with the intention that you would be able to cure yourself, as is stated in protestantism. this is an example of the placebo effect of words. every word has meaning, and piemontese would conjure up these notions of selfimprovement in the literate public. it is important to stress that the popularity of these books also strongly correlates with literacy rates during the period (eamon, 1985), which relates back to the rise in print culture due to the invention of the printing press. this circular dichotomy rotated the economic engine of the medical economy, continually fostering greater involvement in learning and self-medication. the significance of this cannot be overstated, as this is the main economic driving force behind the success of these books. moving down the frontispiece, we see the main emblem, the symbol of a winged lion of st. mark, “the oldest and most universal symbol of the [venetian] republic” (brown, 1997, p. 80). he stands atop the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 119 the globe displaying venice prominently with a sword and an open book in his hands bearing the inscription: pax tibi marce evangelista mevs (peace unto you, mark my evangelist) (brown, 1997, p. 81). st. mark was seen as the protector of venice – in times of medical pandemics, this symbol seems appropriate (freedberg, 1989). performance aspects of the secreti as cavallo and gentilcore note, not much attention has been placed on the domestic space as a setting for medicine (cavallo & gentilcore, 2007, p. 474). however, the location of these books within the italian studiolo is central to the performance aspect of these books and the role ritual played in harnessing their power through the eyes of those who used them. the studiolo was a place of learning and quiet contemplation. it was also a place of invitation and transmission of knowledge (brown, 1997, p. 221). the fact that these books were housed in this space gave them added power; where they were read determined how they were read (livingston, 2005). the underlying rationale is that if you are inclined to believe something will work, you stand a better chance of being made a believer, and the location of this inclination matters. if we look further at the use of these books, we will see an interesting power dynamic. those reading from this book can be thought of as holders of knowledge and power – not unlike our modern day “physician.” those receiving this knowledge can be thought of as “patients.” therefore, we have an example of the modern day physician-patient relationship, which places the physician as the holder of knowledge and the patient as the receiver. this gives the owners of these books a special place within the community, and no doubt led to the commercial success of these books. in addition to the importance of where books of secrets were consulted, scholars have also noted that ritual images, such as those found on the ruscelli frontispiece, display power and connect “society and culture by creating experiences that affirm and thereby make authoritative a society‟s world views and ethos” (alexander, 1994). such a ritual role can be seen in the depiction of the winged lion of st. mark, symbol of venice. the image of st. mark displayed the ethos of venetian society. the inclusion on the frontispiece of secreti displays a complex layering of meaning, power and knowledge that is transferred to the secrets kept inside. the ritual role of the image of st. mark is supported by emblem theory, which decodes an emblem in three parts: inscriptio, picturio and subscription (daly, 1998, p. 7). the most important of the three parts for understanding the ritual role of the image of st. mark is picturio. literate and non-literate alike can understand this the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 120 part, so it has the ability to communicate to and help transform the largest segment of society. with respect to the imagery of st. mark, as an emblem that relates to the identity of the city, this emblem would have been visible as a series of mosaics in the church of san marco. of the many stories of st. mark, one, during his time in alexandria, stands out. here, he is said to have miraculously cured anianus, a cobbler who mangled his hand with an awl (hall, 1974, p. 199). many venetians and italians would have been familiar with these stories, along with the symbolic association of miraculous cures. this emblem was intended primarily for an italian audience. the constraints of production of this book define its meaning and audience (chartier, 1995). given the power and knowledge contained in these books as represented in the frontispiece, they altered the social and medical landscape. before 1555, if an individual wanted treatment and was not wealthy, one had no choice but to consult with a charlatan and pay the current rate. these books altered that pattern and did away with social stratification in the medical sphere. it is a small step from buying drugs from the pharmacist to making them at home (eamon, 1994, p. 138). pharmacists had to adapt and bring in ingredients that could fill the demand of the recipes in these books. however, owners and users of ruscelli‟s secreti would probably be part of a privileged group in any community. literacy and wealth often come together, and both were needed for this “how to” book. the ingredients list is extensive and would require some wealth to prepare. this is another feature of the textual placebo effect described earlier: the longer the ingredients list, the better you presume it will work. in addition, the sheer length of these recipes places the owner in a unique position as a community healer – a person to be respected and revered. as competition for medical services grew, services switched to drugs that could cure specific illnesses (eamon, 1994, p. 138). physicians were now treating as the books treated. this radically shifted the medical landscape to a more utilitarian model. economically, these practices shifted the sum total of wealth circulating in the medical field to a larger proportion of the population. conclusion the appearance of girolamo ruscelli‟s secreti del reverend donno alessio piemontese in 1555 was a landmark achievement in the history of science. it helped radically alter the medical landscape toward a utilitarian model and opened a new avenue of thought previously concealed and declared treacherous. using a “ground up” approach, i have surveyed the various avenues of medical treatment available to patients during this period, along with the economic ramifications they faced in both streams of the medical economy. due to the introduction of these books, academia the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 121 and institutionalized medicine was forced to react, sometimes violently. this article elucidates the impact of protestantism and the ideal of self-empowerment on the medical landscape. as well, the placebo effects of the frontispiece had a resounding impact, transplanting knowledge and power from the college of physicians to the recipes listed within ruscelli‟s secreti. the urging of an increasingly literate public hungry for new ideas, along with a ravenous consumerist climate, catalyzed this commercialization of social medicine. references alexander, b.c. (1994). an afterward on ritual and biblical studies. sennia, 67, 209-25. barnett, m. (1996). review of science and the secrets of nature .the journal of interdisciplinary history 27, no. 2, pp. 107-108. beedie, c.j. and foad, a. j. (2009). the placebo effect in sports performance: a brief review. sports medicine, 39, 313-29. bell, r. (1999). how to do it. chicago: university of chicago press. boeckl, c. (2000). images of plague and pestilence. missouri: truman state university press. brody, h. (1988). the symbolic power of the modern personal physician: the placebo effect under challenge. the journal of drug issues, 18, 147-61. brown, p. f. (1997). art and life in renaissance venice. new jersey: prentice hall. brown, p. f. (2004). private lives in renaissance venice. new haven: yale university press. cavallo, s. and gentilcore,d. (2007). introduction: spaces, objects and identities in early modern medicine. renaissance studies, 21, 473-79. chartier, r. (1995). form and meanings: texts, performances, and audiences from codex to computer. philadelphia: university of pennsylvania press. daly, p. (1998). literature in the light of the emblem: structural parallels between the emblem and literature in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. university of toronto press, toronto. dear, p. (1995). review of science and the secrets of nature. social studies of science 25, no. 2, pp. 388-393. eamon, w. (1994). science and the secrets of nature. new jersey: princeton university press. eamon, w. (1984). arcana disclosed: the advent of printing, the books of secrets tradition and the development of experimental science in the sixteenth century. history of science, 22, 111-150. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 122 eamon, w. (1985). science and popular culture in sixteenth century italy: the „professors of secrets‟ and their books. the sixteenth century journal, 16, 471-85. eamon, w. and peheau, f. (1984). the accademia segreta of girolamo ruscelli: a sixteenth-century italian scientific society. isis, 75, 327-342. eisentein, e. (1979). the printing press as an agent of change. cambridge: cambridge university press. freedberg, d. (1989). the power of images: studies in the history and theory of response. chicago: university of chicago press. findlen, p. (1994). possessing nature: museums, collecting, and scientific culture in early modern italy. berkeley: university of california press. furguson, j. (may 7 th 1930). the secrets of alexis: a sixteenth century collection of medical and technical receipts. paper presented at a meeting of a section of the history of medicine, university of glasgow. gentilcore, d. (1998). healers and healing in early modern italy. manchester: manchester university press. gentilcore, d. (2004). was there a „popular medicine‟ in early modern europe? folklore, 115, 151-66. hall, j. (1974). hall’s dictionary of subjects and symbols in art. cambridge: cambridge university press. livingston, d. (2005). science, text and space: thoughts on the geography of reading. transactions of the institute of british geographers, 30, 391-401. mctavish, l. (2005). childbirth and the display of authority in early modern france. ashgate. mcvaugh, m. (1971). the experimenta of arnold villanova. journal of medieval and renaissance studies, 1, 107-18. nuhn, t. et al. (2010). placebo effect sizes in homeopathic compared to conventional drugs – a systematic review of randomized controlled trails. homeopathy, 99, 76-82. siraisi, n. (2007). history, medicine, and the traditions of renaissance learning, ann arbor: university of michigan press. welch, e. (2005). shopping in the renaissance. new haven: yale university press. welch, j. (2003). ritual in western medicine and its role in placebo healing. journal of religion and health, 42, 21-33. contact information ryan church, from the department of history in art, can be reached at newton.davinci@gmail.com. mailto:newton.davinci@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: church 123 acknowledgements thanks to: dr. erin campbell, associate professor, department of history in art, university of victoria; jamie kemp, doctoral candidate, department of history in art, university of victoria; the learning and teaching centre, university of victoria, jcura award funder. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 124 of things unseen: finding the estate in jane austen’s persuasion rebecca rogers abstract: in persuasion, jane austen draws a connection between anne elliot‟s loss of the kellynch hall estate and the pervasive presence of war. expanding upon favret‟s (2010) valuable discussion of persuasion as a record of the napoleonic wars, i put forward that the war assumes symbolic significance as an expression of anne‟s loss of the estate. both are conditions defined by uncertainty, disorder, and a lack of security. for this reason, the members of the navy with whom anne establishes friendships, in particular admiral croft and captains harville and wentworth, provide her with the most satisfactory model for living that she will encounter upon leaving the estate; their experiences under conditions of war are similar to her own dislocation from kellynch. anne appreciates the idea of peace these men have established upon the creative capacity of the individual. while monaghan (1980) suggests that anne‟s failure to find an adequate substitute for the estate represents a key weakness of persuasion, i suggest instead that this is, in fact, the novel‟s greatest strength. austen deliberately divorces her heroine from place in order to affirm the estate as an essentially spiritual, rather than physical, institution. anne is therefore challenged in a way no other of austen‟s heroines has been; she is challenged both to believe in, and cultivate, an ideal which she is no longer able to see. key terms: jane austen, persuasion, wartime, the estate, peace introduction though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. (emerson) in persuasion, jane austen must radically redefine her idea of peace. while the traditional conception of peace which austen upholds in her previous novels is intimately connected with the social and financial security offered by landed the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 125 inheritance, in persuasion this stability and assurance is no longer available. anne elliot, the youngest daughter of the profligate sir walter elliot, loses the kellynch hall estate twice: first when her father‟s mismanagement forces the removal of the family and for a second time with her marriage to captain wentworth. while in both pride and prejudice and emma the estate offers relief from uncertainty, in persuasion no such reprieve is available. this experience of losing the estate as an external manifestation of order becomes comparable to a state of war, defined by uncertainty, disorder, and a lack of security. a figurative state of war persists as society continues to change, and the traditional values anne cherishes are no longer to be found in inherited institutions. austen‟s idea of peace, then, can no longer be contingent upon the reassuring presence of the estate. integral to anne‟s recovery from this loss is her friendships with members of the royal navy: residence of kellynch hall has been taken up by admiral croft, the brother-in-law of captain wentworth. austen shows how these naval characters have developed a conception of peace that is not conditional upon outside circumstance; instead, it is one built upon the tremendous creative potential of the individual. in celebrating the affirmative attitude of the navy, austen adopts spinoza‟s view that “peace does not exist in the absence of war, but is a virtue based on strength of character” (as cited in steinberg, 2009, 3.2). place and peace set during the false peace of 1814, the period of napoleon‟s exile in elba, persuasion is austen‟s only novel that offers an actual reprieve from war; it is somewhat ironic, then, that the novel often noted to be the most deeply invested in wartime experience is, in fact, the only one explicitly set during a period of peace. this is, however, a “peace that is no peace” (favret, 2010, p. 162). favret, following spinoza, recognizes that in persuasion peace does not exist merely in the absence of war. while favret (2010) refers to how war literally infiltrates the novel, calling persuasion “an everyday record of the felt if not acknowledged experience of war” (p. 163), i argue instead that the presence of war becomes symbolic of social change. as drum (2009) comments, “an older, agrarian life may be the reason that mansfield park and emma represent […] all that is stable and ordered in country life”(p. 93); in losing this agrarian life, the world of persuasion also suffers the loss of order and stability. monaghan (1980) sees this absence of order as a key failing of persuasion, concluding that “the society into which anne is entering remains too chaotic and disorganized to be considered an adequate substitute for such beautifully ordered worlds as pemberley and highbury” (p. 145). the problem here is that monaghan assumes that austen is trying to find “an adequate substitute” the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 126 for the old world anne is losing. i suggest instead that anne‟s irrevocable loss of a place, an outward expression of her deeply-seated inward values, is a deliberate gesture which austen conflates with the threat of continued war. in offering anne the opportunity of returning to the family estate, which she refuses, austen directly confronts the ideas of happiness and peace she once celebrated. in chapter 21 of persuasion, the idea of peace is explicitly connected with landed inheritance by mrs. smith. in responding to what she believes to be anne‟s intention to marry mr. elliot, who will inherit anne‟s once-beloved kellynch hall, mrs. smith expresses her relief that “[anne‟s] happiness will not be shipwrecked as [hers] has been. [she] will be safe in all worldly matters” (p. 372). for mrs. smith, peace is inseparable from place; her comfort is defined and restricted by the circumstances under which she lives. in associating the condition of peace with the stability offered by the estate, it is defined as inherently conditional upon outside circumstance; in accepting an offer of marriage which would tie her inalienably to the land, anne would suffer no insecurity or uncertainty concerning her future. through mrs. smith, austen describes this conception of social peace explicitly in terms of war: while remaining connected with the estate offers a consummate ideal of peace, anne‟s removal from it (realized in her eventual marriage to captain wentworth) is expressed as a “shipwreck,” a disaster of warfare. the loss of the estate results in a condition of inherent uncertainty, doubt, and, as mrs. smith suggests, of danger. in marrying wentworth, anne is no longer “safe.” austen recognizes that mrs. smith‟s attachment to place is inherently flawed: what persuasion represents, then, is an effort to reclaim an unconditional “strength of character” which is the true force behind the estate. place and purpose in persuasion, as duckworth (1971) succinctly comments, “the estate is defeated” (p. 185). as anne‟s sister mary reflects with great self-satisfaction at the end of the novel, in choosing to marry captain wentworth “anne [has] no uppercross hall before her, no landed estate, no headship of a family” (persuasion, p. 478). it is the only of austen‟s novels in which the heroine does not become an integral part of an estate, either as mistress of the great house or of the rectory. in austen‟s previous fiction, most notably in pride and prejudice and emma, the estate assumes a strong formative presence in the lives and growth of the heroine. the heroine is conditioned by the estate as an “outward and visible sign of an inward moral condition” (duckworth, 1971, p. 182). through observing the estate as an integrated and meaningful whole, characters such as elizabeth bennett and emma woodhouse form deep awareness and appreciation of their own valuable roles within the the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 127 community. the estate reflects an ideal of social and moral order which these characters are then able to recognize within themselves. with the affirmative presence of pemberley and donwell abbey, elizabeth and emma enjoy both the benefit and the comfort of having a “physical emblem” of this ideal to guide them as they fulfill their telos (duckworth, 1971, p. 184). in persuasion, however, anne is summarily denied this comfort: she is no longer able to find in the estate the “objective paradigm of order” which exists within herself (duckworth, 1971, p. 184). there is no outward correlative for the inward ideal which anne resolutely persists in upholding. the two estates featured in persuasion, kellynch hall and uppercross, have both failed in their mandate to foster and strengthen community through active attention and stewardship. insulated and self-absorbed, the elliots (and, to a lesser extent, the musgroves) have violated the “office of trust” with which they have been endowed (duckworth, 1971, p. 56); they have distorted their proper role within society into one of privilege and leisure, rather than of responsibility and duty to those they are meant to serve. sir walter is “a foolish, spendthrift baronet,” consummately self-obsessed and profligate, wasting not only his money but his time; he spends every available moment indulging in the family history of the baronetage, rather than in devoting his time to altruistic action (persuasion, p. 474). only anne fulfills her duty selflessly, tending to the poor with concern and compassion. sir walter and elizabeth, on the other hand, are perfectly content to “cut off some unnecessary charities” in their half-hearted effort to economize (persuasion, p. 16). with his vanity and inordinate concern for personal appearance, sir walter disregards substance entirely. the estate is literally reduced to its face value, deprived of function and meaning. although less at fault than the elliots, the musgroves at uppercross are also implicated in the general failure of the estate. the musgroves‟ highly insulated interests attest to an increasingly fragmented society: anne notes that at uppercross “the mr. musgroves had their own game to guard, and to destroy; their own horses, dogs, and newspapers to engage them” (persuasion, p. 80; italics mine). as frey (2005) notes, “[the musgroves‟] inability to share the concerns even of people so like themselves as anne elliot suggests the impossibility of imagining an aggregate whole” (p. 218). no longer predicated upon traditional social and moral values, these communities based in landed inheritance have abandoned their fundamental imperative to sustain and strengthen connection among individuals. with the irrecoverable loss of the estate as a visible connecting force within society, persuasion represents a radical break with austen‟s previous fiction. in both pride and prejudice and emma, the exuberant individualism of the heroines the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 128 conforms to the social structure they observe in the form of the estate; both elizabeth bennett and emma woodhouse passively submit to an institution which exists a priori of their involvement in it. in both cases, their telos is made explicit through the visible presence of pemberley and donwell abbey. what makes persuasion so poignant is that because she loses the estate, anne‟s telos is no longer clear. this does not mean, however, that it no longer exists; as butler (1975) has affirmed, persuasion “remains in line with the conservative philosophy” of austen‟s previous novels (butler, 1975, p. 276). far from abolishing telos, austen affirms on the contrary that it exists first within the self as something similar to spinoza‟s “strength of character.” this movement towards the individual is evident in mansfield park, where the integrity of the estate, as a moral and social institution, is sustained purely through the value and energy of the hands which care for it (duckworth, 1971, p. 80). rather than existing a priori of human stewardship as a meaningful and effective institution, the estate must be deliberately invested with purpose; it is from the individual which “must come the affirmative response, and the courage to maintain faith in „principles‟ and „rules of right‟ even when these are everywhere ignored and debased” (duckworth, 1971, p. 80). what mansfield park anticipates – the necessary presence of fanny to the health of the estate – persuasion carries to its furthest possible extreme. in persuasion, the true estate which austen extols is, in fact, contained immanently within the individual. beginning as an essentially inward impulse, it is furnished through the creative energy and effort of the self. “vigour of form”: creating a new estate for austen, those characters belonging to the navy, with its robust and enterprising “vigour of form,” exemplify the true estate (persuasion, ch. 92). this estate, though not expressed through a grand and elaborate physical structure, emerges powerfully and passionately from the ingenuity of the individual. upon entering captain harville‟s modest home, “a residence unexpensive, and by the sea,” anne is filled with profound admiration for what harville has been able to achieve within the limited space (persuasion, p. 186): [anne] was soon lost in the pleasanter feelings which sprang from the sight of all the ingenious contrivances and nice arrangements of captain harville, to turn the space into the best possible account, to supply the deficiencies of lodging – house furniture, and defend the windows and doors against winter storms to be expected (p. 188; italics mine). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 129 captain harville is not defined by the limitations of the space in which he lives; instead, the space responds to, and is created by, his own efforts and resourcefulness. it becomes both a reflection and a celebration of an inward impulse. anne, who as duckworth (1971) notes is on “a journey in search of spiritual stability” after having been removed from kellynch, responds very keenly to this powerful creativity (p. 185). it is not only the fact that harville demonstrates such admirable resourcefulness and initiative, but also that this is so purely unconditional upon circumstance and location. this is anne‟s first experience of life outside of an actual estate, and it is remarkably reassuring for her. while mrs. smith is often considered an exemplar of stoicism, the fact that she assumes a necessary connection between comfort and circumstance betrays this as a fallacy. it is captain harville, and not mrs. smith, who realizes the true meaning of peace: to draw from inner resources, and do one‟s best with what one has been given. during their time of residence at kellynch hall, through their own ruggedly utilitarian ethos the crofts transform the once-misused building into a properly functioning estate. the skills and strong sense of obligation to community which the navy had promoted “prove eminently transferable to their new home” (frey, 2005, p. 217). anne is highly impressed and gratified at the care and attention with which the crofts have invested their role within the new community: [anne] had in fact so high an opinion of the crofts, and considered her father so very fortune in his tenants, felt the parish to be so sure of a good example, and the poor of the best attention and relief, that however sorry and ashamed for the necessity of the removal, she could not but in conscience feel that they were gone who deserved not to stay, and that kellynch-hall had passed into better hands than its owners” (p. 234). in their compassion for the poor, and care in setting a good example for the parish, the crofts are able to “better fulfill the obligations and duties which the aristocracy neglects” (frey, 2005, p. 219). anne is keenly aware that her own family had not deserved their residence at kellynch, having failed in “the duty of patrician care” that was their express responsibility (frey, 2005, p. 219). anne recognizes that this is a position which is earned strictly through merit. having made several worthwhile adjustments to the house proper, admiral croft proudly declares of his improvements that “the few alterations [they] have made have been very much for the better” (persuasion, p. 238). kellynch, like captain harville‟s house, reflects the efforts of the individual who inhabits it. in every respect, “the navy offers a more congenial model for living than what anne elliot has yet experienced” (favret, 2010, p. 166). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 130 austen‟s praise of the navy, however, does invite one justifiable objection. as favret (2010) puts it, “what happens to our understanding of warfare, of these men‟s profession, when we – or anne – choose it as a happier version of the everyday?” (p. 166). how is it that austen can justify a model of society which privileges war over peacetime? even if this were not in itself inherently problematic, there is one other purely logistical problem with offering the navy as an alternative to the aristocracy: it is a fundamentally itinerant profession. in attempting to describe how admiral croft both literally and symbolically assumes the role once held by the landowner, frey (2005) writes that the admiral “literally moves into the elliot estate” (p. 217). this is true, perhaps, for a time, but it remains nonetheless an impermanent residence. the problem remains how austen can justify, or even sustain, a model of society which is inherently contingent upon a state of war. this difficulty is even more salient given the fact that when persuasion was written, the war was already over; surely austen must have known that even if the navy was still enjoying its moment of glory, this would not last forever. frey (2005) suggests a compelling answer to this problem, seeing the navy as one branch of a robust professionalism which will revitalize society. this argument falls short, however, because it implicitly excludes anne. i suggest, as an alternative, that in persuasion the presence of war is symbolic of the uncertainty and danger faced by anne in her loss of kellynch. the world does not have to be literally in a state of war to elicit this uncertainty; it is an essential condition of a changing society, one which will continue to persist long after waterloo. in a society that is rapidly moving away from a visible emblem of traditional values, the navy best understands where these values come from in the first place: within the individual. “original strength”: the self and providence captain wentworth most fully embodies the temerity and fearlessness these literal and figurative states of war demand. the active, enterprising initiative wentworth exemplifies is necessary not only in wartime success, but also in cultivating the spiritual estate anne values. it is important to recognize how closely austen relates war with a marriage that would result in the loss of an estate: both demand an extraordinary degree of confidence – and, we will see, faith – because the end is no longer visible. their situations are essentially the same, but there is an important difference between the two. in chapter 4, when anne and wentworth‟s history is recounted, wentworth‟s untouchable chutzpah is in fine form: in 1806 wentworth is not yet wealthy, “but he was confident he would soon be rich: full of life and ardor, he knew he would soon have a ship, and soon be on a station that would lead to the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 131 everything he wanted. he had always been lucky; he knew he should be so still” (persuasion, p. 50). this passage, of course, is wentworth‟s voice through free indirect speech; the full force of his indomitable self-certainty emerges from the text. the boldness with which wentworth anticipates his future is, to be sure, something we are meant to admire. the fact that austen qualifies this speech with the use of free indirect speech, however, suggests a certain reticence on the part of the author to completely condone his attitude. as marilyn butler (1975) points out, wentworth is a “well-intentioned but ideologically mistaken hero” (p. 275). his confidence in fortuity (“he had always been lucky”; italics mine) is particularly flawed, and something which contrasts sharply with anne‟s own attitude. duckworth (1971) roundly comments that “not a providential ordering, but an existence in which luck and fortuitous circumstances play a predominant part, defines the world of persuasion” (p. 182). this is not, however, the case, although it may be how wentworth sees things (at least initially). anne‟s approach to an uncertain future is very different. reflecting on her broken engagement, anne inwardly expresses her regret: “how eloquent [. . .] were her wishes on the side of early warm attachment, and a cheerful confidence in futurity, against that overanxious caution which seems to insult exertion and distrust providence!” (persuasion, 54-6; italics mine) wentworth clearly embraces the value of exertion, but to this anne adds the necessity of trusting in providence. this necessity reflects anne‟s intuitive understanding of the true estate as a fundamentally spiritual institution, which continues to exist even in the absence of an external representation. although through marriage she loses the “physical emblem” of the estate, she continues to carry its spiritual purpose with her. in the final chapters, wentworth comes very close to accepting anne‟s own belief in providence. he tells her with some self-reproach that “[he has] been used to the gratification of believing [himself] to earn every blessing he enjoyed” (persuasion, p.472). though self-assurance is doubtless a quality which austen celebrates in her hero, wentworth‟s belief in a closed relationship between effort and reward precludes the influence of divine providence. wentworth‟s inexorable faith in the self, as butler (1975) suggests, is too close to hubris for comfort (p. 276). when wentworth delivers his famous speech extolling the qualities of the nut, he boldly praises its “original strength”; wentworth brashly repeals the entire christian doctrine of original sin in one word (persuasion, p. 166). yet by the end of the novel he revokes this bold assertion, telling anne in a chastened tone: “i must endeavour to subdue my mind to my fortune. i must learn to brook being happier than i deserve” (persuasion, p. 472). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 132 conclusion persuasion, alone among austen‟s novels, does not end on a note of unmitigated joy and promise. we are left, instead, with “the dread of a future war” (ch. 24). anne‟s willful loss of security conflates with her husband‟s profession; the absence of the estate and the threat of war become a single experience. yet for all its undeniable challenges, the experience remains an essentially purifying one. anne‟s loss of the estate through her marriage with wentworth, and the consequent uncertainty which this loss engenders, demands a robustly pauline definition of faith: anne‟s faith in the future must now be the evidence of things unseen. what makes persuasion so moving is that anne, alone of austen‟s heroines, is challenged to believe in the integrity of her god-given telos even without being able to see it. she can no longer find her ideals outside of herself; she must bring them into the world, like the navy she admires, through her own efforts. anne knows, however, that this exertion must necessarily go hand in hand with an implicit trust in providence. although genuine peace is something of which we are ourselves at the helm, it also requires the faith that there is a port beyond the storms that blind us. references austen, j. (2010). the annotated persuasion. ed. david m. shapard. new york, anchor books. butler, m. (1975). jane austen and the war of ideas. oxford: clarendon press. drum, a. (2009). pride and prestige: jane austen and the professions. college literature, 36(3), 92-115. duckworth, a. (1971). the improvement of the estate: a study of jane austen’s novels. baltimore: johns hopkins press. emerson, r. w. (n.d.) art. in essays (12). retrieved from http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/rwemerson/bl-rwemer-essays12.htm. favret, m. (2010). war at a distance: romanticism and the making of modern wartime. princeton: princeton university press. frey, a. 2005. a nation without nationalism: the reorganization of feeling in austen's „persuasion.‟ novel: a forum on fiction, 38(2), 214-234. knox-shaw, p. (2004). jane austen and the enlightenment. cambridge: cambridge university press. monaghan, d. (1980). jane austen: structure and social vision. london: the macmillan press ltd. southam, b. (2000). jane austen and the navy. london: hambledon and london. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: rogers 133 steinberg, j. (2009). spinoza's political philosophy. the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. ed. edward n. zalta. retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/. contact information rebecca rogers, from the department of english, can be reached at rebeccamary.rogers@gmail.com. acknowledgements many thanks to dr. robert miles, whose guidance, support and encouragement have made this research such a rewarding and enjoyable experience. i would also like to thank professor rebecca gagan for her invaluable guidance and inspiration. lastly, i‟d like to thank those many individuals whose kindness and courage remind me that our world is always what we bring to it. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/ mailto:rebeccamary.rogers@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 53 question bridge: black males socially engaged art and the politics of dialogue sara fruchtman abstract: question bridge: black males is a ‗trans-media‘ art project created by hank willis thomas and chris johnson in collaboration with bayeté ross smith and kamal sinclair. the artists travelled throughout the united states for four years to engage more than 150 black men in an intercultural dialogue about identity and representation. these exchanges are part of socially engaged art practices that grant h. kester calls ―dialogical aesthetics‖ in which artists adopt a collaborative, process-based approach to facilitate a dialogue within communities. as an artwork that is based on conversation, collaboration and community engagement, question bridge offers an opportunity to explore the potential for creative expression to engage social issues and stimulate change. this article uses kester‘s ―dialogical aesthetics‖ to examine the relationship between dialogue and identity formation. drawing on postcolonial theorists frantz fanon and bell hooks, as well as jürgen habermas‘ conception of the public sphere, i argue that question bridge creates an opportunity for transformational dialogues that challenge and ultimately deconstruct dominant stereotypes and popular media narratives. key terms: question bridge: black males, trans-media art, socially engaged art, dialogical aesthetics, dialogue, identity, postcolonial theory, self-determination, habermas, public sphere, communicative action. introduction question bridge: black males is an art project created by hank willis thomas and chris johnson in collaboration with bayeté ross smith and kamal sinclair. the collaborators traveled to twelve cities to interview more than 150 black men, who span generational, economic and educational backgrounds, in order to create a video archive of their collective 1,500 questions and answers (hendrick, 2012). however, the artists did not interview the participants in the traditional sense; in fact, they did the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 54 not prompt any of the questions. rather, they asked the participants to think of the questions they have always wanted to ask other black men. all of the question and answer exchanges were filmed separately. the filmed questions were then shown to other participants who generated answers (johnson, personal communication, april 13, 2012). this footage was subsequently edited together to create a three-hour group conversation about black male identity/ies. figure 1. chris johnson, hank willis thomas, with kamal sinclai and bayeté ross smith. stills from question bridge: black males, 2012. multichannel video installation. this image is used courtesy of chris johnson and hank willis thomas. the installation was exhibited at five venues across the united states, 1 including the brooklyn museum. visitors entered a dimly lit room to find hanging panels that displayed the blurred faces of black men (figure 1). beyond the panels, five video monitors were installed on large black vertical columns, arranged in an arc in the 1 question bridge: black males was exhibited at the brooklyn museum (january 13 july 15), the oakland museum of california (january 21 – july 8), the utah museum of contemporary art (january 20 to may 19) and the city gallery at chastain atlanta (january 27 – march 10). it was also screened at sundance film festival (january 17 – 27). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 55 centre of the room. the video monitors projected clips of black men speaking directly to the camera. on one screen, a man‘s face came into view to pose a question. on the four adjacent screens, the faces of four men appeared, who were filmed listening to the question and then providing four different answers (figure 2). taken together, the men engaged in a collective dialogue about love, family, sexuality, interracial relationships, community, class, and violence, as well as race and racial identity in america. the gallery room filled with visitors who stood in the semi-circular space ‗bearing witness‘ to the dialogue. the artists described the visitors as ―privileged witnesses‖ to emphasize that they were not passive but active listeners (hendrick, 2012). nor were they silent; they continued the conversation at the end of the video to further activate the installation. figure 2. chris johnson, hank willis thomas, with kamal sinclai and bayeté ross smith. stills from question bridge: black males, 2012. multichannel video installation. this image is used courtesy of chris johnson and hank willis thomas. question bridge is not confined to the installation. it continues through the development of an interactive website and other social media platforms, special the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 56 community events and roundtable discussions that have taken place across america, as well as the development of a high-school curriculum, which is currently being implemented at public schools in brooklyn and oakland (johnson, willis thomas, ross smith & sinclair, education, 2012). thus, the artists describe question bridge as a ‗trans-media‘ project, as opposed to a ‗multi-media‘ one, to capture the way in which it enacts discussion at multiple sites through the use of media. participants and witnesses at all of these sites are encouraged to address overarching questions about negotiating identities within intercultural and cross-cultural communities. theoretical framework this article explores question bridge: black males through grant h. kester‘s concept of ‗dialogical aesthetics.‘ kester (2004) defines dialogical aesthetics as socially engaged art that is ―concerned with the creative facilitation of dialogue and exchange‖ (p. 8). although artists have had a long tradition of creating work to provoke dialogue among viewers, such dialogue takes place in response to a finished work and is usually predicated on a model of one-way communication— from the artist, curator or critic to the viewer (finkelpearl, 2000, 278). in contrast, question bridge is based on a collaborative model, in which the artists‘ role is to provide ―context‖ for the conversation, rather than the ―content‖ (dunn, 2001, cited in kester, 1). further, as a ‗dialogical‘ artwork, question bridge facilitates a dialogue that continues to unfold beyond the gallery walls. as such, the ‗meaning‘ or significance of the work is not based on a finished product, but through a reading of the project‘s process. question bridge, like other socially engaged art practices, has its roots in social, cultural and political activism. as kester (2004) explains in conversation pieces: community and communication in modern art, it is difficult to contextualize dialogue-based art within mainstream art theory and criticism because it is usually dismissed for its lack of aesthetic value (p. 10). thus, this article further explores question bridge through the lens of post colonial theory and habermas‘ concept of the public sphere in order to demonstrate the significance of dialoguebased art and to situate this practice within a larger social and political context. the first section of this paper examines the project from the perspective of postcolonial theory and resistance. i apply frantz fanon‘s conception of ‗self-determination‘ as well as bell hooks‘ contemporary interpretations to explain the role of ‗story-telling‘ in the social conditioning of racial identities that these theorists have observed. storytelling has historically been used by the colonial power to shape the identities of colonized peoples, but it can also be used as a strategy for resistance (jefferess, 2008). the second section builds on the idea that dialogue, a form of storytelling, is the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 57 a potent political force by examining jürgen habermas‘ theory of the ‗public sphere‘ and ‗communicative action‘. habermas offers a theoretical framework to explain the relationship between public discourse, identity formation and political action. thus, this article demonstrates the potential for socially engaged art to facilitate transformational dialogues that deconstruct dominant stereotypes and media narratives. postcolonial theory postcolonial studies emerged as a critique of english literature and the ―politics of representation,‖ (jefferess, 2008, 4) recognizing how stories, put forth by the colonial power, can legitimize colonial domination by constructing the identity of the colonized through visual, textual and spoken representations. thus, frantz fanon, among others, explains that ‗liberation‘ not only requires dismantling political structures of domination, but also ‗transforming‘ the narratives that legitimize them (jefferess, 1). the question bridge project uses media to create a platform for self-determination by re-invigorating the capacity to imagine, see and describe oneself beyond the colonial framework. consider these fragments from the installation: tony snow: ―do you really feel free?‖ malik yoba: ―i find it interesting as i get older how many people allow their internal monologue to dictate their path toward negative results. so people often talk about what they can‘t do because they‘re black, or they‘re poor; because they don‘t come from the right family or they don‘t live in the right place. i think that life is a miracle…i experience miracles on a regular basis and the older i get the more than i can attribute it to the freedom that starts [in my mind]. no one‘s going to give me freedom. even if the world is saying something different, particularly if you live in america…we have no excuse but to own a sense of freedom, to own a sense of possibility, to own our future and it‘s not easy.‖ malik seneferu: ―being free has a lot to do with the ability to understand who you are…especially for me as a black man, as a child a lot of my existence was designed by the world around me and as i became older i was able to understand that this self that was developed or sculpted or painted into place was not me and i had to the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 58 redevelop and come to an understanding of who exactly i am from a historical reference and who i need to be to my family and community. so for that, no i am not free.‖ (johnson et al.., explore project, 2012) these answers powerfully explore the legacy of internalized racism described by post-colonial critics: ―i can attribute it to the freedom that starts [in my mind]. no one‘s going to give me freedom.‖ post-colonial scholars argue that dominant powers formally headed by the state are also spread throughout most of the power centers of our society. recognition of these cascading effects has precipitated what frantz fanon calls ―psycho-affective‖ attachment of the colonized to the colonizer in which colonized peoples come to identify themselves in these oppressive relationships (2005, 148). fanon and other postcolonial critics explain that economic and political control is maintained in ‗knowing‘ peoples— establishing relationships defined by, and in the interest of, the dominant culture and persuading the ‗other‘ to know themselves in this context, namely, as subordinate. structural domination relies on the ‗internalization‘ of these forms of oppression and thus, cannot be combated with affirmative action alone (coulthard, 2007). question bridge takes up fanon‘s conception of self-determination, which requires that it be promoted on multiple levels. if the form of resistance does not challenge the background structures of colonial power, then the result is ―white liberty and justice‖ (fanon, 1967, 221). in other words, it is freedom that is ‗bestowed‘ by the master to the slave that does not question or undermine the dominant power. in the result, fanon encourages a path of self-determination which is fought through individual and collective ‗self-affirmation.‘ he argues that the colonized must reassert their own narratives outside of the dominant colonial discourse (fanon, 1967, as cited in coulthard, 2007). in this view, johnson (2012) described how question bridge is a remedy to the distorted and self-perpetuating stereotypes that black males have inherited: ―our hope is that question bridge will have the effect of humanizing a group of people in this culture who have often been dehumanized in the media and popular narratives‖ (johnson, cited in hendrick, 2012). accordingly, postcolonial scholars view culture as a powerful political space in which its production and its consumption work to maintain the power of one group over another. for example, hooks (1992) explains that while african americans have made considerable progress in education and employment, television acts as a constant reminder of the supremacy of white over black: white voices, values and beliefs are channeled into the private homes of black viewers (p. 2). this works to undermine the ―capacity to resist white supremacy by cultivating the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 59 oppositional worldviews‖ (hooks, 1995, 110). although african american viewers may not readily identify their own experiences with the lives projected on their screens, television deftly crosses these boundaries simply by sitting in the living room. today, the presence of black characters on television is meant to suggest that there is no longer any need for resistance because ‗racism no longer exists‘ (hooks, 1995, 111). however, the black characters that inhabit popular television and movies are usually created by white cultural producers who rarely challenge underlying discrimination; instead, they present viewers—black and white—with racial stereotypes that pervade our dominant white culture (shome, 2000, 368). these stereotypes are constantly internalized by both the dominant culture and the racial minority (hooks, 1995, 112). for question bridge’s malik seneferu: ―[m]y existence was designed by the world around me and as i became older i was able to understand that this self that was developed or sculpted or painted into place was not me and i had to redevelop and come to an understanding of who exactly i am.‖ seneferu‘s response demonstrates that the struggle for control in the arena of representation is still a live issue that must be confronted by individual and collective self-affirmation. habermas and the ‘public sphere’ defining the ‘public sphere’ another useful lens through which question bridge can be analyzed is jürgen habermas‘ conception of the public sphere. structural transformation of the public sphere (1962) illuminates the powerful political potential of the discussions central to the question bridge project. for habermas, discussion and debate, or ‗communicative action‘ is a necessary form of social integration, political organization and citizen participation outside of formal political and economic institutions (as cited in calhoun, 1992, p.6). however, the ability for critical discourse is often hindered by the opportunity and entitlement for speech. thus, his seminal text examines the ingredients necessary for civil society to thrive and offers a lens to frame the question bridge project as a dynamic social movement based on collaborative dialogue. in this view, question bridge not only challenges dominant narratives, it activates what habermas calls the ―public sphere‖ by facilitating discussion and debate, which habermas views as a form of political action (calhoun, 1992, 9). for habermas, the public sphere is the space where ―private persons‖ come together to discuss issues of ‗common concern‘ (habermas, 1962, 36). thus, the public sphere functions as an important site of ‗societal integration‘ (calhoun, 6). as a ‗truthspeaking‘ project, question bridge reinvigorates the ‗public sphere‘ and the the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 60 collective capacity of black culture to act as a powerful socializing force outside of dominant institutions. within the public sphere, interaction is not constrained by status differences: all participants have equal opportunity to participate—to assert, question or defend any claim (held, 1980, 396). however, habermas recognized that there are a variety of factors that have the potential to inhibit free and open discourse, ranging from the influence of cultural traditions and values to the effects of mass media. the effects of mass media and the role of culture in the public sphere inspired by marxism, habermas identified the diluting effect of mass culture on the power of civil society, where public debate and shared critical activity was replaced by ―a more passive culture of consumption‖ (calhoun, 23). one can read this critique against bell hooks‘ dissatisfaction with popular culture as a driving force of white supremacy through passive consumption. hooks (1995) describes the evaporation of the spirit of resistance that characterized black cultural politics in the 1960s. 2 hooks links this change to the assimilation of black culture into the dominant white culture (p. 110). as she argues, what was originally seen as african americans‘ long overdue social advancement—obtaining and consuming some of the material goods produced by the dominant culture—in fact, merely extended white values and culture into black imaginations. this partial material assimilation was mirrored in popular television, movies and advertising: as hooks (1995) explains, ―when black americans were denied easy access to white movies, black cinema thrived…once the images of whiteness were available to everyone there was no black movie-going audience starving for black images‖ (p. 111). while hooks recognizes that african american viewers do not fully identify with the representations and values seen on mainstream television and film, the expansion of access to african american audiences has had the effect of undermining active participation and production in this public arena. if we see culture as a political space, then the initiated engagement of black individuals and artists to create their own cinema can be seen as political action. likewise, question bridge expands the boundaries of political participation and struggle from the mainstream to the margins. the conversations that surround the project—the filmed interviews, the exchanges at the gallery, online sharing and discussions at home and at school—locate african american concerns in arenas 2 for more information see: california futures forum: question bridge: black males blueprint roundtable http://museumca.org/calendar/california-futures-forum-question-bridge-black-maleblueprint-roundtable. http://museumca.org/calendar/california-futures-forum-question-bridge-black-male-blueprint-roundtable http://museumca.org/calendar/california-futures-forum-question-bridge-black-male-blueprint-roundtable the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 61 beyond formally recognized political organizations. as such, we are compelled to redefine what we understand to be ‗authentically political‘ resistance strategies to understand the way in which political struggle is enacted and negotiated in everyday activities (kelly, 1994). an expansive view of political action is directly related to habermas‘ conception of the ‗public sphere‘, which is dependent upon direct participation and access to production. question bridge exemplifies this objective: the public sphere spans across america, initiated by the conversations that happen between everyday black men. the sphere is enlarged through online web applications and social media platforms that rely on participation through comments and sharing to activate its political potential. in other words, question bridge can be seen as a radical art practice that defies the commoditization and consumerization that typically overwhelm art and culture. moreover, as radical culture, the project transcends the traditional notions of artist and viewer, producer and consumer. the artists are not ‗artists‘ in the traditional sense; in fact, they are not even featured in the documentary. nor is the project about an authoritative object that projects the views of an individual or group of individuals onto an audience. the creators do not prescribe what questions will be asked; instead, they provide an opportunity for issues of ‗common concern‘ to emerge organically from the discussion. in line with habermas, the project requires dialogical involvement to be activated. in this form, social integration is dependent upon collaborative critical discourse, not domination. question bridge and subaltern groups: reclaiming the public sphere however, as a public sphere that is predicated on the inclusive participation of populations that have historically been marginalized, one must look towards habermas‘ postmodern critics. for these critics, habermas‘ public sphere is idealized: made up of predominantly white, bourgeois males and largely dependent upon the exclusions that delineate political and economic institutions (fraser, 1992, p.120). indeed, habermas overlooked more diverse, non-bourgeois, or ‗competing‘ public spheres. problematically, his conception is based on ‗bracketing‘ status differentials, such that outside of state institutions, citizens are equal, regardless of their status. feminist theorists point out, however, that there were also counterpublics—―subaltern publics‖—that existed both outside of the state and outside of dominant society (p.123). within these counter publics, members of subordinated social groups—women, workers, and people of color—were able to ‗find their voices and express their thoughts‘ against modes of domination, rather than get grouped into the ―false ‗we‘ that reflects the more powerful‖ (p. 123). these the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 62 ―subaltern publics‖ were necessary for oppositional groups to reflect on and interpret their identities, issues and needs. this view suggests that the public sphere is not only an arena for public discourse but also for the development and performance of social identities (p. 125). it is therefore important to situate the question bridge project within this reinterpretation of habermas. in a conversation with the artist, chris johnson, we discussed the inherent problems of presenting at a gallery. habermas would likely see an art gallery or museum as an ideal location for public discussion and debate. surrounded by cultural artifacts that initiate critical reflection and discussion, visitors engage in conversations related to larger issues of social, economic and political concern. in contrast, postcolonial critics see mainstream galleries and museums as institutions of the dominant culture, having the potential to exclude the very publics that question bridge seeks to engage. figure 3. chris johnson, hank willis thomas, with kamal sinclai and bayeté ross smith. stills from question bridge: black males, 2012. multichannel video installation. this image is used courtesy of chris johnson and hank willis thomas. johnson and his collaborators addressed this issue and the fundamental importance of providing a safe space for the participants to speak openly and honestly, unmediated by potential obstacles to candour during the initial interviews (figure 3). as johnson explained it, the artists made the decision to only have black males in the interview rooms to dismantle the potential barriers to conversation (personal communication, april 13, 2012). in order to expand these conversations beyond the black male demographic, the artists developed social media platforms in the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 63 order to make the conversations more widely accessible and provide an opportunity for the broader public to reflect on and discuss issues of race and racial identity in america. similarly, the installation at the brooklyn museum responded to the problems described above by reclaiming the public space. the viewing room was contained in an arc that created a circular opening to make the viewer conscious that they were entering into a public domain, rather than happening upon the installation incidentally. the screens were mounted on six-foot tall black pillars to stress the identities of the participants (figure 4). in this space, visitors were also conscious of their identity—in effect emphasizing that identity is an important marker of participation in this public sphere. figure 4. chris johnson, hank willis thomas, with kamal sinclai and bayeté ross smith. stills from question bridge: black males, 2012. multichannel video installation. this image is used courtesy of chris johnson and hank willis thomas. transformational dialogues and education question bridge further enacted widespread public discussion through the development of an educational curriculum designed to connect with younger participants. as an emancipatory project, which based the potential for selfdetermination on dialogical activity, the implementation of a public and high-school curriculum evolved organically from the initial filmed interviews that are the the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 64 backbone of the project. (johnson, personal communication april 13, 2012). recognizing the vulnerability of youth to the charged issues of race and identity, the collaborators identified the importance of involving young people in a parallel practice of self-reflection, dialogue and transformation. the question bridge curriculum asks students to interview people from their community and discuss race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class with their peers. the students are also encouraged to analyze contemporary modes of communication and popular media to increase their media literacy skills (johnson et al., education , 2012). as such, the curriculum provides an opportunity for students to question dominant narratives in order to cultivate self-determined identities and relationships. students learn to articulate their views in a respectful and sensitive manner and become more aware of themselves and others. this increases their ability to see their views, values and identities as conditional and subject to transformation (giroux, 1993). conclusion modern art has a long tradition of challenging dominant modes of representation: abstraction defied realism and acted as a catalyst for discussion, debate and change. the discussions that are central to the question bridge project recognize this potential for art to challenge dominant discourse and representation by creating a new frame of reference and by asking different questions. the project animates this idea by empowering non-artists to ask the questions and to answer them and by encouraging members of the public to explore the larger political and social impact of these questions and answers. the project can be used as a model for marginalized groups to engage in collaborative dialogue that allows participants to imagine and describe themselves beyond the boundaries of conventional discourse. it highlights the potential for dialogue to challenge the notion of fixed identities. thus, question bridge did not generate a single or final answer; the process was deliberately iterative, the answers sometimes contradictory and the public roundtables, online forums and classroom discussions were intended to make the work forever unfinished. nevertheless, the cumulative effect of question bridge coaxes participants and viewers towards insight and reconciliation across division. in other words, the project exemplifies the importance of bridges—from personal struggle to collective movement; from individual differences to common concern. references calhoun, c. (ed.). 1992. introduction. in habermas and the public sphere. cambridge: the mit press. coulthard, g. 2007. ―subjects of empire: indigenous peoples and the the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 65 ‗politics of recognition‘ in canada,‖ (437-460). contemporary political theory volume 6. retrieved from http://www.palgravejournals.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/cpt/journal/v6/n4/full/9300307a.html fanon, f. 1967. black skin white masks. new york: grove press. fanon, f. 2005. the wretched of the earth. boston: grove press. finkelpearl, t. 2000. dialogues in public art. cambridge, massachusetts: the mit press. fraser, n. 1992. rethinking the public sphere: a contribution to the critique of actually existing democracy. in calhoun, craig. (ed.). habermas and the public sphere (pp.109-142). cambridge: the mit press. giroux, h.a. 1993. living dangerously: multiculturalism and the politics of difference. new york: peter lang publishing. habermas, j. 1992. structural transformation of the public sphere: an inquiry into the category of bourgeois society. (thomas burger, trans.). cambridge: polity press. hendrick, k. (ed.). 2012. brooklyn museum teacher resource packet: question bridge black males, january 13 – june 3, 2012. brooklyn, new york: the brooklyn museum. retrieved from http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/question_bridge/uploads/quest ion_bridge_teacher_packet.pdf hegel, g. f. 1977. the phenomenology of spirit. (a.v. miller, trans.). oxford: oxford university press. held, d. 1980. introduction to critical theory: horkeimer to habermas. berkley: university of california press. hooks, b. 1992. black looks: race and representation. boston: south end press. hooks, b. 1995. killing rage: ending racism. new york: henry holt and company. jefferess, d. 2008. postcolonial resistance: culture, liberation and transformation. toronto, ontario: university of toronto press. johnson, c, willis thomas, h, sinclair, k, & ross smith, b. 2012. question bridge: black males. retrieved on april 1, 2012 from http://questionbridge.com/ kelly, r.d.g. race rebels: culture, politics, and the black working class. new york: free press, 1994. kester, g. h. 2004. conversation pieces: community and communication in modern art. berkeley, california: university of california press. shome, r. 2000. ―outing whiteness,‖ (366-371). critical studies in media communication 17:3. london: routledge. http://www.palgrave-journals.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/cpt/journal/v6/n4/full/9300307a.html http://www.palgrave-journals.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/cpt/journal/v6/n4/full/9300307a.html http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/question_bridge/uploads/question_bridge_teacher_packet.pdf http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/question_bridge/uploads/question_bridge_teacher_packet.pdf http://questionbridge.com/ the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fruchtman 66 contact information sara fruchtman, from the department of political science, can be reached at sara.fruchtman@gmail.com. acknowledgements i would like to thank dr. aragon for her continued support and guidance. i would also like to thank chris johnson for his generosity and insight during my research. mailto:sara.fruchtman@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 23 integrated coastal planning: ‘wicked’ problems and ‘clumsy’ solutions ansley charbonneau abstract: in response to increased pressure on coastal systems, integrated coastal management and planning has emerged as a comprehensive approach to involve multiple users within decisionmaking. the deliberative spaces in which public participation occurs consist of complex social processes where the „wickedness‟ of integrated coastal management problems can be observed. using cultural theory, conflicting rationalities within an in-class roundtable exercise were identified to expose the „wicked‟ nature of coastal problems. in response to these conflicts, students within the roundtable exercise incorporated multiple perspectives into decision-making to reach „clumsy‟ but integrated solutions. observations of the roundtable exercise indicate that „wicked‟ problems and „clumsy‟ solutions offer an appropriate framework for navigating the deliberative spaces of integrated coastal planning. keywords: integrated coastal planning, wicked problems, clumsy solutions, cultural theory, public participation, deliberative spaces, roundtable forums. introduction activities in the coastal zone are inherently related: the interface between marine and terrestrial environments culminates multiple jurisdictions, forms of governance, and resource users (kay & alder, 2005). increased pressure on coastal systems, from environmental to socio-economic causes, threatens the livelihoods of coastal communities. in canada, this has lead to the acceptance of an integrated approach to coastal governance (kearney, berkes, charles, pinkerton & wiber, 2007). the need to align planning and management efforts is reflected in canada‟s ocean action plan, which was developed in response to canada‟s 1997 ocean‟s act (berkes, berkes & fast, 2007). this approach seeks to reduce conflict between users and employ a broad perspective to the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources (berkes et al., 2007). managing a diverse range of human uses in coastal areas requires striking a balance between economic, social and environmental needs (kearney et al., 2007). integration between levels of government, the private sector and the the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 24 community is a concerted effort to address and develop solutions to the inherent complexity of the coastal zone (kay & alder, 2005). integrated coastal planning utilizes stakeholder participation to achieve this holistic, collaborative approach. this form of planning rejects top-down hierarchical planning, which largely ignores the different perceptions and concerns of those involved (hartmann, 2012). instead, the heterogeneity of coastal systems indicates “no one-size-fits-all situation exists and that problems are unique, therefore governance cannot be standardized and local knowledge is essential to their solution” (jentoft & chuenpagdee, 2009, p.554). understanding and managing public interest in democratic governance is a complex social process (hartmann, 2010) that requires both the integration of multiple sectors and of diverse perspectives (khan & neis, 2010). deliberative spaces and collaborative planning deliberative spaces are “virtual and real sites where meaningful public dialogue and debate can occur” (p.529); they are the arenas of collaborative planning (parkins & mitchell, 2005). these spaces are largely based on habermas‟ communicative theory, which states that if all participants are considered equal, any outcome of the discussion will be fair to all (habermas, 1984). guided by these ideals, spaces for collaborative planning are constructed, and equality is encouraged between those involved (healey, 2003). in practice however, the effectiveness of deliberative spaces to produce innovative solutions has been questioned across disciplines (e.g. parkins & mitchell, 2005; kearney et al., 2007; billé, 2008; jentoft & chuenpagdee, 2009; berkes, 2011; hartmann, 2012). natural resource management (nrm) has adopted collaborative planning to reduce conflict between resource users and achieve the ideal conversation theorized by habermas. parkins and mitchell (2005) argue that emphasizing consensual outcomes has overshadowed the process of public debate, thus undermining the ability of deliberative spaces in nrm to produce long-term solutions. consensusbased decision-making has been criticized for ignoring conflicting rationalities instead of acknowledging and managing them appropriately (billé, 2008). solutions based on consensus are often fleeting, providing only short-term relief from larger societal issues. successful collaborative management involves acknowledging the conflicting worldviews that appear when multiple perspectives are integrated in coastal planning (parkins & mitchell, 2005). emphasizing outcomes over process further ignores the theoretical basis of deliberative spaces as complex social interactions (hartmann, 2012). understanding the process of debate and discussion is a necessary precursor to producing reasonable, well-informed dialogue that can then be used towards decision-making (parkins & mitchell, 2005). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 25 literature increasingly suggests problems in coastal areas are inherently „wicked‟ (jentoft & chuenpagdee, 2009; khan & neis, 2010; berkes, 2011). wicked problems are “complex, persistent or reoccurring and hard to fix because they are linked to broader social, economic, and policy issues” (khan & neis, 2010, p. 351). rittel & webber (1973) developed the concept of wicked problems in response to the conventional planning approach that assumes a process with a defined beginning and end, effective for only „tame‟ problems. they argue that wicked problems are most likely to challenge planners since their subjective and socially constructed components resist clear definition (jentoft & chuenpagdee, 2009). cultural theory addresses this „wickedness‟ by illuminating the influence of conflicting worldviews on decision-making. cultural theory, also called the theory of sociocultural viability, is a universal typology used across disciplines to analyze the involvement of individuals in social life. it is a tool to characterize both the social contexts and individual actions, both social relations and their justifications. the clue is that individuals internalize social relations, in such a way that their values and their beliefs legitimize the social interactions they are engaged in. the process of structuration of values and beliefs (either persistence or change) is part of social interactions, not external phenomenon. (mamadouh, 1997, p.19) cultural theory states that social relations can be organized into four different rational perspectives, or ways of life: individualism, egalitarianism, hierarchy, and fatalism. they are simultaneously contradictory and complementary, as each perspective is only a partial representation of reality. the limited number of rationalities affords a certain familiarity with the arguments of competing perspectives, providing an avenue for evaluation and criticism. it is therefore possible to learn about cultural biases and navigate actors‟ motivations in deliberative spaces. cultural theory also provides an explanation for change, since convergence on policy decisions is “the result of the continuing disequilibrium between competing rationalities” (mamadouh, 1997, p. 21). once the wickedness of a problem has been acknowledged and the competing rationalities identified, „clumsy‟ solutions can be assigned (hartmann, 2012). clumsy solutions combine the competing rationalities present within deliberative spaces to provide a holistic perspective of reality. by including all perspectives, the solution is more resilient since it cannot be surprised by conflict after its implementation (verweij & thompson, 2006). clumsy solutions accept the inherent conflicts of collaborative decision-making, the disequilibrium of society (mamadouh, 1997). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 26 as coastal management increasingly adopts a collaborative approach through deliberative spaces, it is imperative that planners understand the social processes of debate and discussion. this article explores the effectiveness of deliberative spaces in addressing the complex problems associated with integrated coastal planning (icp). to accomplish this, the process and output from three staged in-class roundtable discussions based in clayoquot sound, british columbia is described. the framework provided by „wicked‟ problems, cultural theory, and „clumsy‟ solutions are then used to analyze the complex social processes occurring in the classroom. methodology to investigate the deliberative spaces of icp, undergraduate students were organized into staged roundtable discussions as part of an in-class exercise. they were asked to complete a management plan for the clayoquot sound study area that addressed the communities‟ concerns regarding their coastal resources. the groups were expected to provide possible solutions to stakeholder conflict in the area. roundtables were chosen as the forum of deliberation since they rely on consensus-style decisionmaking. consensus-style coastal planning is the most common mechanism of icp exercises which attempt meaningful public consultation (kay & alder, 2005). despite their emphasis on consensus, roundtables host the complex social processes of debate and discussion, making them an appropriate setting to observe deliberative spaces. for this analysis, cultural theory in congruence with the „wicked‟ problems and „clumsy‟ solutions framework has been selected. the „wickedness‟ of coastal management problems suggests that traditional methods of consensus-based decisionmaking are unable to produce creative and flexible solutions (durant & legge, 2006). consensus methods favour agreement and produce only short-term solutions. this analysis seeks to illuminate the role of conflict in deliberative spaces, where the issues debated are “highly complex and deeply contested” (p. 532) by the public interest (parkins & mitchell, 2005). jentoft and chuenpagdee (2009) assert that alternative forms of value, rationality, and knowledge are needed to address the uniqueness of wicked problems. cultural theory highlights the manifestation of competing rationalities throughout the decision-making process. therefore, the ability of solutions to address the wicked nature of icp problems can be evaluated based on the appearance of competing rationalities. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 27 results from the in-class roundtable discussions in-class roundtable process to arrange the in-class roundtable exercise, each undergraduate student was assigned a sector to represent throughout the group discussions and final presentations. sectors present in the clayoquot sound study area were: commercial shellfish commercial finfish aquaculture sports/recreational fishing wildlife viewing recreational boating first nations local communities conservation there were three separate roundtables for the study area and all roundtables used the same outline for creating the integrated management plan expected at the end of the discussion. the outline was distributed at the beginning of the roundtable discussions and identified the planning hierarchy to be followed by all groups. the planning hierarchy begins with a group definition of a vision statement, followed by goals or objectives, and finally action strategies to achieve those goals. throughout the process, consistency is required to ensure the principles or direction is maintained (kay & alder, 2005). the roles of facilitator and recorder were deemed important, however each roundtable decided who to appoint and how to manage the responsibilities. two of the three roundtables (g1 and g3) designated individuals to hold these positions throughout the process, and one group (g2) decided to rotate the roles at each meeting. the rotating approach proved ineffective as some people were more apt than others at fulfilling the roles and time was spent on dealing with differences in style. interestingly, two of the three groups decided that the local communities‟ representative would be the facilitator as this sector also represented the interests of conservation and first nations. these sectors were absent from the two groups because their representatives dropped the course after the roundtables were created. protocols for speaking around the table were initially decided on by the groups but soon eroded in favour of respectful and continuous dialogue without restriction. all groups used general consensus as the method for decision-making however the level of agreement differed between roundtables. the local community representative was chosen by g3 to hold the most decision-making power so that all the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 28 proposals had to be approved by this individual before they were included in the integrated management plan. this same group was missing a first nations stakeholder representative, therefore the roundtable decided that the local community representative would attempt to communicate the interests of the missing sector within their assessment of the group proposals. the other groups used a consensus style where those in disagreement with proposals had to produce alternative solutions for the roundtable to consider before a decision was made. the external resources used in the roundtable process were not discussed in-depth in the presentations, however g1 consulted previous community management plans such as the “conservation economy” reports by friends of clayoquot sound (vodden & kuecks, 2003) and the socio-economic analysis of the clayoquot sound area by west coast aquatic, inc. (okey & loucks, 2011). the methods used by the different roundtables to define the outline of the plan were highly stratified, except for the aerial map of the study site used by all groups. g2 used a visual tool in the form of a bubble map onto which sector priorities were written and connected to identify areas of conflicts, resolution, and/or partnership to determine the components of the planning hierarchy. g3 had individuals write down their own wording for the vision statement or objectives and then common themes or words were selected and combined to create a collaborative output. this was used until the action strategies phase, when open discussion was used to propose ideas and reach consensus by agreement from the local communities‟ sector representative. the facilitator of the roundtable for g1, the representative of the local communities sector, connected the ideas voiced by all stakeholders until the statements were approved by consensus around the table and appropriately inserted into the planning hierarchy. as observed in the presentations, the roundtable that spent the most amount of time wording statements via the bubble map accomplished fewer steps in the planning hierarchy. reflections on the roundtable process are worth noting. the first group voiced the ease by which they were able to proceed through the planning hierarchy. this was attributed to the common vision of a „conservation economy‟ although the definition of this term was not altogether clear. the second group did not complete the stages of the planning hierarchy and described the process as time-intensive, admittedly failing to represent the interests of their sector near the end of the proceedings. the idyllic and unrealistic nature of their integrated management plan was attributed to a heavy conservation bias prominent throughout the process. the third group also noted their conservation bias and indicated that a lack of knowledge removed any ability for a realistic or holistic plan. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 29 in-class roundtable output to discuss the outputs of the three clayoquot sound roundtable discussions, the common themes will be elaborated on followed by a discussion of the differences between the roundtables. during the presentations, two key themes were identified in the integrated management plans of the three roundtables. the first of these themes was a desire to equitably distribute economic benefits in the area. this was emphasized by all groups although in different forms. g1 decided a processing plant would create employment in the area for all demographics and distribute the added value in the region as opposed to the lower mainland. g2 created a community initiatives fund, where a percent of revenue obtained in the area by government, industry, and local business would be gathered to support communitybuilding activities in clayoquot sound. g3 decided that local industries and businesses would have 2/3 of their employees be locals and half of all management positions would be filled by locals. all roundtables also identified a second theme: the importance of increasing local knowledge and control in a successful management plan. g1 created a board to collaborate research interests in the area while focusing on the importance of monitoring ecosystem health. this same group also emphasized building local capacity to increase the community‟s ability to make decisions and interact with sectors in the area. g2 decided that a baseline water quality monitoring and research facility was necessary to link human and ecological health, collect information on ecosystem variability, and increase local capacity for meaningful decision-making. g3 proposed a partnership between education and ecotourism as way for local people to engage with the sector. this group also decided that first nations groups should be the local monitoring and enforcement agency, similar to the haida watchmen program. analysis of integrated coastal planning through the roundtable process roundtables are dynamic spaces in which debate, understanding, and knowledge transfer occur (parkins & mitchell, 2005). these deliberative spaces also host the inherent conflicts present in every social situation. instead of dampening conflict, „wicked‟ problems demand its acknowledgement and „clumsy‟ solutions hinge on its manifestation. conflict therefore becomes the lens through which to evaluate collaborative planning. the effectiveness of stakeholder integration will first be explored by investigating coastal problems as „wicked‟ due to their complexity and resistance to resolution. following this, cultural theory will be used to describe the influence of competing rationalities on integrated planning approaches. finally, the appropriateness of „clumsy‟ solutions for icp will be elaborated upon. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 30 examples from the literature and the in-class round table discussions will be drawn upon to illuminate these issues. integrated coastal management as a ‘wicked’ problem integrated approaches to coastal management such as ecosystem-based management as well as fisheries and coastal governance have been shown to contain the characteristics of wicked problems (jentoft & chuenpagdee, 2009; khan & neis, 2010; berkes, 2011). fish stock degradation is one of the many threats to the clayoquot sound area and can be conceptualized as a wicked problem since it involves the state, private sector, and general public who are rarely coordinated despite the frequency of their interaction (jentoft & chuenpagdee, 2009). sources of conflict that often arise within the management of this resource include legitimacy, responsibility, and differences in power between stakeholder groups (khan & neis, 2010). commercial resource extraction is related to national policy issues through the department of fisheries and oceans (dfo) but also involves uncertainty from scientific knowledge, ecological carrying capacity, and a myriad of other factors (khan & neis, 2010). further, unsolved questions regarding accountability, responsibility, and beneficiaries indicate the highly politicized components of this problem (khan & neis, 2010). this problem has the characteristics of a „wicked problem‟ since the issue is linked to broader social, economic, and policy issues present at multiple scales (berkes, 2011). there is no clear solution; therefore large amounts of time and energy are required to work through the issue. due to this investment of time and energy, students in the classroom voiced their exasperation near the end of the roundtable proceedings and one group admitted to the planning process taking much longer than initially expected. in acknowledging the wickedness of coastal planning, stakeholders become aware of the time commitment associated with their involvement and that the likelihood of reaching a consensus is minimal (frame, 2008). realizing the wicked nature of these problems also prepares those involved for the differences in problem perception and definition between multiple perspectives (jentoft & chuenpagdee, 2009). further, comprehensive management is needed to sustain the length of debate and discussion required to solve wicked problems (berkes, 2011). the students' dedication to portraying their sectors admittedly petered out near the end; however, in actual situations, entrenched values and expectations present added complexity to integrated planning (hartmann, 2012). cultural theory provides a method for reducing the number of possible expectations or rationalities to a manageable number, allowing participants to have meaningful dialogue through the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 31 debate and discussion (hartmann, 2012). the application of this theory to icp will be discussed in the following section. competing rationalities in deliberative spaces the four competing rationalities of cultural theory explain the failure of consensus-based decision making to produce robust solutions to coastal problems (khan & neis, 2010). successful solutions to societal problems usually consist of “creative and flexible combinations of different ways of organizing, perceiving, and justifying social relations” (verweij et al., 2006a, p.1). contending policy perspectives represent four different ways of organizing social relations: individualism, egalitarianism, hierarchy, and fatalism (khan & neis, 2010). these four rationalities or expectations contradict each other and are represented in every social system (hartmann, 2012). the four rationalities help to identify the motives behind arguments in a deliberative forum but they “also enable the telling of different rational stories about a situation that are rational on their own, but appear to be irrational from the perspective of the other rationalities” (hartmann, 2012, p. 8). people arguing from different premises are anchored in alterative forms of organizing and for this reason will never agree (verweij et al., 2006a). this inherent conflict present in social situations demonstrates why consensus-based decision-making fails to produce innovative and sustainable solutions to coastal problems, as with roundtable discussions (billé, 2008). icp requires the elements of wisdom and experience provided by each rationality (verweij et al., 2006a) to understand stakeholder perspectives and produce robust solutions (hartmann, 2012). as was evident in the roundtable proceedings, competing rationalities in coastal planning present a formative challenge to reaching consensus. the „wicked‟ problem of commercial stock collapse in clayoquot sound can again be used as a foil to understand how different rationalities perceive attempts to rebuild the fisheries sector. from an individualist perspective, privatizing fisheries and relying on markets promotes stewardship, reduces over capacity and encourages economic growth (khan & neis, 2010). if not privatized, a „tragedy of the commons‟ situation is likely to occur, resulting in over-harvesting (khan & neis, 2010). this perspective was present in the roundtable through certification schemes that rely on market mechanisms to promote sustainable harvesting methods. from an egalitarian perspective, however, privatization does not result in stewardship and furthers economic disparities between large-scale and small-scale fisheries, shown to contribute to the erosion of livelihoods in coastal communities (davis & wagner, 2006). egalitarianism was also prominent in the roundtable through proposals to use local first nations as resource stewards, increasing their control and building capacity to contribute to community development. the hierarchical rationality the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 32 insists that fisheries are best protected through technocratic planning and management in conjunction with highly centralized monitoring and enforcement (khan & neis, 2010). the hierarchical perspective also appeared during the roundtable in response to stock collapse. students of one group decided to make the dfo a cochair within the integrated management process, alluding to the legitimacy of topdown planning and management (hartmann, 2012) and the enforcing role of the government. the final rationality of cultural theory, fatalism, is a defeatist approach where resistance to the degrading trend is futile due to the fragility of nature, diverse social norms and perspectives, market globalization, and lack of trust between stakeholders. this rationality was not overly prominent at the roundtable however a lack of knowledge legitimized inaction towards stock degradation (verweij et al., 2006a). despite the alleged conservation bias of all roundtable groups in the classroom discussion, the four rationalities were present and conflicted throughout the process. solutions proposed by the groups were all rationalized and indicate the complexity of managing social perspectives in coastal planning. to move beyond the barriers conflicting rationalities present to consensus, „clumsy solutions‟ have been proposed by planners (hartmann, 2012) and will be addressed in the final section of this analysis. clumsy solutions for wicked problems in coastal planning in showing that problems related to icp are „wicked‟ and that inherent conflicts of multiple rationalities challenge consensus approaches, deliberative forums can be seen as spaces for debate and discussion. there must be some way to integrate the wicked components and plural perspectives to achieve robust and holistic solutions to these challenges. policies that creatively combine all these opposing perspectives on problem definitions and resolutions are known as „clumsy solutions‟ (khan & neis, 2010). clumsy solutions predict the appearance of each rationality over time and cannot be surprised by the unexpected since they are „polyrational‟ by design (verweij & thompson, 2006). it follows that a clumsy solution can never be perfect or ideal since the rationalities contradict each other (hartmann, 2012). since clumsy solutions express plural viewpoints and reflect the values of the general population (verweij et al., 2006a), they are necessary for an integrated approach to coastal problems (khan & neis, 2010). in response to fish stock degradation, a social-ecological approach focusing on rebuilding entire commodity chains from ocean to plate has been discussed in fisheries management literature (khan & neis, 2010). this research uses a clumsy solution approach to effectively transition from the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 33 collapsed, poorly managed fisheries to sustainably rebuilt fisheries (khan & neis, 2010), and will be used to analyze the output of the in-class roundtable discussions. the roundtable discussions represented a staged decision-making process based on real problems voiced by the residents of clayoquot sound. while the results of these deliberations are grossly over-simplified solutions to the problems at hand, they indicate the need for innovative and holistic ideas for icp. although not explicit, the student groups attempted to create a livelihoods framework, a potentially useful tool for a clumsy solution approaches described in the literature. livelihoods frameworks are holistic and integrated accounts of “natural, physical, human, financial, and social capital necessary to deal with vulnerability in the event of resource depletion, natural disasters and environmental change” (khan & neis, 2010, p. 352). capacity building, diversification, and conservation incentives were apparent in the roundtable discussions and indicate an attempt towards an integrated assessment of resource depletion in the area (khan & neis, 2010). one group proposed that all economic enterprises in the area contribute a percentage of revenue to the community initiatives fund designed to encourage economic diversity and build social capital. another group proposed that higher education become a sector of the local economy in order to diversify the economic base of the area, increase incentive for local education, and reduce dependency on resource extraction. the third group decided to encourage foreign funding, despite the desire for local control, to encourage sustainable aquaculture technologies. these solutions obviously lack depth and knowledge regarding their implementation; however, they indicate the ability for integrated approaches to decision-making. the different perceptions of the stakeholder groups, apparent from fundamental differences in opinion, incorporated valuable knowledge and judgment for initiating clumsy solutions using the holistic livelihoods framework in clayoquot sound. conclusion in light of recent advances towards integrated coastal planning and management, participatory government presents an essential contribution for involving stakeholders in the decision-making process. roundtable discussions are a method of facilitating these collaborative initiatives and are important spaces for debate and discussion around the „wicked problems‟ of icp. it is important to realize the inherent conflicts due to polyrational perspectives present in all social situations in order to develop robust and integrated „clumsy solutions‟ to problems on the coast. equal representation of the public interest will be increasingly tested by the „super wicked‟ problem of climate change (lazarus, 2009). the major social issues associated with this must also be integrated in coastal planning if a holistic solution is to be realized. by acknowledging the legitimacy of all worldviews, clumsy the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 34 solutions provide a framework to limit dominance by any one perspective (verweij et al., 2006b). the current inability 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(2011). social-ecological assessment for the marine and coastal areas of the west coast of vancouver island. retrieved from: http://www.westcoastaquatic.ca/sea/social-ecological-assessment. parkins, j.r., & mitchell, r.e. (2005). public participation as public debate: a deliberative turn in natural resource management. society and natural resources, 18, 529-540. rittel, h., & webber, m. (1973). dilemmas in a general theory of planning. policy science, 4, 155-169. verweij, m., douglas, m., ellis, r., engel, c., hendriks, f., lohmann, s., ney, s., rayner, s., & thompson, m. (2006a). the case for clumsiness. in: verweij, m., thompson, m. (eds.), clumsy solutions for a complex world: governance, politics and plural perceptions. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. verweij, m., douglas, m., ellis, r., engel, c., hendriks, f., lohmann, s., ney, s., rayner, s., & thompson, m. (2006b). clumsy solutions for complex world: the case of climate change. public administration, 84(4), 817-843. verweij, m., & thompson, m. (eds) (2006). clumsy solutions for complex world: governance, politics, and plural perceptions. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. vodden, k., & kuecks, b. (2003). friends of clayoquot sound: the clayoquot green economic opportunities project. retrieved from: http://www.focs.ca/reports/greeneconvol2.pdf contact information ansley charbonneau, from the department of geography, can be reached at charbonneau.ansley@gmail.com. http://www.westcoastaquatic.ca/sea/social-ecological-assessment http://www.focs.ca/reports/greeneconvol2.pdf mailto:charbonneau.ansley@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: charbonneau 36 acknowledgements the author would like to thank dr. rosaline canessa for facilitating the roundtable exercises mentioned in this paper and for her continued support throughout the submission process. the author is also grateful for the students‟ participation and commitment to the roundtable exercise. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 6 wsanec emerging land or emerging people jack horne abstract: the wsanec nation has been located on what is now known as the saanich peninsula on southern vancouver island since time immemorial. remarkably little has been written about this nation, which was divided by the oregon treaty in 1846 into canadian/american sides of the border. in canada the wsanec nation was then further divided into 4 separate reserves. this article examines the wsanec nation’s relationship with its traditional territories, the effects of colonization on this relationship, and ongoing resistance to continued colonization from both internal and external forces. wsanec history is examined through the documentation in the nation’s oral traditions, using the douglas treaties, the landmark saanich bay marina case, and james island development as examples. key terms: wsanec; douglas treaty; coast salish introduction the wsanec nation is located on what is now known as the saanich peninsula on the southern part of vancouver island. wsanec territories once encompassed the entire saanich peninsula, many of the surrounding islands, and extended south onto the mainland of washington state. with the signing of the oregon treaty in 1846, wsanec territories and people were divided into canadian or american sides (sage, 1946). as a result, family ties were disrupted and families on each side of the border were left to face different government policies. the wsanec nation in canada is currently divided into four separate reserves located in the areas known today as: tsawout, tsartlip, puaquachin, and tseycum. while a great deal of scholarship has been written about the indigenous peoples of british columbia there has been remarkably little written about the wsanec nation. this article examines this largely undocumented and unexplored nation, divided and increasingly surrounded by the dominant culture, by first reviewing current scholarship on british columbia resettlement. next, the saanichton marina court case is explored, with specific focus on the contested douglas treaty rights and how these rights are related to the success of the tsawout arguments in the case. finally, ongoing fights for the recognition of douglas treaty rights, alongside the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 7 current efforts by the tsawout band, and the wsanec nation, to combat internal and external colonization are examined. there have been numerous books and journal articles written on the subject of colonial resettlement in british columbia (duff 2009; harris 1997; harris 2002). the study of indigenous peoples in british columbia has been approached from a cultural relativist perspective found in the works of prolific writer and anthropologist franz boas (boas 1902; boas 1917; boas 1935), and similarly british columbia indigenous nations have been examined through ethnographic approaches found in the work of anthropologists such as wilson duff (duff 1952; duff 1959). finally, an over abundance of bc treaty (mckee, 1996; mckee 2009, woolford 1971) and douglas or fort victoria treaty (duff 1969; edmonds 2010; harris 2008; harris 2009) books, chapters in books, and journal articles are available online and in print. describing boas, cole harris in how did colonialism dispossess? writes; “boas had little interest in the native societies around him (which, he thought, were becoming civilized), except insofar as they supplied informants about earlier, precontact times” (2004, p. 170). the same statement can be made about many of the early researchers and is an example of what indigenous scholar adam gaudry calls extraction methodology (2011, p. 113). according to gaudry “[t]he extraction approach to research involves removing knowledge from its immediate context and presenting it to a highly specialized group of outsiders” (2011, p. 114). therefore, as a wsanec man i have a direct responsibility to maintain an indigenous perspective by utilizing oral histories from wsanec elders, and i feel it is paramount for engaging the material through an indigenous lens. recent scholarship has begun to explore "[e]ngaging politically with the principles of indigeneity" (fleras, maaka 2010), a theoretic approach similar to the gendered lens approach utilized by feminist scholars to engage political and academic scholarship as a way to highlight gender disparities which otherwise remain hidden. engaging through an indigenous lens alters an exploration of occupied, contested, treaty lands and divided wsanec people as viewed through postcolonial and settler-colonial literature. the potential is then one of an indigenous examination of traditional territories, past and current land and resource struggles, from the perspective of wsanec peoples and their relationship to oral accounts of traditional territories. thousands of years before james douglas approached wsanec people and proposed his agreements, wsanec people lived and travelled across what is now called the saanich peninsula. oral tradition can be traced back to our own creation and flood stories. a great example of our wsanec flood story can be found in rethinking scientific literacy (2004, p. 41), a story which originally appeared in a the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 8 paper for the institute of ocean sciences in sidney bc and was written by kevin p. paul: once, long ago, the ocean’s power was shown to an unsuspecting people. the tides began rising higher and higher than even the oldest people could remember. it became clear to these people that there was something very dangerous about this tide […] the seawaters continued to rise for several days. eventually the people needed their canoes. they tied all of their rope together and then to themselves. one end of the rope was tied to an arbutus tree on top of the mountain and when the water stopped rising, the people were left floating in their canoes above the mountain. it was the raven who appeared to tell them that the flood would soon be over. when the flood waters were going down, a small child noticed the raven circling in, the child began to jump around and cry out in excitement, “ni qennet tth wsanec” “look what is emerging!” below where the raven had been circling, a piece of land had begun to emerge. the old man pointed down to that place and said, “that is our new home, wsanec, and from now on we will be known as the wsanec people.” the old man also declared, on that day, that the mountain which had offered them protection would be treated with great care and respect, the same respect given to their greatest elders and it was to be known as lau, wel, new – “the place of refuge.” also, the arbutus trees would no longer be used for firewood. this story illustrates two things. first, the oral tradition traces the presence of wsanec peoples on what is now called the saanich peninsula to a time which is comparable to the biblical flood of noah’s ark. second, the territories of what is now called the saanich peninsula and specifically what is now called mount newton were never viewed and treated as property to be bought, owned, or sold. lau, wel, new is still a sacred place today and is still used for ceremonial purposes and the cleansing practices mentioned in rethinking scientific literacy (2004, p. 42). the question remains, why would wsanec people sell something they considered to “…be treated with great care and respect, the same respect given to their greatest elders…”? it simply would not happen. british columbia resettlement the resettlement of british columbia by european populations occurred in a drastically different way from the rest of north america. sustained contact with the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 9 outsiders was effectively shielded by the formidable rocky mountains for many years. in the two hundred years since european contact, indigenous cultures all across british columbia have been inalterably changed. contact closed in from the russians to the north, the spanish to the south, and the british and americans to the east. many historians have found little evidence that these early fur-traders had any interest in land settlement during the early contact period of the late-18 th to mid19 th century (duff, 1964). however, eventually the fur traders set up trading posts, and as the years progressed there was an influx of non-indigenous peoples along with a drastic population decrease in many of british columbia’s indigenous nations. as a result, the attitudes toward the original inhabitants began change (duff, 1964; harris, 1997). according to cole harris in how did colonialism dispossess? (2004), the imposition of colonialism on the rest of british columbia did not require treaties. a more honest history challenges colonial notions of a country “…founded on nonviolence” (reagan 2010). as settler colonies spread, the basis for the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples shifted from one of trade to one of land acquisition. there was a movement toward creating reserve lands, dispossessing indigenous peoples, and acquisition of lands needed for settler colonies, often by using intimidation and force. harris demonstrates that after a few public hangings and or shelling a few villages in order to instill fear, it was “…judged sufficient to anchor a warship just off a native village and ostentatiously prepare the guns” (2004, p. 169). once the indigenous populations were diminished by disease and the population of settlers increased, a mere show of force was enough to dispossess indigenous nations of their land. the oregon treaty was signed in 1846 without the consultation with any indigenous groups. [the treaty was an agreement between great britain and the united states and established the border between what is now canada and the united states. the border extends west from the mainland and veers through the gulf islands and around the southern tip of vancouver island. ] the signing of the oregon treaty, combined with the discovery of gold on the fraser river, encouraged the government of canada to establish a colony on vancouver island. fort victoria had been established in 1843 and the colony of victoria established in 1849 (duff, 1964). james douglas, of the now infamous douglas treaties, was the governor of vancouver island (1851-1864) and of the mainland colony of british columbia (1858-1864) concurrently. douglas acted on behalf of the hudson’s bay company and as governor of vancouver island, and was appointed by the british government as their representative to negotiate the transfer of ownership of indigenous lands to the crown. fourteen agreements were made with indigenous the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 10 nations from victoria, nanaimo, and fort rupert. the lack of treaties in the rest of british columbia has been a source of legal debate and political maneuvering ever since; however the north saanich douglas treaty will be the focus of the following discussion (duff, 1964). james douglas agreements and the saanichton marina court case there are a few dubious attributes to the douglas conveyance agreements, and there seem to be no concrete answers, only speculation. why were there only fourteen agreements made on vancouver island beginning in 1850, and why did they stop in 1854? neither group was fluent in each other’s language, so what was the legality of agreements where neither party was completely aware of the other party’s actions? what can be made of douglas’ tactic of obtaining signatures from the representatives of the different nations on a blank sheet of paper and then adding wording similar to the recently concluded treaty of waitangi? why did james douglas only provide his signature on the nanaimo treaty of 1854, and why did the rest of the treaties which bear his name not also bear his signature? (duff, 1969). there are no clear answers. the only concrete facts are that james douglas, acting on behalf of the british government, concluded fourteen land conveyance agreements with indigenous nations on vancouver island. beginning in 1850 and concluding in 1854, they were made on behalf of the following peoples: saanich, victoria, metchosin and sooke areas: teechamitsa now called esquimalt band kosampson now called esquimalt band whyomilth now called esquimalt band swengwhung now called songhees band chilcowitch now called songhees band che-ko-nein now called songhees band ka-ky-aakan now called becher bay band chewhaytsum now called becher bay band sooke now called sooke band saanich (south) now called tsawout and tsartlip bands saanich (north) now called pauqhachin and tseycum bands nanaimo: saalequun now called nanaimo band the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 11 port hardy area: queackar now called kwakiutl (kwawkelth) band quakiolth now called kwakiutl (kwawkelth) band wsanec oral interpretations of the douglas treaties differ from the nonindigenous interpretations and were part of the trial of claxton et al. v. saanichton marina ltd., (1985). the saanichton marina case (as it will hereafter be referred) was a landmark douglas treaty case which was built off of r v. white and bob (1965). this earlier case found the james douglas agreements were, legally speaking, treaties and that the hbc and james douglas were empowered by the british imperial government to make treaties with the indigenous peoples of vancouver island. white and bob of the saalequun nation successfully argued this fact. a fact which claxton et al. would again argue twenty years later on behalf of the tsawout peoples of the wsanec nation. in 1983 the province of british columbia issued a license of occupation to saanichton marina ltd. in order that they could construct a marina and breakwater in saanichton bay. traditional tsawout fishing and resource gathering encompassed the entire of saanichton bay since time immemorial. in defense of this traditional fishery, the tsawout peoples had been working to stop the construction from the time that the proposal was made public. in 1987 the british columbia supreme court granted a permanent injunction for claxton et al. against saanichton marina ltd. the situation became a standoff, when in 1985, dredging began on the site, and earl claxton jr. attached himself to the dredge cable, refusing to come down. for over an hour he stayed on the cable, while the freezing rain turned to sleet, until finally the two sides agreed to a halt the dredging until the court decided the matter. claxton’s actions were a testament to wsanec attachment and dedication to traditional territories. in 1989 the supreme court once again sided with the tsawout and the saanichton marina ltd. project was permanently stopped (harris 2009). wsanec oral testimony the saanichton bay marina case contained important wsanec indigenous content. the testimonies given by gabriel bartleman and john elliot sr. regarding the oral history of the north saanich douglas treaty of 1852 were especially enlightening. there has been a great deal of colonial scholarship written on the douglas treaties, and the hearing of indigenous oral history and comparing the two perceptions yields important information. there were two significant events which were relayed in hamar foster’s the saanichton bay marina case: imperial law, the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 12 colonial history and competing theories of aboriginal title (1989). first, there was the issue of a young indigenous boy being shot by one of james douglas’ men. second was the felling of trees in the cadboro bay area. according to courtroom testimony as well as oral history as told by dave elliot senior in saltwater people (1983) a group of wsanec men paddled their war canoes and confronted the offending men and told them to stop cutting down trees. there are subtle correlations between the courtroom testimonies of john elliot senior and gabriel bartleman, and the corroborating story as told by dave elliot senior in saltwater people when taken in conjunction with research conducted by wilson duff for his essay the fort victoria treaties (1969). a tenuous but significant connection to the oral accounts of wsanec elders begs further examination. in march of 1843 according to a written narrative by a catholic missionary travelling with douglas, confirmed by a pocket diary douglas kept, the ship cadboro arrived at what is believed to be clover point (cadboro bay) on the 14 th . missionary j.b.z. bolduc writes: “we arrived about 4 o’clock in the afternoon” and “[n]ext morning, the pirogues (indian boats) came from every side” (duff, 1969, p 38). while douglas’ diary states on the 15 th he, “[w]ent out this morning with a boat and examined the wood on the north shore of the harbour” (1969, p. 38). could this, in fact, be the date the wjolep warriors sailed around and confronted the foreigners attempting to take the sacred cedar trees? during this time period, of course, the wsanec would have been practicing our traditional longhouse activities, conducted during the winter months. our longhouse practices are still largely kept private and though there have been a number of surprisingly accurate accounts written by non-indigenous peoples, an insider account is not likely to be forthcoming. a big part of the gatherings is the opportunity for speakers to share information and teachings at all sizes of gatherings. this would be an important learning opportunity for the younger people to listen and take counsel from elders. referenced in the courtroom testimony in janice knighton’s indigenous governance community project paper (2004), dave elliot sr. said “[t]raditionally, at gatherings there are people recognized as witnesses, as such the elders names were noted as…” and he goes on to list the english and traditional names of the elders responsible for remembering the events and work at the gathering. in this way the story of the cadboro bay confrontation would have been remembered, shared, and passed along. in the uncharted nations: a reference history of the canadian tribes, robert macdonald states “…[i]n feudal europe the parallel of the potlatch existed in the obligation of the nobility to the crown, which bestowed their privileges in return for support, both the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 13 financial and martial” (1978 p. 212). though somewhat dated, it is still a misconception held by many. wsanec vs. colonial resource extraction wsanec people gathered yearly for the harvesting and storing of salmon in a complex and organized activity called reef net fishing. during this time they stored unbelievable amounts of salmon that were later used during the winter months for survival and also for trade and distribution at the winter longhouse gatherings. in opposition to macdonald’s view, wsanec people traded or made “give-aways” of resources plentiful in their area with the expectation other nations would reciprocate. in this way, what was plentiful in one area would be shared with brothers and sisters from another and vice versa. indigenous nations and connection between land, spirituality and culture have been the source of many books and academic papers. colonial empire however, has consistently viewed land and its subsequent resources as nothing more than a way to make a living (harris, 2004; tully, 1994). the prime directive of colonial power is to first secure the land by displacing indigenous peoples, then establish a colony and import colonists to tame the wilderness. co-optation of resources in the form of animal fur, sea life, trees and farmable land historically has led to severe depletion of these resources. now, sub-surface resources seem to top the list of desirable commodities, along with trees (still), oil, and increasingly water. land originally set aside for indigenous nations because of its supposed lack of desirable resources, now looks more attractive. reef net fishing, as well as the hunting and gathering of plants and animals formed the basis of tsawout land use. traditional tsawout hunting and fishing in these areas included much of the saanich peninsula as well as specific, well-established, areas on the surrounding islands. when james douglas made the north saanich treaty of 1952 the phrase “…we are at liberty to hunt over the unoccupied lands, and to carry on our fisheries as formerly” would have included all areas utilized by wsanec and specifically the tsawout people, at this time. a major misconception concerning the north saanich douglas treaty is that wsanec people surrendered the rights to all of our traditional territories. once the reserves were established, the government claimed that all of the surrounding islands were crown land. the explicit wording in the north saanich douglas treaty refers to lands between mt. douglas and cowichan head. subsequently the government the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 14 sold or simply forced tsawout people off of their island homes while simultaneously outlawing traditional resource extraction, like reef net fishing. the reef net fisheries for wsanec peoples is extremely complex and required extensive knowledge of the tides, salmon runs, seasons, weather, tensile strength of reef nets, the appropriate weight of buoys and weighted stones, and conservation of salmon. 1 traditionally, when the first salmon started to run, the community held a huge feast celebration and prayers of thanks were given to the returning salmon who in wsanec traditions were returning relatives. in this way the reef net fishing was not only for sustenance, but also for spiritual and community purposes. when the oregon treaty was signed in 1846 a largely imaginary boundary line cut out large portions of reef net fishing sites from wsanec peoples. the effect was that a spiritual, communal, and sustenance practice was suddenly outlawed by an imaginary line that cut through traditional wsanec fishing territory. tsawout oral testimonies in 2001, the tsawout band conducted interviews about traditional burial grounds, food gathering and plants in order to oppose a bc hydro project to install a natural gas pipeline in traditional wsanec fishing territories. excerpts from the elder interviews contain important information on the traditional uses and areas of resource extraction for wsanec tsawout peoples. many of the islands contained specific areas where certain resources had been extracted for thousands of years prior to contact. there were also places for specific ceremonial uses and many areas held an attached spiritual significance. these elders recounted memories they had or stories they were told by their parents or grandparents. the subsequent interviews and transcripts were made available for this paper in light of this writer’s wsanec and tsawout ancestry (personal communication, march 28, 2001). james island is at the forefront since each of the elders mentioned it in conjunction with salmon, halibut, rabbit, crab, herring, which is not too surprising since james island can be clearly seen from the present tsawout reserve (e. claxton sr., r. sam, c. thomas, g. pelkey, personal communications march 28, 2001). a seattle billionaire currently owns the island, however, tsawout is attempting to conduct an archaeological inventory to confirm the presence of wsanec peoples (mccaw, 1996). oral history tells of wsanec presence on the territories until the government forced them off when they built an explosives plant in 1914. one elder commented that the poisons from the plant are still seeping into 1 a thorough and informative paper written by nicholas claxton for an indigenous governance project is a good resource for this practice (2003). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 15 and poisoning traditional territories. darcy island was also the home of wsanec people until the government told them it would be establishing a leper colony there, again scaring the people off their land (g. pelkey, personal communication, march 28, 2001). these interviews contain countless examples of oral history passed to these elders regarding which areas in the territories were good for specific resources; which islands were good for seaweed, clams, halibut, sea urchin; and which islands held special spiritual significance and what stories belongs with it. significantly, each island has a specific name in sencoten (wsanec language) which apparently lends legal credit since having place names means the area held significance (e. claxton sr., r. sam, c. thomas, g. pelkey, personal communications march 28, 2001). however, for wsanec peoples having a place name takes second place to the actual spiritual wsanec connection to the land and area. oral history based on these elder tapes is the subject of a planned book by the tsawout community. there are also a few other recorded interviews available in sencoten to those who speak the language. everything with a prayer albert memmi in the colonizer and the colonized (1965) and franz fanon in the wretched of the earth (1961) discuss the effects and methods of colonization. both scholars discuss the insidious nature of colonization where violent life and death struggles to oppose colonialism is normalized. here in canada the colonialism is less obviously about conflict between indigenous peoples and canadians, but this does not mean it is any less violent in its treatment of the original inhabitants. the process is arguably more sinister when posed with the question of whether it is better to experience a quick death or one which is slow and painful. the indigenous nations of turtle island are by no mean ready to give up and perish; however, government policy can be seen to advocate for a slow process of assimilation (indigenous death by law) through legislation. wsanec people have experienced a dispossession of a majority of traditional lands, including the surrounding islands and traditional fishing areas. this, in turn, has led to a dangerous disconnection from lands and resources resulting in precarious present day conditions. efforts to address this disconnect is at the heart of the proposed book by the tsawout administration entitled, everything with a prayer, sci, nonet (the song of our beliefs, attributed to tsawout elders dr. earl claxton and ray sam. the book is a beautifully written account of wsanec oral history as told by the two elder’s ancestors and passed down to them in the traditional way. contained in this book to date are details on the tsawout oral history of wsanec presence on vancouver the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 16 island and the surrounding gulf islands. each of the islands has a corresponding oral history that includes what resources were utilized on which islands, what time of year the place was used, and for what purpose. also included are oral histories of spiritual practices, traditional vision quests, and mythological occurrences. each story has a direct relation to wsanec people and how we are expected to govern and behave in life. wsanec territory when viewed on a map stretches from the mainland north and south of the border, includes many of the canadian and american gulf islands (we did not make up the imaginary line) and also stretches around to the malahat and goldstream. territories were shared between nations since the concept of land ownership was inconceivable. shared territories and respect for this was reciprocal and though of course there was conflict it was never over who “owned” which piece of land. conclusion the north and south saanich douglas treaties have had profound and alternately devastating effects for the wsanec nation. the treaties have protected hunting and fishing to an extent, but absence of the surrounding islands in the treaties has created debilitating conditions for the wsanec people. the oregon treaty of 1846 and its “imaginary line” cut off a primary source of spiritual, cultural, and traditional living found in reef net fishing. the depletion in sea stock and the continued pollution of tsawout bay combined with the occupation of traditional island territories has left the tsawout with a fraction of our traditional land-base and an increasingly polluted tsawout bay resources. recently land title held by some reserve members has been used to build subdivisions where non-indigenous people, for a monthly fee, can move into fenced off, high-end trailer homes. though great for those with a title to these lands, this practice has created an everwidening gap of haves and have-nots in the community which distressingly resembles the dominant culture off-reserve. land and development has become an important internal issue for the tsawout community. therein lies the problem inherent in addressing on-reserve life in a meaningful wsanec community-driven way. when the chief and council make plans in the name of development and progress there must be tsawout community member input into the process. this writer participates in colonization by attending university with the expressed intent of using this knowledge to aid my community at some point in the future. conversely, i have seen the proposed development plan for cutting down our remaining forest and building “market housing” over a large portion of the tsawout reserve. the market housing area is much larger than the reserve housing area and many of our reserve homes have multiple generations of the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 17 families living in them. how can i oppose colonization and yet participate in one of its major institutions? alternately, how can tsawout have overcrowded community member housing and yet still have plans to build housing for non-indigenous people on-reserve? albert memmi’s work is informative here, he writes: “so goes the drama of the man who is a product and victim of colonization. he almost never succeeds in corresponding with himself” (1965 p.140). as indigenous peoples, we are living in dangerous times. in order to move forward we must hold fast to our traditional, cultural, and spiritual roots. as tsawout members we must never forget we are first and foremost wsanec peoples and our allegiance should always be to our land and to our nation. references boas, f. 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(1961). the wretched of the earth. paris: f. maspero. feras, a., maaka, r. (2010). indigeneity-grounded analysis (iga) as policy(making) lens: new zealand models, canadian realities. the international indigenous policy journal, 1 (1). retrieved from: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/iipj/vol1/iss1/4 foster, h. (1989). the saanichton bay marina case: imperial law, colonial history and competing theories of aboriginal title. university of british columbia law review, 23 (3), 629-653. gaudry, a. (2011). insurgent research. wicazo sa review, 26 (1) 113-136. harris, d. c. (2008). landing native fisheries: indian reserves and fishing rights in british columbia, 1849-1925. vancouver, bc: ubc press. harris, d. c. (2009). a court between: aboriginal and treaty rights in the british columbia court of appeal. bc studies, 162, 137-164 http://web.uvic.ca/igov/research/pdfs/n%20claxton,%20final.pdf http://web.uvic.ca/igov/research/pdfs/n%20claxton,%20final.pdf the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 18 harris, r. c. (1997). the resettlement of british columbia: essays on colonialism and geographical change. vancouver, bc: ubc press. harris, r. c. (2002). making native space: colonialism, resistance, and reserves in british columbia by eric leinberger. vancouver, bc: ubc press. harris, c. (2004). how did colonialism dispossess? comments from the edge of empire. annals of the association of american geographers, 94 (1), p. 165182. knighton, j. (2004). the oral history of the saanich douglas treaty: a treaty for peace. retrieved from http://web.uvic.ca/igov/index.php/igov-598community-governance-project. macdonald, r. (1978). the uncharted nations: a reference history of the canadian tribes. alberta, ca: the ballantrae foundation. mccaw, c. (1996). bc natives claim island owned by seattle billionaire (tsawout band claims james island). canadian press newswire. retrieved january 18, 2012, from cbca reference and current events. (document id: 418687111). mckee, c. (1996). treaty talks in british columbia: negotiating a mutually beneficial future. vancouver, bc: ubc press. mckee, c. (2009). treaty talks in british columbia: building a new relationship. vancouver, bc: ubc press. memmi, a. (1965). the colonizer and the colonized. new york: orion press. regan, p. (2010). unsettling the settler within: indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in canada. vancouver, bc: ubc press. sage, w. n. (1946). the oregon treaty of 1846. canadian historical review, 27 (1), p. 349. tully, j. (1994). aboriginal property and western theory: recovering a middle ground. social philosophy and policy. 11 (2), p. 153-180. wolf-michael, r. and a. c. barton (2004). rethinking scientific literature. new york, ny: routledgefalmer. woolford, a. j. (2005). between justice and certainty the british columbia treaty process. vancouver, bc: ubc press. contact information jack horne, from the department of political science, can be reached at dancer4dance@yahoo.com. https://wm3.uvic.ca/src/the%20oral%20history%20of%20the%20saanich%20douglas%20treaty:%20a%20treaty%20for%20peace.%20retrieved%20from%20http:/web.uvic.ca/igov/index.php/igov-598-community-governance-project. https://wm3.uvic.ca/src/the%20oral%20history%20of%20the%20saanich%20douglas%20treaty:%20a%20treaty%20for%20peace.%20retrieved%20from%20http:/web.uvic.ca/igov/index.php/igov-598-community-governance-project. https://wm3.uvic.ca/src/the%20oral%20history%20of%20the%20saanich%20douglas%20treaty:%20a%20treaty%20for%20peace.%20retrieved%20from%20http:/web.uvic.ca/igov/index.php/igov-598-community-governance-project. mailto:dancer4dance@yahoo.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) horne 19 acknowledgements i would like to acknowledge wsanec ancestors and elders for providing important wsanec history, made available through their knowledge of and adherence to oral traditions. a special thanks to adam gaudry for his support, encouragement and guidance during the research and development of this project. the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 the arbutus review is produced by the learning and teaching centre and the mcpherson library. it is an online journal with a small print run. the online version can be found at http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/arbutus the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009–10 as the undergraduate research scholarship program by the then vicepresident academic and provost, and current university president, dr. jamie cassels. it was designed to provide support and create tryly formative learning experiences for exceptional undergraduate students who might not otherwise obtain direct research experience. the ltc administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. more recent issues of the arbutus review have accepted submissions that were not produced with the support of a jcura award in order to encourage undergraduate research. all papers, projects, and creations are accompanied by a supporting letter from the student;s instructor. publishing a journal is the work of many people. the people listed below have been integral to the creation and production of the arbutus review. • teresa dawson, director of the learning and teaching centre, who created the journal • inba kehoe, scholarly communications and copyright officer of the library, who shepherds the online portion of the journal • laurie waye, managing editor of the journal and associate director (student academic success), learning and teaching centre • dan lett, guest editor, designer and typesetter of the journal i http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/arbutus the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 in addition to the team that publishes the journal, there are two more sets of people to acknowledge: the peer reviewers and the supporting instructors. all submissions are reviewed blind by at least two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, staff, and alumni from the university of victoria. we thank them for their valuable contribution to the arbutus review. behn skovgaard andersen brian coleman bryan eric benner caroline winter carrie hill chelsea wilson christina suzanne christine twerdoclib constance sobsey cori thompson emma hughes fanie collardeau felipe de lucia lobo glenn beauvais holly hoffmann jeff rapoch jodi rempel judy walsh katie bullen katherine burnett keith cherry kimberlee graham-knight leslie bragg natalia yang natasha foster omolara isiolaotan pamela savage ramsay malange robyn joyce sarah hutchison susan karim teboho makalima timothy palmer victoria domonkos ii the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 we also thank the instructors who supported their students’ submissions. their weaving together of research into the undergraduate experience has enriched their students’ education. dr. caroline fox, department of geography dr. alexandrine boudreault-fournier, department of anthropology prof. colin j. bennett, department of political science dr. brian thom, department of anthropology dr. chris auld, economics dr. gord miller, school of child and youth care dr. marie vautier, department of french dr. allan antliff, department of art history and visual studies dr. charlotte reading, school of public health and social policy emily avray (phd cand.), department of english iii koch 63 a comparison of variability in two cassin’s auklet (ptychoramphus aleuticus) colonies using spline-based nonparametric models dean koch abstract: while variability in the reproductive performance of a population over time is a familiar and useful concept to ecologists, it can be difficult to capture mathematically. commonly used ecological variability statistics, such as the standard deviation of the logarithm and coefficient of variation, discard the timeordering of observations and consider only the unordered response variable values. we used a relatively new methodology, the cubic regression spline (a flexible curve fitted to a scatterplot of data), both to illustrate trends in reproductive performance over time and to explore the utility of the cubic regression spline roughness penalty (j) as a statistic for measuring variability while retaining time-ordering information. we concluded that although j measures variability in a mathematical sense, it can be inappropriate in a population ecology context because of sensitivity to small-scale fluctuations. to illustrate our methodology, we used the crs approach in an analysis of historical data from two cassin’s auklet colonies located on frederick and triangle islands in coastal bc, developing a model for the annual mean nestling growth rate on each island over seven contiguous years. model selection indicated a complex (nonlinear) trend in growth rate on both islands. we report higher variability in the resident bird population of triangle island than frederick island, based on a comparison of the fitted curves, and the values of the coefficient of variation and population variability summary statistics. key terms: cassin’s auklets; alcid ecology; reproductive performance; chick-growth rate; ecological variability; standard deviation of the logarithm; coefficient of variation; population variability; historical time series; population time series; population dynamics; semiparametric modeling; nonparametric modeling; splines; cubic regression splines; additive models; roughness penalty the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 64 introduction background our interest in ecological variability statistics began while investigating data on two breeding populations of cassin’s auklet (ptychoramphus aleuticus). this small, rarely seen seabird of the auk family spends most of its life out on the open sea, coming ashore only in the spring to breed in colonies (bertram, harfenist & smith, 2005). like other auks, the cassin’s auklet is an impressive diver, using its wings like flippers to propel itself through the water in search of food, regularly descending to depths of forty metres (burger & powell, 1989). during the breeding season, the cassin’s auklet spends its entire day foraging, returning onshore only at night to regurgitate food for its young in underground burrows (bertram et al., 2005). as plankton is the main food source for the cassin’s auklet, changes in production at the lowest levels of the marine food chain can impact the bird in a very immediate way. bertram, mackas & mckinnell (2001) argued that because of this close linkage, large-scale shifts in oceanographic conditions (e.g., el niño / la niña cycles, and long-term climate change) are reflected in the reproductive successes and failures of auklets. in this way, the cassin’s auklet can be thought of as a bellwether for the marine ecosystem (bertram et al., 2005). by studying its population dynamics, we gain insight not only into auklet ecology, but also into the state of the ocean. a large body of research on cassin’s auklets provides the groundwork for the present study, including examinations of adult survival and diet, colony density, and year-by-year measurements of reproductive performance (e.g. bertram et al., 2000; bertram et al., 2001; pyle, 2001; hedd et al., 2002; bertram et al., 2005; bertram, harfenist & hedd, 2009). in some cases, variability in reproductive performance is discussed qualitatively (by simultaneously comparing multiple point estimates, one koch 65 from each year); however, we are aware of no study that has attempted to quantify it in a statistically rigorous way. the variability in a population time series is a concept of great interest to ecologists. it is widely accepted, for example, that higher temporal variability in abundance (more increases and decreases in the population size) translates into higher extinction risk (vucetich et al., 2000; inchausti & halley, 2003). not surprisingly, there are a number of different tools available for measuring variability in a population time series (see fraterrigo & rusak, 2008). however, the most common of these, including the standard deviation of the logarithm (sdl), coefficient of variation (cv), and heath’s population variance (pv), are calculations on the response variable alone, and do not take into account the sequential ordering of observations available in a time series. we wished to improve on these statistics by finding a model that captures the trends in time, while also yielding a statistic for variability. we present a case study in which cassin’s auklet reproductive performance data is modeled using a statistical tool that is relatively new to population ecology, the cubic regression spline (crs). roughly speaking, a spline is a type of curve, and a crs is a curve fitted to a plot of points to reveal patterns in a cloud of noisy data. we argue for the usefulness of the crs approach and discuss the properties of j, a component of the crs model, in the context of measuring variability. cassin’s auklet data every spring between 1994 and 2000, cassin’s auklet breeding colonies located on frederick island (off the west coast of haida gwaii, in northern bc) and triangle island (off the northern tip of vancouver island, southern bc) were visited. during the spring nesting period of each year, hatch date and nestling mass at 5 and 25 days of age were recorded for a sample of nestlings. sample sizes ranged from 28 to 143 chicks per year per island. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 66 no sampling was done on frederick island in 1999. both islands host large breeding colonies of seabirds (triangle island boasts the largest known colony of cassin’s auklet in the world), and have been the subject of ecological research for decades (bertram et al., 2009). for this study, we use a consolidation of historical datasets (d. bertram & a. harfenist, personal communication, may 1 st , 2012). for each chick surveyed, an estimation of growth rate, , was computed as the scaled difference in mass over 20 days of chick-rearing: ⁄ , where is the mass of the i th chick at age a days. because chick growth is, in reality, sigmoid (roughly s-shaped, if plotting weight against time), it is a simplification to summarize the rate of growth by a single number. however, this practice is common (harfenist, 1995; bertram et al., 2001; hedd et al., 2002; bertram et al., 2005) and justified by observations that the 5-25 day age range falls within a roughly linear (straight line) period of the sigmoid growth curve (harfenist, 1995). in the cassin’s auklet literature, growth rates of individual chicks are commonly interpreted as proxies for the reproductive success of a colony as a whole. this is because chick-growth rate is a good predictor of hatching and fledging success, quality of food provisioning, and first-year survival (harfenist, 1995; bertram et al., 2001; hedd et al., 2002; bertram et al., 2005). in short, chick-growth rates tell us how healthy a population is, in terms of its capacity to grow and to rebound after disturbances (productivity and persistence). anecdotal reports and qualitative examinations by seabird biologists suggest that triangle island exhibits much more variability in reproductive performance than frederick island (bertram et al., 2001; bertram et al., 2009). our goal was to back this claim with quantitative evidence from the 1990s, and to find a statistical model illustrating the overall seven-year trend on both islands. koch 67 in technical terms, we required a model explaining the colony-wide mean growth rate, ̅̅ ̅̅ , where c indicates colony (f=frederick or t=triangle) and t indicates year. to compare variability in reproductive performance we also required a measure of the variability of ̅̅ ̅̅ with respect to years. to introduce the trends on both islands, the ̅̅ ̅̅ alues connected by a year-to-year linear interpolation line are plotted in figure 1. figure 1. linear interpolation of the annual mean growth rates on frederick island (solid line connecting ̅̅ ̅̅ ̅ values) and triangle island (dashed line c connecting ̅̅ ̅̅ ̅ values), overlaid on a scatterplot of the raw growth-rate data, , against time (one point per nestling). to distinguish data between the two islands, all points from triangle island have been shifted ahead by 0.1 years on this plot. sample sizes within each year are listed above, nt and nf for triangle and frederick islands, respectively. *note the absence of data for frederick island in 1999. figure 1 reveals a large amount of spread in the growth rate data and hints at some year-to-year differences between islands. some further exploration of the data revealed that hatch date is responsible for some of the variance in the growth rates. the biological explanation is that the nourishment of nestlings hinges on seasonal prey items only available during a small part of the year. chicks reared too late in the season are at a the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 68 disadvantage when they miss this narrow window of high food quality (bertram et al., 2001; bertram et al., 2009). figure 2 illustrates the correlation between growth rate and hatch date by island. figure 2. growth rate data plotted against julian hatch date, by island (one point per nestling, all years combined). in both frederick and triangle islands the correlation is significant ( ; and ). the dotted line indicates a straight line fit to the data, i.e., a simple linear regression. this relationship between and suggests that, by including hatch date in our analysis as a covariate, we may remove some of the noise from our dependent variable (chick-growth rate). model development: parametric regression the observation that the triangle island colony performed worse than frederick island during the 1990s as a whole, and in terms of year-by-year comparisons, has been reported already in previous research (bertram et al., 2001; bertram et al., 2005; bertram et al., 2009). statistical methods in these studies typically involved making point estimates (e.g., of average chick-growth rate, or average adult survival) for individual years, then comparing these numbers. however, our goals of testing for a variability koch 69 difference between islands, and modeling reproductive performance patterns over the long term, forced us to take a different tack. the issue is how to model the relationship between chick-growth rate, ̅̅ ̅̅ , and time. this relationship does not appear linear (straight line) given the dips that we observed in in the years 1996 and 1998 (figure 1). we therefore required a curvilinear relationship in time, t, which is referred to as the function . in the language of statistics, curve fitting, or finding the best form for , is called regression. regression comes in two flavours, parametric and nonparametric. parametric methods are simpler and yield results that are more directly interpreted, but come at the cost of assuming far more, at the outset, about the shape of the function (faraway, 2006). for example, polynomial regression (a parametric method) is a very popular choice for curve fitting in ecology (montgomery, peck & vining, 2012). however, one must specify the degree of the polynomial at the outset, which, among other things, restricts the number of upward and downward swings in the curve, and the variety of shapes that it may adopt. in our case, we believed it unwise to use parametric methods, because in selecting one for , we may exclude many other plausible forms, knowing as little as we do about the complex underlying year-dependent processes that generated our growth rate values. these processes might include shifts in marine production of zooplankton and yearly differences in the age-structure of the colony, the number of experienced nesters, etc. model development: nonparametric regression the philosophy of nonparametric regression is that one gains flexibility and convenience in fitting the curve by sacrificing some knowledge of what, in terms of an explicit equation, is the relationship between and t (wood, the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 70 2006). while one may still write out a formula for , it would be convoluted (even to the statistician), and uninformative to the analysis. for our purposes, the main advantage of nonparametric regression is that we let the data speak for itself, rather than enforcing a preconceived shape for the long-term reproductive performance patterns. in nonparametric regression the method used to calculate is referred to as a “smoother” and the fitted curve is called a “smooth.” a variety of smoothers are available (see rupert, wand & carroll, 2003, pp. 57-88, or faraway 2006, pp. 211-288, for an overview). we used the cubic regression spline (crs), originally developed by wahba (1990), and recommended as a good all-purpose smoother by faraway (2006) and wood (2006). the flexibility of smoothers makes them especially useful in situations where the relationship being modeled is complex or nonlinear (since, compared with parametric methods, they impose far fewer constraints on the final shape of the fitted curve). they are also particularly well suited to data exploration in larger datasets (faraway, 2006). where traditional methods (e.g., a series of boxplots, or a linear interpolation plot of average values, as in figure 1) become crowded and unclear, smoothers can deliver a clearer and more aesthetically pleasing result. smoothing methods have gained widespread popularity in recent years, with applications as varied as: forecasting in economics (yatchew, 1998); age-depth dating in archaeology and paleoecology (telford, heegaard & birks, 2004); and understanding links between suicide rates and the weather (likhvar, honda & ono, 2011). examples in the same vein as our present work include fleming et al. (2010), who used smooths to model the role of environmental factors on migratory songbird populations, and siriwardena et al. (1998), who smoothed time series data on farmland birds to identify and compare long-term population trends. the present study is, to our koch 71 knowledge, the first use of smoothing methods on cassin’s auklet population data. sections 1.5 and 1.6 introduce some mathematical details of crs models. readers from non-mathematics/statistics backgrounds may wish to skip to the non-technical summary in section 1.7. model development: properties of the crs smoother in spline-based methods (including the crs), the observed range of the covariate (e.g., time, in our case) is partitioned into intervals whose endpoints are referred to as knots. within each interval, a curve is fitted under the constraint that all of the pieces align end to end. in the case of the crs, the sections of the curve are third-degree polynomials, there is a knot at each unique covariate value, and the complete spline is continuous up to second derivatives. if no further constraints are imposed, such a spline typically overfits the data. in the extreme case, this would result in obtaining a curve which passes through every data point; this is undesirable because the actual pattern in time is obscured by errors in our measurements which we seek to remove, not track. crs smoothers avoid this problem by imposing a roughness penalty in the objective function. if the dataset contains n paired data points, ( ) for 1, 2, 3, …n, then the objective function is: ∑ ( ) (1) the first term is the sum of squared errors (quantifying variance), and the second is a roughness penalty, j, scaled by multiplication with , the smoothing parameter. the function (1) is minimised to obtain the fitted smooth . the minimiser of (1) keeps the prediction error low while maintaining a level of smoothness (the bias-variance trade-off), the smoothness being the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 72 tuned via a single number, . figures 3a-f illustrate the role of with crs smooths fitted to the triangle island data for a range of values. figure 3. crs smoother fitted to triangle island growth rates against year. a range of values are demonstrated for the smoothing parameter , as well as the resulting j values: (a) =0, j=151.7; (b) =0.1, j=107.3; (c) =0.5, j=41.3; (d) =1, j=19.8; (e) =5, j=2.5; (f) =100, j=0.1. the problem of selecting the smoothing parameter has been investigated at length (wahba 1990, pp. 45-65; wood, 2011). if is selected too high, we are underfitting (obtaining too simple a curve, as in figure 3f), and if it is too low, we are overfitting. we used restricted maximum likelihood (reml) to automatically select . automated methods are preferable in keeping with our desire to let the data speak for itself, and reml is less prone to underfitting than the more popular generalized cross validation (wood, 2011). roughness penalty as a measure of variability j measures roughness in the fitted spline (i.e., it quantifies the number and magnitude of fluctuations in the curve, or as wood (2006) calls it, the “wiggliness”). mathematically, the usual definition is ∫ , where is the smallest interval containing all of the observed covariate values (wood, 2006). a wonderful result emerges with j so defined: of all functions with absolutely koch 73 continuous first derivatives on , the natural cubic spline (a crs with some additional boundary constraints) is the unique minimiser of the objective (1) (green and silverman, 1994, pp. 13-19). this means that if we accept j as a valid measure of wiggliness, and (1) a valid measure of model fit, a crs curve is, mathematically speaking, the ideal fit for the data (out of any smooth curve imaginable). given the above definition, j indeed reflects the variability in a time series fitted with a smooth. unfortunately, because the concept of population variability has no single well-established mathematical definition in ecology (heath, 2006), it is difficult to argue one way or another about the robustness of an estimator. however, given the following example, it appears that j can be misleading if used as a measure of variability for the purpose of evaluating population viability (i.e., risk of extinction). consider a time series generated from the sinusoidal function over the time interval . this function has . let us compare values for two sine waves (say and ) having different amplitude and frequency (say amplitude and frequency ). with , we find that whenever . this implies that if the frequency of is twice that of , then its amplitude must only exceed ¼ that of to achieve a higher value. to frame this in a population ecology context, suppose and are abundance indices for two populations. now, suppose that the first population oscillates between 1% and 199% of its average size, once per year. finally, we suppose the second population oscillates less dramatically, between 75% and 125%, but does so twice each year. then in fact the population ( ) would have a higher j value (indicating higher variability). the oscillations in population 1 introduce far more of a the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 74 viability risk than those of population 2 (because of the periodic slumps to 1%), yet a comparison of the j values would lead the unwary ecologist to the opposite conclusion. summary in order to model the complex relationship between our covariates (time and hatch date) and response variable (chick-growth rate), we used a nonparametric method known as the crs smoother to obtain fitted curves known as smooths. we reported our final crs-based model using smooths to illustrate reproductive performance trends in time on frederick and triangle islands, as well as their dependence on hatch date. a component of the crs, the roughness penalty, j, measures wiggliness in the fitted curve. we saw that, by definition, j is a variability measure, yet the mathematical investigation in section 1.6 suggests it would be inappropriate for use in comparing viability and persistence of populations. we supported this claim with a simulation study, in which j values led us to an incorrect conclusion about population viability; whereas the well-established population variability statistics, cv and pv (heath, 2006; fraterrigo & rusak, 2008), yielded the correct result. finally, we compared variability in reproductive performance on frederick and triangle islands using cv and pv. methods additive models the additive model (am) is a convenient statistical framework for employing crs smoothers. for the auklets dataset, we used a special case of the varying-coefficients am (hastie & tibshirani, 1993), which permits smooth terms conditioned on a categorical predictor (allowing us to fit separate curves for each island). we used smoothing splines (a special type of crs) and reml for selection of . we explored models that included hatch date and year smooths, both island-specific and common to both koch 75 islands. to test for nonlinearity, we considered models where smooths are replaced by linear terms. we used approximate f-tests to rule out certain models. then, we ranked the remaining ones using akaike’s information criterion (aic) to identify a preferred model (wood, 2006). for all the am analysis, we used the r package “mgcv” (wood, 2011). we also considered j as a metric for variability in the chick-growth rates over time. we computed the roughness penalty for a simulated dataset to demonstrate that jcan be misleading in a population ecology context. finally, we compared the values of coefficient of variation (cv) and population variability (pv) of the within-year means of each island to identify quantitative differences in the variability of reproductive performance. roughness parameter simulation study to investigate the use of as a measure of variability we generated data from ⁄ at each of 13 values of t equally spaced over the time interval with two sets of parameter values, with the first having (a) , and the second having (b) ⁄ , . a crs was then fitted to each dataset, using reml for smoothing parameter selection and the values computed for the fitted splines. this process was repeated 1000 times to produce histograms of the values and to approximate their distributions. in this example, the sinusoidal process generating data for (a) had amplitude six times that of (b), yet (b) had a higher value because it oscillated three times as often. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 76 results model selection the most complex model considered here (model i in table 1) expresses the linear predictor for mean growth rate as the sum of two crs smooths, one for year, , and one for hatch date, , conditioned on island. defining an island indicator variable if observation i comes from triangle island, and zero otherwise, model i is: (3) where and referring back to figure 1, while the triangle island growth rate trend seems nonlinear, a flat straight line is plausible for frederick. we tested for nonlinearity in the frederick island year trend by fitting model ii (table 2), which has a linear term replacing the crs. the approximate f-test rejected this latter model in favour of model i ( , ), indicating the frederick island data is generated from a nonlinear year effect. similarly, we tested the hypothesis that the triangle island year term effect was linear with model iii, which the f-test rejected in favour of nonlinearity ( , ). finally, we considered the hypothesis that a single year smooth representing a common trend on both islands is sufficient, using model iv. the much higher aic score indicates that a single smooth is inadequate to model the trends on triangle and frederick islands (note that because model iv is not nested inside model i, an f-test is not appropriate here) so we retained the island-specific year smooths. similarly, we evaluated nonlinearity in the hatch date effects by replacing the appropriate smooth by linear terms (models v and vi). in both cases the smooth terms performed better, as indicated by aic and approximate f-test scores ( , and , koch 77 respectively).finally, we considered whether one nonlinear hatch date effect was sufficient to explain the variability on both islands using model vii. model i performed slightly better, although the difference in aic was small. the hatch date term was significant in model vii ( ), confirming its usefulness in the am. model viii eliminates island effects, having year and hatch date effects fitted as smooths across the pooled data. this model performed the worst in aic, and captured very little structure in the dataset (r 2 =7.8%). table 1. model selection results for the cassin’s auklet data. effective degrees of freedom (edf), aic, and r 2 values for all candidate additive models are provided. effect terms differing from those in model i are bolded for clarity. models are listed in ascending order by aic. # model for edf aic r 2 (%) i 25.02 2693.7 37.1 vii 18.66 2698.6 36.4 vi 19.5 2721.2 35.2 v 18.2 2732.9 34.4 ii 22.3 2749.2 33.7 the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 78 iv 19.9 2859.4 26.7 iii 17.6 2879.7 25.3 viii 10.0 3107.9 7.8 the full model based on aic scores and approximate f-tests, model i, the sum of islanddependent smooths for both year and hatch date, was preferred. figure 4 shows the fitted smooths from model i ( , , , and ) individually. although our model yields a 3d response surface (briefly, the response surface is a pictorial representation of growth rate as a function of time and hatch date), the trend over years can be appreciated by looking at predicted values in a 2d slice obtained by fixing hatch date to some constant value (figure 5). because of the additive structure of the model, a change in hatch date results only in vertical translations of the two response curves plotted in figure 5 relative to each other. koch 79 figure 4. fitted smooths from model i along with predicted values and approximate 95% confidence bands. year smooths (a) and (b) are fitted with a cubic regression spline (crs) of 6 and 7 knots, respectively. hatch date smooths (c) , and (d) are fitted with a crs of 48 and 59 knots, respectively. figure 5. predicted values of cassin’s auklet growth rate from model i for all years sampled, at the median hatch date 139 (april 29th). dotted lines indicate approximate 95% pointwise confidence intervals. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 80 wiggliness simulation results in simulations, the crs fitted to series (b) had a higher jvalue 46% of the time, indicating higher variability in (b) despite its less wiggly appearance. in contrast, cv and pv computed for this simulated data were higher in series (a) 100% of the time, indicating strongly that (a) is more variable. figure 6. scatterplots showing one example of the simulated data and fitted splines (solid lines) overlaid on the original sine curves (dotted lines) for parameter sets (a) , and (b) ⁄ , . histograms of the values for (a) and (b) are plotted below. discussion model selection not only served to identify the best model, but also to test hypotheses about trends in the data. the approximate f-tests revealed that the year-wise trends on triangle and frederick islands were not only different, but both nonlinear (i.e., straight lines are inadequate to represent these effects). likewise, we found good evidence that the hatch date effect was nonlinear and island-specific. koch 81 the hatch date smooths in figures 4c-d are interesting to the seabird biologist as we see a marked difference between islands, with triangle growth rates exhibiting more of a negative trend as the nesting season progresses, indicating that within-year timing is more of an issue in the triangle population than for birds from frederick. note that in figure 4c, the confidence bands widen dramatically towards the extremes of the hatch date range because of a scarcity of observations (fewer than 1% lie outside of [125, 166]). this smooth should therefore be interpreted cautiously near its endpoints. the year effects plots are most interesting as they illustrate the multiyear variability in growth rate means. frederick is fairly flat throughout the study period; whereas, triangle exhibits fluctuations which are larger and more frequent, with dips in the years 1996 and 1998. the simulations with the roughness penalty were informative as we had originally hoped to develop a test for a difference in variability between and by estimating the distribution of j (either by simulating from the posterior distribution of j given our data, or by bootstrapping). such a test might still have uses, but with the aim of comparing population time series, the example in section 1.6 suggests that it could be misleading in an ecological context. in the realm of population ecology, short-term low amplitude changes are of less importance to population viability than longterm high amplitude changes. the latter represent events that could threaten the persistence of the population, such as depressing it to levels at which recovery is hindered by small population size (e.g., small population levels can make it more difficult for a colony to fend off predators, or to cooperate in finding good foraging patches), or bolstering it to levels at which densitydependent effects could lead to a population crash (e.g., resulting from competition for food, or from parasite outbreaks; boyce, 1992). in this light, if the goal is to compare the viability of populations through variability measurements, a good measure should not be overly sensitive to highthe arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 82 frequency, low-amplitude oscillations, but rather pick up more on the higher amplitude swings. qualitatively, the higher variability in the triangle island time series is obvious from figures 4 and 5. we conclude with quantitative evidence to reinforce this observation. we computed cv and pv on the yearly averages on each island. as expected, triangle island had higher values of both statistics than frederick island (cvt =15.5 and pvt=0.17 versus cvf =5.5 and pvf=0.06). conclusion nonparametric regression has considerable value for conveying trends in an ecological time series. in terms of clarity and aesthetics, these models provide a large improvement over graphs of linear interpolation of the averages or yearly boxplots. they also provide a degree of flexibility, which is necessary when modeling nonlinear trends. for these reasons we expect to see more of the crs and other smoothing methods in the future, not only in ecology, but in any field where exploratory data analysis is needed (e.g., economics, climate research, geography, and health sciences). while we failed to find a variability measure in the am with crs smooths, these models remained very useful for data exploration and illustration. to researchers using the crs smoother, we advise caution in the interpretation of the roughness penalty as a statistic representing temporal variability. despite its role as a wiggliness measure, j can be misleading in the context of population ecology, where variability is often a sign of extinction risk. we recommend established variability measures, such as pv or cv, as a simple and convenient option for investigators seeking a quantitative reading of variability. future work will return to the crs model to examine the possibility of formulating a variability statistic as a function of the fitted parameters, , since confidence intervals for such a statistic can be estimated through simulation from the posterior distribution koch 83 of . one could for example devise a hypothesis test for a difference in cv( ̂) or pv( ̂) using this approach. this would offer an improvement over simply calculating cv or pv for the yearly means (as we did), since information about the temporal ordering of observations would be included as part of the process of fitting ̂. new statistics such as these could prove useful in any field in which the variability in a historical time series is of interest (such as research on climate change seeking to tease apart natural variability from that introduced by human activity). our investigation showed that cassin’s auklets on triangle island deal with more year-to-year fluctuations in reproductive performance than those on frederick island. this identifies triangle as a more at-risk population, which could be useful in advising future conservation efforts. furthermore, the difference in population variability is suggestive of a more unstable pattern of zooplankton productivity in the local marine ecosystem near triangle island. a detailed discussion of this last point is the subject of forthcoming work (bertram et al., in prep.). references bertram, d. f., jones, i. l., cooch, e. g., knechtel, h. a., & cooke, f. (2000) survival rates of cassin's and rhinoceros auklets at triangle island, british columbia. the condor, 102, 155-162. bertram, d. f., mackas, d. l., & mckinnell, & s. m. (2001). the seasonal cycle revisited: interannual variation and ecosystem consequences. progress in oceanography, 49, 283-307. bertram, d. f., harfenist, a., & smith, b. d. (2005). ocean climate and el niño impacts on survival of cassin’s auklets from upwelling and downwelling domains of british columbia. canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences, 62, 2841-2853. doi: 10.1139/f05-190. bertram, d. f., harfenist, a., & hedd, a. (2009). seabird nestling diets reflect latitudinal temperature-dependent variation in availability of key zooplankton prey populations. marine ecology progress series, 393, 199-200. doi: 10.3354/meps08223. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 84 bertram, d. f., harfenist, a., cowen, l. l., koch, d., lemon, m. j. f., hipfner, j. m., & drever, m. (in prep.). cassin’s auklet nestling reproductive failure is related to latitudinal temperature dependent mismatches with copepod prey populations. boyce, m. s. (1992). population viability analysis. annual review of ecology and systematics, 23, 481-506. burger, a.e., & powell, d.w. (1989). diving depths and diet of cassin’s auklet at reef island, british columbia. canadian journal of zoology, 68, 1572–1577. faraway, j. j. (2006). extending the linear model with r. boca raton, fl: chapman and hall/crc press. fleming, j. m., cantoni, e., field, c., mclaren, i. (2010). extracting longterm patterns of population changes from sporadic counts of migrant birds. environmetrics, 21, 482-492. fraterrigo, j. m., & rusak, j. a. (2008). disturbance-driven changes in the variability of ecological patterns and processes. ecology letters, 11, 756-770. doi: j.1461-0248.2008.01191.x green, p. j., & silverman, b. w. (1994). nonparametric regression and generalized linear models. suffolk, england: chapman & hall. harfenist, a. (1995). effects of growth-rate variation on fledging of rhinoceros auklets (cerorhinca monocerata). the auk, 112, 60-66. hastie, t., & tibshirani, r. (1993). varying-coefficient models. journal of the royal statistical society: series b, 55, 757-796. hedd, a., ryder, j. l., cowen l. l., & bertram, d. f. (2002). inter-annual variation in the diet, provisioning and growth of cassin’s auklet at triangle island, british columbia: responses to variation in ocean climate. marine ecology progress series, 229, 221-232. heath, j. (2006). quantifying temporal variability in population abundances. oikos, 115, 573-581. doi: 10.1111/j.2006.00301299.15067.x inchausti, p., & halley, j. (2003). on the relation between temporal variability and persistence time in animal populations. journal of animal ecology, 72, 899-908. doi: j.1365-2656.2003.00767.x likhvar, v., honda, y., & ono, m. (2011). relation between temperature and suicide mortality in japan in the presence of other confounding factors using time-series analysis with a semiparametric approach. environmental health and preventative medicine, 16, 36-43. montgomery, d.c., peck, e.a., & vining, g.g. (2012). introduction to linear regression analysis. hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. koch 85 pyle, p. (2001). age at first breeding and natal dispersal in a declining population of cassin's auklet. the auk, 118, 996-1007. rupert, d., wand, m., & carroll, r. (2003). semiparametric regression. new york, ny: cambridge university press. siriwardena, g. m., baillie, s. r., buckland, s. t., fewster, r. m., marchant, j. h., & wilson, j. d. (1998). trends in the abundance of farmland birds; a quantitative comparison of smoothed common birds census indices. journal of applied ecology, 35, 24-43. telford, r. j., heegaard, e., & birks, h. j. b. (2004). all age–depth models are wrong: but how badly? quaternary science reviews, 23, 1-5. vucetich, j. a., white, t. a., qvarnemark, l., & ibarguen, s. (2000). population variability and extinction risk. conservation ecology, 14, 1704-1714. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2000.99359.x wahba, g. (1990). spline models for observational data (1 st ed.). philadelphia, pa: siam. wood s. n. (2006). generalized additive models: an introduction with r. boca raton, fl: chapman and hall/crc press. wood, s. n. (2011). fast stable restricted maximum likelihood and marginal likelihood estimation of semiparametric generalized linear models. journal of the royal statistical society: series b, 73, 3-36. doi: j.1467-9868.2010.00749.x yatchew, a. (1998). nonparametric regression techniques in economics. journal of economic literature, 36, 669-721. contact information dean koch, from the department of mathematics and statistics, can be reached at dk@uvic.ca. acknowledgements an undergraduate student research award from the natural sciences and engineering research council of canada, as well as the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, supported this research. i would like to thank professor laura cowen for her invaluable guidance and encouragement in this project, as well as dr.’s doug bertram and anne harfenist for providing the data and supporting the research. mclennan-dillabough 45 mediating access: the utilization of status evaluation processes in the work of bouncing sarah mclennan-dillabough abstract: evaluative processes play a central role in our social world. these processes are especially salient in the work of bouncing, the work carried out by security staff at establishments licensed to serve alcohol. bouncers have the power to admit or deny patrons who seek admittance to bars and nightclubs. although the continual evaluation of patrons’ statuses (including their social status, race, and age) is common in this line of work, little sociological research has focused on these processes. using interviews and participant observations, this article provides a grounded theory study that aims to expand the sociological knowledge about evaluative processes in the work of bouncing. this article argues that bouncers rely on socially constructed stereotypes in their evaluations of patron attitude and dress, associating certain attitudes and dress with violent behaviour. bouncers’ reliance on status characteristic stereotypes systematically excludes classes and races of patrons who are perceived to have characteristics associated with violence. key terms: status evaluation processes; bouncing; licensed establishments; status characteristics; stereotypes; visual and behavioural status characteristics; systematic exclusion; classbased assumptions; bribery; grounded theory introduction status serves an important function within society. an individual’s evaluated worth, or status, often determines his or her access to societal resources and rewards, which in turn perpetuates society’s systems of inequality (rivera, 2010, p. 230). the evaluation of an individual’s status, that is their position relative to that of others, such as social class, race and age, occurs on a daily basis during social interactions and activities. joseph berger defines status characteristics as attributes that individuals possess in differing degrees, and for which different levels of socially constructed worth are associated (berger et al., 2002). in their daily social interactions, people utilize status evaluation tools, such as status characteristics and socially constructed stereotypes, to quickly evaluate the individuals. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 46 examples of status characteristics include skin colour, gender, level of education, use of language, and physical appearance. the evaluative skills and tools used by individuals are often based on personal interpretations and assessments of status characteristics. thus, these judgments may reflect social biases that have been taught through socialization. in some instances, socially constructed stereotypes, which are grounded in an oversimplified, generalized image of the perceived or actual status characteristics of a group of people, may be utilized during status evaluations. the work of bouncing, carried out by security staff at licensed establishments such as bars and nightclubs, relies on quickly assessing the status of individuals throughout the process of mediating access to these licensed establishments. bouncers hold a unique position in that they are granted full authority to determine whether or not an individual is suitable to gain admittance to the establishment. for example, bouncers must determine whether patrons are of the legal drinking age and are carrying the appropriate form of government identification. during this process, bouncers must use their evaluative skills and tools to make efficient decisions regarding patrons’ eligibility for admittance. throughout the night, bouncers are also required to survey the establishment and remove patrons who are overly intoxicated or display inappropriate or violent behaviour. bouncers do so in order to limit the violence that occurs within the establishment. for this reason, they deny entrance to patrons whom they perceive, during their initial evaluation, as likely to become violent or overly intoxicated. this article provides a grounded theory study (the generation of original theory from the analysis of primary sociological data) on the evaluative processes that are involved in the work of bouncing. using interviews and participant observations, this study analyzes bouncers’ evaluations of patrons during the admittance process at the door of a licensed establishment referred to as bar x, and arrives at its conclusions based on that data. a review of the existing literature on status evaluation processes and on the work of bouncing locates this study in relation to previous scholarship. a discussion of the research design and methods outlines the theoretical approach of this study. the analysis that follows focuses on the centrality of status evaluations in the work of bouncing, the specific status characteristics evaluated, the breaching of evaluations due to bribery, and the bouncers’ perceptions that their training does not prepare them for the required evaluation of patrons’ status characteristics. mclennan-dillabough 47 overall, this article argues that status evaluations are fundamental in mediating access to bar x. patron attitude (a behavioural status characteristic) and patron dress (a visual status characteristic) are the two primary status characteristics bouncers consider during patron status evaluations at bar x. socially constructed stereotypes and class-based assumptions become embedded in the bouncers’ evaluations of patrons’ status characteristics. this is due, in part, to the externally imposed dress code, which is infused with implicit race and class assumptions. the bouncers’ reliance on these status characteristic stereotypes works to systematically exclude certain classes and races of patrons from bar x. the bouncers at bar x are sometimes willing to disregard their initial evaluation of a patron’s characteristics if the patron offers a monetary bribe in return for admittance. the bouncers’ willingness to accept bribes at bar x suggests that they are aware of the inaccuracies of the stereotypes and assumptions. yet, they continue to rely upon these stereotypes during their evaluative process. the bouncers claim that they have learned to rely on their own evaluative criteria due to the lack of formal training surrounding the evaluation of patrons’ status characteristics. bouncers’ reliance on status characteristic stereotypes sometimes perpetuates discrimination and illustrates how exclusionary practices become embedded in social processes. theoretical framework one key theory pertaining to status evaluations is berger, ridgeway, and zelditch’s (2002) work on the construction of status characteristics, which focuses on the construction of diffuse status characteristics and the conditions under which characteristics of discrimination form through social processes (p. 159). berger et al. define a status characteristic as a “characteristic … that differentiates actors into social categories that are associated with differential status value,” or level of worth (p.157). they argue that through social interactions, and situations of action, these status characteristics emerge. people evaluate these characteristics (p. 161), and if the evaluation of the individual’s status characteristics turns out to be correct, the authors conclude that those characteristics slowly become institutionalized within social processes (p. 167). social psychologists have also examined these status evaluations, focusing on status judgments and stereotypes. patterson, foster, and bellmer (2001), as well as mast and hall (2004), conclude that people can quickly, and relatively accurately, assess the status of other individuals. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 48 mast and hall argue that this is accomplished through the examination of visual and behavioural characteristics (such as physical appearance and mannerisms) (p. 149). the evaluation of an individual’s status characteristics takes place in various social situations, including the evaluative process of mediating access to licensed establishments. previous sociological scholarship on the work of bouncing and study of licensed establishments has focused on the notion of public and private space, the bouncers’ evaluation of visual status characteristics, or racial discrimination. monaghan (2002) focuses on the tasks performed by bouncers and the social phenomenon of violence within licensed establishments. monaghan (2002) discusses the public misconception that licensed premises are public spaces where entrance is a given right. instead, monaghan argues, licensed premises represent commercial spaces of selective admittance “where potential customers are evaluated according to conventions for entry such as age, bodily comportment and clothing” (p. 412). may and chaplin’s (2008) study focuses on the use of dress codes at nightclubs which help deny entrance to certain racial groups who gravitate towards identifiable styles of dress. specifically, may and chaplin argue that black individuals are often denied entrance to prominently white nightclubs due to their “hip-hop” style clothing, which is used as a status characteristic to signify trouble or violence in the evaluation carried out by bouncers (p. 59). winlow, hobbs, lister, and hadfield’s (2001) study examines the mediation of access in licensed establishments. it concludes that “decisions regarding who got in and who got turned away from the door of a pub or club often had a good deal of rational foundation” and were based on the bouncer’s evaluation of the patron’s status characteristics, including dress and physical appearance (p. 543). berger et al.’s (2002) status characteristic theory has seldom been used in the sociological study of bouncing and licensed establishments. a rare study that employs berger et al.’s theory is rivera’s (2010) case study that explores the evaluation of patron status by bouncers who mediate access to an exclusive nightclub. rivera examines the status characteristics used in the evaluative processes in a prestigious social setting and finds that the bouncers mainly evaluated patrons’ visible status characteristics, such as race, accent, gender and dress (p. 248). this current article, in contrast to earlier studies, focuses on the evaluation of status characteristics in a working class establishment. this expands the current realm of licensed establishments that have been studied in relation to status evaluation processes. it is crucial to study the use of mclennan-dillabough 49 evaluative processes in various social settings to determine whether or not the functioning of these processes depends on the type of establishment and the class of patrons being evaluated. previous literature on the evaluation of status characteristics at licensed establishments has focused heavily on the evaluation of patron dress, age, physical appearance and gender (rivera, 2010; monaghan, 2002; may & chaplin, 2008; winlow et al., 2001). to date, there has been little to no scholarly focus on the status characteristic of patron attitude, the breaching of bouncer evaluations through bribery, or the lack of formal training and its impact on the development of bouncers’ evaluation processes. this article focuses on these gaps in the current literature and offers a new theory about these neglected elements of bouncing and status evaluation processes. the addition of these new findings to the existing literature on status evaluation processes in bouncing will help create a more comprehensive body of scholarly research on the evaluative processes and status characteristics involved in the work of bouncing. research design and methods the protocol of this research’s framework of inquiry is grounded theory. the grounded theory approach is defined as a systematic, qualitative procedure that is used to generate a theory that describes and illuminates, at a conceptual level, a process related to a substantive topic. as described by corbin and strauss (1990), “[t]he procedures of grounded theory are designed to develop a well integrated set of concepts that provide a thorough theoretical explanation of social phenomena under study” (p. 5). as stressed by corbin and strauss, grounded theory requires researchers to follow the specific procedures of data collection and analysis in order to maintain rigor throughout the research process (p. 6). the process of conducting grounded theory begins with the collection of empirical data, free from an overarching theoretical position or hypothesis. during the data analysis process, the raw data is contextualized into rough codes or themes, which are then further refined into core concepts through the collection of subsequent data. from there, an original theory, or thesis, is generated based on the interrelationship of the core theoretical concepts that were identified throughout the comparative data analysis. this framework of inquiry is appropriate for the study of status evaluation processes in bouncing due to the fact that there is not presently an extensive body of literature or theory pertaining to the use of these evaluative processes in this line of work. because of this lack of existing the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 50 theory, the generation of original theory is valuable to the advancement of the sociological research on evaluative status processes in the work of bouncing. the initial phases of research involved seeking out participants who were currently employed as bouncers and were willing to participate in the study. a key informant was used in order to connect with bouncers, which eventually led to finding two bouncers who wanted to participate and consented to the research. both of the participants were male, in their early twenties, and were employed at numerous nightclubs and bars throughout the city. the pseudonyms ringo and clark are used throughout the article in order to maintain their anonymity. once the participants were found, semistructured interviews were conducted at an off-site location with each of the participants. three interviews were conducted with each participant following the protocol of theoretical sampling within grounded theory, which refers to the process of data production in which the researcher collects and analyzes primary data and then uses that initial data to guide the subsequent collection of new empirical data. multiple interviews were also necessary in the research to achieve saturation in the core concepts of the generated theory. saturation refers to the point in which no new insights are generated within the existing concepts, with each concept having sufficient data and content to produce trustworthy claims in the generated theory. the interviews were then transcribed, with all identifying information from the written data removed to allow complete confidentiality and anonymity. the primary data that was collected through the semi-structured interviews is supplemented by observational data collected on site at one of the licensed establishments at which both participants were employed, referred to in this article as bar x. bar x is located near an industrial area of town and attracts mostly working-class clientele employed in the area surrounding the bar. as an upper middle class female, who had never previously been to this establishment, i chose to wear non-designer jeans and tank tops during the observational period. the style of dress chosen was similar to that of many female patrons. therefore, it closely matched the visible status characteristic of dress found within the establishment. throughout the night, i recorded field notes on a cell phone. in-depth field notes were possible since the recording process was discrete; i appeared to be texting on my phone, which is a common occurrence in such a social setting. mclennan-dillabough 51 observations were conducted on two consecutive nights during the participants’ shifts, from 10 pm until 2:30 am. limited observations were collected as a regular patron, since patrons are not allowed to loiter around the entrance of bar x, where the bouncers mediate the admittance of patrons. bouncers were observed at the front door, while i was waiting in line to be admitted into bar x, as well as when they made their rounds inside bar x over the course of the night. a good vantage point was also found from the ‘smokers’ pit’ where it was possible to observe the entrance of bar x and the bouncers’ interactions with the waiting patrons. once the initial data from the interviews and field notes were collected and transcribed, the data analysis process of grounded theory began. this included the continual refinement of theoretical concepts following the protocols discussed earlier in this section, which eventually led to the generation of original theory. results the centrality of the evaluative process within bouncing the continual evaluation and observation of patrons is a fundamental part of bouncing. as observed within bar x, bouncers initially evaluate patrons’ social status in order to determine their eligibility for admittance at the door of the establishment. the admittance process, however, is not the only time that requires bouncers to evaluate patrons’ status characteristics; rather, the evaluation of patrons is a continual process, due to the need to constantly monitor patrons’ behaviour and actions throughout the night. since this finding suggests it is of great sociological importance to determine how these evaluations are being made by individual bouncers and, more importantly, whether or not socially constructed stereotypes and class-based assumptions related to the evaluative status characteristics influence bouncers’ evaluative process. the centrality of evaluating patrons’ status characteristics within the work of bouncing is illustrated by clark, who states: i get paid to observe and assess people. all night i’m figuring out whether or not people can come in, but once they’re in [bar x] we don’t just ignore them and let them run wild. that’s how trouble starts. we constantly are looking for people making mistakes or acting badly. like, throughout the night i have to kick out people i think are too drunk or are trying to pick fights. that kinda stuff. i guess i never stop evaluating people all night actually (laughter). (clark, interview, october 29 th , 2012) the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 52 clark’s statement illuminates the importance of bouncers’ evaluative processes, since most of the work involved in bouncing – such as selecting or denying patrons for admittance, or removal of patrons throughout the night – rests heavily on the bouncers’ assessment of the situation and evaluation of the patron involved. this is further demonstrated by ringo, who explains that “everything we do depends on what we observe and what we think is going on. like i said before it’s super-important for you to think and figure stuff out quickly and then act fast in response to the situation ” (ringo, interview, november 5 th , 2012). thus, the bouncers’ evaluation of a situation and patron is what determines the subsequent action that is taken by the bouncers. since evaluative processes have been found to be a central element within the work of bouncing, it is important to examine these evaluation processes and explore the specific status characteristics that are used by bouncers in their evaluations of patrons’ statuses. it is also crucial, then, to determine whether or not socially constructed class-based assumptions and stereotypes related to these status characteristics influence bouncers’ evaluations of the potential patrons. evaluation of behavioural status characteristic: attitude towards bouncers the analysis indicated that a patron’s attitude towards bouncers is the main behavioural status characteristic that is used during a bouncers’ evaluation of patron status to determine whether to admit him or her into the establishment. the bouncers at bar x also view the patron’s attitude towards them during the initial admittance process as a key indicator of the patron’s future behaviour within the bar. as ringo expresses, you can always sense who is going to cause you trouble later on. they have a cockiness to them. for example, when you ask for their id at the door, if they get all defensive or rude, or act as if it’s some huge fu**ing inconvenience, you just know they are gonna be the ones willing to get into some pointless fight later on or cause a big scene if you try to kick them out. it becomes obvious that they do not respect us, and probably not the rules of the bar either. (ringo, interview, november 2 nd , 2012) this statement reveals that a patron's attitude and respect for bouncers is often seen as a good indicator of the patron's subsequent actions and responses throughout the night. this is supported by clark, who states, mclennan-dillabough 53 if you are rude or aggressive to us right from the start, why the hell would we let you in. it’s kinda like a first date, (laughter) first impressions are super important. and like if you are willing to be rude to us so early on imagine how the rest of the night will unfold. you have ruined your chances of getting in right from the start. (clark, interview, november 5 th , 2012) clark’s statement illustrates how a bouncers’ evaluation of patron's attitude is a way of gauging the patron's potential for violence later on in the night. as these two statements indicate, the bouncers at bar x have come to associate certain patron attitudes and styles of behaviour with violence. although the association between patron attitude and violence may in part be due to bouncers’ past experiences, this type of association nonetheless illustrates how socially constructed stereotypes based on social status characteristics become embedded in bouncers’ evaluative processes. different social classes exhibit varied styles of expression, uses of language, and notions of what is appropriate behaviour in social interactions. these class-based differences are due to classed social experiences, education and socialization. for example, a working class individual who seeks admittance to bar x may appear to have an abrupt attitude, which could be perceived as hostile, compared to an upper-class individual, who may speak in a way that is perceived as more polite. this perceived difference in attitude is due to class-based differences in manners and norms of social interaction that these individuals have been taught and have had shaped by past experiences. bouncers’ use of patron attitude as a status characteristic in their evaluations perpetuates the stereotype that patrons they perceive as displaying a more assertive or aggressive attitude are more likely to become violent. this type of stereotyped assumption results in class-based exclusions from the bar, since individuals of a lower social status may be perceived as more likely to cause trouble, such as starting fights or becoming aggressive, in the bar. of course, it is important to note that rude and hostile individuals are found within all social positions, but the point here is that lower social classes may be socialized to exhibit certain behaviours and attitudes that are perceived as more hostile or aggressive in social interactions. the use of this stereotype in the evaluative processes may result in the exclusion of patrons of a certain social status, or of individuals who simply have a more assertive or aggressive personality. therefore, the use of this status characteristic can perpetuate class-based the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 54 discrimination based on characteristics that are acquired through classed socialization processes. evaluation of visual status characteristic: dress code the analysis also revealed that bouncers rely heavily on their assessment of patron’s dress when determining whether or not to admit patrons. bar x has a formal dress code, which is enforced by bouncers working the door. clothing items that are not permitted in bar x include the following: steel toe boots, overalls and other labour style uniforms, tank tops (referred to by bouncers as “wife beaters”), flip flops, sweatpants, and gang clothing (including bandanas). the observations indicate that the bouncers closely follow the dress code while evaluating potential patrons. during the observational period, only a few patrons were accepted into the bar despite wearing certain banned items of clothing. (an explanation of why these patrons were admitted is provided later on in the bribery section of this article). the formalized dress code enforced by bouncers at bar x is embedded with societal assumptions and stereotypes that result in the exclusion of patrons on the basis of class and race. for example, many of the banned items of dress formalized in the dress code – such as labour uniforms and steel toe boots – are visual signifiers of the working class status. other banned items – such as bandanas and gang clothing – may, in some instances, signify racial identifications, rather than gang affiliation. therefore, display of such items may work to exclude certain ethnic groups via the socially constructed stereotypes regarding class, race, and dress embedded in the dress code. these stereotypes are thus indirectly imposed upon bouncers by nightclub owners through the dress code, and become part of a bouncers’ evaluative process. the dress code illustrates how bouncers’ evaluative processes are influenced by externally constructed assumptions and stereotypes which, in turn, become internalized into the bouncer’s evaluative process. although this externally imposed dress code illustrates how larger social status stereotypes become part of the bouncers’ evaluative processes, the participants of this study never acknowledge that this dress code is embedded with race and class-based exclusionary stereotypes. nor do the participants express that the externally imposed dress code, and its implicit class and race assumptions, influence their overall evaluation of the patrons’ status and eligibility of admittance. instead, the participants offer other reasons behind enforcing the dress code, as found in clark’s statement: mclennan-dillabough 55 dress code is very important because it gives the bar its image. if [bar x] was filled with people in their construction uniforms and sweatpants no one would want to spend money to come drink here. as corny as it is, image is everything and we try to maintain some sort of standard for this joint. (clark, interview, october 29 th , 2012) as clark’s statement suggests, the maintenance of the bar’s image is one of the motivators behind the bouncers’ evaluation of patron’s clothing. this is an interesting statement considering the demographics of bar x. although bar x is a bar that attracts mainly working class patrons from the surrounding industrial area, as clark’s statement suggests, through its formal dress code, the bar management actively works to exclude and erase the status characteristics that represent the working class. in other words, the dress code at bar x attempts to mask the very social class of its patrons by creating a controlled social space that can only be occupied by people who exhibit or meet certain status characteristics, such as the dress requirements. this type of dress code impacts the patrons of bar x, since they must actively suppress certain styles of dress that signify their social status in order to enter the establishment. in addition to maintaining a class-based image or standard in the bar, the bouncers interviewed also note that denying patrons based on certain styles of dress is used in their status evaluation process as a means of limiting violence within the bar. as ringo states: keeping out people in gang clothing and guys in sweatpants and wifebeaters helps eliminate lots of fights. people dressed like that tend to start a lot of sh** around here. people who are dressed nicely very rarely want to pick a fight. so keeping certain people out because of what they are wearing helps the bar overall and makes our job easier throughout the night. (ringo, interview, october 30 th , 2012) ringo’s statement indicates that the bouncers at bar x have learned to associate certain styles of dress with violent behaviour within their evaluations of patrons’ status. this finding echoes the study’s earlier discussion regarding bouncers' associations between patron attitudes and violent behaviour. again, class and race stereotypes are embedded into their evaluative processes. by associating specific styles of dress with violence, bouncers may unknowingly be excluding certain classes and races of people who tend to identify with certain styles of dress. bouncers’ reliance on the stereotype that individuals in certain types of clothing provoke more the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 56 violence within the bar perpetuates discrimination against people who exhibit those status characteristics. this stereotype unjustly excludes individuals who display those status characteristics, regardless of whether or not they are prone to violence. breaching evaluation criteria: bribery although bouncers use multiple status characteristics to evaluate admissibility into bar x, the analysis indicates that bouncers are often willing to admit patrons who have been denied admission if the patron bribes the bouncers. this suggests that bouncers are willing to go against their evaluative judgment if there is monetary compensation (termed ‘grease money’ in the bouncing community). as clark explains, “grease money is how bouncers eat. the bartenders always rip us off on tips so it’s our way of compensating and making some extra cash we don’t have to share with anyone in the bar” (clark, interview, november 3 nd , 2012). bouncers of bar x see the act of going against their evaluation criteria in order to make more money as a risk worth taking. ringo says, i mean there is always the right price…(long pause) sometimes if a guy comes right from work in steel toe boots and slips me forty bucks i’m gonna let him in. it’s unlikely that he is actually going to do anything wrong, and even if he does it’s my fault for letting him in and i just have to deal with the extra hassle of kicking him out. still worth the extra forty bucks if you ask me. (ringo, interview, november 2 nd , 2012) ringo’s attitude towards bribery, or ‘greasing’, suggests that the potential risk of letting in a patron who ends up confirming the bouncers’ associations between certain status characteristics and violence is worth the extra money. ringo’s statement is also of significance to this study since he acknowledges that the individual who displays a status characteristic associated with violence is likely not going to be violent. this statement suggests that bouncers are aware that the stereotyped assumptions they rely on during their evaluations of patrons’ statuses are not always accurate. this is troubling, since bouncers at bar x recognize the overgeneralization and possible inaccuracy of their assumptions, yet still rely on these stereotypes as their primary tools during their evaluations. reliance on these stereotypes is troublesome, as they perpetuate the exclusion of certain people from the bar and help maintain, if not reinforce, discrimination against particular social classes and races in society more generally. mclennan-dillabough 57 the breaching of the bouncers' evaluations also raises questions concerning the potential impact this has on the safety of other patrons in bar x. although the results of this study suggest that the bouncers view the added risk of violence in the club as worth the monetary compensation, the bouncers are making decisions that could put other patrons of the bar at greater risk of harm. bouncers are not only hired to mediate access at the door of the establishment, but are also responsible to protect the patrons and limit the violence that occurs throughout the night. these issues regarding bribery and evaluation breaching are rarely formally addressed or examined by establishment managers or security instructors, since accepting bribes from patrons is a strictly underground practice that takes place only between bouncers and patrons. the role of training in bouncer evaluation processes while the above analysis shows that bouncers rely on evaluations based on status characteristic stereotypes, it also reveals that bouncers perceive that little attention is given to defining these evaluative processes during the training and licensing procedures required for this line of work. as well, even though bouncers are legally required to obtain their basic securitytraining license prior to being hired at a licensed establishment, the analysis shows that licensed establishments willingly hire individuals without any of the required credentials. ringo states, i basically walked off the street and started working, and i know a lot of other guys who did the same. like i said before, most clubs want you to have it [security license], but they even know it doesn’t teach you sh**, and so don’t really care, since no one ever checks if the bouncers even have their license. (ringo, interview, november 5 th , 2012) although ringo did not obtain his security license, many bouncers (including clark) do choose to get licensed prior to being hired. these bouncers believe that the training will prepare them for the line of work and potential situations they might face while working the door. clark successfully completed the licensing program, but states that “the license doesn’t teach you anything; such a fu**ing waste of $350 bucks. what they really should teach you is how to fight, or at least tackle, someone (laughter) -that’s the stuff us bouncers actually need to know ” (clark, interview, october 29 th , 2012). clark’s statement indicates that some bouncers do not feel that they are being taught the relevant skills needed in this line of work through the formal training. this may explain why many the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 58 bouncers choose not to complete the licensing process. it may also explain why employers are not concerned with whether or not their employees have completed the formal licensing. more significant to this present research, clark expresses that the training program did not teach him what to look for when evaluating whether or not a patron should be admitted into an establishment. as clark put it, “they only told us to check id’s and not to let people who looked too fu**ed up inside. but that’s a little vague … (long pause) don’t you think?” (clark, interview, november 3 rd , 2012). ringo, who never received any training through the licensing process, explains that the managers of bar x never trained him how to evaluate patrons seeking admittance; they only told him to follow the formal dress code, legal drinking age, and, as ringo put it, “not to let any trouble or scum into the bar” (ringo, interview, november 2 nd , 2012). the analysis thus reveals that there was a perceived lack of formal training in the area of evaluating the eligibility of admittance. as well, bouncers received ambiguous instructions on the types of patrons to admit or to deny entry into the bar. it is, in part, this perceived lack of formal training surrounding the evaluation of patrons’ status characteristics that leads bouncers to rely on their own evaluative criteria, including the status characteristic ‘patron attitude’ discussed earlier. without a formalized, definitive set of evaluative tools and status characteristics to utilize within their work, bouncers at bar x learn to develop their own evaluative skills through a combination of the formalized dress code, their past experiences with patrons, and their personal perception of the social world. each bouncer’s evaluative process is unique, as it is informed by personal past experiences, social background, education and classed socialization. the diversity of bouncers’ learned evaluation skills at bar x is illustrated by ringo’s statement: sometimes when i let someone into [bar x], the other guy on door will be like, ‘man if i were you i wouldn’t have let him in, he is gonna be trouble later’. or other times, i’ll see a colleague letting in some girl who is clearly already over-served and wonder whether or not he could even tell that she was hammered. i guess it all depends on who’s on door and how they view the situation and person. i guess different people are better at picking up on different things. (ringo, interview, november 5 th , 2012) ringo’s statement suggests that bouncers often assess the same situation differently, depending on their individually tailored evaluative skills and their awareness of the subtle verbal, social and behavioral characteristics mclennan-dillabough 59 present. as ringo mentions, different bouncers are more attuned to different characteristics, due to varied past experiences and social perceptions, which can lead to very different evaluations of the same situation or patron. since bouncers believe that they are never taught what types of status characteristics to examine in their evaluations, they incorporate socially constructed stereotypes and class-based assumptions into their evaluations of patron’s status characteristics. the bouncers' associations between certain status characteristics – such as attitude and dress – and violence are based on implicit class and race assumptions that are found within society. these assumptions are thus incorporated by the bouncers’ into their evaluative processes in an attempt to build a set of evaluative skills and criteria. as noted, these class and race assumptions, and the stereotypes they engender, are part of a larger systemic problem of racial and status-based discrimination. this discrimination is perpetuated by implicit exclusionary practices that have been embedded in many social processes, such as bouncers’ evaluations. although these deep-rooted social issues cannot be completely resolved within the formal security-training program, addressing the existence and effects of such assumptions in such a program is a good starting point in bringing awareness to the role that discrimination may play within the evaluative processes of bouncing. this could make bouncers more aware of how racial and class-based assumptions creep into the evaluations of patron’s status characteristics. bouncer training programs could also focus on discussing the inaccuracy of these assumptions and status characteristic stereotypes, as well as how these evaluative associations lead to the systematic exclusion and discrimination of certain types of people. limitations this current research was limited by the time frame of this project and the scope of the research. limited participant observations were conducted throughout the research process due to the time constraints of this research. as well, interviews were only conducted with two bouncers of a single establishment. it is for those reasons that the research findings in this article are not generalizable and are very specific to bar x. further research on the status evaluation processes of bouncers needs to be conducted on a larger scale to determine whether or not the same evaluative processes take place at a larger scale and within a wide range of establishments. furthermore, the findings presented in this article are by no means an exhaustive list of the the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 60 status characteristics that were used by the bouncers in their evaluative processes at bar x; rather, the presented findings illustrate the main characteristics that were identified throughout the analysis. conclusion in closing, it was found that status evaluations are fundamental to the work of bouncing, and the continual evaluation of patron status is central in mediating access to bar x. the behavioural status characteristic, patron attitude, and the visual status characteristic, patron dress, are the two primary status characteristics bouncers examine during their patron status evaluations at bar x. the bouncers at bar x come to rely on socially constructed stereotypes regarding the status characteristics, associating certain patron attitudes and styles of dress with violent behaviour. socially constructed stereotypes and class-based assumptions become embedded in the bouncers’ evaluations of patrons’ status characteristics, due in part to the externally imposed dress code, which is infused with implicit race and class assumptions. this article argues that the bouncers’ reliance on these status characteristic stereotypes works to systematically exclude certain classes and races of patrons from bar x that are more likely to be perceived as having the characteristics associated with violence, due to the class-based socialization and experiences of bouncers themselves. although the bouncers at bar x evaluate patrons based on the status characteristics of patron attitude and dress, the bouncers are willing to disregard their initial evaluation of the patron’s characteristics if the patron offers a monetary bribe in return for admittance. the bouncers’ willingness to accept bribes at bar x suggest that they are aware of the inaccuracies of the stereotypes and assumptions, yet continue to rely upon these stereotypes during their evaluative process. this study further seems to show that bouncers learn to rely on their own evaluative criteria, incorporating socially constructed stereotypes and class-based assumptions into their evaluations, likely due to the perceived lack of formal training surrounding the evaluation of patrons’ status characteristics. the results of this study thus illustrate how exclusionary practices, which then lead to discrimination, become embedded into the evaluative process of bouncing. in order to begin resolving these issues of exclusion and discrimination through status evaluations, steps need to be taken in the available bouncer training programs to bring awareness to embedded exclusionary practices. discussing how discrimination is perpetuated through the exclusions that are being made in these evaluations will allow bouncers to be aware of how mclennan-dillabough 61 stereotypes and class-based assumptions influence their evaluations. the program could include anti-oppression training that would enable the bouncers to gain a set of formalized evaluative skills and tools that could help limit the bouncers’ reliance on socially constructed stereotypes. these types of steps could also be taken in broader social processes and situations that involve evaluative processes and mediation of access where socially constructed stereotypes and assumptions could be working to systematically exclude certain classes and races of people. the findings of this study are thus relevant to other contexts where status evaluations are relied upon, such as the hiring process. interviewers evaluate the characteristics of applicants seeking employment through interviews and resumes, only granting access to the company to applicants that pass the evaluation process. evaluative processes involved in hiring may rely on stereotypes, which could then lead to the exclusion of certain people from gaining employment. as this example illustrates, evaluative processes on a broader scale need to be closely examined for embedded exclusionary practices. implementing training programs that address the issue of stereotypes within evaluative processes could help to reduce discrimination that results from the overgeneralized evaluation of status characteristics. references berger, j., ridgeway, c.l., & zelditch, m. (2002). construction of status and referential structures. sociological theory, 20(2), 157-179. corbin, j., & strauss, a. (1990). grounded theory research: procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria [electronic version]. qualitative sociology, 13(1), 3-21 mast, m.s., & hall, j.a. (2004). who is the boss and who is not? accuracy of judging status. journal of nonverbal behavior, 28(3), 145 – 165. may, r. a. b., & chaplin, k. s. (2008). cracking the code: race, class, and access to nightclubs in urban america. qualitative sociology, 31, 57-72. doi: 10.1007/s11133-007-9084-7 monaghan, l.f. (2002). regulating ‘unruly’ bodies: work tasks, conflict and violence in britain’s night-time economy. british journal of sociology , 53(3), 403–429. doi:10.1080/0007131022000000572 patterson, m.l., foster, j.l., & bellmer, c.d. (2001). another look at accuracy and confidence in social judgments [electronic version]. journal of nonverbal behavior 25(3), 207-219. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 62 rivera, a. l. (2010). status distinctions in interaction: social selection and exclusion at an elite nightclub. qualitative sociology, 33, 229 – 255. doi: 10.1007/s11133-010-9152-. winlow, s., hobbs, d., lister, s., & hadfield, p. (2001). get ready to duck: bouncers and the realities of ethnographic research on violent groups. britain journal of criminology, 41, 536–548. contact information sarah mclennan-dillabough, from the department of sociology, can be reached at sarahmd@uvic.ca. acknowledgements i would like to thank dr. kevin walby for teaching me the skills required to conduct this level of research and for his ongoing support and guidance throughout the research process. i would also like to thank my aunt leanna who provided guidance and advice during the revision and editing stages of this article. finally, i thank my two participants who were willing to participate in my research. without their time, effort and patience this research would not have been possible. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 20 the van der peet test constitutional recognition or constitutional restriction? alexandra kent abstract: this article uses the case of r. v. van der peet to critically analyze the role of language in section 35(1) of the canadian constitution in perpetuating asymmetrical power dynamics within the framework of colonialism. in defining which practices are protected in the form of indigenous rights under section 35(1), the courts have imposed a twostage test called the integral to a distinctive culture test or van der peet test. this test stipulates three criteria; the practice must: originate from “pre-contact”, be “distinctive”, and conform or “reconcile” with state sovereignty. this article demonstrates how these criteria hinder the development of indigenous rights, restrict the scope of such rights, and marginalize indigenous peoples in canadian society. analyzing the role of the deliberative wording of this constitutional order reveals a foundation for contemporary colonialism and oppression, whereby colonial power relations are facilitated and secured by antiquated, ethnocentric ideals upheld by the judiciary. exposing the illegitimacy embedded within the state‟s uninhibited, exclusive sovereignty directs this discussion to the suggestion that the state lacks the authority to grant indigenous rights. this article concludes with the argument that, as the original inhabitants of this land, indigenous nations possess the inherent extra-constitutional right to self-determination that can only be achieved through selfaffirmation. key terms: van der peet; stó:lō first nation; indigenous rights; constitution; resistance introduction canada‟s constitution and judiciary allegedly protect the rights of citizens in an ethical and inclusive manner within the framework of a liberal democracy. however, these institutions derive from a state that asserts exclusive, uninhibited sovereignty and exercises a monopoly of power in an oppressive way. the subjugation of indigenous peoples is naturalized within hegemonic political and legal discourses ingrained in the constitution; indigenous peoples across the nation face insuperable constraints on their liberties as “subjects” of a colonial state. what the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 21 is more, this power dynamic is unjustified in its origins, yet remains unquestioned and thus unhindered. the dominant position of the colonizing authority is secured through imperial ideals upheld by the canadian state and judiciary. a deplorable reality is exposed in analyzing the deliberate suppression of indigenous peoples fostered by canada‟s constitutional order. this colonial reality is evident in the pivotal legal case r.v. van der peet, which demonstrates the imperial applications of section 35 (1) of canada‟s constitution. this article deconstructs the integral to a distinctive culture test developed as a product of van der peet in order to expose the fallacious and antiquated logic used to limit indigenous rights. this test outlines three criteria used to determine the definition of indigenous rights pertaining to section 35 (1) of the constitution, including: “pre-contact”, “distinctive”, and “reconciliation with state sovereignty”. using such standards simultaneously suppresses the inherent rights of indigenous peoples and secures the dominant position of the state. first, i critique the use of “pre-contact”, which situates indigenous practices in a historical context and disregards the dynamic and adaptive nature of customs and traditions. second, i argue that the requirement of being a “distinctive” practice is an arbitrary and asymmetrical standard which imposes excessive limitations on cultural preservation. third, i contest the need for indigenous rights to be “reconciled” with the state‟s sovereignty, which, in fact, is illegitimately derived from a unilateral assertion. altogether, these criteria hinder the development of indigenous rights, restrict the scope of such rights, and subjugate indigenous peoples in society. demonstrating the intrinsic faults in the integral to a distinctive culture test, i propose that constitutional recognition is not the appropriate forum for the assertion of indigenous rights; rather, as sovereign entities, indigenous nations must embrace their inherent extra-constitutional right to self-determination. applying these arguments against the integral to a distinctive culture test, with reference to van der peet, substantiates the injustice fostered by the court‟s interpretation of the constitution. background in 1996, dorothy van der peet of stó:lō first nation was charged with the illegal sale of ten salmon caught under a fishing license strictly limited to the purpose of personal consumption and ceremonial use as outlined by the fisheries act. van der peet argued that as an indigenous person she is entitled to certain rights, including exemption from certain fishing regulations, under section 35(1) of the constitution, the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 22 which states, “the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of canada are hereby recognized and affirmed” (r.v. van der peet, 1996, para. 128). albeit, the judges disagreed with van der peet‟s interpretation, ruling that section 35(1) defined indigenous rights more restrictively and thus did not account for commercial sales of fish. this case introduced a new convention for determining the extent of indigenous rights: the van der peet test or integral to a distinctive culture test, which established specific criteria to limit the extent of the constitution‟s protection of indigenous rights. it was determined that section 35 (1) only upheld the protection of customs and traditions which conformed to the state‟s standards of “pre-contact” and “distinctive”, while also “reconciling” with the fact of state sovereignty (van der peet, 1996). critically analyzing the colonial implications of this test renders doubt in the genuineness of the fiduciary relationship between the state and indigenous nations. moreover, we must ask ourselves what empowers the state to retain this degree of control over indigenous nations, which are sovereign entities; and also, whether indigenous peoples must comply with state institutions, which lack legitimacy. i situate my own position in this discussion as a settler born and raised in stó:lō territory; however, i consider my position to be untraditional in the context of colonialism. on the one hand, i acknowledge that by embodying an identity as a relatively wealthy, white female, i contribute to colonialism as a beneficiary of the dispossession and subjugation of indigenous nations. i can relate to richard day who admits, “because it‟s those normal-superior canadians— myself among them— who keep colonialism going, who always have and always will, be absolutely necessary to this particular form of governmentality” (day, 2010, p.264). on the other hand, i also relate with the people of stó:lō first nation. i have close personal connections to several people whom have been directly affected by the state‟s efforts to destroy indigenous culture. i am also a student studying indigenous studies and indigenous governance in order to expand my understanding of colonialism and indigenous-state relations. i am in the process of adopting a new perspective, from which i am able to critique both my own role in colonialism and that of the state. i acknowledge that i am situating my work in a body of pre-existing literature on the subject of van der peet, the integral to a distinctive culture test, as well as section 35 (1) of the constitution. the antiquated logic surrounding the criteria of “pre-contact” and “distinctive” is criticized by legal scholars such as john borrows and by anthropologists such as michael asch. borrows argues that the emphasis on the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 23 customs that defined indigenous societies prior to european contact minimizes the practices that are essential to cultural continuity in a modern context. furthermore, “pre-contact” dismisses anything that was learned from europeans, restricting contemporary cultural development (2002). likewise, asch claims that the “cultural distinctiveness” model is flawed and is an inappropriate frame for determining aboriginal rights. he states that the antiquated concepts used by the state and judiciary “[rely] on invalid, eurocentric logic” (2000, p.127). both borrows and asch provide foundational arguments for my own deconstruction of the criteria presented in the integral to a distinctive culture test, which i analyze within the context of van der peet. additionally, asch (1999) and avigail eisenberg (2005) present essential arguments against the state‟s sovereignty, of which indigenous rights are expected to be reconciled with. asch highlights the power imbalance that exists in policies and legal practice, demonstrating the exclusive, uninhibited, and unquestioned jurisdiction of the state. he suggests that the state deliberately avoids and ignores the question of legitimacy in relation to state sovereignty: “the state [assumes] legitimate authority over indigenous peoples and their lands without questioning how this came to pass or dealing with the consequences” (1999, p.441). eisenberg elaborates on the state‟s freedom to interpret indigenous rights in such a way that favors their colonial dominance in the power relations. she describes the canadian courts as institutions of the colonial state which are designed to accommodate their own interests, thus lacking political legitimacy as “arbiters of rights” (2005, para. 6). again, these arguments support my argument against the domineering colonial power ingrained in the constitution. furthermore, russel lawrence barsh and james youngblood henderson (1997) as well as leonard rotman (1997) discuss the colonial context which facilitates the subordination of indigenous rights in canadian courts and politics. barsh and henderson identify a fundamental issue in the van der peet test: “[it] entrenches european paternalism because the courts of the colonizer have assumed the authority to define the nature and meaning of aboriginal cultures” (1997, p.1002). they critique the naturalized colonial discourse which exists within the canadian legal system and the canadian state. rotman presents a complimentary argument, claiming that the state has failed to uphold its role in its fiduciary relationship with indigenous nations. he suggests that this duty is nothing more than “empty rhetoric”, and in fact, the state perpetuates a paternalistic relationship (1997, p.6). i use these authors as key references as i proceed with exposing the the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 24 dishonest nature of the canadian state‟s colonial relationship with indigenous nations, using van der peet as an illustrative case. i am approaching this discussion from a theoretical standpoint that counters conventional theories constructed by the state in order to justify colonial power structures. in particular, i reject the state‟s unilateral claim to exclusive sovereignty. james tully (1999) offers important insight for the critique of political theories which reinforce colonial powers. he describes the legal fiction that the state has constructed to justify its underlying title to indigenous land: “the reigning ideology of the superiority of the european-derived societies and the inferiority of indigenous societies served as the taken-for-granted justification for… [settler‟s] exclusive and legitimate exercise of sovereignty… as the unquestionable basis of their society” (p.44). like tully, i reject the idea that indigenous peoples were “primitive” upon contact; furthermore, i refuse to acknowledge this myth as a premise supporting the state‟s claim to sovereignty over stolen land. the counterfeit nature of this claim is evident in the fact that the state avoids defending its sovereignty on the basis of underlying title, instead placing the onus on the claimant to prove otherwise in court cases; tully asserts, “like the court, the federal state has never questioned the legitimacy of the unilateral exercise of sovereignty over indigenous peoples and their territories” (p.50). while the assumption of state sovereignty often underlies colonialism‟s myths, it is imperative to understand that this claim is fallacious in order to pursue the truth behind canada‟s indigenous-state relationship. throughout my article, i return to this idea and elaborate on the illegitimacy of the state‟s claims to exclusive sovereignty, eventually raising the ultimate question of whether indigenous nations have to comply with state authority. the van der peet test according to the court, as stipulated in the van der peet case, in order for an indigenous practice to receive constitutional protection, it must pass a two-stage test referred to as the integral to a distinctive culture test, or the van der peet test. the first stage requires that the practice be integral to pre-contact indigenous culture of the particular community at hand (eisenberg, 2005, para. 3). from this, i isolate two key criteria: first, that it emphasizes “pre-contact”; and second, the condition that it be an “integral” or “distinctive” aspect of that culture. the second stage of the test mandates “reconciliation” with state sovereignty, by “render[ing] aboriginal perspectives „cognizable to the non-aboriginal legal system‟” the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 25 (eisenberg, 2005, para. 3). this formula employs three decisive factors which must be met by the state‟s standards in order for indigenous practices to be recognized and protected by the constitution. using the van der peet case, i demonstrate how each of these constructs— “pre-contact”, “distinctive”, and “reconciliation”— are derived from eurocentric logic which aims to perpetuate colonial power relations to the detriment of the preservation of indigenous cultures. “pre-contact” in outlining the basis for defining indigenous rights in van der peet, the court specified that “the practices, customs and traditions which constitute aboriginal rights are those which have continuity with the practices, customs and traditions that existed prior to contact with european society” (van der peet, 1996, preface). this suggests that in order to remain “authentic”, indigenous groups must remain stuck in time. in the context of van der peet, this entailed that the sale of fish must be proven [by the claimant] to originate from before european arrival (1996, para. 60). van der peet defended stó:lō peoples‟ cultural rights, arguing that selling and trading fish was an integral aspect of their ancestors‟ culture. however, the court sought to undermine this claim with evidence supporting antiquated theories that suggest that indigenous nations were too “primitive” to engage in commercial sales before european settlers introduced economy and “civilization” to the new world (asch, 2000, p.130). the supreme court (van der peet, 1996, para. 90) declared: that the stó:lō were at a band level of social organization rather than at a tribal level. as noted by several experts, one of the central distinctions between a band society and a tribal society relates to specialization of labour… the absence of specialization in the exploitation of fishery is suggestive… that the exchange of fish was not a central part of stó:lō culture. as this excerpt suggests, specialization of labour is one of the main differences between bands and tribes; but the two forms of social organization are further distinguished based on bands‟ smaller size, simple lifestyles, and lack of hierarchical structure. this ascribed logic exemplifies the state‟s colonial mindset and parallels antiquated theories of justification for colonialism. in effect, the court is naturalizing the same discourse which constructs a “gap in civilization” between the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 26 the settlers and the indigenous peoples (asch, 2000). by imposing eurocentric standards of social organization, the court is subjugating indigenous nations and maintaining colonial structures of dominance which paint european society as “superior”. furthermore, by basing indigenous rights on this outsider perspective, the state oppresses indigenous nations‟ capacity to develop. borrows quotes justice beverly mclachlin: “[the integral to a distinctive culture test] freeze[s] aboriginal societies in their ancient modes and den[ies] to them the right to adapt, as all peoples must, to the changes in the society in which they live” (2002, p.64). imposing “pre-contact” as a criterion disregards the dynamic nature of cultures; it is not realistic to assume that any culture can persist in an evolving society without adapting its practices in the face of contemporary factors. yet these precepts enable the state to maintain its power. by delegating constitutional rights in a restrictive manner, the state suppresses indigenous nations within imposed eurocentric institutions and legal structures. this reflects kiera ladner‟s model of “frozen rights” or “permafrost” which restricts indigenous cultures‟ contemporary practice of traditions and customs to those which the state/ court consider “traditional” (2009, p.284). yet, it is evident from the court‟s ruling in van der peet, that the state‟s understanding of “traditional” is congruent with their description of precontact indigenous culture as “primitive”. the state‟s unilateral imposition of standards is unjustifiable. it fails to take into account the perspective of indigenous nations, rather relying on eurocentric forms of knowledge to define the central aspects of indigenous cultures before arrival. this is illogical given the fact that europeans were not present at that time. nonetheless, the court denies indigenous accounts of their ancestors—who, of course, were there— on the grounds that their history and knowledge is in the form of myth and oral narratives, which are deemed as inferior to the empirical evidence provided by science. in the pivotal court case delgamuukw v. british columbia (1997), justice mceachern ruled that oral tradition could not stand on its own as historical evidence, because “they [are] full of myth, romance, metaphor, and other unreliable elements” (lambert,1998, p.253). returning again to van der peet, in using anthropological explanations to define stó:lō as a “band society”, the court undermined stó:lō peoples‟ versions of their own history. it is commonly accepted that stó:lō identity is grounded in their relationship with their territory and resources, particularly fishing the fraser river, as implied by the translation of stó:lō: “people of the river” (palys and victor, 2007, p.15). as mentioned above, however, the court in van der peet refused to acknowledge commercial sale of fish the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 27 as part of this essential practice. yet, indigenous oral narratives suggest otherwise. kimberly linkous brown articulates the significance of fishing not only to stó:lō diet, but also to their economy; she asserts, “sale, exchange, and gifting of salmon are all intrinsic aspects of a stó:lō fishery” (2010, p.21). contrary to theories of band-organization designated by anthropologists, she notes that prior to contact, social structure and labour specialization did in fact exist within most stó:lō communities, with the division of three distinct classes. fishing played a crucial role in determining these classes, as it was the skilled hunters and fishers, known as “siya:m” that held the high class status (p. 23). furthermore, wealth accumulated through trading fish afforded ascension to a higher class (p.27). it is understandable— though illegitimate— why the court would disregard these histories. for, if the court acknowledged stó:lō‟s practice of commercial fishery as existing before european settlement, it would undermine the state‟s theories which suggest that indigenous cultures were primitive and thus incapable of holding title to sovereignty. moreover, it would expose the illegitimacy of the state‟s claim to exclusive sovereignty. by unilaterally imposing the “pre-contact” test in determining what qualifies as an indigenous right, the court reinstates the state‟s position of dominance and suppresses indigenous peoples‟ ability to vouch for their own history. “distinctive” in addition to stipulating “pre-contact” as a criterion for the continuing practice of indigenous customs and traditions, the court in van der peet specified that the practice must also be “distinctive” or “integral” to the culture, prior to contact. the supreme court of canada defined integral as practice “of central significance to the aboriginal society in question—one of the things which made the culture of the society distinctive. a court cannot look at those aspects of the aboriginal society that... are only incidental or occasional to that society” (1996, preface). in ruling that the commercial sale of fish did not count as an entrenched right, the court established that selling or trading fish was merely “incidental or occasional”. the judges acknowledged that before the british declared sovereignty, stó:lō ancestors engaged in trade of salmon with the hudson bay company; yet they determined that this practice was opportunistic and only occurring on a rare basis (para. 84). again, this information is based on the findings of anthropologists and does not reflect the understandings of stó:lō peoples. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 28 the integral to a distinctive culture test is both unilateral, in that it is imposed upon indigenous nations by the state, and asymmetrical, in that it only has application to indigenous cultures and does not place similar restrictions on non-indigenous cultures. the court and the state have the exclusive power to determine on behalf of indigenous peoples what is significant to their culture— at least in legal and political discourse. indigenous nations are denied the right to define their own culture in rights discourse; this maintains a paternalistic relationship that enables the state to limit indigenous rights to basic traditions, diminishing all other aspects intrinsically connected to the culture at hand. eurocentric standards are imposed upon groups asserting rights, creating barriers and excessive restrictions on the preservation of cultural heritage. furthermore, these restrictions only apply to indigenous rights. eisenberg highlights the “ironic implication that if equitably applied the test would similarly insist that only [integral] european cultural practices that developed pre-contact are eligible for [protection]” (2005, para. 5). canadian law accommodates the multifaceted nature of euroamerican culture within a liberal democratic state; yet indigenous cultures are expected to conform to rigid regulations and limitations. like all societies, indigenous cultures are comprised of a multitude of qualities and cannot be reduced to just a few token traditions. moreover, the integral to a distinctive culture test is “utterly incompatible with aboriginal philosophies, which tend to regard all human activity— and indeed all of existence— as inextricably inter-dependent” (barsh and henderson, 1997, p. 1000). returning again to the case study of van der peet, analyzing the significance of commercial fishery within stó:lō communities according to community members instills an understanding of stó:lō culture as interconnected, whereby traditions, values, and practices all play crucial roles in defining their culture‟s identity. from the stó:lō perspective, the exchange of fish is no less important than the practice of fishing itself. although the courts distinguish between fishing for consumption, ceremonial purpose, and commercial sale; stó:lō peoples rarely made any distinctions. in their traditional social systems, the same techniques were used and the same social practices took place no matter what the purpose was (macleod, 2010, p. 41). with this in mind, suggesting that certain practices held more cultural value than others is inconsistent with indigenous worldviews. all customs and traditions have inherent significance because they link cultures and peoples to their heritage. the court disregards this essential principle by discriminating between the worth of different practices‟ continuity as prescribed by state standards. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 29 “reconciliation” finally, the courts determined that, even if indigenous practices passed the first two tests of “pre-contact” and “distinctive”, in order for customs and traditions to be constitutionally protected, they have to be compatible with the constitution; essentially, it must conform to a legal system with which it conflicts. the state expects that the practices be rendered “cognizable to the non-aboriginal legal system” through a reconciliation process (eisenberg, 2005, para. 3). furthermore, this reconciliation process is understood as reconciling indigenous societies with the sovereignty of the crown (van der peet, 1996, para. 31). this assumes that both the state‟s sovereignty and its connected legal system are natural facts. in van der peet, this stage of the test was never reached because, once the court determined that the sale of fish did not meet the first two criteria, it was no longer necessary to apply any more tests. even so, this stage of the integral to a distinctive culture test is inherently fallacious, stemming from antiquated logic and historical myths. as i briefly mentioned earlier, the unilateral assertion of state sovereignty is illegitimate in its foundation. throughout history, the state has attempted to justify its dominant position with claims that suggest that state sovereignty is defensible, essential, inevitable, or irreversible. among the most notorious of these justifications is terra nullius, which mcmillan and yellowhorn describe as a “legal fiction [that] was once a powerful instrument that legitimated the european claim to land already held by aboriginal people” (2004, p.26). essentially, terra nullius means “empty land”, which is what europeans falsely alleged indigenous territory as upon arrival. it is not that settlers blatantly disregarded indigenous presence, but rather they imposed lockean concepts of land ownership to assert that because indigenous peoples did not work the land, they therefore did not possess title to the land. by applying the european concept of terra nullius, settlers avowed their “legitimate right” to the land. this theory imposes europeanconstructed concepts in a patronizing manner for the purpose of validating their control of stolen land. even though the state and the court no longer apply this obsolete logic as defense for exclusive sovereignty, they do not question it as a flawed source of title, thus maintaining illegitimate power relations (tully, 1999). this strategy contributes to the legal fiction which establishes that state sovereignty is a fact within which indigenous rights must be reconciled. relying on european perspectives and european forms of knowledge to establish title to sovereignty subordinates indigenous voices. moreover, indigenous the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 30 versions of history are oftentimes discredited and dismissed as folklore and myth because they are transmitted through oral tradition (deloria, 1997, p. 25). yet these accounts of history serve as the core basis for proving indigenous peoples‟ rightful jurisdiction of land and resources. sharon venne asserts that the source of indigenous title was established before europeans arrived, based on pre-existing governmental structures and democratic principles. chiefs, headmen, war chiefs, and women all shared the responsibility to govern indigenous lands and resources (1997, p.180). the lands belonged to the indigenous peoples and were never sold to europeans, only loaned; europeans unilaterally claimed ownership of indigenous land without their informed consent (p. 205). this understanding undermines the unquestioned legal fiction which secures the state‟s claims to exclusive sovereignty, and thus is deliberately excluded from legal and political discourses. of great significance to van der peet, indigenous title establishes a key argument for the protection of the indigenous right to sell fish, which was never taken into consideration due to dismissal after review of the first to criteria. lambert (1998, p. 258) persuasively presents the argument as follows: so i ask this question. mrs. van der peet sold the ten fish to mrs. lugsdin on the stó:lō reserve. that sale was not carried out in accordance with any aboriginal right, according to the supreme court of canada, but we know that it was carried out on land subject to aboriginal title. also, a measure of self-government must follow aboriginal title. would aboriginal title have been a defense for mrs. van der peet, where an alleged aboriginal right to trade in fish was not a defense? by dismissing this significant component of indigenous rights, the court demonstrated once again that it retains the exclusive power to decide on behalf of indigenous peoples what is most relevant to their rights, which are defined purely in terms of constitutional provisions and without due acknowledgement for their inherent rights. conspicuously, the very act of ignoring the question of aboriginal title is essential in maintaining this power dynamic. constitutional recognition through this discussion of these three critical implications of the van der peet test, it is apparent that section 35 (1) of the constitution does not serve the interests of indigenous peoples who are concerned about the transmission of their the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 31 culture to future generations; but rather, it supports former state initiatives to eradicate indigenous cultures by diminishing their ties to their heritage. the constitution is supposed to protect the rights of canadian citizens; albeit, the inherent rights of indigenous peoples as the original inhabitants of this land are infringed upon by a legal system which was illegitimately imposed with the assertion of state sovereignty. in the framework of the canadian state, indigenous nations are subjected to oppression under the power of the state and judiciary. the state does this by limiting the recognition of indigenous rights to only those rights which are afforded by the constitution— rights which were determined by and in the interests of the colonial power. collaboratively, the state and the court endeavor to “extinguish whatever rights indigenous peoples might have independent of the canadian legal system” (tully, 1999, p. 50). this rights discourse is inextricably intertwined with dominant political and legal structures, however; and just as unilateral state power is illegitimate in its origin, so too is the assumed reliance on state recognition through the granting of rights in a stateformulated constitution. glen coulthard (2007) poses a fundamental argument against the “politics of recognition”, questioning whether or not the state‟s jurisdiction is the legitimate source of authentication of aboriginal rights. he affirms that dependence on recognition from a colonizing power only serves to instill the state‟s position of dominance which is used to implement legal, political, and economic constraints. consequently, indigenous-state power relations are perpetuated in a vicious cycle, and indigenous identities are defined solely in relation to their colonial relationship with the state (p.452). rather than relying on the state to grant recognition, indigenous communities are empowered with the task of recognizing their own true identity as well as the rights that are attached to that identity. indigenous rights, along with freedom and self-worth, need to be understood as inherent, not bestowed. indigenous nations need to turn away from hegemonic political power and engage in a self-affirmative process by recognizing their inherent capacity as self-determining agents. coulthard quotes fanon: “the colonized must struggle to critically reclaim and revaluate the worth of their own histories, traditions, and cultures against the subjectifying gaze and assimilative lure of colonial recognition” (p. 453). this process of self-affirmation is an act of resistance that rejects the pattern of colonial dominance in political and legal discourses. applying coulthard‟s argument to van der peet would critically undermine the application of the integral to a distinctive culture test. while i have sought to the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 32 prove that stó:lō practices do, in fact, satisfy the criteria established by the court, complying with these standards reinforces the state‟s authority to impose its will upon indigenous nations. for instance, brown‟s argument, which asserts that stó:lō‟s “pre-contact” fishing involved social structure and labour specialization (2010, p.23), conforms to eurocentric categories of societal hierarchy and relies on constitutional recognition. as sovereign entities, indigenous nations do not need to conform to conventions imposed upon them by a foreign power. under coulthard‟s framework of self-determination, indigenous rights, including the right to sell fish, could be exercised independent of constitutional restrictions dictated by the state. the court would have no authority to decide on behalf of indigenous peoples which customs and traditions they were entitled to practice. eurocentric standards would not be imposed upon indigenous rights. furthermore, stó:lō nation and other indigenous nations could reclaim control over their territories, resources, and ways of life. an extension of this resistance would entail the freedom to fish in their rivers at their own discretion and sell their catch as a means of livelihood. while indigenous nations do not need the constitution to recognize their inherent right to self-determination, the principle of self-determination is historically established in a treaty relationship with the state. the indigenous right to exercise self-determination is outlined by the exchange of two row wampum belts at the treaty of niagara (1764). the wampum belts were exchanged as a symbol of a promised relationship of peaceful co-existence, mutual respect and recognition of sovereignty, as well as non-interference between the crown and indigenous nations (borrows, 1997). john borrows quotes robert a. williams, jr.‟s description of the metaphor of the two row wampum: “two vessels, travelling down the same river together… side by side, but in our own boat. neither of us will try to steer the other‟s vessel” (p. 164). this represents a mutual recognition of dual sovereignty within the canadian state— notably, it represents state recognition of indigenous self-determination. dual sovereignty, peaceful co-existence, and non-interference are paramount principles in indigenous-state relations because they form a basis of mutual understanding and respect; yet, these principles have been asymmetrically dishonored by the state. indigenous sovereignty has been undermined by paternalistic state control over indigenous peoples and their lands in a framework of constitutional recognition and restriction; furthermore, peaceful relations and non-interference have been debased by state violence. the state exploits its monopoly of force in violation of the mutuality of the agreement. this is especially true when it comes to the practice of the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 33 stó:lō fishing rights, whereby reports of fishery officers stealing nets and equipment, engaging in “paddle battles,” and physically assaulting stó:lō fishers, reveal the stark violence sanctioned by the state (macleod, 2010, p. 92). this violence makes resistance challenging and even dangerous, but it will not prevent stó:lō nation and other indigenous nations from fighting for their rights. the principles of the two row wampum can be reactivated through active resistance and indigenous self-affirmation. rather than allowing the courts and the state to continually oppress indigenous rights through exclusive and uninhibited power, indigenous nations must reawaken their inherent extra-constitutional right to self-determination. stó:lō nation has a longstanding history of engaging in active resistance to the state‟s illegitimate authority, especially in regards to their ongoing fight for their fishing rights. brown argues that resistance is not limited to outlaw fishing or illegal sale of fish, but resistance fundamentally entails cultural transmission through the protection of livelihoods and social identity. she emphasizes, “stó:lō responses to regulation and government interference into their way of life have ranged from overt acts of rebellion to the simplest act of feeding one‟s family” (2010, p.22). as much as traditional fishing practices define stó:lō identity, engaging in these cultural practices in defiance to government regulations affirms their autonomy. indigenous self-affirmation returns to the principle of selfdetermination and sovereignty, as represented by the two row wampum. likewise, non-indigenous canadians, like myself, need to engage in the treaty relationship, supporting indigenous resistance by acknowledging and respecting indigenous self-determination, as well as critically questioning the legitimacy of state authority. in this way, settlers can contribute to delegitimizing the state‟s exclusive sovereignty and re-introducing a relationship founded on mutual respect. it is up to indigenous and non-indigenous canadians, alike, to reject hegemonic power dynamics and pressure the state to restructure the indigenous-state relationship, which needs to be transformed in order to reflect the two row wampum‟s principles of peaceful co-existence, respect, dual-sovereignty, and noninterference. conclusion section 35 (1) of the constitution contradicts its purpose of recognizing and protecting indigenous rights by adhering to state standards which restrict indigenous practices using the integral to a distinctive culture test. the criteria of “pre-contact”, “distinctive”, and “reconciliation with state sovereignty” set the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 34 excessive limitations on the practice of indigenous customs and traditions. first, “pre-contact” sentences indigenous cultures to a state of “permafrost”, where they are denied the ability to adapt in a changing society. second, “distinctive” confines the exercise of rights to central practices, disregarding indigenous philosophies which endorse the holistic interconnection of all aspects of culture. third, “reconciliation with state sovereignty” blindly assumes exclusive state sovereignty to be a fact, ignoring the illegitimacy of state claims and overlooking indigenous title. in suppressing the capacity of indigenous cultures to flourish within canadian society, the state reinforces its position of dominant power in the colonial relationship. indigenous nations can resist hegemonic power by reclaiming their inherent right to self-determination, demanding— with the support of settler canadians— a reawakening of the treaty relationship based on the two row wampum. references asch, m. (1999). from calder to van der peet: aboriginal rights and canadian law, 1973-96. in paul haveman (ed.), indigenous peoples’ rights in australia, canada & new zealand (pp. 428-445). oxford, uk: oxford university press. asch, m. (2000). the judicial conceptualization of culture after delgamuukw and van der peet. review of constitutional studies, 5 (1999-2000), 119-137. barsh, r. l. & henderson, j. y. (1997). the supreme court‟s van der peet trilogy: naïve imperialism and ropes of sand. mcgill law journal 42 (1997), 9931009. borrows, j. (2002). questioning canada‟s title to land: the rule of law, aboriginal peoples, and colonialism. chapter 5. in recovering canada: the resurgence of indian law (pp. 111-137). toronto, canada: university of toronto press. borrows, j. (1997). wampum at niagra: the royal proclamation, canadian legal history, and self-government. in m. asch (ed.), aboriginal and treaty rights in canada: essays on law, equality, and respect (pp. 155-172). vancouver, canada: ubc press. brown, k. l. (2010). highliners and moneymakers: understanding accommodation and resistance in the stó:lō commercial fishery. new proposals: journal of marxism and interdisciplinary inquiry 3.3, 20-31. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 35 coulthard, g. s. (2007). subjects of empire: indigenous peoples and the „politics of recognition‟ in canada. contemporary political theory 6 (2007), 437-460. day, r. (2010). angry indians, settler guilt, and the challenge of decolonization and resurgence. in l. simpson & k. ladner (eds.) this is an honour song: twenty years since the blockade (pp. 261-269). winnipeg, canada: arbeiter ring. deloria, v. (1997). science and the oral tradition. red earth, white lies: native americans and the myth of scientific fact (pp. 23-45). golden, co: fulcrum. eisenberg, a. (2005). the distinctive culture test. human rights dialogue 2.12. ladner, k. l. (2009). take 35: reconciling constitutional orders. in annis may timpson (ed.) first nations, first thoughts: the impact of indigenous thought in canada (pp. 279-300). vancouver, canada: ubc press. lambert, d. (1998). van der peet and delgamuukw: ten unresolved issues. university of british columbia law review 32 (1998), 249-270. macleod, c. l. (2010). swimming upstream: cheam, dfo, and the fight for indigenous fisheries. (unpublished thesis). uvic, victoria, canada. mcmillan, a. d. & yellowhorn, e. (2004). terra nullius: the land that was empty. first peoples in canada (pp. 25-43). vancouver, canada: douglas and mcintyre. palys, t. & victor, w. (2007). “getting to a better place”: qwiqwelstom, the stó:lō, and self-determination. in law commission of canada (ed.) indigenous legal traditions (pp.1239). vancouver, canada: ubc press. rotman, l. i. (1997). hunting for answers in a strange kettle of fish: unilateralism, paternalism, and fiduciary rhetoric in badger and van der peet. constitutional forum 8.2, 40-45. supreme court of canada, r.v. van der peet, [1996] 2 s.c.r. 507. tully, j. (2000). the struggles of indigenous peoples for and of freedom. in p. patton, d. ivison, and w. sanders (eds.), political theory and the rights of indigenous peoples (pp.36-59). cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. venne, s. (1997). understanding treaty 6: an indigenous perspective. in michael asch (ed.) aboriginal and treaty rights in canada: essays on law, equality, and respect (pp. 173-207). vancouver, canada: ubc press. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) kent 36 contact information alexandra kent, from the department of public health and social policy, can be reached at alexandrakent@hotmail.com. acknowledgements i would like to acknowledge and extend my gratitude to all those who have supported me throughout the research and writing process. first, i would like to thank the university of victoria and all my professors, with a special thanks to adam gaudry, for the unparalleled learning experience. i would also like to thank my family for their encouragement, as well as the phillips family for their valuable insight. finally, i would like to acknowledge cheam first nation for their ongoing efforts to practice and preserve their inherent rights. mailto:alexandrakent@hotmail.com the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 the arbutus review is produced by the division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the university of victoria. the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009 as the undergraduate research scholarship program the then vice-president academic and provost, and current university president, jamie cassels. it was designed to support and create truly formative research experiences for exceptional undergraduate students. the division of learning and teaching support and innovation administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submissions that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review sometimes publishes other exceptional work from students in departments across campus. 1 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by a faculty member at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper. dr. melissa berry, department of art history and visual studies author: lorinda fraser dr. juergen ehlting, department of biology author: sarah lane dr. peter cook, department of history author: jordan crocker dr. charlotte schallié, department of germanic and slavic studies author: stephanie kates dr. cindy holder, department of philosophy author: felix lambrecht dr. elizabeth vibert, department of history author: darren reid dr. debra sheets, school of nursing author: zachary anderson as well, all submissions are reviewed blind by two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. alexandra macdonald behn skovgaard andersen brian coleman bryan eric benner caroline winters connie sobsey cori thompson david lark david vogt elise forest-hammond heike lettrari iain o’shea isabelle lefroy joshua armstrong kate newman regan shrumm robyn joyce victoria domonkos 2 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 the arbutus review would also like to thank others whose ideas, work and guidance have contributed to the journal. teresa dawson, former director of the uvic learning and teaching centre, who created the journal. laurene sheilds, acting executive director of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, who provides guidance to the journal and oversees the online journal systems software that allows us to publish online helen raptis, former arbutus review managing editor and former acting associate director (student academic success) of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation madeline walker, arbutus review editor and typesetter, uvic centre for academic communication coordinator shailoo bedi, acting associate director (student academic success) of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation, current arbutus review managing editor and director, academic commons and strategic assessment the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions, or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors, the advisory board, and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: shailoo bedi, phd acting associate director (student academic success) division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca madeline walker, phd coordinator, centre for academic communication division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria cdrcac@uvic.ca ————————————————————– 3 the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 37 religious space and place in modern china elizabeth harvey abstract: this article looks at the intersection of modern chinese and traditional chinese sacred spaces through the analysis of two case studies: yuyuan garden and tourist area and huanglong scenic and historic interest area. the article lays out a brief history of religion in china, the effects of modernization and globalization in china, the creation of sacred space within china, and the role tourism has played in preserving sacred spaces. furthermore, this article examines how both sites dealt with and continue to deal with the question of religion in china, and how each has been worked into the tourist industry of china, either through choice or design. by becoming a part of the tourist industry, these sites have gained renown and interest because of what they offer, and thus illustrate that the blending of the sacred with the secular can be positive, especially within the context of modern china. key terms: china, modernization in china, globalization of china, durkheim‟s definition of sacred, sacred space, tourist attractions, tourism, yuyuan garden and tourist area, huanglong scenic and historic interest area introduction waiting in line on a side street just off a main road in busy shanghai, eagerly anticipating buying our tickets and entering the temple, it does not occur to me that something strange is happening or that i am engaging in “tourism.” the tickets purchased, we step over the raised threshold (there to keep evil spirits at bay) and in awe, marvel at the open courtyard, the massive incense burners, and the sound of chanting and mumbled prayers. venturing further inwards, we come to the main display room that the different gods of this temple inhabit, before continuing onwards to the tearoom off to one side of the temple to enjoy some sweet green tea, engage in conversation, relax; the outside world has been forgotten, the noise of the city seems barely audible, we have immersed ourselves in the temple’s world, the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 38 blurring the distinction between the sacred and the profane, the traditional and the modern, the private and the public, without even knowing it. (author, personal memory) the rapid modernization of china has brought countless opportunities and advances to the country, including improved international connections, better public services, increased standards of living and new ideologies. of course, it has been argued that such rapid modernization and “opening up” of china has not been equally advantageous to all (for example, the increasing gap between rural and urban sectors or between the rich and the poor). this is also true when it comes to the question of religion (zongjiao wenti 宗教问题) (gossaert & palmer, 2011, p. 2). in china, a basic answer to this question would be that while “the chinese communist party, in keeping with the tenets of marxism, is atheist and requires its members to reject religious belief…chinese law officially supports religious freedom for its populace at large, though only in sanctioned channels” (zhou, jinghao, 2009, p. 1880), recognizing that to do otherwise would be foolish. equally, it would be impossible to enforce, as evidenced by the “emergence [and growth] of religious movements in the chinese world [and the world as a whole] and their impact on…domestic and international politics” (gossaert & palmer, 2011, p.2). moreover, with the revival of religious ideology, along with an increased sense of nationalism, there has been the realization that religion continues to play an integral role in defining and legitimatizing social realities (mazumdar & mazumdar, 2004, p. 386). the realization of the falsehood of the secularization theory has led to acknowledgment of the need to understand the role of religion within modern china. china‟s relationship with religion has been volatile, particularly within the past century. after the decline of the qing dynasty in 1911, during the power struggle between the nationalist and communist parties, and with the desire to modernize, china‟s traditional religious affiliations suffered greatly, as “religious practices [were relegated] to the domain of the quaint customs of a rapidly fading past and the lofty platitudes of ancient sages…never considered to have much bearing on the real life of chinese society” (gossaert & palmer, 2011, p. 1). worse yet, under the communist leadership, religion was viewed as the opiate of the people and a key source of china‟s backwardness and weakness. these negative attitudes towards religion within chinese society lead to the one hundred day reforms (wuxu 戊戌) of the late 19 th century. during this period, temple property was seized and either destroyed or converted to secular use, an attempt to devalue the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 39 and abolish religion, while practitioners were targeted through violent means (gossaert & palmer, 2011, p. 44-50). this mindset was further developed with the introduction of superstition discourse, which viewed traditional beliefs, such as ancestor worship, as little more than a fear of the unknown. the superstition discourse was then contrasted with the western notion of science, making reconciliation between chinese religiosity and modern ideals impossible (gossaert & palmer, 2011, p. 44-50). for a time during the early 20 th century, aspects of chinese religiosity were treated as superstitions, causing them to become suppressed while other aspects were maintained as religious or cultural, including confucianism, but not including chinese popular religion (gossaert & palmer, 2011, p. 53). during this turmoil, what needed to be destroyed and what needed to be preserved to ensure that china was “strong, rich and a modern country” (gossaert & palmer, 2011, p. 63), was constantly in flux, with the final realization that it was more beneficial to allow religion to flourish; the benefits outweighed the possible negatives. a key positive trait was that religion was seen as a source of international and national curiosity, with tourists wanting to travel to religious sites to engage with the cultural elements that these provided. the recognition of this appeal led the government to develop tourism beginning in the early 1990s by building infrastructure that now allows millions of tourists to visit (oaks & sutton, 2012, p. 103). the use of religious sites as tourist attractions may at first seem incongruous due to the blending of the sacred and secular, the private and public, but james robson (2010) said it best in his article “faith in museums: on the confluence of museums and religious sites in asia,” when he urges us to think more carefully about how religion has conditioned the formation and function of museums and their collections everywhere…modern museums do not function in exclusively religious ways, and religious sites have not all become like museums, but each kind of institution has been able to adopt the other role with little alteration in infrastructure or content (p. 128). before further discussion, it is important to understand how the terms “space” and “place” are used in this paper. on one hand, space is the imagined or felt interpretations imbued in a place. it is engaged with on an emotional, psychological level. a place, on the other hand, is the physical and lived locale people engage with. working together, space and place create a site. the confluence between the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 40 religious sites and modern museums as tourist attractions is the focus of this paper, and through the analysis of two sites in china, this article demonstrates that such a confluence is not negative, but rather can, and does, have positive effects for religious sites, particularly within the modern, globalized context. creating sacred space in order to understand the purpose of this paper, we must first know what “sacred” and “sacred space” means within the chinese context. the sacred has been defined by a multitude of scholars and intellectuals; i draw on emile durkheim‟s definition of the sacred, as it lends itself to adaption, and roger w. stump‟s definition of sacred space. durkheim defines the sacred (and the profane) as essential parts of any religious system: sacred things are those isolated and protected by powerful interdictions; profane things are those which, according to those interdictions, must remain at a distance from their sacred counterparts; religious beliefs are representations which express the nature of sacred things… [and] religious sites are rules of conduct which prescribe how one should behave in the presence of sacred things...[to durkheim, religion is] a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things…which unite into one moral community (jones, 2011, para.7). i have chosen this definition as my framework because of its collective nature – the unified system of beliefs and practices – as it best fits the collective nature of religion within china, which tends to place an emphasis on the whole community rather than individuals. from this, sacred space maintains sacred material goods so as to separate out the sacred from the profane (anything not associated with the sacred, particularly everyday necessities or material goods), furthering the special quality of the material goods held inside the space, as well as making space sacred. to stump (2008), sacred space is considered ... as space understood in explicitly religious terms by the believers who recognize and use it. [it] bears a direct connection to the superhuman entity or entities postulated to exist within a religious system, or that is directly involved in the interactions between humanity and such entities (p. 25-26). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 41 stump (2008) also notes that sacred space is created in a variety of forms and for a variety of reasons, providing a categorical list of types including: the cosmological (a crucial location, real or imagined) theocentric (continual presence at a location of the divine or superhuman) hierophantic (setting for a specific religious apparition, revelation, or miracle) historical (association with the initiating events or historical development of a religion) hierenergentic (access to manifestations of superhuman power and influence) authoritative (centre of authority as expressed by major religious leaders or elites) ritual (repeated usage in relation to an atmosphere or sanctity) (p. 302). each of these types of sites are used by a religious group as a means to miraculous occurrences, associate with a religion‟s history, or assert a religion‟s identity and control, thereby allowing a religion to territorialize secular, or public space. territorialisation is achieved by appropriating or claiming control of local social space as a means of “[integrating] religious belief and religious practices into the structures of daily existence…as a form of resistance to hegemonic practices” (stump, 2008, p. 24). sacred sites within china, particularly the ones dealt with in this paper, tend to be cosmological, in that the sites are considered to be built in important locations; theocentric because the sites are home to the deities worshipped there; and hierenergentic and ritual since the sites are where, through rituals, practitioners can come in contact with the divine. there are also some authoritative sites, though these are not as common, given the diversity within chinese religion. in china, a sacred space tends to be typified by its architectural features, creating a distinction between its sacredness and uniqueness within the landscape, particularly in an urban setting. sacred space in china, particularly the temple, is distinct with roofs that are more than just for protection from the elements. they are deeply symbolic with their curved corners which are believed to prevent evil spirits from landing and entering the sacred space. temples are also typified by their red colour, as well as having other brightly coloured designs, extensive sculptures and a plaque over the entrance bearing the name of the temple. all of these features make chinese temples stand out against the landscape, particularly when a temple is a part of a compound and is thus enclosed behind an outer wall, furthering the divide between it and the profane. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 42 sacred spaces within china also consist of buddhist pagodas that are tiered, multi-leveled, vertical, round or octagon buildings, which tend to have the main function of housing sacred items. temples, on the other hand, were used as places of worship, meditation, ritual, and education, housing not only the figures of deities but also providing space in which believers could come in contact with those deities (mazumdar & mazumdar, 2009, p.389). architecturally speaking, a chinese temple is striking, with “places of worship [having] distinctive physical elements that “summon” the believer „with symbols‟” (mazumdar & mazumdar, 2010, p.389). the physical elements create the place, whereas the symbols establish the space within. furthermore, following durkheim‟s definition, the architectural features of a site allow for the distinction between that sacred within and the profane outside to be established and maintained. without the special features bolstered by powerful interdictions, that isolate and protect the sacred as understood by the religious community, the blending of sacred sites with the tourist industry would be far more damaging. however, people‟s inherent understanding of what is sacred, what is not, and both members of the religious community and tourists knowing how to act in the presence of the sacred, allows for such a blending to occur. moreover, a sacred space within china is further typified by its ability to engage each of the senses: the believer „„sees‟‟ the sacred sites (temples/churches, relics, icons, monuments); he/she „„hears‟‟ the sacred sounds (church and temple bells, drum beats, chanting, singing, the call to prayer), „„touches‟‟ the sacred artifacts (icons, deities, texts); „„eats‟‟ special food (such as consecrated food); and „„smells‟‟ specific aromas (incense, fresh flowers) (mazumdar & mazumdar, 2009, p.389). a key ritualistic element which makes a place sacred is the lighting and burning of incense, joss sticks and joss paper (or spirit money) as offerings to the deities, ancestors or spirits. it is understood that it is on the smoke of an offering that an individual‟s prayers are carried up the heaven, or with which the spirits and ancestors are placated by ensuring they are provided for financially in the afterlife. this ritual makes a significant mark physically, not only because there are large incense burners which hold the incense and joss sticks, but also because of the powerful, lingering scent that shrouds the temple, distinguishing it from the rest of the world. one can feel a connection to the site by touching the wooden framework of the temple, by holding incense while praying on a cushioned kneeling stool in front of the housed deities, through holding offerings of plastic food and other goods, or the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 43 by feeling the spirit money in one‟s hands and the sensation of lighting the paper, and feeling the warmth of the flames before tossing it into the incense burning. all of these sensations further the connection between the individual and the sacred space. the sense of sound is also used in a variety of ways, including the banging of gongs, the chanting of prayers, the clicking of prayer beads, the playing of music (either live, or more commonly now through a sound system), and the chatting of visitors. stump‟s categories are highlighted, especially the theocentric and hieneregentic (making offerings to the deities understood to be present), as well as the ritual by following prescribed actions. furthermore, durkheim‟s definition of the sacred is highlighted by the separation of the sacred, within the site, and the profane outside. finally, here the distinction between space and place is firmly established, since it is the actions of visitors that imbue a physical place with feelings that make it a special space. all of the senses are activated to encompass the individual fully into the world of the sacred space, even if only for a short while, attempting to allow the visitor to forget the world beyond the temple walls, focusing on the experience inside, and the “inner tranquility and peace, [provided by] an oasis of spiritual calm in a frenzied world” (mazumdar and mazumdar, 2010, p. 389). all of this creates the sacredness of space, but it is only through the socialization of individuals within a specific tradition that the sacredness of a place is fully realized. when an individual is not socialized within a particular tradition, they may have a sense of the sacredness, but the reality of the sacredness is never fully realized. tourism within china to examine how a connection with a sacred place is used in tourism within china, i draw on mazumdar and mazumdar‟s (2010) exploration of the idea of the necessity of socialization. emphasizing that one of the key goals of drawing people to a sacred space is to have tourists experience what local believers see, feel, smell, hear and experience, does not mean tourist experiences are on the same level as locals. through using sacred spaces as tourist attractions, believers are able to ensure that they fit within modern ideals while maintaining their traditional roles and beliefs. tourism is the action of traveling for the purpose of visiting specific destinations understood to be desirable locations to visit, in order to spend time at, and spend money toward that goal. despite being in place since the late 19 th century (ding & noel, 2009, p.2297-2300), tourism is still a relatively new phenomenon in the world, and has been amplified by globalization and western-driven modernization. without globalization, cross-cultural exchange, and the infrastructure created as a part of globalization, such large-scale tourism would not the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 44 nearly be as prevalent. this is particularly true in modern china. prior to 1979 and the reopening of china, tourism barely existed within china, even among the local population; and, even after the open door policy was introduced and implemented in 1979, the tourist industry was slow to start (ding & noel, 2009, p.2297). in the past, travelling generally occurred for business, academic, health or religious reasons, not for leisure; however, travel and tourism have now become fashionable and even desirable (ding & noel, 2009, p.2297-98). the word for tourism in china is luyou (旅游), which literally means a trip or a journey, and a tourist is someone who is a youke (游客) or travelling visitor, implying that eventually the person will move on at some point. while infrastructure, and new vocabulary, was introduced to support local tourists, it was not until the early 1990s that tourism really took off in china, both nationally and internationally. national tourism was helped along through increased annual incomes, improved transportation, and, most importantly, the introduction of the gold weeks holiday policy (introduced in 1999), which extended the three major public holidays (spring festival, international labour day and national day) into a week-long holiday, thus allowing for tourism to flourish (ding & noel, 2009, p.2298). leisure travel, now available to all and not just the wealthy, rapidly changed the mindset of the chinese. while the focus is on the leisure elements of travel, an increasing focus has been to visit cultural sites (i.e traditional temples or natural sacred sites) by both national and international visitors, along with the push to have certain locations listed as united nations world cultural heritage sites. with the increase of national tourism, there has also been an increase in international tourism, with chinese travelling out of the country for leisure, and foreigners rushing to china to visit its cultural heritage sites. north america is a good example; it was the first to receive chinese tourists at the beginning of the 21 st century (ding & noel, 2009, p.2300). during all this, the tourist industry has brought about “knowledge of other languages, lifestyles, and ideas as well as the chance to share…culture with others [all the while] many of these people have begun to adopt the language, clothing, and cultural values of tourists” (ding & noel, 2009, p.2300). such a rapid increase in national and international tourism presents difficulties and setbacks; i have personally experienced the heartache that can happen while travelling as a tourist, particularly during the gold weeks. the epigraph at the beginning of this article, my personal recollection, gives you a sense of what can be expected when visiting a tourist attraction in china. not only can it take a long time to reach the intended destination, there are usually long line-ups and crowded streets, noisy street vendors, flashing cameras, admission issues and at the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 45 times unexpected closures, all leading to frustration and disappointment. as ding and noel (2009) pointed out, there are mixed opinions around the question of the value of tourism within china and the issues regarding the sites that are visited, particularly sacred sites. one example is the dunhuang caves, a united nations world cultural heritage site, whose century-old murals have been damaged from exposure to large numbers of people and a lack of proper safety and sustainability practices (p. 2999-3000). in addition to the potential danger to the heritage sites, the government also recognized the inherent safety risks that the gold weeks posed for tourists (such as numerous deaths related to traffic incidents) and chose to revert the national day and labour day holidays back into single day holidays in december 2007. instead, the government introduced compulsory annual leave to ensure all workers received an opportunity to travel during times other than the gold weeks, thus ensuring that leisure trips within china would maintain a certain level of quality and enjoyment, which had been in the decline prior to these interventions (ding & noel, 2009, p.2300). the growing importance of tourism among the chinese, both nationally and internationally, cannot be denied because through the tourist industry, religious sites once persecuted, ridiculed and abandoned, have become desirable destinations for their cultural, historical, or aesthetic appeal, and have been transformed into living museums, thus maintaining a strong presence in modern china. case studies: at the confluence of sacred space and tourist attractions what follows are two case studies that intersect between modern china and traditional chinese sacred spaces to investigate the question of religion in china, and how each has been integrated into the tourist industry of china, either by choice or by design. the first site is in an urban, highly commercialized temple and tourist attraction whereas the second site is rural and mixes sacred spaces, both natural and man-made, into a cultural and natural tourist attraction and is one of the forty-one unesco world heritage sites. shanghai yuyuan garden and tourist area in the heart of shanghai, amidst the busy streets filled with honking horns, bargaining buyers and vendors, laughing children, gossiping teenagers, and business people talking on their phones, is the yu yuan garden and tourist area (shanghai municipal government, 2009, p.430). it is a hub of tourism, business, and cultural (including religious) exchange and has been so for over four hundred years (shanghai municipal government, 2009, p. 430). what began as a private garden to the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 46 please the father of the garden‟s original owner became public in 1587 after twentyeight years of construction. the new, expanded garden designed by the famous garden architect, zhang nanyang, opened up and became a key social gathering place in shanghai. the garden, characterized by its fifty-plus pavilions, terraces, and towers, as well as ponds, bridges, and trees within a quiet and beautiful atmosphere, exemplified the essence of chinese culture and art, naturally drawing people to the garden (shanghai municipal government, 2009, p.430). while the renowned garden still exists today, it has been expanded over time, particularly in relation to commercialization of the area, with multiple shops, restaurants, tea houses, and artisans conducting business. nestled within the yuyuan garden and tourist area is an all-important daoist temple – the city god temple, home to the city gods of shanghai. a city god, or cheng-huang shen (城隍神), occupies a place of considerable importance in chinese religion, since city gods were given responsibility for the protection and prosperity of an appointed area by the local, human, government officials, and could be stripped of their title and responsibilities if the area came to ruin (russell, 2009, p.1876). the city-gods are the result of increased urbanization during the tang (618907 ce) and song (960-1279) dynasties and fit within an established hierarchy of gods (russell, 2009, p.1876). this hierarchy refers to the order in which the deities would be approached for divinations, advice, and size of offerings, with the city gods holding importance within the area they were worshipped, but usually no further. while the cultural revolution saw the disuse of the city god temple and the destruction of its statues, with the gradual implementation of religious freedom in 1994, the city god temple was restored and re-opened for public use (shanghai town god‟s temple overview). as part of the greater yuyuan garden and tourism area, it is now a national key cultural heritage site, bustling with life (shanghai municipal government, 2009, p.430). the interplay between the religious, cultural and commercial are present at the yuyuan gardan and tourist area, especially after the shanghai yuyuan tourist mart co., ltd (sytm) was established in 1992, at which point “the company built seven ming-qing-style commercial buildings… [which] together with the city god‟s temple, yuyuan garden, mid-lake pavilion, nine-bend bridge and lotus pond…make the area more charming and enticing…the traditional recreational activities and business promotion activities [are] combined together” (shanghai municipal government, 2009, p.431-2). much of the emphasis at the yuyuan garden and tourist area is on commerce and tourism, nevertheless the religious and cultural aspects of the city god temple (and the six other religions represented the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 47 on site) maintain a constant presence. the city god temple holds public fairs and festivals celebrating the birthdays of the city gods, chinese new year and the lantern festival (shanghai municipal government, 2009, p.432) as well as having active daoist monks and lay-believers practicing at the temple. at yuyuan garden and tourist area, durkheim's definition is most apparent, in that the all-important seperation of the sacred, found within the city god temple, is kept apart from the profane. while the sites are connected physically, the city god temple has been permeated with a particular feeling of sacredness, which is not present in the commercial areas of the garden, which draws out the distinction between the physical place and the religious space. huanglong scenic and historic interest area located in north-west sichuan province is the huanglong (yellow dragon) valley which consists of snow-capped peaks and a diverse forest ecosystem with spectacular limestone formations, waterfalls, and hot springs. as well, it is home to a number of endangered animals, including the giant panda and sichuan‟s golden snub-nosed monkey (unesco world heritage centre. 2012). a traditional, multiethnic pilgrimage site, huanglong is located in songpan county, south of the amdo region on the eastern edge of the qinghai-tibetan plateau, and while it is home to multiethnic and religious identities, i will focus on the han chinese presence at the site. the property lies along the southern part of the min shan range and is approximately 150 km north of chengdu, the capital of sichuan (unesco world heritage centre. 2012). the region is characterized by frequent earthquakes and extensive calcite deposits, particularly along the 3.6 km huanglonggou (yellow dragon gully) which has led to several travertine pools filled with algae and bacteria that give the pools a range of colours from orange and yellow to green and blue. huanglong is home to two important hot springs, the feicuikuang-quan and the zhuizhuhu, both of which are said to have medicinal properties; in addition to the springs, the region is home to popular lakes and the zhaga waterfall (unesco world heritage centre. 2012). huanglong was established as a natural heritage site in 1982 after heavy logging of its resources caused extensive damage to the ecosystem of the region. now the area is a popular tourist area, receiving millions of local and international visitors every year (unesco world heritage centre. 2012). while emphasis is placed on the natural beauty of the site as a tourist attraction, huanglong is also an important religious site for han chinese lay buddhists, daoists, and tibetan bon. the history of the chinese presence at huanglong is unclear (kang, 2009, p. 232), with the establishment of a military post the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 48 during the early ming dynasty being the earliest reference known. what is known is that the middle temple at the site bears the date 1700; therefore the temples were built sometime prior to that date (kang, 2009, p. 232-33). while originally there were three temples at the site, the front temple was soon in ruins, and today only the middle and rear temples remain. the middle temple was the largest of the three, particularly during the late qing and republican periods with three lofty halls, double-eave, and multi-layered lofts, and was home to many buddhist gods (kang, 2009, p. 233). however, the rear temple is most famous today. the rear temple, known as huanglong si (temple of the yellow dragon), closest to the golden lakes, is the “ultimate destination of the pilgrims attending the annual temple festival” (kang, 2009, p. 234). the temple is named for the yellow dragon perfected man who is said to have cultivated the “way” and is also identified with the yellow dragon, who assisted the great sage king yu in taming the min river; therefore the rear temple is mostly a daoist temple, and has continuously been presided over by a succession of daoist priests and lay believers, despite its remote location (kang, 2009, p. 234). during the cultural revolution both temples suffered severely as religion became illegal and monks and nuns were forced to return to secular life, leaving temples, mosques and monasteries abandoned to either demolition or conversion for other uses. with the growth of tourism and the revival of religion that took place in the early 1980s, huanglong and its temples became a popular tourist site, even though huanglong was originally designated for its natural beauty rather than its cultural sites (kang, 2009, p. 23435). when the local people were again allowed to practice their religion, they leapt at the opportunity, rebuilding the temples, and drawing on the increased interest of tourists to promote religious affiliations. this brought about economic opportunities for locals working in the tourist industry as waitresses, security guards, tour guides, motel or restaurant owners, street vendors, or drivers. some even tapped into tourists‟ desire for spirituality in the form of spiritual healing and fortune-telling (kang, 2009, p. 234-36). not only has the establishment of huanglong scenic and historic interest area created economic opportunities and allow for the religious identity of the region to flourish, it has also allowed for this relatively secluded area to connect with the larger chinese community and the global world as a whole. at the same time, many of the elements of religious practice at huanglong have become commercialized with the management bureau of huanglong fashioning ethnic culture for market consumption in a variety of forms and creating the “huanglong international cultural tourism festival,” a the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 49 spectacle to represent the four major ethnic groups and their unity (kang, 2009, p. 242-243). certainly, there are artificial elements to the religious aspects of the site, nevertheless there has been, and continues to be, a revival of religion at huanglong, and as kang (2009) points out: tourism, along with a much more relaxed political and economic environment, has opened the region to the outside world. this has raised not only the standard of living of the local people but also their political awareness…these groups have actively sought to use the development of tourism and the presence of international agencies to their own advantage…they attempt to make use of the publicity about huanglong generated by state power to defend their own religious cause and to reclaim the temples (p. 250). huanglong provides an excellent example of stump's categories and further establishes the distinction between space and place. huanglong is home to a multitude of deities from different religions, and it has historical and authoritative significance derived from its history in the region as the base for three main religions. more importantly, it is a key ritual site hosting the above mentioned festivals, which have been bolstered by the tourist industry. huanglong also provides insight into the difference between a place and space, in that the buildings, while they have symbolic importance, are made more important by the feelings that have been established by believers. this creates a religious space within the physical surroundings. conclusion in china the question of what religion means and how it can and ought to be incorporated into modern society has been longstanding. while traditionally religion had a vital role within chinese society, after the republican period and the establishment of the communist party of china, the traditional role of religion in china was undermined and under-appreciated until recently when the question of religion was once again raised. this is particularly true when it comes to the intersection of modernization and globalization, along with the establishment of national and international tourism, causing the government to slowly rethink its stance on religion. this has in turn allowed religion to once more reassert itself to some extent because of its tourist appeal. the mixing of sacred and secular space at yuyuan garden and tourist area and huanglong scenic and historic interest area allows for both tourism and religion to flourish because each helps the other. at first the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 50 this blending of the sacred with the secular appears to be in conflict with durkheim‟s definition of the sacred in that the sacred is supposed to be kept separate from the profane and mundane. it has been argued that there is still recognition of what is sacred and what is secular, and that through using tourism, the sacred is preserved, and while it is not isolated, it is protected. the blending of the traditional with the modern, the private with the public, and the secular with the sacred is not the destroyer of the religion but rather the preserver, especially in the context of a modern, religious china. references ding, p., noel, s. (2009) tourism. in berkshire encyclopedia of china: modern and historic views of the world’s newest and oldest global power (vol. 5, pp. 2297-2300). great barrington, ma. berkshire publishing. retrieved march 15, 2012 from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx30 08200683&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w gossaert, v., & palmer, d. a (2011). introduction. the religious question in modern china (pp. 1-16) chicago: university of chicago press gossaert, v., & palmer, d. a (2011). idealogy, religion, and the construction of a modern state, 1898-1937. the religious question in modern china (pp. 4365) chicago: university of chicago press huanglong scenic and historic interest area – unesco world heritage centre. (2012). unesco world heritage centre. retrieved march 15, 2012 from http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/638 johnson, d. (1985). the city-god cults of t'ang and sung china. (2 ed., vol. 45, pp. 363-457). harvard: harvard-yenching institute. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2718969 jones, r,s (n.d). the elementary forms of the religious life (1912). durkheim home page. retrieved march 15 th , 2012, from http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/summaries/forms.html#pgfid=6212 kang, x. (2009). two temples, three religions, and a tourist attraction contesting sacred space on china’s ethnic frontier. (3 ed., vol. 35, pp. 227-255). sage publications. mazumdar, s., & mazumdar, s. (2009). religion and place attachment: a study of sacred places. (24 ed., p. 385–397). irvine, ca: elsevier ltd. http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200683&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200683&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/638 http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/summaries/forms.html#pgfid=6212 the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 51 oakes, 8., & sutton, d.s. (2010) making tourists and remaking locals: religion, ethnicity, and patriotism on display in northern sichuan. faiths on display religion, tourism, and the chinese state (pp. 103-126). lanham, md.: rowman and littlefield publishers. rioux, y. l., (2009) natural preserve zones. in berkshire encyclopedia of china: modern and historic views of the world’s newest and oldest global power (vol. 3, pp. 1563-1565). great barrington, ma. berkshire publishing. retrieved march 15, 2012 from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx30 08200473&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w russell, t.c., (2009) religion, folk. in berkshire encyclopedia of china: modern and historic views of the world’s newest and oldest global power (vol. 4, pp. 1873-1879). great barrington, ma. berkshire publishing. retrieved march 15, 2012 from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx30 08200555&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w shanghai town god‟s temple overview. (n.d). shanghai city god temple. retrieved march 15, 2012, from http://www.shchm.org/subpage/chmgk.asp shanghai municipal government. (2009). yuyuan garden and tourist area. (pp. 430432). shanghai: shanghai municipal government. retrieved from http://zhuanti.shanghai.gov.cn/encyclopedia/en/ stump, r.w. (2008). the geography of religion: faith, place, and space. langham, mid: rowman & littlefield publishers. zhou, j. (2009) religious practice, contemporary. in berkshire encyclopedia of china: modern and historic views of the world’s newest and oldest global power (vol. 4, pp. 2297-2300). great barrington, ma. berkshire publishing. retrieved march 15, 2012 from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx30 08200556&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w contact information elizabeth harvey, pacific and asian studies and religious studies, can be reached at chinablizzard@yahoo.ca. http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200473&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200473&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200555&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200555&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w http://www.shchm.org/subpage/chmgk.asp http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200556&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ccx3008200556&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=gvrl&sw=w mailto:chinablizzard@yahoo.ca the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: harvey 52 acknowledgements i would like to express my deepest gratitude to dr. harold coward, and my peers, for their guidance, support and feedback in the writing of this paper. i would also like to thank my mother, karen harvey, for her assistance in editing. any and all errors are my own. furthermore, i would like to thank my husband, ben guthrie, for his unending support and encouragement. sugrue humour in contemporary indigenous photography: re-focusing the colonial gaze meagan sugrue abstract: although photography has long been used as a tool of colonial oppression to portray indigenous peoples as either a “vanishing race” or to confirm their assimilation into the dominant colonial culture, contemporary indigenous photographers are using humour to turn the colonial gaze back on itself. this article discusses the use of humour as a teaching tool by exploring the role of the “trickster” as a mode of subversion. five indigenous artists’ works are analyzed through this lens in order to show how contemporary indigenous photographers employ elements of irony and satire to reveal the insidious nature of colonial stereotypes. key terms: indigenous photography; colonial gaze; trickster; ethnographic photography. introduction contemporary indigenous photographers in canada exist in a world saturated with images of indigenous peoples that act as propaganda for a dominating colonial system. these images empower a colonial narrative by emphasizing that indigenous peoples are subjugated, disempowered, and in the process of inevitable assimilation (spears, 2005). as such they are relegated to a static historical past, and any indigenous artwork created within this narrative is treated as evidence of a rapidly disappearing culture. these attitudes are perpetuated in mainstream culture today despite the fact that indigenous artists have fostered, and continue to foster, a flourishing artistic community in the face of hegemonic cultural oppression, which has often forced them to work underground (man, 1997). today indigenous photographers are stepping proudly into the limelight. the purpose of this article is to provide a brief introduction to how indigenous people have been represented by north american photographic media in particular, and more generally how indigenous artworks have been displayed and interpreted by a non-indigenous population. i first provide an overview of these ideas in order to create a foundation for the discussion of several contemporary indigenous photographers. these artists, using a complex system of tools, are disrupting the colonial gaze and re-claiming indigenous identity. they are 61 not only de-constructing the colonial past, but are transforming it in order to express both individual and community identity. i focus specifically on artists using photography tinged with humour and irony in order to convey their cultural and political messages to a modern audience. contemporary indigenous artists are de-constructing the myths that have pushed them aside and are re-creating a new identity for themselves from their own perspectives using a ‘trickster’ paradigm. the colonial gaze the ways in which indigenous peoples have been studied and understood has been obscured by knowledge constructed about them by others (townsend-gault, 2006). settlers have created a colonial mythology that is shaped by the colonizer’s fantasy of the ‘native’ (spears, 2005). through this colonial gaze the colonizer’s sense of place is confirmed, and colonizers perceive only what they believe to be fundamentally true of indigenous people and culture. this mythology reinforces a sense of superiority and maturity over the people that it sees and has become so entrenched that in some cases even indigenous people themselves have come to believe these fictions (spears, 2005). this oppressive system continually perpetuates the myth of the ‘indian’. this imagery is visible in mainstream news, magazines, literature, art, advertisements, and in hollywood movies such as disney’s pocahontas. many of these media are aimed at vulnerable youth (warn, 2007). as a result, every canadian has been influenced by these conceptions of indigenous people to varying degrees. the reality is that there is no “mythical hiawatha…saddened chief joseph…scowling sitting bull… [or] sullen geronimo” (warn, 2007, p. 75). like the savage warrior, the noble feathered brave, the lusty woman in double braids, and the magical medicine man, these images represent a colonial fiction. the images that perpetuate this rationalizing fiction effectively transform myth into nature (spears, 2005). if an individual comes to understand their assumptions about indigenous people as biological, their attributes and behaviours can be understood as natural and unchangeable. these naturalizing myths relieve the colonizer of any responsibility in the creation of social problems within indigenous communities (spears, 2005). it allows for the idea of indigenous people as naturally prone to issues such as alcoholism, ignoring the historical use of alcohol in order to oppress indigenous peoples (spears, 2005). indigenous people are seen as biologically prone to sickness, dismissing a lengthy and devastating history of diseasespreading by colonizing forces (spears, 2005). these notions therefore 62 sugrue purify the history of colonialism and provide justification for the displacement, oppression and continued abuse of indigenous peoples. images of indigenous peoples are one of the principal means of communicating these myths and allowed settler populations to re-assert their relationship of power over the colonized since the “gazer [was] superior to the object of the gaze” (spears, 2005, p. 10). photography & myth-making photographs have been particularly effective in perpetuating oppressive ideas as a result of the assumption of truth inherent within the medium. since they are representations of real people, the viewer is more likely to believe that they are being shown truth rather than a construction. photographs therefore become divorced from their creator, history, editing and construction processes (spears, 2005). assumptions drawn from photographs of indigenous peoples are effective because while they work through a connotative process, the audience comes to understand their meanings as “denotative, or, literally, the truth” (spears, 2005, p. 6). in order to further examine how these ideas were first perpetuated it is important to discuss two principal types of colonial era imagery. the first is the early photographs created to document the assumed disappearance of indigenous peoples (walsh, 2002). the second is the group of photographs produced to further the narrative of canada’s economic expansion and the assimilation of indigenous peoples into canadian society (walsh, 2002). figure 1. cowichan indians performing whale dance, 1945. image 127569 courtesy of royal bc museum, bc archives. 63 the first type of photograph created many of the signs of cultural identity that people now associate with indigenous peoples (walsh, 2002). their narratives tended to focus on portraying indigenous life before contact with europeans. a large portion of these images show indigenous peoples dressed in traditional regalia or set against a natural landscape (walsh, 2002). one such example is titled cowichan indians performing whale dance (figure 1). this image shows a group of cowichan men dancing in regalia with drummers in the background. it is an excellent example of how canadian authorities attempted to collect information about indigenous cultural traditions (walsh, 2002). what should be noted about these photographs is the lack of contextual information that is included with them. there are no specifics provided, and the individuals and communities remain anonymous entertainment for consumption by the non-indigenous viewer. they remain part of the popular non-indigenous experience and tend to emphasize indigenous peoples’ identity as collective or as deriving from a particular nation (walsh, 2002) despite the fact that indigenous peoples of the americas were divided into approximately two thousand distinct cultures and societies at the time of first contact (berkhofer, 1978). by creating a singular idea of the “indian,” settlers were able to categorize, describe and analyze diverse cultures more easily (berkhofer, 1978). this oversimplification has today formed the basis of the “indian” stereotype that stands in for all indigenous peoples, regardless of their cultural, social and linguistic differences (berkhofer, 1978). figure 2: harrison river: chehalis indian confirmation class, 1938. image f-00167courtesy of royal bc museum, bc archives. the second type of photograph typically depicts an important part of the colonial narrative, emphasizing indigenous peoples’ religious and 64 sugrue scholastic re-education and assimilation into mainstream white culture (walsh, 2002). the photograph, harris river: chehalis indians confirmation class (figure 2), dated to may 16th, 1938, is an example of this trend. it shows a group of approximately a dozen indigenous children on their day of confirmation (walsh, 2002). sitting in front of the youths is a non-indigenous priest and a bishop of the church (walsh, 2002). to the left stands a group of younger children who may represent the next generation of converts. this image is a glimpse into the wider narrative of cultural assimilation of the early 20th century. this type of photograph utilized imagery of indigenous children dressed in european clothing to demonstrate that indigenous peoples could be molded to fit within the colonial order (spears, 2005). they reassured a non-indigenous audience fearful of the ‘barbaric indian’ that indigenous people were still disempowered and subjugated and would not challenge the order of western settler society (spears, 2005). both types of photograph either showed indigenous canadians as completely distinct from mainstream canadian society or in some stage of the assimilation into the dominant social order (walsh, 2002). they are generic in their documentation of the indigenous experience and give little insight into the lives or conditions of individuals at any point in history (walsh, 2002). it is important to note that although these images were accepted at face value by settler society, they were themselves constructed and manipulated (spears, 2005). they acted as deliberately engineered propaganda that allowed settlers to maintain their authority and power over the indigenous population. both types of photograph served to eclipse indigenous creative pursuits, since all indigenous artwork was deemed merely a product of a rapidly disappearing culture. indigenous art as exotic curiosity or ethnographic specimen the exhibition of indigenous art on its own terms in the mainstream art world is a relatively new phenomenon. the collection and display of indigenous art since colonization has mostly been as exotic curiosities, antiquities, and remnants of a cultural past (clifford, 2006). attempts to create parallels between indigenous art and european art were often made with the former being considered inferior to the latter. indigenous objects were classified either as ethnographic specimens or archaic art (clifford, 2006). exhibitions of indigenous art, including contemporary art, usually labeled the works as ‘primitive’. this description was first encouraged by exhibitions held in the 1920s and 1940s (warn, 2007). later, the distinction between ethnographic specimen and art object was put in 65 place on an institutional level (clifford, 2006). in ethnographic museums indigenous artworks were displayed within a cultural context, while in art galleries they were displayed based on perceived aesthetic qualities (clifford, 2006). even in the 1980s this distinction was evident as indigenous arts were relegated either to a “vanishing past or an ahistorical, conceptual present” (clifford, 2006, p. 156). if an object was classified as being of anthropological interest, its aesthetic qualities were overlooked. if an object was classified as art, this meant the exclusion of its cultural context. when indigenous art was called ‘art’ its complex cultural background was replaced with ambiguous definitions of its primitive qualities (clifford, 2006). objects in this system are placed in a vague and distant past and described as having qualities such as ritualism, magic and closeness to nature (clifford, 2006). applying these qualities to anonymous art objects and individuals further homogenizes the cultural identity of the artists who are exhibiting their works. in this vein an art object must be detached from its cultural context in order for it to circulate in the world of markets, museums and connoisseurship (clifford, 2006). both narratives supported the idea of indigenous art as primitive and in need of preservation. indigenous artists are therefore denied the ability to exist as contemporary artists who have been influenced by both their cultural past and their modern reality. “the trickster shift”: humour as didactic tool contemporary indigenous artists exist in a world of multiple meanings. there is no singular definition of indigenous art and any attempt to define indigenous artists using a two-dimensional framework would force them into the same narrow set of thoughts that have long been used to oppress and control indigenous peoples and culture. one way in which artists are subverting the colonial gaze is through humour, much of which plays on the multiple layers of identity present in indigineity. this trend in contemporary indigenous art is called the trickster paradigm (warn, 2007), or trickster shift (ryan, 1999). as art historian allan ryan explains, this aesthetic is a movement of politically conscious, socially active, and professionally trained indigenous artists using humour in their art in order to relay important cultural messages (1999). some of the most prominent artists in this movement include carl beam, rebecca belmore, bob boyer, george littlechild, david neel, shelley niro, jane ash poitras, bill powless, alex janvier and lawrence paul yuxwelupton, among many others (ryan, 1999). what unites the work of these artists is 66 sugrue the use of an ironic and wry sense of humour. there is a spirit of play in these artists’ work that is grounded in a comic worldview central to indigenous thought. ryan points out that many artists who work within this aesthetic identify the role of the ‘trickster’ as central to their work (1999). rather than being a homogenizing generalization, most of the artists and writers who discuss the issue of humour suggest that a comic attitude is shared by diverse indigenous cultures, which is communal and transcends tribal and geographic boundaries (ryan, 1999). teasing is a cultural practice in many indigenous cultures and is linked to the trickster figure (spears, 2005). the trickster is a central figure in many indigenous epistemologies, known for his ability to transform and his love of play (warn, 2007). since figures such as the trickster are spiritual rather than physical beings they are often not easily defined. many oral traditions use the trickster as a model for how to survive (warn, 2007). the character is often portrayed as flawed, making humorous mistakes that are used to educate and entertain. this is a duality that is important to the trickster and his function, and indigenous peoples have been telling stories of this figure and using humour since long before contact. techniques such as teasing, parody, pun, satire, irony and double entendre are often employed (warn, 2007). teasing is often used as a means to control social situations (warn, 2007). instead of publicly embarrassing members of the community, those who step out of line with social norms are teased (warn, 2007). this sense of humour can also be turned inwards, and individuals use this method in order to demonstrate their humility (warn, 2007). humour continues today as a way through which indigenous communities can begin to tackle a long and painful history of oppression (fagan, 2001). indigenous artists today use humour not only as a healing mechanism within their own communities, but also to confront sensitive issues which are often deliberately ignored or unacknowledged by a settler audience. humour in this way acts as a type of ‘trojan horse’ which has the ability to create common ground with a non-indigenous audience without being threatening or confrontational (gruber, 2008). thus a basis for communication is maintained and issues such as “justice, loss of land, discrimination, [and] racism” can be openly explored (gruber, 2008, p. 118). humour in indigenous art therefore acts as a way of directing the response of the audience (ryan, 1999). it can be used as a sort of “spiritual shock therapy” that deconstructs patterns of rationality and thought in the viewer (ryan, 1999, p. 11). the audience may then 67 potentially “align their empathy with native viewpoints,” creating a sense of solidarity (gruber, 2008, p. 118). in this way, contemporary indigenous artists are continuing the tradition of the trickster through photography, using humour to confront and question their own assumptions. as oneida comedian charlie hill points out, humour has the ability to “[turn] poison into medicine” (warn, 2007, p. 76). re-claiming the myth: chris bose figure 3. thomas moore, chris bose, 2009. image courtesy of the artist. chris bose is a member of the nlaka’pamux nation and is a selfdescribed “poet, musician, photographer, filmmaker and digital storyteller” working out of kamloops b.c. (urban coyote teevee, n.d.). in his digitally created image thomas moore (figure 3) chris bose reclaims the second type of photograph discussed earlier, those showing indigenous children in the process of being ‘re-educated’. bose utilized two original photographs from library and archives canada in order to create a striking, and ironic, message. the original photograph shows a typical colonial image in which an indigenous child is shown in the process of transforming from ‘primitive’ to ‘civilized’. the child in question, thomas moore, is shown on the left before his entrance into the regina indian residential school in saskatchewan in 1874 (urban coyote teevee, n.d.). in this image he is shown in elaborate regalia with his hair in two long braids that fall down his sides. he is set against a this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. please see this image on the artist's blog at http://findingshelter.blogspot.ca/2010/08/ti me-summer-2010-as-i-write-this-it.html 68 http://findingshelter.blogspot.ca/2010/08/time-summer-2010-as-i-write-this-it.html http://findingshelter.blogspot.ca/2010/08/time-summer-2010-as-i-write-this-it.html sugrue natural landscape, maintaining his connection to the natural world, a feature which is also prevalent in salvage portraiture. his violent nature is emphasized by the inclusion of what appears to be a gun in his right hand, with his finger menacingly poised on the trigger. on the right we are shown the same child after having been put through the ‘civilizing’ process of residential school. he is shown in a military-style suit leaning casually on an armoire. he appears much smaller than in the first photograph, dwarfed by the western-style furniture that surrounds him. the irony bose plays on is already inherent in the photographs themselves. the idea of the young ‘before’ child being a threatening figure who needs to be tamed would be laughable if it did not demonstrate such a frightening attitude in the minds of colonial powers. we are shown the development of this ‘wild’ boy into a demure young man. the effect of the imagery is to showcase that the threat has been neutralized through assimilation. over top of these images bose places his own stream-of-consciousness poetry, deliberately disrupting the gaze of the colonizer. his words are rife with sarcasm and irony as he discusses contemporary attitudes towards indigenous peoples. he suggests that it is only from an indigenous perspective that the pain of this history can be understood, and that “the ones in power,”: ask childlike questions about my race about why my people seem so lost so timid revealing something so sad about themselves…they just want to empathize and feel it for half an hour not even to understand it but to hold it for a little while to study it and they will go back and write a grant about it and get some money to study it further and perpetuate the dumb. his message is clear and directly confrontational, addressing a highly sensitive subject with a dose of irony. by providing the viewer with familiar images of the ‘indian’ he draws them in. it is through the direct juxtaposition of colonial images with his own satire that he has created an expression of frustration and anger which re-asserts control and ownership of the colonial photograph. moving forward: contemporary indigenous photographers shelley niro other artists create works that are somewhat less overt in their message but nevertheless tackle difficult issues using contemporary mediums. one such artist is shelley niro, a mohawk artist from the six nations of grand river in ontario (mcmaster, 1998). niro’s art takes the form of funny and sharply ironic photographs which force the viewer to question 69 their own ideas about indigeneity. her works the rebel (figure 4) and mohawks in beehives i (figure 5) portray contemporary middle-aged mohawk women in poses that do anything but evoke colonial myths of indigenous peoples. instead we see a reversal of gaze, especially in the rebel. the rebel shows an older mohawk woman, niro’s mother, in everyday clothing posed in a jokingly provocative pose over the trunk of an old car (ryan, 1992). here we see not only a redefined image of a mohawk woman which leaves no room for colonial fiction, but also a critique of the over-sexualized western media which aims to sell “fast toys to big boys” (ryan, 1992, p. 61). it criticizes the values of sexuality and materiality upon which western mainstream society is based and creates a suggestion of a new standard of beauty (ryan, 1992). in mohawks in beehives i we also see a great sense of play as niro creates a highly personal image which both accurately reflects individual experience and the contemporary experiences of a larger community. figure 4: the rebel, shelley niro, 1987. image courtesy of the artist. figure 5: mohawks in beehives i, shelley niro, 1990. image courtesy of the artist. this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. see this image on the artist's website at http://www.shelleyniro.ca/shelley_niro_works.ph p?%20type=photo this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. see this image at http://www.britesites.com/native_artist_interview s/sn27.htm 70 http://www.shelleyniro.ca/shelley_niro_works.php?%20type=photo http://www.shelleyniro.ca/shelley_niro_works.php?%20type=photo http://www.britesites.com/native_artist_interviews/sn27.htm http://www.britesites.com/native_artist_interviews/sn27.htm sugrue so while niro recognizes that there is a great deal of pain in the lives of indigenous peoples, her photographs attempt to show a lighter side of things using a “strong sense of fun [to show] there’s something else going on” (ryan, 1999, p. 66). these works therefore act as a way of “taking things back, taking control, and seizing power by refusing victim status” (mcmaster, 1998, p. 110). these works are highly accessible and act as a means of humanizing indigenous peoples to an outside audience. despite their often light-hearted subject matter, niro’s photographs carry significant weight considering the history of abuse and violence towards indigenous women in canada. by showing these women as they really are the stereotype of the ‘indian princess’ is effectively dismissed through parody. in niro’s world there is no room for the sexualized stereotypes of indigenous women, a point which she communicates and maintains through her work. dana claxton a later addition to the trickster paradigm is another female artist, dana claxton. claxton is an interdisciplinary artist of hunkpapa lakota heritage whose work includes performance, photography, film and video (berson, 2010). both daddy’s got a new ride (figure 6) and baby boyz gotta indian pony (figure 7) are from her 2008 mustang suite series. figure 6: daddy’s got a new ride, dana claxton, cprint 4 x5 ft., 2008. image courtesy of the artist. this four part series of photographs explores consumer and popular culture and is deliberately political in nature. nevertheless viewers are this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. please see this image at http://www.winsorgallery.com/artists .php?artwork=claxton_11 71 struck by the beauty and humour that spills from each of these unique takes on stereotypes of the ‘indian.’ the series was inspired by sioux medicine man black elk who retold his stories of sacred rituals, which included a horse dance, in his biography black elk speaks (griffin, 2010). claxton’s images show indigenous subjects against plain backdrops in a way that evokes staged colonial images. her subjects remain anonymous in much the same way that historic photographs of indigenous peoples taken by settlers were, yet each individual is treated with respect and appears comfortable (berson, 2010). in daddy’s got a new ride we see an indigenous man standing casually in front of a red mustang. although he is dressed in a black business suit and red dress shirt his indigeneity is communicated through his face paint and braided hair, markers which are readily recognized by both indigenous and nonindigenous audiences. the subject stands against a blank background forcing the audience to confront the gaze of the subject who looks confidently and directly at the viewer. in baby boyz gotta indian pony we are shown a younger man on the back of a mustang horse wearing only a pair of red track pants and red sweat cuffs. although it has been suggested that the pants are an allusion to “buckskin leggings beaded in the traditional lakota style” (berson, 2010, para. 9) he does not have any overt markings of indigeneity besides the ‘indian horse’ he is riding. figure 7: baby boyz gotta indian pony, dana claxton, cprint 4 x5 ft., 2008. image courtesy of the artist. the mustang suite series acts as a way to “collapse the traditional and the contemporary to indicate that indigenous people have the best of this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. please see this image at http://www.winsorgallery.com/artists.php ?artwork=claxton_12 72 sugrue both worlds” (berson, 2010, para. 7). by taking elements from both indigenous cultures and non-indigenous society claxton creates a statement about the hybrid nature of indigeneity in the 21st century. the mix of traditional elements with modern clothing references colonial photography but rejects the narrative of creating images of “racialized, ethnographic bodies” (rony, 1994-1995, p. 25). instead it shows a distinct hybridity demonstrating the reciprocal cultural exchange between the colonizer and the colonized (berson, 2010). indigenous peoples are shown not as distinct from the contemporary world, but as a formidable force within it. these images provide an example of the double meanings that exist in contemporary indigenous art. the modern indigenous artist creates art in a world that is both culturally defined and modern. the duality of that identity is evident in these powerful photographs, which use a unique sense of play in order to confront the audience. arthur renwick arthur renwick is a haisla artist from british columbia. his images michael (figure 8) and monique (figure 9) are part of a series of photographs called mask. when looking at these images the most striking aspect is the humour of the facial expressions. while dana claxton did not encourage any participation from the anonymous “actors” in the mustang suite series (berson, 2010), renwick sought to directly engage his subjects in the production process (face: aboriginal life and culture, 2010). the subjects that agreed to pose for renwick were asked to think about the relationship between the ‘indian’ and photography (face: aboriginal life and culture, 2010). the result was highly individual close-up portraits of indigenous writers, artists and intellectuals who figure 9: monique, arthur renwick, 2006. image courtesy of the artist. figure 8: michael, arthur renwick, 2006. image courtesy of the artist. this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. please see this image at https://www.gallery.ca/en/see/colle ctions/artwork.php?mkey=192774 this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. please see this image at https://www.gallery.ca/en/see/colle ctions/artwork.php?mkey=193203 73 created masks with their own faces (baird, 2009). these images effectively penetrate the relationship between indigenous peoples and representations of them. colonial fantasies are shown as contorting individual and cultural identity, which can be seen in the skewed faces of renwick’s subjects. their faces are distorted versions of their natural selves, a representation of how the idea of the ‘indian’ has altered reality beyond recognition. the tight framing of the individuals is unavoidable and challenges the audience to question their own ideas about indigenous identity. by choosing not to include the bodies of the individuals, renwick undermines the history of ethnographic photography (rony, 1994-1995). by showing the viewer only a small portion of the subjects, markers of indigeneity are left out and the anthropological thirst for the study of the whole is purposefully neglected (rony, 1994-1995). with no background or clothing to situate the viewer in time and space the images become timeless representations of a more general reality. there is no ethnographic attitude present here, but rather a keen interest in the ways that narratives of representation have influenced and controlled indigenous peoples. renwick’s audience is subtly reminded of the history of colonial myth-making while being very directly confronted with a contemporary indigenous reality. terrance houle terrance houle is a performance artist, filmmaker, and photographer from the kainai nation in alberta (grainger, 2009). in every aspect of his career houle drives his distinctly indigenous message home. houle has a knack for addressing even the most sensitive issues with a sense of humour and openly suggests that he uses a style that is accessible to nonindigenous viewers in order to deliver that message to a wider audience (grainger, 2009). he makes full use of the myriad of stereotypes that have been created about indigenous peoples by others, and even occasionally receives complaints that his art is bordering on racist (grainger, 2009). houle responds to these attacks by maintaining that his works are “culled from [his] experience as an aboriginal person” (grainger, 2009, para. 5). indeed, his work suggests an acute awareness of the schism between indigeneity and life in a dominantly white canada. his urban indian series, which began in 2004, examines and confronts these issues in a humorous and approachable way. the series showcases houle donning full powwow regalia while performing the most mundane of everyday activities. one image, urban indian #6 (figure 10) shows 74 sugrue houle dressed in full regalia leaning over the produce section in a grocery store. he is gently examining a bunch of fresh herbs with his left hand, while holding his half-full grocery-basket over his right arm. the absurdity of the scene is what makes this image, and others from the series, so striking, and funny. other images from the series show houle taking a bubble bath with his regalia piled unceremoniously on the floor, getting dressed, working in a cubicle, buying cds, kissing a woman goodbye, eating dinner, and riding the bus. figure 10: urban indian #6, terrance houle, 2006. image courtesy of the artist. all of the images act as a poignant commentary on what it means to be an indigenous man living in an urban environment and communicate a sense of isolation and estrangement (whyte, 2010). nevertheless they seem to suggest an avenue forward with no room for colonial fiction. houle asserts that he can be, and is, both modern and traditional. perhaps the most important message to both an indigenous and a non-indigenous audience is that this is both possible and realistic. houle suggests that while the history of colonialism should be acknowledged and condemned it must eventually be adapted to (whyte, 2010). conclusion when interpreting the art of indigenous peoples it is important to remember that the mythologies, histories, languages and protocol that make up the culturally specific knowledge of indigenous canadians can only be completely understood by those who live them. to an outsider, this photo has been replaced by a link to ensure adherence to the canadian copyright act and the canadian artists representation copyright collective. please see 7th image in urban indian series (2005) at http://terrancehouleart.com/givn-r.html 75 these works provide a meaningful challenge in understanding and interpreting them (townsend-gault, 2006). as walla walla painter james lavadour points out, “art has a use as a force vital to societyin this way it is recovering its aboriginal function…art shouldn’t be an homogenizing force worldwide, but be generative and illuminative in specific ways” (townsend-gault, 2006, p. 522). instead of simply reconstructing a singular identity of the indian, modern exhibits should focus on the complex and highly individual experiences that define what it means to be indigenous. this is exactly what the artists featured in this article do. by fighting a photographic history that aimed to frame indigenous peoples as vanishing or assimilating, indigenous artists are creating a new paradigm in which indigenous arts can be understood as both modern and traditional, past and present. the jarring honesty of these works is what makes them so exceptional, and powerful. by re-appropriating the images and myths that have oppressed them, these artists are taking back control of their representation, and humour remains an important feature. indigenous humour is often quite surprising to western sensibilities and has been described as toxic (warn, 2007), yet it also has the ability to act as a bridge between cultural worlds. as cree playwright tomson highway points out “the poison must first be exposed” before healing can begin (warn, 2007, p. 85). contemporary indigenous artists use humour to treat the wounds of colonial myth-making and in doing so are re-defining themselves and giving new power to their art. by re-claiming and taking control of the colonial ideas that have so long restricted indigenous canadians they are taking back control of their identity, re-defining how they are visualized and interpreted. it has been suggested that by using images and stereotypes created by colonial myth-makers that indigenous artists will inevitably fall into the trap of perpetuation. i argue the opposite. by taking these ideas and re-shaping them these artists, and many others like them, strip these ideas of their power and control. others have deemed the use of photography, “the media most associated with euro-american appropriation and exploitation” (rony, 1994-1995, p. 22) problematic. again i suggest that this is a natural, and effective, way to address issues of representation. by using oppressive technologies in order to strip myths of their meaning contemporary artists are beginning to ‘shoot back,’ “reversing the colonial gaze by constructing their own visual media, [and] telling their stories on their own terms” (wilson and stewart, 2008, p. 3). 76 sugrue references baird, d. (2009, december 1). i shed no tears: arthur renwick’s photography combines beauty and politics. retrieved from http://www.canadianart.ca/art/features/2009/12/01/i-shed-no-tears/ berkhofer, r. f. (1978). the white man’s indian: images of the american indian from columbus to the present. new york: random house. berson, a. (2010, june 23). dana claxton, the mustang suite and hybrid humour. retrieved from http://www.amberberson.ca/writings/dana-claxton-the-mustangsuite-and-hybrid-humour/ bose, c. (n.d.). urban coyote teevee blog website: http://findingshelter.blogspot.com bose, c. (2009, may 18). here you go canada, ask me another stupid question. retrieved from urban coyote teevee blog website: http://findingshelter.blogspot.com/2009/05/here-you-go-canada-askme-another.html clifford, j. (2006). histories of the tribal and the modern. in h. morphy & m. perkins (eds.), reflections on cultural policy, past, present, and future (pp. 150-166). malden: blackwell publishing. fagan, k.r. (2001) laughing to survive: humour in contemporary canadian native literature. submitted thesis, graduate department of english, university of toronto. grainger, l. (2009, september 21). terrance houle reclaims the hollywood indian. retrieved from http://this.org/magazine/2009/09/21/terrance-houle-hollywoodindian/?utm_source=thismag&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign =relatedx3 griffin, k. (2010). first nations artist dana claxton explores acceptable edge. retrieved from vancouver sun website: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/first+nations_artist_d ana_claxton_explores+acceptable+edge/3646539/story.html/ gruber, e. (2008). humor in contemporary native north american literature: reimagining nativeness. rochester: camden house heritage resources management information system (hermis)(n.d.). provincial art collections. retrieved from https://hermis.alberta.ca/afa/details.aspx?objectid=2007.055.001&d v=true history in art: digital image database online (dido)(n.d.). shelley niro. retrieved from https://finearts.uvic.ca/dido/ 77 leggett, a. (2010, march 10). arthur renwickmask. retrieved from slightly lucid website: http://www.slightlylucid.com/arthurrenwick-mask/ man, a.y. (1997). towards a political history of native art. retrieved from the centre for contemporary canadian art website: http://www.ccca.ca/c/writing/y/young%20man/you001t.html the masks of arthur renwick. (2010, july 8). retrieved from face: aboriginal life and culture website: http://www.face-siem.com/themasks-of-arthur-renwick/ mcmaster, g. (1998). reservation x: the power of place in aboriginal contemporary art. fredericton: goose lane editions. rony, f. t. (1994-1995). victor masayesva, jr., and the politics of “imagining indians.” film quarterly, 48(2), 20-33. ryan, a.j. (1992). postmodern parody: a political strategy in contemporary canadian native art. art journal, 51(3), 59-65. ryan, a. j. (1999). the trickster shift. vancouver: ubc press. spears, s. (2005). reconstructing the colonizer: self-representation by first nations artists. atlantis, 29(2), 1-18. townsend-gault, c. (2006). kinds of knowing. in h. morphy & m. perkins (eds), reflections on cultural policy, past, present, and future (pp. 520-543). malden: blackwell publishing ltd. walsh, a.n. (2002). visualizing histories: experiences of space and place in photographs by greg staats and jeffrey thomas. visual studies, 17(1), 35-71. warn, j.d.l. (2007). a trickster paradigm in first nations visual art: a contemporary application. submitted thesis, school of graduate studies, university of lethbridge. whyte, m. (2010, september 17). terrance houle: givn’r as good as he gets. retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/861926--terrancehoule-givn-r-as-good-as-he-gets wilson, p. and stewart, m.,(2008). introduction: indigeneity and indigenous media on the global stage. in p. wilson and m. stewart (eds), global indigenous media: cultures, poetics and politics (pp. 1-35). durham: duke university press. contact information meagan sugrue, from the department of history in art, can be contacted at meagan.sugrue@gmail.com. 78 sugrue acknowledgements i would like to thank eva baboula, the professor who guided my research during its early stages, and dr. victoria wyatt who encouraged my submission. i would also like to acknowledge andrea walsh of the university of victoria’s department of anthropology, an inspiring teacher who taught me how to look at indigenous issues through a new lens, and to recognize my own assumptions. i also wish to acknowledge the department of history in art which has provided me with such a diverse and stimulating education. finally, and most importantly, i respectfully acknowledge and thank the coast salish and straits salish peoples on whose unceded traditional lands i have lived, worked and studied. 79 the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 80 beniuk indigenous women as the other: an analysis of the missing women’s commission of inquiry jodi beniuk abstract: in this paper, i discuss the ways in which indigenous women are othered by the proceedings of the missing women‘s commission of inquiry (mwci). first, i give a basic overview of beauvoir‘s theory of women as others, followed by memmi‘s analysis of the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer. i use these two theories to describe the way indigenous women are othered both as indigenous peoples and as women, focusing on the context of the twenty-six who were murdered in vancouver‘s downtown eastside (dtes). the original murders were the result of the cultural reduction of indigenous women to their bodies. the negligent police investigations, as well as the misogynistic attitudes of the police, also demonstrate how othering can operate within these institutions. i claim that the violence against women in the dtes was due to their status as other. notably, the mwci, which is supposed to be a process that addresses the othering-based negligence of the police, also includes instances of othering in its structure and practice. from this, i conclude that we cannot rely on othering institutions or legal processes to correct othering as a practice. in the context of the mwci, i suggest building alliances that support those who face this othering as violence in their everyday lives. key terms: othering; indigenous women; downtown eastside vancouver introduction many scholars have discussed the emergence in the west of the self/other binary, with the ideal self as european, white, male, and upper class. meaning and worth are primarily located in bodies that hold these specific characteristics. within this binary, meaning and worth were not granted, for instance, to indigenous women. indeed, as andrea smith has written in not an indian tradition: the sexual colonization of native peoples, the foundation of colonial societies is predicated the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 81 beniuk on the subjugation of indigenous women‘s bodies: ―native women are also threatening because of their ability to reproduce the next generation of peoples who can resist colonization‖ (smith, 2003, p. 78). a contemporary example of this gendered colonial violence is the murdered and missing women in vancouver‘s downtown eastside (dtes) (amongst hundreds of other missing indigenous women across canada). this atrocity is compounded not only by police negligence—an almost non-existent investigation into their disappearances—but also the provincial government‘s exclusionary missing women commission of inquiry (mwci) that now appears to be little more than a public spectacle used by state institutions to regain legitimacy. the mwci began in october 2011. the inquiry was established in 2010 as a response to public demand for scrutiny of the negligent investigation of the vancouver police department (vpd) and royal canadian mounted police (rcmp) in the disappearances and murders of twenty-six women in the robert pickton case. as the hearings unfold, it has become increasingly apparent that the same dismissive attitudes displayed by the vpd and the rcmp in the original investigation are still very much alive in the inquiry process. these attitudes have arisen in the context of a violent colonial canadian state that led to the production of indigenous bodies as disposable. in this article i discuss simone de beauvoir‘s theory of woman as the other, and connect its insights to the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized described by albert memmi. through the lens of these two theories, i explain how indigenous women in the dtes are othered in the mwci and pickton case. to conclude, i explore the idea of indigenous and non-indigenous alliances specifically in the context of the mwci. indigenous women as the other: de beauvoir, memmi, allies in this paper, i use theories developed by simone de beauvoir and albert memmi to shed light on the gendered colonial violence that constitutes the lives of many indigenous women. it may be asked why these two authors are utilized, given the limitations of their analyses (such as beauvoir‘s middle class and eurocentric framework and memmi‘s androcentricity). although these two theorists could be at odds with one another due to their limitations, in this article they complement each other‘s work. beauvoir provides a basic gender analysis that is relevant to the mcwi, while memmi situates the mcwi in the ongoing process of colonialism. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 82 beniuk the intent is to present the importance of feminist analyses to colonial struggles and vice versa. it should also be noted that this article affirms the necessity of nonhegemonic methodology and does not attempt to produce a ―universally valuable narrative‖ (day, 2004, p. 720). instead, i think it will be fruitful to cast beauvoir and memmi as allies, particularly because of the limitations of their analyses. as i address near the end of this paper, the othering of indigenous women in the dtes requires both those who are non-indigenous and those who are not women to work as allies in the struggle against colonialism. joining in the struggle in the dtes beyond the supposedly clear lines of identity politics is something that i believe is important, as a self-identified female and métis person. in this respect, i use beauvoir‘s idea of woman as the other with memmi‘s examination of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized as a means of situating myself within this struggle. i, like memmi, have grown up between the binary of the colonizer and the colonized. my knowledge of the mwci and continuous disappearances of indigenous women from the dtes comes from my knowledge of feminism and as such, it was also important for me to use beauvoir. being raised by a single mother, who is also métis, feminism has been a source of strength in understanding how women are othered. this process is clearly explained by beauvoir‘s analysis. the second sex by simone de beauvoir analyzes what it means to be a woman and develops the idea of woman as the other. beauvoir states that ―man represents both the positive and the neutral, as is indicated by the common use of man to designate human beings in general, whereas woman represents only the negative, defined by limiting criteria‖ (beauvoir, 2009, p. 115). to explain this further, beauvoir states that dominant institutional discourses produced about woman focus on what they are not (using what man is) as a basis for evaluation. the discourses beauvoir describes are centered on the historical context of woman being reduced to the body. in this light beauvoir discusses aristotle, a founding figure in western thought, who claimed ―we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness‖ (beauvoir, 2009, p. 115). she also references st. thomas aquinas who describes woman as an ―imperfect man‖ (beauvoir, 2009, p. 115). beauvoir argues that the concept of humanity in these discourses are male-centered because woman is defined by what she is not, while the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 83 beniuk man is defined by what he is – and he defines woman. man is the primary referent. woman is not regarded as autonomous, but rather as dependent on man for meaning, being, and existence. this makes woman the object and man the subject. in being the object, woman becomes the other. the other, as object, is a fixed thing, while the subject has agency. woman is reduced to a reproductive function, as a womb and as a means of male pleasure. beauvoir argues that this is the prominent way that dominant discourses construct women 1 . just as women are othered on the basis of gender, othering happens on the basis of class, race, ethnicity, including ―jews‖ and ―negros‖ (beauvoir, 2009, p. 117).2 ―jews‖ became others through the nazi-germany holocaust and ―negros‖ became others through american slavery. the proletariat became others in their relationship with the bourgeoisie. beauvoir states that women do not have a distinct historical or social context in which they became the other (beauvoir, 2009, p. 117). women are not seen as a minority because they are not part of a minority population whose othering can be clearly traced to a historical period. this results in the naturalization of woman as object. because the historical othering of women is not readily visible, women do not have an event (such as the holocaust or slavery) to organize around, just their daily lives. in this sense, it is harder for women to organize as women around these experiences because without this event, it is difficult to embrace the sense of unity that drove the change characterized by the other historical others. beauvoir‘s analysis of woman as the other can be connected to albert memmi‘s analysis of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. working as allies, their analyses can illuminate how indigenous women are othered, both as women and as indigenous people. memmi best describes the privilege of the colonizer in his essay does the colonial exist: every act of his daily life places him in a relationship with the colonized, and with each act his fundamental advantage is demonstrated. if he is in trouble with the law, the police and even 1 beavuoir focuses on the classical founding texts of western thought but these productions are still present. as green states ―[e]ducation, religion, the workplace, the family, state structures all, with many others, play their part in the process of socialization and societal control, however it is explained‖ (green). much feminist discourse analysis is still conducted in these fields today. 2 as mentioned before, beauvoir is limited in her analysis. the second wave feminist movement has been critiqued by anti-colonial feminists such as hooks (2000). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 84 beniuk justice will be more lenient toward him. if he needs assistance from the government, it will not be difficult; red tape will be cut; a window will be reserved for him where there is a shorter line so he will have a shorter wait … jobs and positions will be reserved for him in advance; the tests will be given in his language, causing disqualifying difficulties for the colonized (memmi, 1965, p. 11-12). this relationship between the colonizer and the colonized was produced through a long history of genocide and land theft which is described in detail by churchill (1997). for beauvoir, woman is the other making man the only referent; woman is reduced to her body and therefore dehumanized. for memmi, the colonizer is the only referent and the colonized are defined by how they do not ‗measure up‘ to the standards of the colonizer. the colonized are dehumanized when they are described as lazy, dependent and even a burden. it is the colonizer‘s role to ‗help‘ the colonized; the colonized are taught to believe that they need the colonizer. memmi also describes the ‗depersonalization‘ of the colonized by stating that they are seen as a group, not as individuals. he states the ―colonized is never characterized in an individual manner; he is entitled only to drown in an anonymous collectivity‖ (1965, p. 85). indigenous peoples are described as a collective group that, because of their own laziness and lack of motivation, are willing to subscribe to their role as the colonized. this places any indigenous suffering solely on their own shoulders and ignores an entire history of land theft and genocide perpetrated by the canadian state. beauvoir echoes this idea in her argument that women are reduced to their reproductive functions centered on male pleasure, which erases male responsibility in female suffering. it is in this relationship that the colonized (including indigenous women) can be seen as the other. in critical conversation, memmi and beauvoir can complement each other well. focusing on what i take to be their common target, the ideal self of the west (male, european, wealthy), they could arrive at interesting conclusions. when beauvoir claims that humanity is male centered, memmi might suggest that this statement belongs to a universalizing colonial language that betrays an ignorance of matriarchal indigenous societies. when memmi speaks about the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized, highlighting the destructive homogenization of entire ways of being, beauvoir might remind him that previous the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 85 beniuk gender relations may be increasingly supplanted by the violence of colonial patriarchy. as such, the gender of the colonized should not be absent, but a crucial site of analysis and struggle. against the colonizing male western self, indigenous women could be understood as both beauvoir‘s historical others and daily life others. the historical context in which indigenous women are able to organize, that has the potential for political mobilization, is colonization and the colonial relationships described by memmi, which has brought with it gendered violence that affects their daily lives. i do not intend to essentialize indigenous women or indigenous peoples‘ experience of colonization as a whole. it is important to acknowledge that experience differs greatly and that i am not arguing for a homogenized other category into which all marginalized peoples can be forced. in analyzing the theoretical engagement of beauvoir and memmi, broad similarities between indigenous women and non-indigenous women are revealed. male power in a settler society generates gendered violence in the daily lives of women. the missing women’s commission of inquiry on december 9th 2007 robert pickton was convicted of second-degree murder for the deaths of six women. charges were stayed on an additional twenty outstanding murders because pickton had already received the maximum sentence possible under the canadian legal system (lepard, 2010). the extra twenty outstanding murder charges were said to be a heavy burden for the jurors as the trial was estimated to last two years. it had to first be proven that the women who made up the outstanding murder charges were missing and then that they were killed by pickton. the crown said there was insufficient evidence to further the charges and that they would have to call on over five-hundred witnesses just to prove the twenty women were indeed missing (matas, 2010). pickton was convicted of murdering six women and is not eligible for parole for twenty-five years. doug lepard of the vpd released the missing women investigation review outlining the negligence of the investigation by the vpd and rcmp. though i do not go into legal details, i will describe some of lepard‘s key findings to explain both why the mwci was established and outline the controversy surrounding the pickton case. one of the most important findings of the review was that the vpd should have recognized there was a serial killer at work (2010). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 86 beniuk this was due to a failure at the management level of the vpd. when the vpd did respond with an investigation, it was unsuccessful due to insufficient resources, continuity of staff and multi-jurisdictional challenges. the mwci will be address the multi-jurisdictional issues specifically and making recommendations on how to successfully navigate multi-jurisdictional investigations in the future. according to the investigation review, ―there was compelling information received and developed by the vpd and the rcmp from august 1998 to late 1999 suggesting that pickton was the likely killer‖ (2010, p. 18). the dna of the missing women was found at the pickton property, but because it was located in coquitlam in rcmp jurisdiction, it was difficult for the police from both departments to navigate an investigation between two different jurisdictions. the report states that the rcmp had pursued with intensity, the investigation surrounding pickton until mid1999 (2010). at this point, the rcmp was said to ―abandon‖ the investigation while still holding the authority over it (2010, p. 9). meanwhile, women continued to go missing. on february 4th, 2002, the rcmp obtained a search warrant for pickton‘s property because an informant had notified them that pickton was in possession of an illegal firearm. at the time the search warrant was issued, the rcmp and the vpd was not targeting pickton as a serial killer. however, during their investigation, the police found a piece of identification and an inhaler that belonged to two of the missing women. this did not lead to an official investigation of the pickton property in the deaths of the missing women because a separate search warrant had to be obtained. the search warrant was obtained the next day and turned into the ―largest serial killer investigation in canadian history‖ (2010, p. 33). this resulted in the charges laid against pickton described above. the missing women‘s commission of inquiry was established in 2010 as a result of the public outcry to investigate the negligence of the vancouver police department and royal canadian mounted police in the pickton case. there are four terms of reference that are the focus of the mwci. these include 1) an analysis of the findings and facts obtained by the police between january 23rd 1997 and february 5th 2002 pertaining to missing women of the dtes; 2) an analysis of the decision of the criminal justice branch on january 27th 1998 in which charges were stayed against pickton that included attempted murder and assault of a weapon; 3) a recommendation on the conduct and initiation of investigating missing women and multiple homicide investigations in british columbia; and the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 87 beniuk finally, 4) recommendations on changes to homicide investigations in which more than one investigation party is involved (missing women commission of inquiry, 2010). notably, there is nothing in the inquiry that even attempts to address the often-violent lived experiences of indigenous women who comprise a significant percent of the population of the dtes. the inquiry has been called a ‗substitute‘ for a full trial of the twenty outstanding charges that are still laid against pickton (walia, 2011b). it has been met with a great deal criticism because of the lack of responsibility displayed by the government and the vpd. for instance, wally oppal, the commissioner of the inquiry, (paid $1500 per day) displayed his indifference when stating that he did not think an inquiry was even necessary (walia, 2011b). there are also at least fourteen publicly funded lawyers for the police, and only two lawyers hired by the commission to represent the dtes, meaning the police are well represented and thus well protected in the inquiry (walia, 2011b). moreover, the same dismissive attitudes and systemic normalized mistreatment of indigenous women that the inquiry should address, investigate and challenge are apparent in the inquiry itself (walia, 2011b). notably the government refused funding to numerous groups that represented indigenous women and community organizations in the dtes. few of these organizations can afford legal fees by themselves, meaning that the inquiry has failed to give the voices of indigenous women from the dtes equal standing, when this is the very group who has the most at stake. beauvoir‘s idea of woman as the other is echoed in the mwci where the women are reduced objects of male pleasure cast simply as sex workers or ‗prostitutes‘. rae-lynn dicks, a former 911 operator, testified describing ―an atmosphere of rampant bias that considered the women to be ‗just hookers‘‖ (canadian press, 2012, para. 3). 3 this translates into a sense of disposability: ―it is more comfortable to dehumanize and judge the women living in the dtes, to rob them of their dignity, to tell ourselves that the violence of poverty and abuse is their fault because ―they are all hookers and lazy addicts‖‖ (walia, 2011b, para. 18). walia‘s statement also demonstrates the idea of the women seen as a group, not as individuals, which can be related to memmi‘s argument of the colonized seen as a 3 there has been much discussion on the usage of the terms ‘prostitute‘ and ‗sex worker‘. for a good discussion on this topic see kempadoo, sagnhere and pattanik‘s book trafficking and prostitution reconsidered: new perspectives on migration, sex work, and human rights. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 88 beniuk group. he states ―the colonized is never characterized in an individual manner; he is entitled only to drown in an anonymous collectivity‖ (1965, p. 85). with this idea, memmi argues that the colonized subject lives as a stereotype about all colonized people. indigenous women similarly drown in the stereotype of ―hookers and lazy addicts‖. dick also states that she was told that the missing women in the dtes were ―scum of the earth‖ (canadian press, 2012, para. 7). as objects, the police and justice system is not ―more lenient‖ towards the women of the dtes (lenience being a privilege of the colonizer as described by memmi), but the opposite. they are ignored. the blatant lack of inclusion of women from the dtes in the inquiry process is a dismissal. this mimics the same institutionalized dismissal of indigenous women and sex workers that was displayed by the police in the original negligent pickton investigation. an inquiry into missing and murdered women that silences their voices cannot hope to be effective. institutionalized othering is also displayed in the imbalance of public funded litigations allocations. while the police agencies are represented by fourteen publically-funded lawyers, only two lawyers are available to represent the dtes. it is a clear demonstration of priorities. the downtown eastside women‘s centre (dewc) and the memorial march committee (wmmc) released a statement in which harsha waila of the dtes women‘s centre states: it is disgusting that the vancouver police department and the government of canadawho are the ones on trial herewill have an army of publically-funded lawyers to defend themselves. women in the dtes have their own voices and critical information to share, but this sham inquiry has shut those voices out and maintained the status-quo of inequality. (kelly, kendall, walia & martin, 2011a, para. 7) the media release announced the decw and the wmmc withdrawal from participating in the mwci because of the inadequate funding for lawyers. the dewc was established in 1978 to empower and support the women and children of the dtes (kelly, kendall, walia & martin, 2011a). the wwmc began in 1992 when a woman‘s body was found on powell street (kelly, kendall, walia & martin, 2011a). both groups have been active in organizing around the injustices for women in the dtes for over twenty years; the annual missing women‘s memorial march is an example of their crucial work. the lack of funding of lawyers for these groups demonstrates the power dynamic between the colonial the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 89 beniuk police and government stifling of the people who called the dtes home. the over-representation of the police can be seen as a means of intimidation and control as well as a way in which the police can be ‗let-off the hook‘ for their lack of responsibility in handling the investigation into the missing and murdered women (walia, 2011a). one of the most shocking pieces of evidence that has surfaced during the hearings of the inquiry was that the police had enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for the pickton farm in 1999. between 1999 and 2002, pickton murdered fourteen more women while the police remained inactive (fourinier, 2001). memmi‘s analysis of the relationship between the colonizer and the other is visible here. the fact that the police had enough evidence to search the pickton farm and did not do so is a clear display of the colonial relationship that memmi describes. the colonized others are unworthy of an investigation. if it had been 26 women that had gone missing from a middle class area of vancouver, it is likely that the police response would have been far quicker and better supported than it was in the case in the dtes. the vpd officer‘s privilege is the result of the other‘s lack of privilege. to the police department, women who live in the dtes do not live stable, respectable lives. the women in the dtes are also said to be hard to keep track of because they are often moving between locations. rae-lynn dicks, the former 911 operator in the dtes said ―if callers had no fixed address for the person they were reporting missing, the file could get blown off‖ (canadian press, 2012, para. 4). it is also repeatedly seen as sex workers fault that they are abused or violated because of their ‗choice‘ of lifestyle. sex workers are often assigned fault by police for being raped or abused due to this supposed choice of lifestyle; this inevitably lets the real culprit off the hook. instability, transience, or a nonnormative income derived from sex work is used not only to justify the rape, abduction, and murder of women in the dtes, but also justify police negligence. it is no accident that increasing vulnerability is met with increasing indifference, when one would hope that increasing vulnerability would be met with increasing attention. memmi‘s understanding of the colonizer-colonized relationship is all the more pertinent when recognizing that most of the sex workers who were murdered were indigenous – along with the stigma of sex work, racist, colonial and classist power relations are present. all of this demonstrates an important point, that the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 90 beniuk colonialism is not simple a historical event; it is an ongoing process in canada, and the police are a key part of its continuation. in a recent testimony, corporal galliford of the vpd explains how the dehumanizing attitudes towards women of the dtes were also apparent in the missing women task force as she describes what one fellow male officer said to her: ―they wanted to see willie pickton escape from prison, track me down and strip me naked, string me up on a meat hook and gut me like a pig‖ (fourinier, 2011, para. 19). while the focus of the inquiry and the resistance around it is on the marginalization of indigenous women, this comment is significant in displaying the misogynistic attitudes of some of the officers involved in the missing women task force that can further explain the lack of urgency on behalf of the missing women. galliford‘s testimony suggests that women as a whole can become othered. as such, misogynistic attitudes are not an issue exclusive to indigenous women or white women. this insight could be the starting point to a conversation about struggling together, which i will return to in the final section. galliford‘s comments demonstrate that it is not simply the marginalization of indigenous women, the comments that galliford made about her experience being involved in the missing women task force are crucial in order for the police to be held accountable by non-indigenous people and indigenous people alike by exposing the underlying sexism and racism, and as such revealing a basis for struggle. galliford‘s testimony is an example of how women can relate to each other and at times use privilege (such as galliford‘s testimony) to help support women who are fighting to overcome the othering that has occurred through colonization and patriarchy. the mwci is still unfolding in vancouver as resistance to it increases. the dtes women‘s centre and the women‘s memorial march committee made submissions to the un committee on the eliminations of discrimination against women (cedaw) because of the failures of the missing women commission of inquiry. as of october cedaw has ―initiated a significant official inquiry process into the murders and disappearances of women and girls across canada‖ (kelly, kendall, walia & martin, 2011b, para. 1). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 91 beniuk creating alliances the marginalization of indigenous women in the dtes is something that requires collective action. the police and government benefit from institutional barriers in what is presented as an inclusive and resource-accessible process. given how the mwci reproduces an othering attitude towards indigenous women, this demonstrates the need for respectful allies who attempt to ensure that violence is not reproduced in an alliance. the institutions that produce othering discourses of indigenous women, indigenous people, and women, cannot be trusted to address the violence associated with these very constructions. in situations such as the inquiry, it is up to the general public to hold the police and government accountable, but the primary task is to work in solidarity with indigenous women. in creating alliances between people with different privileges and lived experiences, creating a shared sensibility in standing up against the violence is crucial. however, it is even more important that those individual experiences that unite us do not become homogenized. to quote memmi, this homogenization could be another form of ―drowning in an anonymous collectivity‖ (1965, p. 85). as a self-identified female and métis person, i believe it is crucial to highlight how colonialism and patriarchy was evident in the state‘s investigation into the continuous disappearances of women from the dtes (most of whom are indigenous). further, holding law enforcement and government accountable for police discrimination is not something that is solely an indigenous women‘s or an indigenous community‘s responsibility. cultivating alliances between indigenous and non-indigenous women is paramount, especially pertaining to the missing and murdered women of the dtes and along the highway of tears. i have been involved in organizing support around this struggle in attending countless marches and protests including the annual missing women‘s memorial march (2007-2010) and co-organizing the panty drive in 2009 and 2010. the panty drive was originally started by professor christine welsh, was co-organized four years ago by myself and three fellow students and is now annually organized by the women‘s centre at the university of victoria. the panty drive collects sanitary feminine hygiene products, underwear and chocolate every year to coincide with the annual missing women‘s memorial march. the annual missing women‘s memorial the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 92 beniuk march was started in vancouver and is held every year in cities across canada on valentine‘s day to raise awareness on the increased numbers of missing women. the panty drive donations are split between the dtes women‘s centre in vancouver and peer‘s in victoria. the panty drive is a means of alleviating the costs of these products from the operating budgets of the dtes women‘s centre and peers. in 2010, the panty drive donated 243 panties, 705 sanitary feminine products, and 8467 grams of chocolate and candy to the dtes women‘s centre alone and the numbers continue to grow each year. this mwci and annual missing women‘s memorial march held on february 14th are ways in which alliances between indigenous and non-indigenous women are created. not all of the women who have gone missing from the dtes or highway of tears are indigenous. the inquiry was met with 200 women protesting on the first day of the hearings (walia, 2011b). the women were calling for ―a new fair, just and inclusive inquiry that centre‘s the voices and experiences and leadership of women, particularly indigenous women, in the dtes‖ (walia, 2011b, para. 2). the systemic marginalization of all women is something that affects society as a whole, men included. however, as activists, community members and women, those who are the most affected by these systems of oppression should be the ones whose voices are most prominent in organizing resistance around this issue. we need to situate ourselves within a struggle and to be aware of how our own privilege can translate into a sense of entitlement. in creating alliances, there will be times when an activists‘ primary role will be to support others; the missing and murdered women of the dtes is an example of this. furthermore, women continue to disappear from the dtes and the rest of canada. this did not end with robert pickton‘s arrest. building a strong alliance between indigenous and non-indigenous women is paramount. the naturalization of violence towards women is something that we must resist together. the evidence that has been exposed during the inquiry and the history of the vpd and rcmp‘s negligence in the disappearances of women from the dtes clearly display how as women, we cannot rely solely on systems such as the police and the government for protection. there are numerous resources for non-indigenous people who want to gain insight into becoming effective allies. to conclude this article, i offer three starting points for further discussion on the creation of alliances to combat othering by hegemonic institutions. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 93 beniuk the ally bill of responsibilities by lynn gehl (2011) is an excellent resource for understanding how to be an effective ally to indigenous people. gehl wrote the sixteen point bill of responsibilities to ―help allies and indigenous people from falling into the trap of good intentions‖ which can often be harmful (gehl, 2011, para. 3). while the bill is too long to list in its entirety, i will focus on a few points that are essential to think about before working towards ally-ship with indigenous people. as i have previously stated, an ally must understand that their needs ―are secondary to the indigenous people that they are working for‖ (gehl, 2011, para. 5). allies must not do the talking, but rather the listening (gehl, 2011). a second point that is essential in becoming an effective ally is to be able to situate yourself and your family history within the colonial context. as i have mentioned before in this paper, i am a light skinned plains cree métis woman. my family was originally from the red river settlement. however, something that i have struggled with in the past is understanding my own family history while also understanding the privileges that i experienced growing up and continue to experience today. being aware of one‘s own privileges and being able to openly discuss them without being defensive is also another point that gehl lists (gehl, 2011). gehl states that by being aware of privilege, this will ―also serve to challenge larger oppressive power structures‖ (gehl, 2011, para. 7). with this understanding, being aware of how privilege is constructed is essential in also understanding why indigenous women from the dtes face such a high level of violence. it is also necessary to critically think and reflect upon your own actions as well as the actions of people around you. this process will enable allies to better understand ―larger oppressive power structures‖ thus also ensuring that allies are not perpetuating those power structures during political work (gehl, 2011, para. 7). the final key point of gehl‘s bill is ensuring that the needs of those that belong to oppressed groups– ―women, children, elderly, young teenage girls and boys, and the disabled – are served in the effort or movement that [the allies] are supporting‖ (gehl, 2011, para. 13). gehl continues by stating that if these needs are not met, the actions can serve to ―fortify the large power structures of oppression (gehl, 2011, para. 13). the webpage, unsettling america: decolonization in theory and practice, is another excellent resource on how to be an effective ally to indigenous people and how to move towards decolonization. in the ―about‖ section on this page, the the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 94 beniuk collective lists six points of unity that guide the collective members ally-ship and activism. a crucial point of reference provided by unsettling america is understanding that not all settlers benefit ―equally from the settler-colonial state, nor did all settlers emigrate here of their own free will. specifically, we see slavery, hetero-patriarchy, white supremacy, market imperialism, and capitalist class structures as among the primary tools of colonization‖ (unsettling america, para. 7). in this point, the collective is suggesting the importance of fully understanding the tools of colonization that work to create division between communities and people. bonita lawrence (rutherford, 2010) has done excellent work on this topic as well, specifically focusing on the way in which anti-racist struggles have been appropriated and reduced to representation within the framework of colonial nation-states. the collective states that ―anti-oppression solidarity between settler communities is necessary for decolonization‖ and as such, allies should address the many interconnected forms of oppression (unsettling america, para. 7). finally, harsha walia‘s article decolonize together: moving beyond a politics of solidarity toward a practice of decolonization, contributes to the discussion on solidarity with indigenous people through the use of a decolonizing lens. she distinguishes between working in support with indigenous people and working in solidarity with indigenous people by quoting bell hooks ―support can be occasional. it can be given and just as easily withdrawn. solidarity requires sustained, ongoing commitment‖ (walia, 2012, para. 10). this means that you cannot work in solidarity with indigenous women only when it is convenient to do so. it requires changing your daily life, thought processes and priorities. 4 walia continues by drawing out the complexities of creating alliances, stating that ―decolonization can require us to locate ourselves within the context of colonization in complicated ways, often as simultaneously oppressed and complicit. this is true, for example, for racialized migrants in canada‖ (walia, 2012, para. 15). walia concludes by saying ―decolonization is the process whereby we create the conditions in which we want to live and the social relations we wish to have. we have to commit ourselves to supplanting the colonial logic of the state itself‖ (walia, 2012, para. 16). here, she echoes the work of bonita lawrence in 4 imagine if a portion of the time spent in academic work, reading about these issues was spent doing important decolonizing solidarity work. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 95 beniuk identifying the state itself as colonial, and therefore a common target for critique and resistance. creating alliance is something crucial – but also crucial is realizing that there can be no abstract blueprint followed for creating an effective and respectful political movement. this is to say that the responsibilities of allies outlined in this section is not an exhaustive list. it is the indigenous women in the dtes who should have say over their lives. the role of allies is not to go in with a plan and tell people what their politics are and how to carry them through. the role of allies is one of solidarity, self-reflection, and commitment. conclusion beauvoir‘s theory of woman as the other and memmi‘s explanation of the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer allows us to position indigenous women as the other in order to analyze the mwci. beauvoir and memmi were placed in a critical conversation to demonstrate how their works can complement each other. placing them in conversation reveals both their privileges and that they each can be read in solidarity with indigenous women (as gehl references above). the social construction of indigenous women as the other allowed pickton to treat them as less than human and devalue their lives. this process of othering was continued in the investigation of the murders where the police also devalued the women‘s lives by not acting on evidence such as a possible search warrant in 1999. this allowed pickton to continue murdering women for another three years. now, in the inquiry, women‘s lives are being devalued through the lack of government funding thus excluding their voices. in examining the othering of indigenous women, space is created for the cultivation of alliances between indigenous women and non-indigenous women to challenge the systemic marginalization and oppression of women, while still allowing individual differences to be prominent. references beauvoir, s. (2009). the second sex. c. borde & s. malavany-chevallier, trans. london: johnathan cape. (original work published 1949). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 96 beniuk canadian press. (2012). missing women deemed ‗just hookers,‘ b.c. inquiry told. cbc news. retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britishcolumbia/story/2012/04/23/bc-missing-women-inquiry.html churchill, w. (1997). a little matter of genocide: holocaust and denial in the americas 1492 to the present. san francisco: city lights books fourinier, s. (2011, november 23). cops watched porn, skipped work instead of investigating missing women: galliford. the province. retrieved from http://www.theprovince.com/news/cops+watched+porn+skipped+work+ins tead+investigating+missing+women/5752470/story.html gehl, l. (2011). the ally bill of responsibilities. canadian dimensions 45(1), 12. green, s. how can some of foucault‘s ideas and perspectives be usefully applied to the study of the mass media in society? theory: media. gender, identity resources. retrieved from http://www.theory.org.uk/f-essay1.htm hooks, b. (2000). feminist theory: from margin to center. london: pluto press. kempadoo, k., sagnhere j., & pattanik b. (2005). trafficking and trafficking and prostitution reconsidered: new perspectives on migration, sex work, and human rights. london: paradigm publishers. kelly, c., kendall, a., walia, h., & m. martin. (2011a, october 3). downtown eastside women‘s centre and women‘s memorial march committee announce non participation in sham inquiry, saw will rally on first day of hearings. women‘s memorial march. retrieved from http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/nonparticipation-sham-inquiry/#more-167 kelly, c., kendall, a., walia, h., & m. martin. (2011b, december 14). dtes women‘s organizations release un submission details. women‘s memorial march. retrieved from http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/dtes-womensorganizations-release-un-submissons-details/ lepard, d. (2010). missing women investigation review. vancouver: vancouver police department matas, r. (2010, august 9). why the pickton trial dealt with six murder charges, not twenty-six. in the globe and mail. retrieved from http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/why-thehttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/04/23/bc-missing-women-inquiry.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/04/23/bc-missing-women-inquiry.html http://www.theprovince.com/news/cops+watched+porn+skipped+work+instead+investigating+missing+women/5752470/story.html http://www.theprovince.com/news/cops+watched+porn+skipped+work+instead+investigating+missing+women/5752470/story.html http://www.theory.org.uk/f-essay1.htm http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/non-participation-sham-inquiry/#more-167 http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/non-participation-sham-inquiry/#more-167 http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/dtes-womens-organizations-release-un-submissons-details/ http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/dtes-womens-organizations-release-un-submissons-details/ http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/why-the-pickton-trial-dealt-with-6-murder-charges-not-26/article1662278/?service=mobile the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) 97 beniuk pickton-trial-dealt-with-6-murder-charges-not26/article1662278/?service=mobile memmi, a. (1965). the colonizer and the colonized. boston, ma: beacon press. missing women commission of inquiry. (2010). retrieved on january 20. 2011 from http://www.missingwomeninquiry.ca/ rutherford, s. (2010). colonialism and the indigenous present: an interview with bonita lawrence. race and class, 52(1), 9-18.smith, a. (2003). not an indian tradition. hypatia 18(2), 70-85. unsettling america. unsettling america: decolonization in theory and practice. retrieved from http://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com/about/ walia, h. (2011a, august 5). downtown eastside women‘s centre and women‘s memorial march committee object to missing women‘s commission‘s latest amicus proposal. women‘s memorial march. retrieved from http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/0805/amicusproposal/ walia, h. (2011b, october 11). why the b.c. missing women‘s commission of inquiry fails. rabble. retrieved from http://rabble.ca/print/news/2011/10/why-missing-womens-commissioninquiry-fails walia, h. (2012). decolonize together: moving beyond the politics of solidarity. briarpatch. retrieved from http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/decolonizing-together contact information jodi beniuk, from the department of women‘s studies, can be reached at beniukjl@gmail.com. acknowledgements i would like to express my appreciation to adam gaudry for facilitating this submission, to christine welsh for inspiring this paper and to matthew loewen for helping me clarify the ideas and arguments expressed in this paper. i would also like to thank the dtes women‘s memorial march and dtes women‘s centre for providing me with the information to complete this analysis. http://www.missingwomeninquiry.ca/ http://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com/about/ http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/0805/amicusproposal/ http://rabble.ca/print/news/2011/10/why-missing-womens-commission-inquiry-fails http://rabble.ca/print/news/2011/10/why-missing-womens-commission-inquiry-fails http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/decolonizing-together mailto:beniukjl@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 91 windows into heaven: russian icons of the brown collection regan denarde shrumm abstract: in north america, russian icons are not often seen as distinct from other religious artefacts. yet, while the art of the byzantine empire and its affiliation with the orthodox church did influence the look of russian icons, and russian artists initially followed byzantine icon guidelines in their production, they focused on optimistic rather than tragic images. by examining the crucifixion scene on three russian icons from the brown collection at the university of victoria art collections, this article explores the distinct use and importance of icons to the russian people. key terms: icons, russian icons, byzantine empire, old believers, eastern orthodox church, hodegetria, brown collection, crucifixion, twelve festival scenes, christ, virgin mary, veneration. introduction in 1990, bruce and dorothy brown donated a set of fourteen russian icons to the university of victoria‟s maltwood gallery. although the browns bequeathed the collection in order to “expose students to documents of historic interest or beauty,” the public has not seen these acquisitions for over 30 years (university of victoria units and collection, n.d.). this paper focuses on three russian brass icons with crucifixion scenes from the brown collection. analyzing these icons‟ imagery and their historical context reveals how they differ from other icon traditions and provides the reader with a glimpse into how these objects may have been used and valued by the russian people. in this paper, icons are described as a representation of a sacred figure customarily painted on a wooden surface, although cast metal icons are also common. russian icons are influenced by byzantine art. from 988 to 1453 russia was connected to the byzantine empire through their shared affiliation to the orthodox church, and this association includes a respect for icons. russian icons can be considered a continuation of byzantine art since the medieval rus attempted to link themselves with byzantium through the creation of a theory that moscow was the third rome. however, i argue that in post-medieval russian art the crucifixion scene is fashioned in a slightly different way compared to the earlier examples from byzantium. by focusing on the crucifixion in these three icons, i examine how the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 92 russia began to adapt byzantine traditions as their own. this comparison between russian and byzantine icons allows us to consider both the connection and separation between the two states in order to highlight the development and significance of icons in russia. historical context foundations of orthodox russia from 988, when prince vladimir i of kiev (c. 9581015) officially adopted orthodox christianity as the religion of the kievan rus (a group of vikings who would one day become the russian people), the influence of byzantine civilization became essential to russian culture. at this time, the only byzantine official in russia who held power was the metropolitan, or archbishop, of kiev (meyendorff, 1981). between 988 and 1453, the metropolitan was responsible for managing the eastern orthodox church of the rus as the byzantine officials wanted it to be ruled. in 1453, the byzantine empire fell to the ottomans. the russians continued to adhere to the texts of the christian orthodox church even though the documents were written in greek, making it difficult for the rus to read. while the rus accepted the doctrines of the christian orthodox church as law, they emphasized a part of the orthodox faith that did not need to be read – the art. the byzantine empire had been sending artists and artworks to russia ever since the rus had changed their faith in 988; however, as the byzantine empire‟s control over russia declined, so increased the veneration of icons in russia. soon, icon-making and venerating became the most popular ritual of the eastern orthodox church of the rus, who glorified the icon for its beauty, connection to god, and its content of faith (tarasov, 2002). when the rus were under attack, for example by the mongols in the 13 th century, they healed the empire‟s trauma by re-establishing its connection to byzantine heritage. they thus developed the theory of moscow as the “third rome” and revived traditional icons (2002). a famous example of a russian icon that protected the nation is known as the virgin of vladimir (figure 1). the people of moscow believed that it caused the defeat of the turko-mongols in 1395 (hamilton, 1983). because of this belief, moscow troops would often bring this icon into battle. icons icons form an integral part of the orthodox liturgy. legend explains that the first icon, called the hodegetria, was painted by saint luke the evangelist, and blessed by the virgin mary. the icon eventually travelled to russia, where it became one of the most venerated icons in the country because of its association with a number of the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 93 miracles. the hodegetria is not the only icon that is revered as miraculous to the russians. after the phase of iconoclasm in the 8 th and 9 th centuries, the byzantines began to venerate icons openly and this tradition vigorously continued with russia (tarasov, 2002). in russia, the icon effectively came to represent the supreme communal authority before one swore oaths, resolved disputes, and marched into battles (billington, 1970). the icons established a way for a religious person to communicate with the spiritual world. the environment of a church or home altar would be full of candles, incense, and rituals, all of which would transport the observer to an ecstatic state. in fact, some icons were made with a „reverse perspective,‟ where a vanishing point is projected forward from the picture, drawing the spectator into a transcendental realm (tarasov, 2002). icons deliberately avoided a naturalistic look, but instead symbolized the bodies of the saints since, as saint paul explains, “the glorified body is not like the earthly body” (bell, 1994, 64). according to eastern orthodox theology, icons are not merely depictions of a saintly person, but instead are believed to convey the presence of the figure depicted (shevzov, 2002). figure 1: virgin of vladimir. 11 th century, painted icon. source: onasch, k. (1977). russian icons. oxford: phaidon. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 94 traditionally, icons could only be made by the extremely faithful, such as monks, and would have to be blessed before being sold. the artists would fast before beginning an icon, and the artists‟ tools were customarily blessed prior to the beginning of the work (bell, 1994). often copies of famous icons were replicated, as artists hoped that the miracles from the original image would continue into the duplicate image. generally, iconography and its symbolism did not change much in russian icons between the 10 th and 20 th centuries; most artists used the same manuals, such as the stroganov or the painter‟s manual of dionysius of fourna, which describe what imagery should be in each sacred scene (dionysius, transl. hetherington 1974). therefore, colours, poses, and inscriptions were often dictated by tradition and conform to original icons (bell, 1994). icons not only hung in churches, but every eastern orthodox family, even the poor, owned icons and placed them in their homes (bell, 1994). when an icon, especially a metal one, became worn down, the item was ritually disposed of through burial in the ground or at sea (ahlborn and espinola, 1991). this burial process emphasizes how much the russian people glorified icons. copper alloy, or brass, icons were a less expensive substitute for painted wooden icons, and were cast through a mass production process, resulting in hundreds of duplicates of the same image (odom, 1996). even the three metal icons from the brown collection are mass-produced, and similar icons can be found in other collections (mckenzie, 1986). often metal icons, commonly displayed in wealthier homes, were decorated with enamel. unlike their wooden counterparts, metal icons were smaller in size and, of course, sturdier; therefore, they were more often transported. old believers brass icons, such as those in the brown collection, were usually made by and for “old believers.” this group was a division within the eastern orthodox church that followed strict religious traditions. in 1652, the newly established patriarch nikon (1605-1681) made a controversial decision by changing the texts used by the eastern orthodox church (french, 1961). the slavonic books used by the russian church had been translated from greek and, through this process, many minor errors had occurred. there was also the question of whether the „sign of the cross‟ should be made with two fingers in the customary russian manner, or with three, as in the greek manner (french, 1961). to a minority of the people, who later became the group known as the old believers, even the slightest change would rupture the fibre of orthodoxy. the old believers, who felt as if their church had abandoned them, suffered from persecution because they were excommunicated in 1667. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 95 although many of them moved to remote villages where they shared similar religious beliefs, some travelled to other countries, including the pacific northwest coast of north america (ahlborn & espinola, 1991). this period in russian history has become known as the “great schism.” in 1723, the holy governing synod of the eastern orthodox church, under peter the great (1672-1725), forbade the casting and selling of any holy images made from copper alloy (ahlborn & espinola, 1991). this led to the confiscation of all copper alloy icons produced prior to the decree. to protect their relics, many russians sent their copper alloy icons across the border. the law may have been directed particularly against the old believers, who made the most use of copper alloy icons in their religious observations (ahlborn & espinola, 1991). although there are records of raids on artists‟ studios, generally the old believers ignored the law, and soon the casting of copper-alloy icons and crosses became a specialty in an isolated old believers community near the river vyg. by the 18 th and 19 th centuries, metal icons were still being produced on a mass-scale, so they could be shipped over to the old believers who had emigrated outside of russia. the three icons from the brown collection were all mass-produced in the 18 th or 19 th centuries. description of artifacts church festivals quadriptych one of the brown collection‟s metal icons is a church festivals quadriptych (figure 2). this brass icon from the 18 th century consists of four panels, which can fold into figure 2: church festivals quadriptych. 18 th century, brass icon, russian. use of image is by permission of the university of victoria art collections, gift of dr. bruce and mrs. dorothy brown. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 96 each other, allowing the piece to become more portable. the three panels from the left depict the twelve major festival scenes. these include the annunciation to the virgin mary, nativity of christ, birth of the virgin, presentation of the virgin in the temple, presentation of the christ child in the temple, baptism of christ, christ‟s entry into jerusalem, transfiguration of christ, anastasis (meaning resurrection), ascension of christ, dormition of the virgin, and the crucifixion of christ. the identification of each scene came from careful observation with manuals, such as the painter‟s manual of dionysius of fourna. the same images would be on the church iconostasis, the screen which separates the nave from the sanctuary in a church. the last panel on the right is dedicated to the virgin mary, and includes figures worshipping four famous icons: the hodegetria, vladimir, znamenie, and theodorovskaya icons (figure 3). because this right panel illustrates the veneration of icons, this quadriptych also demonstrates the importance of icons in russian society. additional scenes appear in the onion-shaped areas at the top of each panel, which reflect similar domed shapes commonly used in the structures of russian orthodox churches (french, 1961). the scenes include the new testament trinity, the old testament trinity, the elevation of the cross, and the illustration of a hymn praising the mother of god. figure 3: fourth panel of the church festivals quadriptych. 18 th century, brass icon. use of image is by permission of the university of victoria art collections, gift of dr. bruce and mrs. dorothy brown. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 97 the outer scene on the exterior panel (figure 4) consists of an empty cross, which has the typical russian slanted footrest (the suppedaneum) tilting up on christ‟s right side. the slant is believed to symbolize the repentant thief on christ‟s right and the condemned thief on his left (mckenzie, 1986). by extension, it shows the condemnation of all repudiators and the justification of all believers (mckenzie, 1986). next to the cross there are images of a sword and a vinegar-soaked sponge; these are instruments that were used to torture christ. the skull of adam appears at the base of the cross and directly behind this scene are the depictions of the towers and walls of jerusalem. since christ is absent from the image, the cross becomes the symbol of him. it is not a unique feature that there are other icons shown within the quadriptych, since such representations are found on byzantine icons. for example, the famous triumph of orthodoxy icon (figure 5), from the late 14 th century, depicts a group of people worshipping an icon of mary and child. the triumph of orthodoxy represents the collapse of iconoclasm for the byzantine empire, which figure 4: outer panel of the church festivals quadriptych. 18 th century, brass icon. use of image is by permission of the university of victoria art collections, gift of dr. bruce and mrs. dorothy brown. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 98 was celebrated in 843 when both the byzantine empress theodora and church officials declared that icons were an integral part of maintaining the faith of the christian orthodox church (cormack and vassilaki, 2008). the triumph of orthodoxy icon focuses on the hodegetria icon, as figures from the upper row face the latter. figures that turn towards icons are also visible in all four veneration scenes on the quadriptych. a red veil has been unfurled and below the icon is a cloth that covers a holy altar. such a display gives the icon a liturgical characteristic (cormack and vassilaki, 2008). below the hodegetria is another row of people, who were iconophile advocators. to show their political beliefs, the figures carry additional art pieces. by emphasizing images within the icon, the artist is stressing how important icons are. in addition, by depicting the hodegetria specifically, the artist of the triumph of orthodoxy icon is granting the inherent power of the famous icon and transferring it into the 14 th century panel. by including four older, miraculous, famous icons, the brown collection quadriptych enlists their powers to provide manifold protection to its owner. figure 5: triumph of orthodoxy. 14 th century, painted icon, byzantine. source: cormack, r., & vassilaki, m. (eds.). (2008). byzantium: 330-1453. london: royal academy of arts. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 99 figure 6: diptych showing twelve festive scenes. 10th century, ivory diptych, byzantine. source: evans, h., & wixom, w. (eds.). (2000). the glory of byzantium: arts and culture of the middle byzantine era, a.d. 843-1261. new york: the metropolitan museum of art. the rest of the three panels on the quadriptych show the twelve major festival scenes, which is also traditional in byzantine art. for example, in the 11 th century, a byzantine artist created an ivory diptych (figure 6) that represents twelve scenes from the life of christ. although not all of the scenes are from the twelve festivals, the diptych as a whole is thought to be associated with the festivals of the orthodox church (evans and wixom, 2000). even the russian quadriptych includes some scenes, such as the new testament trinity, which are not a part of the major twelve scenes, but are only seen in russian icons. in fact, the byzantine diptych includes one infrequent image in both byzantine and russian art: the incredulity of thomas (evans & wixom, 2000). the discrepancy between the scenes on the diptych and the festival scenes has a possible explanation: since the diptych is for personal contemplation, the scenes depicted would be of special significance to the patron or the artists. this could also be the reason why the russian quadriptych has additional scenes with mary; perhaps the artist felt that by creating icons within an icon, the quadriptych would become more extraordinary to the people venerating them. even though these metal icons were mass-produced, the artists would believe the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 100 in the russian tradition of miraculous icons passing on powers into reproductions. nonetheless, by means of both the byzantine diptych and the russian quadriptych, spectators realize how connected icons are to prayer and the orthodox church. processional crucifix rather than being honoured in a home, the processional crucifix from the brown collection (figure 7) would have been used in ceremonies in churches. this can be identified as a processional crucifix due to its size and extended vertical bar, which would attach to a pole so it could be carried during ceremonies. this brass crucifix was made during the 19 th century and was adorned with blue and white enamel decorations. at the top, there is a series of seraphim, members of the highest order of angels. the seraphim are represented as the head of a child surrounded by wings. the vertical bars, which begin at the tip of the bottom wing on each seraph, extend figure 7: processional crucifix. 19 th century, brass icon, russian. use of image is by permission of the university of victoria art collections, gift of dr. bruce and mrs. dorothy brown. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 101 down into the main images on the crucifix. there are then six rows of images on the crucifix, most of which are from the twelve festival scenes. there are also representations that are usually found by themselves, such as saint nicholas or the znamenie icon of mary and child. christ on the cross is at the very centre and, in keeping with all russian crucifixes, this one has a lower crosspiece (the suppedaneum), which tilts up on christ‟s right side. the suppedaneum also displays the walls of jerusalem, since the crucifixion took place outside the main city, in a location called golgotha. the walled city is detailed with doorways and several windows for each tower. the skull under christ is adam‟s, who is said to be buried in the same location as where christ died. while adam brought the downfall of humankind, christ is believed to have brought the reconciliation of humanity. on either side of the cross of christ, there are sets of two saints; lazarus‟ figure 8: monastery of daphni. 11 th century, cupola mosaic, byzantine. source: cormack, r. (2000). byzantine art. oxford, england: oxford university press. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 102 sister, martha, and the virgin mary on the right; john the evangelist and saint longinus, the roman centurion who tradition says recognized that christ was truly the son of god, are on the left. the layout of the processional crucifix, with rows of various religious scenes, may be reminiscent of similar arrangements on an iconostasis, a screen that separates the nave from the sanctuary in a church. however, the iconostasis also divides the spiritual world, as represented by the sanctuary, from the physical world of man, as expressed through the nave (mckenzie, 1986). the importance of this icon-filled screen within the orthodox church can hardly be overestimated. in church liturgies, the priest swings the censer first in the direction of the iconostasis, and then at the congregation, thus uniting the heavenly saints represented in the icons with the faithful (mckenzie, 1986). the layout of the iconostasis is always the same within the eastern orthodox church, with each row representing a certain scene. however, there are various sizes of images, with the more important icons receiving larger spaces. with time, the eastern orthodox church made the iconostasis into a large physical barrier. the history of the iconostasis can be traced back to the iconographic programs of byzantine churches. beginning in the middle byzantine period, byzantine churches introduced the iconographic program. this occurred after iconoclasm because church officials wanted a visual unity that would emphasize the mosaic icons. mosaic decorations often had a large repertoire, which included many local saints. however, by having more narrative scenes, churches could focus on the life of christ and the virgin rather than restricting themselves to the local faith. this 11 th century pattern continued in russian icons; more icons depict the lives of christ and the virgin, while local saints are usually positioned in the background of the icon. for example, local saints are depicted in the daphni monastery with these figures placed lower to the ground, while the narrative scenes appear in the squinches (figure 8). this placement creates a hierarchy of scenes in the monastery church. an iconographic program can also be found in miniature within the processional crucifix of the brown collection. the order of this crucifix is arranged by chronological order of the feast days, which are represented by a narrative scene. the ordering starts from the lower left and continues up the left side; it then carries on from top to bottom on the right-hand side with the dormition of the virgin being the last scene. such an order would be noticeable to a faithful viewer, just as the hierarchy in the church would also be apparent to the faithful. one reason for the new iconographic program in churches, such as daphni, is that as the demand for icons increased in the byzantine world, icons continued to give an emotional and intellectual experience to the spectators (cormack, 2000). perhaps the russian the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 103 artists, continuing a century-old tradition, chose the festival placement for the biblical images because they also believed that it would give a greater emotional impact for their prayers. composite icon the final brown collection artifact included in this paper is the composite icon with two brass triptychs and a brass crucifix (figure 9). this icon is unique because it comprises of brass icons set into a painted wooden icon. compared to the other painted icons from the collection, this one is on a curved piece of wood, commonly used in russian icons. this feature would allow the viewers to feel even closer to the saints since the curving creates a three-dimensional feel. the curve also symbolizes the ark of the covenant, a box that held the holy objects of the ten commandments (tarasov, 2002). the ark of the covenant, just like an icon, was supposed to manifest the presence of god (shevzov, 2002). on either side of the brass crucifix, there are two sets of saints; the virgin mary and mary magdalene on the right, and saint evgenia and saint basil on the left. the brass crucifix, meanwhile, has exaggerated christ‟s hands and feet and has an unusual shape depicting the holy spirit. at the top of the icon are two brass triptychs. the left triptych has a center figure of saint antip, while six busts of saints and angels are represented on either side of the center. the right triptych has a center figure of the kazan mother of god (representing another famous icon), and this figure is flanked with a set of six saints on each side. both triptychs also have the head of christ above the centre panel. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 104 figure 9: composite icon. 19 th century, brass and painted icon, russian. use of image is by permission of the university of victoria art collections, gift of dr. bruce and mrs. dorothy brown. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 105 figure 10: limburg staurotheke. 10 th century, enamelled reliquary, byzantine. source: cormack, r. (2000). byzantine art. oxford, england: oxford university press. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 106 the idea of placing the brass artefacts into icons would have originated from byzantine reliquaries. a reliquary is a container for the preservation of relics, which are the remains of a holy person or object that the faithful believe should be worshipped. common relics include bones of saints, pieces of wood from the true cross, and holy (blessed) water from jerusalem. since the relics were so valuable to the faithful, the reliquary containers were commissioned to be made out of precious materials such as enamel, gold leaf, and gems. by virtue of their contact with an authentic relic, the reliquaries took on miraculous powers, similar to icons. in fact, reliquaries were so powerful they were often set directly on the altar in a byzantine church (szczepkowska-naliwajek, grove art online). reliquaries were more than simple mementos from travel; they provided a physical and spiritual link between the faithful and the saints, similar to how icons in russia acted as windows into the spiritual world. the byzantine reliquary known as the limburg staurotheke (figure 10) from the 10 th century shows the connection between the composite icon and reliquaries. this reliquary is a rectangular flat box with a lid decorated with nine rectangular panels, each of which contains a saint. the middle row of the panels forms a deesis (meaning supplication), with christ in the center, while the virgin mary and john the baptist flank either side. when the limburg staurotheke is opened, the inside reveals a wooden cross set into the box which, when also removed and opened, contains the relic of the true cross surrounded by enamel angels and seraphim (cormack, 2000). the limburg staurotheke and the composite icon share an emphasis on the cross and both reference the blood of christ through red borders. the limburg staurotheke has a cluster of rubies surrounding its edge that conjure up the image of christ‟s blood, which holds miraculous powers and would have touched the wood of the true cross. instead of red rubies, the composite icon symbolizes the blood of christ by outlining the brass crucifix in red paint. comparable to the byzantine reliquary, the painted figures in the icon, like in many crucifixion scenes, all look towards the cross rather than at the viewers, to emphasize the importance of christ. the russian icon figures have a gentle quality, with their heads held high. there is also a similar disfigurement on the figures of christ in both objects from the brown collection discussed so far, almost to articulate christ‟s supra-human characteristics. crucifixion scene analysis common features of the brown collection icons although all three brown collection icons share features with byzantine art, they can also be visually associated with one another. one feature that connects all three the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 107 of the icons is that they display a crucifixion scene. russian artists used manuals when creating icons, allowing each scene, from the annunciation to the dormition of the virgin and much more, to have standardized symbols so that viewers would instantly recognize the image. in the orthodox tradition, the crucifixion is celebrated as the victory of christ, who became incarnate for human‟s salvation (baggley, 1987). common features for all russian crucifixion scenes would include a slanting suppedaneum, the skull of adam at the base of the cross, and the city of jerusalem portrayed in the background. although these images were incorporated on all crucifixion scenes, there nevertheless was diversity within the features. visual and stylistic comparison of crucifixion scenes an example of this diversity is the unique style and shape of adam‟s skull. the skull on the brass processional crucifix is the most realistic of the three. this skull includes an indented nasal area and teeth, but displays enlarged eye sockets, making the representation seem otherworldly. the skull on the composite icon is more simplified and rounded, rather than having depressions for the jaw and cheekbones. meanwhile, the eyes, nose, and mouth are all indicated by the same-sized round holes. although the head on the composite icon looks like a skull, it is not very realistic. on the other hand, the skull on the quadriptych does not look like a skull at all, but rather like a rock due to its inorganic shape. however, because the eyes are represented by two holes, and the object is placed under the cross, it can be identified as adam‟s skull. there are other noticeable distinctions, such as the images of christ. the composite icon contains a representation of the torso of god with his arms raised above the clouds. below him, the holy spirit would typically be shown, but instead there is a figure of the lamb of god, referring to christ‟s role as a sacrificial offering for humanity. an old believer would not have made this crucifix because their doctrine pertained that humans had never seen god, and therefore he should never be represented by an image. the quadriptych, on the other hand, has the common old believer feature of having a representation of christ‟s head at the top of the scene. the old believer community, vyg, was famous for making brass icons, and its members were known as the bezpopovtsy. this type of old believer rejected hierarchy within their denomination because they felt that the changes instituted by the established church had broken traditions through heretical practices (ahlborn & espinola, 1991). due to their beliefs, their crucifix replaced the image of god with the head of christ. this is a popular theme in orthodox art because of the story of king abgar of edessa, who suffered from an incurable disease. christ was unable to visit the king, but instead produced a miraculous the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 108 image of his face by pressing it onto a cloth which, with its curative properties, made the king healthy. by including an image of the head of christ, the artists hoped that the miracles derived from the original image would continue into this artifact. the processional crucifix, however, combines the scenes of the composite icon with the quadriptych by having the torso of christ blessing, while clouds are below him. such an image is unique to brass icons, and is not often seen in icons found in catalogues or museums (ahlborn & espinola, 1991). another difference between the three crucifixion scenes is the style of the images. the cross of the composite icon, for example, exaggerates lines and shapes. in particular, this crucifix seems to enhance the indentions of christ‟s rib cage, while also enlarging the figure‟s hands and feet. christ becomes more of a caricature than a realistic human. instead of depicting the hill of golgotha, there are mounds displayed on the icon, forming a geometric pattern. this geometric theme continues at the top of the scene, where the hair and clothing of the angels simply become rows of lines. the crucifixion on the processional crucifix is a little more refined, where christ‟s hands and feet are in proportion with his body (apart from very long arms). the rest of his body looks more naturalistic, with indented cheekbones and thin lines separating the various parts of his abdomen. more details are given to the city of jerusalem on the suppedaneum, using castle-like buildings with featured windows and doors. fine details continue with the addition of ornate floral patterns that surround the edge of the scene. the quadriptych crucifix provides the most detail by having a large landscape scene. jerusalem is not confined to the suppedaneum, but instead is spread out across the background, making it possible to have detailed elements. in fact, the buildings in the background seem to create a whole village with variously sized constructions made of diverse architectural designs. while some buildings have crow-stepped roofs, other structures have domes. the fact that these buildings overlap each other is an attempt to emphasize the scale of jerusalem, and perhaps to associate moscow with the ancient city. also evident on the onion-shaped panel of the crucifixion is embellishment within the clouds. at the top of the scene spread out on either side of christ, the natural elements turn into anthropomorphic, angel-like figures displaying heads, arms, and wings. this is also the only crucifixion scene that includes vegetation in the landscape, a detail that is unnecessary in the narrative, yet adds another dimension of realism. optimistic icons in two out of the three icons, the crucifixion scene is in the centre with other biblical images surrounding it. this is common in byzantine art, which barely the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 109 depicted this narrative scene initially, but by the 11 th century, the crucifixion had entered decorations in churches as part of a larger program. often the byzantine crucifixion was simplified to its basic elements, similar to the 11 th century mosaic in the narthex of hosios loukas (figure 11), where only christ on the cross, mary, and saint john are shown. this pattern continued to later centuries in byzantine art. the simple background is of plain gold, which exemplifies the isolation of christ‟s suffering by the absence of other symbolic elements. with all three of the brown collection icons, on the contrary, the crucifixions are artistically detailed and decorated with embellished backgrounds and numerous attendant saints. perhaps this shift to the addition of many details within one object comes from the fact that the russians emphasized that icons were miraculous. by adding as many elements as possible, the artists may be attempting to maximize the miraculous nature of their own icons. i suggest that unlike byzantine crucifixions, russian crucifixions, display greater optimism, with christ standing in an open-arm gesture of embrace and selfoffering. instead of a face of sorrow, often pictured in byzantine crucifixions, the three icons from the brown collection have a gentleness to them; therefore, rather than the sorrow of despair, the russian icons contain a consoling hope in triumph figure 11: crucifixion scene in the katholikon of hosios loukas. 11 th century, mosaic, byzantine. source: cormack, r. (2000). byzantine art. oxford, england: oxford university press. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 110 over death. even those figures surrounding christ in all three icons have their head held up high, as if they are restrained and calm rather than expressing utter grief. for russian icons, the darkness of the hour of crucifixion has, in fact, become the hour of triumph (baggley, 1987). in fact, in russia the skull of adam is not placed in the crucifixion as a reminder of the sin of man. instead, next to the skull on all three russian icons from the brown collection is the inscription, „mape.” this stands for the words: “the place of the skull became paradise,” which reinforces the image of bliss that is to come to the religious followers (ahlborn & espinola, 1991, 24). this is evidence that there was a change in crucifixions from the byzantine icons, which stressed christ‟s suffering for humanity‟s sins, to the russian icons, which emphasized the positive features of christ and his closeness to the faithful. this change could have occurred because the russians had suffered from many terrible situations throughout the 16 th to 20 th centuries. for example, in the 19 th century when the brown collection icons were made, nine out of ten people in the population of russia were peasants; out of this number, over half were serfs of either the nobles or the state (brown, 1994). even once serfdom was banished in 1861, the peasants still had to pay “redemption dues” (annual cash payments to the state) as the tsarist government kept the top “glittering, and the bottom rotting” (brown, 1994, 90). in addition to this conflict between classes in russia, there was the persistent threat of famine, national financial disarray, and constant conflicts with sweden and the turks. from the defeats by the hand of powerful empires to skirmishes within russia itself, perhaps the russian people, and particularly the eastern orthodox church, needed icons as a positive place to convey their culture. icons had both projected and represented russia in the past as a form of religious identity. believers understood that icons were involved in the life of the russian nation as a whole. for example, during times of national distress, icons played key roles in securing god‟s aid to russia, such as during world war i when the virgin of vladimir icon was taken to the general headquarters at the war front (shevzov, 2002). by focusing on icons, russians could enter a spiritual ecstasy while ignoring the plight of their times. conclusion following vladimir i‟s conversion, the prince imported byzantine architects and artists who, assisted by local artists, built new russian churches and created icons. although byzantine artists laid the framework for russian icons, russian artists eventually created their own style of icons, especially painted ones. russian icons focused on the heavenly and blissful, instead of suffering, as was common during the byzantine empire. icons were important to the russian people; there are the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 111 countless accounts of conflicts where russia was doomed until the divine presence of an icon. the existence of these accounts emphasizes how the nation was united by an optimistic view of religion (shevzov, 2002). in fact, many russian traditions of icons, from the iconostasis to the accentuation of icons within icons, reveal how these artifacts were seen as the windows that would guide the faithful to the spiritual world beyond. by examining these three russian icons from the brown collection, much can and should be written. researching these russian icons ensures that they are not lost amongst other artifacts in the university of victoria art collections. as well, their study can help future scholars by detecting the importance of icons for russian religion, history, and society. currently, due to a lack of information on russian icons, there is a lack of recognition of these items, which can cause a cycle of public and academic disinterest. further research into this field would provide an opportunity to contribute to the development of, and interest in, this exciting area of art history. references ahlborn, r. e., & espinola, v. b-b. 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(1974). the painter’s manual of dionysius of fourna. london: sagittarius press. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: shrumm 112 evans, h. c., & wixom, w. (eds.). (2000). the glory of byzantium: arts and culture of the middle byzantine era, a.d. 843-1261. new york: the metropolitan museum of art. french, r.m. (1961). the eastern orthodox church. london: hutchinson university library. hamilton, g. h. (1983). the art and architecture of russia. new york: penguin books. mckenzie, a. d. (1986). mystical mirrors: russian icons in the maryhill museum of art. goldendale, washington: maryhill museum of art. meyendorff, j. (1981). byzantium and the rise of russia: a study of byzantinorussian relations in the fourteenth century. cambridge, england: cambridge university press. odom, a. (1996). russian enamels: kievan rus to faberge. london: walters art gallery. onasch, k. (1977). russian icons. oxford, england: phaidon. shevzov, v. (2000). icons, miracles, and the ecclesial identity of laity in late imperial russian orthodoxy. church history, 69(3), 610-631. szczepkowska-naliwajek, k. (n.d.). early christian and byzantine reliquaries. retrieved march 2, 2012, from http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/gr ove/art/t071 338?q=reliquaries&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit tarasov, o. (2002). icon and devotion: sacred spaces in imperial russia. london: reaktion books. university of victoria units and collection. (n.d.). bruce and dorothy brown collection. retrieved april 2, 2012, from http://library.uvic.ca/spcoll/guides/sc017.html contact information regan shrumm, from the department of history in art, can be reached at rshrumm@yahoo.com. acknowledgements thanks to dr. evanthia baboula, for all her support and discussions. thanks to the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, for funding my project. i am also in gratitude for the editing skills and support of nancie denarde, florence morganrichards, and adrian paradis. http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/grove/art/t071%09338?q=reliquaries&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1 http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/subscriber/article/grove/art/t071%09338?q=reliquaries&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1 http://library.uvic.ca/spcoll/guides/sc017.html mailto:rshrumm@yahoo.com elbert et al. 1 ipads on practicum: perspective of a student-teacher jamie elbert, dr. jillianne code, and dr. valerie irvine abstract: educators are embracing technology as a key to transforming learning for the 21 st century. as the 21st century learning movement emphasizes the development of skills that are seen as uniquely relevant to the modern world, in the educational community, many are looking to technology, such as tablets, as a tool to modernizing classrooms. this research presents a case study of a participatory action research project, where participants provide input into the research process, examining the experiences of a secondary education level student-teacher implementing ipads during practicum. for two weeks, the student teacher integrated a set of 22 ipads into a grade ten media literacy unit. qualitative data from the teacher’s daily blog and a post-practicum interview revealed six main themes in two categories: teacher impacts (planning and curricular design, delivery, practicum experience) and student impacts (classroom, learning outcomes, learning experience). while generalizations to other english language arts (ela) classes cannot be made, the results of this pilot study suggest that tablet technology has the potential to aid the transition to 21st century learning at the secondary level, and warrants further research and attention. key terms: ipads; mobile devices; tablet technology; educational technology; practicum; teacher education; english language arts; media literacy; 21 st century learning; secondary education; action research introduction educators and administrators are embracing technology as a key to transforming learning for the 21 st century (leu et. al, 2004; british columbia ministry of education 2013). the 21st century learning movement emphasizes the development of skills that are seen as uniquely relevant to the modern world: learning and innovation skills (e.g. creativity, collaboration); information, media, and technology skills (such as media literacy); and life and career skills (e.g. adaptability, social and crossthe arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 2 cultural skills) (partnership for 21st century skills). given the movement’s apparent emphasis on enabling the development of this diverse set of knowledge, skills and abilities in students, technology is often identified as a central pillar of the 21st century movement, based on its ability to facilitate desired student outcomes (bcmoe, 2012). however, the emphasis on the use of educational technology as a central tenant in the 21st century movement is problematic because “the academic study of educational technology has grown to be dominated by an (often abstracted) interest in the processes of how people can learn with digital technology [rather than] how digital technologies are actually being used ... in ‘realworld’ educational settings” (selwyn, 2010; p.66). further, many claims made in the extant literature are untenable because educational technology research in particular often serves as a “flag of convenience for a loose assortment of technology-minded psychologists, pedagogy experts, math and science educators, computer scientists, systems developers, and the like” rather than as a subject of study by researchers interested in developing educational technology as a distinct field (selwyn, 2010, p.65). such is the case with public proponents of handheld and mobile technologies: popular media is replete with claims that these technologies can help educators to teach 21 st century skills (e.g., discovery channel, 2013; subramanian, 2012; teffer, 2013). however, there is a need to gain “a full sense of how and why educational technologies are being used in the ways that they are [and are] therefore underpinned by understandings of how these technologies are socially constructed, shaped and negotiated by a range of actors and interests” (selwyn, 2010, p. 69). for example, case studies of actual use of handheld and mobile technologies in the classroom context reveal that such innovations may assist in a greater variety of teaching and learning processes than currently being investigated (e.g., swan, van t’hooft, kratcoski & unger, 2005). handheld technology has the potential capability to bring a renewed life to established instructional approaches and concrete reality to emerging innovations (larson, 2010). some of the suggested benefits of mobile technologies in education include their: a) low cost and accessibility; b) requirement for substantially less infrastructure and electricity; c) easy access to supplemental resources for schools that lack educational resources; d) additional support for under performing students; and e) support of literacy development (kim et al., 2011, p. 466). one particularly important addition to this list is that mobile technology affords differentiation and personalization of instruction. for example, studies elbert et al. 3 report that tablet technology, such as the ipad (apple, inc., 2013a), may be used at any level of education as individualized “control center[s] of personal knowledge management” and as teacher-controlled collaborative tools in targeted classroom exercises (ludwig & mayrberger, 2012, p. 2184). in the context of literacy and english language arts (ela), studies using tablet technology often explore the device's ability to enhance student interaction with texts. literacy development involves “readers mak[ing] sense of reading experiences as they apply, reorganize, revisit, or extend encounters with text and personal experience” (larson, 2010, p. 16). the introduction of new technologies for reading supports the reading experience, especially in the use of new tools available through the digital text format (eagleton & dobler, 2007). further, preliminary findings suggest that with the use of personal handheld and mobile devices, students exhibit greater self-monitoring, problem solving, engagement, interactivity, student-led inquiry, and personal time-management (ludwig & mayrberger, 2012; larson, 2010; alyahya & gall, 2012; reid & ostashewski, 2011). however, research thus far represents mostly 1:1 tablet to student ratios, and reported benefits are related to this personal organizational and research device focus (ludwig & mayrberger, 2012; alyahya & gall, 2012). since many schools and students may not be able to afford a 1:1 tablet program, further research is needed to explore the utility and the social implications of tablets used as shared classroom tools. al lily (2013) relates that, “given the technologically-shaped nature of society, the planning and development process of educational technologies should be more participatory, with all different categories of actors being involved and in turn able to express feelings, articulate needs, and negotiate interests” (p. 42). with regard to student-teachers’ experiences, previous research has found that the skill and attitude of the teacher is a predictor of the technology implementation’s success (bitner & bitner, 2002; fedora, 2012). however, rigorous research addressing specifically how classroom interactions may be affected by technology implementation is currently deficient (alyahya & gall, 2012). with this view in mind, this research presents the first in a series of case studies of a larger participatory action research project, where participants provide input into the research process, examining the experiences of a student-teacher implementing ipads during professional placement (practicum). the research reported in this article is a case study focusing specifically on the experiences of a student-teacher charged with implementing tablet technology for the first time while on professional placement (practicum) in a high-school ela classroom. the the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 4 larger study in which this work is situated aims to identify challenges and suggest general strategies for implementation of tablet and mobile technologies in the k-12 classroom. as a result, this research project will provide evidence useful for the decision making necessary for current teachers, administrators, policy makers and to faculties of education charged with educating student-teachers on the use of handheld and mobile technologies in the classroom. research questions this research seeks to add to the body of knowledge on the reality of the implementation challenges and benefits of handheld and mobile technologies in the k-12 classroom context as encountered by a studentteacher. this qualitative research study is focused around a model of participatory action research where the subject of the study, the studentteacher, acts as a participant in the research process (specifically in reflection, data collection and action). the case study reported in this article aims to illustrate the following: 1. what are a student-teachers’ experiences with integrating new technologies (ipads) on practicum (based on personal reflection in a private blog)? 2. what kinds of evidence (data collection) does the student-teacher provide in explaining the variations in implementation of new technologies (ipads) into teaching and learning? 3. what kinds of instructional adaptations (actions) does the student-teacher make as the process of integrating new technologies (ipads) changes while on practicum? context the study took place in a large, middle-income, urban high school in western canada. the participating grade 10 english class was composed of 4 girls and 23 boys, two of whom had individualized education plans (or iep's, alterations to the provincial curriculum or support requirements for students with documented special needs) related to reading and writing. technology already played a role in day-to-day class activities; the room was equipped with three desktop computers (with internet access), an overhead projector, a dvd player, and a document camera – all of which were used frequently by the regular (mentor) teacher. no provinceor district-wide policy or procedures for classroom tablet or mobile device implementation had been established, so planning and designing for elbert et al. 5 implementation is entirely in the hands of individual administrators and educators. for the duration of this project, the student-teacher was provided with a set of 22 ipads available for classroom use. methodology this set of 22 ipads was used for 7 of the 8 days they were available, and were incorporated into the majority of each class during a grade 10 media literacy unit. applications (apps) were chosen based on educational potential and zero cost. planning was carried out entirely by the studentteacher; sometimes an interesting app inspired an activity, and other times the student-teacher sought out an app to fit an activity already in mind. data was collected through an audio-recorded interview and a blog maintained by the student-teacher throughout the classroom implementation. the blog was private, accessible only to the student-teacher and members of the research team. the study approached the data with an interpretive phenomenological analysis, which is an inductive (‘bottom up’, rather than ‘top down’) exploration of phenomenon (occurrences) which treats participants as experts in assigning significance to and interpreting their own lived experiences; the emphasis on everyday experiences, and the participants’ own contribution to the hermeneutic (interpretive) conversation fit well with the case study’s intention to establish broad and experience-based evidence of tablet implementation challenges and benefits in service of future research (carpenter & suto, 2008; reid, flowers & larkin, 2005; smith, flowers & larkin, 2005). a fine grain translation of colloquial reflections into more objective statements categorized by key words and concepts (e.g. motivation, timing, peer-teaching, complexity) resulted in 160 qualitative data points from the interview and 223 from the blog which in turn suggested the emergent themes and categories described below. results the thematic analysis of the student-teacher’s blog and post-practicum interview resulted in six themes clarified into two categories: impacts on teacher experiences (planning and curricular design, delivery, practicum experience), and impacts on student experiences (classroom community, learning outcomes, learning experience). where necessary, direct quotations from the student-teacher are used to illustrate the relevant themes. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 6 impacts on teacher experiences planning and curricular design reflecting on the experience, the student-teacher felt that ipads could invigorate and individualize curriculum development for english language arts and help build literacy skills. the student-teacher noted the following: with the internet that [students] experience these days, everything’s personalized and at their fingertips, and i want them to feel the same way about english, and see how [the subject] relates to absolutely everything…[i like the] thematic link between ipad use and what you want to do in an english classroom. (student-teacher, interview, december 4, 2012). the student-teacher appreciated how personal internet connectivity brought new content to classic tasks, and felt this quick and flexible access to current information supported the core skills specific to ela curricula. reflecting further on the ways tablet technology supports ela goals, the student-teacher commented that “english is trying to connect so much to the outside world,” and tablets can help students to acknowledge the subject’s connection with lived experience, and so to overcome the physical and mental isolation of physical classrooms (student-teacher, interview, dec. 4, 2012). additionally, the ipads were integral in assignment designs that gave students greater control over their progression through content. in this way ipads, more than other technologies, allowed the teacher to achieve process learning goals (e.g. student ownership of learning) in the studentteacher’s classroom. the presence of ipads influenced the student-teacher’s planning workload, organization of the physical space, and the timing and content of lessons. extra planning time was required to incorporate ipads (learning new technology; preloading multimedia content onto ipads to save time and confusion during in-class assignments; ensuring proper device configuration). for example, the student-teacher’s blog noted two lowperforming students chose to watch a video for station-based work, but failed to read the accompanying instructions that specified the relevant portion of the clip. further, among many reflective adaptations the teacher recorded, the student-teacher specified a need to cut and tailor online resources to avoid frustrating at-risk students. accessing the internet opens curricular doors (e.g. students source own media examples and save to a shared space) (student-teacher, blog, november 13, 2012); however, as the student-teacher pointed out, there was a need to spend time altering online resources to suit the needs of the class, where accessing online resources elbert et al. 7 could also require an increased planning investment as teachers carefully source and prepare multi-media materials. when the teacher planned and arranged desk layout or seating plans with ipad activities in mind, the student-teacher was able to troubleshoot problems before they arose (space to move during mobile learning; good ipad partnerships based on proximity; reduced glare from overhead lights), and free the student-teacher’s in-class energies for teaching and troubleshooting device issues. also important was the layout of the digital space on ipads, which could increase or decrease distraction and confusion. a well-planned sequence of events resulted in greater classroom structure, which increased self-advocacy (especially in high-performing students). low-structure lesson plans often inspired insular ipad use from all students. student comprehension and cooperation improved when lesson plans focused on only one application, and when additional time was budgeted for learning basic application use before content was introduced. instructions that students could immediately understand and enact at the beginning of lessons set a focused and efficacious classroom tone. delivery ipads were most effective when used in conjunction with traditional discussionand paper-based assignments. the role of routines was represented strongly; well-established routines streamlined transitions and regulated energy and emotion, ultimately leading to a more effective and productive classroom. these positive effects held across novel physical contexts and helped to ensure the security of the ipads (i.e. safe transport and responsible handling). device distribution routines presented a particular problem, as they impacted the class pacing and student activity pairings. when distribution was slow, students involved themselves in offtask and social activities from which it was difficult to disengage. attempts to speed distribution often compromised the composition of ideal groups, and potentially the security of the devices. in many ways the classroom functioned as it would without tablet technology: students completed tasks independently (e.g. mindmaps using simplemind) giving the teacher a chance to circulate and provide individual instruction (often troubleshooting device difficulties). modeling new skills and knowledge (such as a new app’s functionality), providing clear instructions with accompanying visual aids, and checking for comprehension all played important roles in the delivery’s success (i.e., it was the teacher’s perception that the students comprehended instructions, the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 8 content, and process, and were able to participate and gain knowledge or skills). as with other innovations, time is needed to establish familiarity with new routines and skills. the difference is in the types of in-class troubleshooting that a teacher can expect (technical as well as academic), the forms of information delivery now available to the teacher (e.g. instruction stored in an app that direct students to further online content), and the behavioural and emotional management techniques required for positive and productive guidance of the class’s new-found excitement. for example, when the teacher passed out one ipad, rather than all the ipads, and asked a single student to check the log-in information, the studentteacher modeled a calm and controlled approach that set the standard and tone for the rest of the day. in asking the class to focus on the one student’s progress, the student-teacher created a community investment in peer success (others even began to chant his name), and at the same time created a pause for the student-teacher to regulate personally-experienced emotions regarding the difficult distribution process. classroom management challenges specific to the ipad include: monitoring screen content and assessing group comprehension of multi-step oral instructions; time required to address a high volume of troubleshooting issues (and subsequent student distraction and disengagement) if students lack problem-solving skills; and the need for back-up plans and adaptive teacher reactions in the face of technology bugs. especially in the face of technical bugs, the teacher fell back on more familiar methods, which broke the class flow and limited the effectiveness of the technology’s use. practicum experience the student-teacher was motivated to participate in this research by practical factors (the supportive practicum setting; advocates who could ensure the ipads’ availability; the preparatory time afforded to studentteachers for planning) and professional development goals. as a beginning practitioner still developing kounin’s (1977) “with-it-ness” (teacher ability to be aware of all factors and events in the classroom) and routines for multi-tasking, the student-teacher was further challenged by the dual roles of researcher and instructor. carefully distinguishing between "not useful" and "did not work in my class" helped to empirically organize thoughts and emotional responses regarding ipad experiences. the student-teacher reported both positive and negative emotions, with mixed effects; for example, excitement drove the student-teacher to experiment with many ipad uses, to the extent that lessons became fragmentary for students. elbert et al. 9 reflecting on the student experience, the student-teacher felt that “it wasn’t consistent every day because i was doing something different every day,” which in turn was a result of the student-teacher’s wanting to “try so many different things” (student-teacher, interview, december 4, 2012). clearly emotion regulation will be an important practice for teachers, as well as students, when new devices shake up the routine classroom environment. the preparation provided by the university post-degree program was not seen as adequate because of its focus on strategies (theory rather than practical knowledge and skills), its reliance on paper-based activities, and the lack of integration between the subject and technology courses. the student teacher would “have loved to see more technology talk in [university-based] methods courses, because we have the time [and are] with people who are like-minded and trying to teach the same subject” (student-teacher, interview, december 4, 2012). it was also noted that “there’s a huge learning curve for the basics [of ipad use] that [one] could get past very quickly in a course” (student-teacher, interview, december 4, 2012). after implementing ipads in a supported practicum setting, the studentteacher learned the basics of classroom technology implementation, and felt more confident, comfortable, and likely to use similar technology in future classrooms. this provides support for the adoption of a hands-on professional development approach in teacher-education programs; if “teachers are able to experience a more personalized approach to learning that incorporates contemporary technologies and makes authentic connections to their practice, they are more likely to take up a similar approach with their students” (ostashewski & reid, 2012, p. 1824). this is especially true given the unique technical, classroom management, and emotional regulatory challenges of a classroom using tablets, and the adaptive teacher reactions needed to address them. impact on student experiences classroom community the student-teacher noted that the introduction of ipads increased the sense of community in the classroom, while the shared nature of the tool facilitated peer-to-peer teaching, especially in low-performing but techsavvy iep students. groups formed based on friendships or working relationships: some groups were comprised of motivated students who abandoned their less motivated partners to find others who would challenge and help them at their level; some partnerships formed out of friendship, the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 10 where one member helped and instructed a less able friend. allowing groups to form around the ipads encouraged some students to achieve more, but left those on the outside with no options for completing the work. students who felt socially or academically excluded from tasks – or who were paired with particularly dominant personalities – disengaged and lost their sense of personal accountability. the stimulation and excitement of a new delivery format could sometimes be harnessed into focused energy by the students’ desire to use and be trusted with the ipads; other times the classroom energy rose to levels not conducive to learning. overall, ipads served as a catalyst for preexisting patterns of focused and unfocused energy, so that each was more extreme. student attitudes individually and as a collective were positively correlated with their approach to and care of the ipad. overall, the ipads inspired positive group interactions and contributed to a positive classroom tone (student-teacher, blog, november 13, 2012). a small percentage of students approached the ipads with misgivings; these instances were dealt with effectively using one-on-one needs assessments. improved attitudes led to improved focus on tasks; for example, “student moods seem improved, as evidenced by attention to [the quick response code] paper and to [the] ipad screen, as well as tone of voice” after student teacher trouble-shooting interventions (studentteacher, blog, november 21, 2012). the presence of ipads elicited a complex desire for possession that did not always translate to focused work, and resulted in negative affect when ipads were removed. as a group, students were emotionally invested in the experience, acknowledging the ipad as a special privilege, following rules for care, and expressing a desire for 1:1 ratios. over the course of the classroom implementation, the teacher noticed an increasingly reduced rate of student absences. in a class where absenteeism was an ongoing challenge, the increased attendance and participation of generally lowperforming students was viewed as significant from the student-teacher’s perspective. learning outcomes though not tested directly, the teacher’s anecdotal evidence suggests both positive and negative impacts on student learning outcomes. confusion regarding application use (e.g., the showme app was less intuitive than expected), and how the ipad content supported task completion (i.e., task interpretation) was frequently mentioned as a major roadblock. as others elbert et al. 11 have found (robinson, 2012), the ipads proved to be a distraction, facilitating off-task behaviours during task instructions, transition times, and group projects. listening to music, downloading games, and the app ‘photobooth’ were the most common distracters. because of the device’s connectivity, individual distractions had significant ripple effects in classwide focus, and the online sharing of photos posed a potential privacy and security risk. as the teacher’s understanding of ipad instruction evolved, the student-teacher found that confusion – and therefore distraction and off-task behaviour – could be reduced by beginning lessons with structured control in quick, focused device tutorials. as noted above, ipad application use itself must be thought of as a learning objective before it can become a vehicle for production. given a calm classroom tone and a scaffolded instructional approach, students successfully used ipads to record their thinking processes alongside final products, to digitize usual tasks (e.g. reading a text) and to complete innovative tasks, such as locating digital instructions and completing an app-based activity. the personalization of pace and content access afforded by ipads allowed for student self-guided time to form their own thoughts about collections of information. groups used ipads collaboratively as a tool for research. generally low-performing individuals were able to access multi-media materials and tech-enabled response forms that inspired a greater quality and frequency of responses. the student-teacher felt that this was due to the student’s familiarity with the digital response options. learning experience similarly, ipads had some positive impacts on students’ experiences during learning while also presenting challenges to the developing learner. student interest spurred self-advocacy and engagement. students enjoyed a greater variety of task formats (including interactive, educational games), greater personalization (i.e. content and response format was more flexible than in a classroom without internet and tablet access), and increased choice. the ipads allowed students to move physically in the classroom, and so to feel their progression through a task in a physically embodied way. self-guided and exploratory tasks created space for students to develop deeper understandings of content and a new sense of ownership over the process. however, the increased sense of ownership observed was not consistent across students. rather, the ipad magnified pre-existing conditions and personalities. during a task with greater freedom of movement and choice, students struggled with sequencing and decision-making, co-regulating the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 12 learning and teamwork, and narrowing focus when given a large amount of information. though ipad partnerships initially posed social and accountability problems, students gradually improved their ability to share responsibilities and privileges. sign-out routines and an interest in maintaining the privilege of participation translated to a greater sense of responsibility and unforeseen instances of co-regulation of behaviour. because there were not enough ipads for a 1:1 ratio, all activities involved some level of sharing, and therefore added a social aspect to all tasks. while in many cases this encouraged necessary development of collaborative skills, it sometimes left students out. for example, during a task with greater choice and freedom of movement within the classroom, students formed groups based on social and academic preferences, rather than assigned pairings. if a student did not match the group criteria, s/he separated and disengaged. finally, novel tasks requiring a social risk (e.g., voice recordings) were affected by proximity to other students. therefore, the socio-physical settings must be considered when planning the introduction of new technology (larson, 2010). discussion classrooms using tablet technology need not be fully digitized, and in fact this study indicates that, in group contexts, tablets are best used as strategically dictated by activity demands. they can inspire critical thinking about online content, arenas where digital natives work and play but seldom learn. futhermore, tablets facilitate individual choice, while maintaining lesson structure. nonetheless, the application of tablet technology as a learning tool is dependent on the length of the classroom implementation (influences familiarity with device, and number of apps covered), the presence of supporting skills and technologies, and the goodness-of-fit between the task and the tool (e.g. group work vs. individual work). for example, visual cues played a large role in the students learning ipad use – a consideration that necessitates acquiring other supportive technology, such as document readers. if tablets are to be implemented most effectively, a teacher plan, supported by administration, must be in place. for all its curricular advantages, a large amount of time goes into learning a new technology and adjusting lesson plans to make use of the technology’s capacity. lesson plans incorporating tablets should emphasize simplicity, structure, careful time management, and clear learning objectives. the complexity that resulted from layering ipad app use over content goals presented a significant roadblock to student learning. the elbert et al. 13 teacher often assumed student proficiency, but when polled, only 3 out of 27 students indicated preexisting familiarity with a popular program. when planning application use, teachers cannot assume technical knowledge, and must move gradually from goals of showing technical proficiency, to absorbing new information, to generating original responses. as with other studies that found “more success…after the class was comfortable with the process to follow with creation and sharing with the ipads,” routines were emphasized as key to integration (reid & ostashewski, 2011b). one of the most popular aspects of tablets is their readily customizable format, and their ability to personalize learning experiences (reid & ostashewski, 2011a). using tablets allowed students to have more control over the pace and order of content delivery, rather than having it dictated by a teacher at the front of the classroom. the tablets, therefore, facilitated a diversity of thought in the classroom. students could engage with content in different ways and at different rates because the tablets gave the studentteacher a means of and a vehicle for transferring control (bctf principles of learning as in stokes, 2005). the ownership that manifested itself in the classroom was a social goal in the teacher’s plans, but was not controlled by the student-teacher’s hand. the student-teacher noted that ownership didn’t necessarily come up in the ways or moments that were expected, but did manifest itself in serendipitous and unplanned incidents (student-teacher, interview, december 4, 2012). in a generally low-motivation class, this spontaneous development provides compelling evidence for the effectiveness of student-centered learning based on engagement. the ipad was often integral to the development of positive, personal learning qualities, as evidenced by the more highly-motivated students who gravitated toward each other in low-structure tasks and connected over mutual interest in learning the new tool’s use. the social context of ipads, both in and outside of the classroom, must be considered when planning classroom implementations. smart devices are all around us, and thus already have strong psychological connections with leisure rather than learning. the motivation especially as manifested in problem-solving and persistence that students exhibit when learning games on smart devices cannot be assumed to automatically transfer to learning new applications and uses for education. more than simply disengaging from prescribed learning objectives, students’ off-task tablet usage could verge on privacy and security risks for their classmates (e.g. posting photos without permission or appropriate privacy settings). students being given ipads for classroom use would benefit from an internet safety the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 14 and security seminar. finally, social and emotional conditions played roles in engagement, persistence, and personal responsibility. planning for the socio-physical factors of the classroom must consider the interaction between physical proximity and personal social risk, while monitoring the effect of large or small spaces on group coherence. the beginning teacher’s investment in learning the technology and revising lessons took additional effort, but resulted in a rich learning experience. teacher education programs might support such experiences by offering hands-on and technology-focused courses, especially those that key students into the unique challenges of being a new teacher or educational researcher. limitations and future directions as a case study, the results of this experience are not directly transferable to other contexts; however, the unique successes point to the potential of tablets as a flexible tool applied to context-specific issues by creative educators in the secondary classroom. clearly useful in challenging older and upper-level students (e.g., robinson, 2012; alyahya & gall, 2012), tablet technology also shows potential to support independent scaffolding in under-performing individuals who would normally require much of the teacher’s in-class attention (e.g., larson, 2010). in this study, lowperforming students were motivated to attend and participate in class and were more likely to seek help regarding content and device use than they were to ask questions regarding paper-based assignments. while their growing involvement was exciting, it quickly became clear that these students depended on the teacher for problem-solving and did not have well-developed classroom behaviour strategies (e.g., how to ask a question without disrupting others). contrary to observed student dependencies in the current study, reid & ostashewski (2011a) found increased independence in school-aged student problem-solving, and a shared responsibility for technical competence between teachers and students when tablets were introduced. regarding student readiness for technology integration, ludwig & mayrberger (2012) point to self-monitoring and selfdetermination as paramount in the list of prerequisite competencies. in this study, the need for independently motivated problem-solving was emphasized across all themes. however, further research is needed to answer the question: what skills best support tablet technology integration and learning with tablets (problem solving; self-regulated learning interventions; device-specific tutorials)? elbert et al. 15 conclusion in general, the student-teacher’s data indicates that integrating tablet technology was a positive learning experience, both for the teacher and the students. the students exhibited a larger number of on-task behaviours, and a more engaged attitude, especially when given the chance to move physically in the room and to choose the pace and format of information delivery. these factors – mobility, multiple formats, and personalization of pace – are uniquely facilitated by tablet technology. through this research, the student-teacher gained hands-on experience with a cutting-edge example of technology in the classroom. the teacher’s comfort with the technology and confidence in using it are powerful arguments for integrating technology into teacher education programs. integrating new devices requires commitment and critical thought. students' and teachers' abilities both improve with experience, and time must be allowed for strategic and thoughtful applications to show their true worth. the main factors influencing successful classroom implementation were student demographics (readiness, mindset, motivation, and technology & learning skills) and teacher mindset (device expertise, planning, and delivery). though the teacher had already been using various forms of technology in the classroom, the student-teacher felt that the tablets uniquely allowed the student-teacher’ to encourage students to be personally responsible and excited about their own learning; the format literally put flexible, multi-media information and learning opportunities into each student's hands. while tablet technology can facilitate student choice, engagement, energy, and collaboration, teachers must plan groups and lessons according to the tenants of good practice for any teaching, regardless of the available technology. references al lily, a. e. a. (2013). social change and educational technologies: by invitation or invasion. journal of organisational transformation & social change, 10(1), 42-63. alyahya, s. & gall, j.e. (2012). ipads in education: a qualitative study of students’ attitudes and experiences. in t. amiel & b. wilson (eds.), proceedings of world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications 2012, 1266-1271. chesapeake, va: aace. apple inc. (2013a). the apple ipad (ipad). cupertino, ca. retrieved may 30, 2013 from http://www.apple.com/ipad/. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 16 apple inc. (2013b). itunes university (itunesu). cupertino, ca. retrieved may 30, 2013 from http://www.apple.com/apps/itunes-u/. bitner, n. & bitner, j. (2002). integrating technology into the classroom: eight keys to success. journal of technology and teacher education, 10(1), 95-100. norfolk, va: aace. british columbia ministry of education (bcmoe). (2013). 21st century learning. in ministry of education. retrieved april 12, 2013, from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/dist_learning/21century_learning.htm. british columbia ministry of education (bcmoe). (2012). bc’s education plan. retrieved april 12, 2013 from http://www.bcedplan.ca. carpenter, christine, & suto, melinda (2008). qualitative research for occupational and physical therapists: a practical guide. oxford, uk: blackwell publishing. apple incorporated (2013). ipad. markham, ontario. discovery channel. (2013). top 10 reasons classrooms should have ipads. retrieved august 5, 2013 from http://dsc.discovery.com/tvshows/curiosity/topics/10-reasons-classrooms-ipads.htm. eagleton, m. b. & dobler, e. (2007). reading the web: strategies for internet inquiry. new york: guilford. fedora, p. (2012). integrating technology into course content to prepare pre-service teachers to work with students struggling with written expression. in p. resta (ed.), proceedings of society for information technology & teacher education international conference 2012, 4650-4654. chesapeake, va: aace. kim, p., hagashi, t., carillo, l., gonzales, i., makany, t., lee, b. & garate, a. (2011). socioeconomic strata, mobile technology, and education: a comparative analysis. educational technology research & development 59(4), 465-486. kounin, j. s. (1977). discipline and group management in classrooms. florida, usa: krieger publishing company. larson, lotta c. (2010). digital readers: the next chapter in e-book reading and response. the reading teacher, 64(1), 15-22. leu, d.j., jr., kinzer, c.k., coiro, j., & cammack, d.w. (2004). toward a theory of new literacies emerging from the internet and other information and communication technologies. in r.b. ruddell, & n. unrau (eds.), theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed.), 1570-1613. newark, de: international reading association. ludwig, l. & mayrberger, k. (2012). next generation learning? learning with tablets as an example for the implementation of digital media in elbert et al. 17 schools. in t. amiel & b. wilson (eds.), proceedings of world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications 2012, 2179-2187. chesapeake, va: aace. ostashewski, n. & reid, d. (2012). digital storytelling on the ipad: apps, activities, and processes for successful 21st century story creations. in t. amiel & b. wilson (eds.), proceedings of world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications 2012, 1823-1827. chesapeake, va: aace. partnership for 21st century skills (n.d.). skills framework: framework for 21st century learning. retrieved from http://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework reid, d. & ostashewski, n. (2011a). ipads in the classroom – new technologies, old issues: are they worth the effort? in t. bastiaens & m. ebner (eds.), proceedings of world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications 2011, 1689-1694. chesapeake, va: aace. reid, d. & ostashewski, n. (2011b). ipads and digital storytelling: successes and challenges with classroom implementation. in proceedings of world conference on e-learning in corporate, government, healthcare, and higher education 2011, 1661-1666. chesapeake, va: aace. reid, k., flowers, p. & larkin, m. (2005). exploring lived experience. the psychologist, 18(1), 20-23. robinson, r. (2012). experiential learning in a new millennium: the implications of ipad technology in instructional settings. in p. resta (ed.), proceedings of society for information technology & teacher education international conference 2012, 1242-1248. chesapeake, va: aace. rosenblatt, l. m. (1938). literature as exploration. new york: appletoncentury-crofts. rosenblatt, l. m. (1978). the reader, the text, the poem: the transactional theory of the literary work. carbondale: southern illinois university press. smith, j.a., flowers, p., & larkin, m. (2009). interpretative phenomenological analysis: theory method and research. london: sage. stokes, s. (2005). literacy the way it was meant to be. teacher newsmagazine. bc: bc teachers’ federation. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 18 subramanian, c. (2012, february 22). new study finds ipads in the classroom boost test scores. time magazine. retrieved from http://techland.time.com/2012/02/22/new-study-finds-ipads-in-theclassroom-boost-test-scores/ swan, k., van t’hooft, m., kratcoski, a. & unger, d. (2005). uses and effects of mobile computing devices in k-8 classrooms. journal of research on technology in education 38(1), 99-112. teffer, p. (2013, june 9). tablets in dutch schools usher in a new era. new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/world/europe/tablets-in-dutchschools-usher-in-a-new-era.html. contact information jamie elbert, from the faculty of education, can be reached at elbert.jamie@gmail.com. dr. jillianne code, from the faculty of education, can be reached at jcode@uvic.ca. dr. valerie irvine, from the faculty of education, can be reached at virvine@uvic.ca. acknowledgements this research was completed under the direct supervision of drs. jillianne code and valerie irvine and was supported by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award through the office of the vice president academic and the learning and teaching centre at the university of victoria. the authors would like to thank apple canada, inc., for their support for loaning the ipad hardware required to complete this research. finally, the authors would like to thank the students, teachers, staff and administrators involved in this project who without this work would not be possible. the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 the arbutus review is produced by the learning and teaching centre at the university of victoria. the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009 as the undergraduate research scholarship program by the then vicepresident academic and provost, and current university president, dr. jamie cassels. it was designed to support and create truly formative learning experiences for exceptional undergraduate students who might not otherwise obtain direct research experience. the ltc administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submission that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review publishes other exceptional work from departments across campus. 1 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by a faculty member at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper: dr. hélène cazes, department of french author: brynn fader dr. claire carlin, department of french and associate dean of graduate studies author: taryn burgar dr. paul bramadat, centre for study in religion and society and dr. siobhan chandler, school of nursing author: samantha a. bahan dr. debra sheets, school of nursing author: richelle stanley dr. li shih huang, department of linguistics author: jeness weisgerber dr. alexandra d’arcy, department of linguistics, director of the sociolinguistics research lab, and vice-chair, human research ethics board author: alexah konnelly dr. kathy sanford, faculty of education author: rachel c. lallouz dr. min zhou, department of sociology author: leila mazhari jillian harvey, department of geography and staff member of university of victoria treering laboratory author: jesse wood as well, all submissions are reviewed blind by two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. 2 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 behn skovgaard andersen bryan eric benner chelsea wilson constance sobsey cori thompson david lark fanie collardeau heike lettrari jeff rapoch jodi rempel katherine bullen katherine burnett leslie bragg natasha foster pamela savage ramsay malange regan shrumm timothy palmer xiaoqian guo the arbutus review also relies on the work, ideas, and guidance of others. teresa dawson, director of the learning and teaching centre, who created the journal inba kehoe, scholarly communications and copyright officer of the library, who oversees the online journal systems software that allows us to publish online and provides guidance on publication issues laurie waye, managing editor of the journal and associate director (student academic success), learning and teaching centre allie simpson, editor, writing coach, and typesetter of the journal joëlle alice ouellette-michaud, editor and writing coach for the articles written in french the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: laurie waye, phd associate director (student academic success) learning teaching centre university of victoria ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca ————————————————————– 3 the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 1 a forest in transition: the role of small-scale disturbances kira michelle hoffman, carley coccola, kimberly house, and annie markvoort abstract: large and small scale natural disturbances shape and define characteristics of forest stands. this research examines the response of a western hemlock stand following small-scale gapproducing events in glacier national park, british columbia. the study used a megaplot with three individual quadrats to analyze dendrochronological, tree mensuration, vegetation and soil profile data. results confirmed that three distinct age classes (new gap, intermediate gap, mature forest) were present, and that growth releases in dominant and sub-dominant trees corresponded with probable gap formation events. productivity increased in new gaps and stand dynamics varied greatly in newand intermediateaged gaps. the dominant regeneration of western hemlock species on coarse woody debris is supported by small-scale disturbances, creating transitional forests in glacier national park. key words: gap dynamics, disturbances, mensuration, dendrochronology, british columbia, glacier national park introduction an ecological disturbance is characterized by a temporary shift in equilibrium, resulting in a pronounced change in an ecological system (krebs, 1999). the forests of glacier national park experience several types of natural and anthropogenic disturbances that differ in scale, intensity, and frequency. ecological disturbance research spans several academic disciplines varying from meteorologists studying weather patterns to entomologists focusing on insect outbreaks. weather events, such as lightning and heavy snowfalls, cause avalanches and forest fires, which regularly damage entire forest stands (johnson, fryer & heathcott, 1990). forest pathology research has shown that western hemlock looper and western balsam bark beetle cause significant damage and inhibit growth within interior cedar-hemlock (ich) forests (bleiker, lindgren, & maclauchlan, 2003; mccloskey, daniels & mclean, 2009; parks canada, 2009). forest disturbances are dynamic and there are often several contributing factors leading to a change in an ecological system. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 2 understanding ecological disturbances requires an interdisciplinary research approach. ecological disturbances are also central to archeological research because anthropogenic disturbances contribute to changes in the landscape at a variety of scales. in glacier national park first nations including the secwepemc, okanagan, and ktunaxa people traditionally used the land for seasonal hunting and foraging (mccleave, 2008). since the arrival of western settlers, significant anthropogenic alterations of the landscape have occurred, such as the construction of the canadian pacific railway through rogers pass and the ongoing avalanche control along the highway corridor (downs, 1980). regardless of the cause of disturbance, forest regeneration is often inhibited by intense snow pack and brush-dominated species like slide alder (alnus) or thimbleberry (rubus parviflorus) (parks canada, 2009). although large-scale disturbances have dramatic effects on forest stands, small-scale disturbances, such as those producing gaps in the forest canopy, can have greater overall effects on forest health (spies, franklin & klopsch, 1990). small canopy gaps, or forest gaps, are an important factor in disturbance regimes and vegetation growth (duncan, buckley, urlich, stewart & geritzlehner, 1998; scharenbroch & bockheim, 2007). forest gaps characterize a disturbance where a singular dominant tree dies or loses a branch, creating small openings in the forest canopy (mccarthy, 2001). dominant trees are often the tallest and oldest trees in a stand. these trees are often partially decayed and the first to be affected by severe weather events (coates, 2000). it is predicted that incidents of severe weather, insect outbreaks, and forest fire activity will increase with a warming climate. by studying current disturbance dynamics in forest ecosystems, researchers can better understand how forests will respond to disturbances in the future. gaps naturally occur in old growth and mature forests and are an indicator of overall forest health (yamamoto, 2000). researchers use gap dynamics to study the rate and type of species regeneration associated with single-tree disturbances (runkle, 1992). the theory of gap dynamics proposes that canopy gaps provide increased solar radiation, higher soil temperatures, and soil moisture, creating microclimates that favour shade-intolerant species (gray & spies, 1997; scharenbroch & bockheim, 2007; yamamoto, 2000). the balance between increased sunlight, shade from stumps and coarse woody debris (cwd) enhances seedling survival (gray & spies, 1997). cwd allows for recruitment of western hemlock seedlings, which out-compete other species due to their ability to germinate in a litter mostly void of mosses (peterson, peterson, weetman & martin, 1997). these optimal growing conditions increase species richness, defined as the number of different species within a given area (peterson et al., 1997; siitonen, the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 3 martikainen, punttila & rauh, 2000). gaps in the canopy cover affect species composition, succession, nutrient cycles, and habitat structure (spies et al., 1990). forest gap dynamics have been predominantly studied in tropical and temperate hardwood forests and to a lesser extent in western canadian coniferous forests (spies et al., 1990; bartemucci, coates, harper & wright, 2002). research hypothesis and objectives this research represents the first gap dynamics study completed in glacier national park. this research is important because small-scale disturbances are indicators of overall forest health. forest gaps provide a window into the future, where researchers can define the rate and type of species that will colonize a forest as it responds to change. the purpose of this research is to examine whether small-scale disturbances regulate species replacement patterns and support increased species richness and productivity in glacier national park. it is hypothesized that newer (more recent) small-scale disturbances create favourable site conditions, leading to increased species richness and productivity due to the abundance of otherwise limiting growth factors such as sunlight, nutrients, and precipitation. the objectives of this research are twofold: (1) describe small-scale disturbances using dendrochronological and ecological survey techniques supported by soil profile analysis to examine species replacement patterns; and (2) discuss whether productivity and species richness increase or decrease as a gap matures. figure 1: location of the study area in glacier national park, b.c. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 4 study area the study was conducted in balu pass, glacier national park in the columbia mountains of southeast british columbia, canada (figure 1). research was completed in september 2011 to allow for identification of herbaceous plants and sampling of trees with the most recent growth year present. the study area was chosen based on several factors, such as access to the site, forest age, tree species present, and elevation above sea level (asl). a megaplot was selected in the study area at n51 o 18’01”, w117 o 31’26” approximately 1386 m asl. the megaplot had an east-facing aspect with slope gradients ranging from 24% to 61%. according to british columbia’s ecosystem classification system, the megaplot was situated within the ich biogeoclimatic zone with the sub-classification moist cool (mk1) (figure 2), just below the elevation of engelmann spruce sub-alpine fir (essf) zone (ketcheson et al., 1991). the climate in glacier national park is classified as interior continental, with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers influenced by easterly flowing air masses (johnson et al., 1990). these rising air masses cause expansion and cooling which result in high precipitation throughout the park. mean annual precipitation is 1278 mm (parks canada, 2011) and average monthly temperatures range from -9 to +20 degrees celsius (parks canada, 2009b). within the megaplot, soils ranged from brunisolic to podzolic development, with an overall podzolic soil classification due to elevation and precipitation (coates, 2002). the ich in glacier national park is an example of a productive forest with abundant tree species including: western hemlock (tsuga heteophylla), mountain hemlock (tsuga mertensiana), sitka spruce (picea sitchensis), western red cedar (thuja plicata), and sub-alpine fir (abies lasiocarpa). characteristic vegetation of the area includes devil’s club (oplopanax horridus), lady fern (athyrium filixfemina), oak fern (gymnocarpium dryopteris), rosy twistedstalk (streptopus roseus), spiny wood fern (dryopteris expansa), oval-leaved blueberry (vaccinium ovalifolium), and black huckleberry (vaccinium membranaceum) (ketcheson et al., 1991; pojar, mackinnon, & coupe, 2008). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 5 figure 2: location and distribution of interior-cedar hemlock zone in british columbia (ministry of forests, 2011). methods plot selection a large plot was chosen to obtain information on a wide range of herbaceous species growing in similar forest conditions (clark & clark, 1992). a rectangular plot measuring 40 m x 15 m was established by determining a perimeter with a compass, measuring tape, and a hand-held garmin gps receiver. tree density was estimated to ensure the megaplot contained a minimum of 20 trees, the sample depth appropriate for comparison of annual tree ring widths across a relatively homogenous stand (cook & kairiukstis, 1992). the plot consisted of a single forest type with three distinct age classes. these age classes were delineated to create three distinct quadrats: quadrat one was classified as young, with an open canopy, quadrat two as mature, with a closed canopy, and quadrat three as an intermediate forest, with a closed sub-dominant canopy. a sketched map was created to log the plot perimeter, age class perimeters, and locations of significant cwd, soil pits, tree cores, and tree samples. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 6 vegetation survey a complete species list of mosses, herbaceous, and shrubby plants was assembled within each of the three quadrats (parish, lloyd, coupé & antos, 1996; pojar et al., 2008). for each quadrat, the percent cover of mosses, herbs, and shrubs was recorded and percent canopy closure was estimated visually (roush, 2007; bec field manual, 1998). within each of these layers, the percent cover of each individual species was estimated visually to the nearest 1%, after two researchers averaged estimations throughout the quadrat. the vegetation data collected was used to demonstrate the qualitative differences between the three time series gaps. visual representations of species richness (ground cover, herbaceous, shrub) among the three quadrats as well as percent cover by layer were created. a survey of cwd, defined as fallen trees or branches, uprooted trees no longer living, and other wooden debris that are not self-supporting, was taken via a transect, which crossed through the three quadrats at the center of the megaplot. diameter and decay class were recorded for each piece of cwd encountered along the transect with a diameter greater than 7.5 cm (bec field manual, 1998). cwd decay classes were recorded on a scale of 1-5, with “6” added as an additional class for cwd that had undergone significant decay. to reduce the chance of bias in the results, two individuals estimated and compared classifications for each piece of cwd. dendrochronology and tree mensuration living tree cores and tree measurements were collected from the largest twenty trees in the megaplot. trees were sampled radially at breast height (~1.3 m) on the upper slope using a 5.2 mm increment borer. diameter at breast height (dbh) was chosen because it is the standard measurement to avoid swelling of the basal tree butt and other growth distortions (roush, 2007). one core was taken per tree, but in the instances of rot, two cores were taken to provide a greater sample depth. cores were stored in plastic straws for transport to the university of victoria tree ring lab (uvtrl), where analysis was conducted. tree heights were acquired in meters using a nikon range finder and these measurements assisted with the on-site classification of dominant and co-dominant canopy trees. species type, overall tree health, and crown dimension were recorded to assess potential disturbances, such as fire scars and insect outbreaks (roush, 2007). seed trees < 5 cm dbh and approximately 1 m in height were cut with a handsaw and cross-sections were taken for measurement in the uvtrl. individual the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 7 seedlings (<1 cm dbh and <1 m) were tallied and their age determined on site by counting individual whorls. to prepare for dendrochronological analysis, tree cores were air dried and then glued on to slotted mounting boards (stokes & smiley, 1964). cross-sections and mounted cores were sanded with progressively finer sandpaper to a 600 gritpolish (stokes & smiley, 1964). the exact age of each sample was determined using a velmex stage and wild m3b microscope with 0.01 mm focusing power, coupled with a ccd video display. exact-age dating was applied where possible to provide a complete picture of the establishment and mortality of trees in the plot (gutsell & johnson, 2002). correlation analysis was conducted using the statistics program ibm spss 20 to verify if there was a relationship between the dependent variables (dbh and height) and the independent variable (age), and to allow for the production of a simple model to predict age. subsequent analyses were conducted to describe variations between quadrats. soil sampling three soil pits were dug to approximately 60 cm in the center of each of the three quadrats and their locations were recorded with a hand-held garmin gps receiver. soil horizon depths as well as fabric and litter layer thickness were measured with a measuring tape to millimeter accuracy. the biotic compositions of the litter layers were recorded to determine the presence of organics, mycelium abundance, and detrital activity. the percent composition of fine fragments (sand, clay, and silt) was estimated in each pit to determine the overall soil type using a soil texture triangle, which included a taste test, moist cast test, and graininess test (bec field manual, 1998). the size and shape of the soil particles were classified and the resulting drainage properties of the soil were estimated. the deposition of the area was noted based on the surrounding site geomorphology. soil samples containing gravels <7 cm from each pit were collected in petri dishes for examination. samples were taken from each horizon, dried, and then classified using a munsell color chart (bec field manual, 1998). results vegetation and course woody debris the percent cover within each of the three structural vegetation layers (ground cover, herbaceous, shrub) was highest in quadrat one (figure 3). quadrat two had lower percent cover in each layer, and quadrat three had the lowest overall percent cover. these results were consistent with the percent canopy closure of dominant and sub-dominant trees within each quadrat (figure 4). quadrat one, the youngest the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 8 gap, consisted of two dominant trees resulting in a 10% canopy closure. this contributed to the high percent cover of understory species observed (figure 3). quadrat two, the mature living forest had 85% canopy closure with low understory species biomass. quadrat three, the intermediate gap, had a very dense subdominant tree layer, which coincided with the lowest percent cover of understory biomass. here, the distribution of western hemlock and mountain hemlock resulted in a canopy closure of 95%. figure 3: percent cover in each vegetation layer in the three surveyed quadrats. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 9 figure 4: percent canopy closure of dominant and sub-dominant trees in the three surveyed quadrats. figure 5: species richness of ground cover, herbaceous and shrub layer is the three surveyed quadrats. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 10 species richness varied among the three quadrats (figure 5). quadrats one and two had the same overall species richness although a higher number of mosses were growing in quadrat one. it should be noted that although species richness was similar between these two areas, richness reflects absolute counts of species and not percent cover. percent cover was higher in quadrat one (figure 3). in quadrat three, species richness was lower in all sub-canopy layers. this coincided with the high canopy closure of sub-dominant and dominant trees. the volume, size, and decay of cwd varied greatly along the transect (figure 6). the first 15 m of the transect were within quadrat one, where a high volume of cwd existed. from 15 to 27 m, the transect passed through quadrat two where several large, standing hemlock trees resulted in very little cwd. from 27 to 40 m, the transect passed through quadrat three where a dense stand of small hemlock trees was growing. here, the volume of cwd increased again; however, this increase was noted in decay classes five and six. some of the cwd in this quadrat was severely decayed and could not be recorded in the cwd transect results. figure 6: coarse woody debris transect. dendrochronology and tree mensuration the final chronology of the plot extended 270 years with the sample age uniformly distributed. pith was achieved for most of the trees in the survey area, but exact ages remained unknown where rot was encountered. based on statistical analysis, pearson’s correlation (r) was 0.948 between the dbh and age and 0.932 between the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 11 height and age. due to this strong relationship, dbh and height were plotted against age and a least squares regression was applied (figure 7 and 8 respectively) to determine whether age explained either of the dependent variables. the coefficient of determination (r 2 ) for height as a function of age was 0.868, whereas the r 2 value for dbh as a function of age was 0.898. figure 7: dbh of mensurated trees in megaplot as a function of tree age. figure 8: height of mensurated trees in megaplot as a function of tree age. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 12 as a result, age was concluded to have a stronger relative strength index with dbh than with height (mcgrew & monrow, 2000). therefore, the model produced for the linear relationship of tree age and dbh was used to extrapolate estimated ages for trees where pith (the center of the tree) was not achieved. the known and estimated ages were then plotted per quadrat to give an average representation of western hemlock species within the survey area (figure 9). figure 9: average representative age of western hemlock trees per quadrat. each individual core was visually cross-dated to assess and compare growth release rings (a large productive growth ring bounded by smaller constrained growth rings) surrounding the gap formations. dendrochronological analysis resulted in an average age class per quadrat allowing for the examination of relationships within gaps. a period of good growth throughout the megaplot was observed between approximately 1950 and 1960 ad. this growth did not correspond with any known gap formations and was likely the result of favourable climatic conditions in the region. however, consistent periods of good growth years in trees surrounding gaps are suspected to be the result of the mortality of a dominant tree (speers, 2010). these growth results are specified below with respect to each quadrat. quadrat one only two large trees were found within quadrat one as the rest of the quadrat consisted of an open forest gap comprised of ground cover species, herbaceous plants, shrubs, and hemlock seedlings. the average age throughout the open gap the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 13 area was 11.9 years with a standard deviation of 10.5 years. good growth conditions were observed in the dominant trees in the gap from approximately 1980-1985 ad, corresponding to the probable time of seedling germination in the center of the gap. within the time periods 1940-1945 ad and 1920-1925 ad, trees surrounding the gap demonstrated distinct growth releases, likely coinciding with the time of the disturbance forming the gap. the age of the oldest sapling in quadrat one was 43 years and is likely one of the first individuals to have re-colonized the gap following the disturbance. the three larger saplings in the gap were identified as western hemlock and found on the perimeter of the open area. the age of saplings and seedlings ranged considerably within the quadrat, and overall western hemlock productivity was high. for example, on a single nursing log, 209 live one-year old hemlock seedlings were counted. the age distribution of regenerating hemlock seedlings was plotted to show the variability in the population (figure 10). figure 10: age distribution of regenerating hemlock seedlings in quadrat one. quadrat two the trees in quadrat two were the oldest in the megaplot, with an average age of 216 years (figure 9). dendrochronological results showed no overarching growth correlations among the total population of quadrat two. however, growth release patterns in several trees of quadrat two corresponded to the estimated age of the gaps in quadrats one and three. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 14 quadrat three the trees in quadrat three were an evenly aged distribution of western hemlock and mountain hemlock species, with only 67.3% living (33) and 32.7% (16) dead. the height of the living trees plotted against dbh had a linear correlation with a pearson’s r value of 0.787 (figure 11). figure 11: height as a function of dbh for western and mountain hemlock species in quadrat three. our results point to two disturbances that affected growth in quadrat three over approximately 120 years, as was evident in the growth releases of several older trees (approximately 200 years) surrounding quadrat three. these trees demonstrated growth releases between 1930-1940 ad, corresponding to the average age of living, juvenile trees populating this intermediate gap. the average age of the living trees was 68 years, with a standard deviation of 11 years. the 200-year-old trees also demonstrated a growth release approximately 1890-1900 ad, which may have resulted from a small-scale disturbance event. the gap in quadrat three is distinctive from the gap found in quadrat one due to the older average stand age, higher density of trees, and higher rate of mortality. soil results soils in quadrat one were classified as a silty loam and soils in quadrats two and three were classified as fine sandy loams. these classifications were derived from the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 15 the percent of fine fragments. although overall soil types in each quadrat were similar, substantial differences in the litter and fabric layers as well as the a horizons existed between soil profiles. fine fragments were classified as sands, silts or clays. course fragments (>2 mm) were classified as sub-angular in each pit and were relatively uniform in abundance. sites were classified with a colluvium deposition based on the slope and surrounding geomorphology. soil pit one had no litter layer but a fabric layer of 2.3 cm depth. the colour of the humus layer indicated there was a high level of organic material present. the a horizon was strongly leached into the lower horizons creating a distinctly white appearance. this soil pit was classified as a well-drained podzolic silty loam based on the presence of fine fragments, biotic component, and colour. soil pit two also had no distinguishable litter layer and had the smallest observed fabric layer of 1.9 cm depth. there was a trace of an organic layer present directly above the a layer and below the humus layer. there were two a horizons identified in the pit, both of which were less leached than pit one, resulting in a more pinkish appearance. this soil pit was classified as a well-drained podzolic fine sandy loam based on the greater percent of fine fragments, biotic component, and lighter colour. soil pit three was the only pit that had a distinct litter layer. this litter layer was significant and measured to 5.0 cm in depth. pit three also contained the largest fabric layer at 3.0 cm, with significant amounts of consolidated matted mycelium matter. beneath the trace humus layer, two leached a horizons were present. leaching was not as obvious as in pit one, leaving the soil with a pinkish-grey appearance. this soil pit was classified as a well-drained podzolic fine sandy loam based on the greater percent of fine fragments and biotic component. discussion dendrochronological and forest mensuration results from the three quadrats within the megaplot describe four distinct disturbances over a period of approximately 120130 years. these disturbances are likely the result of separate single, dominant-tree mortality events, which is evident due to the abundance and decomposition of cwd in the gap areas of quadrats one and three. our study site presented an opportunity to examine three distinct and diverse age classes and their representative microclimates occurring within a condensed setting. our results were consistent with our hypothesis that newly formed gaps and notably that small-scale disturbances create favourable conditions for increased species richness and productivity. these new gaps also regulate species replacement patterns and create transitional forests. it is important to note that in the intermediate gap, species the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 16 richness and productivity were very low, but that in the mature gap species richness was comparable with the newly formed gap. this finding demonstrates how equilibrium shifts create dynamic and transitional forests and how important disturbances are to forest health and biodiversity. increased canopy heterogeneity suggests that the forest is transitioning from a mature to an old growth stage. this is further supported by the presence of several large veteran trees, snags, cwd, and various stages of successional regrowth (bec manual, 1998). in areas like glacier national park, which have a high frequency of large-scale disturbances, small-scale disturbances like those in this study may provide a niche for the future species composition of the forest (sherman, fahey & battles, 2000). the three quadrats in the megaplot are examples of an ich forest in three distinct age classes. quadrat one in the megaplot represents the youngest age class in the study. formed likely by a single disturbance event, quadrat one had all the characteristics of a traditional forest gap, containing high amounts of herbaceous and shrub species, as well as cwd in the form of nurse logs (peterson et al., 1997). here, a significant amount of partially decomposed cwd provided the basis for new generations of western hemlock trees. in this quadrat, a single remaining veteran in the southwest corner of the quadrat, which offered only 10% canopy closure, provided the shade required to support secondary succession in the gap. the average age of juvenile trees in the quadrat was approximately 11 years. this, along with the presence of more than 200 new seedlings, supported quadrat one as the youngest age class in the megaplot. as an intermediate age class, quadrat three demonstrated a more progressed stage of hemlock gap colonization. the deep litter and fabric layers, coupled with stage six decomposition of cwd confirmed that quadrat three is a gap, which likely formed following the fall of a veteran tree. the amount and density of trees within this small quadrat (more than 30) with a relatively even age of about 70 years, suggest that this quadrat was a mature gap with an intermediate age class. seedlings likely germinated following the formation of a gap and subsequently out-competed each other for light and nutrients. quadrat two, in the center of the megaplot, was the oldest age class in the study area, with several evenly-spaced large western hemlock trees spanning the quadrat. although many of the trees experienced some form of damage, there was no evidence of constant stress as evident in tight ring widths among the stand. the limited amount of cwd indicated an absence of small-scale disturbance events. a very thin fabric and litter layer in conjunction with an 85% closed canopy substantially reduced the percent cover of species in the understory. the trees in the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 17 quadrat two are an example of a successional stand that is too large to be formed by a small, single disturbance event. the consistent age of the stand (with all samples approximately 200 years or older) was likely established following a large-scale disturbance. although it was hypothesized that species richness would increase with the formation of a new gap, our results show that the overall species richness in our young gap did not differ from species richness in the stable stand (quadrat two). these findings indicate that either there is no increase in species richness with the formation of a gap, or that the spatial autocorrelation between quadrat one and quadrat two caused species richness to be constant. however, in comparing the two gaps, it was found that species richness in the young gap (quadrat one) was much higher than richness in the intermediate gap (quadrat three). despite the species richness findings, substantial differences in productivity between the three quadrats were observed. the plant community found in quadrat one represented species that are “gap requiring,” made evident by the fact that they were present in high percentages in the gap (acevedo, urban & ablan, 1995). microclimatic elements such as sunlight availability, increased precipitation, soil temperature, substrate, organic matter, and edge effects (precipitation drip line) also influenced the type and abundance of plants in the early successional gap community. soil pits were initially introduced in the study to compare potential differences between “gap requiring” species and shade tolerant species, as well as their respective underlying substrates (wright et al., 1998). although the organic component was higher in quadrat one, increased leaching of the a horizon pointed to the potential lack of retention and absorption by dominant trees, which may lead to less moisture availability due to the nature of a well drained soil. this lack of moisture availability may influence the overall structure of the plant community. the occurrence of small-scale disturbances, which increase the volume of cwd in a forest, offers considerable regeneration potential for species such as western hemlock (lertzman, 1992; lorimer, 1984). this was apparent in our megaplot, where high amounts of fallen, decomposing trees and cwd had a direct relationship with the growth of western hemlock seedlings. as suggested in other studies, germination of western hemlock is dominant in comparison with other tree species (mountain hemlock, subalpine fir, sitka spruce, western red cedar) on fallen logs and tip-up mounds found in gaps (peterson et al., 1997; lorimer, 1984). quadrat one provided a clear example of this where we observed the growth of at least 209 seedlings on a single fallen veteran. more than 40 other western hemlock trees between the ages of 3 and 43 were counted in the same quadrat. in addition to the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 18 the presence of cwd, the availability of abundant sunlight and water likely supported early stages of germination. time varies based on microsite conditions, but in pristine conditions, germination occurs approximately 2-3 years after a disturbance. the delayed germination within the megaplot could be attributed to the elevation and reduced growing season of the site. western hemlock trees were dominant in the megaplot canopy and in the surrounding stand. their dominance in the understory (area where shrubs and herbaceous plants grow) suggests that western hemlock species are particularly good at regenerating in areas with cwd. although western hemlock demonstrates high seedling germination rates, significant consequences of elevated gap productivity were also observed in quadrat three. quadrat three presented a situation where gap formation led to an increased rate of regeneration that resulted in the subsequent mortality of juvenile western hemlock. it is thought that this was due to increased competition for limiting growth factors, such as sunlight and nutrients. likely the gap in quadrat three was highly productive in the early stages of its formation when sunlight was abundant and cwd nursing logs were moderately decomposed. this is evident by the dense network of similarly aged western hemlock in the stand growing on decaying remnants of cwd. high volumes of cwd lead to greater concentrations of nutrients in the soil and higher moisture retention. these conditions are ideal for species recruitment (siitonen et al., 2000). this evidence supports our hypothesis that most trees in quadrat three germinated during favorable conditions following a small-scale disturbance. this is due to the higher overall species richness and productivity, as well as the availability of nutrients in what would have been the newly formed gap approximately 30 years ago. this response is typical in gap formations of the ich, known for its dense forest canopy and shade tolerant plant communities (wright et al., 1998). also evident in quadrat three is the transition away from a gap phase as the stand matures, out-competed species die, and dominant and sub-dominant trees take hold. this quadrat exemplifies successional gap dynamics and the transition that occurs when light and nutrients are limiting factors in a stand. conclusion new forest gaps support increased species richness and productivity in ich forests of glacier national park. this study demonstrates the temporal succession of gaps in their early, intermediate, and late stages. good growth conditions resulting from small-scale disturbances increase productivity, which over time can lead to increased stand density and higher intraand interspecies competition resulting in the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 19 mortality. in glacier national park, newly formed gaps have higher species percent cover and richness in all vegetation layers in comparison to intermediate gaps that have dramatically reduced percent cover and richness as they progress into an intermediate age class. germination of western hemlock trees was most successful when cwd was present in decay class three or greater. this study is consistent with mensuration studies completed in the ich of the columbia mountains and in northern british columbia examining frequency of canopy gap formations due to small-scale disturbances in mature, species-diverse forests. small-scale disturbances play a key role in determining the distribution and abundance of species in a forest. future research as we learn more about ecological disturbances it is clear that more research needs to be completed in order to understand how forests will respond to future climatic conditions. research is needed in glacier national park to understand the interactions of natural and anthropogenic disturbances, as well as how smalland largescale disturbances interact within the landscape. future work could include a more detailed comparison study of multiple megaplots distributed throughout the ich zone of the park. this research could focus on the changing extent of ich forests in glacier national park as warming climate conditions extend the elevation of the ich, creating a larger transitional area between ich and essf zones. it is predicted that a warming climate will create greater incidences of species overlap and hybridization between the ich and essf designations. references acevedo, m.f., urban, d.l. & ablan, m. (1995). transition and gap models of forest dynamics. ecological applications, 5(4), 1040-1055 bartemucci, p., coates, k.d., harper, k.a. & wright, e.f. (2002). gap disturbances in northern old growth forests of british columbia, canada. journal of vegetation science, 13(5), 685-696. doi:10.1111/j.16541103.2002.tb02096.x bec field manual. (1998). field manual for describing terrestrial ecosystems. bc ministry of environment, bc ministry of forests, victoria, british columbia: resources industry branch, (pp.8-12, 24-32). becweb. (2011). interior cedar-hemlock forests in southeastern british columbia. retrieved from http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/becweb/ bleiker, k.p, lindgren, b.s., & maclauchlan, l.e. (2003). characteristics of subalpine fir susceptible to attack by western balsam bark beetle (coleoptera: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/becweb/ the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 20 scolytidae). canadian journal of forest research, 33(8), 1538-1538. doi:10.1139/x03-071 clark, d & clark, d. (1992). life-history diversity of canopy and emergent trees in neo-tropical rain-forest. ecological monographs, 62(3), 315-244. coates, d.k. (2000). conifer seedling response to northern temperate forest gaps. forest ecology and management, 127, 249-269. coates. d.k. (2002). tree recruitment in gaps of various size, clearcuts and undisturbed mixed forest of interior british columbia, canada. forest ecology and management, 155, 387-398. downs, a. (eds.). (1980). incredible rogers pass. surrey, british columbia: frontier books,(pp. 14-34). duncan, r., buckley, h., urlich, s., stewart, g., & geritzlehner, j. (1998). smallscale species richness in forest canopy gaps: the role of niche limitation versus the size of the species pool. journal of vegetation science, 9(3), 455460. doi:10.2307/3237109 gray, a.n. & spies, t.a. (1997). microsite controls on tree seedling establishment in conifer forest canopy gaps. ecology, 78(8), 2458-2473. doi:10.1890/00129658 gutsell, s.l. & johnson, e.a. (2002). accurately aging trees and examining their height-growth rates: implications for examining forest dynamics. journal of ecology, 90, 153-166. johnson, e., fryer, g., & heathcott, m. (1990). the influence of man and climate on frequency of fire in the interior wets belt forest, british columbia. journal of ecology, 78(2), 403-412. ketcheson, m. v., braumandl, t. f., meidinger, d., utzig, g., demarchi, d. a. & wikeem, b. (1991). chapter 11: interior cedar-hemlock zone. in d. meidinger and j. pojar (eds.), bc ministry of forests, ecosystems of british columbia, 167-181. victoria, canada: research branch. retrieved from http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/srs/srs06/chap11.pdf krebs, c.j. (1999). ecological methodology. menlo park, california: benjamin/cummings (pp. 39-40). lertzman, k.p. (1992). patterns of gap-phase replacement in a subalpine, oldgrowth forest. ecology, 73(2), 657-669. lorimer, c. (1984). methodological considerations in the analysis of forest disturbance history. canadian journal of forest research. 15, 200-213. mccarthy, j. (2001). gap dynamics of forest trees: a review with particular attention to boreal forests. environmental reviews, 9(1), 1-1. doi:10.1139/er9-1-1 http://www.geog.uvic.ca/dept2/faculty/smithd/477/manuals/readings/02_geog477.pdf http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/srs/srs06/chap11.pdf http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/srs/srs06/chap11.pdf the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 21 mccleave, j.m. (2008). chapter 7: mount revelstoke and glacier national parks. the regional integration of protected areas: a study of canada's national parks. unpublished phd dissertation. university of waterloo, waterloo, ontario, (pp. 198-229). mccloskey, s., daniels, l. & mclean, j. (2009). potential impacts of climate change on western hemlock looper outbreaks. northwest science, 83(3), 225-238. mcgrew, j.c., & monroe, c.b. (2000). an introduction to statistical problem solving in geography. united states of america: the mcgraw-hill companies, inc. parish, r., lloyd, d., coupé, r., & antos, j. (1996). plants of southern interior british columbia. vancouver: lone pine pub. parks canada. (2009). glacier national park of canada: old growth inland forest. retrieved from: http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/natcul/natcul1/c.aspx parks canada. (2009b). teacher resource centre: glacier national park of canada.retrieved from: http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/itm2-crptrc/htm/fglacier_e.asp parks canada. (2011). glacier national park of canada weather and climate. retrieved from: http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/visit/visit4.aspx peterson, e.b., peterson, n.m, weetman, g.f, & martin, p.j. (1997). ecology and management of sitka spruce: emphasizing its natural range in british columbia.vancouver, british columbia: ubc press, (pp. 80-81). pojar, j., mackinnon, a. & coupe, p.b. (2008). plants of coastal british columbia, including washington, oregon & alaska. edmonton, alta: lone pine pub. roush, w. (2007). a substantial upward shift of the alpine treeline ecotone in the southern canadian rocky mountains. msc thesis: university of victoria, (pp. 34-75). runkle, j.r. (1992). guidelines and sample protocol for sampling forest gaps. no. 283.portland, or: u.s.d.a. forest service, pacific northwest research station. scharenbroch, b.c. & bockheim, j.g. (2007). impacts of forest gaps on soil properties and processes in old growth northern hardwood-hemlock forests. plant and soil, 294(1), 219-233. doi:10.1007/s11104-007-9248-y sherman, r.e., fahey, t.j, & battles, j.j. (2000). small scale disturbance and regeneration dynamics in a neotropical mangrove forest. journal of ecology, 88(1), 165-168. http://www.geog.uvic.ca/dept2/faculty/smithd/477/manuals/readings/41_geog477.pdf http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/natcul/natcul1/c.aspx http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/itm2-crp-trc/htm/fglacier_e.asp http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/itm2-crp-trc/htm/fglacier_e.asp http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/visit/visit4.aspx the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: hoffman, et. al. 22 siitonen, j., martikainen, p., punttila, p. & rauh, j. (2000). coarse woody debris and stand characteristics in mature managed and old-growth boreal mesic forests in southern finland. forest ecology and management, 128, 211-225. spies, t., franklin, j. & klopsch, m. (1990). canopy gaps in douglas-fir forests of the cascade mountains. canadian journal of forest research, 20(5), 649658. doi: 10.1139/x90-087 speers, j.h. (2010). fundamentals of tree ring research. tucson, usa: the university ofarizona press, (pp. 192-194). stokes, m.a. & smiley, t.l. (1964). an introduction to tree-ring dating. chicago, usa: university of chicago press, (pp. 69-73). wright, e.f., canham, c.d. & coates, k.d. (2000). effects of suppression and release on sapling growth for 11 tree species of northern, interior british columbia. canadian journal of forest research, 5(1), 197-202. yamamoto, s. (2000). forest gap dynamics and tree regeneration. journal of forest research, 5(4), 223-229. doi:10.1007/bf02767114 contact information kira michelle hoffman, from the department of geography, can be reached at kiramhoffman@gmail.com. carley coccola, from the department of geography, can be reached at carleycoccola@gmail.com. kimberly house, from the department of geography, can be reached at kimhouse8@gmail.com. annie markvoort, from the department of geography, can be reached at amarkvoort@gmail.com. acknowledgments we would like to thank dr. dan smith and dr. jim gardner for an amazing educational experience throughout the 477 geography field school. we would also like to thank our teaching assistants kara pitman, jodi axelson and bethany coulthard for all their assistance in the field and in the uvic tree ring lab. mailto:kiramhoffman@gmail.com mailto:carleycoccola@gmail.com mailto:kimhouse8@gmail.com mailto:amarkvoort@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 98 fiduciary relationship as contemporary colonialism christina yui iwase abstract: aboriginal rights as inherent rights deriving from aboriginal peoples’ historical occupation of north america (i.e. sovereignty) are recognized and affirmed in section 35(1) of the canadian constitution act, 1982. despite the fact that this constitutional protection recognizes the sui generis nature of the crown-aboriginal relationship, there is a recent tendency in the supreme court of canada to comprehend aboriginal rights by characterizing the crown-aboriginal relationship as fiduciary. this paper discusses the danger of recognizing aboriginal rights through the lens of a crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship. this type of recognition entails: (1) authorizing excessive fiduciary discretion by the crown, as opposed to focusing on its obligations; (2) failing to reflect the aboriginal perspective on aboriginal rights, which are derived from aboriginal sovereignty; (3) fundamentally distorting the nature of aboriginal rights by creating a myth that aboriginal rights were created by the canadian constitution; and (4) as a result, creating vulnerability on the aboriginal side by making aboriginal peoples tacitly consent to the crown’s de facto sovereignty. if the court’s characterization of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship remains as it is now, the gap between the crown’s understanding of aboriginal rights and that of aboriginal peoples may constitute a form of contemporary colonialism. key terms: fiduciary relationship; section 35(1); colonialism introduction aboriginal peoples are the original inhabitants of what is now known as canada. this fact alone gives them their political as well as legal rights, exercisable at their pleasure. these so-called aboriginal rights have been given form within the canadian legal framework in section 35(1) of the constitution act, 1982. this legal provision has become the cornerstone of aboriginal peoples’ claims of aboriginal and treaty rights. however, the understanding of the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 99 the nature of aboriginal rights is still controversial. while aboriginal peoples understand aboriginal rights as stemming from their prior occupation of their traditional lands (i.e. aboriginal sovereignty), the question of how this understanding can be reconciled with the crown’s assertion of sovereignty over canada is still unresolved. in 1984, in guerin v. the queen, the supreme court of canada characterized the sui generis crown-aboriginal relationship as ―fiduciary‖ (p. 42-43). the majority judgment stated that this characterization was based on inherent aboriginal title, while the minority held that it was based on the surrender of land by the band to the crown. the recognition of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship was affirmed in r. v. sparrow in 1990. in this case, the supreme court held that the question of whether an aboriginal harvesting right has been infringed must be interpreted in light of the crown’s fiduciary duty to aboriginal peoples. while these characterizations of the crown-aboriginal relationship may seem to provide a legal tool to enhance aboriginal rights, my analysis of the implications of both guerin and sparrow shows that the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship works so as to confine aboriginal rights claims and ultimately subordinate aboriginal peoples to crown sovereignty. focusing on the above-mentioned court cases, this article examines the nature of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship in order to investigate whether this sui generis, ―trust-like‖ relationship: (1) merely reflects the power imbalance between the crown and aboriginal peoples; (2) is designed to produce further vulnerability on the aboriginal side; (3) is concealed in the morally appealing term ―fiduciary relationship‖; and (4) works as a means to confine aboriginal peoples as dependent peoples in this unilaterally created framework, in order to make them tacitly consent to the fact that crown sovereignty is unquestionable. the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship the crown-aboriginal relationship was first characterized as fiduciary by the supreme court of canada (the ―court‖) in guerin v. the queen. the facts of this case were that the indian affairs branch of the federal government, acting on behalf of the musqueam band, leased approximately 160 acres of the band’s land in vancouver to shaughnessy heights golf club on terms that had not been negotiated with the band, creating damage on the band side. the legal issue was whether the band could recover damages by reason of a breach of trust on the crown side. the court held that the crown breached its fiduciary, or ―trust-like‖, obligations to the the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 100 band and awarded the band $10 million in compensation, upholding the original trial decision (guerin, 1984, p. 5). guerin is considered to be a landmark decision in aboriginal rights cases for two reasons. first, despite the fact that the crown claimed that aboriginal interests are not legal interests, so that any crown duty is political in nature, the court affirmed that aboriginal rights are pre-existing rights not derived from the royal proclamation of 1763, the indian act, or any other executive actions or legislative stipulations (guerin, 1984, p. 379). second, as a result, aboriginal rights were considered as being independent legal interests, so that a duty to protect them would be legally enforceable. in relation to the supreme court of canada decision r. v. calder (1973) in which aboriginal title was recognized as being an independent legal right, the guerin decision was also significant in that it affirmed the idea that aboriginal rights are worthy of receiving legal remedies in canadian courts (donohue, 1991, p. 387). regarding this point, kent mcneil argues that the fiduciary relationship is beneficial for aboriginal peoples, as the concepts of the crown’s obligations to, and responsibility for, aboriginal peoples ―fortify and support the more specific duties‖ arising from treaties; furthermore, they give aboriginal peoples ―various grounds for pursuing claims against the federal government‖ (2001, p. 355). that is to say, the very fiduciary framework itself confines the crown to act in accordance with its obligations, thereby setting some limitations on crown sovereignty. however, the problem with the guerin decision was that both the nature and scope of the crown-aboriginal relationship were left undefined. consequently, later court cases dealing with the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship simply refer to the guerin case without further elaborating it, thereby creating a situation in which the fiduciary relationship is treated as both axiomatic and embryonic (rotman, 2003, p. 366). it was in sparrow that the court rearticulated the crown-aboriginal relationship as fiduciary and added more substance to this relationship. mcneil (2001, pp. 319-320) argues that, as a result of the sparrow case, the fiduciary obligation of the crown was constitutionalized in section 35(1), thereby widening the scope of the crown obligation to the whole crownaboriginal relationship. leonard l. rotman also observes that not only was the expansion of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship in sparrow ―firmly entrenched as an integral basis of crown-native interaction,‖ in the sense that the combination of guerin and sparrow has constituted a new the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 101 ground on which aboriginal rights jurisprudence rests, but that there is now a potential to apply this relationship to ―all elements of crown-native interactions‖ (2003, p. 365). the implications of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship since the characterization of the crown-aboriginal relationship as fiduciary has a potential to become the foundation on which all aspects of crown-aboriginal interactions are assessed, it is worth examining possible implications of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship. analyzing this relationship as a conceptual framework provides a clearer comprehension of the nature of the relationship and an assessment of whether this framework is beneficial to aboriginal rights. a fiduciary relationship is a legal relationship generally defined as one in which a party has rights and powers that he or she must exercise for the benefit of another person, and more importantly, ―a fiduciary is not allowed himself to benefit in any way from the position he holds‖ (yogis, 1995, p. 92). whether this generally understood definition can be applicable to the crown-aboriginal relationship needs to be investigated. the way in which the court defined the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship can be found in sparrow, since this judgment is considered as giving some substance to the relationship. in sparrow, the court stated that ―the relationship between the government and aboriginals is trust-like, rather than adversarial, and contemporary recognition and affirmation of aboriginal rights must be defined in light of this historic relationship‖ (1990, p. 35). this statement needs to be carefully analyzed in order to understand (1) why the crown-aboriginal relationship can be characterized as fiduciary in nature, and (2) the possible implications of this characterization. according to the court, the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship emerged out of the parties’ historic relationship. in guerin, the court relied on the royal proclamation of 1763 as the first recorded expression of the fiduciary relationship by stating ―any sale or lease of land can only be carried out after a surrender has taken place, with the crown then acting on the band’s behalf. the crown first took this responsibility upon itself in the royal proclamation of 1763‖ (1984, p. 43). the royal proclamation states that ―...the several nations or tribes of indians with whom we are connected, and who live under our protection, the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 102 should not be molested or disturbed in the possession of such parts of our dominions and territories as...are reserved to them‖ (1763, p. 12). however, what should not be forgotten is that the royal proclamation of 1763 is also a legal document that is considered as the source of crown sovereignty asserted over north america. indeed, the royal proclamation stipulates, regarding lands not encompassed by the proclamation, or by the hudson’s bay company land grant, that ―we do further declare it to be our royal will and pleasure...to reserve [these additional lands] under our sovereignty, protection, and dominion, for the use of the said indians‖ (1763, p. 13). nevertheless, the court also recognized that the idea of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship is rooted in the concept of aboriginal title. referring to the 1921 privy council case, amodu tijani v. southern nigeria (secretary), which acknowledged the principle that ―a change in sovereignty over a particular territory does not...affect the presumptive title of the inhabitants [emphasis added]‖) (p. 45), the court noted that this principle (also implicitly assumed in calder in that aboriginal title is confirmed as being an independent legal right) is recognized in the royal proclamation of 1763 (guerin, 1984, p. 45). based on the court’s understanding of the correlation between the concepts of aboriginal title and of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship, it can provisionally be concluded that in guerin, the court affirmed that the crown’s recognition of aboriginal title, as recognized in calder, is based on the establishment of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship. it can also be said that aboriginal sovereignty was cancelled at the same time the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship was created. 1 this proposition can be further examined by analyzing the sparrow case. surprisingly, with regard to the foundation of crown sovereignty, the court in sparrow stated rather bluntly that ―while british policy towards the native population was based on respect for their right to occupy their traditional lands, a proposition to which the royal proclamation of 1763 bears witness, there was from the outset never any doubt that sovereignty and legislative power, and indeed the underlying title, to such lands vested in the crown [emphasis added]‖ (1990, p. 30). indeed, kenneth coates flatly perceives the royal proclamation of 1763 as the 1 evan fox-decent argues that the way in which the court recognizes the crownaboriginal fiduciary relationship provides legitimacy to the crown’s de facto sovereignty (2006, p. 3). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 103 crown’s assertion of sovereignty (2001, p. 81). considering these statements and provisions together, it becomes appropriate to read the royal proclamation as a legal document which legitimizes both crown sovereignty and the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship that is rooted in the concept of aboriginal title. however, what is left out of this conceptual framework is the fact that aboriginal occupation of the land is derived from aboriginal sovereignty. this is the foundation on which the crown-aboriginal historical relationship must be established. the crown-aboriginal historical relationship the proposition that the royal proclamation of 1763 is the basis of crown sovereignty and the first emerged the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship may come into conflict with aboriginal peoples’ understanding of the royal proclamation, because this proposition has the potential to deny aboriginal sovereignty. this raises the question of whether there exists a mutually acceptable understanding of the historical relationship between the crown and aboriginal peoples in canada, since crown sovereignty and aboriginal sovereignty tend to be viewed as mutually exclusive or irreconcilable. that is, the understanding of the crownaboriginal historical relationship itself still remains unresolved and contested. significantly, in the provisions of the royal proclamation, the term ―sovereignty‖ is only used once when describing the crown’s protection of nations or tribes of indians. as well, in guerin, the court reaffirmed the standpoint of the u.s. supreme court in johnson and graham’s lessee v. m’intosh (1823) in which chief justice john marshall explained that the doctrine of discovery (1) gave the discovering nation the ―sole right of acquiring the soil from the natives,‖ but (2) as a result, the ―rights of the original inhabitants were...necessarily, to a considerable extent, impaired [emphasis added]‖ (guerin, 1984, p. 45). moreover, in this case, justice marshall held that the ―natives were admitted to be the rightful occupants of the soil, with a legal as well as just claims to retain possession of it...but their rights to complete sovereignty, as independent nations, were necessarily diminished‖ (johnson v. m’intosh, 1823, p. 21). neither the above-mentioned court cases nor the royal proclamation of 1763 explicitly acknowledged the existence of aboriginal sovereignty and, instead, treated crown sovereignty as a fait accompli. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 104 indeed, as argued by thomas flanagan (1989, p. 602), the basis of justice marshall’s trilogy of cases 2 was the assumption that united states sovereignty over the american indians was unquestionable. based on this understanding of de facto crown sovereignty, it can be presumed that aboriginal peoples’ historic occupation of their traditional lands is not considered by the courts as constituting sovereignty. in other words, to recognize aboriginal peoples’ right to occupy their lands does not necessarily mean to recognize their sovereignty over these lands. interestingly, in guerin, referring to johnson v. m’intosh, the term ―sovereignty‖ with respect to aboriginal peoples was only used once in the context of the denial of aboriginal sovereignty. 3 likewise, in sparrow, the court affirmed ―the rights of the indians to their aboriginal lands – certainly as legal rights [emphasis added]‖ (1990, p. 31). in the context of the crown-aboriginal relationship, legal rights are derivative of sovereignty, not vice versa, so that to hold legal rights requires a pre-existing legal system from which the rights can be derived. however, does this mean that aboriginal legal rights are derived from aboriginal sovereignty? when reading the court’s affirmation of aboriginal legal rights in relation to its earlier statement that ―there was from the outset never any doubt that sovereignty and legislative power...to such lands vested in the crown‖ (sparrow, 1990, p. 30), it can be concluded that aboriginal peoples possess legal rights derived from crown sovereignty. what can be assumed from this proposition is that aboriginal peoples’ occupation of their traditional lands is not considered equivalent to them having sovereignty. that is to say, there appears to be a separation between the notion of sovereignty and mere ownership of lands. this conceptual separation is best described by the concept of terra nullius. two meanings of terra nullius: rationale for crown occupation in order to legitimize the dispossession of aboriginal peoples, the separation between sovereignty over lands and ownership of lands was made possible by giving two meanings to the concept of terra nullius: (1) a country within which no sovereign recognized by european nations exists; 2 the marshall trilogy refers to the three cases which together formed the basis of federal indian law: johnson v. m’intosh (1823), cherokee nation v. georgia (1831), and worcester v. georgia (1832). 3 ―their rights to complete sovereignty, as independent nations, were necessarily diminished.‖ guerin v. the queen, [1984] 2 s.c.r. 335, p. 45. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 105 and (2) a territory where no lands are owned by anybody (reynolds, 1992, p. 12). both meanings serve as legal rationales and justifications for european occupation, and ultimately, crown sovereignty. an inquiry into the foundation of these two meanings of terra nullius is essential because, not only do they interpret the way in which aboriginal sovereignty is degraded to mere ownership of traditional lands, but when this interpretation is applied to the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship, it shows how the crown can use its fiduciary relationship with aboriginal peoples as a tool to expand its power over the latter. the next section will discuss the two meanings of terra nullius and the relationship between them. terra nullius regarding sovereignty firstly, this terra nullius argument directly involves the question of sovereignty, since the argument concerns aboriginal peoples’ legal status according to international law. the main question here is whether the law of nations is applicable to aboriginal peoples or communities. the way in which the law of nations perceives aboriginal peoples should not be overlooked since, with regard to sovereignty and ownership, terra nullius provides the rationale for the denial of aboriginal sovereignty. as explained in the marshall trilogy of decisions and later referred to in guerin, the principle of discovery in international law is understood as balancing the competing interests of european nations in that discovery could only vest in the discovering nation the sole right to purchase land from aboriginal peoples. therefore, this is a legal principle applicable only to european nations. this line of argument is consistent with that of hugo grotius, a dutch jurist, who claimed that a preemptive right to land needs to be accompanied by subsequent action of possession (1916, p. 11). according to this argument, the crown cannot claim sovereignty over territory solely based on the action of discovery. additional actions are needed to fortify the crown’s preemptive right. the underlying assumption of this discovery argument may seem to be an acknowledgment of aboriginal possession of the land, as the act of discovery grants the discovering nation a pre-emptive right to purchase the land from aboriginal peoples. however, this was not the common western view at the time european nations encountered aboriginal peoples. as mentioned earlier, the common view held by europeans was that the notion the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 106 of terra nullius itself embraces two different meanings: (1) a country within which no sovereign recognized by european nations exists; and (2) a territory where no lands are owned by anybody (reynolds, 1992, p. 12). in the discussion of sovereignty concerning aboriginal peoples, european nations adopted the former view to legitimize annexation of the land (reynolds, 1992, p. 12). the adoption of this view in the context of sovereignty indicates that aboriginal peoples are legally and politically excluded from the international realm. they are legally excluded because the first view denies aboriginal peoples entitlement to statehood within the framework of the law of nations. moreover, aboriginal peoples are politically excluded because the underlying assumption of the legal exclusion of aboriginal statehood from the law of nations stems from the notion that european legal systems are superior to or more civilized than those of aboriginal peoples. this discriminatory view was openly expressed by scholars in the nineteenth century. thomas j. lawrence, for example, claimed that a territory is considered as technically terra nullius and open to occupation if it is ―not in the possession of states who are members of the family of nations‖ (1910, p. 11). even in the twentieth century, some scholars bluntly embrace the discourse of savagism when theorizing about aboriginal peoples’ prior occupancy of their traditional lands. for instance, john westlake (1904, pp. 105-107) held the view that aboriginal peoples’ inability to provide a governance system ―suited to white men‖ is the reason why they were not entitled to sovereignty. legal positivism has flourished in the discussion of sovereignty by artificially confining the extent to which the law of nations is applied to non-european nations. terra nullius regarding ownership terra nullius regarding ownership is perhaps best exemplified in john locke’s labour theory – his ideas about uncultivated land – in chapter five of his second treatise of government. arguing for the existence of private property in the state of nature, locke understands the entire earth as given to human beings and held in common until humans mix their labours with the soil or the fruits thereof to create individual property (locke, 1988, p. 286). it is noteworthy that in this state of nature, a property can be made from the earth without acquiring consent from other human beings (locke, 1988, p. 289). this non-consensual nature of the emergence of private the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 107 property is reflected in locke’s view that the enclosure of a certain piece of land transforms it into a private property. needless to say, this discussion of the appropriation of the world by individuals is followed by limitations required by the law of nature: one’s private property or ownership must stem from one’s own labour; there should be a reasonable number and the same quality of appropriable objects left for others; and one should not appropriate (claim ownership of) more than one can use (locke, 1988, p. 288). according to locke, these requirements naturally result from the law of nature, which orders a better realization of mutual self-preservation. however, as he continues to outline the origin of private property, locke lifts these requirements by referring to the invention of money, through which the accumulation of private property was legitimatized (1988, pp. 293-294). based on this invalidation of the requirements of the law of nature, locke proceeds to arguments regarding aboriginal peoples in the americas. locke’s view on this subject is clearly stated based on his theory of value and property, which he manifests in his second treatise of government: ―’tis labour then which puts the greatest part of value upon land, without which it would scarcely be worth anything‖ (1988, p. 298). therefore, because land in the americas is still in the state of nature in which no improvement (i.e. mixing with labour) has been observed, inhabitants of the americas have wasted their lands. furthermore, locke observes that a king of the uncultivated americas would be ―worse than a day labourer in england‖ (locke, 1988, p. 297). locke’s labour theory does not explicitly allow for the exploitation of the americas, but the proposition in his theory is that because the indian lands are still in close proximity to the state of nature, the land is held in common, thereby preserving the possibility of appropriation of the land. hence, by taking into account the developmental status of indian land in comparison to that of england, the theory indeed helps legitimize crown occupation of the land. flanagan (1989) further analyzes locke’s theory of value and property in relation to (1) the ―easy availability of land‖ argument of john winthrop (first governor of the massachusetts bay colony), and (2) swiss philosopher emerich de vattel’s emphasis on the sovereign’s natural law duties to cultivate the land. according to flanagan, locke, winthrop and de vattel all thought that because there was no practice of agriculture among indian communities, these communities did not own the land (flanagan, 1989, p. 596). in holding this view, not only did european nations deny the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 108 aboriginal nations statehood, as expressed by the concept of terra nullius with regard to sovereignty, they also denied aboriginal ownership of the land by employing the second meaning of terra nullius regarding ownership. however, flanagan observes that while the agricultural theory may offer a strong impetus for european settlers attempting to acquire land in the americas, this argument can legitimize the acquisition of only a small portion of the continent because this is a private ownership argument, and this argument alone cannot legitimate crown sovereignty (1989, pp. 601602). therefore, it can be said that the relationship between terra nullius with regard to sovereignty and terra nullius with regard to ownership is that the latter provides a moral justification of the former, meaning that the nonrecognition of aboriginal peoples’ right to statehood is legitimized by the perceived superiority of colonial agriculture over a supposedly nomadic indigenous lifestyle (i.e. indians have wasted the lands given by god). thus, when the two meanings of terra nullius are put together in the context of aboriginal peoples’ prior occupancy of their traditional lands, it legitimizes the denial of aboriginal sovereignty, thereby also legitimizing the crown’s occupation of aboriginal peoples’ traditional lands. the result of the application of terra nullius is the creation of the crown’s de facto sovereignty. the impact of mabo terra nullius with regard to ownership is, however, later denied its legitimacy. the high court of australia brought down a significant decision in 1992 which fundamentally changed the european view of aboriginal peoples and their lands. mabo v. queensland (no.2) is considered a landmark case due to its recognition of aboriginal title and has had a great impact on the legal systems of commonwealth countries, including canada (mabo (no. 2), 1992). in this case, the issue was whether the meriam people have legal rights to lands on the murray islands, which had been annexed to queensland. the high court of australia affirmed the existence of aboriginal title based on the plaintiffs’ occupation of and connection to their traditional lands, thereby abolishing the concept of terra nullius (mabo (no. 2), 1992, p. 34). strictly speaking, the high court of australia’s rejection of terra nullius is limited to the second definition of terra nullius (i.e. a territory the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 109 where no lands are owned by anybody). however, the first definition of terra nullius (i.e. a country within which no sovereign recognized by european nations exists) is not explicitly denied in this case because the crown’s de facto sovereignty in australia was still taken for granted, and its legitimacy was unquestioned in the mabo case (gray, 1997, pp. 3, 18). hence, the mabo decision should be considered as the invalidation of terra nullius with regard to property ownership of aboriginal peoples. otherwise put, in the mabo case, the crown’s ultimate sovereignty over the land was unquestioned, resulting in the continuity of the crown’s de facto sovereignty. the failure to question terra nullius with regard to the crown’s sovereignty may be seen as the high court of australia’s upholding of the crown’s de facto sovereignty over aboriginal land. however, at the same time, it also indicates how fragile the crown’s de facto sovereignty is, at least in theory. de facto sovereignty can be characterized as acquired sovereignty through the use of sheer power or control without having a rationale in itself (except for reasons relating to e.g. christian ―civilizing‖ missions). in light of the mabo decision invalidating the legitimacy of terra nullius regarding ownership, the crown’s de facto sovereignty in australia and in canada now needs to have a different, yet morally acceptable, framework to fortify its legitimacy. this is where the concept of fiduciary relationship plays a significant role in providing the crown with the legitimacy it seeks. the role of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship based on the understanding of the conceptual foundation of the crown’s de facto sovereignty discussed above, as well as on the crown’s compelling need to acquire a means to ethically legitimize its existence on aboriginal land (i.e. a means which justifies the use of sheer power), an interpretation of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship is necessary. in sparrow, the court stated that ―the relationship between the government and aboriginals is trust-like, rather than adversarial‖ (1990, p. 35). the court’s term ―trust-like‖ needs to be clarified because it implies that there may be some sui generis characteristic(s) embedded in the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship that differ from those of an ordinary trust relationship. since the court did not specify possible sui generis characteristics of the crown-aboriginal relationship, these are subject to the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 110 interpretation. the interpretation of the nature of these added sui generis characteristics embedded in the special crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship is the key to comprehending how the crown’s de facto sovereignty is dealt with by the court. this interpretation is made possible through an analysis of the infringement test that emerged in sparrow. in sparrow, the court invented a two-step method that would allow the state to infringe upon aboriginal and treaty rights. 4 this means that the court acknowledged that aboriginal rights are not absolute, and are subject to some restrictions. this denial of the absolute character of aboriginal rights should not be overlooked, since the infringement test itself reflects the characteristics of the fiduciary relationship between aboriginal peoples and the crown. the infringement of aboriginal rights is accessed and justified in relation to the other rights claims of non-aboriginal citizens in canada. the court explicitly articulates its view regarding possible justifiable causes of legislative action in relation to care or use of the land. that is, on the one hand, the court questions the appropriateness of the use of the concept of ―the public interest‖ (used by the court of appeal in sparrow to infringe upon a constitutionally protected aboriginal right) on the basis that the concept is too vague (sparrow, 1990, pp. 40-41). however, on the other hand, conservation and resource management were regarded by the court as legitimate reasons for intruding upon aboriginal rights (sparrow, 1990, p. 40). interestingly, the court, referring to its decision in kruger v. the queen (1978), states that this conservation and management justification is legitimate because the ―conservation and management of our resources is consistent with aboriginal beliefs and practices, and...with the enhancement of aboriginal rights [emphasis added]‖ ( sparrow, 1990, p. 41). 5 however, if the court assesses aboriginal rights on the basis of balancing them with the rights of non-aboriginal citizens of canada, this may suggest the abrogation of the crown’s fiduciary duty to aboriginal 4 the first step of the infringement test requires a government involved in a case to show its valid legislative objective, and also to question if there is a prima facie infringement of section 35(1). if this infringement is recognized, then the second step considers whether the infringement is justifiable. the test also requires the government to accommodate aboriginal rights through the fiduciary crown obligation and, if infringement is unavoidable, remedies are provided accordingly. 5 in this statement, the court implies that the land’s resources are the crown’s. it is interesting to note that this explicit statement from the court was made in the same case in which the court characterized the crown-aboriginal relationship as fiduciary. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 111 peoples. this is the principal characteristic of the sui generis crownaboriginal fiduciary relationship. what can be produced from this principal characteristic embedded in the relationship is the proposition that in this fiduciary relationship, the crown’s power and duty stem from different frameworks. concerning this point, analyzing the marshall trilogy and subsequent development of the plenary power in the u.s., maureen ann donohue observes that congress’ power over indians existed prior to the government’s duties towards the indians; moreover, it was in the government’s interests to have the indian land ceded to them, and also to ensure a peaceful relationship (i.e. guardianship) that authorized the federal government’s unrestrained power over indians (1991, p. 375). this indicates that, in the u.s., the concept of guardianship was utilized in order to expand the government’s power over indians. during the plenary power era, the u.s. supreme court always sided with the u.s. government due to the indians’ ―condition of dependency‖ (donohue, 1991, p.375). the fact that the government’s fiduciary power existed prior to its obligation is key. in the canadian context, not only does this imply that the government’s power existed prior to its fiduciary obligations; it suggests that the origin of this power rests outside the crown-aboriginal fiduciary framework. this means that the crown’s fiduciary power is derived from crown sovereignty, not from the crown-aboriginal fiduciary framework, because the contemporary crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship itself was created by the crown’s power, derived from crown sovereignty. if the fiduciary relationship is contractual in nature, the fiduciary’s power and obligation must stem from the same contractual framework. however, because the fiduciary relationship was created at the same time as the british crown asserted sovereignty over aboriginal peoples and the land, the very fiduciary framework itself is the crown’s creation. this is why crown sovereignty is regarded as a fait accompli in the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship. therefore, any claim that a duty exists beyond this framework (i.e. any claim that challenges the foundation of this framework) will be held to be invalid. is reconciliation between the two sovereigns possible? since sparrow, the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship has been constitutionalized as a guide to the interpretation of s. 35(1) of the constitution act, 1982. this entrenchment makes it difficult for aboriginal the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 112 claims to be recognized in canadian courts for three reasons. first, in sparrow, the court uses the infringement test as an analogy to s. 1 of the canadian charter of rights and freedoms, which places limitations on the rights guaranteed in the charter (sparrow, 1990, p. 30). however, s. 1 deals with rights and freedoms in canada that are applicable to both aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples. the court’s connection of the infringement test to s. 1 of the charter also indicates that aboriginal rights are evaluated as being similar to the rights of non-aboriginal citizens. second, as mentioned above, the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship does not allow aboriginal peoples to question the legitimacy of crown sovereignty in court. by constitutionalizing this relationship through s. 35(1), the crown is now legally authorized to use its power over aboriginal peoples—the power which stems directly from crown sovereignty. moreover, the more aboriginal peoples appeal to s. 35(1) to realize their claims, regardless of whether these claims are recognized in courts, the more this could be regarded as aboriginal tacit consent to crown sovereignty, having the potential effects of transforming the crown’s de facto sovereignty into de jure sovereignty and reinforcing the subordination of aboriginal peoples to the crown. finally, cole harris (2004) offers an interesting argument. he explains that management methods, such as maps, numbers and law, were used by the colonizer to dispossess the colonized from their lands. harris’ argument that the state often relies on a number of disciplinary technologies to simplify multi-faceted realities within narrow contexts can be applied to the creation of the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship, for the relationship simplifies and confines aboriginal rights claims within the framework of the canadian constitution. thus, the relationship makes it easy for the crown to manage aboriginal rights claims. furthermore, as a result of this management of aboriginal rights claims, there will be no reconciliation between the two sovereigns, for the management itself, to use franz fanon’s term (2004, p. 15), would ―compartmentalize‖ aboriginal peoples into a narrow frame of the socalled crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship. hence, it may be said that the fiduciary relationship is yet another form of contemporary colonialism that attempts to distort or even eradicate the nature of aboriginal rights claims. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 113 conclusion in order to realize aboriginal rights in this fiduciary framework on the basis of the crown’s duties, the following challenges await aboriginal peoples. first, aboriginal rights claims within this framework are essentialized according to canadian domestic courts’ conception of justice (i.e. national sovereignty being a tenet of fundamental justice to domestic courts) in order to make them fit into the discourse of the canadian constitution. as a result, aboriginal claims will be distorted from their original form. second, because the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship, now constitutionalized in s. 35(1), cannot substantively challenge the legitimacy of crown sovereignty, any claim that infringes upon the legitimacy of the crown is denied automatically through the infringement test introduced in sparrow. that is to say, aboriginal peoples can make rights claims on the basis of the crown’s fiduciary duty as long as they do not challenge the crown’s fiduciary power which is derived from crown sovereignty. what has been introduced and constitutionalized by guerin and sparrow, respectively, is limited crown duties within the crown-aboriginal fiduciary framework, with the crown’s sheer power lying outside of this framework. hence, the crown-aboriginal fiduciary relationship may not contribute to the reconciliation of crown and aboriginal sovereignties because the relationship exists for the benefit of the crown, not for that of aboriginal peoples. references amodu tijani v. southern nigeria (secretary), [1921] 2 a.c. 399. calder v. attorney-general of british columbia, [1973] s.c.r. 313. cherokee nation v. georgia, 30 u.s. 1 (1831) coates, k. (2001). the marshall decision and native rights. montreal: mcgill-queen’s university press. constitution act, 1982, being schedule b to the canada act (u.k.), c. 11. donohue, m. a. (1991). aboriginal land rights in canada: a historical perspective on the fiduciary relationship. american indian law review, 15(2), 369-389. fanon, f. (2004). the wretched of the earth. new york, ny: grove press. flanagan, t. (1989). the agricultural argument and original appropriation: indian lands and political philosophy. canadian journal of political science, 22(3), 589-602. http://voyager.library.uvic.ca/vwebv/search?searcharg=coates,%20kenneth,%201956-&searchcode=name&searchtype=4 the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 114 fox-decent, e. (2006). fashioning legal authority from power: the crown-native fiduciary relationship. the new zealand journal of public and international law, 4(1), 91-116. gray, j. (1997). the mabo case: a radical decision? the canadian journal of native studies, 17(1), 33-74. grotius, h. (1916). the freedom of the seas (r. van deman magoffin, trans.). new york, ny: oxford university press. (original work published 1609). guerin v. the queen, [1984] 2 s.c.r 335. harris, c. (2004). how did colonialism dispossess? comments from an edge of empire. the association of american geographers, 94(1), 165-182. johnson & graham’s lessee v. m’intosh, 21 u.s. 543 (1823). kruger v. the queen, [1978] 1 s.c.r. 104. lawrence, t. j. (1910). the principles of international law (4 th ed). london, england: macmillian. locke, j. (1988). two treatises of government (p. laslett, ed.). new york, ny: cambridge university press. (original work published 1689). mabo v. queensland (no 2) [1992] h.c.a. 23; (1992) 175 c.l.r. 1. mcneil, k. (2001). emerging justice? essays on indigenous rights in canada and australia. saskatoon: houghton boston. reynolds, h. (1992). the law of the land. ringwood, australia: penguin. rotman, l. i. (2003). crown-native relations as fiduciary: reflections almost twenty years after guerin. windsor yearbook of access to justice, 22., 363-396. r. v. sparrow, [1990] 1 s.c.r. 1075. worcester v. georgia, 31 u.s. 515 (1832) westlake, j. (1904). international law. cambridge, england: cambridge university press. the royal proclamation of 1763 (geo. iii), reprinted r.s.c. 1985, app. ii, no.1. yogis, j. a. (1995). canadian law dictionary (3 rd ed). new york, ny: barron. contact information christina yui iwase, from the department of political science, can be contacted at iwasecy@gmail.com. mailto:iwasecy@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) iwase 115 acknowledgements i would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all who helped me write this article. first and foremost, i would like to thank dr. james tully, whose insightful lectures regarding indigenous peoples inspired me to analyze the relationship between the crown and aboriginal peoples in canada. i would like to also thank ph.d. candidates adam gaudry and kerry sloan, who encouraged and supported me throughout the publication process. i wish to thank mr. david gordon-macdonald for proofreading my article. i would also like to thank the university of victoria, especially those who coordinate the arbutus review, for giving me this great opportunity. finally, i would like to thank my family, who constantly teach me that coexistence is possible. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 128 (re)building, (re)creating and (re)imagining: postmemory representations of family through the eyes of rafael goldchain and art spiegelman elise polkinghorne abstract: survivors of a trauma must deal with the life-long effects that result from their experiences. depression, fear and a sense of isolation from society are only a few of the associated long-term effects of trauma. these traumatic repercussions are often passed down to their immediate family. these second and third generations must then live under the shadow of a trauma to which they were temporally displaced, but must cope with nonetheless. this paper deals with the concept of postmemory as it affects second generation shoah, or holocaust, survivors art spiegelman and rafael goldchain. through an analysis of spiegelman’s maus and goldchain’s i am my family, we can see not only how both artists work through their experience of postmemory via creative means, but how their use of the verfremdungseffekt, a theory developed by bertolt brecht as a means of creating emotional distance, allows their pictorial representations of the shoah to become bearable to a modern audience. keywords: postmemory; verfremdungseffekt; rafael goldchain; art spiegelman; shoah; visual arts; bertolt brecht introduction victims of trauma often seek an outlet through which they can relieve, albeit temporarily, their sufferings. they need a way to cope with the pain before it utterly consumes them. there are a plethora of avenues available to navigate through these experiences and facilitate healing: writing, painting, music, or simply talking about one’s experience to those with an available ear. whether the memories of these events are communicated through a conversation between survivor and relative, or through seemingly random references or allusions to the traumatic event, it is perhaps unavoidable that these traumas are passed down from the victims to their relatives. trauma, according to caruth (1991, p. 181), is “an overwhelming experience of sudden, or catastrophic events” in polkinghorne 129 which the after-effects are often delayed and reoccurring.” this reoccurrence of trauma may also be transferred to the families of the survivor. in terms of postmemory of the shoah, which is commonly referred to as the holocaust, this delayed response may come generations after, manifesting itself through a temporal ripple effect. though it is a temporally displaced trauma, its repercussions can still be strongly traumatic for the second and third generations. this link to past trauma results in the experience of postmemory, a theoretical concept which describes the attempts of the second and third generation to deal with a past to which they are temporally displaced, but bound to by ancestral ties to experience its consequences (hirsch, 1997). rafael goldchain’s i am my family and art spiegelman’s maus i & ii are works that address the difficult concept of postmemory. both ancestrally jewish, the artists must deal with the reverberations of the shoah as echoes of their lost families that haunt them from the void of memory. both spiegelman and goldchain have embarked on the sisyphean task of recreating a past that once was. despite efforts to create an accurate representation of the past, no facsimile can be created that accurately describes the experience of shoah survivors. the artists’ inability to create an accurate representation is what defines the concept of postmemory, the appropriation of a memory which is simultaneously both foreign to them, yet inherently belongs to them. the works of these artists provide an example of how postmemory affects the lives of those who were born in the post-shoah era, where the memories of the shoah are inherited by the next generation. this paper applies two theoretical concepts in its analysis of rafael goldchain’s series of portraits, i am my family, and art spiegelman’s graphic novel series, maus. the first theory being applied to their work is the concept of postmemory. relying on marianne hirsch’s definition of the term, this paper explores how postmemory affects the lives of the second and third generation. a detailed description of the term is followed by an in-depth analysis of how it applies to each artist’s work. in the subsequent section, bertolt brecht’s verfremdungseffekt is analyzed and applied to postmemory narratives. this theory is utilized in order to demonstrate how both goldchain and spiegelman produce works that lessen empathy, yet do not prevent it entirely. the slight decrease in emotion felt by the audience or reader of these works allows for a clearer understanding of the material presented. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 130 the artists rafael goldchain and art spiegelman are both second generation european jews. rafael goldchain is a professional photographer whose body of work, i am my family, consists of “selfportraits” captured in just under a decade-long process, spanning from 1999 to 2007 (alterman, 2008). these “self-portraits” are recreations of old family photographs, both real and fictionalized, with goldchain himself as the "model." goldchain believes that his post-memory body of work, made to fill the missing gaps of his personal history, “[creates] the allusion of wholeness” which “highlights the losses and holes in remembered history” (silverstein, 2009, p. 38). art spiegelman, a wellknown graphic artist, produced his seminal work, maus, after attempting to produce a three page comic of the same title in 1972 (spiegelman, 2011). this comic, an overview of his family’s history, is described by spiegelman as being the manifestation of “those free-floating shards of anecdote [he’d] picked up” from his parents throughout his lifetime (p. 22). these anecdotes lacked a much-needed context, igniting within spiegelman a drive to continue drawing from his family’s experience during the shoah (spiegelman, 2011). rather than chronicling the lives of their families through the sole medium of words, both artists use a more visual approach, utilizing visual means in an attempt to retell the stories of their disconnected family ties. the visual portrayal of their postmemory narratives is significant, as photographs and visual imagery “function differently than the written documents on which historians traditionally rely” (farmer, 2010, p. 115). these visual renderings provide their audiences with an understanding of the history of the shoah. through glimpses of the past, the overwhelming grief that may be elicited through a fully-written description of the event is not appropriated by the audience. the viewers of goldchain’s portraits and readers of spiegelman’s graphic novels are able to view these works with an analytical eye, engaging in a discourse that differs from other shoah narratives. spiegelman and goldchain thus “break through the framework” of traditional shoah narratives (hirsch, 1997, p. 29). their bodies of work stand in contrast to other shoah narratives, as they choose to depict the shoah visually; additionally, their visual depictions are not photos contemporaneous to the shoah, but modern-day interpretations of the past. according to hirsch, “breaking through the framework is a form of dissonance: visual and verbal images are used to describe an incongruity necessary to any writing or teaching about the [shoah]” (p. 31). the dissonance these two bodies of work produce is seen in the polkinghorne 131 conflict arising between their chosen forms of expression and that of traditional shoah narratives, their altered representation of their family, and the postmemory essence of their works. while both goldchain and spiegelman attempt to accurately portray the past, only a verisimilitude will ever be possible; those whose lives were taken by the shoah will never be returned to us, no matter how hard we attempt to recreate them: “our past is literally a foreign country we can never hope to visit” (p. 244). through the use of the verfremdungseffekt, spiegelman and goldchain represent their families’ narratives in a way that is simultaneously tolerable, as the audience can tolerate the grief they feel while observing these images, and yet unbearable, as their works still elicit a strong emotional response in their viewers. trauma (re)lived: postmemory in relation to the shoah postmemory, and its various interpretations and portrayals, generates multiple questions in both the minds of the creator and those who read or observe their creations. in order to understand how rafael goldchain’s i am my family and art spiegelman’s maus are the products of postmemory, it is important to understand the nuances of how postmemory operates. hirsch (2008), a seminal author on postmemory, notes, postmemory describes the relationship of the second generation to powerful, often traumatic, experiences that preceded their births but that were nevertheless transmitted to them so deeply as to seem to constitute memories in their own right. (p. 103) the term postmemory is a word inundated with meaning. marianne hirsch breaks the term into its two core constituents: “post” and “memory,” with greater focus on the prefix (alphen, 2006). hirsch notes the prefix of “post” is not an implication of the second or third generation’s inability to form memories of the shoah. its use instead implies a generational detachment from these memories (hirsch, 1997). those who form postmemories are unable to recall for themselves an exact memory of the actual events, and instead rely on the information of others combined with their own imagination. art spiegelman substantiates this explanation in the description of his creation of maus, stating: “i’m literally giving a form to my father’s words and narrative . . . and that form for me has to do with panel size, panel rhythms, and visual structures of the page” (chute, 2011, p. 200). it is his father’s memory to which he is giving a voice, but it is through his chosen medium of expression. through using his own personal the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 132 means of expression, spiegelman is portraying his detachment from the memory, as well as his attachment to it. he is detached from the memory, as he did not directly experience the event, yet through his conversations with his father, both he and his father have relived the event. postmemory and memory are interconnected and cannot be fundamentally distinguished from one another. this is due to the mediation of memory itself. because both memory and postmemory are mediated forms of a reality, one relative difference is used to differentiate the two. the differentiating factor is time: memory is a direct link to the past (alphen, 2006). those who experience the phenomenon of postmemory, however, are temporally displaced from the memory itself, as they were born years after the event. hirsch also posits that postmemory’s connection to the past “is not actually mediated by recall,” as is memory, “but by imaginative investment, projection, and creation” (2008, p. 107). the creative aspect of postmemory is the reason why artistic representations of postmemory are an ideal outlet for second and third generation survivors. in maus, postmemory is not exclusively seen through the narrative itself, but through the use of spiegelman’s minimalist approach to his drawings. the sketch-like quality is suggestive of an inability to ‘come to grips’ with the shoah, and by utilizing this technique, he exhibits “the impossibility of his situation” (brown, 1993, p. 139). in maus ii, spiegelman explicitly states that “[t]here’s so much i'll never be able to understand or visualize. i mean, reality is too complex for comics. . . so much has to be left out or distorted" (1986, p. 16). the distortion lies in the fact that spiegelman will never know the true reality of the shoah, he will only ever have a glimpse of his father’s experiences during the shoah. for goldchain, the catalyst for his postmemory work was not a desire to chronicle the life of a family member affected by the shoah; rather, his main inspiration to begin his journey into the past was the birth of his son. goldchain uses the analogy of links in a chain to describe his reasons for creating his series of portraits, saying, “becoming a father, i needed to feel like i was part of a long chain. i could not get the chain to come together, so i created the illusion of links” (silverstein, 2009, p. 39). through the loss of his family members in the shoah, goldchain lost these “links” to his familial past. in order to create a chain, he had to recreate ancestral links through his own postmemory creation. for goldchain, this meant using his skills as a photographer and artist to reinterpret and re-imagine the past, creating “links” which were an amalgamation of fact and fiction. the creative works of the second generation of trauma, such as fictional narratives, art and photography, come to fruition as an endeavour polkinghorne 133 to “represent the long-term effects of living in close proximity to the pain, depression, and dissociation of persons who have witnessed and survived massive historical trauma” (hirsch, 2008, p.112).the pain and confusion is not only passed on to the children of shoah survivors through stories and conversations, but also through fragmented narratives or seemingly irrelevant or random references to the shoah in an unrelated conversation. both goldchain and spiegelman have experienced this as part of their upbringing. in his “artist’s statement” in i am my family, goldchain states that his family “looked to the future and spoke of the past infrequently” (goldchain, 2008, p.17). in maus, spiegelman portrays this experience through a panel in which he hurts himself in the park as a child and is abandoned by his friends, to which his father replies “if you lock them together in a room with no food for a week... then you could see what is, friends!” (1973, p. 6). this utterance from his father is naturally confusing to the child, as he has not been given the proper context or background information to thoroughly understand the meaning behind his father’s words. it is this confusion that often prompts second generation writers to process their experience through narrative or creative means. each representation, whether it is an elaborate painting or a sombre novel, is fashioned out of a sense of both duty to their parents’ generation and an inherent confusion. hirsch describes that the “loss of family, of home, of a feeling of belonging and safety in the world ‘bleed’ from one generation to the next,” a concept used by spiegelman in his creation of maus (hirsch, 2008, p. 122). this “bleeding” of history and trauma makes the title of spiegelman’s maus i: my father bleeds history eerily appropriate, as spiegelman’s father is “bleeding” his historical trauma onto the next generation: his son art. (re)creating familial connections: an artist’s portrayal of postmemory rafael goldchain and art spiegelman, like many second and third generation descendants of european jews, are missing a large portion of their family history. the heritage of many persecuted families, stories and memories that most families cherish for generations, disappeared as a result of the shoah. jewish families that experienced the trauma of deportation and emigration are left with nothing but “photographic scraps supplemented with a mix of fact and legend” (langford, 2008, p. 10). rafael goldchain, although in possession of various family photographs and albums, believes that there were a great deal more family photos before the war. he assumes the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 134 that these pictures went missing as a result of his family’s dispersal, deportations and systematic murder during the war years (langford, 2008). similarly, spiegelman is left with only one box of family photographs that his father managed to save from destruction (spiegelman,1986). however, during the writing of maus, spiegelman did have the added benefit of his father’s narrative. goldchain had no firsthand accounts of surviving relatives upon which to depend, as, unlike spiegelman, his parents did not survive the horrors of the concentration camps. to discover his family’s experience of the shoah, more research was necessary. goldchain incorporated letters, interviews, conversations and anecdotes from his relatives into his research, but garnered his main source of information from old, remaining family photographs (alterman, 2008). as written evidence was scarce, he had to rely heavily on photographs, for which background information could not be found. this lack of information influenced his final project, allowing him to blend imagination with reality. his use of letters and anecdotes in his research allowed him to often add stories to his recreated images. in a lecture given at ryerson university as part of the kodak lecture series, goldchain (2009) states, many of the relatives, people i am presenting are completely invented, imagined and drawn from archival sources. the names that i have attached to these are drawn from either my real family album or from genealogical databases. according to goldchain, walter benjamin’s definition of history is the most accurate way to describe his search for a historical past: “he who seeks to approach his own buried past must conduct himself like a man digging” (goldchain, 2009). goldchain used the internet as his metaphorical shovel, searching through vast genealogical databases. the databases informed him of possible familial relations. he searched through the various misspellings of his family names, the spelling changing upon factors of time and place, and used the relatives he discovered as reference points for his self-portraits (goldchain, 2009). he also received archival photos from living relatives. these archival photos allowed him to recreate his relatives more accurately, as he had tangible evidence of their existence. the photographs often acted as the basis for his recreation of a portrait; although, in some cases, small details were changed. in these instances, archival photos were the “facts” on which he based his portraits. the digging metaphor also applies to spiegelman, as “maus is . . . the story of the effort of recovering and recording historical reality as personal memory” (thormann, 2002, p. 127). though spiegelman uses only one main source, his father vladek, he still must “dig” to bring forth polkinghorne 135 information about his family’s past. we are witnesses to this digging in certain panels in maus, which show vladek speaking into a recording device while art’s narrative persona “asks him questions, follows up on details, [and] demands more minute descriptions” (hirsch, 1997, p. 26). spiegelman describes the interview process with his father as one in which he repeatedly, almost obsessively, visits his father, interviewing him “over and over again to get more detail, texture and other facets” (2011, p. 23). a part of narrative digging is invariably hitting a rock, or a barrier, which one must break through or remove in order to continue. spiegelman acknowledges these hardships, describing the barriers in his interviews with vladek as being vladek’s memory or inability to articulate his experiences (spiegelman, 2011). sometimes, vladek’s emotions overcame him, prompting an immediate stop to the interview. however, this habitual digging is what provided spiegelman with the ability to create a postmemory work of such depth. through the intensity of his interviews, spiegelman was able to create a comprehensive and detailed body of work, something he would have been unable to do had he not pushed his father for more information. goldchain’s and spiegelman’s family roots were prematurely severed; the branches of their family trees were lost in time. in order to restore the tree to its original state, goldchain reconstructed his lost relatives in a series of family portraits. in some instances, he had photographic proof of their existence. in other instances, the portrayal of his relatives was based solely on his own imagination, with nothing but a name for reference. the shoah haunted his work, lingering like a shadow in the background. in the words of elie wiesel (n.d.), rafael goldchain attempts to recreate the images of “those whose shadow will fall on [his] forever and ever.” spiegelman was also haunted by a lingering shadow, that of his mother’s. due to his mother’s suicide, spiegelman was unable to record his mother’s story (hirsch, 1997). his creation of maus, the telling of his family’s story is an attempt by spiegelman to lift the shadow of his mother from his troubled conscience. it was due to the shoah that many of goldchain’s family photographs were destroyed or lost, as well as much of the information regarding his basic family genealogy (bigge, 2008). he not only lost family members in the shoah, he lost the undeniable proof that they ever existed. in some cases, the photographs he produced were based on real images of his family which he managed to find in his research (bigge, 2008). other “self-portraits” were purely his attempt to recreate a lost ancestor. goldchain states that his body of work, i am my family, is about “[h]ow the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 136 we transform the past when we bring it into the present and how we construct ourselves in relation to our familial past” (goldchain, 2008, p. 20). in an earlier incarnation of i am my family, an exhibition titled “familial ground,” goldchain showcased a number of his “family portraits,” expressing the catalyst behind them as being a duty to his son to pass on cultural, historical, and familial inheritance (goldchain, 2007). goldchain’s work is a true amalgamation of real and imagined fragments of history; an attempt to make whole that which cannot ever become complete. goldchain believes that his journey to represent the past is not only his duty to his son, but to his family. to intimate his responsibility, he likens himself to hamlet. in shakespeare’s hamlet, the son is bound by his filial relationship to discover the truth behind his father’s murder, and to avenge his death. similarly, it is goldchain’s familial duty to uncover and “reshape [his] family’s past” (goldchain, 2009). while unable to avenge their deaths, goldchain feels responsible for portraying at least a partial retelling of their story. spiegelman likewise shares an unbreakable familial bond akin to that of hamlet. the suicide of his mother anja is the catalyst for spiegelman’s creation of maus. anja’s ghost “haunts the story. . . a ghostly presence shaping familial interaction” (hirsch, 1997, p. 34). maus is the narrative of the presence of anja’s absence. her perspective of spiegelman’s family history was lost with her death; maus is an “attempt by father and son to provide [this] missing perspective” (p. 34). the representational aspect of goldchain’s photographs meant some photos required greater “reconstruction” than others. goldchain often recreated photos of his female relatives, real and imagined. in certain cases, he composed a completely invented back-story for his “self-portrait,” such as the photo of doña reizl goldszjan rozenfeld (bigge, 2008). goldchain portrays her as a “middle-aged, stylish woman suffering from chronic, mild depression” and further explains, “there is one in every family” (bigge, 2008). losing information regarding his family’s background means he must resort to inventing a pseudo-family history, and, in this case, resort to certain stereotypes about family structure. every portrait is given a name, and often a life history (langford, 2008). the relatives who were artificially created by goldchain, those for whom proof of existence could not be located, were not only (re)created in photo form, but given a personal history by goldchain, such as doña’s narrative mentioned above. in some cases, knowledge of the relative was all goldchain possessed; no photos or written information could be traced to them. in his lecture at ryerson, goldchain recounts the story behind his self-portrait of mojszes precelman. polkinghorne 137 goldchain’s great-grandmother was married twice, and very few photos remained of either husband. looking through the old family photos, it was unclear which husband was goldchain’s great-grandfather. through careful comparison of his own face in a mirror with that of the face in the photograph, goldchain made an executive decision that the man in the photograph was indeed his great-grandfather. this was determined by goldchain through what he calls “invincible genetics”: he could raise the same eyebrow as the man in the photo, and in an identical fashion; therefore, he must be related to him (goldchain, 2009). from that instant, goldchain decided to adopt this man as his own flesh and blood, despite his tenuous link to the goldchain family tree. this reconstruction of familial identities is also seen in maus. while spiegelman had a seemingly compulsive need for accuracy in the recreation of his family’s narrative, he transformed this desire into a representational animal fable (hirsch, 1997). unlike goldchain, spiegelman knew for certain his familial connection, or lack thereof, to each character he depicted. however, by representing them as animals, he, as the human author, is not related to them, figuratively speaking. only the narrative persona of artie is connected to the “animals” he portrays. this perplexing jumble of relatedness highlights how spiegelman’s work is also a reconstruction and resurrection of familial history, as is goldchain’s i am my family. the use of the subtitle from mauschwitz to the catskills and beyond in maus ii highlights the very essence of spiegelman’s postmemory narrative, namely, that the shoah affected every aspect of his father’s life long after it was over, and that this in turn affected the way that spiegelman was brought up (spiegelman, 1986). the subtitle imparts to the reader that every facet of vladek’s life was eternally linked to his traumatic experience during the shoah; traces of his trauma in auschwitz remained with him, inextricable as a shadow. this inability of vladek to separate himself from his experiences had an understandable effect on his son. hirsch suggests that maus “represents [spiegelman’s] attempt both to get deeper into his postmemory and to find a way out” (hirsch, 1997, p. 32). through maus, spiegelman endeavoured to navigate his inherited memory, fusing “past and present, destruction and survival, primary and secondary trauma” (p. 32). in relation to eva hoffman’s characterization of postmemory as a “fairytale,” spiegelman chooses to subtitle his first volume “a survivors tale,” highlighting the narrative aspect of his graphic novel. as his name suggests, the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 138 spiegelman, translated from german as ‘mirror man,’ is a mirror through which his father’s story, and that of his own, is reflected. (re)routing empathy: the verfremdungseffekt the artificiality of goldchain’s “self-portraits” and spiegelman’s graphic novels are often apparent to the viewer. this blatant artificiality can be interpreted as an intentional yet subtle use of the verfremdungseffekt. the verfremdungseffekt, otherwise known as the alienation effect, is defined by the use of blatant artificiality as a means of decreasing the emotional attachment of an audience to the characters in a play (encyclopedia britannica, 2013). the imitational essence of goldchain's and spiegelman’s works emphasizes that these representations are not carboncopies of their relatives, but loosely-based interpretations of a lost memory. the verfremdungseffekt was originally developed by german playwright bertolt brecht for use in his theatre productions. while brecht uses this concept to avoid an emotional connection of an audience to his plays, it can be argued that goldchain’s photographs and spiegelman’s graphic novels elicit almost a reversal of this reaction, engaging the audience emotionally, but with blatant artificiality creating distance. the photographs and drawings do not necessarily alienate the audience; however, they do not likely elicit in the viewer or reader the same degree of emotion as a memoir or photos contemporaneous with the shoah would elicit either. through the artificiality of speigelman's and goldchain's works, viewers become alienated from the natural emotions they would expect to arise from viewing such depictions of the shoah. steer (1968), in his explanation of epic theatre, describes the purpose of the verfremdungseffekt as to “[present] a situation in a striking and unaccustomed light . . . to draw the audience’s critical attention to the social forces which determine human destiny” (p. 639). by reducing empathy, spiegelman and goldchain are able to focus their audience’s attention on the atrocities of the nazis and the collective and perpetual damage it caused. this approach is opposed to the more typical shoah narratives and memoirs that focus on the plight of one single individual. while a single story may be representative of a collective history, stories which focus on one person’s experience tend to have the effect of increasing empathy. the author spends time developing a rapport between his character and the readers. once this rapport is developed, we become emotionally attached to them. this emotional attachment may not only hinder our understanding of the story, but it may produce emotions that are not genuine within the reader: the feelings are over-exaggerated, or the emotions are felt because polkinghorne 139 they should be, not because they truly are. kluger, a concentration camp survivor and author of still alive: a holocaust girlhood remembered, acknowledges the emotions that many people feel when they visit a concentration camp, stating: a visitor who feels moved . . . will be proud of these stirrings of humanity. and so the visitor monitors his reactions, examines his emotions, admires his own sensibility, or in other words, turns sentimental. (2001, p. 66) kluger is critical of this inward sentimentality, as it places emphasis on the observer instead of on what is being observed. this line of thought can also be applied to shoah narratives, as the reader is aware of the reactions and emotions that they should feel while reading; therefore, the reader closely monitors their emotions, sometimes to the point of over-empathizing. the use of the verfremdungseffekt can stop this process from happening and allow greater understanding of the material presented, while also eliciting more authentic emotions in the reader. the focus is placed on what is being observed, as opposed to the reader turning inwards and to gauge and monitor their own emotions and reactions. bertolt brecht states in schriften zum theater (volume 3), that the techniques through which the verfremdungseffekt is produced are diametrically opposed to acting techniques, which produce empathy in an audience (brecht, 1963). however, it may be argued that the verfremdungseffekt, or alienation effect, can be used in such a way that it still allows for empathy through audience involvement. the alienation effect “propels the spectator from a merely passive . . . attitude into one of genuine participation” (politzer, 1962, p. 101). goldchain’s collection of portraiture does just this; we do not just view them, we observe them, analyze them and above all, we discuss them. we are not passive observers who look at art for the sake of looking; we are active observers participating in constructing meaning, viewing the portraits not only on a superficial level, but on an analytical one, as well. we are able to view the portraits as simply photographs, but we are also able to analyze the subject matter and the intent behind them. in how epic is bertolt brecht’s epic theater?, politzer suggests that one of the best ways in which brecht expresses the alienation effect is through his characters, which are alienated from themselves and from the other relevant characters (1962). goldchain’s portrait of doña reizl goldszajn rozenfeld is the quintessential manifestation of this concept of alienation. the combination of impersonating another human being with the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 140 that of crossing the established social gender boundaries alienates and confuses the audience, as we are unsure in what social category we should place the subject. at first glance, we see a woman in her mid-forties, a forlorn and melancholic look spread across her face (goldchain, 2008). if one were ignorant of the context in which this picture was taken, one would presumably believe this photograph was of a woman with subtly masculine features. however, because we are given the context, we are thoroughly aware that this is a man. goldchain, in reference to the double nature of his portraits, has stated: i deliberately . . . leave details undone and show the process work in order to keep the viewer aware and close to the process of production . . . keeping the viewer oscillating between the illusion and reality of my performance. (goldchain, 2009) viewing this portrait, we become alienated from our empathy; this particular representation simultaneously invites, yet discourages empathy. the viewer is aware that s(he) is alive; however, the viewer also is aware that this image is the reconstructed manifestation of a once existing deceased relative (goldchain, 2008). in the words of goldchain, we as the observer are kept in a permanent state of oscillation between “illusion and reality” (goldchain, 2009). goldchain’s image of doña is a clear example of the verfremdungseffekt at use in his work, as it exhibits the “artful and artistic act of self-alienation” that brecht so admired about chinese theatre, on which the verfremdungseffekt is based (bai, 1998, p. 422). goldchain alienates himself in this portrait, as well as his audience. in the act of crossdressing, he becomes alienated from his gender and has to take on a new persona, one which is totally unfamiliar to him. while he must adopt a new persona for each photograph he takes, regardless of the gender being depicted, photographs in which he is dressed as a woman provide extra challenges. this is because he must not only contend with a new identity construct, but a new gender construct as well. each photo is a painful reminder of goldchain’s vanished family. what makes this reminder bearable is the understanding by the viewer that these photos are recreations. while the imagined subject of the photo is deceased, the real subject is very much alive. the viewer is simultaneously disconnected from yet connected to the photographs in question. in his portraiture, goldchain utilizes black and white photography, as well as stylized portraiture reminiscent of the 19 th century (langford, 2008). his refusal to use colour photography gives his images a purposeful historical depth, furthering their displacement in time. this therapeutic verfremdungseffekt helps to create an emotional disconnect by the viewer. polkinghorne 141 through the photograph’s apparent temporal distance, the viewer can be consoled in their grief by the passage of time. we are aware that the people who are being represented are in reality just anachronistic portrayals of people who died long ago. spiegelman also implements the verfremdungseffekt in his work, alienating his audience by tempering their emotions through his representations. in maus, spiegelman depicts “schematic mice and cat heads resting on human-looking bodies . . . who perceive themselves as human” (hirsch, 1997, p.27). the alienation in his work lies in the viewer’s attempt to reconcile the fiction with reality in order to determine the level of empathy they emote. in reference to his play mutter courage und ihre kinder, brecht himself suggests that the alienation effect occasionally leaves room for empathy. regarding a scene in which the character ‘dumb kattrin’ performs a tragic act, brecht states: “the spectators may identify themselves with dumb kattrin in this scene; they may feel empathy with this human being . . . [but] the process of empathy will not be complete here” (politzer, 1962, p. 111). when we observe goldchain’s portraits and spiegelman’s graphic novels we experience partial empathy. knowing that goldchain and spiegelman did not personally experience their relatives’ pain lessens the viewers’ willingness to empathize. alternatively, we are aware that the photographs represent someone who felt the trauma physically and temporally. this estrangement from the traditional empathy one experiences with shoah narratives helps to make an unbearable representation bearable. in maus i and ii, the alienation which we feel from the drawings is derived from the essence of graphic novels themselves: graphic novels are meant to be artificial and overly-exaggerated representations of fiction or reality, as “[t]he [comics] form dictates the sensationalizing and exaggeration of perceptions” (thormann, 2002, p. 129). this exaggeration alienates the reader. we are accustomed to the use of sensational aspects in comic book narratives, such as batman or spiderman, but we are not used to these sensational aspects being applied to a shoah narrative. through pictures, the reader can visualize what cannot be truly depicted, but which needs to be presented regardless. the value of imagery has been recognized by other authors who choose to portray shoah narratives in visual form, such as the graphic novel the search, written in 2007 by eric heuvel, ruud van der rol, and lies schippers (flory, 2011). this novel differs from maus in terms of its representation of the shoah and the historical context delineated in the novel; however, both novels aspire to the same goal: to the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 142 portray the atrocities of the shoah to a modern audience. the “unreal” or “sensational” genre of graphic novels thus is a valuable tool with which one can portray “the seeming unreality of an experience beyond all reason” (thormann, 2002). the anthropomorphizing of humans into animals is another way in which spiegelman creates a verfremdungseffekt. while anthropomorphism can be seen as a way in which to promote empathy, i argue that it can also achieve the opposite effect. in spiegelman’s maus, the characters are not often given facial expressions, and as such, their emotional reactions cannot be interpreted by the reader. consequently, in maus, we are less likely to deeply empathize with the characters. spiegelman acknowledges the lack of facial attributes in maus by explaining that he drew his characters as “mouse heads that are basically triangles without mouths: just a nose and eyes, very different from mickey mouse with his smiling have-a-nice-day face” (2011, p. 145). spiegelman thus acknowledges the importance of faces in invoking emotional response or empathetic identification. his characters do not have mouths; therefore, they are incapable of smiling, frowning, etc., leading to our inability as readers to render emotional cues from their facial gestures. this inability hinders the reader’s ability to empathize. another way in which spiegelman creates a verfremdungseffekt through his use of animal depictions derives from the common literary trope of using animals in folk narratives. by anthropomorphizing, the author evokes within the reader “culturally scripted responses to familiar schemas of sympathetic and antipathetic animals... reinforced by countless representations throughout culture” (keen, 2011, p. 137). from the sheer repetition of these stories, we already know where to place the cat and mouse in the animal-kingdom-as-humanity metaphor. we are well aware that cats are the predators, and are thus the persecutors, of mice. in spiegelman’s use of mice as main characters, he uses this familiar schema to contradict the cultural normative role of mice as vermin, instead transforming them into sympathetic, persecuted creatures. the use of dehumanization has often occurred during conflicts when depicting the enemy; the ‘dehumanization’ of humans into animals makes them seem less sympathetic. the americans dehumanized the japanese during world war ii in order to prepare the citizens for the bombing of hiroshima, the hutus referred to the tutsis as cockroaches, and most relevant to maus, the nazis referred to jews as vermin (spiegelman, metamaus , 2011). this dehumanization was used as a tool by the persecutors in order to justify to their respective populations why genocide polkinghorne 143 was necessary. these groups purposefully reduced people’s empathy towards the “other” by depicting them as animals. spiegelman does not use this dehumanization process in such a manner. spiegelman utilized mice for the cat-and-mouse metaphor as a way in which to portray the predator versus prey relationship between the nazis and european jewry. however, there remains an added side effect, perhaps an unintentional one, of the dehumanization of characters, leading to a decreased empathy in the readers. in goldchain’s work, the verfremdungseffekt is constantly expressed, though less variation in alienation is utilized. as viewers of his work, we are hyper-aware of goldchain’s presence in each photograph. the verfremdungseffekt shadows other aspects of goldchain’s and spiegelman’s lives. not only does their work create an alienation effect upon their readership and viewers, but their ancestral history is in and of itself an alienating experience. goldchain expresses this historical alienation, stating, "i am my family stages an attempt to return to a historical/mythical place of origin from which i am irretrievably exiled, and to create . . . ‘an illusion of [familial continuity] over time and space.’" (2008, p. 18). through the loss of family portraits and narratives, second and third generation shoah survivors become estranged from their familial past, able to form only a tenuous link between past and present. they are alienated from society’s traditions of passing down family anecdotes and stories. their stories are cut short. unlike other families, reminiscing about bygone days, their narrative is not sentimental, but morbid and saddening. it is this alienation which acts as catalyst for the creation of postmemory narratives. conclusion through graphic novels and photography, art spiegelman and rafael goldchain are able to process their postmemory experiences in a way that is not only beneficial to them as individuals, allowing them to cope with their family’s past, but beneficial to their prospective audiences as well. the trauma of the shoah, through which these two artists are unavoidably linked, finds a therapeutic outlet in their postmemory works. tragic in their very nature, these works are able to address the difficult subject of the shoah without developing a “hyper-empathy” in the minds of the viewers. shoah narratives often “impede the critical faculty” by means of emotion and empathy (kluger, 2001). before a reader opens the first page, they know what emotions they should feel, preparing themselves for the tragedy contained inside. the reader understands that the narrative the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 144 contains factual stories of someone who exists or existed in reality. spiegelman’s and goldchain’s works do not hinder our ability as readers to think critically, and in doing so, they alter our understanding of the shoah narrative, allowing us to think more clearly and analytically. in metamaus, spiegelman offers his own opinion on the overly sentimental shoah graphic novels that have been produced: "some of these projects strike me as if they were trying to set my work right by smoothing down the rough edges, by making a more didactic, more sentimental, more slickly drawn [shoah] comic book" (2011, p. 126). it can thus be argued that spiegelman created his graphic novels maus i & ii with the intention of producing a product with which readers could empathize, but not become overly sentimental about in the process. in spiegelman’s and goldchain’s works there is an emotional distance created through the use of the imagined, the blending of fact and fiction which forms the basis of both artists’ works. this synthesis of reality and the imaginary helps to give a form to that which cannot be truly represented on paper: the lives of those who lived through the shoah. spiegelman has stated that it was “those animal masks which allowed me to approach otherwise unsayable things” (2011, p. 127). both spiegelman and goldchain have used liberal amounts of fictional elements in their work. however, according to spiegelman, any written work contains at least some element of fiction, whether it is placed in the fiction genre or not. spiegelman believes that his book belongs firmly in the non-fiction category, as reality is too complex to be threaded out into the narrow channels and confines of narrative and maus, like all narrative work including memoir, biography, and history presented in narrative form, is streamlined and, at least on [one] level, a fiction. (2011, p. 150) spiegelman legitimates his use of fictional elements in his narrative by suggesting that any account that is written down is bound to add or remove parts of the events in question. therefore, the imagined aspects in both goldchain’s and spiegelman’s work do not give their works less validity. indeed, spiegelman seems to argue that it is the commixture of realism and fiction contained in both maus and i am my family that make these two bodies of work bearable for their audiences. goldchain’s and spiegelman’s works are attempts to deal with the repercussions of an inherited trauma, where the fragments of memory can be collected, but never completely reassembled. while these fragments will never create a whole, both spiegelman and goldchain create works in polkinghorne 145 which their scattered pasts are retold, relived and recreated in a way which simultaneously portrays their own experiences and that of their ancestors. by creating a verfremdungseffekt they are able to transmit the horrors of the shoah to their readers and viewers in an accessible way--a way in which empathy is lessened but does not completely vanish. this decrease in empathy is beneficial, as it causes the reader or viewer to engage in a discourse in which their perception does not become clouded with emotion. through lens and pen, art spiegelman and rafael goldchain open our eyes to the realm of postmemory and the lives of second and third generation jewry. references alphen, e. v. (2006). second generation testimony, transmission of trauma and postmemory. poetics today , 473-488. alterman, e. (2008, december 22). portraits of myself: an original photographic approach to capturing one family's history is an impressive achievement. the jerusalem report. bai, r. (1998). dances with mei lanfang: brecht and the alienation effect. comparitive drama, 389-433. bigge, r. (2008, september 28). a picture and a thousand words. retrieved from thestar.com: www.thestar.com/news brecht, b. (1963). schriften zum theater. frankfurt am main: suhrkamp. brown, m. (1993). of maus and men: problems of asserting identity in a post-holocaust age. studies in american jewish literature, 134-140. caruth, c. (1991). unclaimed experience: trauma and the possibility of history. yale french studies, 181-192. chute, h. (2011). the shadow of a past time: history and graphic representation in maus. shofar: an interdisciplinary journal of jewish studies, 34-49. encyclopedia britannica. (2013). alienation effect. farmer, sarah. (2010). going visual: holocaust representation and historical method. american historical review, 115-122. flory, w. s. (2011). the search: a graphic narrative for beginning to teach about the holocaust. shofar: an interdisciplinary journal of jewish studies, 34-49. goldchain, r. (2007). familial ground. queen's quarterly, 132-141. goldchain, r. (2008). i am my family: photographic memories and fictions. new york: princeton architectural press. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 146 goldchain, r. (2009, january 23). kodak lecture series: rafael goldchain. toronto, ontario , canada. goldchain, r. (2011, april 9). artsync: canadian art connected. (l. starr, interviewer) hirsch, m. (1997). family frames: photography, narrative and postmemory. cambridge, massachusetts: harvard up. hirsch, m. (2008). the generation of postmemory. poetics today, 103128. keen, s. (2011). fast tracks to narrative empathy: anthropomorphism and dehumanization in graphic narratives. substance, 135-155. kluger, r. (2001). still alive: a holocaust girlhood remembered. new york: the feminist press. langford, m. (2008). imagined memories: on rafael goldchain's family album. in r. goldchain, i am my family: photographic memories and fictions (pp. 10-15). new york: princeton architectural press. politzer, h. (1962). how epic is bertolt brecht's epic theater? modern language quarterly, 99-114. silverstein, b. (2009, may 14). photo exhibit portrays a fictitious jewish family. canada: canadian jewish news. spiegelman, a. (1973). maus i: my father bleeds history. new york: pantheon books. spiegelman, a. (1986). maus ii: and here my troubles began. new york: pantheon books. spiegelman, a. (2011). metamaus . new york: pantheon books. steer, w. a. (1968). brecht's epic theater: theory and practice. the modern language review, 636-649. thormann, j. (2002). the representation of the shoah in maus: history as psychology. res publica, 123-140. wiesel, e. (n.d.). why i write: making no become yes. contact information elise polkinghorne, from the department of germanic and slavic studies, can be reached at epolki@uvic.ca. acknowledgments i would like to acknowledge and thank those who made this research paper possible, especially dr. charlotte schallié for all of her guidance and support in this endeavour. i would also like to thank the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards for awarding me a grant and allowing me polkinghorne 147 the opportunity to present my research during the 2013 jcura research fair. the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 mental wellness through culture: an examination of youth suicide rates in canada’s aboriginal communities and recommendations for public policy marla turner* university of victoria craigmarla2@yahoo.ca abstract this paper recognizes the high rate of aboriginal youth suicide in canada and the need for an intervention strategy. according to statistics, the high rate of suicide cannot be applied to all aboriginal communities. there are areas where youth suicide is nonexistent, thus a blanket assumption, such as all aboriginal youth are at an elevated risk, only perpetuates stigmatization. the biomedical focus of mainstream health care and colonial perspective of other services often fail to acknowledge the determinants behind youth suicide within aboriginal communities. the literature reveals that healthy communities, with low rates of youth suicide, share a common identity, practice cultural continuity and are self-determining. in order to facilitate healthy environments for aboriginal youth, canadians must go beyond thinking of health in terms of treating symptoms. we must instead examine and address the historical and contemporary constructions of racism and cultural genocide and work toward developing public policy promoting culturally safe processes. keywords: youth; suicide; cultural continuity; cultural safety; social determinants; colonialism; self-determination; decolonization; communities; aboriginal *i would like to thank charlotte reading for the inspiration, support, and encouragement she has provided during my time as a student in the undergraduate program within the school of public health and social policy. i would also like to thank my fellow online students who generously shared their perspectives and feedback. 177 mailto:craigmarla2@yahoo.ca turner i. introduction in 2003, health canada identified aboriginal youth as being five-to-seven times more likely to commit suicide than non-aboriginalyouth (kirmayer, 2012). however, this general statistic cannot be applied to all first nation communities. many communities within british columbia reported no suicides in a five year period, while others revealed suicide rates up to 800 times the national average (chandler & lalonde, 1998). the changing demographics in canada have added an even more critical component to the communities exhibiting high suicide risk. while the general population has nearly doubled in size during the last sixty years, the population of aboriginal people has become seven times larger (waldram, herring & young, 2007). growing numbers of aboriginal youth and the disproportionate rates of suicide within aboriginal communities require public policy to promote culturally safe processes, not only in health care, but throughout canadian society. this paper examines a select body of literature to provide information on the social, economic and cultural conditions within communities expressing both high and low risk of youth suicide, and to explore the cultural initiatives within aboriginal communities working to promote the mental wellness of youth. the paper applies findings from the literature to assess the development of public policy aiming to close the gap of health inequity experienced by many aboriginal people. ii. literature review in order to give an overview of the current research on youth suicide in aboriginal communities, a brief literature review was conducted. scholarly, peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2014 were electronically searched using search terms related to youth suicide and aboriginal communities, and canadian public health. the result was 44 articles, which were further narrowed to seven publications by excluding those discussing urban environments and/or 178 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 focusing on issues other than youth and mental wellness. the selected literature gives a variety of factors and conditions contributing to a high risk of youth suicide in aboriginal communities. these range from systemic issues such as historical events and colonial processes, to specific behaviours such as substance use and domestic violence (tousignant, 2013). tousignant notes that suicide is the “result of interaction between the psychobiological factors and contemporary stress” (p. 401). thus, a discussion on youth suicide requires a broad perspective in order to unravel the multiple and complex roots explaining the differential levels of suicide risk within aboriginal communities (wesley-esquimaux & snowball, 2013). additional factors related to youth suicide noted in the literature include the intergenerational trauma stemming from residential school experiences, overcrowded housing, and unresolved crime (tousignant, 2013). authors finley, morris, hardy and nagy (2010) mention various social determinants that influence the wellbeing of youth, such as early life experiences, education, employment, working conditions, food security and social exclusion. another article suggests that the mental wellness of aboriginal youth is associated with identity and colonization, where current programs and services failed to “instill a sense of native pride” for aboriginal participants (lavalee & poole, 2010). several implications for public health practice and policy development were also discussed within the literature. webster (2012) notes that current suicide prevention strategies within aboriginal communities are substandard because of a lack government funding to promote culturally relevant research and sufficient community data. another article suggests the “urgent need to increase the number of evaluations of preventative interventions” (clifford, doron & tsey, 2013, n.p.) by using solid research designs to create evidence-based, culturally relevant programs (clifford, doron & tsey, 2013). however, three articles selected in the literature review note that the specific concepts of culture promoting health must be defined by aboriginal communities in order to promote “cultural authenticity” within programs (nygard, 2012; webster, 2012; clifford, doron & tsey, 2013). 179 turner 1. the determinants underlying differential rates of aboriginal youth suicide the royal commission on aboriginal peoples states that children, “according to tradition…are gifts from the spirit world and must be treated well or they will return to that realm” (first nations, 2007, p. 7). yet, out of all the groups in the world identifiable by culture, aboriginal youth in canada are the most likely to take their own lives (chandler, lalonde, sokol & hallet, 2003). why, despite being considered a gift in aboriginal culture, are so many youth choosing to die? the answer lies in the historical and contemporary determinants influencing the lives of aboriginal people. 1.1 socio-economic determinants many determinants of suicide, expressed in communities with high risk, are socio-economic in nature. on average, aboriginal suicide victims are younger than non-aboriginals who take their own lives and are more likely to be using alcohol at the time of death (waldram, herring & young, 2007). the use of alcohol and other substances can be seen as a measure of coping with feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy (waldram, herring & young, 2007). waldram, herring and young (2007) identify four risk factors for substance which include parental and sibling role modeling, cultural stress, lack of social support and learned helplessness. former chief of the assembly of first nations, phil fontaine, states despite canada being a wealthy nation, “first nations endure poverty and third world conditions in their own home land” (first nations, 2007, p.26). in 2001, a census identified aboriginal youth living in families as more than twice as likely to live in poverty as non-aboriginal youth (first nations, 2007). in the same year, the first nations regional longitudinal health survey reported that the median annual income of households on reserve, with children, was less than half of the canadian median income. housing, water supply and sewage control is often sub-standard in first nations communities (waldram, herring & young, 2007). levels of literacy and edu180 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 cation are also far below average (first nations, 2007). furthermore, since “there are few job or training opportunities available to aboriginal youth, on reserve or off, they are left with little choice” (first nations, 2007, p. 29) but to adopt often harmful coping strategies (first nations, 2007). the mainstream marginalization of aboriginal status can compound other sources of stress (macneil, 2008). life in high risk communities has been shown to include family dysfunction, loss of cultural beliefs, and the inability to meet basic needs or attain the skills to do so, allowing feelings of low self-esteem and hopelessness to develop (macneil, 2008). when a suicide does occur within a community, the risk becomes higher for other youth, since a chain reaction can result. imitating the act becomes an option if they “identify with the victim, blame themselves, and believe they are meant to be the next victim” (p.8). 1.2 historical determinants historical factors continue to play a role in the mental health and rates of suicide among aboriginal youth. destructive colonial practices strived to assimilate indigenous peoples, causing trauma and disconnection from traditional beliefs and cultures. residential schools removed children from their families, communities were dislocated from traditional territories and the expression of culture was forbidden (white & jacobs, 1992). in historic trauma and aboriginal healing, wesley-equimaux and smolewski (2004) describe the effects of colonialism on youth today. they present the idea that “residue of unresolved, historic, traumatic experiences and generational or unresolved grief is not only being passed down from generation to generation, it is continuously being acted out and recreated in contemporary aboriginal culture” (p. 3). evidence to this claim lies in the social problems of communities with a high rate of youth suicide. social scientists have also noted the prevalence of substance, domestic, and sexual abuse “is largely from the destruction of indigenous culture” (macdonald, 2009, p. 177). 181 turner 1.3 political determinants western-based political ideology and policies of past and present have an oppressive effect on aboriginal youth and are a factor in creating the sense of hopelessness known to be present before a youth commits suicide (macdonald, 2009). the control held by the canadian state over aboriginal affairs, such as resources and services, can be traced as the main reason aboriginal youth are over-represented in canada’s child welfare system (macdonald, 2009). despite the closing of residential schools, many children continue to be removed from their homes and placed in care because of perceived neglect (blackstock, 2011). however, in most cases, basic needs of aboriginal children are unmet because of “political factors such as gaps in jurisdictional accountability, and at times, a lack of due process in family courts” (macdonald, 2009, p. 178). in a cbc interview, cindy blackstock (2011) expresses policy, which sets aboriginal families up for failure, is the reason children are put into care by child welfare workers. instead of removing children and causing further trauma to families, the state needs to address underlying issues, such as addiction, poverty, unemployment, literacy, and education (blackstock, 2011). currently, canada participates in the unjust practice of blaming aboriginal parents for the inadequate care of their children, without addressing the policies that are the cause of the neglect (blackstock, 2011). in cases where youth are not placed in care when families are unable to provide, they may be left with little option but to rely on crime in order to meet food and shelter needs, partly explaining the disproportionate rates of aboriginal youth in the correctional system (national, 2007). 2. determinants in communities with low suicide risk 2.1 cultural continuity as previously mentioned, the prevalence of youth suicide is not a concern in every aboriginal community (chandler & lalonde, 1998). 182 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 in their article, chandler and lalonde (1998) reveal the presence of cultural continuity protects youth by facilitating a healthy transition from adolescence to adulthood. continuity in a community is defined as the process of cultural rehabilitation or the attempt to reconstruct traditional practices. a community’s effort to re-establish culture anchors youth to a positive vision of themselves in the future (chandler & lalonde, 1998). chandler, lalonde, sokol and hallet (2003) describe the presence of six markers of cultural continuity as creating a healthy environment for youth. their study correlates the low incidence of suicide in a community with the following markers: the effort to secure land claims, the success in attaining a degree of self-government (political and economic independence), band-administered schools, community owned or controlled fire and police services, band and tribal councils having control of health services, and the existence of a facility constructed for the sole purpose of hosting cultural activities. in such communities, youth experience an opportunity to contribute to cultural preservation, develop a positive identity and be in control of their future and destiny (chandler et al., 2003). in order to provide a more detailed explanation of the concept of cultural continuity, a few of the ground-level activities taking place within the markers are identified. in the article “aboriginal language, knowledge and youth suicide,” hallet, chandler and lalonde (2007) report that the rate of suicide disappears in communities where more than half of the members have knowledge of a traditional language. the authors define language as the most important method of cultural continuity because it expresses “another way of looking at the world, of explaining the unknown and making sense of life” (battiste, as cited in hallet et al., 2007, para. 3). ceremonies are also important for the continuation of culture. they are known to facilitate the “discharge of emotion…and provide powerful group empathy and cohesion which reinforce(s) the social self-image of each individual participant” (hart, 2002, p. 59). elders are central figures for facilitating the cultural transmission in aboriginal communities by providing guidance, counselling and performing ceremonies (hart, 2002, p. 58). tra183 turner ditional activities, such as hand-drumming, have also been proven to empower people to take control over their health in a holistic manner by incorporating physical, mental, spiritual and emotional aspects of wellness (goudreau et al., 2008). 2.2 self-determination as chander and lalonde (1998) note, self-determination, where a population group has political freedom to guide their own course of action, is closely related with cultural continuity. self-determination is accomplished when a community establishes a cohesive identity, gains control and is accountable for political, economic and social structures that affect the members (reading, 2012). chandler et al. (2003) report low suicide rates within aboriginal communities having achieved a degree of self-determination. however, such an achievement requires strong leadership, support from the community and appropriate support from non-aboriginal groups (reading, 2012). variations of these requirements exist in each community and acquiring them can be difficult and take time (reading, 2012). nevertheless, when public policy fails to promote self-determination and instead focuses on specific issues such as housing or education, significant long-term change is unlikely (reading, 2012). 3. public policy to reduce suicide risk cultural continuity, tied with a degree of self-determination, is proven to provide aboriginal youth with a healthy environment and decrease the impact of socio-economic, political and historical factors influencing the risk of suicide (chandler et al., 2003). however, not all communities have an opportunity to achieve such measures. cultural continuity and self-determination are not equally attainable, as each community experiences different impacts, obstacles and levels of oppression. therefore, rather than developing policy based on statistics, which may create blame and further oppress communities, policy must be shaped to ensure all youth have the opportunity to experience themselves as continuous in time (chandler et al., 2003). in 184 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 order to support communities in establishing healthy environments for youth, cultural safety must be embedded within public policy. 3.1 defining cultural safety the term “cultural safety” originated in new zealand to address the inequitable health outcomes experienced by maori people after receiving culturally inappropriate and insensitive care (de & richardson, 2007). the process begins with self-reflective exercises promoting a deeper sense of awareness, where individuals examine their beliefs, social position in the world and how they relate to others. de and richardson (2007) note the way “not everyone believes or does exactly the same thing” (para. 20). thus, if we are consumed by our personal perspectives, we “risk inadvertently stereotyping people by putting together lists of what we think people do or believe based on assumptions, myths and stereotypes” (de & richardson, 2007, para. 20). applying cultural safety to public policy has potential to promote respectful relations among diverse groups, which will go much farther in promoting health than if cultural safety is limited to interactions within health care (de & richardson, 2007). viewing aboriginal youth suicide through a culturally safe lens highlights much of the hopelessness leading to the loss of life as being rooted in structural and institutional racism within medical, educational and economic systems. for instance, western medicine disregarded traditional practices during european settlement (white & jacobs, 1992). after aboriginal healing practices failed to help people regain health, traditional medicine was further stigmatized and labelled inadequate (white & jacobs, 1992). since religion and culture are part of aboriginal medicine, they too, were disregarded (waldram, herring & young, 2007). residential schools split up families and encouraged children to “despise in themselves all those things which were essential to their identity” (white & jacobs, 1992, p. 19). exclusion from the economy was enacted by the state in the form of laws. land was confiscated, resources were denied and aboriginal people starved. chief seattle said the ways of the white man brought “the end of living and the beginning of survival” (white & jacobs, 185 turner 1992, p. 127) as traditional perspectives historically held little value for many euro-canadians. 4. policy implications public policy promoting an advanced level of self-awareness and education on oppression and marginalization is required to hasten social change and allow youth to feel hopeful about the future. selfdetermination, in the form of communities taking control of resources and services, has been connected to a low risk of youth suicide. canadians must acknowledge and respect the ability of aboriginal perspectives to provide the framework for healthy communities. as an example, macdonald (2009) writes the meaning of autonomy in aboriginal communities needs to be grounded in traditional culture. otherwise policy may be shaped by western-based assumptions regarding political practices, and work to off-load responsibility onto communities while giving no means for adequate funding (reading, 2012). such practice will only serve to further oppress communities if inadequate resources and funding are available. public policy can facilitate wellbeing for aboriginal youth by modelling and promoting culturally safe processes and behaviors to all canadians. for instance, programs and services within every sector need regulations which adhere to cultural safety. since cultural continuity is established as a central concept in reducing youth suicide risk in a community (chandler & lalonde, 2003), such initiatives need to be valued rather than labelled or stigmatized by the general population. space that is safe, respectful and appreciative of the many forms of cultural transmission must be created. policy makers wishing to aid in the process of establishing cultural continuity need to have knowledge of local perspectives and respect aboriginal diversity and world views. in her research article, parent (2011) identifies that when working with aboriginal youth, policy makers, educators and practitioners must focus on youth interests, strengths, perspectives and historical and contemporary contexts in order to facilitate a healthy outcome. to focus on individual 186 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 deficits is to be blind to the structural and institutional inequalities that exist. building self-awareness and knowledge of social power imbalances, while staying open to different perspectives and world views, are initial steps toward establishing a level of cultural safety. the aboriginal concept of the connection between all living things is central to creating supportive environments for youth. the method of acknowledging a sense of interconnectedness, regardless of heritage and cultural differences, will allow everyone to benefit (barlow & reading, 2008). iii. conclusion the alarming frequency of aboriginal youth suicide in certain communities reflects the unjust nature of canada’s past and present attitudes regarding aboriginal people. the transition to young adulthood can be an overwhelming experience and the wellbeing of a population is often reflected by the resiliency of the young members. socio-economic, political and historical determinants of suicide, unique to aboriginal populations, have been identified as causal factors. markers of cultural continuity and self-determination have been proven to enable communities to provide healthy, supportive environments for youth. decision makers must embrace cultural safety theory and embed the practices within public policy. the promotion of self-awareness and education on social the determinants of health will work to relinquish oppressive assumptions and aid in building health equity. 187 turner references barlow, j. & reading, c. (2008). relational care: a guide to health care and support for aboriginal people living with hiv/aids: final report. canadian aboriginal aids network. retrieved from http://www.catie.ca/en/resources/relational-care-guide-healthcare-and-support-aboriginal-people-living-hivaids blackstock, c. (2011). q & a with cindy blackstock. retrieved from www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire/2011/11/cindy-blackstock.html chandler, m. & lalonde, c. (1998). cultural continuity as a hedge against suicide in canada’s first nations. transcultural psychiatry, 35(2), 191–219. chandler, m., lalonde, c., sokol, b., & hallet, d. (2003). personal persistence, identity development and suicide: a study of native and non-native north american adolescents. monographs of the society for research in child development, 68(2), 1-130. clifford, a., doron, c. & tsey, k. (2013). a systemic review of suicide prevention interventions targeting indigenous people in australia, united states, canada and new zealand. bmc public health, 13(1). np. de, d. & richardson, j. (2008). cultural safety: an introduction. paediatric nursing, 20. 39–44. finlay, j., hardy, m., morris, d. & nagy, a. (2010). mamow-ki-kenda-ma-win: a partnership approach to child, youth, family and community wellbeing. international journal of mental health, 8(2), 245–257. goudreau, g., weber-pillwax, c., cote-meek, s., madill, h., & wilson, s. (2008). hand drumming: health promoting experiences of aboriginal women from a northern ontario urban community. journal of aboriginal health, 4(1), 72–83. hallet, d., chandler, m., & lalonde, c. (2007). aboriginal language, knowledge and youth suicide. cognitive development, 22(3), 392–399. hart, m. (2002). foundations of an aboriginal approach. in seeking mino-pimatisiwin: an aboriginal approach to helping (pp. 3959). halifax, ns: fernwood publishing. 188 http://www.catie.ca/en/resources/relational-care-guide-health-care-andsupport-aboriginal-people-living-hivaids http://www.catie.ca/en/resources/relational-care-guide-health-care-andsupport-aboriginal-people-living-hivaids www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire/2011/11/cindy-blackstock.html text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/136346159803500202 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-463 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/paed2008.03.20.2.39.c6529 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11469-009-9263-8 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.cogdev.2007.02.001 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 kirmayer, l. (2012). changing patterns of suicide among young people. canadian medical association journal, 184(9), 1015–1016. lavalee, l., & poole, j. (2010). beyond recovery: colonization, health and healing for indigenous people in canada. international journal of mental health and addiction, 8(2), 271-281. mcintosh, p. (1990). white privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack. retrieved from http://www.antiracistalliance.com/un packing.html macdonald, f. (2009). the manitoba government’s shift to “autonomous” first nations child welfare: empowerment or privatization? in a. timpson (ed.), first nations, first thoughts: the impact of indigenous thought in canada (pp. 173–198). vancouver, bc: ubc press. macneil, m. (2008). an epidemiologic study of aboriginal adolescent risk in canada: the meaning of suicide. journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing, 21(1), 3–12. national council of welfare reports. (2007) first nations, metis and inuit children and youth: time to act (cat. no. hs54-1/2007e). ottawa, on: national council of welfare. nygard, a. (2012). cultural authenticity and recovery maintenance in a rural first nation community. international journal of mental health and addiction, 10(2), 162–173. parent, a. 2011. keep us coming back for more: urban aboriginal youth speak about wholistic education. canadian journal of education, 34(1), 28–48. reading, c. (2012). self-determination [powerpoint slides]. lecture notes. tousignant, m., vitenti, l. & morin, n. (2013). aboriginal youth suicide in quebec: the contribution of public policy for prevention. international journal of law and psychiatry, 36(5–6), 399–405. waldram, j., herring, d. & young, t. (2007). aboriginal health in canada: historical, cultural, and epidemiological perspectives. toronto, on: university of toronto press. webster, p. ( 2012). aboriginal health programming under siege, critics charge. canadian medical association journal, 184(14), e739– 189 http://www.antiracistalliance.com/unpacking.html http://www.antiracistalliance.com/unpacking.html text box http://dx.doi.org/10. 1503/cmaj.120509 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/ s11469-009-9239-8 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j. 1744-6171.2008.00117.x text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11469-011-9317-6 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.10 16/j.ijlp.2013.06.019 turner e740. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library. uvic.ca/docview/1314476453?accountid=14846 wesley-equimaux, c., & smolewski, m. (2004). historic trauma and aboriginal healing. ottawa on: aboriginal healing foundation. retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=http://site. ebrary.com/lib/uvic/doc?id=10078906 wesley-esquimaux, c., & snowball, a. (2010). viewing violence, mental illness and addiction through a wise practice lens. international journal of mental health and addiction, 8(2), 390– 407. white, l. & jacobs, e. (1992). first nations law: a wholistic approach to extended families. in liberating our children, liberating our nations (pp. 5–25, 125–127). victoria, bc: community panel and family and children services. 190 http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/docview/1314476453?accountid=14846 http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/docview/1314476453?accountid=14846 http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uvic/doc?id=10078906 http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uvic/doc?id=10078906 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-4282 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.100 7/s11469-009-9265-6 introduction literature review the determinants underlying differential rates of aboriginal youth suicide socio-economic determinants historical determinants political determinants determinants in communities with low suicide risk cultural continuity self-determination public policy to reduce suicide risk defining cultural safety policy implications conclusion the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 restructuring first nations health governance: a multilevel solution to a multifaceted problem alexandra j.m. kent* university of victoria alexandrakent@hotmail.com abstract this paper investigates current health governance structures as a contributing factor to the disproportionate burden of ill-health and inequitable health service delivery experienced by first nations communities. a review of the contemporary and historical context sets the stage for the analysis, outlining health status, social determinants of health and the policy framework within which health inequities are situated. the paper proceeds with a critical analysis of power imbalances perpetuated within canada’s health care system in the form of barriers such as inadequate health services, fragmented governance, jurisdictional gaps and lack of government accountability. the discussion explores selfdetermination as a means of empowering first nations communities to take control of the design, delivery and evaluation of health care services and ultimately, reclaim control of their health and wellbeing. four models of self-government are evaluated to highlight several key features of a sustainable framework, including: recognition of autonomy, a voluntary process, an opt-in/opt-out provision, protection by legislation and the support of a fiduciary relationship with the state. finally, a multilevel mosaic model of self-government is proposed as a pragmatic framework that is adaptable to the varying needs and capacities of first nations communities. *i would like to thank my supervisor, dr. charlotte reading, for encouraging me throughout the process and contributing invaluable insight to the research. i would also like to thank the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards for funding my research and giving me an opportunity to share my findings at the 2014 research fair. 131 mailto:alexandrakent@hotmail.com kent keywords: first nations; health governance; health transfer policy; jurisdictional gaps; multilevel mosaic; self-determination; selfgovernance; social determinants of health; third order of government; transfer arrangements; tripartite framework agreement i. introduction within canada, a country highly acclaimed for its univer-sal health care and national values of democracy, equal-ity and freedom, it is paradoxical that indigenous peoples experience a disproportionate burden of ill-health and inequitable access to health services. although many inequities are common among indigenous groups, this paper will focus on the challenges faced by first nations, without dismissing the similar experiences of métis and inuit. the problem is multifaceted and has three distinct but interrelated components. at a population level, the problem is especially evident in the disparity in health status between first nations and canada’s general population, as demonstrated by the comparative prevalence of chronic conditions outlined in the first nations regional longitudinal health survey (as cited in health canada, 2008). this paper will also link health inequities to a more systemic problem in the form of fragmented governance, jurisdictional gaps, and lack of government accountability. furthermore, these issues can be attributed, in part, to entrenched power imbalances that marginalize first nations people within canada’s system of health governance. at the root of the issue is a political relationship defined by exclusion from federal divisions of power and paternalistic power dynamics that maintain federal control over resources (ladner, 2009). to address current health inequities and counter power imbalances, first nations communities are attempting to re-establish and redefine their position within the canadian state, and further reclaim and revitalize self-determination through control over local government and health care. this paper will explore various models of selfgovernment to identify essential elements of a functional governing structure. key factors that will be considered in each of these models 132 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 include control over resources, as well as flexibility to accommodate the unique needs of communities and account for varying levels of human, financial and infrastructure capacity. ultimately, restructuring canada’s health care system and government structure to incorporate a system of first nations self-government that facilitates local control over health services would have the dual benefit of improving access to culturally appropriate health services and addressing inequities in health status for first nations people. ii. health ineqities there is a distinct disparity in the overall health statuses of first nations populations and the general canadian population. the burden of health issues prevalent within many first nations communities is commonly compared to “third world health status” (matthew coon come, as cited in adelson, 2005), which is deplorable considering that canada is ranked fourth out of 177 countries in the 2007-2008 united nations human development index (health canada, 2008). although the gap is narrowing as a result of increased public awareness and concern, persistent disparities remain between first nations people and other canadians. this section will highlight some of the critical health inequities and their sources to establish the problem in quantitative terms. some of the most pressing health concerns facing first nations communities include: mental health, diabetes, obesity, cancer, respiratory disease, dental health, hiv/aids, addictions and children’s health (adelson, 2005; health canada, 2008; first nations health council, 2011; loppie reading & wien, 2009). these health concerns are exacerbated by their cumulative effect on quality of life as well as their connection to various determinants of health. as mentioned above, the first nations regional longitudinal health survey documents some of the most alarming statistics, including: 36% of first nations adults living on-reserve are considered to be obese compared to the national prevalence rate of 24%; diabetes prevalence among first nations adults living on-reserve is approximately 20% — four times 133 kent the rate of the general population; and first nations adults account for more than 27% of all reported positive hiv, although they are estimated to make up only 6% of the population (as cited in health canada, 2008). although the statistics representing the health status of first nations are startling, what is perhaps even more unsettling is the fact that these conditions are preventable at a systems level. critically analyzing the sources of these health issues reveals that the problem could be prevented, mitigated and, with the application of appropriate strategies, eliminated. the various health issues that impact first nations communities stem from a range of historical, social and political determinants. the intricacies and interconnections between these determinants of health can be best understood through a model presented by charlotte reading and fred wien (2009), which categorizes determinants as distal, intermediate, or proximal. through this lens, reading and wien link health concerns such as obesity, diabetes, and hiv to proximal determinants that influence health in direct ways such as health behaviours, physical and social environments. proximal determinants are in turn connected to and affected by intermediate determinants that have more of an indirect impact on the health of individuals, such as community infrastructure, resources and structural racism. finally, intermediate determinants are further linked to distal determinants, including historic, political, social and economic contexts. distal determinants frame the broader context or “bigger picture” within which all other determinants and health issues are situated and thus have the most profound impact on first nations health and wellbeing. some of the most significant distal determinants that embody the root cause of health inequities among first nations people include: colonization, loss of sovereignty, dispossession of traditional lands, the imposed reserve system, residential schools and destruction of culture. these historical, social and political factors have persisted through time and across multiple generations, adversely influencing the health status of first nations people for over a century. moreover, “individuals, communities and nations that experience inequalities in the social determinants of health not only carry 134 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 an additional burden of health problems, but they are often restricted from access to resources that might ameliorate problems” (reading & wien, p.2). this injustice effectively demonstrates that key determinants of health and variations in health are intimately linked to power relations in society. exploring the shortfalls of canada’s health care system reveals that inequities exist not only in first nations health status, but also in the delivery of health services to first nations people and their access to health care. 1. first nations health governance in order to set the context of the current inequitable conditions within first nations communities, this section will briefly summarize the systems, structures and relationships that influence health through the various determinants of health. first nations health governance is situated within a complex political relationship with the state (formerly the crown) and is formalized by various policies that establish the basic terms and conditions of the relationship. the terms of the relationship started with the signing of original treaties between the crown and some — but not all — first nations in and around the nineteenth century (mackinnon, 2005). health care was considered a treaty right, afforded to first nations people living on-reserve, and the crown was entrusted with the responsibility for delivering health services as part of its fiduciary duty to first nations people. in 1867, the british north america (bna) act — the foundation of the canadian constitution — set forth the division of powers and defined jurisdictional boundaries for canadian federalism. it stipulates “indian affairs,” including “indians and the lands reserved for indians” as a federal jurisdiction (section 91[24]) and health care, alongside social services and education, as a provincial jurisdiction (kelly, 2011; first nations health council, 2011), thus creating ambiguity over the provision of health care to first nations people that remains today. the indian act of 1876 provides no specific clarity for first nations health 135 kent governance.1 although it was enacted to regulate and monitor the system of band council governments, it does not define jurisdictional responsibility for the provision of health services for first nations — on-reserve or otherwise. together, these policies complicate first nations health care and make the health system difficult to navigate. because of the complex policy framework, first nations people receive health services through a unique combination of federal, provincial and first nations-run programs and services. in practice, the provinces are responsible for providing all aspects of health services to all residents, including first nations living onand off-reserve, through provincial networks of clinics, hospitals and other treatment facilities (government of british columbia, 2005). the federal government, through the first nations and inuit health (fnih) branch, delivers primary health, public health and health promotion services to first nations reserve communities and inuit communities; fnih also provides ancillary health services (e.g. drug and dental) to first nations people (with status) on and off-reserve (health canada, 2011). however, the federal government restricts its responsibility for health care provision to “on-reserve,” leaving the provincial governments to cover health care for métis as well as first nations and inuit peoples living off-reserve (laurel lemchuk-favel, 2004, p. 37). the federal government “aims to” provide services on-reserve comparable to that the provinces provide to non-first nations within their jurisdiction (first nations health council, 2010). these complicated jurisdictional divisions indirectly affect inequities in health status by creating barriers to access to health care for first nations people. 1a “band” or “indian band” is a first nations governing body on-reserve instituted by the indian act, 1876. the indian act defines a “band” as “a body of indians a) for whose use and benefit in common, lands, the legal title to which is vested in her majesty, have been set apart; b) has funds held for it by the federal government and c) is declared a band by the governor-in-council” (as cited in first nations studies program, 2009). 136 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 2. systemic barriers the current structure of health care in canada creates unnecessary and inequitable barriers for first nations people to overcome in order to access basic health services that are taken for granted by the general canadian population. for many first nations, health services are not always available or accessible; and when they are, they tend to be inadequate, ineffective, or underfunded (adelson, 2005). first nations people face obstacles such as geographic isolation — particularly in northern and remote communities — language barriers, lack of culturally appropriate services, scarceness of first nations health providers, lack of community involvement in the administration of health services, as well as discrimination and institutional racism within mainstream systems of care (hirch, 2011; reading & wien, 2009). these barriers often produce distrust and discourage first nations people from accessing health services, even when they are available. while the challenges listed above are circumstantial and vary across geographic areas, first nations communities, and individual experiences, as a collective, first nations face several systemic barriers that are entrenched within canada’s health care system. this section will discuss the impacts of barriers such as fragmented governance, jurisdictional gaps, and lack of government accountability, which act as intermediate determinants of health. one of the main challenges impeding access to health care for first nations is the fragmented governance structure that is divided between federal, provincial and in some cases, local governments. the national collaborating centre for aboriginal health frames the challenging organization of the canadian health system as “a complex patchwork of policies, legislation and relationships… further complicating the system is the multiplicity of authorities who are responsible for health services and programs: the federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments; various aboriginal authorities; and the private sector” (2011, p.1). the lack of intergovernmental coordination and the failure to harmonize federal and provincial health policies often results in overlaps and duplication of services (mackinnon, 2005; webster, 2009). moreover, despite the range 137 kent of actors involved in delivering health services to first nations, complete coverage is not guaranteed; rather, the lack of accountability among federal and provincial governments creates jurisdictional gaps and piecemeal coverage. an intrinsic feature of the uncoordinated, fragmented system of first nations health governance is a longstanding debate between federal, provincial and first nations governments in terms of who is responsible for health care for first nations people. the jurisdictional boundaries outlined by the bna act may be clear in theory, but they have proven to be ambiguous and convoluted in practice. the divisions not only exist across tiers of government, but also translate to divisions across ancestry, place of residence and land claim agreements. as a result, disparities and inconsistencies are present both between first nations and the general population, and also within indigenous populations (kelly, 2011). jurisdictional ambiguity has allowed both levels of government to minimize responsibility for first nations health services, “continually [seeking] ways in which the other government will pay the costs of services” (mackinnon, 2005, p. 14). the federal government has never acknowledged a legal obligation to provide health care services to first nations and has increasingly distanced itself from service provision by transferring responsibility to the provinces and first nations, under the auspices of supporting community control and autonomy (kelly, 2011). these jurisdictional divisions and disjunctions are products of an overarching government structure and system of hierarchy designed to maintain colonial power and privilege. 3. power imbalances to delve further into the root causes of health inequities, this section will briefly discuss a couple major distal determinants that influence health through broader political, social and historical factors. specifically, the underlying power dynamics between first nations and the state are of primary relevance to health governance. first nations health governance is situated within canada’s two-tiered 138 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 federal system, whereby jurisdiction and control over resources are divided exclusively between federal and provincial levels of government. within this system, first nations and municipal governments do not share formal status as federal partners. in fact, first nations were explicitly excluded during the creation of the federation: “no aboriginal representatives were invited to the charlottetown or quebec conferences of 1864, where the foundations of the canadian federation were established” (papillon, 2010, p.246). under the bna act of 1867, first nations people became subjects of federal jurisdiction and therefore, subjected to governmental-dependency (p. 245), divided — like everything else in canada — between federal and provincial jurisdictions. as an extension of explicit denial of status as federal partners, first nations governments have no inherent or constitutionally defined jurisdictions or responsibilities, no decision-making ability that is not subject to the authority of the federal government and no ability to generate revenue or to create financial capacity to operate as a government (ladner, 2009). these restrictions limit communities’ ability to express self-determination and further entrench a power imbalance between first nations and the state. not only does the two-tiered system of federalism instill inequity through paternalistic power dynamics, but it is based in illegitimate claims to sovereignty.2 just as federalism was forced upon first nations people without their consent, state sovereignty was unilaterally imposed by the canadian government and its colonial predecessor, the crown. european settlers used the notion of terra nullius, or “empty land,” which applies lockean concepts of land ownership to claim that because indigenous peoples did not work the land, they therefore did not possess title to the land.3 even though 2parliament of canada defines sovereignty as “supreme legitimate authority within a territory… supreme authority within a territory implies both undisputed supremacy over the land’s inhabitants and independence from unwanted intervention by an outside authority” (philpott, 1995 as cited in carnaghan & goody, 2006). 3title refers to the inherent indigenous right to land or a territory; “…this right is not granted from an external source but is a result of [indigenous] peoples’ own occupation of and relationship with their home territories as well as their ongoing social structures and political and legal systems…” (first nations studies program, 2009). 139 kent the state no longer defends this logic, they do not question it as a flawed source of sovereignty, thus maintaining power imbalances (tully, 1999). by refusing to address the question of title, the state disregards first nations’ sovereignty and denies their inherent right to self-determination, which originates from pre-contact. prior to colonization, first nations governed themselves with their own governing structures and systems of law, sustained by their lands and resources. at no point during colonization (contact, treaties, confederation or beyond) have they ceded their autonomy as sovereign nations or subjected themselves to the colonial powers of foreign authorities — be they french, british, or canadian (ladner, 2009). therefore, the state has no legal grounds to assert a claim of jurisdiction over or to govern first nations or their lands. together, these arguments against illegitimate state sovereignty and the flawed health care system form the basis of my proposal in favor of self-governance. iii. restructuring first nations health governance 1. self-governance central to most proposals for restructuring first nations health governance is establishing a system of self-governance as a basis for healing. in its final report, the royal commission on aboriginal peoples (1996) proposed a comprehensive “action plan for moving forward,” which advocates for self-government as a means of empowering indigenous communities to plan and manage their own health systems, among other responsibilities such as managing their own resources, taxing their citizens and making their own laws. first nations’ inherent right to self-determination, stemming from unceded sovereignty, is reaffirmed and entrenched by both the canadian constitution in section 35(1) and the united nations declaration of indigenous rights. recognition of these rights is limited in scope and undermined by paternalistic power dynamics. in order for first nations people to exercise full control over their lives and their health, 140 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 the health system and structure of government need to be fundamentally restructured to accommodate and promote self-governance. first nations communities need to redefine and reposition their place within the institutionalized system of health governance, reclaiming control over both local government and health care. self-governance would give first nations communities authority over policy-making, program planning, service delivery and monitoring of health outcomes (hirch, 2011). numerous authors link self-governance and self-determination with improved health among first nations people through various correlations, such as the removal of physical and perceived barriers, improved access to health care, increased number of culturally appropriate services and greater control of resources (chandler & lalonde, 1998; hirch, 2011; labonte, 1994; ladner, 2009; reading & wien, 2009; national collaborating centre for aboriginal health, 2011). a key argument for self-government is that first nations people are better positioned to identify their own health concerns and priorities and thus create solutions. by managing and delivering healthcare in their communities, first nations governments are empowered to increase community awareness of health issues, deliver more culturally informed health care, improve employment opportunities for community members and ultimately improve the community’s health status (national collaborating centre for aboriginal health, 2011, p.3). reading and wien suggest that self-determination is, in fact, the most important determinant because it influences all other determinants, including education, housing, safety and health education (2009, p.23). this multilevel approach to health inequities is crucial because it encompasses proximal, intermediate and distal determinants of health, and accounts for unique local needs. 2. models of self-government while it is commonly understood that self-governance is a positive development towards the health and wellbeing of first nations, an ideal model of self-determination is far from reality for many of these 141 kent communities; this is in part due to barriers established by the state (as described above) and also due to lack of consensus on what constitutes an ideal— and practical— model of self-government. various frameworks of self-governance have been proposed and are being deployed within provinces, regions and communities. a few models in particular have shown potential for broader implementation; however, their strengths and weaknesses have to be further analyzed to determine what the future of health governance and self-governance should look like. 2.1 health transfer policy within canada’s health care system there is a current model of “transfer arrangements” that facilitates the decentralization of some health care administration to first nations governments under the health transfer policy. while health transfer arrangements do not equate with self-determination, increased control over decisions related to health policies, programs and services is a fundamental step towards self-governance for many first nations communities. since 1989, health canada, through the fnih, has offered first nations governments the option of entering agreements or transfer arrangements that delegate responsibility for some or most health services, which would otherwise be delivered by the federal government, such as public health services (first nations health council, 2011). funding for these programs and services is provided through a variety of agreements which vary in terms of level of control, flexibility and accountability (government of british columbia, 2005). many band councils have opted for transfer arrangements to increase their control over health service delivery. bc has the highest percentage of first nations communities involved in health transfer in canada, with over 80% of the 203 communities involved in some form of transfer (first nations health council, 2011, p.21). the level of control exercised by these first nations governments ranges from direct control over all decisions relating to health policies, programs and services to merely having a role in implementation with little or no control over decision-making (chandler & lalonde, 1998, p. 14). 142 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 long term evaluations reported positive results among communities involved in the health transfer policy (health canada, 2013). among the reported findings are: the objectives of transfer have been realized at the community level for communities that entered the posttransfer phase; community members had an increased awareness of health issues and health care had become more of a priority in transferred communities; social and community development strategies were found to be in place using a variety of culturally informed and relevant methods of health delivery; and community health services were found to be integrated with other programs and services such as social services, mental health, home care, education and non-insured health benefits. these outcomes reaffirm the potential benefits of local control over health care; however, the scope of this evaluation is limited because it only reports on health transfer arrangements, which represent a narrow conception of self-government. while many communities have benefitted from increased control over health care through health transfer arrangements, the model has several flaws. in addition to the positive results reported in the evaluation, first nations communities noted some critical concerns with the transfer process, including adversarial relationships with the federal government, lack of clarity regarding the various roles each would occupy, the government’s rigid approach to negotiation and unresolved jurisdictional issues between the provincial governments and the federal government (health canada, 2013). naomi adelson (2005) calls attention to the “fatal flaw” in the health transfer policy, in that it perpetuates the pre-existing relationship of dependence by maintaining federal control over resources. even though first nations governments have been delegated much administrative responsibility for federal programs, the federal government still exercises control through financial transfers, departmental administrative and accountability requirements, the use of third party management and its ability to override all bylaws (webster, 2009). within many first nations communities, health transfer arrangements only give an illusion of increased control over health care, as bands simply administer federal programs without the capacity, resources and autonomy to be 143 kent fully self-determining. 2.2 tripartite framework agreement a new and innovative approach to health governance has recently been established in british columbia, where a 10-year agreement has been negotiated with the federal government that transfers administration of first nations health care to a new provincial health governance structure specific to first nations people. the new governing body consists of the first nations health authority (fnha), the tripartite committee on first nations health, the first nations health directors association and the first nations health council. the policy change was formally set into motion on october 2011 with the signing of the bc tripartite framework agreement on first nation health governance (tripartite framework agreement); and on october 1st 2013, health canada officially transferred its jurisdiction over health programming and services for bc first nations to the fnha (health canada, 2013). the fnha assumes responsibility for the planning, design, management and delivery of health programs for bc first nations, while the federal government will continue funding the programs over the 10-year agreement, with additional support from the bc government (health canada, 2011). the fnha was established to serve the purpose of a decentralized governing body that represents bc first nations— both in terms of leadership and mandate. the fnha is community-based and locally accountable, offering a platform for first nations communities and individuals to influence health governance as an expression of self-determination. the tripartite framework agreement is a first in canada and represents a historic transformation of health governance for first nations. the federal government may adopt this framework as a national model of first nations health governance, if proven to be effective. o’neil (2013) explains, “if successful, the transfer would provide a template — and a pool of experts — for first nations leaders elsewhere in canada who are closely watching the b.c. experiment.” this new health governance structure has the potential to improve health inequities and address service gaps experienced by bc first nations 144 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 by integrating health programs to create a more effective and efficient health system (health canada, 2013). furthermore, the fnha is better positioned to represent the needs, priorities and cultures of bc first nations by incorporating cultural knowledge, beliefs, values and models of healing into the design and delivery of health programs (health canada, 2011). by responding to the unique needs of bc first nations, the decentralized system of health governance can help promote healthy, self-determining first nations communities. the new provincial health governance structure has the potential to transform health care for bc first nations; however, the model has a few critical limitations. first, the fnha is aimed primarily at “status” first nations living on-reserve in bc.4 the tripartite framework agreement does not include any explicit statement indicating inclusion of non-status first nations, first nations living off-reserve, first nations living outside bc, inuit or mètis. moreover, the new framework has limited potential for empowerment and self-determination. although it gives greater power to bc first nations to influence health governance through the first nations health authority, the agreement explicitly states that it shall not have the effect of or be interpreted as a self-government agreement (health canada, 2011). this condition significantly limits first nations communities’ ability to assume full control over their health through self-determination. furthermore, it maintains present power imbalances between first nations and the federal government by reinforcing the state’s exclusive sovereignty. 2.3 third order of government a third model of self-government that offers first nations governments more substantial control over health care and addresses issues of dependency through capacity building is the establishment of a third order of government. as discussed above, there are only two 4 “indian status” refers to a legal identity assigned to canadian aboriginals (first nations, métis and inuit) by the canadian government. section 6 of the indian act outlines criteria for who is legally considered an “indian”, thus defining who qualifies for “indian status” (as cited in first nations studies program, 2009). 145 kent formal tiers of government within canada’s system of federalism: federal and provincial. restructuring federalism to include a third tier of government would offer first nations governments jurisdictional power parallel to the federal and provincial governments rather than being subordinate. in their final report, the royal commission of aboriginal peoples proposed the development of a third order of government as an imperative action for first nations to reclaim control of their lands and livelihoods (aboriginal affairs and northern development canada, 2010). recognition as an equal federal partner and government authority would be a significant achievement for first nations people in terms of both self-governance and health governance. a third order of government would empower first nations governments to manage their own resources, tax their citizens, make their own laws, use traditional systems of government and justice and provide health and social services that meet the needs of their communities without interference from federal or provincial bodies. under this model, first nations would be viewed as distinct political entities entering unique government-to-government relationships with mutual respect for sovereignty (hirch, 2011). the autonomy promised under this model aligns with chandler and lalonde’s definition of self-government as, “negotiations with federal and provincial governments in having further established their right in law to a large measure of economic and political independence within their traditional territory” (1998, p.14). unlike the health transfer policy or the tripartite framework agreement, a third order of government offers first nations governments legitimate autonomy to be self-determining. furthermore, this framework would empower first nations communities to rediscover and reinstate traditional concepts of health, healing knowledge and health systems, which already exist in indigenous knowledge and continue to exist in some semblance or another despite years of colonial decay. a third order of government may offer a more effective model of self-government and control over health care than the health transfer policy or the tripartite framework agreement, but it is still sub146 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ject to limitations. a fundamental oversight in this framework is the assumption that communities have the human, financial and infrastructure capacity to substantiate increased jurisdictional powers. across canada, first nations communities have distinct cultures, histories, traditions and beliefs; they are also diverse in terms of geographic location, size, economic base, capacity and access to resources. because of this diversity, a one-size-fits-all approach is inadequate to accommodate the unique needs of first nations people. it would be a futile endeavor to implement a system of first nations self-governance unless issues of capacity are adequately addressed. 2.4 health self-governance — multilevel mosaic a promising model of health governance and self-governance exists in the us, where “health self-governance” has been mandated by the federal government. through the indian self-determination and education assistance act (public law 93-638) of 1975 [isdeaa], tribes can voluntarily opt into one of two different options for health selfgovernance: 1) remain within the federal health system, or 2) take a combination of delivery systems depending on their needs and abilities. if the tribes wish, they can retrocede or return responsibilities for specific program areas back to the federal government (first nations health council, 2011, p.35). in this case, the decisions to contract or not to contract are equal expressions of self-determination. this particular model features several key characteristics that make it a suitable framework for indigenous peoples both in the us and in canada, including: recognition of autonomy, a voluntary process, an opt-in/ opt-out provision, protection by legislation and the support of a fiduciary relationship with the federal government. these features provide a relevant guide for the development of a national model of health governance and self-governance within canada. the us’s system of health self-governance aligns with principles of the “multilevel mosaic” model of self-government proposed by martin papillon (2010), which could be implemented as a national framework of first nations self-government and also guide the decentralization of health governance to communities seeking greater auton147 kent omy. similar to a formal third order of government, this model would offer first nations increased autonomy in the form of self-government; however, it resembles the us ideaa approach by accounting for cultural diversity, varying levels of capacity and unique local needs. the multilevel mosaic model also accommodates the lack of uniformity among first nations communities, “as [their] context, status, needs and expectations as well as political clout… vary considerably” (papillon, 2010, p. 248). under this framework, jurisdiction over health care and other public service areas (e.g. social services, education and justice) would be devolved to first nations communities in a way that would be proportional to their capacity to exercise self-governance. larger, more developed communities that are rich in resources could reasonably have status equal to a third order of government, whereas smaller communities that require further capacity development would receive additional assistance from federal and provincial governments. in all cases, first nations governments would have the option of assuming greater control over the planning and delivery of health services, though the organization and structure of the local health systems would be unique to each community. when compared to the other models of self-government discussed above, a multilevel mosaic model stands out as the most promising framework for restructuring first nations health governance. the strengths and weaknesses of each model can be evaluated using the notions of proximal, intermediate and distal determinants of health discussed earlier (reading & wien, 2009). both the health transfer policy and the tripartite framework agreement primarily address proximal and intermediate determinants by increasing first nations’ control over the delivery of health services, but are limited in their ability to address distal determinants because they perpetuate structural and colonial power imbalances. on the other hand, the third order of government challenges some of the most significant distal determinants by revitalizing self-determination; however, the model’s emphasis on the “bigger problem” overshadows important proximal and intermediate determinants such as community capacity, infrastructure, and resources. finally, the multilevel mosaic model addresses 148 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 all three in tandem by empowering first nations to take control over their health and wellbeing, their health governance, and their relationship with other levels of government. in this sense, the multilevel mosaic model offers a multilevel solution for a multifaceted problem. 3. recommendations through these discussions and evaluations of the four models of selfgovernment presented above, it becomes evident that a multilevel mosaic model is the most pragmatic approach to applying self-governance as a solution to current health inequities. reflecting on the framework’s potential to simultaneously influence proximal, intermediate and distal determinants of health, i recommend it as a blueprint and guideline for the restructuring of first nations health governance. this reform is not merely an ideal, but an imperative, and demands immediate action. due to its complex nature, the reform will require the support and long-term commitment of all levels of government (including first nations and local governments), all sectors and all individuals implicated by health inequities, policy-making, and colonial power imbalances. the multilevel mosaic model requires further research and, more importantly, extensive consultation and collaboration with first nations to identify a clear vision for health governance and self-governance. in order for a multilevel mosaic model of health self-governance to function, terms and conditions of the arrangement would have to be negotiated within each first nations community. the new approach would require intense local or regional negotiation between first nations, federal and provincial or territorial governments; the pace at which these negotiations proceed would ultimately be up to first nations communities to determine. this process would, of course, take time and require ongoing collaboration and capacity development. nonetheless, establishing a framework of health self-governance that devolves power and resources proportionally to communities’ capacity and needs is essential to serving the diverse health needs of first nations people. 149 kent iv. conclusion canada’s existing health care system and government structure must be fundamentally reframed to facilitate an increase in first nations’ control over health services. this transformation has been shown to have positive effects on the health and wellbeing of first nations communities and is an essential step towards to fixing the complex problems embedded within first nations health governance. the current health status and system of health governance for first nations communities represents inequities that are unacceptable in terms of the disproportionate distribution of barriers and challenges across populations as well as preventable with respect to social and political issue stemming from historical and contemporary determinants of health. at the root of the issue is a flawed policy framework and political relationship that perpetuate power imbalances. within the current health system, first nations people face barriers such as inadequate health services, fragmented governance, jurisdictional gaps and lack of government accountability. this system stems from an overarching governing structure, whereby first nations governments are excluded from federal divisions of power and subject to paternalistic relations that are maintained through federal control over resources. self-determination has been identified as a solution to many of the health challenges facing first nations communities. by establishing control over local governance and health care, first nations governments can empower their communities to reclaim control of their health and wellbeing. various models of self-government exist, each offering benefits and challenges for first nations health governance. while the health transfer policy offers first nations governments increased control over the administration of health care at the local level, it perpetuates the paternalistic relationship between the canadian state and first nations people by maintaining federal control over resources. similarly, the tripartite framework agreement empowers first nations people to play a more significant leadership role in provincial health governance, but does not translate to selfgovernance for local communities. while the third order of govern150 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ment model empowers first nations governments to revitalize selfdetermination as sovereign nations, its one-size-fits-all approach fails to account for different levels of capacity among nations. finally, a multilevel mosaic model of health self-governance offers increased control over local governance and health care in such a way that is proportional to communities’ capacities and needs, while respecting first nations’ collective right to self-determination and upholding canada’s fiduciary relationship to first nations people. implementing a multilevel mosaic model of health self-governance would fundamentally require reconsidering and restructuring colonial power dynamics entrenched within canada’s system of health care and structure of government, but could potentially have profound benefits for the overall health of canada’s first nations population. this reform is significant not only to first nations, but to canada as a whole, which has a moral responsibility, a fiduciary duty, and in some cases a treaty obligation to address current health inequities. 151 kent references aboriginal affairs and northern development canada. 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(2009). health inequalities, social determinants and life course health issues among first nations people in canada. prince george, bc: national collaborating centre for aboriginal health. tully, j. (2000). the struggles of indigenous peoples for and of freedom. in p. patton, d. ivison, and w. sanders (eds.), political theory and the rights of indigenous peoples (pp. 36–59). cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. webster, p. (2009). local control over aboriginal health care improves outcome, study indicates. canadian medical association journal, 181(11), 249–250. 154 http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/12267/3702 http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/12267/3702 http://www.vancouversun.com/health/first+nations+ take+over+their+health+care+services/8979530/story.html http://www.vancouversun.com/health/first+nations+ take+over+their+health+care+services/8979530/story.html http://www.vancouversun.com/health/first+nations+ take+over+their+health+care+services/8979530/story.html text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-3072 introduction health inequities first nations health governance systemic barriers power imbalances restructuring first nations health governance self-governance models of self-government health transfer policy tripartite framework agreement third order of government health self-governance — multilevel mosaic recommendations conclusion the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 108 spiritual authenticity in a secular context: how modern postural yoga is searching for legitimacy in all the wrong places kelly lindsay abstract: this paper examines the historical origins and spiritual context of contemporary yoga practice in the west. in an attempt to assess the spiritual significance of this somatic practice, this essay explores the way in which both critics and promoters of postural yoga frame their arguments for the value of contemporary yoga practice by showing either its disconnect from, or homogeneity with ancient hindu traditions. by tracing the evolution of yogic practice from its scriptural origins to its contemporary manifestations, this paper argues that yoga has never been a static or perfectly defined entity. rather, yogic practice has a long history of being re-interpreted to meet the specific spiritual needs of practitioners. modern postural yoga (mpy) represents a continuation of this tradition of adaptation. rather than being an inadequate replication of an ancient tradition, i argue that mpy is a distinctly modern practice that has been transformed to fit the contemporary spiritual needs of a secularizing and body-conscious western society. key terms: yoga; modern postural yoga; new age spirituality; physical culture; ancient hinduism; spiritual legitimacy; cultural appropriation introduction: the search for authenticity in the contemporary world, yoga has become a ubiquitous phenomenon. classes and studios have sprung up in a wide variety of manifestations, from regular sessions in high-school gym classes to posh studios in cosmopolitan centres. a 2012 survey done by yoga journal estimates that approximately 20.4 million americans regularly practice yoga, (roughly 8.7% of the adult population), while another 44% of the population, describe themselves as “aspirational yogis,” or people who are very interested in pursuing yogic practice (yoga in america study 2012, 2013). yet, as yoga becomes increasingly popular, it also becomes ever more important to analyze the curious tension that rests at the core of yogic lindsay 109 practice. one must negotiate the territory between contemporary yoga’s somatic expression (that is, the bodily performance of postural yoga) in consumer societies, which presents yoga as a spiritual practice cum fitness regimen, and yoga’s meditative and esoteric religious origins. it is only through developing a contextual understanding of contemporary postural yoga that one will be able to assess its value as a modern spiritual pursuit. many yoga classes and studios aim to cultivate an aura of spiritual authenticity around their practice by shrouding it in a form of new-age theory that is inspired by hindu religious teachings. often instructors will cite ancient hindu texts such as the bhagavad gītā or patañjali’s yoga sūtras as the basis for their teachings, or choose to punctuate their classes with the chanting of sacred sanskrit mantras such as the “aum” or “om,” or by simply closing the class with a prayer or a “namaste.” however, while yoga instructors preach about the superiority of the spirit over the physical self, or the abolishment of material concerns in aim of higher metaphysical ones, nearly 80% of contemporary american practitioners describe the motivation for their practice in terms of physical concerns of fitness, weight loss, and flexibility (yoga in america study 2012, 2013). these polarities have sparked an obvious debate around the spiritual merits of modern postural yoga (mpy). mpy is a term coined by de michelis in a history of modern yoga: patañjali and western esotericism (2004) to describe the popular contemporary style of yoga that focuses almost entirely on postures and breath control. some groups, like the hindu american foundation in their “take back yoga” campaign, assert that mpy is a practice stolen from hinduism and perverted by western consumer capitalism; thus, the resulting claim is that yoga has lost all religious legitimacy in its popular form (shukla, 2012). on the other hand, there are also many non-hindus who vehemently throw themselves into a yoga practice, touting its ability to spark moments of spiritual clarity and metaphysical self-realization, where one encounters a form of a spiritual self that is normally hidden from plain view. the most interesting thing about these dichotomized perceptions of modern postural yoga is that they both frame the argument for proving or disproving mpy’s spiritual legitimacy by showing either its homogeneity with, or disconnect from, ancient hindu practices, traditions, and texts. however, focusing solely upon an ancient and idyllic view of yoga does not allow one to properly assess the merits of the contemporary yoga phenomenon. yogic practice is not a static and ahistorical religious entity, nor does it have a specifically delineated definition, or single ancient the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 110 source. it is a tradition that has been transmitted through various cultural and religious groups, and, as it lacks any central authority, has a long history of reinterpretation and redefinition to serve the disparate needs of these milieus. mpy is yet another re-interpretation of the yogic tradition that has been constructed both by and for the modern western world. it is a spiritual and somatic practice which caters to the modern western desire for a form of spirituality outside the confines of traditional religion, while simultaneously embodying the western world’s obsessive association of the physical body with one’s spiritual state. this paper will begin by tracing the historical development of yogic practice, from its ancient sources to its most modern manifestations. the section “scriptural sources & the origins of systematic āsanas” briefly outlines yoga’s dynamic past in order to emphasize both the fluidity of the tradition, as well as the inconsistencies between modern postural yoga and the ancient traditions from which it claims to originate. “the philosophical origins of neo-vedāntic yoga” brings yoga into the modern era by analysing the cultural trends that transformed yogic philosophy into a school of thought that was much more syncretic with modern western scientific and philosophical ideas. this section unveils the roots of contemporary trends that seek to both define what “real” yoga is and to asses the value of yogic practice by connecting it to ancient sources. “india’s encounter with the international physical culture movement & the creation of the modern yoga class” focuses on how āsanas were reintroduced into modern yoga practices in a way that stripped them of their more contentious religious aspects. this section traces how āsanas were transformed from an esoteric practice into a form of holistic physical exercise that was again designed to align with modern western conceptions of the self, spirituality, and physical fitness. this section should be considered in conjunction with “an equivalent practice,” which looks at a protestant physical culture regimen that existed in europe and america before the importation of mpy. these two sections highlight that mpy does not represent a distinctly hindu tradition. rather, the form of postural exercise that we most often recognize today as “yoga” is a practice that has its roots as much in a modern protestant physical culture trend, as it does in ancient hinduism. finally, the section “the western body & postural yoga as a spiritual practice” assesses the relationship between modern western spirituality, and our embodied selves. this section argues that modern postural yoga still induces a legitimate and valuable spiritual experience in practitioners, lindsay 111 even if it is not the kind of experience that was envisioned by ancient hindu yogis. thus, while mpy is wholly consistent with the historical pattern of re-interpretation that marks yoga’s development, framing mpy’s spiritual legitimacy through its connection to ancient hinduism may be the wrong way to assess the merits of this spiritual practice. scriptural sources and the origins of systematic āsanas there are a multitude of differing views about what constitutes a genuine yoga practice. semantically, there is not even a singular definition for the word “yoga.” “yoga” has one of the broadest ranges of meanings in the entire sanskrit lexicon. while the root “yuj” is literally translated as “to join,” “to add to,” or “to attach,” “yoga” has a plethora of possible interpretations (white, 2012). white (2012) accumulated a list of these translations in his article “yoga: brief history of an idea,” which covers topics as disparate as the act of yoking an animal, a gathering of stars or a constellation, the act of mixing together various substances, a strategy, an endeavour, a union, an arrangement, zeal, diligence, and discipline, and this is only a short excerpt from his vast list. on top of this wide range of possible interpretations, yogic practice has never been organized around a central authority. historically, once yoga became understood as a path, method, or theory, it became a collection of multifarious teachings that were passed through various teachers and gurus. this allowed yogic praxis and theory to remain thoroughly de-centralized, and has allowed people to interpret yoga as they please for thousands of years (de michelis, 2008). since contemporary yoga gurus and practitioners point toward ancient hindu texts as their sources of legitimacy, it is necessary to begin with these sources in order to appreciate the full scope of yoga’s transformation from a meditative religious practice into a spiritually inclined physical regimen. the earliest recorded reference to “yoga” was in the rg veda, written around the 15 th century bce. here yoga was understood as the yoke placed on an animal to attach it to a chariot during wartime (white, 2012). it wasn’t until the 3 rd century bce that the earliest systematic account of yoga was recorded in the kaṭhaka upaniṣad. in this text, yama, the god of death, reveals “the entire yoga regimen” to a young ascetic, presenting it as a way to overcome death and leave the world of joy and sorrow behind (singleton, 2010). again, the idea of yoga as a yoke is evoked, but this time, metaphorically, as the relationship between the self, body and intellect, compared to a rider, chariot and charioteer (white 2012). the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 112 the bhagavad gītā of the mahābhārata is often considered a seminal yogic text. dated between 200 bce to 400 ce, this indian war epic describes “yoga” as a vehicle through which one can be carried up towards the heavens and the gods (white, 2012). it also describes the practices of the yogins of the day, which include a heavy emphasis on renunciation, breath control, and asceticism. the bhagavad gītā describes a yogin as one who is “firm, motionless, holding body, head and neck in a straight line, focusing on the tip of his own nose, not looking around him, tranquil, free from fear, locked in the vow of chastity, controlling his mind” (6.13-14). the image presented here is of an intense religious asceticism, which can elevate the practitioner towards enlightenment. while these texts developed the conception of yoga as a path that leads to metaphysical rewards, it is patañjali’s yoga sūtras, which became the definitive text on yogic theory and praxis. the primary commentator on the text, vyāsa, hailed the yoga sūtras as the single most authoritative text on yoga, and many scholars consider patañjali to be one of the greatest hindu expounders of yoga (bryant, 2009). while the yoga sūtras draw heavily upon the philosophy of earlier hindu texts (most notably the sāmkhya philosophy of the upaniṣads), this text was also influenced by coeval buddhist and jain sources (white, 2012). patañjali’s first limb of yoga, the yamas, lists five abstinences that are identical to the five vows of jainism, while vyāsa points out that many of the samādhi (meditation) techniques used by patañjali in the yoga sūtras are borrowed directly from buddhist schools who were developing yogic theories at the time, such as the yogācāra (“yoga practice” school) (white, 2012). therefore, even one of the most definitive sources on hindu yogic theory and praxis was the result of religious and philosophical exchange between a multitude of diverse groups. while the yoga sūtras is the most commonly cited ancient yogic source by modern aspirants, most confine their understanding solely to the aṣṭānga, or “practice” section of the sūtras, while eschewing the rest of patañjali’s philosophical and metaphysical claims (singleton, 2010). the aṣṭānga section runs from verses 2.29 to 3.8, and outlines the “eight limbs of yoga,” which present a systematic method for yogic praxis. the third limb, āsana, is the one most heavily emphasized in modern postural yoga. pātañjali himself only dedicates three verses (eight sanskrit words), or less than 1% of the entire yoga sūtras to the āsanas, and while contemporary practitioners understand āsana to mean “posture,” it is more literally translated as “to sit down” (bryant, 2009). verses 2.46 – 2.48 claim lindsay 113 “āsanas should be steady and comfortable” to enable an individual to be relaxed enough to become absorbed “in the infinite.” vyāsa explains that by mastering āsanas, one “loses all awareness of the sensations of the body,” (bryant, 2009, p. 286) and he lists twelve postures that one can use to engage in yogic practice; eleven of which are ways of sitting comfortably for long periods of time (bryant, 2009). from this, we can deduce that the purpose of āsana as lined out in the yoga sūtras is simply to allow the meditating individual to sit comfortably and firmly during seated meditation, and to train the body so that it does not disturb the meditating mind. this presents us with a very different perception of the purpose of āsanas then the physical fitness regimen that they are presented as in mpy. thus, one thing that becomes obvious when looking at yoga’s foundational texts is how drastically different classical yoga seems from contemporary manifestations. if one truly sought to follow an authentic yoga practice, would it entail yoking oneself to a chariot, or living a life of intense ascetic renunciation? references to the āsanas that make up the bulk of any mpy class are scarce, and when it is mentioned, āsana practice seems to be regarded only as an enabler for long sessions of seated meditation. so, one may wonder, where did the assortment of postures that are characteristic of today’s contemporary yoga classes come from? some modern practitioners avow to follow a type of haṭha yoga (“yoga of forceful exertion”), which has its roots in the 10 th and 11 th centuries. haṭha yoga was initially practiced by religious mystics in northern india, and was influenced by contemporaneous tantric traditions. tantric understandings of “yoga” interpreted the word as “union,” and their practice became focused upon an individual’s union with the divine (singleton, 2010). haṭha practices were often tantric in nature; most involved ritualized somatic practices, and emphasized the role of āsana and prāṇāyāma (breath control), as a way to heat the body and cultivate the desired flow of the kuṇdalinī sexual energy (singleton, 2010). the goal of these practices was to eventually transform the kuṇdalinī into a nectar of supernatural powers and immortality, which one drank internally from the inside of one’s own head (white, 2012). in order to gain control of bodily systems, haṭha practice revolved around an investigation into the mystical physiological body of the person. haṭha presumed that humans had a “subtle body,” with nadis and chakras, through which human energies were supposed to flow. this tradition had much in common with contemporaneous buddhist practices in the region: both sought to map the spiritual body of the person in an attempt to transcend the normal mortal the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 114 boundaries of the physical human body (liberman, 2008). again, this indicates a certain amount of informational exchange between religious traditions in the formation of yogic practice (liberman, 2008; white, 2012). haṭha texts were the first to outline lengthy descriptions of āsanas that one could perform to cultivate these supernatural powers. the gheranda samhita describes thirty-two āsanas designed to control the nadis, but which are only to be performed after six ritual purifications (which include cleaning the stomach by swallowing a large cloth, an enema, and staring at a candle until ones eyes water) (singleton, 2010). the siva samhita mentions the existence of eighty-four āsanas, but only describes four seated ones in detail, and the haṭhayogapradīpikā (approx. 15 th century), outlines fifteen āsanas, which are accredited with specific medical and curative properties such as the elimination of poisons (singleton, 2010). though we begin to see references to the āsana practice that has become so emblematic of mpy in the haṭha yoga tradition, its form and function is still very different from contemporary practice. haṭha āsana is much more supernatural than any mainstream mpy class, and involves a multitude of elaborate rituals and practices that didn’t carry over into mpy. while the haṭha yoga tradition did introduce systematic āsanas into hinduism, the teachings were vehemently esoteric in nature, and there was a belief that āsanas would be of no use, or were potentially even dangerous, if they were not used in co-ordination with the other teachings. this quick glance at the ancient origins of yoga presents an image of a philosophical and religious system that has undergone a gradual process of refinement and development as it aims to bring the practitioner closer to enlightenment. these sources highlight the long history of reinterpreting the idea of yoga to meet the needs of a specific group or practitioner. yogic praxis and theory have never existed in a vacuum; even pātañjali’s canonical yoga sūtras was developed through the active exchange of ideas between religious groups. the haṭha tradition is marked by a drastic break from the yoga of its predecessors, again showing us how yoga is a dynamic tradition that defies any singular definition. while the haṭha tradition presents us with the origins of systematic āsanas, the yoga of the 11 th century is still drastically different then contemporary mpy. therefore, what follows will bridge this gap, showing how yogic practice was transformed in the modern era into a spiritual and somatic practice with broad appeal for a western audience. lindsay 115 the philosophical origins of neo-vedāntic yoga the inclination to equate the value of yogic practice with its connection to ancient hinduism seen in discourse around mpy is not a new trope. in actuality, it represents a residual colonial legacy from the 17 th century, when british colonialists romanticized an indian past in which the philosophical and rational aspects of yoga were thought to have reigned supreme (de michelis, 2004). this “golden age” was contrasted with a supposed modern indian degeneracy, and colonial rule was often justified as an attempt to return to this idyllic state (diem & lewis, 1992). however, in the late 18 th century, indian nationalists began to reverse this narrative. by adopting the myth of an intellectual hindu golden age, they too praised the same rational and philosophical qualities of hinduism that the colonialists did, but they blamed colonial occupation for the supposed state of modern indian degeneracy (diem & lewis, 1992). yet, these indian nationalists still sought to counter colonial accusations of hindu backwardness by showing indian philosophy’s affinity with christian thought, modern science and modern psychology (de michelis, 2004). a group of bengali indians called the brahmo samaj were especially influential during this period. they developed the philosophical and ideological neo-vedānta movement by re-interpreting traditional hindu concepts in light of the western ideas that the bengali elite were educated in (de michelis, 2004). the brahmo samaj promoted its interpretation as the “pure form” of hinduism, and their re-interpretations sought to reject orthodox hinduism by abolishing the caste system, overthrowing the religious authority of the brahmins and revealed scripture, raising the status of women, and redefining karma and rebirth along evolutionary lines (de michelis, 2004). these ideas were derived from protestantism’s emphasis on human equality and the disbanding of spiritual hierarchy, as well as modern scientific understanding. the result of this synthesis of hinduism with scientific and christian ideas was the development of a theory of yoga practice that was congruent with western ideals and concepts, and was thus much more broadly appealing to individuals in the western world. the infamous “hindu missionary to the west,” swami vivekananda, brought this neo-vedāntic understanding of hinduism to western europe and america. a former member of the brahmo samaj, his publication of raja yoga in 1896 gave way to the “yoga renaissance” by again showing how hindu ideas could be understood along western scientific and philosophical lines. when vivekananda came to america in the 19 th century, he tailored his message of yoga and hinduism to appeal to modern the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 116 scientific, psychological, and utilitarian ideas in a way that allowed his message to “resonat[e] with psychological and philosophical tendencies already present in [western] culture from as early as 1800” (dazey, 2005, p. 423). primarily, vivekananda aligned his message with the testable values of the scientific method. not only did he conflate the hindu belief in moksa with darwinian evolutionary theories by teaching that life is a process towards reaching our potential, and that the “full evolution of the self results in the liberation of the soul,” (de michelis, 2004, p. 167), but he also disregarded sāmkhya’s doctrinal teachings about the essentially un-testable truths of revelation, asserting that yogic method was an empirical and “scientific” way to experience the truths of existence (de michelis, 2004; vivekananda 1896/1972). religious studies scholar harold coward (2005) describes the culture of 19 th and 20 th century america as “an age of swift technological growth, secularization and utilitarianism, [where] people wanted techniques to achieve immediate practical and rational/scientific goals” (p. 55). people sought to apply these same standards to their religious lives and vivekananda provided a set of codified techniques, which he described as yoga, to do precisely that (coward, 2005). vivekananda wrote four different yoga manuals that would appeal to what he considered the four personality types of practitioners. raja yoga, bhakti yoga, jñāna yoga, and karma yoga each outline a set of yogic practices and theories designed to fit the spiritual needs of the individual, and all purport to lead to the universal truth of “yoga.” vivekananda (1896/1972) asserted that the teachers of the science of yoga, therefore, declare that religion is not only based upon the experience of ancient times, but that no man can be religious until he has had the same perceptions himself. yoga is the science that teaches us how to get to these perceptions. (p. 127) vivekananda’s yoga appealed to many modern western religious seekers, as it offered systematic methods of salvation and spiritual growth that their own traditions seemed to lack (dazey, 2005). vivekananda was the first to treat the aṣṭānga section as the cornerstone of the yoga sūtras, and thus, his method appealed to a long-standing “self-help” ethic that was present in protestant culture (dazey, 2005). vivekananda also re-interpreted the concept of “brahmajñāna” (god-knowledge, or god realization) from the canonical hindu texts the vedas, to parallel the self-realization made possible by practicing yoga, concluding that through yoga practice, one lindsay 117 could come to know oneself, and simultaneously, come to know god as well (dazey, 2005). these neo-vedāntic conceptions of yoga are still present in much contemporary practice. like vivekananda, most modern yoga classes promote the superiority of empirical knowledge over intellectual understanding, and use this theory to explain why their philosophical and doctrinal teachings are so meagre (de michelis, 2004). so too does mpy treat yoga as a practice that straddles between religion and science, as often instructors will tout the scientific benefits of stress reduction, relaxation, and physical activity in between references to yoga’s ancient religious roots (de michelis, 2004). as de michelis (2004) notes in a history of modern yoga, this notion of self-realization, which focuses on the individual’s ability to experience a previously hidden form of his/her own spiritual truth, also resonated with the emerging new-age movement, which has a strong affinity with mpy. with vivekananda, we again see a process of picking, choosing, and re-interpreting the yogic tradition to suit the needs of his message. for example, he staunchly discredited the physical practices of haṭha yoga, asserting that they were mere superstitions aimed at longevity and physical perfection, which “do not lead to much spiritual growth,” (vivekananda, 1896/1972, p. 138), but he still integrated haṭha yoga methodology and theory into raja yoga’s prāṇāyāma practices (vivekananda, 1896/1972). this parallels the 17 th and 18 th century discourses around the value of hinduism’s yogic practices, which were marked by a process of idealizing certain aspects of the tradition while condemning others. this process began to fashion the discourse around what is considered “real” yoga, a tenacious legacy that persists into the 21 st century. india’s encounter with the international physical culture movement and the creation of the modern yoga class the 19 th century saw the rise of an unprecedented enthusiasm for athletic and gymnastic disciplines across western europe and america (singleton, 2010). the “international physical culture movement” (p. 82) was marked by the conflation of physical fitness with internal strength of character and morality, and eventually one’s physical body became elevated to a position of social and spiritual responsibility (singleton, 2010; griffith 2004). this era also saw the rise of “muscular christianity” and the ymca, both of which presented the cultivation of a triadic “body-mind-spirit” model of the human being as a method of moral reform (singleton, 2010). the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 118 within this global context the state of bodies became not just a personal, but also a national obsession, as the bodies of citizens were seen as potent symbols of cultural politics, and the strength of a nation (singleton 2010). in britain, physical education, callisthenics, and gymnastic exercises became a regular component of most public and government institutions (singleton, 2010). this left a legacy that would also be carried over to colonial india in a way that drastically altered modern yoga practices. a specific form of “medical gymnastics” from sweden became particularly influential during this era. yoga scholar mark singleton (2010) has analyzed this set of holistic exercises created by pehr henrik ling in the 19 th century, and has noted the stark similarities between ling’s routine and modern postural yoga. ling’s regime was touted for its therapeutic and curative properties, as well as its ability to prevent disease, increase flexibility, tone muscles and develop the mind, body, and spirit simultaneously (singleton, 2010). singleton (2010) notes the stark similarity between the flowing sequences of postures lined out in ling’s 19 th century gymnastic manuals, and the poses and movements of a modern āsana class. common poses like adho mukha śvānāsana (down-ward facing dog), utthita padangusthāsana (standing extended leg stretch), adho mukha vrksāsana (hand stand), and aekpādprasarnāsana, (equestrian pose), are all among a list of mpy āsanas that have indistinguishable parallels in 19 th century gymnastic manuals such as ling’s (singleton, 2010). while the similarities between the poses of medical gymnastic regimens and modern yoga classes can be attributed to the limited postural possibilities of the human body, it is interesting to note the way in which such practices were actually imported to india. an aerobic form of medical gymnastics eventually became the official training program of british public institutions, and because of the anglicized schooling system and military service in india at the time, these exercises and the triadic version of the self that they promoted quickly became a part of british indian culture (singleton, 2010). due to the ethos surrounding the moral benefits of physical culture, british authorities viewed the development of an indian physical culture as a way to lift indians from the purported state of degeneracy that the british saw them in (singleton, 2010). h.c. buck, the head of the ymca, set up schools for indian physical directors, with the specific goal of designing somatic programs to promote the moralistic values of western physical culture, while simultaneously appealing to an indian audience (singleton, 2010). anglophone directors found the medium lindsay 119 they were looking for in earlier haṭha yoga traditions. by drastically simplifying āsana to a series of physical poses, āsana became a system of health and fitness that could be performed without any expensive equipment (singleton, 2010). thus, other aspects vital to haṭha yoga practice, including the more esoteric and mystical practices of the mudras and purifications were either pushed to the outskirts of the practice, or eliminated entirely (singleton, 2010). as singleton (2010) has noted, anglophone yoga creators “grafted elements of modern physical culture onto haṭha yoga orthopraxy and excised the parts that didn’t align with emerging health and fitness discourse” (p. 7). thus, āsanas were not revived to fulfil ancient spiritual needs, but rather they were stripped of their more contentious religious aspects and re-constructed as a form of gymnastics that would align with the goals and values of western physical culture. this process saw the transfer of the health benefits associated with medical gymnastics onto āsana practice, and, as an indianized form of european gymnastics, postural yoga became an integral component of both the indian ymca’s fitness programmes, as well as those of the british military and public education systems in india (singleton, 2010). it was not long until an indian nationalist movement inspired by neovedānta ideologies arose to reclaim āsana practice, and began to promote the postural yoga system constructed by the british as “an inferior imitation of the wholly perfected system of the ancient hindu yogins” (p.126). it was within this context that swami kuvalyananda and shri yogendra (and sri aurobindo and his pondicherry, ashram, to a lesser extent) are believed to have “invented” modern postural yoga at their ashrams in bombay in 1918 (alter, 2006). once again, they re-defined what yoga “really is” while carving out the mpy that dominates today. just like the indian nationalists in the 18 th century who tried to redeem the philosophical aspects of the hindu yogic tradition by showing its affinity with western thought, these men tried to reclaim haṭha yoga’s spiritual physiology, while simultaneously asserting its usefulness as a way to sculpt “beautiful bodies” (singleton, 2010, p. 127). here again we see an active exchange between hindu and colonial culture that helped transform yoga into a westernfriendly spiritual and somatic regimen. kuvalyananda, yogendra, and aurobindo all framed āsana practice in the triadic “mind-body-spirit” understanding of the person, asserting the unity of the body and soul, and thus that total perfection of a person’s inner state also requires perfection of the body (alter, 2006). alter (2006) has called this understanding of the individual “indicative of the logic of the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 120 modernity” (p. 767), as modern society was becoming increasingly obsessed with the perfectibility of the spiritual and physical self. such notions are crucially important to the widespread appeal of mpy. vivekananda was the first to promote yoga as a systematic path towards spiritual perfection in the modern context. appealing to the rational utilitarianism of modern western societies vivekananda outlined his yogic regimen as an empirical and scientific method for gaining this desired state. indian gurus like kuvalyananda, yogendra, and aurobindo, who sought to reclaim āsana practice from its anglophone gymnastic manifestation, continued this trend of reinterpreting the practice along modern lines. once the physical body began to be conflated with one's spiritual state, āsana became re-incorporated into contemporary yoga practice in a way that stripped it of its more contentious religious aspects, transforming it into a form of holistic gymnastic exercises that aligned with contemporary trends in physical culture. an equivalent practice when one considers the popularity of mpy in america, it is important to note that in the early 20 th century, there already existed a phenomenon that looked remarkably similar to mpy before systematic āsana practice was imported to the country. “harmonial gymnastics” was a regimen that dominated women’s physical culture during the 1920’s and 30’s. comprised of roughly the same demographic as a contemporary yoga class (a 2012 yoga journal survey reported that 82.2% of american practitioners are women), these classes performed what mark singleton (2010) has labelled a kind of “proto-flow” yoga (p.143). they consisted of a combination of calisthenics, relaxation and respiration exercises, with flowing, “dance-like” (singleton, 2010, p.143) movements between various postures, all imbued with a heavy aura of spirituality (singleton, 2010). genevieve stebbins and annie payson call were the founding figures of this “spiritual stretching” (p.143) regimen, and promoted it as a kind of religious practice that could be performed outside of the church (singleton, 2010). through prayer, deep breathing practices, and an acute emphasis on both relaxation and physical awareness, this movement consciously cultivated a somatic spiritual experience. thus, before the development of western mpy, and without any overt association to āsana or any other hindu practice (in fact, the spirituality cultivated was of a specifically protestant type), there was already a successfully established female physical culture that focused on postures, breath control, relaxation and lindsay 121 stretching, as a form of alternative religiosity in the west. singleton (2010) has even suggested that this women’s "stretch and relax" regimen created a niche market in europe and america that mpy was eventually able to satiate (p. 147). singleton’s research into this cultural phenomenon is significant because it helps solidify the argument that mpy is not exclusively a practice stolen from hinduism and perverted by western society (see shukla 2012) because holistic spiritual stretching regimens are as much a part of modern protestant culture as they are of ancient hinduism. in fact, mpy represents both a transformation, and a synthesis of these two cultures. not only does this help explain mpy’s widespread popularity, but it also helps us understand the way that contemporary spiritual trends often resist binary descriptions such as east vs. west, or ancient vs. modern. mpy represents an amalgamation of cross-cultural spiritual trends, and its complex origins defy such a simple mode of classification. the western body and postural yoga as a spiritual practice in the western world the physical body has long been perceived as a reflection of the spiritual state of an individual. according to max weber’s (1905/2003) sociological theory, it was the protestant reformation that transformed the image of a healthy, sober, and hard-working individual into an ideal of spiritual purity. weber (1905/2003) argued that this led to the physical condition of one’s body becoming viewed as an external reflection of the state of their soul. indeed, this conflation of the physical and spiritual self carried over into the modern age in the above discussion of the international physical culture movement of the 19 th century. scholar of american religion marie griffith (2004) has argued that western body image obsessions relate to the historical way that europeans and americans “have conceptualized, enacted and practised the relationship between body and soul” (p. 4). griffith (2004) has further argued that our contemporary “rigorous and near-compulsory standards” (p.7) of fitness and beauty are secularized manifestations of this protestant idea about our physical bodies being suggestive of our inner spirit. over the past few hundred years, it has become a normative perception within western culture that the body is the primary medium for “pushing the soul along the path to redemption” (griffith, 2004, n.p.). it is through this logic that the image of a slim, flexible, and contorted “yoga-body,” (singleton, 2010) has come to represent the spiritual possibility of a person. the advancement of print images was vital to postural yoga’s popular the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 122 appropriation in the west, because, as singleton (2010) has noted, “postural yoga was constructed, popularized and made possible within the visual context” (p. 165). the image of this perfected yoga-body presents the “irresistible commodity” (singleton, 2010, p. 129) of a holistic, calm, selfassured, and perfectible self. thus, just as vivekananda professed that his yoga regimen was the scientific and empirical way to access the universal truths of human consciousness, contemporary practitioners are led to believe that this perfect form of self can be attained thorough the spiritual and physical capacity that mpy purports to cultivate. however, the current western obsession with yoga as a spiritual pursuit goes beyond the intricate entanglement of conceptions of spirituality and physicality in the west. despite the fact that mpy’s roots are as much within protestant physical culture trends as ancient hindu practices, the somatic practice of mpy still produces a genuine spiritual experience that fits within a contemporary secular context. a plethora of psychologists, sociologists, and evolutionary biologists (such as c. g. jung, r. bellah, w. c. smith, s.c. morris, s. sanderson, j. bering and e.o. wilson, among many others) have long argued that most people have a basic propensity towards spiritual inclination, of which organized religion is a manifestation. yet one overt mark of modernization in the western world is the popular transition from traditional religious institutions toward newer, more liberal forms of spirituality. a greater level of individual spiritual freedom and the decline of official religious authorities mark this secularization process. when considered in conjunction with increased exposure to foreign ideas and beliefs, we see a trend emerging in the modern world where individuals pick and choose their own various spiritual particulars in order to create a system of “ultimate” significance for themselves (de michelis, 2008). therefore, part of understanding yoga’s massive success in the west is understanding the ethos of spirituality that distinguishes it from a simple physical regimen. there can be no denying that mpy yoga downplays the transcendent goals of older traditions. as iterated earlier, in an attempt to make yoga more palatable for modern westerners, many of the most overt mystical or religious aspects of the practice have been discarded. however, in almost every contemporary class, whether through décor, music, chanting of a certain mantra, the philosophical teachings of the instructor, or even just the resting the hands in prayer pose, there is almost always the suggestion that something spiritual is going on. scholar benjamin richard smith (2007) studied the somatic practice of mpy in an attempt to de-mystify the spiritual experience of a yoga class. lindsay 123 he asserted that while popular culture most often emphasizes the material benefits of āsanas, such as weight loss, or increased flexibility and strength, the reason that so many western practitioners throw themselves into a yoga regimen is because the somatic experience induces a spiritual moment of self-realization (smith, 2007). this experience is characterised by an individual’s confrontation with their embodied self in which he or she is suddenly exposed to an aspect of their being that has been previously hidden from plain view (smith, 2007). it is no surprise that mpy acts as a sort of “meditation in action” where the practicing individual must remain acutely aware of a multitude of minute details: tempo, breath control, extensions, directions, orders of sequences, where to fix ones gaze, and the precise physical alignment of the body within a pose (down to the placement of each individual toe) (nevrin, 2008). however, as smith notes, such an acute awareness of one's own physical body is something immensely foreign to many westerners. smith (2007) asserts that western society lacks any bodily self-awareness, unless the body is not doing what one wants it to. while we obsess over the appearance of the body, we rarely notice how it feels or functions. in a modern postural yoga class, this bodily approach is vehemently countered; instead, one is encouraged to cultivate full bodily awareness by acknowledging every sensation within the body, no matter how minute, insignificant, or uncomfortable (smith, 2007). this focus on the body usually generates an intense and unknown encounter with the embodied self, which often results in a spiritual moment of selfrealization (smith, 2007): western practitioners… do not appear to be simply mimicking practices drawn from another ‘culture.’ rather, they seem to be successfully engaging in a set of supposedly exogenous bodily techniques and modes of somatic attention that exceed ‘mere’ gymnastics, and instead become a mode of self-inquiry and selfencounter. (p. 40) one should also note that there are other spiritual aspects of a yoga class that can benefit the practitioner. the environment often cultivates a sense of shared experience, belonging, and communal relation. as nevrin (2008) points out, these communal feelings, plus the way that a change in body performance can alleviate symptoms of depression and boost health, often empowering the practitioner in ways that are similar to institutionalized forms of religion. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 124 conclusion both supporters and critics of mpy persistently imply that somehow the practice lacks virtue or meaning if it is not connected back to ancient sources. nearly every contemporary yoga class is punctuated by this theme: the sanskrit names for the poses, the chanting of aum, or other mantras, the closing of class with a prayer or a “namaste,” and the various references to hindu philosophical thought and ancient texts, are all indicative of this desire to prove the legitimacy of the practice by linking it back to ancient hinduism. yet, as has been explored, these teachings are rarely ever wholly consistent or truthful to their origins. any given class is likely to preach a combination of a haṭha physiology that ignores vital religious conceptions about the cultivation of supernatural powers or immortality, a vedantic philosophical framework that discredits physicality while simultaneously promoting the cultivation of a slim and strong physical body, and a patañjalian yoga that ignores nearly the entirety of the teachings of the yoga sūtras, except for those contained within the aṣṭānga section. while many critics of modern postural yoga argue that this is precisely the reason that mpy represents a perversion of a sacred and ancient tradition, this argument is not entirely accurate either. rather, yoga praxis and theory have undergone many rounds of re-interpretation to meet the spiritual needs and desires of various groups over the past few thousand years. since the 18 th century, yoga’s transformations have been most notably distinguished by a repeated pattern of indian teachers reconciling the ideals of western modernity with an idyllic view of their hindu tradition. yoga teachers like swami vivekananda purposefully constructed a theory of yoga that was designed to appeal to a western audience, while other gurus, like swami kuvalyananda and shri yogendra, promulgated a form of yoga that was designed to synthesize modern western philosophical, spiritual, and physical ideals with ancient hindu practices. furthermore, by looking at the spiritual and somatic practices that were developing in the west around the same time as the creation of mpy, we see that the secularizing and body-image obsessed western world had already begun to form practices which looked remarkably similar to contemporary mpy. the conflation of one’s spiritual state with the physical body is an idea with distinctly protestant origins; indeed, this idea had already been transformed into holistic regimens that cultivated the mindbody-spirit triad long before the creation of modern postural yoga. thus, we can see how contemporary postural yoga practices smoothly transitioned lindsay 125 into the western mainstream because they meshed so seamlessly with modern physical and spiritual trends. modern postural yoga does not derive its spiritual integrity from its connection to ancient hindu sources. it is a definitely modern regimen, which provides a very real avenue to pursue a basic human spiritual need within a secular context. in a world of de-institutionalized religion, where physical regimens have also become spiritual regimens, modern postural yoga is a somatic practice that plays an important role in many an individual’s spiritual well being. while the references to ancient hinduism are not always accurate or consistent, the religious aura that surrounds mpy is a necessary feature in the cultivation of an environment that induces such a spiritual experience. in the end, mpy provides practitioners with a unique spiritual experience that is the result of various cultural syntheses and many rounds of historical reinterpretation. this process has formulated a practice that is both spiritual and somatic, as well as eastern and western. perhaps most importantly, this process has resulted in a regimen that is acutely capable of meeting the modern spiritual needs of a secularizing society. references alter, j. (2006). yoga at the fin du siècle: muscular christianity with a ‘hindu’ twist. international journal of the history of sport, 23(5), 759-776. doi:10.1080/09523360600673146 bryant, e. (eds.). (2009). the yoga sutras of patanjali: a new edition, translation, and commentary. new york: north point press. coward, h. (2005). review of modern yoga. journal of hindu-christian studies, 18, 54-56. dazey, w. (2005). yoga in america: some reflections from the heartland. in k. jacobsen (eds.), theory and practice of yoga: essays in honour of gerald james larson (pp. 409-424). delhi, india: motilal banarsidass, de michelis, e. (2004). a history of modern yoga: patanjali and western esotericism. london, england: continuum. de michelis, e. (2008). modern yoga: history and forms. in m. singleton & j. bryne (eds.), yoga in the modern world: contemporary perspectives. (pp. 17-35). retrieved from http://www.uvic.eblib.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/patron/fullrecord.a spx?p=34407 diem, a.g. & lewis, j.r. (1992). imagining india: the influence of hinduism on the new age movement. in j.r. lewis & j.g. melton the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 126 (eds.), perspectives on the new age. (pp. 48-58). albany, new york: state university of new york. griffith, m.r. (2004). born again bodies: flesh and spirit in american christianity. california: university of california press. retrieved from http://www.uvic.eblib.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/patron/fullrecord.a spx?p=223882&tstamp=1368227619&userid=ngybmkiddya21vh maw4ptw==&id=b3ef27664f4b6eb1c6eacd1fac1c34159e15d 1fa griffith, m.r. (2005). the gospel of born again bodies. the chronicle of higher education. 51(20). retrieved from http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/article/the-gospel-ofborn-again/35863/ liberman, k. the reflexivity of the authenticity of hatha yoga. in singleton, m. & bryne, j. (eds.), yoga in the modern world: contemporary perspectives.(pp. 100-116) retrieved from http://www.uvic.eblib.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ patron/fullrecord.aspx?p=348407 nevrin, k. (2008). empowerment and using the body in modern postural yoga. in singleton m. & bryne j. (eds.), yoga in the modern world: contemporary perspectives. (pp.120-139) retrieved from http://www.uvic.eblib.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/patron/fullrecord.a spx?p=348407 shukla, a. (2012, november 13). the theft of yoga. the washington post: on faith.retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/on-faith singleton, m. (2008). the classical reveries of modern yoga: patanjali and constructive orientalism. in singleton m. & bryne j. (eds.), yoga in the modern world: contemporary perspectives. (pp. 77-99). new york: routledge. retrieved from http://www.uvic.eblib.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/patron/fullrecord.a spx?p= 348407 singleton, m. (2010). yoga body: the origins of modern posture practice. new york: oxford university press. singleton, m. & byrne, j. (2008). introduction. in singleton m. & bryne j. (eds.), yoga in the modern world: contemporary perspectives. (pp. 114). new york: routledge. retrieved from http://www.uvic.eblib.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/patron/fullrecord.a spx?p= 348407 lindsay 127 smith, b.r. (2007). body, mind and spirit? towards an analysis of the practice of yoga. body & society, 13(2), 25-46. doi: 10.1177/1357034x07077771 take yoga back: bringing light to yoga’s hindu roots. (2012). hindu american foundation. retrieved november 12, 2012, from http://www.hafsite.org/media/pr/takeyogaback the bhagavad-gita. (1994). (w.j. johnson. trans.). new york: oxford university press. vivekananda, s. (1972). the complete works of swami vivekananda: volume i. (14 th ed.). delhi, india: advaita ashrama. (original work published in 1896). weber, m. (2003). the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. (t. parsons, trans.). new york: dover. (original work published 1905). white, d.g. (2012). yoga, brief history of an idea. in white, d.g. (eds.), yoga in practice. (pp. 1-23). princeton, new jersey: princeton university press. yoga in america study 2012. (2013). retrieved may 8, 2013, from http://www.yogajournal.com/press/yoga_in_america. contact information kelly lindsay, from the department of religious studies, can be reached at kmlinds@uvic.ca or kellylindsay_@hotmail.com. acknowledgements i would like to thank dr. martin adam for his constant support and guidance during the span of this research project. i would also like to thank all the people behind the organization and distribution of the jamie cassels undergraduate research award for providing me with the incentive and means to make this project possible. o’neill 19 mirror, mirror on the screen, what does all this ascii mean?: a pilot study of spontaneous facial mirroring of emoticons brittney o’neill abstract: though an ever-increasing mode of communication, computer-mediated communication (cmc) faces challenges in its lack of paralinguistic cues, such as vocal tone and facial expression. researchers suggest that emoticons fill the gap left by facial expression (rezabek & cochenour, 1998; thompson & foulger, 1996). the fmri research of yuasa, saito, and mukawa (2011b), in contrast, finds that viewing ascii (american standard code for information interchange) emoticons (e.g., :), :( ) does not activate the same parts of the brain as does viewing facial expressions. in the current study, an online survey was conducted to investigate the effects of emoticons on perception of ambiguous sentences and users’ beliefs about the effects of and reasons for emoticon use. in the second stage of the study, eleven undergraduate students participated in an experiment to reveal facial mimicry responses to both faces and emoticons. overall, the students produced more smiling than frowning gestures. emoticons were found to elicit facial mimicry to a somewhat lesser degree than photographs of faces, while male and female participants differed in response to both ascii emoticons and distractor images (photos of non-human, non-facial subjects used to prevent participants from immediately grasping the specific goal of the study). this pilot study suggests that emoticons, though not analogous to faces, affect viewers in ways similar to facial expression whilst also triggering other unique effects. key terms: emoticons; computer-mediated communication (cmc); facial mimicry; paralinguistic cues; gender; interaction; facial expression; facial action coding system (facs); internet introduction as reliance upon computer-mediated communication (cmc)—whether instant messaging, texting, email, or even facebook—increases, it is becoming more important to understand how both language and paralanguage function in this new medium. the current study explores the the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 20 role of emoticons as paralinguistic markers, specifically insofar as they perform the role of facial expression in face-to-face (ftf) communication. during the rise of the internet in the early 1980s, internet users encountered difficulty conveying emotion, namely humour, in rapid, casual, textual interaction. as a solution to the problem, scott fahlman, a computer scientist at carnegie mellon, proposed the first two emoticons: 19-sep-82 11:44 scott e. fahlman :-) from: scott e. fahlman <fahlman at cmu-20c> i propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-) read it sideways. actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are not jokes, given current trends. for this, use :-( (fahlman, 1982) emoticons have since become ubiquitous in cmc and are often assumed to be textual representations of the non-verbal cues displayed through facial expressions (danet, ruedenberg-wright, & rosenbaum-tamari, 1997; thompson & foulger, 1996). in spite of this view, dresner and herring (2010) suggest in passing that emoticons do not behave exactly as do facial expressions, namely that viewers of emoticons do not mirror the emoticon expression as they would mirror a genuine facial expression. the current study addresses emoticons’ potential to trigger spontaneous facial mimicry (a viewer’s spontaneous recreation of facial muscular patterns observed in another face). ultimately, this research strives to enrich our understanding of how emoticons impact the experience of cmc as a social and emotional environment through behavioural rather than textual investigation. literature review the relationship between an emoticon or “emotional icon” and its corresponding facial expression has regularly been taken for granted. rezabek and cochenour (1998), for example, assume that emoticons are “visual cues formed from ordinary typographical symbols that when read sideways represent feelings or emotions” (p. 201), likewise, thompson and foulger (1996) state that emoticons are used “to express emotion or as surrogates for nonverbal communication” (p. 226). these implications— that emoticons are representative of emotions and are used as surrogates for nonverbal communication—suggest that they are viewed as textual replacements for emotionally expressive nonverbal cues, namely facial expression. o’neill 21 even those researchers who have sought to explain emoticons as other than replacements for facial expression (garrison, remly, thomas, & wierszewski, 2011; lo, 2008; dresner & herring, 2010) have conceded that at least some aspect of the role of emoticons is textual representation of facial expression. dresner and herring (2010) allow that emoticons, to at least some degree, act as textual surrogates for facial expressions (ftf). similarly, garrison et al.’s (2011) study of emoticon distribution concludes that emoticons are conventionalized paralinguistic markers—rather like facial expressions. thus, though many researchers have simply assumed that emoticons are analogous to facial expressions (danet et al., 1997; rezabek & cochenour, 1998), those who have questioned the assumption ultimately concede that emoticons seem to be, to at least some extent, analogous to facial expressions. these conclusions, however, rely on textual analysis and fail to provide behavioural evidence from emoticon users. emoticons in use studies have also worked to explore how emoticons are used and when they appear (baron, 2004; garrison et al., 2011). researchers (wolf, 2000; baron, 2004) have found that women typically use more emoticons than men. wolf (2000) suggests that this usage pattern may be related to the supportive and empathetic nature of female communication in the newsgroups studied, but it may also be attributable to women’s increased expressiveness in both cmc and ftf. buck, savin, miller, and caul (1972) found that women are more facially expressive than men in ftf. thus, if emoticons are replacing facial expression in cmc, women’s increased use of emoticons may follow from their increased facial expressiveness in ftf. this gender difference, as suggested by the nature of the newsgroups involved, may also be a feature of women’s greater empathy responses when viewing emotive facial expression as compared to men (ruekert & naybar, 2008). the data collected regarding women’s emoticon use, however natural, was not experimental and failed to isolate emoticons from other contexts such as the newsgroup topic and membership. it is also noteworthy that emoticons seem to act as punctuation. both provine, spencer, and mandell (2007) and garrison et al. (2011) found that emoticons generally occur at either utterance, sentence, or phrase breaks. provine et al. (2007) analyse this trend in light of existing knowledge of laughter distribution in speech and signing conversations. they conclude that, laughter appearing as it does—only at natural breaks between statements or ideas, both in speech (where there is a mechanical conflict) the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 22 and in signing (where communication and laughing could be simultaneous)—must be evidence for a separate level of non-verbal emotion processing which is subordinate to verbal processes. the similar patterning of emoticons then suggests that they, like laughter, are a product of this secondary emotional pathway, rather than of the textual verbal stream. derks et al. (2008a) also surveyed subjects’ motivation for use. they found that “emoticons are mostly used to express emotion, to strengthen a message, and to express humor” (p. 99). similarly, facial expression intuitively performs the same work and can be volitionally displayed, as are emoticons; however, the existing research is limited by a lack of behavioural evidence, relying instead upon self reporting from participants. emoticons also improve the cmc experience for a range of users, both professionals and undergraduate students (e.g. huang, yen, & zhang, 2008; rivera, cooke, & bauhs, 1996). just as facial expressions lead to emotional contagion—sympathetic experience of an emotion when interacting with an individual experiencing the emotion (wild, erbs, & bartels, 2000)—use of emoticons increased participants’ “enjoyment, personal interaction, perceived information richness, and perceived usefulness” (huang, et al., 2008, p. 466). users have also reported that cmc interfaces that provide easy access to emoticons are more satisfactory and effective than those that do not (rivera et al., 1996). such findings point to a valuable, face-like role for emoticons in facilitating comfortable and natural interaction through cmc, thus begging for further exploration beyond the self-reporting paradigm. perception of emoticons cmc researchers have also sought to understand the impact emoticons have on recipients. if emoticons are analogous to facial expression in distribution and effect upon producers, then they ought to be analogous to facial expressions in perception as well. in walther and d’addario’s (2001) early study on emoticons and sentence valence, positive or negative phrases were embedded into an email along with either :) , ;) , :( , or nothing. participants were then asked to judge the valence of the message on a number of criteria, such as happiness, sarcasm, and positivity. emoticons did not change the valence of a statement, but any samples with a negative component (text or emoticon) were rated significantly more negative than either neutral or positive statements without a negative component. though walther and d’addario (2001) took this finding as evidence that emoticons are not analogous to o’neill 23 facial expression, the sentences used were perhaps too absolute to be affected by any nonverbal input, hence the lack of effect on participant ratings. further studies, which added neutral conditions to the paradigm, found much stronger evidence of emoticon effect upon message interpretation (e.g. lo, 2008; luor, wu, lu, & tao, 2010). closely following walther & d’addario (2001)’s methodology, derks, bos, and grumbkow (2008b), for example, found that emoticons can enhance a verbal message. in mixed message conditions, they also found that, though emoticons do not invert the valence of the verbal phrase, adding a conflicting emoticon leads to greater ambiguity and reduces the positivity or negativity of the statement when compared to the same sample without an emoticon. this suggests that though emoticons may not have the same power over message interpretation as facial expression, they still have a self-reported impact on message recipients and can be used to moderate valence. it remains then to see if this conscious effect is replicated in more unconscious behavioural measures, such as facial and neural response. yuasa, saito, and mukawa (2011b) address the question of neural response. they used fmri to localize the neural activity of subjects viewing verbal statements accompanied by sentence final textual emoticons. the results of the fmri showed that subjects’ brains were activated in the area associated with emotional discrimination but were not in either the area responsible for processing emotional words, or the area activated by viewing faces. this study, however, used japanese style emoticons (e.g. ^_^ ; t_t), which focus on eye, rather than mouth, shape, as do western emoticons. thus, these results require further exploration with the contrasting western emoticons (e.g. :) ; :( ) and within the cultural context of western internet users. later work by yuasa, saito, and mukawa (2011) showed that graphic emoticons, which are not limited by the conventions of ascii (american standard code for information interchange) and bear stronger resemblance to faces, activate the area used in emotional discrimination, as well as the area active when viewing faces, though to a lesser degree than actual faces. on the basis of this neuropsychological evidence, it is reasonable to suggest that further research may show that emoticons and other graphic representations of faces occur on a continuum of similarity to faces, and are active in triggering emotional judgements in ways akin to other nonverbal cues. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 24 in a related field, chaminade et al. (2010) found that subjects show greater visual activity and motor resonance (brain activation in motor areas associated with the actions being performed by another) when viewing a humanoid robot forming facial expressions than when viewing a human doing the same. such resonance is connected to feelings of connectedness in human-to-human interaction. thus, chaminade et al. (2010) state that their findings suggest that exposure to non-human facial expressions may provide similar benefits of improved social well being, physical health, and emotional wellness, as does exposure to human facial expression. emoticons then may, like the study’s robot, be able to act as wellness enhancing surrogates for ftf facial expression if they are shown to provide similar emotional and social effects. facial mimicry research using electromyographic (emg) information has established that viewing emotional facial expressions causes subjects’ facial muscles to activate in a pattern similar to that found in the emotional expression presented (e.g. cacioppo & petty, 1981; dimberg & lundquist, 1990; dimberg, thunberg, & elmehed, 2000). sato and yoshikawa (2007) also found these effects are sufficiently large enough to be captured by the naked eye, without the assistance of emg. this behaviour, called “facial mimicry” (hess, philippot, & blairy, 1999), is related to hatfield, cacioppo, and rapson’s (1994) rendering of emotional contagion, in the experience of sympathetic emotion through the adoption of another's posture, tone, expression, and movement. thus, humans are able to communicate emotion by non-verbal behaviour alone. similarly, as discussed above (see derks et al., 2008b), emoticons can impact the interpretation of the valence of messages. this has been assumed to be related to the role of emoticons as textual facial expressions (e.g. derks et al. 2008b, luor et al., 2010). therefore, their impact upon recipients may be an effect of emotional contagion and may be accompanied by facial mimicry. research questions and hypotheses building upon existing research in emoticon perception and response, this project seeks to understand whether and to what degree viewers will mimic the emotional expressions of emoticons vis-à-vis faces. if emoticons are assumed to be representations of facial expression and to act in ways akin to facial expression, the fact that exposure to facial expressions instigates o’neill 25 facial mimicry suggests that emoticons ought to instigate a facial mimicry as well. thus, the current study first explores to what degree, if at all, emoticons will elicit facial mimicry in viewers. because women are both heavier users of emoticons (baron, 2004) and more susceptible to emotional contagion (doherty, orimoto, singelis, hatfield, & hebb, 1995), women are predicted to show more facial mimicry than do men. therefore the second question addressed in this research is whether or not there is an appreciable gender difference in the facial mimicry responses of male and female participants. online survey methodology in the first part of this study an internet-based survey was administered using the online survey service inqwise. the survey displayed neutral utterances (such as, "today is so hot") with embedded emoticons and asked respondents to report their perceptions of and reaction to the sample. responses were recorded on five-point likert scales for positivity of the statement, perceived happiness of the writer, and effect on the reader’s emotional state. following a sequence of nine samples, three with :), three with :(, and three with no emoticon, participants were asked general questions about their reactions to emoticons, such as “when you read statements followed by :) did your facial expression change?” and “do you think that emoticons affect your interpretation of messages?” the survey was distributed through two linguistics related facebook groups based out of a western canadian university. the survey was designed to provide a backdrop for the experiment by exploring the self-reported experiences of internet users, specifically those engaged with linguistic groups on facebook. results the survey initially returned twenty-three respondents. due to a technical issue, date of birth was not recorded for any of the participants. one participant, however, reported having been in canada for over thirty years—thus falling outside of the 18-30 year old demographic—and was removed. two further participants were removed as they seemed to have misinterpreted the likert scale for happiness of writer on most or all of the samples. responses for happiness of writer were removed from other participants’ data if and only if they were in direct opposition to the participant’s ratings for both positivity of statement and effect on reader’s the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 26 mood. after data cleaning, twenty respondents remained, three of whom had two responses removed and one of whom had three removed. seventeen of the remaining twenty respondents were female. as a result, the question of gendered response to emoticons could not be addressed in this segment of the study. throughout the survey, emoticons were reported to affect the interpretation of messages and were seen to be indicators of the writer’s emotion. effects on the reader’s mood or self reported internal emotional valence, however, varied far more widely across individuals. all respondents indicated that they believed that emoticons affect interpretation of online statements, but only 10% of respondents believed that their facial expression was affected by the :( emoticon, and only 20% believed that their facial expression changed in response to viewing the :) emoticon. the ratings for positivity of sentence and happiness of writer generally corresponded with the findings of lo (2008) and luor et al. (2010). they showed emoticons affecting and to some extent dictating the interpretation of ambiguous messages. for messages followed by :), the average positivity rating was 4.52 on a 5 point likert scale, where 5 was positive and 1 was negative. contrastively, statements followed by :( received a low rating for positivity (1.63 on the same 5 point likert). finally, statements lacking emoticons received an average rating of 2.97, which is nearly neutral on the 5-point scale. figure 1 shows the range of responses for each stimulus. these results suggest that the addition of an emoticon was sufficient to provide a strongly positive or negative reading of otherwise neutral statements. figure 1. response distribution for statement positivity. note: 1 = negative; 5 = positive. o’neill 27 location of the white icon indicates the average rating. in terms of writer happiness, as shown in figure 2, a similar, if more dispersed pattern was found. sentences followed by :) were, on average, rated as 1.71 on a 5-point likert scale where 1 is happy and 5 is unhappy, whereas sentences followed by :( had an average rating of 4.15 and sentences without an emoticon received an average rating of 2.93. again, the verbal content of the message conveys little about the writer’s mood, but an emoticon can shift judgements significantly in both positive and negative directions. figure 2. response distribution for writer happiness. note: 1 = happy; 5 = unhappy. location of the white icon indicates the average rating. reader’s mood however, was less consistently affected. where positivity generally had a spread of only two to three points, effect on the reader’s mood had much wider distributions, as shown in figure 3, and less valenced average responses. for sentences followed by :), reader’s mood ranged from 2 to 5, with an average of 3.63 on a 5-point likert scale where 1 corresponds to negative effects and 5 to positive effects. sentences with the :( emoticon saw responses range from 1 to 5, with an average response of 2.65. sentences without emoticons also had a wide range of response from 1 to 4, with an average of 2.87. though emoticons may be able to shift the reader’s mood somewhat in the direction of the emoticon, it is neither a strong nor consistent effect. the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 28 figure 3. response distribution for effect on reader’s mood. note: 1 = negative; 5 = positive. location of the white icon indicates the average rating. the results found through rating sentences were confirmed by responses to the general questions on the final page of the survey. all twenty participants agreed that emoticons affect the interpretation of messages, many commenting that emoticons show the writer’s mood or intent. only four of twenty participants, however, believed that their facial expression was affected by viewing :) , and fewer still, only two, believed that :( affected their facial expression. this suggests that, just as participants experienced mild, inconsistent effects on mood when viewing emoticons, they do not believe that the physical manifestation of their mood is affected by emoticons. self-reporting is not, however, always accurate, and so the in-lab experimental portion of this research was carried out to further explore the actual facial responses of participants. mirroring experiment methodology following the established methodology of facial mimicry experiments (dimberg & lundquist, 1990; sato & yoshikawa, 2007), the second part of this study presented participants with a range of photographs of emotional faces, both the :) and :( emoticons, and non-human, non-facial distractor images. participants were filmed watching the pre-timed slideshow. their facial responses were then hand coded for expression indicators at the mouth and the brows. o’neill 29 participants five female and six male canadian undergraduate students ranging in age from 18-26 participated. all participants had spent at least 18 years living in canada. all also reported owning their own computer and cellphone, and had an internet connection in their residence. only one female owned a smartphone, while all but one of the males reported owning one. all participants reported using the internet and texting to communicate at least once a day, and all but one participant reported regularly sending and receiving emoticons. thus it can be assumed that all participants were fully computer and texting literate and had regular exposure to emoticons as a part of their cmc. materials this study was conducted using an imac computer in the university of victoria phonetics lab. the computer was equipped with microsoft powerpoint, which ran a pre-timed slideshow of stimuli. the stimuli themselves were eight images—two males and two females each producing a smile and a frown—from the max planck institute’s faces database (ebner, riediger, & lindenberger, 2010); the :) and :( emoticons (each repeated four times); four strings of nonsense ascii characters; and four distractor photos (a boat, a bird, a palm tree, and a bridge sourced from freemediagoo.com). while viewing these stimuli, participants were recorded using a panasonic lumix dmc-fp1 camera with a frame rate of 30 frames per second. the camera was mounted on a tripod at the upper left corner of the imac screen. procedure it was made clear to participants that they were being filmed, but the purpose of filming was not clearly disclosed so as to prevent interference. participants were then seated before the computer screen and instructed to watch a fixation point. in terms of trial set-up, this study largely follows dimberg and lundquist (1990), with some timing factors adjusted. dimberg and lundquist used a stimulus interval of 8 seconds (s) and an inter stimulus interval of 20-40s, but found that reactions occurred within the first 500 milliseconds (ms). thus, in order to reduce the potential for participant boredom in the current study, each stimulus appeared for 5s with an interstimuli interval of 10s wherein the fixation screen was presented (see figure 4 for an example trial). stimuli occurred in a random order and each the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 30 participant performed two blocks of six minutes each. each block contained all of the 24 stimuli, and the participant had an optional break between blocks. figure 4. procedure upon completion of the two blocks, participants were then given a brief demographic survey to ascertain their age, gender, and level of exposure to emoticons. analysis because of the small size of the sample, statistical models were not used. facial responses were hand coded following sato and yoshikawa’s (2007) use of ekman and friesen’s (1978) facs (facial action coding system), which uses anatomical changes to code human facial movement without any gross interpretation of emotion from coders. specifically, participant’s faces were coded for visible occurrences of brow tension, facial action unit (au) 4, prototypical of negative expressions, and lip pulling or zygomatic tension, au 12, typical of smiles (see figures 5 and 6 for an example). figure 5. au 4 – brow lowering (author’s image) figure 6. au 12 – lip pulling (zygomatic tension) (author’s image) o’neill 31 after the participants’ video files were coded for occurrence of these facial aus, the time of occurrence for each au was associated with the chronology of stimulus presentation. during the course of this association, it was found that some participants, specifically males, seemed to have response latencies such that the facial change occurred during the fixation screen following the stimulus. as a consequence, any au occurring within the first five seconds of a fixation screen was associated, in the analysis, to the stimulus immediately preceding it. a further complication arose with one participant who commonly and prominently used a brow raise as a response to stimuli. given that the action was generally accompanied by au 12, it was assumed to also be a positive facial indicator and was coded as such. after samples were coded and associated to stimuli, rates of positive (au 12) and negative (au 4) reaction were calculated for groups of stimuli both within and across genders. these rates of response were compared, as were raw scores for numbers of responses in a range of categories. results though as many negative as positive stimuli were presented, participants produced considerably more positive than negative facial cues. out of a total of 166 aus produced by the participants, only 21 were negative. furthermore, though males’ expressions were less intense and less obvious, they were found to be more frequent than females’, with male participants producing an average of 16.17 gestures per participant, while females only produced an average of 13.8 per participant. in contrast with the other three females, the two female participants between the ages of 18 and 20 only exhibited four and six responses respectively. compared with the 18-20 year old male’s 24 responses, this behaviour seems anomalous, especially given that women were expected to produce more mirroring (see doherty et al., 1995). to remove these results, however, reduces the female sample size to only three participants. furthermore, the unresponsive females may be representative of a specific age-based behaviour, and so their data was not discarded. in the following findings, all participants’ data is retained. response to faces previous research (cacioppo & petty, 1981; dimberg & lundquist, 1990; dimberg et al., 2000) has set a precedent of facial mimicry to photographs of faces, but this study found some unexpected patterns. participants were minimally more responsive to angry faces than to happy ones (38 responses the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 32 versus 35 responses), and most of these responses, 36 and 33, respectively, were positive. though consistently following the same overall ratios of reaction, men and women differed in the specific frequency of reaction to facial stimuli. women responded to photographs of faces 36.25% of the time, whereas men responded to 46.87% of faces. within each stimulus type, the same pattern appears, with men responding 10-13% more frequently than women (see table 1 details). overall, participants responded 41.5% of the time for emotional faces (43.18% for angry and 39.77% for happy). table 1 response rates for facial action units in response to photographs of faces stimulus participant rate of reaction smile female 32.50% male 45.83% total: 39.77% frown female 37.50% male 47.92% total: 43.18% total female 36.25% male 46.87% total: 41.50% response to emoticons like the responses to emotional facial expressions, the responses to emoticons were predominantly positive, with only two negative responses to :( and none for :). responses to emoticons did, however, have a much lower overall response rate, at only 26.63%, than did faces (see table 2 for response rate breakdown by emoticon type). table 2 response rates for facial action units in response to emoticons stimulus participant rate of reaction :) female 32.50% male 22.92% total: 27.27% o’neill 33 :( female 13.33% male 36.11% total: 25.76% total female 22.86% male 28.57% total: 26.62% responses to emoticons also showed clear gender differences in patterns of responsiveness. women seem to be more responsive to :) than :(, where men exhibit greater responsiveness to :( than to :) and less of a difference in response overall. as seen in table 2, women respond to :) at a rate of 32.50% and to :( at a rate of only 13.33%. in contrast, men respond to :( 33.33% of the time, but to :) only 22.92% of the time. response to distractors though designed only to prevent participants from immediately discovering the purpose of the study, the distractor stimuli yielded interesting patterns of response. participants responded to photographic distractors 23.86% of the time, only slightly less than they responded to emoticons (26.63%). this response rate may however be an effect of a single distractor: the seagull. the seagull had a response rate of 36.36%, and several participants, after the experiment, mentioned that they had liked the seagull, or had laughed at it as a result of personal experience with seagulls. without the seagull, the average response to distractors drops to 19.70%. table 3 response rates for facial action units in response to photographic distractors distractors participant rate of reaction all photos female 25.00% male 22.92% total: 23.86% seagull female 30.00% male 41.67% total: 36.36% all photos female 23.33% seagull male 16.67% total: 19.70% the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 34 beyond the responses to the photographic distractors, participants also responded unexpectedly frequently to the ascii distractors. in fact, at a response rate of 29.55%, ascii strings provoked more reaction than did emoticons. furthermore, as shown in table 4, these distractors show an even more dramatic gender difference than did emoticons. firstly, women respond more in general to the ascii strings, but they respond primarily negatively, responding with brow lowering 27.5% of the time and with mouth pulling only 5% of the time. in contrast, men exhibit positive facial cues 22.92% of the time and negative cues only 4.17% of the time. table 4 response rates for valenced facial action units in response to ascii strings distractors participant response valence rate of reaction ascii female positive 5.00% negative 27.50% total: 32.50% male positive 22.92% negative 4.17% total: 27.09% total: positive 14.77% negative 14.77% total: 29.54% discussion as well as finding evidence of mirroring for both faces and emoticons, the current study found that participants produced more positive than negative facial cues to all facial stimuli, even negative ones. this is unexpected, as other studies (sato & yoshikawa, 2007; dimberg & lundquist, 1990) have found that participants produce facial aus that correspond in valence to the stimulus at hand. our results may, however, be explained by the participants’ unsolicited reporting that some of the angry faces were “funny looking” or “made them laugh.” this reaction may be the result of placing participants in the unnatural position of watching facial expressions of unknown individuals in a low-context environment. without context, the faces may lose their emotional power, or be seen as misplaced. thus, they elicit nervous smiles rather than sympathetic frowns. similarly, in the o’neill 35 survey segment of the study, some participants complained about the inappropriateness of an emoticon that shifted sentences to a valence that they disagreed with or found implausible. thus, facial expression or emoticons alone do not necessarily elicit an emotion, but instead require context to have a full effect upon the viewer. the difference in rates of response seen between emoticons and faces also suggests that the two, though playing similar roles in eliciting response, are not entirely equivalent. the presence of additional gender differences with emoticons, but not with faces, also seems to suggest that emoticons trigger a different and more gender specific emotional response than do faces. “faceness” and emotional contagion given the large discrepancy between facial mimicry triggered by expressive faces versus emoticons, it is clear that, in terms of facial mirroring, emoticons are not analogous to faces. this may, however, correspond to yuasa, saito, and mukawa's (2011a) findings that viewing graphic emoticons causes activation of the facial perception regions of the brain, albeit to lesser a degree than do actual faces. as previously mentioned, this may suggest that there may be a continuum of 'face-ness' (or face likeness), ranging from things which are not at all like faces and do not activate the facial perception region at all, through graphic representations of faces that activate the region to a small degree, to actual human faces which activate the area fully. on this model, ascii emoticons are further down on the continuum than graphic emoticons. while the ascii forms do not seem to trigger measurable activation in the face perception regions (yuasa et al., 2011a), they do trigger some facial mimicry. thus, since facial mimicry is associated uniquely with faces, ascii emoticons' instigation of facial mimicry suggests that the brain sees them as faces, if not necessarily triggering the same degree of neural activation as actual faces. another potential explanation for the differences in mimicry may be available in further consideration of the relation between emotional contagion and facial mimicry. if facial mimicry is a result of emotional contagion, since it was found in the survey that viewing emoticons does in fact influence mood to some extent, then the emoticons may be relying on that influence on mood, rather than any relative ‘face-ness’, to create emotional contagion which leads to facial mimicry. actual human faces, however, being both high on the scale of face-ness and triggering emotional the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 36 contagion naturally, result in more consistent facial mimicry than do emoticons. this sort of understanding of face-ness, facial mimicry, and emotional contagion, not only help enhance the average internet user’s experience of cmc, but may also help to better understand conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, which may involve difficulties understanding and communicating paralinguistic information such as facial emotional cues (hobson, 1988). for those experiencing disorders along this spectrum, :) might be just as information rich as an actual human smile. gender issues in ascii interestingly, ascii stimuli seem to magnify and uncover a variety of gender differences in facial responses. women have been found to be significantly more empathetic than men in experimental conditions. for example, women show more empathetic neural responses when making judgements of facial happiness (rueckert & naybar, 2008) and show the effects of empathy for a longer duration than men (han, fan, & mao, 2008). women, therefore, may be expressing empathy when they smile in response to :) , whereas men, experiencing less empathy, may be expressing amusement at the negative expression :(, just as both genders of participant did when viewing the elicited, and therefore somewhat amusing, photographs of angry faces. women have also been found to be more susceptible to affective priming (priming positive or negative affect through an emotionally charged prime) with positive than with negative faces (donges et al., 2012). this suggests that females are more affected by smiles than frowns, corroborating their increased response to :) versus :(. the same study also found that women were more susceptible to affective priming with smiling faces than were men. again this corresponds to the findings of the present study, insofar as women are more reactive to :) and less reactive to :( than are men. arguably then, women are more emotionally affected by :) than men, which may explain women’s greater use of emoticons, as found by baron (2004) and wolf (2000). though lacking explicit emotional content, the ascii distractors also revealed gendered effects. many participants mentioned trying to “figure out” the random ascii strings. thus, differences in problem solving may be at play. lowrie and diezmann (2011) found that males outperform females on graphical problem solving tasks. this suggests that regardless of female participants’ problem solving skills, the notion of women as less o’neill 37 effective problem solvers, as promoted by researchers such as lowrie and diezmann (2011), may lead to greater stress for women socialized to believe they are less proficient in the task at hand, thus driving negative affect. in contrast, the males who had an easier time coming to a solution, or at least expected to, may have experienced less frustration and more enjoyment, given perceived male competence in such problem solving. use of technology has also been found to be strongly gendered (e.g. joiner et al., 2005; cooper, 2006). indeed, the present study’s finding that only 20% of female participants owned a smartphone, compared to 80% of male participants, is in line with earlier studies that show men are overall more likely to own and engage with technology (e.g. cooper, 2006; hartmann & klimt, 2006). males’ increased exposure to such technology, combined with stereotypes of men as more computer literate, have, according to cooper (2006), created technological anxiety in women. whether this technological anxiety is real or not, less familiarity with technology, such as smart phones, may result in female participants reacting to meaningless technological symbols with confusion, consternation, and negative facial expression. limitations and future research as a pilot study, this research was limited by a small sample size drawn from a relatively small pool of potential participants. the research was also limited by time factors, which precluded a full process of piloting experimental materials to prevent the humour responses to angry faces and the intense response to the photograph of the seagull. ideally future research would use natural, rather than elicited, emotional faces and more universally neutral distractor photos. given the limitations of the present study, there is significant room left for future exploration of facial mimicry in response to emoticons. electromyography or high-speed film would allow more fine-grained analysis and would be more likely to catch the rapid changes common to subconscious processes such as facial mimicry. a larger sample size would also allow for more generalizable conclusions across the population as a whole. finally, given yuasa, saito, and mukawa's (2011) findings that graphic emoticons cause more activation in the face processing regions of the brain, it would be worthwhile to explore the facial mimicry that results from viewing graphic emoticons such as those supplied by im platforms, such as facebook. it would also be interesting to explore reactions to animated the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 38 emoticons in order to investigate whether or not they instigate more responses than static emoticons, as sato and yoshikawa (2007) found with dynamic faces vis-à-vis static photos of facial expression. conclusion in the current research, the degree of similarity or difference between facial expressions and emoticons in their ability to elicit facial mimicry was preliminarily explored. emoticons were found to elicit mimicry at a higher rate than neutral controls, but at a significantly lower rate than photographs of faces. gender effects were also found in response to both ascii emoticons and random strings of ascii, which offers tantalizing suggestions as to the gendered experience of cmc. 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(2011). brain activity associated with graphic emoticons. the effect of abstract faces in communication over a computer network. electrical engineering in japan, 177(3), 36-44. doi:10.1002/eej.21162. retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ehost/detail?sid=39a2 cb87-899a-4cac-8271-f7814954e392%40sessionmgr14&vid=1&hid= 10&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwhvc3qtbgl2zszzy29wzt1zaxrl#db=a9h& an=62836996 yuasa, m., saito, k., & mukawa, n. (2011b). brain activity when reading sentences and emoticons: an fmri study of verbal and nonverbal communication. electronics and communications in japan, 94(5), 1724. doi:10.1002/ecj.10311. retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ehost/detail?sid=4f88 ec41-614d-40d0-9d62930a5392bf80%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=jnnpdgu9z whvc3qtbgl2zszzy29wzt1zaxrl#db=a9h&an=60154504 contact information brittney o’neill, from the department of linguistics, can be reached at brittney.on@gmail.com. acknowledgements first and foremost i would like to thank dr. alexandra d’arcy for always encouraging my research and exploration in the emerging field of cmc the arbutus review vol. 4, no. 1 (2013) 44 research in linguistics, for dynamic seminars that inspired my work, and for her help editing and presenting this study. i would also like to thank the learning and teaching centre and the arbutus review for giving me the opportunity to publish and share my research. finally, i must thank my techno-savvy peers whose engagement with cmc has made my work both meaningful and possible. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 134 yamanba: a radio play by terayama shuji erin lofting abstract: terayama shūji was an important avant-garde japanese artist and one of the most subversive contributors to japan‟s underground theatre movement. between dropping out of university and forming his theatre troupe, tenjō sajiki, terayama wrote a number of radio plays that helped launch his career as a dramatist. as with his work in other media forms, terayama‟s radio plays can provide insight into this fascinating artist‟s provocative methods and goals. yamanba appropriates material from nō theatre and japanese folklore, and shows terayama experimenting with representations of cruelty in drama, as described by the french poet and dramatist, antonin artaud. yamanba, first broadcast on nhk tokyo in 1964 and awarded a prestigious prix italia for radio drama that year, is an early version of terayama‟s 1971 stage play heretics, an important work that toured in europe. heretics has been published in english translation; this is the first english translation of yamanba. key terms: terayama shūji, terayama shuji, yamanba, heretics, antonin artaud, theatre of cruelty, angura, avant-garde, radio play, japanese theatre, japanese folklore, ubasute, ubasuteyama. introduction terayama shūji 1 is one of the most important artists to emerge from japan in the 1960s. his diverse career includes poetry, journalism, photography, theatre, and film. i first became interested in terayama in 2005 while living in his home prefecture of aomori, a mostly rural and comparatively poor area in northern japan. i quickly became a regular at aomori‟s public library, and enjoyed reading work by local authors. terayama‟s stage plays, as presented in carol fisher sorgenfrei‟s book, unspeakable acts: the avant-garde theatre of terayama shūji and postwar japan fascinated me: they were provocative, disturbing, and richly imaginative. i cannot say that i understood terayama‟s creative goals at the time, but i wanted to. i read every english translation of terayama‟s work i could find. it did not take long to exhaust this list. terayama‟s life and career also interested me. many of his contemporaries in the angura (“underground”) theatre movement originally formed their troupes as 1 all japanese names are written with the family name first, as is the custom in japan. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 135 university drama clubs (poulton, 2012). prominent contemporary japanese dramatists like betsuyaku minoru, ninagawa yukio, and suzuki tadashi all began their careers as part of the angura movement. terayama was recognized as a gifted poet in his teens, and attended prestigious waseda university after graduation from high school. however, he soon had to withdraw from university for what became a three-year stay in hospital with a chronic kidney condition (sorgenfrei, 2005). this led terayama‟s career to take a somewhat unusual route. i wanted to better understand how a talented university dropout from aomori, raised first by a single mother, and then by his greataunt and uncle was able to start his own theatre company in the shibuya ward of tokyo. when dr. cody poulton, a professor of japanese theatre and literature at the university of victoria, encouraged me to apply for a jamie cassels undergraduate research award, i decided to use the opportunity to study terayama‟s career between his release from hospital in 1958, and the formation of his theatre troupe, tenjō sajiki 2 , in 1967. between 1958 and 1966, terayama wrote children‟s stories, puppet plays, essays for young people, and radio plays, which were commissioned and broadcast by nhk and rkb, both major radio networks in japan. terayama began writing for radio on the advice of his lifelong friend, the renowned poet, tanikawa shuntarō (ridgely, 2010). although radio broadcasters during this time enjoyed much more freedom than during the war, they also struggled to remain relevant in the age of television. an extraordinary number of television sets were sold in japan during the late 1950‟s in anticipation of the live broadcast of prince akihito‟s and shōda michiko‟s wedding (gordon, 2009). established radio dramatists and experienced producers also left radio to work in television (ridgely, 2010). the opportunity for less-experienced writers to be broadcast on the radio, and to be paid well for it, became available as radio competed with television for both audiences and talent (ridgely, 2010). for terayama, just released from hospital, the timing could not have been better. i completed english translations of three of terayama‟s radio plays while working on this project: nakamura ichirō (1959), osorezan (1962), and yamanba (1964), and found interesting connections between these works and terayama‟s later stage plays and films. my english translation of yamanba is published here for the first time and preceded by a summary of the play and a description of my approach to its translation. 3 2 the name is taken from marcel carne‟s film, les enfants du paradis (children of paradise). 3 due diligence has been conducted in attempting to locate and request permission from the copyright holder. reproduced under section 29 of the canadian copyright act: fair dealing. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 136 yamanba it can be difficult to decide which issues to focus on in terayama‟s work. his plots are typically labyrinthine, and filled with obscure references and shocking material. sex and violence are common themes, and his portrayal of mothers is highly critical while fathers are absent or perform insignificant roles. although it may be tempting to view this as a commentary on the circumstances of terayama‟s life, i do not find this approach particularly productive. for terayama, reality is performative. he advocates freeing theatre from the confines of playhouses as well as actors from their imprisonment within scripts. reality and drama are inseparable for terayama, and i believe that looking for elements of terayama‟s life in his work is less interesting than observing how his approach to drama is mirrored by how he chose to conduct and represent his life. terayama read widely, and was familiar with prominent literary and dramatic figures both within and outside japan. antonin artaud (1896-1948) is an important influence on terayama‟s work. artaud‟s “theatre of cruelty” demands that dramatic encounters represent the human suffering inevitably incurred though daily existence (courdy, 2000). artaud insists that theatre should not be a relaxing, comfortable experience for audiences, and terayama‟s confrontational work clearly reflects artaud‟s beliefs. yamanba received a prestigious prix italia award for radio plays in 1964, the first year it was broadcast on nhk tokyo, and is an early version of terayama‟s 1971 stage play, heretics, which toured in europe to mixed reviews. many members of the audience in europe did not appreciate tenjō sajiki‟s metatheatrical antics, and felt that they were simply being harassed (sorgenfrei, 2005). yamanba‟s main character, heisaku, is an idiot. it is an unusual choice for a radio play, and makes for often difficult listening. the contrast between the poetic language of the nō chorus, and the old woman who acts as a narrator with heisaku‟s stilted speech and limited vocabulary is particularly jarring. although artaud‟s seminal work, the theatre and its double, did not appear in japanese translation until the year after yamanba was first broadcast (courdy, 2000), terayama was wellconnected, and it is reasonable to assume that he knew of artaud before this book‟s release. based on a comparison of terayama‟s earlier radio plays and later dramatic work, i believe yamanba is an early example of artaud‟s influence on terayama. heisaku, is not only dim-witted but unattractive and believes he has no chance of marriage. heisaku‟s mother, okuma, tells him he would do better to resign himself to living out his days with her. one day, a buddhist priest stops heisaku (who is on route to secretly watch women bathe in a nearby stream), and tells him about a local custom which dictates that any man who reduces the number of mouths to feed in his household by abandoning his mother in the mountains can choose any single woman in the village as his wife. despite her protests, heisaku ties up okuma and leaves her on ubasuteyama then marries ayame, the most beautiful woman in town. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 137 ayame is furious with heisaku for choosing her and, in heisaku‟s words, married life is “hell.” ayame flaunts her naked body at home, but refuses to let heisaku to touch her, threatening to kill herself if he comes too near. desperate, heisaku returns to ubasuteyama to ask for his mother‟s advice. okuma promises to help heisaku with his wife on the condition that she is taken home, hidden, and regularly brought food. when ayame‟s lover visits the house one afternoon, heisaku‟s mother reveals her hiding place beneath the floorboards, and loudly exposes their tryst. heisaku arrives, attacks ayame and her lover, and then tears the house apart in a rage while okuma cheers him on. ultimately, it is decreed that heisaku violated tradition by rescuing his mother, and he must abandon her for a second time. ayame begrudgingly continues living with heisaku, although there is no indication that their relationship improves. yamanba ends with a description of heisaku, still lonely, wondering what became of his mother. yamanba borrows lines from nō plays, and appropriates japanese folklore. ubasuteyama in nagano prefecture is steeped in bleak legends about ageing parents abandoned by their impoverished, hungry children. in other works, terayama tends to borrow from folklore specific to aomori prefecture, particularly the legends surrounding osorezan, a mountain on the shimokita peninsula said to be hell on earth. my interest in aomori‟s folklore is often helpful toward understanding terayama‟s work, but yamanba necessitated research on the folklore of nagano prefecture in central japan. i relied on dr. poulton‟s expertise to identify passages terayama pulled from nō theatre. this translation includes notes where terayama borrows from outside sources, although i expect there are more references to work outside yamanba beyond those i identified. in the interest of consistency, i borrow translations of two poems from steven c. ridgely‟s book, japanese counterculture: the antiestablishment art of terayama shūji. these poems are part of a larger cycle of tanka poetry, and also appear in the opening scene of terayama‟s 1974 film den’en ni shisu (variously translated as: pastoral: to die in the country, pastoral hide and seek, and cache-cache pastoral). i use yamanba‟s script as it appears in the collected works of terayama shūji vol.2 (寺山修司著作集弟 2 券), and the recording produced by nhk and distributed by king records. where the recording and script differ, i translate yamanba as it is written in terayama‟s script. however, japanese names often have several potential readings, and names appear as they are pronounced in nhk‟s recording. already an established poet, terayama‟s radio plays helped him build a reputation as a dramatist, and secure resources and connections that helped him start tenjō sajiki. he won several prestigious awards for radio plays, worked with acclaimed producers and composers, and his work was frequently aired in 1966, as the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 138 plans for tenjō sajiki began to fall into place (sorgenfrei, 2005). this translation of yamanba furthers the opportunity for non-japanese speaking audiences to study and enjoy an important and influential avant-garde artist. terayama‟s early radio plays experiment with techniques, such as pastiche and representations of cruelty, which terayama continued to use throughout his career. he appropriates from earlier tanka poetry for yamanba, and then borrows from yamanba in his later stage play, heretics, and film, den’en ni shisu. ultimately, however, my study of terayama‟s radio plays invites more new questions than it answers. just as sorgenfrei expressed hope that her book would promote interest in terayama, i hope this translation helps facilitate further study. translation ofyamanba old woman 4 okuma-baba fukurō-no heisaku village banker saojū village jeweller gonjū wife ayame ayame‟s mother buddhist priest dying aged mother secret paramour seibei -1 (the voices of nō chorus become audible suddenly through the darkness, mixed with the sound of wind blowing across a mountain…) nō chorus – looking at the moonlight shining on sarashina 5 and ubasuteyama 6 4 terayama indicates this character should perform in the style of kyōgen, a farcical comedy act performed alone, or between acts of a nō play. all footnotes added by the translator. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 139 i could not find comfort for my heart 7 following the steps of the poet who wrote this to the foot of this old tree, left buried in dry grass little red flowers also bloom out of season 8 little red flowers also bloom out of season (from the bottom of a deep valley, projecting his voice like nō chorus, a man’s voice yells) voice – mother! mother! (theme music builds, the title overtop) 2 – (a bird hooting, once or twice at a time, a biwa performs lonely-sounding lullabies, bg 9 ) old woman – (begins like a kyōgen, becoming contemplative, recites two poems 10 in a low voice) carpenter town, temple town, rice town, buddha town, the town for buying old mothers dear sparrow, are there not such places? 5 a district of nagano prefecture, also the setting of the nō plays, yamanba (written by zeami) and ubasute. 6 the common name for kamurikiyama in nagano prefecture, south of sarashina. literally, “the mountain for abandoning old mothers”. although it is believed that this did sometimes occur during times of famine, the pratice seems to be disproportionally represented in folklore and literature. 7 terayama pulls these three lines from the nō version of ubasute, which borrows from an anonymous poem in the kokinshū. 8 terayama is punning, these lines could also be read as a euphemism for someone who is licentious and advanced in age. 9 terayama uses bg (background), f.o. (fade out), and f.i. (fade in) as directions. 10 i borrow translations of these poems from steven c. ridgely‟s japanese counterculture: the antiestablishment art of terayama shūji. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 140 he went out to buy a new butsudan 11 and never came back my missing brother and a bird old woman (a gust of wind, blowing too hard) this story is from the days when, in the village at the foot of sarashina, the practice of abandoning old women was still being observed. a buddhist rosary, braided from white hair, floats in the mountain lake, while crows gather in the old tree, and relate the news from hell. the moon rises brightly over the bald mountain. does this explain the legend that yamanba 12 carry the moon as a mirror for applying makeup? in the village, the promise that someone who reduced the number of mouths to feed in their household by abandoning their ageing mother on ubasuteyama would receive a wife was duly being upheld, but… (the biwa playing lullabies suddenly stops, as if a string had snapped, the sound of birds chirping on a clear morning fills the speakers, loggers chopping down a tree, intermittent like slaps on a hand drum) saojū – (like a kyōgen) did you hear, gonjū? gonjū – (like a kyōgen) what‟s that, saojū? saojū – the owl 13 . gonjū – an owl? saojū – the story about when heisaku cried… gonjū – (stifling laughter) that idiot, why‟d he cry this time? 11 a buddhist family altar, honouring ancestors. 12 a monstrous mountain crone well-known in japanese folklore. yamanba are typically represented wearing tattered, filthy kimonos, and having long white hair and cannibalistic tendencies. 13 fukurō is written in hiragana letters here. terayama is punning with “owl/fukurō” (梟) and “mother/o-fukuro” (袋) here, and throughout this play. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 141 saojū – he clung to his mother the night the crows cawed and cried, “i want a wife.” gonjū – even the seven autumn plants 14 and jizō 15 feel amorous this fall. saojū – (laughing) it isn‟t unreasonable? gonjū – (laughing) it isn‟t unreasonable. saojū – he‟ll never get a wife with his mother there. he can‟t begin to think about getting a wife before reducing the number of mouths to feed. gonjū – (replying perfunctorily) that‟s right. saojū – that said, instead of crying and pleading to his mother, taking her to ubasuteyama is the easiest way to get what he wants. but she‟s a wily one, okuma – you expect to get a woman here! there‟s no one, anywhere, who‟d want to spend the night with an idiot like you! saojū – …she snarled. on top of that, okuma – you have an owl instead of a wife. in these times of hardship you, me, and the owl, just us three – after living together so long, why should you feel unsatisfied? saojū – …she coaxed him. gonjū – heisaku‟s a mama‟s boy… saojū – she thought she‟d put an end to the matter… then one night… 14 the seven plants of autumn (mirrored by the seven plants of spring) appeared as a poetic motif as early as the manyōshū. the autumn plants are: bush clover, pampas grass, arrowroot, pinks, valerian, boneset, and balloon flower. 15 a beloved figure in japanese buddhism, jizō is the protector of travelers and children. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 142 (music bridges, heisaku’s owl hooting, the shallows of a stream at night, suddenly a splash, heisaku crossing the stream… the village’s buddhist priest calls out to heisaku) buddhist priest – (from far away) hey! you there, aren‟t you fukurō-no heisaku? heisaku – ah, the priest. (heisaku’s owl hoots) buddhist priest where are you going across the stream, clutching your owl this late at night…? heisaku – (laughing stupidly) buddhist priest – are you going to yotsu-no tani? heisaku – (still laughing) buddhist monk – well, you‟re obviously not going trout fishing. heisaku – i‟m going to go watch the girls. buddhist priest – what? heisaku – i‟m going to watch the girls bathing in the stream by yotsu-no tani. buddhist priest – (astonished) that‟s awful. heisaku – they‟re so beautiful! watching them rinse their white, naked bodies in the night makes my face feel hot. buddhist priest – (reprovingly) how can you, a grown man thirty years old, be so terrible? go home. just go home. heisaku – (not listening) i‟m going to watch the girls. buddhist priest – i already told you to give it up. don‟t be immoral. go home. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 143 (heisaku’s owl hoots) heisaku – i‟ll be off now. (heisaku starts walking, the buddhist priest blocks his path) buddhist priest – but i already told you to go home. heisaku – get the hell outta my way! damn priest! (pushes the buddhist priest) buddhist priest – hey, what are you doing! (said angrily, a splash as the priest falls in the stream, the sound of running water) …oh, they say fools don‟t know their own stupidity. (water dripping as the buddhist priest stands up) buddhist priest – (to heisaku) if you‟re feeling so amorous, why don‟t you get a wife? heisaku – that‟s no good. buddhist priest – why‟s that? heisaku – my mother says no one‟s dumb enough to marry me… buddhist priest – your mother? (laughing) that‟s not the case at all, heisaku. in this village, any man can have a wife. if you do things in order, you can choose any girl to go to bed with as your wife. heisaku – what do you mean by doing things in order? buddhist priest – by reducing the number of mouths to feed, of course. heisaku – reducing the number of mouths to feed? buddhist priest – yes, that‟s right. heisaku – what should i do? the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 144 buddhist priest – you need to get rid of your mother‟s mouth. in other words… (the buddhist priest whispers in heisaku’s ear, it’s like a prophesy) if you want a wife, you should take your mother to ubasuteyama, and leave her there! (a hand drum being played) 3 – nō chorus – the kite strikes the mountain gong where is ubasuteyama? i shall befriend the moon passing the short night on a pillow made of grass viewing various dreams (a biwa plays lonely-sounding lullabies, a bird hooting, once or twice at a time) old woman – now knowing that it was within his power to get a wife, heisaku sprang into action. in honesty, he was so ugly that even the crows would laugh. his neck was as thick as a keyaki tree 16 , his eyes bulged out like a fish‟s, his nose looked like a shihtzu‟s, and his entire body was covered in course hair. he was dim-witted, and his mouth was always hanging just a little bit open, as though he was about to laugh. heisaku had a pet owl, and looked after it with doting care. though he sometimes forgot to fill his own belly, his love for the owl was blind, and he never failed to gather some nuts for his beloved pet… 16 zelkova serrata, native to japan, korea, china, and taiwan. a deciduous tree that grows to about 30m tall, though also used in bonsai. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 145 (a crowd of villagers beating gongs and drums, cheering voices coming closer, things like “heisaku’s going to dump his mother,” “heisaku’s going to get a wife,” can be heard amidst the commotion, the crowd is lively but somehow uncanny and upsetting) old woman – heisaku, too, was thinking about the arrival of his wife, and resolved himself to getting rid of his mother. amongst the single women in town, the prettiest of them all was named ayame. and, dim though he was, heisaku captured his mother. (heisaku and okuma fighting ferociously, far away the sound of the villagers chattering, and beating gongs and taiko drums) okuma – help me. please help me! heisaku – just relax, i‟m not letting you go. okuma – you intend to abandon your own mother? the woman who gave birth to you? heisaku – it can‟t be helped. hmmf! (heisaku lifts okuma) okuma – hiyaa~! heisaku – one less mouth to feed, you‟re just going to have to put up with it! okuma – so you‟re going to tie up the woman who gave birth to you with a red obi and stuff her into an old sack? heisaku – i‟m getting a wife. there‟s no way around this. hmmf! mrrgh! okuma – ouch, ouch, it‟s hurting my hips. loosen it just a little. heisaku – mrrgh! (the sack drops with a thud) there, how‟s that? okuma – you‟re acting like a dog in a dogfight, heisaku. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 146 heisaku – it can‟t be helped. please forgive me. it‟s something everyone has to do! (the gate opens and the sound of the villagers gathered outside becomes louder, “ah, she’s tied up,” “he’s strong for a moron,” “what on earth,” a woman’s laughter, the sound of beating gongs and taiko drums, “look, look,” “he’s going up the mountain,” voices off, turtledoves cooing, lullaby theme starts again, slow and enveloping, bg) heisaku – (gasping for air) this mountain path is tough going. okuma ... heisaku – ubasuteyama sure is far. okuma – (a desperate scheme) oh no, heisaku. i‟ve forgotten something. heisaku – what‟s that? okuma – our ancestor‟s butsudan, of course! i have to keep it polished, and shining like a mirror. heisaku – don‟t worry about it. i‟ll bring it to you here later. okuma – you‟re going to bring it to me? heisaku – yes, i‟ll bring it and an amaryllis to put inside. okuma – (again) oh no, heisaku. i‟ve forgotten something else. heisaku – what now? okuma – i saved up some money for you and buried in my purse someplace. i‟m the only person who knows where it‟s buried. heisaku – that‟s fine. i don‟t want money. i want a wife. (still carrying okuma on his back, he starts singing ad lib) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 147 three ri 17 to ubasuteyama crows caw and caw nen-neko-sho my mother on my back and i both cry three ri to ubasuteyama recite the evening prayer, nen-neko-sho with the red sunset namu amida-butsu 18 okuma – (this time speaking sweetly) oh heisaku. heisaku – what? okuma – it wasn‟t all hard times. we had good days too, didn‟t we? heisaku ... okuma – i have no regrets. (sniffling hard) do you have any complaints about me as a mother? heisaku – none. okuma – in that case, why? heisaku – you mean, why am i dumping you? okuma – yes. heisaku – i have to get rid of your mouth in order to open my wife‟s… (the sack drops with a thud) this is ubasute-no tsukimi 19 . (the murder of crows living on ubasuteyama caw) 17 one ri is about 3.93km. 18 a prayer to amida buddha. 19 ubasute-no-tsukimiba (姥捨の月見場) implies that this location may be a spot for moon-viewing, a popular activity in autumn, though i am unable to confirm this, or its exact location. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 148 okuma – (bursts into tears) no, no. heisaku – this is where i‟m leaving you, mother. i‟m not untying the obi so you can‟t follow me back. okuma – (crying) heisaku – mother, i have to get ready to marry ayame from hashige, so i‟ll be going now. (the sound of running, becoming further away) good bye! (yelling) take care! okuma – (stops crying and becomes completely furious) idiot! ungrateful wretch! fall down a hill and die! (“die…” echoes down the mountain, the sound of an ominous number of crows cawing and flapping their wings, as if they are preparing to attack okuma, music bridges, the sound of a water wheel turning) ayame – disgusting, disgusting. being married to that idiot is worse than death. my nose will be filled with his stench from now on. ayame‟s mother – but ayame, it‟s all a matter of course, it can‟t be helped. ayame – i didn‟t comb my long, black hair for that idiot. my white breasts didn‟t swell to be given to him. and most importantly, mother, i detest owls. ayame‟s mother – you‟ll learn to love what you hate. this is a wife‟s duty. ayame – disgusting, disgusting. it‟s better to die than become that idiot‟s wife. i‟d rather you dig a grave in the land of the dead and bury my wedding dress. ayame‟s mother – (sternly) there‟s no reasoning with you, ayame. there‟s no point in making a fuss, you‟re soon to be heisaku‟s bride. our household needs to reduce the number of mouths too! the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 149 ayame – (as though laying a curse) fine! but even if i‟m his wife, i‟ll never let that moron set a single finger on me! (beating on a taiko drum) 4 – nō chorus – tipping the sake cask arranging blood-colored flowers i have wed my dream woman i have wed my dream woman let us drink and forget the moon shining on ubasuteyama (the nō chorus exposed to strong, cold winds, no more birds hooting, a biwa sloppily plays lullabies) old woman – anyway, the wedding party went smoothly. in the village, plagued by poor harvests, it was a relief to ayame‟s family to have one less mouth to feed, and heisaku was overjoyed to receive his dream woman… but the new bride showed absolutely no sign that she was going to forgive heisaku. he quietly sidled up next to ayame‟s bed in the middle of the night, longing to hold that blossom-like body, and was shocked by what he found. to protect herself, ayame was sleeping holding a scythe. besides that, “namu amida butsu” was written over her entire nightgown as a charm to protect her! (the sound of a biwa dropping and smashing, the wind blows for a while…) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 150 and so, heisaku didn‟t set a finger on ayame on their wedding night. instead, he slept holding his owl as usual… (children sing schoolyard chants, “which child wants a nagamochi 20 ? ayame does. rock-scissors-paper, one-two-three. delighted to lose, covered in flowers. cursed to win, covered in flowers,” heard from far away, bg) heisaku – hey, ayame. ayame ... heisaku – ayame, what‟s wrong? ayame ... heisaku – i stoked the fire and made dinner. it‟s getting cold. ayame ... heisaku – i made pheasant egg soup… and i swept the living room… ayame ... heisaku – you‟re my wife. tell me, what‟s wrong? ayame ... heisaku – are you so happy that you‟re speechless? ayame – you stink. heisaku – huh? what? ayame – i hate you because you stink. heisaku – don‟t say that… (sidles up to ayame) don‟t say that sort of thing. ayame – i hate you. don‟t come anywhere near me. (the owl hoots vacantly) 20 similar to a hope chest. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 151 heisaku – you say you hate me, so i‟ll just have to wait until you love me. but it‟s strange that ayame doesn‟t feel the same way i do, don‟t you think, owl? (the owl hoots as if replying) i just don‟t understand… i can‟t put a finger anywhere on my own wife. is this how the head of a household should be treated? (the owl hoots sympathetically) it‟s like living in hell. this is hell. (cries) (the music bridges, a hand drum plays between saojū and gonjū’s lines) saojū – (in the style of kyōgen) did you hear, gonjū? gonjū (in the style of kyōgen) what‟s that, saojū? saojū – the owl. gonjū – the owl? saojū – the story about when heisaku cried… gonjū – (stifling laughter) that idiot, what‟d he cry this time? saojū – he wasn‟t allowed to put a finger on his wife and cried, „i‟m lonely, i‟m lonely.” gonjū – a stupid thirty-year-old man crying. saojū – i just can‟t sympathize… gonjū – it‟s a crazy case of saojū – beauty and the beast. gonjū – worse yet, she‟s tormenting him. for example, she‟ll take out the basin on a moonlit night, and bathe naked in the living room. saojū – and he salivates, and swallows hard, the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 152 gonjū – yes, with big gulps, saojū – but if he tries to hold her, gonjū – she holds a scythe to her neck… saojū – and says something like gonjū – “if you take one more step, i‟ll slit my throat and end my life.” saojū – beside that, namu amida butsu is written all over her underclothes. gonjū – with heisaku at a distance, saojū – she flaunts her body. gonjū – but heisaku, saojū – can‟t even rape ayame. gonjū – brute strength, saojū – is no match for the grim reaper. gonjū – ayame holds back boastful laughter, saojū – while heisaku sits cross-legged and cries… gonjū – have you ever seen, saojū – such a strange, gonjū – couple. (the two laugh, a hand drum plays anxiously, a sōzu 21 on a cold morning) heisaku – (monologue) ah, what a cold morning. ayame‟s still asleep again today… how long does she intend to coolly continue sleeping with that scythe? still foggy on the mountain pass. selling brooms loses out to the chill, i‟ll make a fire with 21 a decoration, also known as a shishiodoshi, in some japanese gardens made of bamboo. typically, the tube fills with water, tips, hits a stone, and begins to refill. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 153 the brooms i was going to sell. ah, ayame… i wonder how long you intend to make me wait. would you hate me so much if you understood how i feel? (crying) would you hate me as much if i fell out of love and felt the same way as you? i might be stupid. but although i may be dumb, mother said that i have good qualities too… yes, mother said, “i know that you can always be relied on.” ah, talking with mother is the best thing to do at times like this. if mother was here, she wouldn‟t make a fool of me like ayame saying “you stink, you stink!” (like a memory, okuma’s voice sings a lullaby, echoing like a dream) go to sleep go to sleep little ogre if you don‟t sleep, i‟ll leave you on the mountain hush-a-by hush-a-by i‟ll leave you on the mountain go to sleep go to sleep yamatarō if you don‟t sleep i‟ll transform into a yamanba hush-a-by hush-a-by and eat you the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 154 (one strike on a hand drum) 5 – nō chorus – yellow patrinia 22 past its prime straw garments discarded ashamed in the light of the moon waiting only for the moment of death hands bound, her white hair in her mouth waiting only for the moment of death (a shakuhachi 23 drearily plays a lonely-sounding lullaby, bg) old woman – (speaking without compassion or pity) ordinarily, it is said that elderly people abandoned on ubasuteyama will die on the forty-ninth day. sitting on a goza mat in the shade cast by boulders, looking down on the uninhabited valley below, and collecting nuts like a monkey, life continues until the forty-ninth day. praying alone with buddhist rosary beads, how many days pass no longer matters to the body. in rare cases, elderly people left on ubasuteyama continue living as long as ninety days, even with their hands and feet bound with an obi, or thick rope, chanting the nenbutsu without moving. but most die within half that time. before they die, no small number of elderly people carve their sons‟ or daughters‟ names into the rock using their fingernails, or a stick. it‟s not a curse, but rather a symbol of their connection, and most die thinking of the very child who abandoned them. 22 patrinia scabiosaefolia (女郎花) is a flowering bushy plant native to japan, china, and korea. terayama is punning. jorō (女郎), a term for “prostitute” uses the same kanji characters. 23 a japanese flute, traditionally make from bamboo. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 155 after death, they are food for the crows. because of this, the crows on ubasuteyama always have a remarkably glossy sheen. anyway, heisaku climbed up the mountain to see his mother one bitterly cold day toward dusk. (sound of cold, ominous wind blowing on ubasuteyama, an elderly person muttering deeply and powerfully, sounds like a buddhist prayer, heisaku calling for his mother in between) dying aged mother – combed white hair, one comb buried on ubasuteyama i go toward death without a grave i accept this fate, and yet somehow linger on, like dead grass having only just given birth to my son having only just finished raising my son left on this rocky mountain to starve to death all alone you crows must wait after i‟m dead, they‟ll noisily feast, i won‟t mind if they scatter my bones just one task in my final hours this winter will be cold, and so i‟ll weave a stomach band for my son out of my white hair the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 156 until i finish this one task you crows must wait heisaku – (from far away, climbing the mountain and coming closer) mother! mother! (speaking to himself) i‟m sure that it was around here. mother! mother! mother, where are you? dying aged mother – (barely audible over the wind, slowly repeats, heisaku calling for his mother in between) combed white hair, one comb buried on ubasuteyama i go toward death without a grave i accept this fate, and yet somehow linger on, like dead grass heisaku – (calling his mother’s name while scrambling up the mountain, startled, he’s paralyzed) ah, a corpse! aged mother no, no, i‟m not dead yet. heisaku – (backing away) you scared me… corpses can speak! aged mother – i‟m not dead yet, i‟m not dead yet. heisaku – the corpse is crying and crawling toward me… even the crows don‟t believe it. what do my eyes see? aged mother – ansama, ansama heisaku – stay still. please enter nirvana 24 . 24 i translate as “enter niravana” based on previous references to buddhism in this play. other possible translations include: “enter heaven”, “die peacefully”, and “become a buddha” (a euphemism for death). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 157 aged mother – i‟m not dead yet… there‟s one more thing i have to do. that‟s why i can‟t let go. heisaku – (mumbling to himself) …i`ve heard of old people rolled up in goza mats and dumped in the shade rotting alive, and i`ve heard of old people walking down to the village at the foot of this bald mountain, but this is the first time i`ve heard a dead person chanting the nenbutsu. heaven forbid, heaven forbid. aged mother – ansama-ya, ansama-ya! heisaku – hiyaaa! help me! (heisaku`s screams and crows cawing all at once, the music indicates heisaku running away, music bridges, becomes turtledoves cooing, the sound of choked crying, somehow resembling okuma) heisaku – (running to her) ah, mother! okuma – (continues crying) heisaku – (hugging her) i‟m scared, i‟m scared! (crying) i just saw a corpse… okuma – what‟s that? (surprised and delighted) heisaku, is it you? you came back for me? heisaku – (crying) yes, i came. i wanted to see you before it got dark, mother, so i ran all three ri to the mountain. okuma – is it already dusk? heisaku – the moon is out. you can‟t see the new moon? okuma – i can‟t see… everything‟s become completely dark. heisaku – don‟t say such depressing things. okuma – (crying) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 158 heisaku – don‟t say such depressing things. i need your advice. i just don‟t know what i should do. okuma – please loosen the rope. (crying) and help me warm my body up a little. heisaku – mother, your-daughter-in-law won‟t show me any affection. okuma – (crying) it hurts, it hurts. heisaku – oh, here? should i untie the rope? okuma – (breathes a sigh of relief) oh, you saved me. heisaku – mother! (sweetly) what should i do? okuma – (rather sharply) heisaku! how about the food? heisaku – food? okuma – (overbearingly) you didn‟t bring your mother some rice and a side dish? heisaku – (dejectedly) i didn‟t think. okuma – (yelling) you stupid asshole! heisaku ... okuma – you‟re so stupid. it‟s like this every time you try to do something. heisaku – don‟t be angry. okuma – heisaku, i‟m not like other people my age. i‟m not one to fall down the mountain and become food for crows, or crawl around like a crab crying the nenbutsu. heisaku – huh… okuma – there‟s no one as tough as me. i‟ll go on living, and living, and become a yamanba. heisaku – you‟ll become a yamanba? the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 159 okuma – that‟s right. i‟ll become a yamanba, and have an odd and interesting life, humming all the while. heisaku – and if there‟s nothing to eat? okuma – in that case, i‟ll eat people. heisaku – (becoming uneasy) mother! okuma – so, no matter how many times you abandon me, i‟ll be fine. i haven‟t weakened in the least! heisaku – i‟ve become weaker than you are. okuma – of course, i put a curse on you. heisaku – (starts crying) what should i do? what should i do? okuma – (calmly) heisaku! heisaku – yes? okuma – take me back home with you. heisaku – but, if i do that… okuma – what‟s the problem? heisaku – the villagers. okuma – i‟ll stay under the floorboards where no one will see me, or hide inside the nagamochi. if you keep bringing me food, i‟ll help you with my daughter-in-law. heisaku – you‟ll teach me? okuma – yes, i‟ll teach you. heisaku – (joyfully) alright then, let‟s go home! (suddenly lifts her onto his shoulders) hmmf! (one strike on the hand drum, like a wooden clapper) once i get you home, you can lend me a hand with ayame. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 160 okuma – of course, of course. i‟ll give you a hand. heisaku – (singing as when he brought okuma to the mountain on his back) three ri to ubasuteyama crows caw and caw nen-neko-sho my mother on my back and i both cry (a big gust of wind!) three ri to ubasuteyama recite the evening prayer, nen-neko-sho with the red sunset namu amida-butsu 6 – nō chorus – in far away sarashina, near ubasuteyama as the pure light of the full moon on a cloudless night slowly leaves the straits, how it fills me with longing! 25 who‟s knocking at the back gate? someone to hear your sins, or just the mountain wind? someone to hear your sins, or just a lost traveler 26 ? (bird hooting, once or twice at a time, the same as before, a biwa plays again) 25 terayama pulls these lines from the nō play ubasute. 26 these lines, written in classical japanese, are vague and difficult to understand. it is unclear if the intent is to accuse, or facilitate confession. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 161 old woman – heisaku took okuma home, laid a goza mat out under the floorboards, and kept her there in darkness like the buddha. ayame remained, as ever, body and soul unwilling to forgive heisaku, but okuma told him to be patient. so, every morning, heisaku meekly went to work in the fields with his owl perched on his shoulder while okuma spied on ayame through a knothole in the floorboards… (music stops) now this is awkward. it seems as though ayame has another man. (the sound of fingertips tapping on a wooden door) ayame – (her voice lowered) is it you? voice – (his voice lowered) it‟s me. it‟s seibei. (sound of the wooden door opening) seibei – the idiot? ayame – he‟s out. seibei – there‟s no one here? ayame – no one. (the door closes, signs they are embracing) seibei – i missed you, ayame. i couldn‟t sleep a wink all last night. knowing that you‟re here being held by that moron, and that i couldn‟t show you my affection tortured my slumber. ayame – that‟s why i slept holding a yellow rose. seibei – ah, why did you do that? the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 162 ayame – you know. my cheeks were sore from your rough beard when i went to sleep the other night. thinking of you, i woke up, but there was no one else in the room. i could see yellow roses outside through a crack in the door. ha, ha, my heart doesn‟t live here, it‟s in your bedroom. i fell asleep thinking of you, surrounded by the scent of yellow roses. okuma – bitch. just as i though, she‟s taken a lover. so heisaku‟s being deceived, and she‟s taking advantage of his stupidity. seibei – (while holding her) ah, to be so in love, and yet, ayame – not to be together. seibei – they say it‟s a custom in this village, ayame – but to be married to such an ugly moron, seibei – i don‟t know who arranged it. ayame – a sad story. seibei – ayame! ayame – sei-san! (they embrace strongly, signs they are kissing) okuma – i can‟t take it anymore (the sound of okuma prying loose the floorboards and yelling) adulterers! adulterers! everyone, come here! (banging on a pot) they‟re carrying on an affair in the living room. laughing while they take advantage of my innocent son. dammit! adulterers! adulterers! (on top of okuma’s yelling) seibei – (flustered) ah, is it a ghost? ayame – she‟s escaped from ubasuteyama… the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 163 seibei – she‟s alive… she‟s alive! okuma – (beating the pot and yelling as if she wouldn’t notice if the house was on fire) adulterers! adulterers! this is hell! everyone, come here! (the sound of the pot being beaten, their flustered voices mixing like a whirlpool, cacophonous music blending harshly, heisaku arrives breathless, the sound of the shōji tearing) heisaku – dammit! dammit! (the shōji falls over) seibei – help me! help me! heisaku – you sneak in here like a thief while i‟m out… dammit! seibei – ah. (the pot falls over) okuma – ha ha ha, the pot fell over. that‟s good, that‟s good. heisaku – i‟ll kill you! (the butsudan falls over) okuma – you broke the butsudan, ah ha ha. seibei – ah, help me. it, it hurts. heisaku – take this! (punches him) ayame – hiyaa! (ashes thrown into the air) okuma – a cloud of ashes. a cloud of ashes. ah ha ha ha. heisaku – i‟ll kill you. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 164 (punches him again) okuma – (roaring with laughter) yes, yes… you should kill him. (again, uproarious laughter) ayame – help, help. heisaku – this man was touching your body while i, the head of this household, wasn‟t allowed. (something breaking) okuma – yes, do it. do it. ah ha ha ha ha. seibei – it, it hurts. heisaku – die. (again, something heavy falls and breaks, only the sound of okuma’s shrill laughter remains, becomes solitary-sounding, the wind blows, a biwa slowly plays a lullaby) old woman – okuma fell over laughing, while the idiot heisaku, who‟d hit his wife and her lover with a log, cried big, heavy tears. without fixing the hem of her kimono ayame ran after seibei, who was covered in blood. heisaku called out and cried. a representative of the village came to settle the matter, and decreed that it was wrong for heisaku to bring his mother back from ubasuteyama, and that he had to put her back there. (from far away, the villagers beating a gong, coming closer) in a poor village, there are famines when the population increases. of course, reducing the number of mouths to feed only means they‟ll be replaced with new mouths. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 165 heisaku told okuma what he‟d been told. and okuma meekly let him speak. perhaps she already intended to die on the mountain alone. (at the same time, villagers beating a gong, coming closer) heisaku – mother! i won‟t fail to visit you. old woman – the idiot said. okuma pressed her face into her son‟s back until it hurt and said nothing. heisaku – (singing sonorously) three ri to ubasuteyama crows caw and caw nen-neko-sho my mother on my back and i both cry okuma – heisaku, don‟t be fooled by your next girl. heisaku – ok… okuma – you‟re an idiot, so it‟s easier for people to fool you. heisaku – ok…! okuma – well, if you‟re going to sing, why not sing as though you mean it! your mother becoming a yamanba is a day to celebrate. heisaku – alright, i‟ll sing. (sounding as though he’s crying) three ri to ubasuteyama recite the evening prayer, nen-neko-sho with the red sunset namu amida-butsu (again, crows cawing on ubasuteyama… music plays) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 166 7 – (birds hooting, one or twice at a time, a shakuhachi and a biwa play a lonelysounding lullaby, bg) old woman – several years passed… ayame and her ex, heisaku, were living together with his owl. forty years passed but, sitting cross-legged he‟d still say, “i‟m lonely, i‟m lonely” and cry from time to time. sometimes there‟d be a knock at the door in the middle of the night. “mother?” he‟d say, and rush out of bed to answer, but it would only be the wind blowing down from the mountain. perhaps his mother was already dead. but heisaku felt sure she was still hiding on ubasuteyama. if she‟d become a yamanba, what a strange and interesting life she must have, he thought. although he‟d meant to, he never went to visit his mother. and so, there was no grave for okuma on ubasetuyama. people who live in hiding don‟t need graves. (a lullaby, the sound of the wind blowing, becoming louder, and then fading to nothing) references courdy, k. (2000). antonin artaud's influence on terayama shuji. in stanca scholzcionca and samuel l. leiter (eds.), japanese theater and the international stage (pp. 255-268). leiden, netherlands: brill. gordon, a. (2009). a modern history of japan: from tokugawa time to the present. 2 nd edition. new york and oxford: oxford university press. poulton, m. c. (2012, march). “angura: the 1960s reaction against shingeki realism.” paas 486 class. lecture conducted at the university of victoria, victoria, bc. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) research-based creative works: lofting 167 ridgely, s. c. (2010). japanese counterculture: the antiestablishment art of terayama shuji. minneapolis: minnesota university press. sorgenfrei, c. f. (2005). unspeakable acts: the avant-garde theatre of terayama shuji and postwar japan. honolulu: university of hawaii press. terayama, s. (1964). [recorded by nhk]. yamanba [cd]. tokyo: king records. (2005) terayama, s. (2009). “yamanba.” in sasaki ichitaka (ed.), the collected works of terayama shūji vol.2 寺山修司著作集弟 2 券 (pp. 75-100). tokyo: kuitessensu publishing. contact information erin lofting, from the department of pacific and asian studies, can be reached at erin.lofting@gmail.com. acknowledgements thanks to: dr. cody poulton, supervising professor and mentor; masahide koyama, and my friends in aomori prefecture; the helpful staff at mcpherson library, especially ying liu; the friends who participated in my game of let‟s-think-of-bettersynonyms; and support and encouragement from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, an exceptional program administered by the university of victoria. environmentalism and the "ecological indian" in avatar: the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 67 environmentalism and the "ecological indian" in avatar: a visual analysis justin fritz abstract: james cameron's 2009 blockbuster, avatar, is a tale of indigenous resistance to environmental destruction. in the film, earth moves outward to distant planets in order to satisfy its resource hunger. in their search, earthlings arrive on pandora, a biologically rich planet with a diverse and complex ecosystem. in defence of their home planet, the indigenous people of pandora (the na'vi) engage in combat with the earthlings over which aspect of the planet is more important: the life above or the resources below. the environmental message in avatar is one which promotes balance and harmony between humans and nature. however, this balance is represented by the film’s essentialized indigenous population. thus, as a foil for earth's technology-dependent resource-intensive society, the na'vi are represented as a stereotypical indigenous population; they are cast as closer to nature in their role as the "ecological indian." by using archaic portrayals of indigenous peoples, the film uses an "indigenous" voice to propel its environmental message. this article visually analyzes how the film uses, produces, and perpetuates stereotypical representations of indigenous peoples and how these representations effect and advance the film’s environmental message. key terms: environmentalism, ecological indian, representation, visual analysis, noble savage, ignoble savage, avatar, indigeneity introduction in 2009, james cameron unveiled avatar, a film where both the world, pandora, and its indigenous population, the na'vi, have been created through the film's extensive use of computer-generated imagery (cgi). this humanoid yet "alien" population, with their readily recognizable physical and cultural characteristics, "encourage a pattern of sympathetic identification" through which the viewer can interact with and accept the na'vi and the film's message (veracini, 2011, p. 359). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 68 this message is one of environmentalism; its medium is the na'vi, a purposefully stereotypical indigenous population. in the film, earth's military has occupied the planet pandora in order to ensure "the company's" continued and uninterrupted mining of a substance called "unobtainium" (cameron, 2009, 6 mins.). unfortunately their proposed mine lies directly below the "hometree" of the na'vi. initially, the military attempts to establish friendly contact with the goal of peacefully relocating the na'vi through the use of the "avatar project": a program that allows an earthling to mentally occupy an artificially created na'vi body. jake sully, the protagonist, is chosen for the job, and he begins the arduous task of enculturation with hopes of eventually pushing the na'vi from their land. however, the longer sully lives with the na'vi (in his na'vi body) the more he empathizes with them. realizing their program's failure, the military attacks the na'vi's "hometree" and, instead of talking the na'vi into leaving the proposed mine site, they force them to leave. sully then has to decide where his true identity lies. ultimately, he sides with the na'vi and leads them to victory, killing many of the earthlings and sending the rest back to their "dying world" (cameron, 2009, 152 mins.). in this case “the massacre" (a common trope of films focused on indigenous peoples) is inflicted upon avatar's antagonists, the earthlings, instead of upon the indigenous population (baird, 1996, p. 200). with this role reversal, it is apparent that the film is leading the viewer to ask, what would happen if "they" won? what can "they" teach the "west"? i argue that what the film claims the west can learn from indigenous peoples is how to live an environmentally conscious life: a "life that's in balance with the natural cycles of life on earth" (james cameron as quoted in the telegraph, 2009). this concept of indigenous identity has been labelled the "ecological indian" by krech and remains a seemingly positive, yet insidious, assumption held by the general public (1999). an "indigeneity" in complete harmony with nature has been variously constructed, dwelling in the collective western imagination since contact. much like the anti-black racist american literature of the 19th century, this connection to nature has been used explicitly in media and politics to dichotomize both sets of actors and, further, to create a hierarchy between them (hall, 1997b, p. 244). however, to make any sort of claim regarding the film’s use of recycled and harmful representational modes toward an environmental message, i will need to argue four things: 1) there is a history of nonindigenous peoples representing indigenous peoples, 2) these modes of representation carry social evolutionary baggage which is used to "say something" about "difference" and/or an "evolutionary progress" to an audience, 3) activists, ngos, and governmental bodies have used these representational modes to forward the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 69 their own environmental messages, and 4) the film uses these modes of representing indigenous peoples to connect "indigeneity" with environmentalism (hall, 1997a, p. 5). the result of this inquiry will lead to an answer to the question: how does the film represent the na'vi as the "ecological indian" in order to push forward a particular form of environmentalism? from an anthropological perspective this question is necessary to answer, now more than ever, considering the looming threat of runaway climate change and the sheer marketability and appeal of the film's message despite its questionable medium. the “ecological indian” the "ecological indian," as documented by krech (1999), descends genealogically from its predecessors: the "noble savage" and the "ignoble savage." the "ignoble savage" has been portrayed as a "wild, marauding beast" with "cannibalistic, bloodthirsty and inhuman" characteristics (bird, 1996, p. 245; krech, 1999, p. 16). the "noble savage," on the other hand, is represented by switching the poles of morality and aligning this unquestioned "savagery" with positive rationality and vigour (krech, 1999, p. 16): "noble savages" are "close to the land, spiritual, heroic, virtuous—and doomed" (bird, 1996, p. 245). where the "ignoble savage" and the "noble savage" claimed that indigenous peoples are just of nature, the "ecological indian" is of and for nature. the "ecological indian" is not only in harmony with nature but "understands the systemic consequences of his actions, feels deep sympathy with all living forms, and takes steps to conserve so that earth's harmonies are never imbalanced and resources never in doubt" (krech, 1999, p. 21). the idea that indigenous peoples are the ideal stewards of nature corresponded with environmental concerns that arose near the end of the 20 th century. with these concerns, new conceptions of both nature and "indigeneity" took hold. opposed to a hobbesian conception of nature as "nasty, [and] brutish" (2006, p. 535), nature, as fostered by the environmental movement of the 1960's and 70's, was constructed as pristine and constantly moving toward a harmonic telos (krech, 1999, p. 23). so, as concepts such as ecology, conservation, and preservation entered the frame they came to the center of the discussion regarding what indigenous peoples were thought to actually do (krech, 1999, pp. 22-23). the "ecological indian" myth not only alters the image of indigenous peoples but also perpetuates a new assumed state of nature which "they," as a single entity, are a part of. however, krech claims that the image of nature as a web of harmonious interconnectivity is patently false: "in the absence of human interference . . . natural systems are not inherently balanced or harmonious; and that left alone, biological communities do not automatically undergo predictable succession toward some the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 70 steady-state climax community, which is an illusion" (krech, 1999, p. 23). linking a static nature to a static indigenous peoples distorts culture and perpetuates many of the latent social evolutionary theories contained in the "ignoble savage," "noble savage," and "ecological indian" tropes. the social evolutionary theories referred to above are diffuse and many, but generally they assume that "savagery" naturally "evolves" into "civilization" in a unilinear manner. this sort of relationship places one above the other on a hierarchy defined by those in power: the "civilized." the point, as krech and others have claimed, is that the myth is harmful and untrue. in fact, krech goes to great lengths to disprove the "ecological indian" hypothesis citing examples of indigenous peoples' destruction of their environments. taking a different but parallel route, nadasdy has claimed that "the definition of conservation is biased, judgmental, and western in construct" (nadasdy as cited in hames, 2007, p. 181). on the other hand, those who wish to argue for the validity of the "ecological indian" claim conservationism as a universal (despite the fact that as a concept it may be an import): "a people engages in conservation or it does not" (hames, 2007, p. 181). for my purposes it is not pertinent to determine whether or not the "ecological indian" trope has any legitimacy, but, rather, to explore how it has been strategically and wrongfully used by non-indigenous peoples. the use of a constructed indigenous identity by non-indigenous people for either ideological or personal gain is a common practice. as conklin notes, the voice of the wari' has been appropriated by several environmental groups in hopes of using amazonian indigeneity toward their own devices: "in amazonian ecopolitics . . . non-indian spokespersons have come to promote an idealized image . . . amazonian indians are represented as guardians of the forest, natural conservationists whose cultural traditions and spiritual values predispose them to live in harmony with the earth" (1997, p. 713). similarly, as anderson claims, while discussing ways in which the environmental movement can move forward, "traditional and local people have managed, in most cases, to conserve environments and manage resources sustainably" (2011, p. 56). it is unclear whether or not this is true, but it is clear that these ruminations are the result of a significant tension; as kopnina and shoreman-ouiment claim, "today, we face some of the greatest environmental challenges in human history" (2011, p. 1). the environmental movement is constantly seeking new solutions to this ever-growing problem. environmentalism, then, is not simply a theoretical standpoint, it is intended to be a way of life: "'the environment' . . . is affected by human activity, and . . . securing a viable future depends on such activity being controlled in some way" (milton, 1993, p. 3). in their search for a solution, the environmental movement has sought out alternative ways of life, and, often, these ways of life are the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 71 aimed at becoming closer to particular environmental groups' conception of "nature." unfortunately, this has led certain non-indigenous environmental groups to appropriate indigenous identities and voices (conklin, 1997; hames, 2007). it could be argued that these individuals and groups are engaging in a form of cultural appropriation that takes advantage of and ultimately perpetuates power imbalances between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. i have spoken here of environmental groups and their use of indigenous identities as an almost necessary response given the looming threat of, say, runaway climate change: a response which some would argue 'the ends justify the means.' however, it should be kept in mind that these environmental groups profit not only in the sense that the activists' children may inherit a better world, but individuals within these groups could profit monetarily and politically. indigenous identities and cultural appropriation thus, an analogy can be made between environmental groups and avatar. it is assumed that while environmental groups that use representations of indigenous peoples to promote a message of environmentalism are merely profiting on the side, cameron’s film has used representations of indigenous peoples for profit by pushing forward a particularly marketable environmental message. this nuance may not distinguish the two as readily as those who argue 'the ends justify the means' would like to think. the end for indigenous peoples, as shaped and moulded peoples—often subject to the whims of the representers—is ultimately the same. while it can be said that indigenous peoples have used the "ecological indian" trope as both the representers and represented, it is clear that little or no form of cultural appropriation has occurred (martello, 2008). however, non-indigenous use of assigned indigenous identity is not acceptable. in this sense, james cameron's avatar and certain environmental groups should be equally kept in mind while discussing cultural appropriation, its effects, and its ethics. in his theorization of cultural appropriation, rogers makes use of the definition provided by merriam-webster's collegiate dictionary: "to take or make use of without authority or right" (rogers, 2006, p. 475). in addition, it is not encompassed by a single moment in time; rather, it is "an active process" (rogers, 2006, p. 476). this "active process," in which it is clear that someone must act, cannot be legitimized by good intentions. instead, rogers wants to detach cultural appropriation from questions of intentionality (i.e. an individual who is in good faith regarding their decision to culturally appropriate can still be morally wrong). for rogers, malicious cultural appropriation is determined by the positionality of the actors: "the symmetry or asymmetry of power relations, the appropriation's role in the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 72 domination and/or resistance . . . and other factors shape, and are shaped by, acts of cultural appropriation" (2006, p. 476). so, when cultural appropriation occurs between "equals" it is defined as "cultural exchange" (2006, p. 477). however, he is not naïve enough to claim that this state can exist; instead, "cultural exchange" is an ideal. marked by the "reciprocal exchange of symbols, artifacts, [etc.] . . . between cultures with roughly equal levels of power," "cultural exchange" is often used as the neutral case against which other forms of cultural appropriation are judged (rogers, 2006, p. 477). alternatively, when a "dominant" culture uses cultural elements from a marginalized or oppressed culture rogers labels it "cultural exploitation" (2006, p. 489). in rogers' conception of "cultural exploitation," commodification plays a large role in how the "dominant" culture steals, distorts, and degrades the culture of "subordinate" peoples. in one example, he claims "those appropriating native american cultural elements may believe that they are opposing the very system they are supporting through their consumption and circulation of commodities, potentially degrading the very culture they intend to honour and protect" (rogers, 2006, p. 489). by using the voice of marginalized peoples, the speaker has the ability, through power differentials, to shape how that culture is publicly perceived. additionally, unlike what other prominent scholars have argued, "if insiders are worried about being harmed by artworks produced by outsiders, they can simply decline to be part of the audience for these works," it is clear that the effects of representation don't stop at the site itself (young & haley, 2009, p. 279). they, as hall has claimed, "[enter] into the very constitution of things" (1997a, p. 56). this is where the film avatar again becomes relevant to our discussion. as i have shown, representations of indigenous peoples that bring forward past socioevolutionary theories have the ability to affect the thinking of both indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. these representations are often used strategically to "say something" to an audience through a specific form of cultural appropriation that takes advantage of power differentials (hall, 1997a, p. 5). in doing so, the representer perpetuates a specific mode of representing and entrenches it in the discourse surrounding what it is to be, in this case, an indigenous person. this occurred in conklin's research among the kayapó. in 1988, sting, in his campaign for "the rainforest foundation," claimed that "it didn't take long for the varnish of civilization to leave us. after 48 hours, we were naked, covered with paint, and fighting snakes" (sting as quoted in conklin, 1997, p. 714). in that same year a brazilian judge, in agreement with sting's shallow description, argued that a kayapó man could not be an indian because he knew how to operate a vcr (1997, p. 715). this sort of reduction of indigenous identity, and the perpetuation of these ideas, the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 73 makes it easier to use a constructed indigenous voice to espouse a particular belief or message. i would claim that cameron’s film is doing just that. it is an active agent in the construction of a reduced, essentialized, homogenous, and naturalized indigenous identity through the representation of the na'vi as the "ecological indian" in the film avatar. analyzing how this is done is the aim of this paper. analysis of the film for my visual analysis i will employ specific methodologies, relying upon rose's compositional analysis; rose's, and white and marsh's content analysis; and rose's discourse analysis (rose, 2007; white & marsh, 2006). compositional analysis focuses on how an image is put together in terms of production, content, and social context (rose, 2007). rose first claims that to do this sort of analysis one must have "the good eye," which is only ambiguously defined, but necessarily requires one to "take images seriously" as consciously created "things" (2007, p. 35). without a clear methodology, rose instead attempts to define compositional analysis by what compositional analysts look at. most importantly for film, the compositional method looks at how the shot is taken and what the differences between, for example, a long shot and a close-up shot may say about the image's message or its possible interpretations (rose, 2007, p. 52). other compositional elements include the camera's point of view (is the camera an omniscient viewer or does it seem to embody the perspective of an existing character), what is involved in the shot (in comparison to what the viewer "knows"), and the meaningful editing of the film (the joining of scenes and their relative placement) (rose, 2007, pp. 52-54). compositional analysis is focused on how images are produced, how the film as a whole, in this instance, is put together, and what that may mean. content analysis, on the other hand, chooses to look at what is actually in the shot rather than the production, framing, or context of the shot (rose, 2007). rose focuses on the quantitative element of content analysis (i.e. the counting of specific instances in which a sign, symbol, or the like appear) rather than its qualitative elements. this is not how i approach it, but her methodologically explicit sampling technique is helpful nonetheless. if one were to read a film as a collection of images (24 per second—at least) the resulting data and work load would be insurmountable. as a result, the method of selecting images is important. rather than any sort of random sampling, i use selective stratified sampling, or "chunking," a technique more in line with the qualitative content analysis methodology of white and marsh the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 74 (2006, p. 29). and, rather than exclusively viewing the images as frames, i bind scenes (thus speaking to a collection of images) and analyze stills. 1 the film can first be divided in two: scenes focused on either the na'vi or the earthlings. for my purposes, all na'vi-based scenes are equally available for analysis. furthermore, i have divided the film into five sequences following the traditional dramatic structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement. the latter two have been omitted in my analysis as together their infilm running time constitutes approximately 11 minutes total of the two and a half hour feature. additionally, i do not focus on the exposition as it is centered around the introduction of the military, the "avatar program," jake sully and, superficially, the na'vi (total running time approximately 50 minutes). also, the climax, with its action-centric military-heavy themes, is inappropriate for this analysis. this reduction in analyzable film time still leaves the middle of the film: approximately one hour and twelve minutes (from 0:50 2:02), which focuses specifically on the na'vi culture and jake sully's enculturation. from there, i have chosen particular na'vi-based scenes in order to come to an understanding of how the film portrays the na'vi as the "ecological indian." further, as an introductory section, i discuss the na'vi's physical make-up and appearance using stills selected from the entire film. this is necessary as clear shots of specific na'vi biological, physical, and decorative features are few and far between. in this vein, my analysis of avatar is influenced by the methods in which i have selectively pulled stills and scenes from the mass of images contained in the criteria above. to justify this practice hall has claimed that many meanings . . . are potential within the photo. but there is no one, true meaning. meaning 'floats.' it cannot be finally fixed. however attempting to 'fix' it is the work of representational practice, which intervenes in the many potential meanings of an image in an attempt to privilege one (hall, 1997b, p. 228). i have selected images and scenes in order to privilege the meaning that i wish to analyze. however, while looking at these images it is clear that content and compositional analysis are only useful in providing ways of looking at raw data and ways of sorting through that data in a systematic way. but, as these approaches require some sort of valuation in order to interpret the images, a more theoretical approach must be undertaken. the movement of a camera and the content of images 1 the film stills used in this article were created by the article's author. these still are taken from the movie avatar, released in 2009, directed by james cameron. further reproduction of the stills in this article are not permitted. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 75 are not inherently meaningful. therefore, i will use rose's discourse analysis to view the chosen scenes more critically. discourse analysis, instead of looking exclusively at the image, asks questions about how the image is involved in a discourse, and thus "how, precisely, is a particular discourse structured, and how then does it produce a particular kind of knowledge?" (rose, 2007, p. 156). it asks why particular elements of an image are in that image, and how these images participate in constructing accounts of the world through their taken-for-granted symbols and signs. the “how” grasps outwards at larger contexts of meaning, taking into account structures of power in society at large (rose, 2007, p. 169). in this sense, i will look at how the film uses visual features descended from now archaic modes of representing indigenous peoples in order to reify these modes and speak to a western audience. avatar uses the power differentials between the dominant culture and indigenous peoples to impose a strategic definition of "indigeneity" on indigenous peoples, promoting one view (the "ecological indian") over another (indigenous peoples as nonhomogenous and fully human). so, while looking at the images themselves, i will also bring in select quotes by the director, james cameron, to support my argument. as hall has claimed, "the 'meaning' of the photograph . . . does not lie exclusively in the image," nor does it lie exclusively in the text to be read, but it lies "in the conjunction of image and text" (1997b, p. 228). the na'vi's appearance avatar relies heavily on motion capture technology and cgi to construct the na'vi. in the film they are "on average, approximately 3 meters (~10 feet) tall, with smooth, striped cyan-colored skin, large amber eyes and long, sweeping tails. their bodies are more slender than humans" (wikia, n.d.). it is clear that as cgi constructions every one of their features has been consciously created. additionally, their alien-ness should place them in a distinct evolutionary line from humans. thus, any and all (humanoid) features of this alien species are in place either due to cameron’s lack of imagination or because of his desire to elicit a certain response from his audience. these two distinct features of the na'vi give cameron leeway in how he is able to project his idea of "indigeneity" through the na'vi's visual expression. his use of certain images and features shown throughout the film serve to cast the na'vi as of nature and thus more readily accepting of both the "ecological indian" trope and environmentalism. i have chosen to focus on three features of the na'vi: female breasts, clothing, and their "neural whips." throughout this section i will discuss stills of neytiri exclusively as she is the only "real" (non-human) na'vi character with any substantial screen time. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 76 the first film still (figure 1) was chosen because it clearly shows netyiri, the main female na'vi character (and jake sully's love interest), and her breasts. this still illustrates how her breasts are variously hidden and exposed and thus, keeping in mind her alien-ness, leads us to question why she has them and what that means. james cameron has been quoted as saying: "right from the beginning i said, 'she's got to have tits,' even though that makes no sense because her race, the na'vi, aren't placental mammals" (james cameron as quoted in rushfield, 2009). why then does she have them? i would argue that the use of the exotic bare-breasted "other" is a tool that the film uses to elicit a familiar response from its audience. in this picture we can assume that the necklace is not being used by netyiri to cover her breasts unless she is employing some strategically placed tape. instead, the necklace is added to keep avatar's pg-13 rating in place while maintaining the symbolic power of the bare-breasted exotic woman. neytiri and her breasts are there to make the film more appealing for the assumed white, male, heterosexual viewer. and thus, the film, the message, and netyiri become consumable through her aesthetic objectification. in contrast, as lutz and collins have noted in their book reading national geographic, older women's breasts are rarely shown to this end (1993). this trend can also be seen in avatar. mo'at, neytiri's mother (shown in the background of figure 1), wears clothing and thus the "taboo [of] . . . showing old figure 1: neytiri praying to the na'vi deity: eywa. note her breasts and garments. (cameron, 2009, 115 mins.) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 77 women's sagging or dimpled breasts" is not violated. regardless, the young female bare-breasted "other" is not just displayed for the viewers' pleasure, nor just to increase the consumability of the message, it also carries a message. for lutz and collins the use of the bare-breasted indigenous woman conveys a social evolutionist message to an american audience that indigenous women, and more generally indigenous peoples, are more clearly aligned with “nature” than "civilization" and its assumed exclusive domain of culture (1993, p. 172). this dichotomy is established through the message bare-breastedness is supposed to convey to a judaeo-christian audience—a lack of modesty. this "basic cultural trait" is assumed to represent the dividing line between "man" and "nature" as it was said to have been given by god to humans when adam and eve were banned from the garden of eden. conjuring polygenetic theory (or the concept of multiple adams), the bare-breasted indigenous woman is thus taken to be of a different genetic line. so, despite her sexualisation, the bare-breasted indigenous woman is cast as animalistic. for cameron, she is both loved and feared—part human and part animal. she represents the bridge between nature and culture and can thus stand as both nature's translator and its steward. here, i want to focus on neytiri's clothing, specifically her "loincloth" (figure 2). james cameron has described the na'vi's dress and the rationale behind figure 2: neytiri and her ikran. in this still her "loincloth" is clearly visible (cameron, 2009, 67 mins.) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 78 his decision: “i designed her costumes based on a taparrabo, a loincloth thing worn by mayan indians. we go to another planet in this movie, so it would be stupid if she ran around in a brazilian thong or a fur bikini like raquel welch in one million years b.c." (james cameron as cited in rushfield, 2009). the assumption here is that the taparrabo is more appropriate for an "alien" "indigenous" person to wear than a bikini. why does james cameron assume that a taparrabo can logically move more freely between planets, cultures, natures and the like than can a bikini? i argue that this assumption is a function of the film’s homogenization of all indigenous peoples. i do not believe that this homogenization stems from his desire to make a statement about solidarity among indigenous peoples where “'indigeneity' has come to . . . presuppose a sphere of commonality among those who form a world collectivity of 'indigenous peoples' in contrast to their various others"—a commonality frequently cited in the literature as arising from the historical processes of colonialism (merlan, 2009, p. 303). instead, it seems that the film’s conception of indigenous peoples descends from an idea of a common connection to a common harmonious nature despite different evolutionary lines. i argue that by implying that the taparrabo's presence across all cultures and natures makes sense, the film’s homogenization relies on a universalized concept of nature to which it assumes all indigenous peoples belong. the taparrabo is thus pretercultural: it is natural. if nature is the same everywhere and develops in universally predictable channels, the taparrabo and the people who wear it (the na'vi and indigenous peoples at large) are a natural extension of this common and predictable nature. as the film seems to claim that the na'vi's culture is natural, the na'vi have both a stake in nature and the authority to speak for it, again as its stewards. my third analysis, rather than merely placing the na'vi in nature, physically links them with it. in this still neytiri is engaging in tsaheylu (or "the bond") through her "neural whip" braided delicately through her hair (figure 3). tsaheylu allows the na'vi to connect with their ancestors (through the tree of souls, as seen above), other animals, and each other. these connections allow for a true, unmediated knowledge of nature and ecology. this knowledge is not just fostered by simply living in "nature," rather it is a biological and mental connection—the neural whip, as a feature belonging exclusively to the na'vi, is a requirement for the na'vi's environmentalism and stewardship—and there is thus a deterministic character to cameron's positioning of indigenous peoples. without “civilization's stain,” the film assumes that the na'vi, through their symbiotic evolution with nature, have experienced a "predictable succession toward some steady-state climax community" (an idea which krech has called "an illusion") (1999, p. 23). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 79 the na'vi and indigenous peoples are thus the timeless inevitable representatives of nature, hovering between sentient beings (presumed to eventually occupy a place "above" nature) and wholly natural beings. the earthlings, however, lack this basic ability and thus only through the na'vi can the earthlings learn about and stop themselves from destroying the environment. the na'vi and nature are ultimately only valuable as a means to an end. in the face of significant environmental stressors, avatar has used the na'vi, as a stereotypical indigenous people, to teach the west how to preserve their way of life via indigenous peoples’ fundamentally different being and their assumedly more truthful understanding of "nature." by placing the na'vi on the side of nature in a nature/culture dichotomy, the film uses the voice of indigenous peoples to put forward a particular message. through this reduction, the film hangs modes of representing indigenous peoples like decorations from the na'vi's being. because the na'vi are represented on the side of nature, these modes of being are affected by how the film represents pandoran nature. this idea will be further explored through the film’s use of the "ecological indian" to put forward an environmental message. figure 3: neytiri engaging in tsaheylu, or "the bond," through her "neural whip." (cameron, 2009, 82 mins.) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 80 "ignoble savages," "ecological indians," and cultural appropriation as stated earlier, the "ecological indian" can be seen as an attempt to portray indigenous peoples in a positive light—in harmony with their environment—while simultaneously critiquing the west. however, by deterministically reducing indigenous peoples to their relationship with nature, the representer perpetuates "scientific racism": "the belief that the different races of human beings exist on an evolutionary continuum ranging from 'savagery' through 'barbarism' to 'civilization'" (1996, pp. 47-48). thus, through these representations, indigenous peoples are placed "lower" on the evolutionary ladder, no matter which pole of morality their "nature" is aligned with. at the beginning of avatar, the na'vi are portrayed as "ignoble savages"— they are cast as traditional wild-west "indians" who halt colonization and "progress." however, as sully comes to identify with them, cameron's representation shifts toward that of the "ecological indian." as the negativity of the "ignoble savage" is replaced by the equally superficial positivity of the "ecological indian," the latter appears more truthful. the authority that comes with the film's assumedly more "truthful" representation allows it to use the na'vi as environmental stewards while simultaneously critiquing the west: "there's a sense of entitlement 'we're here, we're big, we've got the guns, we've got the technology, we've got the brains, we therefore are entitled to every damn thing on this planet.' that's not how it works and we're going to find out the hard way if we don't wise up and start seeking a life that's in balance with the natural cycles of life on earth" (james cameron as quoted in the telegraph, 2009). again, cameron represents a life in balance with the "natural cycles of life on earth" (or pandora) through the na'vi and indigenous peoples at large. however, cameron's environmentalism isn't as naïve as simply living with nature. implicit in his message are ideas of conservation, preservation, and ecology from above. for cameron, the na'vi and indigenous peoples are of nature, but they also serve as a bridge between "man" and "nature." so, while they must be controlled by sully during the navi-earthling war near the end of the film, the na'vi fight for both themselves and pandoran life. indigenous peoples are thus valuable, for cameron, in the sense that they have something to teach the west—they allow the west to preserve "their" way of life in the face of environmental degradation. how though is the na'vi's way of life represented in the film? the first hint we get is during sully and neytiri's initial encounter. after neytiri saves sully from a pack of viperwolves, he begins to follow her. repeatedly, he asks to stay with her and, repeatedly, she tells him to leave. as she begins to anger the "seeds of the sacred tree" drift down and cover sully's body (figure 4; cameron, 2009, 41 mins.). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 81 "nature" has told neytiri to change her mind, and she quickly tells jake to come with her. however, on their way jake is tripped by a bola and falls into a ring of na'vi warriors; the warriors proceed to emit unintelligible yips and draw their bows, threatening sully. the leader of the troop, tsu-tey, reminds neytiri, in the na'vi's language, that "these demons are forbidden here" (cameron, 2009, 43 mins.). she promptly responds: "there has been a sign," and, with no more talk, tsu-tey tells his cohorts to "bring him" (cameron, 2009, 43 mins.). here, "a sign" obviously refers to the actions of the seeds of eywa, and, with that, the na'vi law (the forbiddance of an earthling, in any form, in na'vi territory) is void. the na'vi, in this regard, are subject to natural laws, represented by eywa's seeds. but, how these laws are disseminated is extraordinarily subjective: the seeds of the sacred tree do not tell neytiri to spare jake, they simply land on him. it is thus the na'vi's responsibility to bend and shape their cultural laws according to their interpretations of natural laws. the na'vi are responsible for protecting nature, and do so through the incorporation of the needs of eywa, plants, and animals into their life-ways. figure 4: sully covered in the "seeds of the sacred tree": eywa's physical presence. (cameron, 2009, 41 mins.) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 82 another example occurs during the rising action of the film (cameron, 2009, 52-53 mins.). after being told that she must teach sully the ways of the na'vi, neytiri explains the act of tsaheylu through the use of a direhorse. as sully makes the bond, the direhorse rears and the camera zooms in on its rapidly dilating pupil (figure 5). once the direhorse calms, neytiri explains to both sully and the viewer what has just happened: "that is tsaheylu, the bond. feel her," the camera pans around sully's satisfied expression (cameron, 2009, 52-53 mins.). "feel her heartbeat," the direhorses beating heart becomes central in the audio mix (cameron, 2009, 53 mins.). "her breath," the camera zooms in on the direhorse's breathing apparatus, located on its neck; the animal then breathes heavily (cameron, 2009, 53 mins.). "feel her strong legs," here we get a more physical sense of the direhorse as the camera moves around its body (cameron, 2009, 53 mins.). "you may tell her what to do . . . inside," and neytiri points to her head (cameron, 2009, 53 mins.). as the shots move outwards, from the direhorse's fully internal heart to its breathing apparatus, fundamentally connected to internal organs, to its muscular exterior, the direhorse is portrayed as fully controlled. this is solidified when neytiri claims that "you may tell her what to do . . . inside" (cameron, 2009, 53 mins.), emphasizing the neural connection between the brains of the two beings, and the fact that when the bond was made sully's pupils did not dilate, nor did he rear. figure 5: a direhorse's eye before (left) and during (right) tsaheylu. (cameron, 2009, 52 mins.) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 83 as losh has noted, the control portrayed in the act of tsaheylu is reminiscent of current movements in both bioand organic technologies (2009). the na'vi are thus presented not as "traditional" "ecological indians," but, instead, through their connection with nature, they come to represent the "future." the film, however, expects that these two parties (earthlings and the na'vi) will reach this same point, but through different routes. through symbiotic evolution the na'vi have achieved a deep connection with nature and the ability to control it. the earthlings, however, do not and cannot come upon this relationship naturally. instead, they are to learn from the na'vi and, alternatively, are to develop it culturally. for the na'vi, the use of tsaheylu, and thus their use of nature, serves the purpose of protecting that same nature. this is seen in the climax of the film when neytiri uses the most dangerous and hostile of pandoran animals, a giant cat-like creature the na'vi call palulukan, in order to defeat the earthlings and reinstate environmental stability. however, for the earthlings, or the west, environmentalism, eco-technology, and indigenous lifeways are only valuable in that they serve to preserve a (slightly altered) western way of life. because of a lack of actual connectivity, humans, despite gaining a "natural" connection of sorts through bio-technology, cannot use their newfound ability to correctly interpret the will of "nature" or eywa. there are then two levels of control: the na'vi control nature for nature and sully controls the na'vi (and thus nature) for the west. in this sense, the concepts of ecology, conservation, and preservation from above, as is the case regarding tsaheylu, are strategically enlisted by the film to comment on the future of western life (krech, 1999, p. 22). so, despite the western flair that permeates this "ecological indian" concept, the na'vi still remain "natural" while pointing toward another's brave new world. perhaps the most telling segment of the film comes in the form of a montage during the rising action. here, the viewer is introduced for the second time to the na'vi after being subject to their initial representation as the "ignoble savage." the montage begins as norm (another human avatar driver) and neytiri teach sully "superficial" aspects of na'vi culture including their language and archery. almost immediately, however, sully is shown as a fairly adept physical member of the na'vi, able to keep up with neytiri as she runs swiftly through the forest. he attributes his newfound physicality and agility to his having to "trust [his] body to know what to do" (cameron, 2009, 61 mins.). what appears superficial in the na'vi's practices have become physically placed, and by experiencing the world through the locus of his avatar (na'vi body), by trusting his body, sully begins to internalize the practices. as grace, the typical anthropologist, reminds him, "this isn't just about eye-hand coordination out there, you know? you need to listen to what she says. try to see the forest through her eyes" (cameron, 2009, 62 mins.). the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 84 however, what grace fails to understand, and what the carefully ordered montage displays (moving from representations of the na'vi's physical-cultural elements to their mental-cultural ones) is that the physicality of sully's actions allow him to "see" the forest through neytiri's eyes. using the mind/body dichotomy, avatar constructs the na'vi's being as emerging out of the body's interaction with nature, from the various practices it allows (in contrast to the "civilized" individual's unrestrained mind). along the lines of social evolutionary theory the mind/body dichotomy is aligned with similar binaries: namely, civilization/savagery, culture/nature, and rationality/irrationality. the montage then shifts to focus on sully's further experience of nature; he watches animals, pokes insects, traverses the forest at all its levels, and swims through pandora's clear water. not a word is said between sully and the na'vi, yet through the accumulation of the above-mentioned tactile experiences, the montage comes to show sully as a culturally competent adult among them. for instance, he no longer needs instruction in archery, nor in their language. in fact, several of the smaller scenes in this section have nothing at all to do with sully; he blends right in. the essentialist “naturalness” of the film’s constructed na'vi culture enculturates the "white" protagonist in a matter of minutes. during these segments, sully's voiceover proclaims his understanding of na'vi culture: "trying to understand this deep connection people have to the forest. she talks about a network of energy that flows through all living things. she says, 'all energy is only borrowed, and one day you have to give it back'" (cameron, 2009, 64 mins.). this deep connection, while being briefly philosophically explained, is visualized through neytiri's placement of a "[seed] of the sacred tree" in a na'vi grave (figure 6). this seed, presumably, will use the na'vi individual's body as a food source to grow into another "tree of souls," thus producing more seeds (cameron, 2009, 74). here, again, we return to the purpose of the "seeds of the sacred tree." they represent natural law's alteration of the na'vi's cultural law through "signs." however, the na'vi have the role of interpreting these signs, through their physical connectivity to nature, and thus they have the ability to decide what is best for themselves and "nature" generally. through their conception of "energy flow," the planting of the "seeds of the sacred tree," and, generally, the movements of their bodies, the na'vi constantly perpetuate their "ecological indian"-ness and their stewardship of nature in a way accessible to "outsiders" (cameron, 2009, 64 & 41 mins.): with the right parts (the "neural whip" and the na'vi body) and a few minutes the interpretations can be easily made. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 85 when we see sully again, with neytiri by his side, he seems to understand his role. while hunting, sully takes his shot, runs up to the animal, stabs it in the heart, and says, in na'vi, "i see you . . . brother . . . and thank you. your spirit goes with eywa. your body stays behind . . . to become part of the people" (cameron, 2009, 64-65 mins.). commenting on his "prayer" and actions neytiri proclaims it "a clean kill" and says, "you are ready [to become one of the na'vi]" (cameron, 2009, 65 mins.). whether or not sully actually believes what he is saying, by seeing him go through the motions, netyiri is willing to ritually accept him as na'vi. being na'vi is thus acting through one's body in essential and prescribed ways. as is seen often in the film, these cultural elements focus on the use of nature for nature's sake in terms of conservation, and preservation, but mainly for ecology and pandora's harmony. (for instance, the forest floor lights up with every na'vi step—their environmental "footprint" is always manifest.) however, in the film there is one scene in which conservation, preservation, and ecology are not practiced; harmony is disturbed by the na'vi. during sully's first foray into the forest he becomes lost. as night approaches, using a low-angle instable shot, cameron indicates that sully is being stalked by one creature or another. from earlier sequences, the viewer knows that neytiri is one of these creatures, but the shot is too low (at ankle level) to be her. as he becomes suspicious and begins to prepare, a pack of viperwolves attack and overtake him. luckily for jake, neytiri swoops in and kills them all. in this scene the "balance of figure 6: a deceased na'vi with a "seed of the sacred tree" (cameron, 2009, 41 mins.). (cameron, 2009, 64 mins.) the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 86 nature" is upset (neytiri kills the creatures who, later in the montage, represent nature's harmony) to save one man. echoing this point, sully later asks neytiri, "if you love your little forest friends, why not let them just kill my ass?" (cameron, 2009, 39 mins.), to which she responds lamely, "you have a strong heart" (cameron, 2009, 39 mins.). sully is saved because he holds the key to ultimately protecting the pandoran environment. the ends justify the means. the continuation of life, as is, is more important than the lives of individuals. the na'vi act to preserve their own livelihood and the livelihood of nature, taking actions which, it is assumed, only they can see as beneficial. in killing the viperwolves, neytiri at once speaks and acts for nature, despite the viperwolves' cries to the contrary. sully later does the same thing while leading the na'vi to victory: the behaviour is learned. through sully's experience of pandoran life (via the locus of his avatar), and his becoming a na'vi, he gains the ability and right to speak and act on nature's behalf. similarly, the film’s use of indigenous "identity" to convey an environmental message comes about at a time when, for some, it is necessary to act in order to preserve a western way of life. in appropriating the "ecological indian" trope, non-indigenous peoples essentialize, naturalize, and homogenize indigenous peoples in order to "say something" to a western audience with the goal of critiquing and ultimately preserving the west (hall, 1997a, p. 5). conclusion minh-ha, in her book woman, native, other, positions herself against the abstract male anthropologist (spoken of as "he") and claims that "she can no longer align any trace on the page without at the same time recognizing the trace of his traces" (1987, p. 48). in this sense, these force-fed hollywood representations of indigenous peoples have the ability to reinforce common conceptions of an indigenous "other" to a largely "white," male, heterosexual audience. but, they also have the ability to make that same "other" see them-"selves" in that depicted "otherness." the potential effects that mass media can inflict on identity creation are what makes this analysis important. specific visual devices, representations of indigenous peoples, and the representers themselves, seek to elicit certain desired strategic responses from their audience. in placing indigenous peoples with a state of nature—and thus reducing, homogenizing, naturalizing, and essentializing them—representations use power asymmetries (which have allowed non-indigenous peoples, in the first place, to unselfconsciously represent indigenous peoples) to perpetuate those same asymmetries for their own benefit. rogers has called this process "cultural exploitation" and claims that commodification, as in avatar, plays a large role in the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 87 how the "dominant" culture steals, distorts, and degrades the culture of "subordinate" peoples (2006, p. 489). in avatar, this commodification occurs at the confluence of the image and the message: in their combined appeal. by looking at avatar, we can see how individuals take in and use images in predictable ways, but also how these images have the ability to take on a life of their own and affect ways of thinking. lutz and collins have described a similar phenomenon (1993). in their case, race was constructed visually by national geographic to elicit a response from an audience (lutz and collins, 1993, p.164). but, over time, these same constructed images came to the forefront of how race is thought of and represented in general (lutz and collins, 1993, p. 164). representations, as hall has claimed, "[enter] into the very constitution of things" (1997a, pp. 5-6). avatar uses the image of the na'vi and their relationship with nature (constructed as either savage and violent or harmonious and interconnected) to put forward a message of environmentalism. the na'vi have been constructed to dress, speak, and move like a homogenized indigenous people (lutkehaus, 2009), and their struggles against settler colonialism/neo-colonialism are made to seem strikingly similar to those of indigenous peoples worldwide. to promote his environmental message, to "say something" to his audience (hall, 1997a, p. 5), cameron utilizes the "ecological indian" trope in his portrayal of the na'vi. cameron's use of this trope perpetuates the essentialization, homogenization, and naturalization of indigenous peoples. the na'vi control nature, yet live in it, are of it, and work for it, as beings of a lower order on an "evolutionary continuum" (steele, 1996, pp. 47-48), while the "west," embodied by jake sully, have only to control the na'vi (which they are obligated to do as rational westerners) in order to become environmentalists. by employing these traits cameron is able to appropriate the voice of indigenous peoples and propound a sellable message of environmentalism which is reducible, and reduces indigenous peoples wholesale, to "living a life that's in balance with the natural cycles of life on earth" (james cameron as quoted in the telegraph, 2009). references anderson, e. n. (2011). drawing from traditional and 'indigenous' socioecological theories. in h. kopnina, & e. shoreman-ouimet (eds.), environmental anthropology today (pp.56-74). new york, ny: routledge. baird, r. (1996). going indian: discovery, adoption, and renaming toward a "true american," from deerslayer to dances with wolves. in s. e. bird (ed.), the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 88 dressing in feathers: the construction of the indian in american popular culture (pp. 195-210).boulder, co: westview press. bird, s. e. (1996). not my fantasy: the persistence of indian imagery in dr. quinn, medicinewoman. in s. e. bird (ed.), dressing in feathers: the construction of the indian in american popular culture (pp. 245-262). boulder, co: westview press. cameron, j. (producer/writer/director), & landau, j. (producer). (2009). avatar [dvd]. losangeles, ca: 20 th century fox. conklin, b. a. (1997). body paint, feathers, and vcrs: aesthetics and authenticity in amazonian activism. american ethnologist, 24(4), 711-737. hall, s. (ed.). (1997a). representations: cultural representations and signifying practices. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications ltd. hall, s. (1997b). the spectacle of the 'other.' in s. hall (ed.), representations: cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 223-290). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications ltd. hames, r. (2007). the ecologically noble savage debate. annual review of anthropology 36, 177-190. hobbes, t. (2006[1651]). leviathan. in s. m. cahn (ed.), classics of western philosophy (pp.519-548). indianapolis, in: hackett publishing, inc. kopnina, h., & e. shoreman-ouimet (eds.). (2011). environmental anthropology today. abingdon, oxon: routledge. krech, s., iii. (1999). the ecological indian. new york, ny: w. w. norton & company, inc. losh, liz (2009, december 23). virtualpolitik: avatarded [web log post]. retrieved from http://virtualpolitik.blogspot.ca/2009/12/avatarded.html, accessed april 10, 2012. lutkehaus, n. (2009, december 24). usc news: a world all their own. retrieved from http://uscnews.usc.edu/arts/a_world_all_their_own.html, accessed february 16, 2012. lutz, c. a., & collins, j. l. (1993). reading national geographic. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. martello, m. l. (2008). arctic indigenous peoples as representations and representatives of climate change. social studies of science 38, 351-376. merlan, f. (2009). indigeneity: global and local. current anthropology 50(3), 303333. merriam-webster. (2012). trope. retrieved august 15, 2012, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/trope. the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 89 milton, k. (1993). introduction: environmentalism and anthropology. in k. milton (ed.), environmentalism: the view from anthropology (pp. 1-16). new york, ny: routledge. minh-ha, t. (1987). women, native, other: writing postcoloniality and feminism. bloomington, in: indiana university press. rogers, r. a. (2006). from cultural exchange to transculturation: a review and reconceptualization of cultural appropriation. communication theory 16, 474-503. rose, g. (2007). visual methodologies: an introduction to the interpretation of visual materials (2 nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications ltd. rushfield, r. (2009). james cameron reveals his quest to build more perfect cgi boobs. retrieved from the gawker website: http://gawker.com/5403302/james-cameronreveals-his-quest-to-buildmore-perfect-cgi-boobs, accessed february 17, 2012. steele, j. (1996). reduced to images: american indians in nineteenth-century advertising. in s.e. bird (ed.), dressing in feathers: the construction of the indian in american popular culture (pp. 45-64). boulder, co: westview press. telegraph, the. (2009, december 11). james cameron says avatar a message to stop damaging environment. retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6782339/jamescameron-says-avatar-a-message-to-stop-damaging-environment.html, accessed 12 february 2011. trautmann, t. r. (1991). the revolution in ethnological time. man 27, 379 397. white, m. d., & marsh, e. e. (2006). content analysis: a flexible methodology. librarytrends 55(1), 22-45. wikia. (n.d.). avatar wiki: na'vi. retrieved from http://james-camerons avatar.wikia.com/wiki/na%27vi, accessed april 3, 2012. young, j. o., & haley, s. (2009). 'nothing comes from nowhere': reflections on cultural appropriation as the representation of other cultures. in j. o. young, & c. g. brunk (eds.), the ethics of cultural appropriation (pp. 268 289). malden, ma: wiley blackwell. contact information justin fritz, from the department of anthropology, can be reached at justindanielfritz@gmail.com. mailto:justindanielfritz@gmail.com the arbutus review vol. 3, no 1 (2012) scholarly articles: fritz 90 acknowledgements i would like to thank bianca crewe, sebastian irvine, daniel adey, robin jacques, kathleen fritz, noel chester, mike and frances adey, dr. lisa mitchell, dr. laurie waye, dr. margo matwychuk, katherine punnett, nicole murray, and shannon turner-riley for all the support they have lent me throughout my university career, and, more specifically, in the publication process in which this paper is entangled. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 37 global hegemony and place-based resistance: citizenship, representation, and place in canadian multiculturalism and the zapatista movement cameron j.h. brown abstract: the zapatista movement that began in southern mexico in 1994 continues to offer a sharp break from the common politics of indigenous communities in north america. in order to develop an understanding of this break, this article contrasts the different conceptions of place and citizenship within the zapatista movement to those within canadian multiculturalism. this allows one to see the ways in which colonial representation over space work to redirect conceptions of citizenship from place into the hegemonic ordering of the state and capital. through this exploration the relationships between conceptions of citizenship, representation over space, and colonial hegemony are presented. key terms: indigenous; citizenship; zapatista; space; place; colonialism; hegemony; multiculturalism; political parity introduction across the world there is an on-going consolidation and homogenization of power. it can be seen in the cultural logics of order, the political and legal rights to resources, and the mechanisms for state structuring of interpersonal relationships, of commodities exchange, and of relationships to the earth. at the same time those individuals subordinated by this ever more invasive and destructive process are realizing that which can pin down the escalating structures of these processes: the assertion of place. while the canadian state has effectively deployed multicultural citizenship to pull indigenous representation away from their traditional place and into the structures of hegemonic social ordering, the success of the zapatista uprising, with the assertions of right over place, has come to inform alternative notions of citizenship and representation across the world. this is now being demonstrated in the public squares of athens, cairo, new york, and santiago. examining the relationship between citizenship, representation and place in indigenous struggles within canada and the zapatista movement in southern mexico helps us to understand, critique and appreciate the shared trends and diverse strategies within indigenous struggles across the globe. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 38 recognizing forms of representation as competing claims to citizenship aids exploration of these struggles. engin isin‟s work is useful in this regard. as isin explains, it is through the “intense struggle, conflict, and violence to wrest the right to becoming political from dominant groups” and the resistance to surrender it, that conceptions of citizenship become determined (2002, p. 2). therefore, while dominant groups continue to construct and institutionalize those conceptions of citizenship that serve their groups‟ positions and identities, those who are excluded from these identities and positions make "claims to citizenship as justice, and redressing injustices to which domination gives rise” (isin, 2009, p. 376). it is in these conceptions of citizenship that the content (rights and obligations) and extent (criteria of inclusion) of being political are acknowledged and accepted (isin, 2002). herein the notion of citizenship as a space of exclusion and privilege must be rejected, as citizenship “requires the constitution of others to become possible” (isin, 2002, p. 4) instead, citizenship can be understood as multiple and overlapping scales (urban, regional, national, transnational, international) of various shifting levels, (civil, political, social, sexual, ecological, cultural) being implemented by a multiplicity of sites (bodies, courts, streets, media, networks, borders) and by a multiplicity of actors‟ (volunteers, bloggers, protesters, and organizers) competing claims of justice (isin, 2009). it should be recognized that active citizenship is the political claims that conform to the scales, levels, and sites that have been constructed and institutionalized by the dominant groups, while activist citizenship is the claims to justice that aim to challenge these very forms of content and extent of citizenship (isin, 2009). isin‟s investigation of citizenship is valuable in analyzing nancy fraser‟s conceptions regarding the framing of representation. fraser breaks the ordering of society into three fields: cultural recognition (development of status hierarchies), economic distribution 1 (access and control over resources), and political representation (the framing of influence over the other two fields of social ordering). while all three fields will be explored in greater detail below, for now it should be noted that representation is seen as the field on which the 1 fraser actually refers to this form of social ordering as „redistribution.‟ however, i find this is misleading as it takes the centralization of the means of the productive process to be a given, which the decentralization of the output acts to reconcile. the centralization of this process itself ought to be recognized as a form of the social ordering of resources and economic management. therefore, it is more apt to refer to this field as the social ordering of „distribution,‟ as opposed to „redistribution.‟ the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 39 struggles over the social ordering of economic distribution and cultural statuses are played out (fraser, 2007). in presenting this third frame of social ordering and challenging the westphalian framing of political space, fraser is able to compliment her focus on structural barriers to democratic deliberation over the social ordering of economic distribution and of cultural recognition (the „what‟ or content of citizenship) with a focus on the access or exclusion to political power (the „who‟ or extent of citizenship) (fraser 2007). coupled with isin‟s investigation, these conceptions establish how one can unpack the ways in which claims of citizenship come to inform the three interconnected forms of social ordering. in this evaluation it is essential to understand the relationship of these fields of social ordering and citizenship with place. examining the distinctions and relationship between space and place is important in this regard. 2 therefore, space and place are examined, in turn, to grasp the connection between citizenship, representation, and place correctly. sherene razack‟s work allows us to move past the dominant notions of space as innocent, or as more real than the thoughts and desires of its inhabitants, as well as those which reduce it “to the status of „message‟ (what it can tell us about social relations) and the inhabiting of it to the status of „reading‟ (deciphering the codes of social space and how we perform it)” (2007, p. 77). in this she mobilizes henri lefebvre‟s three aspects of space: perceived, conceived, and lived. according to razack‟s reading, perceived space emerges out of spatial practices and is made up of the everyday routines and experiences, which inform a social order, permitting certain actions and prohibiting others. conceived space is that in which the representations of space are designed, “that is, how space is conceived by planners, architects, and so on” (razack, 2007, p. 77). lived space is how these two spaces interact with each other within individuals understandings, thus how perceived space and conceived space are interpreted by their users (razack, 2007). as razack explains, it is through this lived space that individuals learn who they are and who they are not, as space comes to inform individuals through its representations (how it has been conceived) and its use (how it is perceived) about the individuals who inhabit it and those who do not (2000). while this allows us to understand both how the construction of space is informed through social ordering and how it comes to inform individual subjectivities, it fails to move beyond an abstract coordinate 2 credit must go to the anonymous peer reviewer of the arbutus review for emphasizing the need for this distinction. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 40 system of human conceptions and practices that neglects the qualitative material differences between the specific places in which humans are situated (rohkramer & schulz, 2009). as thomas rohkramer and felix robin schulz explain, individuals “exist, prior to any thinking, in a specific place and within a specific historical context” (2009, p. 1340). to conceptualize how this distinction between space and place can inform our understandings of influences over individuals, rohkramer and schulz mobilize the work of martin heidegger and doreen massey. heidegger understood the influence of place as based on the relationships individuals have to four aspects of place or belonging, which he called heimat: earth (the landscapes, plants, and animals), sky (the weather, seasons, daylight, and night length), gods (those shared community beliefs or ideologies that develop from a shared heritage, sense of belonging, and sense of destiny), and the mortals (other individual human bodies fully aware of their mortality) (rohkramer & schulz, 2009). in a heideggerian sense, lefebvre‟s conception of lived space is incomplete as it only speaks to the latter two of the four aspects of heimat. however, heidegger‟s conception underestimates how all four aspects‟ “existence had long been shaped by a wide variety of outside influences” (rohkramer & schulz, 2009, p. 1341). massey‟s work accentuates this error. she emphasizes the need to move away from conceptions of place as static. rather it aught be recognized as “a multiplicity of heterogeneous influences and forces, relations, negotiations, practices of engagement, power in all its forms” (rohkramer & schulz, 2009, p. 1341). in this the event of place is in its “throwntogetherness, the unavoidable challenge of negotiating a here-and-now (itself drawing on a history and a geography of thens and theres); and a negotiation which must take place within and between both humans and nonhumans” (rohkramer & schulz, 2009, p. 1341). within these negotiations there lie the contested nature of place, representing competing claims within different users (rohkramer & schulz, 2009, p. 1341). it is here that the dialogical relationship of space and place is exposed. place, indivisible from its nonhuman existence (material form), influences the identities and subjectivities of its human inhabitants. conceptions of lived space then act over place, influencing human interpretations of it, redefining its influences on its human inhabitants. this redefining of human interpretations of place informs the ways that the material base of its four aspects is influenced through human action, thus creating its forthcoming nonhuman existence. the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 41 through this connection of space and place the relationship between citizenship, representation, and place can be drawn out. the contentious relationship in the conception of place is concerning whose understandings of space should be culturally recognized and to whom the control of human influence on place should be economically distributed. it could be claimed that contentions over interpretations of place are also contentions over the field of political representation. here claims of citizenship act on place through this representational field. it therefore becomes essential to understand those conceptions of citizenship which allow further consolidation and homogenization of the social ordering of place. to this end it serves to recognize antonio gramsci‟s conceptions of hegemony (cuneo 1996). in this understanding, the social ordering of representation, recognition, and distribution by dominant groups is maintained through two processes. first, this social ordering gains cultural recognition as correct and natural through the ongoing consent to it by individuals in their daily interactions. the connection between cultural recognition and ideology can be made; ideologies work to explain an individual‟s realities through a structure of connected and coherent beliefs (das gupta 1999). while national ideologies are largely constructed by dominant groups, their function is demonstrated in the acceptance of their structures of recognition by the majority of people within their claimed space (das gupta 1999). thus, nation state ideology can be seen as the representational framing of cultural recognition. this leads us to the second process of hegemony: the social ordering enforces its consent through the structuring of coercion (cuneo 1996). therefore, individuals who do not conform to the daily interactions of this social order are punished through the violence of the state, cultural contempt, and/or economic deprivation. while these dominant forms work to conceal coercion and make it “appear to be based on the consent of the majority,” they also work to gain consent of subordinated groups by incorporating their key interests into the ideology of the dominant social ordering (cuneo, 1996). coupled with isin‟s investigation of citizenship, this understanding reveals how as hegemony reasserts active citizenship as the correct and natural way of being political, it reworks its image to appeal to an ever wider base. conversely, hegemony uses these appeals to discredit activist citizenship, justifying its violent confinement. the connections between this functioning of hegemony and the social ordering can be seen in the cultural statuses of race. michael omi and howard the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 42 winant‟s work is essential in this respect. in order to understand race as a fluid “complex of social meanings,” which is “constantly being transformed by political struggle,” omi and winant define it as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflict and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (1986, p. 123). this allows them to disregard an essentialist formation of race “as something objective and fixed,” while recognizing how it remains “central to everyone‟s identity and understanding of the social world” (omi & winant 1986, p. 124). the latter‟s importance accentuates the interconnectedness of culture and subjectivity. as glen coulthard states in describing hegel‟s analysis of recognition, “the realization of oneself as an essential, self-determining agent requires that one not only be recognized as self-determining, but that one be recognized by another self-consciousness that is also recognized as selfdetermining” (2007, p. 440). therefore, individual identities are not developed in isolation, but are born within a “„dialogue with others, in agreement or struggle with their recognition of” the individual (coulthard citing taylor, 2007, p. 441). this allows us to place “social relations at the fore of human subjectivity” (coulthard, 2007, p. 440). in so doing it recognizes that identities develop “within and against the horizon of one‟s cultural community” (coulthard, 2007, p. 441). omi and winant connect this understanding of the self and cultural status to representation. through the analysis of historically situated racial projects, omi and winant formulate the organization of human bodies and social structures within racial formation (1986). a racial project is defined as, “simultaneously an interpretation, representation, or explanation of racial dynamics, and an effort to reorganize and redistribute resources along particular racial lines” (omi & winant, 1986, p. 125); and thus are part and parcel of competing claims of citizenship. through the conflict, dialogue, and collaborations of these multiple racial projects the ordering of racial cultural statuses emerge with their resulting influence on the structuring of economic distribution and political representation. as omi and winant emphasizes, the resulting racial formation demonstrates the ways in which hegemony persists incorporating key interests of subordinated racial projects into those of the ruling groups (1986). through this analysis canadian multiculturalism presents itself as a hegemonic racial project, which incorporates a desired cultural recognition of subordinate racialized groups, as well as the desired influence of those the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 43 privileged with representing them, while defending and justifying the contemporary racial order. as a racial project it is able to integrate “minorities into the ideology of meritocracy and perpetuating “equal opportunity,” which remains a myth without “equality of condition”” (das gupta, 1999, p. 190). in this it ideologically validates the racial inequalities within canada‟s three frames of social ordering, which can be seen in the social statistics of media representation, hiring practices, and the justice system‟s profiling, abuse, and incarceration. this ideological validation confirms itself through the three ideological frames that bonilla-silva and dietrich describe in their exploration of colourblind racism (2011). as they explain, through the ideological frames of minimization of racism, abstract liberalism, and cultural racism, modern forms of racism become “mostly subtle, apparently non-racial,” and yet remain largely institutionalized (bonilla-silva & dietrich, 2011, p. 191). in perpetuating the belief that discrimination no longer holds influence over social standing and relating the experience of it as merely an excuse used by what are presented as properly represented cultural groups (bonilla-silva & dietrich, 2011), conceptions of multiculturalism reinforce the frames of minimization of racism. along with this, the frame of abstract liberalism works to justify the inferior economic and political status of minorities as the product of market dynamics, allowing dominant powers to “appear “reasonable” and even “moral” while opposing practical measures to fight de facto racial inequalities” (bonilla-silva & dietrich, 2011, p. 192). at the same time that multiculturalism allows members of the dominant forms of citizenship to pride themselves on „accepting‟ diversity, the frame of cultural racism relates the subordinate economic and political positions of minorities to cultural practices (bonillasilva & dietrich, 2011). therefore, multiculturalism is able to appeal to subordinate groups ideologically through cultural recognition of equality and diversity, while at the same time validating structural inequality and forced conformity. in exploring the state‟s policies and practices of multicultural policy the structural results of this ideology are demonstrated. in canada, “multiculturalism” was a policy first launched by prime minister p. e. trudeau in 1971 (das gupta, 1999). it was originally developed due to pressures from “non-british and non-french immigrant communities … assertions by canada‟s first nations, and to resist the separatist movement in quebec” (das gupta, 1999, p. 191). as tania das gupta explains, in “order to neutralize popular the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 44 resistance” the canadian state is able to incorporate grassroots demands into particular state institutions through spokespersons and “professional advocates” of the subordinate groups (1999, p. 197). to avoid vulnerability in its core social relations and the “questioning of the core values and missions of capitalist institutions,” the ruling class incorporates equity reform within its institutional structures, which allows it to integrate subordinate groups “into the existing institutions without fundamental questioning of its basis” (das gupta, 1999, p. 194). conversely, it is able to delegitimize the grassroots activists who push for more fundamental change in the interest of the whole community by excluding them from the official discourse in favor of “professional advocates” (das gupta, 1999, p. 197). therefore, canadian multiculturalism works to co-opt “anti-racism activism within state goals and to discursively” construct notions of minority culture and canadian citizenship in line with dominant canadian nationalism (das gupta, 1999). through constructing and institutionalizing an active citizenship in the service of dominant groups‟ positions and identities, while subverting and discrediting the activist citizenship that could challenge their domination (isin, 2009), multicultural citizenship works to pull indigenous representation away from traditional indigenous understandings of place and into the structures of hegemonic social ordering. reflecting taiaiake alfred and jeff corntassel‟s insights, multiculturalism works “to confine the expression of indigenous peoples‟ right of self-determination to a set of domestic authorities operating within the constitutional framework of the state … and actively seek to sever indigenous links to their ancestral homelands” (2005, p. 603). alfred and corntassel mobilize frantz fanon‟s assertion that colonial powers are constantly attacking the foundations of indigenous resistance, working to “erase community histories and senses of place to replace them with doctrines of individualism and predatory capitalism” (2005, p. 603). similar processes of hegemonic racial formation and social structuring of citizenship can be seen within the political representation of space across mexico, including the places of the lacandon jungle (whose importance will be discussed below). in early new spain the racial formation was largely premised on an ideological construction of africans as “both infidels and christians, and indians … as both pagan savages and innocent native beings” (shaefer, 2008, p. 899). this ambivalence worked to justify the racial order of european rule. despite the work of the authorities to keep these groups as separate and “distinct social strata, their social interactions and mixing was very the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 45 significant from the beginning of the colonial period” (shaefer, 2008, p. 899). as spaniards and criollos (spaniards born in america) usurped the land in rural areas, indigenous communities began to move to cities and latifundios (great landholdings) as dependent labourers (shaefer 2008). while this resulted in the loss of indigenous status, privileges, and ties to their communities, which were and still are important sources of identity, the “sexual and spatial mixing with spaniards as well as the interchange of cultural elements resulted in the rise of the mestizos as an important, and eventually dominant, social group” (shaefer, 2008, p. 899). the rise of the mestizos and the corresponding national ideology presenting them as “the quintessential mexican identity and the solution to mexico‟s social and economic problems,” coincided with the state‟s process of modernizing “the countryside under the liberal ideas of equality and freedom of the citizenry” (shaefer, 2008, p. 900). the two processes acted together to significantly weaken “the status and legal position of” indigenous peoples, “as well as their lands and communities” (shaefer, 2008, p. 900). during the mexican revolution indigenous cultures were celebrated as the roots of the nation; nevertheless, these liberal ideologies remained throughout, informing the belief that “to rescue indigenous peoples from poverty and marginalization was to integrate them fully into the socioeconomic dynamic of the country” (shaefer, 2008, p. 901). this formed the foundation of mexican states policy of indigenismo, according to which ethnicity was framed as an obstacle to the full integration of indigenous into national society. while during these times indigenous communities were largely incorporated as a class, in the 1970s the mexican state shifted the indigenous peoples‟ political ground by reframing their indigeneity as a cultural category (jung, 2008). as courtney jung has explained, the conceptualization of indigenous “as a racial category, a class category, or an ethnic category has had dramatic effect on the capacity of the aboriginal population to establish a political presence, and on the particular form such a presence would take” (2008, p. 80). so, in 1992 while the mexican state moved to reform the constitution to recognize mexico as a pluricultural nation, article 4 recognizes: “the juridical personality of the indigenous community [,] and [their] limited right to autonomy and self-determination;” the mexican state also reformed article 27 which ended the protection of indigenous peoples‟ rights to land and territory under the ejido system (shaefer, 2008, p. 901). the shifting of state recognition of indigenous communities, from racial to class to cultural categories, and the approach of indigenous integration within indigenismo reflects the canadian phenomenon that alfred describes as the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 46 „aboriginalism.‟ alfred and corntassel explain that in this operation of multiculturalism there is a construction of the state sanctioned identity of „aboriginal,‟ pushing indigenous acts of citizenship into the multicultural ideology (2005). as alfred explains these forms of citizenship are based on a conception that subordinate cultures can achieve “cultural stasis enshrined in law,” (2005, p. 127) while the fluctuation within their cultures allows them to “change and mutate to accommodate the supposedly natural and just cultural exchange and interaction,” which, although unstated, is determined principally by the dominant culture (2005, p. 127). this causes many „aboriginals‟ to “identify themselves solely by their political-legal relationship to the state rather than by any cultural or social ties to their indigenous” place (alfred & corntassel 2005, p. 599). at the same time canadian multiculturalism is able to appeal to those privileged within the forms of indigenous government demanded by it, hampering these communities with power imbalances, resulting in the problems of clientelism, nonresponsive bureaucracy, embezzlement, and competitions of authenticity, which despite being completely naturalized within the dominant institutions, are seen through the lens of cultural racism as a product of indigenous culture and community. while canadian multiculturalism is able to appeal to indigenous communities‟ interests in “institutions which protect and promote communal identity,” the need to “control membership and manage internal affairs” is strengthened through the growing “need to ward off disintegration into the greater cultural milieu” (christie 2003, p. 484) and to conform with the institutional frameworks of the sovereign colonial state. as natacha gagne is correct to note, under these circumstances the “idea of a supposedly „authentic‟ or „truer‟...identity that is reinforced by the state” to serve as “a powerful political object and an important tool in negotiations” is “almost unavoidable” (2009, p. 39). thus, as richard borshay lee notes, indigenous communities undergo a process “of internal differentiation, reproducing internally the inequities of the global order” (2006, p. 458). these power relationships involved in struggles for authenticity “are embodied and deeply felt as much as they are rational and conscious” (gagne, 2009, p. 37) and result not only in deliberate misuse, but also in unavoidable elite bias towards an expansion of influence and privilege within their social positions. this aids canadian multiculturalism in co-opting indigenous citizenship through the creation of official spokespersons, cultural elites, and professional advocates, the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 47 while assimilating indigenous places into the social ordering and relations of the sovereign space. the same interconnection between the state‟s recognition of indigenous citizenship and the justification of spatial control over distribution through state appointed intermediaries is exemplified in the early history of the lacandon jungle land grant in mexico. in 1971 the mexican state granted sixty-six lacandons more than 600,000 hectares of land through tierras comunales (eisenstadt, 2011). this created an interlocutor that could serve the government in mediating between the local labour force and private logging interests. whereas granting ejido land might bring comparisons to the large-scale latifundia holdings (as it would give over 9,000 hectares per petitioner), communal land was granted in an indivisible piece and was thus more politically palatable (eisenstadt, 2011). this grant had little to do with ancestral identities‟ relations to the land and much more to do with economic interests, as the few hundred lacandon‟s (456) occupying the area were far outnumbered by the thousands of choles (8,210), tojolabales (12,681), and tzeltales (41,874) (eisenstadt, 2011). as todd eisenstadt explains, if the presumed goal of creating a mediator between the new state-owned lumber company, the compania forestal de la lacandona, and local workers had been successful: [t]he new regional economic structure would have been consistent with efforts throughout chiapas (and rural mexico) to channel peasant demands for economic development through corporatist structures (such as a lumber company) and, in indigenous regions, to undertake a policy of assimilation known as indigenismo (2011, p. 83-84). therefore, the granting of land through the ejido, which basic feature “were government tutelage, the inalienability of land grants, and bureaucratic adherence to the idea that rural communities constituted internally cohesive and harmonious social bodies,” (jung, 2008, p. 89) as well as the granting of tierras comunales worked to reaffirm the states representational authority over place. herein the understanding of the relation between the capitalist colonial framing of representation and its distributive ordering becomes essential. as cole harris has noted, the on-going colonization of land by western states reflects karl marx‟s insights of the deterritorialization of space by capitalism. capitalism works to detach people from their prior bonds to others and place, deterritorializing them, in order “to reterritorialize them in relation to the requirements of capital (that is, to land conceived as resources ... and to labour the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 48 detached from land)” (harris 2004, p. 172). in his exploration of early british columbian colonialism, harris describes this process: as native lives were being “detached from their own means of production (from the land and the use value of their labour on it),” they “were being transformed into ... wage labourers dependent on the social relations of capital” (2004, p. 172). this benefits the distributive orders of the colonial state both in its acquisition of land and production of cheap labour detached from land (harris 2004). harris connects these demands of the distributive order of capitalism to the coercion within hegemonic representational field, as he explains the european expansion of control over land through violence and intimidation. citing frantz fanon‟s work, he concludes that physical violence underlies “the whole colonial enterprise,” creating the opportunity for capitalist state sanctioned property rights (harris, 2004, p. 197). as settler society consolidates its power, physical power moves to the background and other disciplinary strategies of people, space, and resource management move to the fore (harris, 2004). therefore property rights were ingrained in the “legal consciousness, a matrix of ideas, ideologies, and values” assumed rather than debated, of the colonial state (harris, 2004). thus while the ordering of recognition works to justify expansion and permeation of the colonial active citizenship, the distributive ordering and coercion of its representational framing is at the root of this expansion and permeation. deconstructing western notions of state sovereignty in this operation of hegemony displays important connections between active citizenship and place. reyes and kaufman use of carl schmitt‟s conception of sovereignty is quite useful in this regard. for schmitt a legal order, or a norm, exists and “the sovereign is he who decides on the exception” to that norm, thus through alterity defines that norm (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 507). thus the sovereign produces a state of exception by standing outside this norm and provides “the basis for the creation of a spatial ordering, a topographical relation in which insides (the norm) and outsides (chaos) are distinguishable in law” (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 508). in this way sovereignty justifies itself both from an order of political domination and spatial localization distinguishing inside and out (reyes & kaufman, 2011). schmitt emphasizes through this correlation the connections between the western states‟ conquest of indigenous peoples, creating “the very distinction and therefore decision over what would be “inside” and “outside” the norm,” and the rise of the sovereign political domination within these states (reyes & kaufman, 2011). this can be seen in the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 49 the justification of sovereign rule based on fears of what thomas hobbes referred to as “the state of nature” in this construction, prior to the sovereign state each individual lived in a constant and violent struggle with each other. within this theory the uncolonized space of the americas served as an example (reyes & kaufman, 2011). therefore, the so-thought inherent chaos of space outside the sovereign rule acted as a rationale for increased political domination to extend it. as reyes and kaufman state, “[w]hat appears within jurisprudence after hobbes ... [is] the conceptual disappearance of conquest, [and] the ability within the west to present sovereignty as a question of “right” rather than domination” (2011, p. 511). therefore, justification of the sovereign violence of law and its logics of distribution and recognition over place is gained through a conceptualization of order, which is created through the conceptualization of disorder outside of the space of the sovereign. slavoj zizek‟s distinction between objective and subjective violence further elaborates this connection between violence, political representation, and place. while subjective violence is that which is attached to particular perpetrators, objective forms of violence are those that are normalized and obfuscated through historical convention and institutionalization (pourgouris, 2010). as zizek explains: [s]ubjective violence is experienced as such against the background of a non-violent zero level ... as a perturbation of the “normal,” peaceful state of things. however, objective violence is precisely the violence inherent to this “normal” state of things. objective violence is invisible since it sustains the very zero-level standard against which we perceive something as subjectively violent. (cited in pourgouris, 2010, p. 227228) understanding the colonial-state‟s social ordering, or in other words, its institutionalization of active citizenship, as being preformed through this objective violence, reveals the ways in which this “zero-level” is constantly redefined in the interests of the colonial frame of representation. investigating the zapatista movements‟ uprising displays that subjective violence can act to reveal the fluid objective violence ingrained in the active citizenship institutionalized by the state. new year‟s day of 1994 marked the first in twelve days of the zapatistas‟ armed insurrection in the state of chiapas (reyes & kaufman, 2011). the nation was hit with the image of columns of armed and masked indigenous men and women, evoking the mexican historical memory: “those about whom the urban society bore an ancient and unconfessed the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 50 guilt” had risen in arms (gilly cited in khasnabish, 2010, p. 101), claiming the name and history of the zapatista struggle. the right to such a claim, so often co-opted by ruling elites, was this time so clearly justified by the militaristic organization of these indigenous communities in the demand of their land, which “embodied both the grassroots and autonomous legacy of the original zapatista struggle” (khasnabish, 2010, p. 102). with the exclamation of “enough!” these images of militant resistance to colonial rule altered the cultural understandings of democracy and citizenship in mexico, giving the zapatistas the ultimate defence against the colonial state: popular support (khasnabish, 2010). the continual force of colonialism, seen throughout the history of the mexican state, was revealed in a flash by the zapatista uprising. this was done through the zapatistas‟ claims against the private property laws enforced by the nation state, exposing the violence of the state‟s land policy since the 1910 revolution. such a claim to land stood in direct contrast to the revealed violence of the restructuring of article 27 of the constitution just two years prior. the restructuring eliminated the protection of over a hundred million hectares of land from privatization (reyes & kaufman, 2011). while this protection had prevented the land from “expropriation as collateral or through debt payment,” the fourteen years since its elimination has seen the government certification program for ejidal rights and titling of parcels which had accompanied the constitutional change, privatize 92.24% of that social property (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 518). this deterritotialization of control over the natural world around them and the violence it produced on the domestic population was highlighted by the zapatista spokesman, subcomandante marcos 3 in “a storm and a prophecy”: chiapas loses blood through many veins ... this land continues to pay tribute to the imperialists: petroleum, electricity, cattle, money, coffee, banana, honey, corn, cacao, tobacco, sugar, soy, melon, sorghum, mamey, mango, tamarind, avocado, and chiapaneco blood all flow as a result of the thousand teeth sunk into the throat of the mexican southeast. (khasnabish, 2010, p. 97) 3 it is important to recognize subcomandante marcos role as a spokesman of the zapatistas and to avoid the all too frequent misidentification of marcos role as providing external leadership to the zapatista insurgency. as khasnabish describes, this is “a lazy claim unsupported by any serious analysis of the organizational history of the ezln and one smacking of racism.” (khasnabish, 2010, p. 14). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 51 marcos continues to describe the violence that results, noting the rural communities of chiapas lack access to potable water, communications, proper education, and health care (khasnabish, 2010). thus the uprising exposed this neglect of democratic deliberation over the imposed social ordering of distribution, demonstrating the injustice in both the distributive ordering and the representational frame of active citizenship. the application of these radical militant notions of activist citizenship quickly gained the zapatistas material and symbolic ground, demonstrating the connections between violence, representation, and place. these twelve days of violence resulted in the successful military takeover of seven municipal headquarters (khasnabish, 2010), the occupation of two radio stations (magallanes-blanco, 2011) in which their obligations, goals, rights, and principles were communicated to the broader public of the las margaritas and ocosingo areas (bartolome, 1995), and most importantly the recuperation of 500,000 to 700,000 hectares (about 12 percent of the total land mass of chiapas) of plantation estate lands (haciendas) from large land owners (reyes & kaufman, 2011). although the government regained the urban spaces and continue to challenge zapatista authority in village territories through covert and overt military actions, the territory retained by the zapatistas has laid the foundation for the continual challenge of state legitimacy and the recovery of land through the “de facto reinitiation of mexico‟s halted agrarian reform,” citing articles 39 and 27 of the mexican constitution (stahler-sholk, 2010, p. 273). as touched on above, prior to the uprising, the place now used by the zapatistas had been dictated by the dual demands of sovereign hegemonic representation and capitalist distributive order. in exploration of this place, the sovereign‟s control over territory and over bodies within those territories can be connected to michel foucault‟s understandings of the creation of the bourgeois subject. this subject comes to know himself by gaining mastery over his own body and spatially separating himself from “degeneracy, abnormalcy, and excess that would weaken both him and the bourgeois state” (razack, 2007). both in her own exploration of the murder of an indigenous woman in saskatchewan and in discussing denise ferreira da silva‟s description of the police shooting of her cousin, razack demonstrates how this process causes bodies within spaces signified by “a domain of illegality” to also become signified (2000, p. 117).this allows violence done to them to be presented as a “natural by-product of the space and thus of the social context in which it the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 52 occurred” (razack, 2000). this social ordering contrasts european\sovereign and non-european\non-sovereign space and european and non-european bodies. the contested space of the zapatista territory creates an effective oppositional force to these spatial orders. by changing the spatial practices of the individuals involved and affected by their movement, they begin to change the way the places of their communities are conceived. thus they begin to transform these places, and the bodies within them, from sites of power into sites of contestation. this changes how these individuals think of themselves within these places and how they and their place relate to others and other places. through this they are able to create new representation of place through activist citizenship. the zapatista movement not only demonstrates how these places have been shaped by conceptions of citizenship, but also how place continues to shape these conceptions of citizenship. as richard stahler-sholk explains in “the zapatista social movement”: [z]apatismo was forged in the distinctive social spaces of indigenous communities, particularly in the newly evolving collective identities that emerged as indigenous people in chiapas were squeezed out of land in “traditional” communities, migrating from the 1950s onward to the agricultural frontier, establishing settlements in the [canyons] that penetrated the lacandon jungle. (2010, p. 270) emerging from the first indian congress in chiapas 1974, it “was a wellorganized indigenous movement assisted ... by radical political activists” fleeing police and military repression (khasnabish, 2010, p. 55). this movement had formed in the lacandon jungle partly due to the government‟s mismanagement of the land grant described above (eisenstadt, 2011). while the government had double and triple granted the land to different indigenous communities, the lacandon communal assembly, “seeing no other means to avoid being overpowered by the tzeltal and chol demographic boom, agreed to allow non-lacandon members” into the assembly (eisenstadt, 2011, p. 77). this created “common objective and a virulent animosity towards the mexican government,” that was reflected by zapatismo‟s new channels of land claims outside of playing the “state-assigned role as corporatist peasants” (eisenstadt, 2011, p. 81-81). urban guerrillas also played a part, joining the movement in the early 1980s. they had gone into the highlands of chiapas to initiate a new front in what they perceived as an oncoming armed struggle (khasnabish, 2010). in the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 53 1984 a group of these guerrillas “went to live in the lacandon jungle‟s harsh mountainous terrain” there they “came face to face with the indigenous culture and heritage of chiapas” (khasnabish, 2010, p. 56) in this engagement, their marxist conceptions of citizenship were relentlessly restructured by “the cultural and historical force of indigenous reality” allowing the zapatista army of national liberation (ezln) to expand and recruit new members (khasnabish, 2010, p. 56). space continues to redefine these notions of citizenship after the 1994 uprising. as the state “attempts to exercise conventional power by militarily occupying territory” and through “army civic action programs, paramilitaries, and counterinsurgency-oriented social programs,” the zapatistas strategize to continue to appeal to the broader public and to “reinforce the bonds of indigenous community [,] inventing new collective practices” (stahler-sholk, 2010, p. 276). thus, the zapatista claim and practice of new forms of activist citizenship and representation within the territory of the mexican state cannot be separated from their experiences and use of place. this activist citizenship is demonstrated in the tactics of the movement, which consistently worked to challenge prior notions of citizenship. through the wearing of masks and in the written declaration of war, the zapatistas highlighted the colonial-state constructed identity of the indigenous peoples as anonymous, faceless people without a dignity worth representing, raising the „indian question‟ and bringing in debate over issues of autonomy, culture, and the historical moral debt of colonialism (khasnabish, 2010). by rejecting the representational frame of the state through the mobilization of a self-constructed form of representation, the zapatista movement revealed the colonial nature within sovereign law. this exposed the double process of coercion and consent which granted hegemony to the mexican state and neocolonialism, thus demonstrating the injustice in both the social ordering of status hierarchies and the claims of citizenship by which they are institutionalized. the use of subjective violence was strategically deployed in order to gain spatial authority and expose the current „state of emergency‟ of various mexicans as “not the exception but the rule,” (walter benjamin cited in pourgouris, 2010, p. 229) while at the same time being careful not to recreate the sovereign forms of violence to which they were reacting. in this the zapatistas provide a demand for further nuance in scholars‟ works on the use of violence. so, for example, while alfred accepts that peace cannot be understood as order and that self-defence can be at times moral and necessary, he attempts the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 54 to maintain an objection to using armed force against the institutions of power (2005). this appears to be an illogical restriction on effectual forms of selfdefence against the objective violence of the colonial state. noting alfred‟s associations of violent resistance to foreign settler culture, it seems his true objection is rooted in a just opposition to the violent structures of sovereignty (2005), since the use of organized violence in general is not a strategy that belongs solely to the human species, let alone to a particular segment of it. 4 however, if we take his opposition as one against the construction of instruments of sovereign violence, his insights into this construction‟s facilitating effects on cultural acceptance of coercive domination is apt (alfred 2005). hannah arendt also demonstrates important cautions in the use of violence, she writes: violence, being instrumental by nature, is rational to the extent that it is effective in reaching the end that must justify it. and since when we act we never know with any certainty the eventual consequence of what we are doing, violence can remain rational only if it pursues short-term goals. violence does not promote causes, neither history nor revolution, neither progress nor reaction, but it can serve to dramatize grievances and bring them to public attention. (cited in pourgouris, 2010, p. 234) as we have seen in investigating the zapatista movement, there is a selfcontradictory nature in the conclusion of this argument; however it emphasizes the need to be dynamic and prudent in the applications and tactics of violence. this tactical need is demonstrated by the zapatismo‟s rejection of sovereign state power. this resulted from the zapatista‟s conceptions of citizenship based on greater degrees of personal freedom and democratic participation, not on “a reversal of positions within domination” (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 511). it was under this pursuit that led the ezln to the challenge “to change the world without taking power,” (khasnabish, 2010, p. 82) which brought forward the model of “rule by obeying” (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 515). the selforganization is preformed through a structure of “assembly that tangentially disperse power (through a series of mutual obligations, shared responsibilities, and the accountability and revocability of delegates),” which prevents the delegation from accumulating power, putting the “multitude” in a permanent position of command over the delegated authorities (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 4 this argument is in part an extension of derrick jensen‟s, against pacifists‟ appropriation of the „master‟s tools‟ reasoning: idemandmydreams, “derrick jensen on pacifism,” (youtube 2009), retrieved dec. 8 th , 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e75i4ysssoa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e75i4ysssoa the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 55 516). this structure works through the council of good government located “in each of the five zones that constitute zapatista territory,” each of which is composed of a number of autonomous municipalities made up “of a variable number of communalities, home to around 300,000 people” (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 516). as reyes and mara explain: the councils of good government provide a form of rotating autonomous government charged with carrying out the mandate of the community assemblies, from which council delegates are chosen and to whom they are accountable. the councils operate as a local justice system, a source of financial management and accountability for the distribution of funds and the coordination of collective projects, and they are in charge of protecting and handling disputes over the recuperated lands (reyes & kaufman, 2011, p. 516). it is through this alternative expression of power that the zapatista‟s continue to influence spatial representation, which granted them the ability to restructure the social ordering of distribution and recognition within their territory. these new conceptions of citizenship have come to have a great impact on various peoples‟ struggles for justice around the world. as noami klein explains, this has to do “with power – and new ways of imagining it” (khasnabish, 2010, p. 174). zapatismo citizenship focus on the autonomy to govern oneself is based on both the interconnectedness of human life and a maintained focus on individual rights (khasnabish, 2010). in this it very much reflects fraser‟s description of participatory parity as justice. as she explains, justice aught not be understood as “an externally imposed requirement, determined over the heads of those whom it obligates. rather, it binds only insofar as its addressees can also rightly regard themselves as its authors” (fraser, 2007, p. 313). at the same time the content of zapatismo citizenship reflects fraser's conception of the transformative method, which aims “at correcting inequitable outcomes precisely by restructuring” this structure of society that “generates them” (1995, p. 82). while it challenges the social structuring of cultural recognition and the racial stratification that result, it is able to avoid the essentialization of cultural identities and presentation of indigenous as demanding “special treatment” from the state (fraser, 1995). in this way the zapatismo forms of distribution and recognition are able to strengthen each other, acknowledging the capitalist colonial nature of the political-economy and avoiding appeals to the state for toleration of alternative cultural values or economic assistance (fraser, 1995). the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 56 it is also able to challenge the restricting extent of citizenship that is becoming ever more ominous in the rise of neo-liberalism in its challenging of the westphalian framing of political space. this highlights the injustice of misframing, which shields the more powerful predator states, transnational private powers/corporations, including investors and creditors, international currency speculators, governance structures of the global economy, and the westphalian framing itself (fraser 2007). this deliberate mis-framing of political space away from those it governs is growing ever more prominent in states reliance on international structures and trade agreements, such as nafta to which the zapatista uprising presented itself as a response. in this zapatismo citizenship‟s focus on place-based resistance provides an effective oppositional force to the modern hegemony of the neo-liberal globalizing movement. as adam barker discusses in “the contemporary reality of canadian imperialism,” the modern neo-liberal movement has been described by michael hardt and antonio negri as the hegemony of „empire. (2009). barker describes hardt and negri‟s model as moving past territorial understandings of sovereign state power and highlighting the ways in which transnational corporations and supranational bodies are united under a single “logic of rule” (2009). therefore, the structuring of the social order comes to be determined by “a network of adherents to one type of order competing for status and control within a singular framework” (baker, 2009, p. 332). this removes the borders between the economic and political social ordering within this hegemonic framework, presenting them as the natural order suspended from historical reference (baker 2009). however, for indigenous communities the resistance to western restructuring of their social order remains grounded in their place-based struggles over territorial control (baker 2009). therefore, while the „privileged mid-levels of imperial hierarchy‟ come to be ever more marginalized in the globalization of social ordering, the placed-based approaches of the zapatista movement can be seen as holes in these hegemonic conceptions, spaces outside the sovereign order, representing physical and conceptual alternatives (baker 2009). zapatismo presents itself as “the enduring power of dignity and the possibility of political, economic and social alternatives to the dominant order” (khasnabish, 2010, p. 168). 5 recognition of zapatismo‟s accomplishments has long permeated the alter-globalization movement, which can be seen from the 5 khasnabish, zapatistas: rebellion from the grassroots to the global, p. 168 the arbutus review vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) brown 57 organization and discussions of world social forms to the wto protest of seattle in 1999 (khasnabish, 2010). experimentation with these forms of activist citizenship and place-based resistance has now come to inform the growing „take back the square movements.‟ becoming prominent actions in spain and greece then informing those movements slotted by the popular press as „the arab spring‟ and finally the occupy wall street movements, these take back the square strategies all reflect important characteristics of zapatismo. as khansnabish has emphasized, zapatismo‟s transnational appeal can be seen in activists: [t]esting received boundaries, moving over rough and less travelled political terrain, offering an expansive vision of solidarity and social struggle, always challenging singular claims to power and truth, [and] refusing to forsake the hope in radical social transformation leading to true social justice in exchange for a seat at the table with powerholders (khasnabish, 2010). therefore, within the indigenous struggles of the zapatistas there is a new understanding of citizenship that has informed different peoples‟ conceptions of politics and justice the world over. this conception focuses itself on the placebased resistance from which it arose. the power of these new conceptions of citizenship and their relationships to place contrast sharply with the statesanctioned forms of indigenous citizenship within canadian multiculturalism, where the role of „aboriginalism‟ to displace indigenous resistance from place into the structuring of the hegemonic order is easily demonstrated. references accion zapatista editorial collective. 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(2010). the zapatista social movement: innovation and sustainability. alternatives: global, local, political, 35(3), 269-286. contact information cameron brown, a recent graduate from the department of political science, with a diploma in social justice studies, can be reached at cameronb@uvic.ca. acknowledgements this paper was originally handed in as a term paper for adam gaudry‟s “indigenous-state relationship” course in december of 2011. i owe many thanks to the great number of people who offered discussion, support, and feedback on the ideas and the communication of them within this paper, with special thanks to adam gaudry, lindsay erica walker, arbutus anonymous reviewer, and tusa shea. i would also like to thank the arbutus review for allowing me and other undergraduates the opportunity to present their work and providing a journal of well researched articles on pertinent issues. mailto:cameronb@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 the arbutus review is produced by the learning and teaching centre at the university of victoria. the journal was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009 as the undergraduate research scholarship program by the then vice-president academic and provost, and current university president, dr. jamie cassels. it was designed to support and create truly formative learning experiences for exceptional undergraduate students who might not otherwise obtain direct research experience. the ltc administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submissions that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review publishes other exceptional work from departments across campus. 1 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by a faculty member at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper: dr. daromir rudnyckyj, associate professor, anthropology author: meaghan efford dr. evanthia baboula, assistant professor, art history author: irina ridzuan dr. helga thorson, associate professor and chair of germanic and slavic studies author: jesse bachmann dr. karen kobayashi associate professor, department of sociology and a research affiliate with the centre on aging author: heather haukioja dr. kathy sanford, professor, language and literacy, faculty of education author: lindsay cavanaugh dr. paul bramadat, associate professor, history and centre for studies in religion and society author: samantha bahan as well, all submissions are reviewed blind by two readers. these readers are graduate students, graduates, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. their insights, suggestions, and support for the authors form the backbone of the journal. alexandra macdonald behn skovgaard andersen brian coleman caroline winter cori thompson josh armstrong kate newman kelly mcmanus kevin mccartney kimi dominic linda zajac ramsay malange regan shrumm victoria domonkos the editors would also like to thank inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, university of victoria libraries, for her guidance on copyright and journal management issues. 2 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: laurie waye, phd, managing editor associate director (student academic success) learning teaching centre university of victoria ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca allie simpson, ma, editor coordinator, the centre for academic communication learning and teaching centre university of victoria cdrcac@uvic.ca ————————————————————– 3 wickham and proudfoot black bears (ursus americanus) as possible vectors of bi-directional nutrient transfer in marine and terrestrial systems inferred from their late summer diets sara wickham and beatrice proudfoot* university of victoria swickers@gmail.com abstract american black bears (ursus americanus) are highly opportunistic omnivores and tend to forage selectively depending on the seasonal abundance of food items. we collected and analyzed 22 scats from various beaches and forests near bamfield b.c. and determined that in late summer, bears in the area rely heavily on gaultheria shallon berries. hemigrapsus spp., talitrid amphipods and seaweeds were also fed on by black bears in the area in late august. marine-derived organisms were found in scats collected in the forest, and terrestrial-derived organisms were found in scats collected on beaches, suggesting that there is a bi-directional transfer of marine and terrestrial nutrients and biomass. keywords: gaultheria shallon; scat; salal; subsidy; talitrid amphipod; ursus americanus vancouveri *first and foremost, we would like to thank dr. caroline fox for her guidance and constant support throughout this project and the course. thank you to our wonderful t.a., logan wiwchar for all his hard work and support throughout the course, and for always ensuring we had ample supplies and were safely outfitted for the field. thank you to dr. barb beasley for a wonderful two weeks of exploring the terrestrial realm and for sharing her knowledge of the area with us. thank you to the bamfield marine sciences center for providing us with the amazing opportunity to explore our own scientific potential. finally, thank you so much to all our classmates for the endless laughs, support and inspiration. 22 mailto:swickers@gmail.com the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 i. introduction the american black bear (ursus americanus, hereafter referredto as bears) is an abundant species established throughout northamerica. the black bear population in british columbia is estimated between 120,000 and 160,000 individuals (hristienko and mcdonald, 2007) with a density of one bear per five kilometers squared (horn, 2009). british columbia’s black bear population is comprised of five subspecies. one subspecies, ursus americanus vancouveri, is endemic to vancouver island, the only subspecies of black bear present on vancouver island (bc ministry of environment, 2001), and common in and around bamfield, british columbia. although black bear populations in b.c. are at healthy and stable levels, understanding their diet and habits and preserving their habitats is an important objective for conservationists. the role of black bears in many ecosystems is incredibly important. they are vectors for transport of nitrogen into forests (often through deposition of salmon carcasses; quinn et al., 2009), and are valuable indicator species that are very sensitive to changes in salmon run sizes and shifts in vegetation availability — two of their most important dietary components (horn, 2009). black bears such as u. americanus vancouveri are opportunistic omnivores (horn, 2009). their feeding habits vary depending on the abundance and availability of food items (howes, 1999). if accessible, bears will selectively consume invertebrates, rodents, fish, and carrion (howes, 1999) because these foods have higher nutritional values than vegetation (smith and partridge, 2004). in spite of the high nutrients that animal matter provides, the dominant portion of the diet of black bears is vegetation: plant shoots and roots, grasses, forbs, and fruits (howes, 1999; machutchon, 1999), all of which are abundant in different seasons on vancouver island. little attention has been paid to these bears’ interactions with intertidal and coastal areas (howes, 1999; smith and partridge, 2004). vancouver island has 3,400 kilometers of productive coastline and u. americanus vancouveri has often been observed foraging in the inter23 wickham and proudfoot tidal zone (machutchson, 1999; howes, 1999; personal observations). intertidal invertebrates such as shore crabs (hemigrapsus spp.), mussels (mytilus spp.), clams (siliqua spp.), barnacles (balanus spp.), marine worms (nereis spp.), talitrid amphipods, and fish (ammodytes spp.) could represent a significant portion of their nutritional and energetic resources, especially during the spring and early summer seasons when the bears are eager to gain weight after hibernation (smith and partridge, 2004). in late summer, the diet of black bears begins to shift toward ripening fruits and berries (machutchon, 1999). much research has been performed on the diet of black bears in clayoquot sound, which is located approximately 40 nautical miles north of bamfield, b.c. these bears have been observed consuming salal berries (gaultheria shallon), salmonberries (rubus spectabilis), and blueberries (vaccinium spp.) (howes, 1999, machutchon, 1999, personal observations) during the month of august. however, the late summer diet of black bears inhabiting barkley sound, near bamfield b.c., has not been explored. the purpose of this study is to determine the late summer diet of coastal u. americanus vancouveri near bamfield, b.c. knowledge of this diet can help to understand the complexities of the food web in this region and to explore whether marine and terrestrial-derived nutrients and biomass are being transferred to and from beaches and forests via black bear faeces. if a bidirectional transfer of nutrients is occurring, future studies could perhaps explore if the scats themselves are a possible source of nutrients for beach ecosystems. a non-invasive method to explore black bear diets and the marineterrestrial interactions they may be a part of is to examine the distribution and composition of black bear faeces in intertidal and forest areas. black bears have a simple and short digestive tract that lacks complex microbial flora and inhibits efficient digestion and as a result, items in the scats are often relatively identifiable (howes, 1999). scats are incredibly valuable resources for study that can allow researchers to gain insight into the diet, movement and range of animals (darimont et al., 2008). analysis of scats involves identifying food items 24 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 and relating these items to diet through frequency and volume calculations (baldwin and bender, 2009), and inferring the diet of the animal based on faecal residue. by deriving a portion of their diets from intertidal and marine sources and travelling into forests, bears are effectively acting as vectors of nutrient transport into the forest. this scenario may be best demonstrated in the fall through the transport of nitrogen in the form of pacific salmon (oncorhynchus spp.) to riparian forests by bears. the salmon carcasses that bears transport in to the forests can increase foliar nitrogen by an average of 14%-60%, thus increasing vegetation productivity in riparian forests (hocking and reynolds, 2012). this uni-directional flow of marine-derived nutrients is a well documented spatial subsidy (reimchen 2000; howes, 1999) and has profound impacts for other species such as vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers (hocking and reynolds, 2012), birds (field and reynolds, 2011), and terrestrial flies (hocking and reimchen, 2006) that feed on the salmon carcasses. bears also transport a large amount of marine derived nitrogen into forests through their urine. the nitrogen in the bears’ urine is more accessible to terrestrial plants than the nitrogen bound within the salmon carcasses that the bears bring into the forest (helfield and naiman, 2006). however, the reciprocal flow of terrestrial-derived nutrients in the form of digested vegetation and berries from the forest to the intertidal zone and the possible impacts resulting from this movement are often ignored. before we consider whether the digested vegetation and berries in the scat is a potential subsidy for beach ecosystems, we first need to establish whether a noteworthy bidirectional transfer exists. we can then explore the possible impacts of this potential transfer. the scat on the beaches may be providing a unique and brief influx of nutrients to the high intertidal and supratidal zones, which may benefit a number of scavengers and invertebrates. if the bidirectional transfer does exist, and if the poorly digested berries and plant matter in the scat can be proven to be an important subsidy for beach ecosystems, we can use this information to preserve the habitat that 25 wickham and proudfoot connects forests and beaches in order to allow this bidirectional flow of nutrients to occur. ii. materials and methods from august 19–23, 2013 we collected a total of 39 scats from locations near bamfield, b.c., canada (48.83°n, 125.14°w). bamfield inlet, grappler inlet, kelp bay, first beach, and second beach were chosen based on sightings and reports of bears foraging in the area. at each site we surveyed 500m of the medium and high intertidal zones and collected bear scat within these zones. we scouted the forest edge of the 500m beach transect for any obvious bear trails. we followed these trails for as long as possible (minimum length = 10m) up to a maximum of 200m and collected any identifiable bear scat. edges created by waterways such as streams and creeks are popular corridors for black bear travel (cervinka et al., 2011) and thus we considered these streams and creeks as bear trails and followed for a maximum of 200m. the bamfield inlet beach site was bordered by private property and bear trails were thus unrecognizable. we established a “forest transect” of 500m along south bamfield road and the huu-ay-aht community forest logging road to compensate. we collected scats into zip lock baggies labeled with dates and gps coordinates. because we found a high number of scats in close proximity in certain sites, several scats were discarded in order to reduce any bias that might lead to the over representation of a certain food item being consumed by an individual bear (dahle et al., 1998). we discarded any scats estimated to be older than two weeks, which we determined by examining the scat for fungus and degradation. after these corrections, we used 22 scats for analysis.1 within four hours of collection we placed the scats in a -18℃ freezer and froze them for a minimum of 24 hours. we then hand mixed the scats once thawed and washed the scat in a 1mm mesh sieve. we used three 6ml sub-samples of each scat (measured via wa1for a more detailed breakdown of the sample and discard rationale, see http://142.25.56.9/inmagicgenie/documentfolder/proudfoot_wickham_cbc2013.pdf 26 http://142.25.56.9/inmagicgenie/documentfolder/proudfoot_wickham_cbc2013.pdf the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ter displacement) for scat composition analysis. we then poured the sub-samples over 1cm2 grids and observed them through a 0.67x-4x stereo microscope. we identified and sorted scat components into the following categories: seaweed (includes macroalgae of phaeophyta, rhodophyta and chlorophyta), zostera spp. (seagrasses), talitrid amphipods, hemigrapsus spp. (shore crabs), insects, graminoids (grasses and sedges), terrestrial plant components (including leaves, roots, twigs, bark and stems), gaultheria shallon (salal berries, flowers, berry stems and seeds), vaccinium sp., insect larvae, and rocks. visual estimations of percent volumes of scat items have been found to correspond well with measurements of overall volumes (mattson et al., 1991 and persson et al., 2001). we visually estimated the percent volume of the scat components in each subsample, averaged these values and compared scats collected from forest sites with those collected from beach sites. we summarized the items present in each scat in terms of frequency of occurrence (fo) and percent faecal volume (fv) (e.g. fox et al., 2013): • fo= (number of scats containing item x / total number of scats) x 100 • fv= (mean volume of food item x / total faecal volume) x 100 because black bear foods differ in their digestibility (mealy, 1974), measurements of faeces composition may not accurately reflect the diet of the bear. the dietary contribution of highly-digestible items, such as animal matter and, in this case, amphipods, insects and shore crabs, are often underestimated, and the contribution of poorly digestible items, such as graminoids, are often overestimated (persson et al., 2001). we adapted and applied correction factors (cfs) developed by hewitt and robbins (1996) and used by fox et al. (2013) to the fv calculations to estimate the original estimated dietary content (edc, measured in percent) from the fv. correction factors help account for biases created by the differing digestibilities of food items (i.e. animal matter is more digestible than graminoids; hewitt and robbins, 1996), which could lead to underor 27 wickham and proudfoot overestimations of dietary items. knowledge of the edc is pertinent when estimating nutrient transfer from forest to beach and vice-versa, as some nitrogenous compounds obtained from ingestion of marine resources may be expelled in urine (hellgren, 1995) and would not be accounted for in fv calculations. the cfs used in this study were: table 1: correction factors seaweeds 0.24 zostera 0.24 talitrid amphipods 1.1 hemigrapsus sp. 1.1 insects 1.1 graminoids 0.24 terrestrial plants 0.24 g. shallon 0.54 vaccinium sp. 0.54 insect larvae 1.25 we did not include gravel and rocks in edc calculations as they are assumed to have been inadvertently ingested during foraging and do not contribute to any bi-directional nutrient transfer, nor provide any energy to the bears. iii. results 1. hard part scat analysis of all scats (n=22) analysis of hard part scat composition (solid components of the scat that did not pass through the 1mm sieve) and percent faecal occurrence (fo) calculations reveal that g. shallon was found in 95.45% of all scats (n=22), and that terrestrial plant parts (77.27%), insects (45.45%) and zostera spp. (36.36%) were also common dietary items for black bears in late august 2013 (table 2). 28 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 table 2: percent frequency of occurrence (fo) values for various items in ursus americanus vancouveri scats collected from various locations near bamfield, b.c. scat item beach scats (%fo; n=13) forest scats (%fo; n=19) total scats (% fo; n=22) seaweed 23.08 33.33 27.27 zostera spp. 38.46 33.33 36.36 talitridae 30.77 22.22 27.27 hemigrapsus spp. 7.69 11.11 4.55 insects 53.85 33.33 45.45 graminoids 15.38 25.00 18.18 terrestrial plant parts 84.62 66.67 77.27 gaultheria shallon 100.00 88.89 95.45 vaccinium spp. 7.69 11.11 9.09 insect larvae 0.00 11.11 4.55 rocks 38.46 11.11 27.27 percent faecal volume (fv) calculations indicate that on average, the most abundant items found in scats were: g. shallon (x = 73.73% ± 7.03 standard error (se)), terrestrial plant parts (x = 7.16% ±3.44 se) and seaweeds (x = 5.70% ± 3.71se; n=22; figure 1). using correction factors, we approximated the diet of these black bears by calculating the mean estimated dietary content (edc) of each item and determined that in late august 2013, 78.21% ± 3.80 se of their diet was composed of g. shallon, 5.51% ± 3.80 se is composed of hemigrapsus spp. and 3.72% ± 1.11 se is composed of talitrid amphipods. graminoids (1.18% ± 0.43 se), terrestrial plant parts (3.38% ± 0.83 se) and zostera spp. (1.60% ± 0.28 se) were relatively small components of the diet of these black bears (figure 2). 29 wickham and proudfoot figure 1: mean percent faecal volumes of dietary components of ursus americanus vancouveri scats collected from various locations near bamfield, b.c. (n=22, se= standard error). 30 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 figure 2: estimated dietary content of dietary components of ursus americanus vancouveri scats collected from various locations near bamfield, b.c. (n=22, se= standard error). 31 wickham and proudfoot 2. hard part scat analysis of forest (n=9) and beach scats (n=13) hemigrapsus spp. and seaweed occurred more frequently in scats collected from the forest (fo = 11.11% and 33.33%, respectively; n=9) compared to those collected at the beach (fo = 7.69% and 23.08%, respectively; table 2). talitrid amphipods, insects and rocks occurred more frequently in beach scats (table 2). percent faecal volume (fv) comparisons between scats collected in the beach and the forest (figure 3) indicate that on average, scats collected from the beach had notably higher abundances of g. shallon and talitrid amphipods. scats collected from the forest had higher abundances of hemigrapsus spp, seaweed, zostera spp., terrestrial plant parts, insects and insect larvae. comparisons between mean edcs of scats found in forest and beach sites (figure 4) illustrates that scats collected from beaches were the product of diets composed of higher proportions of g. shallon and talitrid amphipods, compared to scats collected from forest sites. scats collected from forest sites were the product of diets composed of higher proportions of marine-derived organisms such as hemigrapsus spp. and seaweed, as well as terrestrial plants, insects and insect larvae compared to scats collected from beach sites. iv. discussion in late august 2013, g. shallon berries were ripe and abundant in the bamfield, b.c. area (personal observation) and were found to be a dominant food source for the black bears of the region. the high abundance and availability of g. shallon berries may reduce foraging costs for the bears, as the bears do not have to travel as far to acquire food resources (howes, 1999). the volume of g. shallon berries in black bear scats in clayoquot sound dramatically shifts from approximately 8% fv in july to approximately 67% fv in august (machutchon, 1999). mean percent fv values of g. shallon berries in black bear scats sampled in late 32 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 figure 3: mean percent faecal volumes of dietary items in ursus americanus vancouveri scats collected from beach and forest sites near bamfield, b.c. (forest scats: n=9; beach scats n=13; sd = standard deviation). 33 wickham and proudfoot figure 4: estimated dietary content (edc) of dietary items in ursus americanus vancouveri scats collected from beach and forest sites near bamfield, b.c. (forest scats: n=9; beach scats n=13; sd = standard deviation). 34 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 august from bamfield and clayoquot sound are similar (bamfield = 73.73% ± 7.03 se, clayoquot = 67%), which suggests that black bears in barkley sound and clayoquot sound may share some late summer foraging behaviours and have similar late summer diets that are dominated by g. shallon berries. hemigrapsus spp., talitrid amphipods and seaweeds were also fed on by bamfield black bears in late august; however hemigrapsus spp. was found in only one scat, and the fv of hemigrapsus spp. in this scat was 56.13%. this relatively high fv value in a single scat has a considerable effect on the edc of hemigrapsus spp., and likely overestimates the importance of hemigrapsus spp. in the august diet of black bears in the study area. we have observed black bears foraging on hemigrapsus spp. in rocky intertidal areas near bamfield in july and early august. however, because g. shallon berries are so abundant and available in late summer, and because black bears are opportunistic in their feeding behaviours (horn, 2009), it appears they shift their focus to the highly abundant g. shallon berries. talitrid amphipods were present in 28% of scats, however it was observed that many small amphipod fragments were too small to be captured in the 1mm sieve and were subsequently lost during the washing process. therefore, the percent fv and edc of talitrid amphipods are likely underestimated. furthermore, all scats that contained seaweed (n=5) corresponded with all but one scat containing amphipods. black bears are known to incidentally ingest seaweed and seagrass when foraging for herring eggs (fox et al., 2013). the presence of seaweeds and amphipods in the same scat suggests that bears in the study area may be incidentally ingesting seaweed while they forage for amphipods under the seaweed wrack. additionally, due to the small sample size, and to the fact that a single scat had a seaweed fv value of 80.28%, the importance of seaweeds in the late summer diet of black bears in bamfield is likely overestimated while the importance of amphipods is likely underestimated. the scat containing amphipods but no seaweed contained 9.9% fv zostera spp. amphipods are known to graze on epiphytic algae growing on zostera spp. (jaschinski and sommer, 2010). if we consider that consuming 35 wickham and proudfoot zostera spp. typically provides bears with relatively little energy compared to consuming animals (baldwin and bender, 2009), the presence of zostera spp. in 36.36% of scats may also be due to incidental ingestion as bears forage for amphipods. the late summer diet of black bears in bamfield also includes minor contributions from other terrestrial plants, graminoids, insects, insect larvae and vaccinium spp., although these contributions are slight compared to the large contribution from g. shallon berries. however, like the talitrid amphipods, insect fragments may have been too small to be captured in the 1mm sieve, so the percent edc of insects in the late summer diet may also be underestimated. this brief snapshot of the late summer diet of black bears in bamfield, bc captures an important shift to a diet dominated by g. shallon berries that persists into october for bears living and foraging in similar habitats, such as clayoquot sound (machutchon, 1999). our results suggest that to some extent a bi-directional transfer of terrestrial and marine derived subsidies is occurring via bear faeces during late august in bamfield b.c. due to our small sample size (n=22), it is difficult to determine the magnitude of the bidirectional transfer. however, future studies could explore the possible influence this transfer could have on beach ecosystems. bi-directional transfer of marine and forest biomass and nutrients can be a major influence on the ecosystems that receive them (mccauley et al., 2012). the predominate source of the terrestrialderived nutrients and biomass in our study was g. shallon berries, which were present in 100% of the scats collected from beach sites. many of the g. shallon seeds and berries in the scats were intact, and may be a potential source of nutrients for beach-dwelling rodents, birds and invertebrates. rodents are known to scavenge for seeds in bear scats (enders and vander wall, 2012), and we noted the presence of live isopods in a number of scats, as well as scats that appeared to have been disturbed by some sort of animal. when fruits are available in large quantities, large bears are capable of ingesting up to 70,000 individual berries, defecating 7-10 times per day and moving an average linear distance of 2.1km (nowak and crone, 2006). thus, 36 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 black bears in the bamfield area are potentially transporting an immense amount of terrestrial biomass and nutrients from forests to beaches. furthermore, because beaches are important travel corridors for bears (machutchon, 1999), bears may be depositing more scats in general on frequently traveled beaches. because g. shallon berries dominate the black bear diet in late august, we observed more terrestrial-to-marine transfer, whereas if we were to conduct a similar study in september and october, when crustaceans, mussels and insects are likely common animal foods in the bears’ diet (machutchon, 1999), or in the spring, when bears consume large amounts of herring eggs (fox et al., 2013), we may perhaps observe more marine-to-terrestrial transfer. this bi-directional transfer of marine and terrestrial-derived resources in forest and beach sites is likely in flux throughout the year, and depends on the seasonal food habits of the bears. black bears in the bamfield area were also transporting g. shallon berries and seeds within the forest itself. g. shallon was found in 88.9% of scats collected in the forest. when berry seeds pass through the digestive system of a bear, the seeds are removed from the fruit, which has a positive impact on germination relative to fruits that simply fall from the parent plant (nowak and crone, 2012). bears are potentially transporting and depositing thousands of g. shallon seeds throughout the forest in our study area. v. conclusion analysis of the composition and distribution of black bear scats near bamfield b.c. is a powerful method that has allowed us to gain insight into the late summer diet and movement of black bears in the area. understanding and documenting the seasonal diets of coastal black bears can inform conservation efforts that aim to protect critical habitat. finally, by exploring the marine-terrestrial interactions that black bears are a part of, we can begin to understand how complex and interwoven these two systems are. 37 wickham and proudfoot references baldwin, r.a. & bender, l.c. 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(2013). retrieved august 28th, 2013 from http://www.hellobc.com/vancouver-island/region al-geography.aspx 40 http://www.hellobc.com/vancouver-island/regional-geography.aspx http://www.hellobc.com/vancouver-island/regional-geography.aspx text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031-167.1.205 text box http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1139/z09-004 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z99-232 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.2193/0022-541x(2004)068%5b0 233:doifbc%5d2.0.co;2 introduction materials and methods results hard part scat analysis of all scats (n=22) hard part scat analysis of forest (n=9) and beach scats (n=13) discussion conclusion the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 enhancing ministry service provision: adoptive families’ capacity to care for children and youth with special needs christina yee* university of victoria cyee@uvic.ca abstract this literature review was conducted to explore what elements contribute to the success and disruption of children with special needs who are adopted into prospective families. five prevailing themes emerged as important considerations when placing children and youth who are waiting to be adopted. these themes include: the characteristics of the child, the characteristics of the adoptive family, sibling placements, agency practices, and most importantly access to preand post-adoption supports and services. a general consensus among the voices of professionals and adoptive families in this area of practice concerns the significance of supporting families before, during, and after the placement of children and youth with special needs to ensure permanency of placements. identifying service needs and gaps in service delivery are therefore essential to ensuring safe, healthy, and successful adoptive experiences for children and youth with special needs. the findings of this report pose important implications for the adoption sector of *this research project was sponsored by the b.c. ministry of children and family development (mcfd) and was completed under the supervision of dr. gord miller, from the university of victoria, and sponsor’s wendy norris and renaa bacy from mcfd. the author would like to thank and acknowledge the jamie cassels undergraduate research award through the office of the vice president academic and the learning and teaching centre at the university of victoria for supporting her research. finally, the author would like to extend her sincerest gratitude to her peers, professors, sponsors, friends, and family who without their support this work would have not been possible. 155 mailto:cyee@uvic.ca yee the ministry of children and family development in the service provision of special needs adoptions. keywords: adoptions; special needs; children and youth; success and disruption; service needs; permanency; mcfd; service provision i. introduction in the field of child welfare and adoption, the concept “spe-cial needs” may have broad definitions. it can refer to “any childwho is difficult to place as a result of physical, mental, or behavioral disability, race, age, or membership in a sibling group” (perry & henry, 2009, p. 540). according to the b.c. ministry of children and family development (mcfd) (2014), there are approximately 1000 children in the permanent care of the ministry who are waiting to be adopted at any given point in time. “disruption rates reported for special-needs adoptions range from 8% to 47.4%” (borgman 1981; kadushin 1974, as cited in westhues & cohen, 1990, p. 143). the purpose of this report is to help illuminate the complex interplay of factors that influence adoption outcomes for children and youth with special needs following their placement into families. these factors are defined as: the characteristics of the child, the characteristics of the adoptive family, sibling placements, agency practices, and access to preand post-adoptions supports and services. the hope is that by identifying these emerging patterns in research, best practice decisions in service provision will be made regarding special needs adoptions. this literature review is intended to aid service providers when looking at placement decisions. in addition to ministry workers, this research has interdisciplinary significance for professionals in social work, nursing, counselling, psychology, psychiatry and other related disciplines. the paper begins with an overview of the literature search strategy. next, findings from the review are presented. finally, the research is discussed in terms of its implications and significance to the mcfd, as well as to the children, youth, and families with special needs. the paper concludes with a discussion of limitations and 156 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 recommendations for future research. ii. literature search strategy the purpose of this literature review is to determine what factors contribute to or disrupt the success of adoption placements of children and youth with special needs. this review involved keyword searches of online databases (academic search complete, psycinfo, and google scholar), additional searches for other studies, screening of abstracts, assessments of the methodological strength of these studies and, finally, integration of the findings. the search results are summarized in tables 1–3. the literature search process included the following major steps: • development of keywords and search strategies • on-line searches of databases for potentially relevant articles • screening of abstracts for relevance and usefulness • review of the references sections of articles • review of government departments and related links for additional studies and or unpublished documents table 1: database: academic search complete search terms results special needs + adoptions 30 of 345 special needs + adoptions + children 21 of 225 special needs adoptions + canada 1 of 13 special needs adoptions + permanency 3 of 12 special needs adoptions + foster care 4 of 59 special needs children + adoption outcomes 5 of 37 adoptive families + special needs children 15 of 82 adoptive families + caring for children with special needs 2 of 6 characteristics of adoptive family + special needs adoptions 3 of 18 157 yee table 2: database: psycinfo search terms results special needs + adoptions 14 of 231 special needs + children + adoptions 12 of 171 adoption outcomes + special needs 3 of 46 adoptive parents + special needs children 8 of 91 permanency + special needs adoptions 1 of 5 characteristics of adoptive families + special needs children 8 of 29 agency practices + special needs adoptions 1 of 6 table 3: database: google scholar search terms results adoptive families + capacity to care + children with special needs 11 of 33,000 adoption outcomes + children with special needs 14 of 504,000 permanency + adoptive families + children with special needs 22 of 11,900 adoptive families + children with special needs + disruption 25 of 20,700 success + disruption + adoption + special needs children 12 of 81,000 iii. summary of elements that influence adoption outcomes from the broad sample, ten articles were selected for analysis based on their cumulative rating according to the criteria below: 158 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 • rating 1: provides an abundance of data to document factors that contribute to the success or disruption of adoption placements. research and or evaluative designs were present in the literature. • rating 2: practice implications are identified, well-supported by credible research, and are sustainable in nature. • rating 3: the information provided in the report has been replicated and can be found in one or more other articles. the articles that were awarded all three ratings were considered exemplary, an article that was awarded two ratings was considered probably effective and an article with just one rating was considered possibly effective. table 4 presents a summary of the ratings of articles in the sample. table 4: article sample ratings article rating denby, alford, & ayala (2011) exemplary perry & henry (2009) exemplary zosky, howard, smith, howard, & shelvin (2005) exemplary reilly & platz (2004) exemplary egbert & lamont (2004) exemplary erich & leung (2002) probably effective mcglone, santos, kazama, fong, & mueller (2002) probably effective rosenthal & groze (1994) probably effective westhues & cohen (1990) probably effective barth, berry, yoshikami, goodfield, & carson (1988) probably effective denby, alford, and ayala (2011) use qualitative inquiry to learn from prospective parents of nine different families their experiences of the adoption process including their motivations, expectations, prepa159 yee ration, and experiences. perry and henry (2009) identify elements that make the placements of children with special needs successful, including adoptive parent expectations, experience with disabilities, preparedness and education needs, resources, and support systems. zosky, howard, smith, howard, and shelvin (2005) study the aid of adoption preservation services in the prevention of negative adoption outcomes. reilly and platz (2004) explore the post-adoptive service needs of families adopting children with special needs. two hundred forty-nine (n = 249) special needs adoptive families representing 373 children from the state of nevada responded to a mailed survey to identify unmet service needs and the relationship of post-adoption service utilization to positive adoption outcomes. egbert and lamont (2004) utilize both qualitative and quantitative data in a study to determine what factors contribute to adoptive parents’ preparation for adopting children with special needs. erich and leung (2002) address the impact of previous types of abuse experienced by children and sibling adoption on family functioning. mcglone, santos, kazama, fong, and mueller (2002) focus on understanding the nature and extent of parental stress among adoptive parents of children with special needs; five stress categories were identified: child characteristics, parent-child interactions, family cohesion, parental adjustment, and adoptions service issues. rosenthal and groze (1994) conduct a longitudinal study on adoptive families caring for children with special needs and assessing change on several measures of adoption outcome. westhues and cohen (1990) analyze the differences in functioning between families able to sustain special-needs placements and families in which they disrupted. barth, berry, yoshikami, goodfield, and carson (1988) examine the complexities of older child adoptions and sibling placements as means of understanding why adoption disruptions occur. 160 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 iv. analysis 1. characteristics of the child articles analyzed: egbert & lamont, 2004; westhues & cohen, 1990; perry & henry, 2009; zosky, howard, smith, howard, & shelvin, 2005; barth, berry, yoshikami, goodfield, & carson, 1988; erich & leung, 2002 the literature indicates that several factors may influence special needs adoption outcomes. one factor is the age at which the child or youth is taken into care, and the age at which he or she is placed for adoption. older children (defined as those above the age of three) are more likely to have had multiple placements throughout their lives than younger children. it can also be more difficult to find placements for older children, because most adoptive parents prefer infants and younger children. children of varying ages may have histories of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and neglect. these experiences may contribute to challenging behaviours, such as acting out, lying, tantrums, defiance, profanity, vandalism, aggression, drug use, and attachment difficulties that result in adoption disruptions. other emotional and psychological challenges, such as eating disorders and suicide threats, may also play a role in unsuccessful placements. prenatal or postnatal exposure to substance abuse during critical points in development can impact a child’s ability to adapt, their mood, behavioural nature, distractibility, and acceptability. these are additional behavioural challenges that adoptive parents may face in the adoption setting. 2. characteristics of the adoptive family articles analyzed: denby, alford, & ayala, 2011; mcglone, santos, kazama, fong, & mueller, 2002; rosenthal & groze, 1994; egbert & lamont, 2004; perry & henry, 2009 161 yee adoption outcomes are further influenced by various characteristics of adoptive families. parental preparation and readiness for adoption are defined by the caregivers’ expectation for the adoption and their understanding of the reality of caring for a child with special needs. furthermore, practical experiences and personality attributes of adoptive parents contribute to their understanding of the complexities and challenges of caring for a child or youth with special needs. for example, practical experiences, such as personal experience and or work experience with physical, mental, behavioural, and or cognitive disabilities, will enhance one’s ability to empathize with the task of caring for a child with extra support needs. personality attributes that may lend to better care include the ability to accept a child’s condition and differing abilities, flexibility, adaptability, patience, commitment, and level of social, familial, and professional support. motivational desires to provide permanent care for a child and to provide the child with nurturance, love, and stability are more likely to increase adoption success. furthermore, parents who are of an older age at the time of adoption are perceived to be better prepared for the adoption experience due to potential experience in facing and resolving crises, in addition to their overall maturity level. that being said, overall positive physical and mental health of adoptive parents will lead to better outcomes. foster parents experience greater levels of preparedness in comparison to newly adopting parents as a result of previous experiences. a family’s ethnic background, cultural beliefs and values may influence family perspective and parenting approaches in caring for a child or youth with special needs. moreover, religious affiliation has been associated with successful placements. finally, financial stability influences a family’s willingness and ability to access professional supports and services when they are needed. 3. sibling placements articles analyzed: erich & leung, 2002; barth, berry, yoshikami, goodfield, & carson, 1988 162 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 sibling placements refers to the placement of a group of birth siblings together in a single placement. this is a common practice that is highly ideal as it helps to regulate attachment disruptions from birth parents; however, research shows that sibling adoptions are associated with a greater likelihood of adoption disruption. it is also difficult to find adoptive families who are willing to adopt more than one child, as raising sibling groups require additional energy, time, finances, and skills which may affect the quality and stability of family functioning. 4. agency practices articles analyzed:westhues & cohen, 1990; egbert & lamont, 2004; reilly & platz, 2004; zosky, howard, smith, howard, & shelvin, 2005 placements are most likely to disrupt when children have had multiple placements throughout their lives, have experienced a longer break between being freed for adoption and being placed, and when children have had different workers involved in the various aspects of adoption work. successful placements result from positive and collaborative parent-agency relationships where open communication and information is exchanged about the child’s history and the adoption process. this allows parents time to develop feelings of preparedness to care for a child or youth with special needs to adapt to their role as an adoptive parent. a positive parent-agency relationship can facilitate better obtainment of information and training that can better inform parents of the adoption process and expected challenges that may arise. prior to adoption placements, there are certain practices which an agency can employ that may increase adoption success. providing the family with adequate information about the child is key. this entails completing thorough evaluations of the child before placement, identifying any effects of prenatal substance exposure and the severity of medical and behavioural challenges, and communicating these to prospective families. following placements, it is important to con163 yee tinue to support families by conducting follow-ups and providing access to ongoing educational opportunities to facilitate parents’ continual acquisition of the support, expertise, and skills necessary to understand and manage their children’s emotional and behavioural challenges. 5. access to supports and services articles analyzed:reilly & platz, 2004; zosky, howard, smith, howard, & shelvin, 2005; egbert & lamont, 2004; perry & henry, 2009 a common theme across the literature was the significance in which an adoptive families’ access to preand post-adoption supports and services played in determining adoption outcomes. placements are more likely to succeed when parents receive pre-adoption education and training in caring for children and youth with special needs. depending on the child or youth, providing families with specialized training that caters to the unique difference of each child and youth can also increase levels of preparedness. moreover, providing parents with strategies for coping and dealing with stressful situations that may arise and connecting them with health professionals will ultimately enhance adoption success. after placement decisions have been made, agencies can continue to provide ongoing financial, medical, emotional, and respite support for families. post-adoption, families also benefit from connecting with other adoptive families of children with special needs who share the same experiences as they do. v. discussion 1. factors in successful placements research provides evidence that there have been both long-term successes as well as failures in the adoption placements of children and youth with special needs (perry & henry, 2009). the important task is 164 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 to understand what contributes to successful and unsuccessful placements, to explore what makes for good therapeutic relationships between adoptive children and families, and to determine the agency’s role in supporting families during this process. five prevailing factors surfaced from the literature reviewed that can be considered imperative when placing children and youth with special needs into prospective adoptive families. the themes were not identified in all pieces of work that were reviewed, but rather amalgamated by the researcher of this report as common patterns and themes found amongst the existing research in this area of practice. as illustrated in figure 1, these key factors consist of: the characteristics of the child, the characteristics of the adoptive family, sibling placements, agency practices, and the families’ access to preand post-adoption supports and services. each of these factors are then elaborated upon in order to explain what is specifically entailed. adoptive families from many walks of life have the capacity to provide good permanent homes to children and youth with special needs when they are adequately prepared and have been provided with the supports and services necessary for success. as divulged in the characteristics of the child, the process of adopting and placing a child or youth with special needs is a complex, stressful, and delicate process. this process is complicated by the desire to avoid adoption dissolution given the fragility of relationship history and frequent experiences with attachment disruptions experienced by children in the child welfare system (zosky, howard, smith, howard, & shelvin, 2005). for adoptive families and parents, special-needs adoptions are generally believed to be stressful and challenging life processes (barth & berry, 1988; groze, 1996; groze & gruenewald, 1991). in order to cope with the stressors and challenges faced by adoptive families, special needs families rely on a host of available resources and supports before, during, and after placements. even after placements have been made with best practices to ensuring adoptive families’ levels of preparedness for adoption, challenges post-adoption can continue to arise and manifest due to the escalation of new demands and changes to the overall family system (mcglone, santos, kazama, 165 yee figure 1: elements that influence special needs adoptions. this context chart illustrates the five prevailing themes that contribute to the success or disruption of adoption outcomes. branching off of each one of the themes are elements that make up each of these themes. 166 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 fong, & mueller, 2002). some of the challenges that adoptive families encounter include: difficulties in establishing family cohesion, navigation of the challenges of obtaining required services, increased demands resulting in decreased personal time, and feelings of grief resulting from the loss of “expected” child and life goals (perry & henry, 2009; mcglone et al., 2002). in a study done by reilly and platz (2004), financial and medical support is the most frequently cited need by parents who are generally satisfied with services in this area (zosky et al., 2005). counseling and in-home supports were reported as necessities that were frequently unmet. other positive influences on family functioning include support groups with other adoptive family, parent and child support and activity groups, services to help families plan for their child’s future, family preservation services, and adoption-sensitive mental health services (rosenthal, groze, & morgan, 1996). overall, research suggests that access to preand postadoption supports and services are regarded by adoptive families as an instrumental contribution to the long-term success of placements. inherent to the population of children and youth who are waiting to be adopted in the child welfare system are a set of risk factors that can negatively affect adoption placements unless families are wellinformed and adequately prepared for the potential challenges that may arise (simmel, 2007). “in the field of foster care and adoption, the term “special needs” can refer to any child who is difficult to place as a result of physical, mental, or behavioral disability, race, age, or membership in a sibling group” (perry & henry, 2009, p. 540). children who are adopted through the child welfare system are often significantly challenged by adjustment issues; they may have unique psychological scars and relational deficits as a result of their past experiences, and these scars and deficits may vary widely (zosky, howard, smith, howard, & shelvin, 2005). the characteristics of the child can include both internal and external problematic behaviours and both types of behaviour may indeed add to the stress placed upon adoptive families. existing histories of physical, emotional, and or sexual abuse and neglect may also greatly affect a child’s behaviour as well as the manner in which this behaviour is exhibited in a new family 167 yee setting. additionally, children and youth in the child welfare system often share common experiences of attachment difficulties, namely the experience of coping with the loss of biological parents as well as the loss of any previous foster parents or adoptive parents where attachments may have been formed (zosky et al., 2005). attachment disruptions pose significant challenges to the adoptive family as well as to the child’s ability to bond and develop a relationship; attachment disruptions are manifested as disruptions in interpersonal skills (smith, howard, & monroe, 2000, as cited in zosky et al., 2005). the research here demonstrates that adoptive parents experience stress due to these communication difficulties and the lack of disclosure and withdrawal has been identified as problematic (mcglone, santos, kazama, fong, & mueller, 2002). adoptive families and adoptee children and youth can come from anywhere amongst a variety of unique backgrounds and experiences in life. it is essential, therefore, to form an understanding of all these possible combinations of characteristics, both in the children and in the adoptive families, in order to evaluate the “goodness of fit” between them. although some characteristics of adoptive families have long been identified as contributing factors to the success of adoption placements, it is important to note that the characteristics of adoptive parents have begun to broaden over the years (rosenthal, groze, & curiel, 1990; schwartz, 2008; wright & flynn, 2006, as cited in denby, alford, & ayala, 2011). single parents, same-sex couples, minority parents, and unmarried live-in partners have all been recognized as distinctive characteristics of prospective adoptive families (schwartz, 2008, as cited in denby et al., 2011). but while every one of these circumstances can have an effect on adoption success, it is parental preparedness most of all which seems to affect the outcome of caring for a child or youth with special needs. parental preparedness can alternatively be defined as a sense of readiness, and this sense of readiness is derived in part from: the age of the caregivers, their socioeconomic status, their ability to cope, their health and well-being, their cultural background, their family composition and functioning, and the levels of support that adoptive families receive (perry & henry, 2009; 168 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 wessthues & cohen, 1990). two other key measures of preparedness are the adoptive parents’ expectations for the adoption as well as their understanding of the reality of parenting a child or youth with complex needs (egbert & lamont, 2004). it is important to recognize the increase of stress and strain that adoptive families can face after adoption; thus, assessing a prospective families’ level of preparedness in multiple domains is crucial. an overload in parenting stress can lead to an inability to cope, which in turn may result in adoption disruption. according to the adoptive families association of british columbia (2014), more than 50% of b.c.’s waiting children are part of a sibling group that must be adopted together. what becomes apparent, and problematic, is that a dearth of literature exists regarding sibling placements and their impact upon either an adoptive family’s functioning or upon the post-adoptive behavior of the children (erich & leung, 2002). barth, berry, yoshikami, goodfield, and carson (1988) have noted that although it is preferable to place siblings together in the same adoptive family, placement disruption often occurs as a result. in the best interests of those children, sibling placements help better manage the effects of attachment disruption from biological parents (erich & leung, 2002). however, such sibling placements require additional time, energy, and skills on the part of adoptive parents. these additional requirements often result in additional stress which may in turn have adverse effects on family functioning and placement stability. another type of situation parallel to sibling placements is the example of multiple special needs children, not part of a sibling group, being placed with adoptive families. the existing research in this particular area of special needs adoption is limited; however, in one study conducted by glidden, flaherty, and mcglone (2000), larger families (five or more) rearing multiple adopted children with special needs enjoyed greater levels of parental satisfaction and adjustment in comparison to conventionally-sized families (four or fewer). there are certain practices that an agency can employ to contribute to the success of adoption outcomes; these practices can greatly 169 yee help to ensure the permanency of adoption placements for children and youth with special needs. research suggests that practice variables play an influential role in the success and failure of special needs adoptions. in particular, practice variables are effective as a way of preparing adoptive parents in having realistic expectations regarding adoption and also by providing families with preand postadoption supports. as well, gaining an understanding of some of the challenges that agencies have historically presented to adoptive families can help to guide the development of areas needed for further support. this gaining of historical understanding has proven useful in both successful and disruptive adoption experiences. in respect to agency practices, “several studies link inadequate or inaccurate background information on the adoptive child to increased risk of disruption or lower parental satisfaction with the adoption” (urban systems, 1985, as cited in rosenthal, groze, & morgan, 1996, p. 164; barth & berry, 1988; rosenthal & groze, 1992; schmidt, rosenthal, & bombeck, 1988). other practices that have been associated with adoption disruption include barriers to post-placement services, and insufficient pre-adoptive training (groze, 1994, 1995, as cited in reilly & platz, 2004). measuring parental satisfaction with the adoption process is one of several ways to determine the positive or negative outcomes of special needs adoptions (reilly & platz, 2004). practice issues may further contribute to disruptions when: children have had multiple placements throughout their lives, have experienced a longer break between being freed for adoption and being placed, and those who have had different workers involved in the various aspects of adoption work (westhues & cohen, 1990). 2. research implications the findings elucidated from this literature review pose important implications for the adoption sector of the ministry of children and family development. these findings are highly relevant to the ministry’s service provision when placing children and youth with special needs. congruent across almost all domains of the literature re170 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 viewed is the evidence, in regard to special needs adoptions, for providing ample preand post-adoption supports and services. these supports and services should be tailored to the unique needs of each adoptive family, child or youth. in support of this conclusion, we see that successful adoption outcomes are positively correlated with a parent’s preparedness for adoption (egbert & lamont, 2004). we can conclude then, that parental preparedness is the most critical characteristic of prospective adoptive parents. preparation enhances coping, which in turn supports the adoptive family’s ability to adapt to their new family system and effectively address issues that arise in the adoption setting (egbert & lamont, 2004). ultimately, this requires agency practices that work to best support adoptive families in succeeding in their adoption; these are practices that provide sufficient information regarding the child, and offer services both during and long after placements in order to maximize sustainability. therefore, accurate identification of the characteristics possessed by children or youth in the child welfare system is of great importance. such proper identification informs the adoptive parents of what to expect of their child and it correctly gauges whether prospective parents are prepared to handle such challenges. furthermore, given the varying and unique characteristics that children, youth, and families’ exhibit, it is important to not just define “goodness of fit” along the lines of physical attributes, but to also factor in the parents’ experiences and motivations (denby, alford, & ayala, 2011). lived experiences that adoptive families have provided us with have helped us to gain invaluable knowledge. we have learned that “post-adoption services can be instrumental in helping parents weather the storm of caring for a special needs adopted child and in the prevention of adoption failure” (zosky, howard, smith, howard, & shelvin, 2005, p. 2). with that said, important questions still need to be asked in this area of practice: what are the barriers to providing families with consistent supports and services, before, during, and after placements? why has this been expressed in the literature as an ongoing need? in order to support adoptive families, and their adopted children and youth in this area, what can we do to overcome these 171 yee barriers and work around any obstacles that may be in the way? it is evident that further research is required in addressing and taking action upon these gaps in service delivery, especially now that they have been identified as critical needs. why is there a lack of published literature in this area pertaining to the canadian population of children and youth with special needs waiting to be adopted? with an overrepresentation of indigenous children and youth in the child welfare system in canada, are adoptive parents educated when there is a disparity in culture between the child or youth and the adoptive family? if so, how are they educated? other directions for future research resulting from the literature review suggest the need to further explore sibling placements and its impact on adoption outcomes given the substantial number of sibling groups who are waiting to be adopted in canada. as service providers, it is essential to continue to ask these questions and others that may arise in order to identify and address any service needs that may be lacking and gaps in service delivery that are present. to further expand the literary review’s scope in the future, it may be valuable to look into evaluation and assessment models concerning special needs adoptions that already exist and consider how they might inform further research in this area. berry, propp, and martens (2007) explored the use of intensive family preservations services (ifps) with adoptive families. in their findings, ifps models have promising outcomes for families who have problems with child behaviour (berry, propp, & martens, 2007). the use of multiple regression analyses helped determine factors that were predictive of the family’s ability to remain intact after a certain period of time after services were seized. conversely, other researchers such as yampolskaya, sharrock, armstrong, strozier, and swanke (2014) used latent class analysis to determine subgroups of children who have served in out-of-home care. these subgroups helped to understand the various profiles of children that influence permanency outcomes. consideration and utilization of such models and tools for future research will enrich the understanding of the needs of children, youth and families in this area of practice. 172 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 3. research limitations a literature review of this nature is, of course, limited to what research is available. pointedly, there is still not enough research available on the factors that contribute to the success or disruption of adopting children and youth with special needs. it is important to acknowledge that no literary search criteria was used specifically to search “best practices” regarding data collection methodologies that are currently used to assess and identify the needs for children with special needs. additionally, certain factors which influence adoption outcomes, such as the impact of single parent adoptive families as opposed to adoptive families with two parents, are under-studied as well. this want of material limited the findings of this report. likewise, employing a search methodology was necessary in order to conduct this type of research, but search methodologies have their own constraints. the geographic scope of this literature review, as well, presents limitations; the majority of the studies and articles that the researcher found and reviewed were established in the united states. consequently, the findings may not be completely generalizable to other populations, including canada’s. in addition, the research that was utilized to inform this literature review was chosen and determined solely by the researcher’s evaluation of the breadth of the articles. finally, the research was obtained and retrieved from only a select few of the available on-line databases. vi. conclusion the general consensus of professionals and adoptive families in this area of practice is that there is a fundamental need to support families before, during, and after the placement of children and youth with special needs. crucial to pre-adoptive placement supports is the ability to provide families with a thorough overview of the background of their child. this overview includes what the characteristics of the child are, what challenges adoptive families should expect, and the provision of specialized training to deal with challenges as they arise. additionally, the encouragement of preparation on the part of the 173 yee adoptive family and making a network of support available to them both contribute greatly to successful outcomes. moreover, through accurately assessing parenting experiences and the overall characteristics of adoptive parents, and by comprehensively evaluating the level of children’s needs, agencies can successfully determine which placements will allow a “goodness of fit” between the two. by utilizing these practices, agencies maximize adoption success (egbert & lamont, 2004). while placement decisions are being made, and in their aftermath, it is important to continue to support families and address emerging issues; indeed these issues may otherwise threaten the likelihood of adoption success. to this end, facilitating the adoptive families’ awareness of, and access to, preand post-adoption supports can foster enhanced preparation. as well, it can potentially impact placement outcomes, significantly and positively. finally, unmet service needs can critically undermine the quality and stability of adoption placements (reilly & platz, 2008). the task of identifying any service needs and gaps in service delivery is therefore essential to ensuring safe, healthy, and successful adoptive experiences for children and youth with special needs. 174 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 references adoptive families association of bc (2014). about adoption. retrieved march 27, 2014, from https://www.bcadoption.com/aboutadoption barth, r., berry, m., yoshikami, r., goodfield, r., & carson, m. 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(2002). psychological stress in adoptive parents of special-needs children. child welfare, 81(2), 151–171. ministry of children and family development (2014). adoption. retrieved august 27, 2014, from http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption/ index.htm perry, c. & henry, m. (2009). family and professional considerations for adoptive parents of children with special needs. marriage & family review, 45(5), 538–565. reilly, t. & platz, l. (2004). post-adoption service needs of families with special needs children: use, helpfulness, and unmet needs. journal of social service research, 30(4), 51-67. rosenthal, j. & groze, v. (1994). a longitudinal study of special-needs 175 https://www.bcadoption.com/about-adoption https://www.bcadoption.com/about-adoption http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption/index.htm http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption/index.htm text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2206.2006.00426.x text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.03.019 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10560-004-6406-4 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0145-2134(02)00374-5 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/j145v04n01_05 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01494920903050938 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/ j079v30n04_03 yee adoptive families. child welfare, 73(6), 689–706. rosenthal, j., groze, v., & morgan, j. (1996). services for families adopting children via public child welfare agencies: use, helpfulness, and need. children and youth services review, 18(1-2), 163– 182. simmel, c. (2007). risk and protective factors contributing to the longitudinal psychosocial well-being of adopted foster children. journal of emotional & behavioral disorders, 15(4), 237–249. westhues, a., & cohen, j. (1990). preventing disruption of specialneeds adoptions. child welfare, 69(2), 141–155. yampolskaya, s., sharrock, p., armstrong, m., strozier, a., & swanke, j. (2014). profile of children placed in out-of-home care: association with permanency outcomes. children & youth services review, 36, 195–200. zosky, d., howard, j., smith, s., howard, a., & shelvin, k. (2005). investing in adoptive families: what adoptive families tell us regarding the benefits of adoption preservation services. adoption quarterly, 8(3), 1–23. 176 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0190-7409(95)00059-3 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1177 /10634266070150040501 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.11.018 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/j145v08n03_01 introduction literature search strategy summary of elements that influence adoption outcomes analysis characteristics of the child characteristics of the adoptive family sibling placements agency practices access to supports and services discussion factors in successful placements research implications research limitations conclusion barski constructing new horizons: the art of winnipeg modernist tony tascona justin barski* university of victoria jbarski88@gmail.com abstract there is a popular perception that canadian art is largely reactionary and without real innovation, however the winnipegbased artist tony tascona is a demonstrable example of a canadian artist as primary innovator. because of his technical training in the aerospace industry, tascona was able to introduce a whole body of knowledge unfamiliar to the fine art world. artistic experimentation with non-traditional industrial materials had been explored for several decades prior to the appearance of his mature work, however tascona possessed an intimate knowledge and sensitivity to his materials that lead to a style uniquely appropriate to his content; his content being the materials themselves and the forms of the mechanised world. through archival research at the university of manitoba and an interview with the artist’s nephew, this paper explores tascona’s artistic genealogy, working milieu and unique situation within modern art history. its ultimate purpose is to make a case for why his work deserves critical attention and why he should be remembered as a great artist with a contribution unique not just to canada, but to the world. *i am grateful to the jamie cassels undergraduate research award for offseting tuition costs and therefore allowing me the opportunity to travel to winnipeg to do research. i would like to thank dr. allan antliff for assisting me with the jcura application process and for lending valuable insight into how i may expand my research. my thanks extend to dr. catherine harding for helping me to develop and focus my research topic. finally i would like to acknowledge perry scaletta and thank him for taking time to answer my questions about his uncle, tony tascona and for showing me some of his works. 216 mailto:jbarski88@gmail.com the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 keywords: tony tascona; constructivism; clement greenberg; modernism; winnipeg; manitoba school of art; richard serra; rodchenko; canadian modern art i. introduction tony tascona’s work and artistic achievements exist in an am-biguous sphere in art history. while he received recognitionduring his lifetime, culminating in his 1996 appointment to the order of canada, his name and work remain relatively obscure outside of winnipeg and virtually unknown outside of canada. the 2010 survey of canadian art the visual arts in canada: the twentieth century, despite being nearly five hundred pages in length, and mentioning other prairie artists like the regina five, fails to mention tascona even once (whitelaw, foss, & paikowsky, 2010). similarly, the third edition of dennis reid’s a concise history of canadian painting does not feature a single image of tascona’s art and contains sparse and brief passages which mention only the artist’s essential biographical and stylistic information (reid, 2012). although celebrated within winnipeg, tascona’s death in 2006 left his work at even greater risk of falling into obscurity. the only monograph to ever be published on the artist was sponsored by the manitoba department of cultural affairs and historical resources in 1982 as part of an effort to stoke “an increased awareness of manitoba art and artists” (kostyra, 1982, foreword). published as manitoba art monographs, the book covers a half-dozen manitoban artists including tascona but inherently limited by circumstance, misses the last twenty-four years of his life and art production. this paper will provide an overview of tascona’s influences, career arc and working method with an aim to demonstrate that his work is both exceptionally well positioned and unique within the canon of art history and merits wider recognition. although he was dismissed by the prominent art critic clement greenberg, tascona’s work evolved to undermine greenberg’s narrow expectations of abstract art and ultimately introduced a new language the art world had never seen before or since. 217 barski ii. biography antonio ‘tony’ tascona was born march 16, 1926 in the predominantly francophone town of st boniface before it was incorporated into winnipeg in 1971. the fifteenth of sixteen children, but one of only ten who survived into childhood, tascona’s was a modest upbringing in the typical narrative of many canadian immigrant families in the early 20th century (hughes, 1982, p. 251). his father’s untimely death forced young tascona to leave school at age fifteen and earn an unlawful living as a truck driver (hughes, 1982, p. 251). his mother later died when he was seventeen and he would eventually be conscripted at age eighteen into the canadian army but would never be deployed overseas (hughes, 1982, p. 251). 1. academic training and early influences tascona began his fine arts training in 1946 after leaving the army and enrolling at the winnipeg school of art through the department of veterans’ affairs (enright, 1984, p. 31). through his instructor joe plaskett, he became familiar with hans hoffman’s theories on abstraction, in an otherwise traditionally focused environment (patten, 2001, p. 18). after receiving his diploma, tascona continued his education at the university of manitoba school of art and was exposed to other modernist trends like vorticism, which emphasised a non-figurative aesthetic inspired by industry (patten, 2001, p. 19). tascona’s work would later be deemed “reminiscent of the old vorticists” by a local winnipeg art critic, a label tascona categorically denied (tascona, n.d.a). in 1953 a local multi-media artist named bjorn sather taught him electroplating and shortly after tascona got a job with trans-canada airlines as a technician (enright, 1984, p. 31). it was there that his interest in the materiality of aircraft led to a fascination with the properties of aluminum, high grade paints, lacquers and enamels (enright, 1984, p. 32). tascona also spent time at his brother’s auto body garage where he developed an enthusiasm for the use of car paint, even borrowing paint chips and supplies for use in his studio (p. scaletta, personal communication, september 13, 218 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 2013). with his 1961 move to montreal tascona was exposed to significant contemporary art trends in canada. he developed a strong interest in the works of les plasticiens artists like molinari, tousignant and comtois for what he called their “direct, more mathematical, more geometric approach” (enright, 1984, p. 32). such a precise approach was integral to another key influence for tascona: constructivism. the core principle of both the constructivist and plasticiens movements was a preoccupation with evincing the inherent qualities of their chosen materials, which in the plasticiens’ case involved demonstrating paint on canvas through solid flat blocks of colour and simple geometric shapes and lines. such principles of material awareness would have a far greater impact on tascona’s artistic sensibilities than any specific formalism. however, before he was able to realize the potential, his vocational training and these new influences had towards his art production, tascona would be forced to endure a critical setback. 2. setback and isolation clement greenberg was an enormously influential new york based art critic who helped defend and popularize abstract painting in north america. his opinions shaped the careers of many artists in terms of their formal sensibilities and popular success. when asked in 1962 by canadian art to do a survey of painting and sculpture in the prairies, he recognized the precarious position of this region in receiving critical attention. in drawing geographical comparisons to the continental us, greenberg (1993) saw the prairies as analogous to the midwest’s own cultural isolation between new york and san francisco. as a result, he referred to the prairies as being at risk of “double obscurity” (p. 154). already in regina to lead the emma lake workshop, he credited the regina five as being “‘big attack’” artists who contributed to a revaluation of his preconceptions that the prairies would be inherently held hostage by a provincial condition (greenberg, 1993, p. 156). after evaluating the state of art in regina, saskatoon, edmonton, and calgary, greenberg arrived to winnipeg where 219 barski he was surprised to see that winnipeg shared equally the artistic tendencies as well as the “stagnation” derived from the art departments of midwestern universities (greenberg, 1993, 163). he referred to tony tascona as a “‘big attack’” artist only skeptically, finding his work to be quaint by the standards of the avant-garde (greenberg, 1993, p. 164). greenberg expresses his esoteric brand of eloquent condescension in essentially labelling tascona as an artist trapped in the old fashioned artistic conventions of 1940s chicago. citing the presence of “picassoid and miró-esque” forms, greenberg (1993) labelled tascona’s work as being reminiscent of a late 1940s “chicago” style which gave it “a rather old-fashioned and provincial look” (p.164). it is unclear which paintings greenberg was reviewing, but pieces like standard bearers (figure 1)1 were fairly typical of tascona’s abstract expressionist work at this time. damning it further, greenberg (1993) asserted that what really precludes tascona’s work from his critical approval is not its quaint formalism, but “its failure to say anything, its lack of content” (p.164). greenberg’s assessments on the nature of art and the demands of modernism are articulate and logical and his indifference to tascona’s paintings at this time is unsurprising if not justified. in his influential 1960 essay titled “modernist painting” greenberg (1993) describes the self-critical condition of modernism and the need for institutions to justify themselves through the means exclusively available to them (p. 85). the arts, in order to not be reduced to entertainment, needed to demonstrate their own exclusive value (greenberg, 1993, p. 86). for painting this meant an exploration of its contemplative powers elicited through the optical qualities of pigment on a flat surface (greenberg, 1993, p. 87). becoming increasingly self-referential, avant-garde painting began losing its ambitions to depict the natural world with content melting into form, with totally abstract art as the culmination of this direction. by the 1960s greenberg was beginning to invest himself in a new direction in abstract art known as “post-painterly abstraction.” since the intrinsic property of painting was the flat surface, efforts at creat1links to all figures are located on page 232 220 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ing depth through tonal change or brushy mannerisms belied this fundamental truth and therefore diluted this art form (greenberg, 1993, p. 194). as its name suggests, post-painterly abstraction denies these painterly influences and allows painting to exist confidently as purely optical paint on a flat surface. he endorsed american and canadian artists who had learned from “painterly abstraction” but done away with tactile effects and contrasts of light and dark, giving “freshness” to their work (greenberg, 1993, p. 196). at this time in 1962, it seems clear tascona was still relying on a more academic sensibility. his paintings, while fully competent, are fairly derivative and do not demonstrate anything new in relation to formal explorations of the picture plane occurring by this time. it is difficult to quantify the negative impact of greenberg’s review but its effects on tascona’s career were immediate if not irreparable. although he did not wear his dissatisfaction on his sleeve or spend the rest of his career lamenting the review, tascona still recounted its impact in a 1984 interview with robert enright, recalling that at the time, he was preparing for a show at the dorothy cameron gallery in toronto and had his work already shipped. ten days before the opening of the show, greenberg’s review was printed by canadian art magazine which caused the show’s immediate cancellation (enright, 1984, p. 31). tascona said of the misadventure: “it was a helluva blow to my ego, my pocketbook and to someone who was trying to establish himself in montreal” (enright, 1984, p. 32). it would seem that greenberg never again encountered tascona’s work for critical appraisal and it is difficult to say if his opinion would have drastically changed. while in canada, greenberg (1993) viewed one of eli bornstein’s geometrically focused sculptural reliefs which, although he did not like it, nonetheless found that it revealed major artistic ambition and merited recognition (p. 174). such work has similar formal elements to tascona’s later geometric constructions. greenberg recognised the primacy and unique importance of the landscape genre to canadian art, and while some critics have claimed tendencies towards abstract representations of the prairies in tascona’s work, it is clear that his artistic heritage is instead drawn 221 barski from the optimism of the sixties towards the future promises of technology and industry (coutts-smith, 1978, p. 41). this is a key critical difference between tascona’s mature art and greenberg’s narrow art historical and critical expectations. the tendencies greenberg identifies assume that abstract art exists in a vacuum to be enjoyed for its own sake and ignores the very real fact that art exists in and reflects the world around it. art relays not just what is experienced in the world but how it is experienced and what is retained as a repercussion of that experience. this is divulged in tascona’s later formal geometry and material handling and how it adeptly relates to his world. it was not long after this event that tascona returned to the seclusion of winnipeg in 1964 because the humid atmosphere in montreal exacerbated the breathing problems of one of his children (hughes, 1978, p. 72). although he does not expressly mention it, greenberg likely found the techniques tascona used before turning to metal constructions to be overly painterly and retrogressive. in 1957, tascona along with other artists subject to greenberg’s dismissal, frank mikuska and bruce head, developed a method involving the layering of printer’s ink and fixative to illustration board upon which they would add texture and remove ink; a process they called the “ink-graphic technique” (patten, 2001, p. 21). singling out mikuska, greenberg (1993) wrote that he “was trapped in an eclectic, catch-all, painterly conventionality” (p.164). even prior to this, tascona was already experimenting with adding sand to build and enhance texture. he would then rub ink and duco mix into this sand to achieve higher translucency but became dissatisfied with this direction in his art and looked towards the materials of the aircraft industry to simplify his entire approach (enright, 1984, p. 32). iii. tascona’s art and innovation the use of other media to enhance surface in painting can be notably traced to the russian avant-garde scene, where alexandr rodchenko, in his competition with kazimir malevich, used non-traditional ma222 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 terials to enhance the painterly qualities of his work (dabrowski et al., 1999). rodchenko’s wife, varvara stepanova, praised his work for its “intensification of painting for its own sake” (antliff, 2007, p. 85). the principle of “art for art’s sake” was certainly a priority of tascona’s which was only reinforced by his exposure to the montreal art scene. however, the coincidental parallels between the materials tascona used and the evolution of the avant-garde in russia extend further. rodchenko and his contemporaries, facing political and social pressures of post-revolution soviet russia were eventually forced into abandoning the principles of art for contemplative purposes and joined with other artists to form “‘the first working group of constructivists’” in order to evade the egregious communist charge of formalism (antliff, 2007, p. 89). for tascona, constructivism’s appeal came not out of political necessity, but because it provided a well-articulated precedent for the implicitly industrial themes of his art production. it was in 1965 that tascona was introduced to the general theories of constructivism by the british artist william townsend while he was in canada to jury a biennial exhibition at the national gallery of canada (dillow, 1984, p. 7). constructivism was, however, born out of a harsh socialism that repudiated all forms of fine art without strict didactic or utilitarian purpose as bourgeois escapism, something which was incompatible with tascona’s generally apolitical outlook (p. scaletta, personal communication, september 13, 2013). tascona, nonetheless, did appreciate vladimir tatlin’s prediction that the art of the future would be synthesised with principles of technology and construction (dillow, 1984, p. 9). a primary spokesman for the movement, alexei gan, denigrated all art production as being reactionary and narcissistic by nature (antliff, 2007, p. 98). tascona would have disagreed in principle but perhaps not in practice as the very use of aluminum and lacquer instead of paint and canvas already implied a self-effacement of the artist’s hand (patten, 2001, p. 32). dr. ferdinand eckhardt, the director of the winnipeg art gallery wrote of tascona in 1974 that “no doubt the artist is inspired by his long-time occupation mastering difficult technical processes, by the 223 barski seductive elegance of modern industrial design and simple geometrical forms. he eliminates any romantic feeling. symbolism seems to have disappeared. if one looks for meaning, one might find it in the subordination of the picture to the mood of the environment, even if this environment – to most people – almost a vacuum” (patten, 2001, p. 25). by the late sixties and throughout the seventies and eighties, tascona heavily invested himself in creating his “constructions” – pieces that consisted of incised metal sheets and industrial strength paints and lacquers which had a sculptural, frieze-like element to them while still possessing certain modernist formal elements meant to convey, as tascona described, “the kind of order that is produced by a series of opposing forces or tensions, both at the level of form or shape as well as of colour… i capture the music…” (bovey, 2001, p. 34). tascona received his first major commission in 1963, for the manitoba centennial concert hall (figure 2). for this project he built two, ten by sixteen foot constructions by layering numerous sheets of shaped aluminum, then covering them in his unique painting technique (linton, 2006). these were the first of his constructions that would come to characterise a significant and unique body of work. the style of such pieces is largely the product of tascona communicating their content as efficiently as possible; the content being the materials themselves. for rodchenko and the constructivists, every material had a geometric form which could best exhibit its own qualities (dabrowski et al., 1999). working with aluminum in the aircraft industry, tascona’s vocational intuition lead him to reference in his art the final forms of the materials he worked with, as showcased through repetitive geometric forms and smooth gradients (figure 3). unlike pictorial art which is to be experienced metaphorically, tascona’s constructions are experienced viscerally. scale plays an essential role in his constructions as their content innately references powerful machines of industry (figure 4). while abstract literary metaphor can always be applied to such things as aircraft, primarily, they are experienced through their awe-inspiring presence and stored energy. 224 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 tascona’s familiarity with industrial processes and materials gave him a comfort and deeper technical understanding of his working materials than the constructivists who approached material inventiveness out of political necessity and with a more naïve artistic intuition. one example of practical material innovation can be found in an early commission for the fresh water institute at the university of manitoba in 1972. tascona was confronted with an architecturally brutalist building and sought to mediate its severe artificial nature with work that would reflect the mission carried on within. his solution was to create a series of resin discs that were four feet in diameter and one inch thick, and were coloured to capture natural light and refract it in a way that evoked themes of light, photosynthesis, plankton and aquatic life (hughes, 1978, p. 75). to demonstrate his concept to the selection committee, tascona cast his first full size disc and hung it outdoors on a swing set raised on stilts, twenty feet in the air. the committee was impressed and awarded him the commission, but afterwards as tascona began disassembling his installation, he noticed that the disc had warped from being in the day-long presence of the sun’s heat. after consulting chemists who could offer no solution, tascona recalled a lamination technique he had used from his recent days in the aircraft industry (hughes, 1978, p. 75). the resulting installation of vertically suspended diaphanous rounds hangs and is enjoyed to this day (figure 5). such innovation and working through material constraints parallels the constructivist “laboratories” where material problems were posed and solved through experimentation (antliff, 2007, p.99). despite his reliance on industrial materials and processes as his avenue of expression, one should not conclude that tascona had the same scientific detachment to his creations as the constructivists claimed for themselves. tascona’s genuine enthusiasm for “art for art’s sake,” and his hybrid fine art and industrial milieu, is noted by carl weiselberger in reviewing an exhibition at the blue barn gallery in 1966. he recognises that: tascona does not paint cold, merely decorative abstracts born from a draftsman’s geometry. on the contrary, he wishes to convey his individual feelings, to express the 225 barski powerful dynamics, the radiation – to use his own vocabulary – that emanates from his industrial environment. (memorial university of newfoundland, 1972, p. 5) 1. comparisons with richard serra to better illustrate the innovative nature of tascona’s approach, an apt comparison can be made with the leading contemporary artist richard serra and his large-scale installation work. growing up in san francisco, serra was exposed to the area’s industry through his father who worked at a dockyard as a pipe fitter. serra later found himself working at a steel mill before his enrollment into art school, and in a 2001 interview with charlie rose, serra (2001) fully credits his working class background for being the determinate factor in his choice of material and artistic approach (television interview). such a background gave him an insight, exclusive from other artists, into the properties of steel. for serra, the material an artist selects is an extension of himself, but in the case of the properties of steel, he says “that wasn’t knowledge that was in the art world. it was in the world of engineering and technology, but not the art world” (mcshine, 2007, p. 28). the same principled approach to selecting materials and a working process is reflected in this quote from tascona: for a number of years, i worked in the aircraft industry as a metal processing technician dealing in chemistry, physics and metallurgy. it was within this technology that i became attracted to the precise order and nature of materials as applied to moving and inert forces. this attraction and involvement compelled me to explore the manipulative possibilities of the materials i sometimes employ in my work… i would like to think of myself as an innovative assimilator, who wields precise minimal concepts into visual reality. these minimal concepts deal with linear colour vibrations as found in nature and technology. living on the prairie makes me acutely aware of the precise physical laws of nature. i react to scale, move226 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ment, volume, light, colour… all of the physical energies. (hughes, 1978, p. 74) beyond materials, both artists share a common thread in the role of their blue-collar milieu informing general themes in their body of work. when an interviewer asserted that one of serra’s pieces had “a sort of hull-of-a-ship feeling to it, serra admitted some works allow for a nautical reference, saying “my father worked in shipyards and i’ve built in shipyards. i’ve walked around a lot of hulls in dry dock” (mcshine, 2007, p. 39) (figure 6). tascona as well references: the incredible shapes of jet engines… in fact, that’s where the sculptural quality came into my work. some of those airplane shapes i came across in the aircraft industry were just thrilling and they had a very strong influence in my work. (enright, 1984, p. 32) because of the similarities in their sources of inspiration and artistic aims, tascona’s work could largely be considered a more pictorial and metaphorical equivalent to serra’s sculpture. both deal with spatial tension while the physicality of their work is informed by their uniquely formative industrial milieus. their work mutually compliments each other with different focuses and strengths. while both operate on the sheer physical presence of their works, serra’s installations are pure sculpture while tascona’s constructions only have sculptural elements and themes. this gives serra’s work a primacy in sheer physical spectacle as it exists in the viewer’s environment more directly and does not need to justify its reality. this should not be considered a failure on tascona’s part as both artists are equally successful in merging their images with their media. in the case of serra, his sculpture is the steel which exclusively comprises it. the reference to finished industrial form is secondary. for the more multimedia tascona, the finished industrial forms of sheet metal and high grade paints are the primary concern while material showcase exists insofar as to support the credibility of the metaphor. serra’s fame and impact is reflected in being recently chosen as the number three pick 227 barski for world’s greatest living artist by a vanity fair survey of 100 influential artists, curators and various academics (stevens, 2013). while almost half of those asked did not respond, and such surveys are not necessarily an absolute authority, it nonetheless reflects serra’s prominence in the minds of leading figures in the contemporary art world. by the 1990s and into the 2000s, tascona began to develop health problems which hampered his ability to continue working on his large scale constructions. like renoir or matisse before him, tascona adapted his art production to be more conducive to his increasingly limited mobility and began doing highly intricate biomorphic ink drawings (figure 7). these were described by pierre théberge, director of the national gallery of canada, as being alike the very brain electricity of the artist (linton, 2006). despite the optimism his work apparently holds towards technological modernism, tascona suspected that in all likelihood it was his use of materials like lacquers and thinners, often without a mask or any protection, which had a detrimental impact on his health and contributed to his developing of spinal stenosis (linton, 2006). although friendly to his supporters, tascona always remained quite cynical towards the professional art world and simply could not bring himself to part with the conventional 50% share of the gross sale price with a gallery. he instead sold many of his works on his own, even offering sincere appreciators payment options (p. scaletta, personal communication, september 13, 2013). his pessimism towards the art world is displayed in commenting on a 1958 news story about art as a speculative investment which included references to his own work; tascona (n.d.b) wrote “money in art? yes for dealers, directors, curators, consultants, historians, support staff and even the odd artist!” his moral support for artists extended into his philanthropic endeavours, culminating in him establishing the “tony tascona bursary fund” in 1997 to support students at the university of winnipeg who have a demonstrated interest in canadian art history and has helped both artists and art historians (university of winnipeg, n.d.). 228 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 iv. conclusion tony tascona explored modernism in a way wholly unique not just in canada, but to the world. his meaningful use of the very materials of modernism to create compositions that related to his contemporary environment without relying on centuries old traditional materials, gives him a primacy and insight enjoyed by no other artist. however, tascona’s career was inherently limited by his seclusion in winnipeg and overall refusal to deal with art dealers and other representatives. while richard serra enjoyed enormous patronage early on by the new york art dealer leo castelli, tascona lamented that “they don’t allow you much scope in canada. i have a helluva idea right now if only i had half a million dollars. but there aren’t any risk-takers out there who are going to involve themselves in sponsoring an artist” (enright, 1984, p. 33). tascona’s work can be found in prominent locations in canada, including the national gallery, however, much of his notable output exists as public commissions or sits in a handful of large private collections in winnipeg, outside of critical discourse. perry scaletta, tascona’s nephew who maintains a sizeable collection of the artist’s work, contends that there exists a general state of condescension towards winnipeg by the rest of the country (p. scaletta, personal communication, september 13, 2013). such sentiment echoes greenberg’s earlier appraisal of prairie art as being at risk of double obscurity. had tascona worked in a major art centre like new york, or been more willing to work with dealers or representatives, wider fame and acknowledgment would have likely been inevitable. perhaps if he and serra had been acquainted with each other during the late 1960s, the two artists could have begun a new school of exploration based on the informed use of industrial material. however, if art is to be understood not as self-expression, but as an index of the ambient information which informs the artist, then any regrets about circumstance present a catch twenty-two and, as tascona himself asserted, “artists should be accountable to their community. you need roots which give your work meaning” (yates, 1997, p. 5). 229 barski references antliff, a. (2007). anarchy and art: from the paris commune to the fall of the berlin wall. vancouver, bc: arsenal pulp press. bovey, p.e. (2001). tony tascona: resonance and reflections. in tony tascona: resonance (pp. 31–40). winnipeg art gallery. coutts-smith, k. (1978, november/december). tony tascona. arts west, nov.–dec., 40–41. dabrowski, m., dickerman, l., & galassi, p. (1999). alexandr rodchenko. new york: museum of modern art. dillow, n.e. (1984). the dynamics of tony tascona: works on aluminum, 1973 to 1984. winnipeg art gallery. enright, r. (1984, summer). winnipeg’s benevolent godfather: an interview with tony tascona. arts manitoba, 3(3), 24–33. greenberg, c. (1993). painting and sculpture in prairie canada today. in j o’brian (ed.) clement greenberg: the collected essays and criticism, volume 4: modernism with a vengeance, 1957-1969 (pp. 153–175). university of chicago press. (reprinted from documents in canadian art, 1987, university of toronto press) hughes, k.j. (1982). manitoba art monographs. winnipeg: manitoba dept. of cultural affairs and historical resources. hughes, k. (1978, winter). tony tascona and the art of technological humanism. arts manitoba, 1(3–4), 72–78. kostyra, e. (1982). foreword. in k. j. hughes, manitoba art monographs. winnipeg, mb: department of cultural affairs and historical resources. linton, m. (director). (2006). transitions: the art and soul of tony tascona [documentary]. canada: centric productions. mcshine, k. & cooke, l. (2007). richard serra sculpture: forty years. new york: museum of modern art. memorial university of newfoundland. (1972). art tony tascona. st. john’s, nfld: memorial university art gallery. patten, j. (2001). tony tascona and the modern imagination. in tony tascona: resonance (pp. 17–28). winnipeg art gallery. reid, d. (2012). a concise history of canadian painting. third edition. 230 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 toronto: oxford university press. serra, r. (2001, november 14). interview by c. rose. charlie rose [television broadcast]. new york: public broadcasting service. stevens, m. (2013, december) paint by numbers. vanity fair. retrieved from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/12/greatestliving-artists-poll tascona, t. (n.d.a). handwritten note in margin of newspaper article. the winnipeg gallery: reviewed by angelo, 1957, january 30. university of manitoba archives and special collections, winnipeg, mb. tascona, t. (n.d.b). handwritten note in margin of newspaper article. moss i gather, winnipeg tribune, 1958, april 17. university of manitoba archives and special collections, winnipeg, mb. university of winnipeg. (n.d.). celebrating the life & art of tony tascona. retrieved from http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/newsfla sh-060602 whitelaw, a., foss, b., & paikowsky s. (eds.). (2010). the visual arts in canada: the twentieth century. toronto: oxford university press. yates, s. (1997, february). mything in action: tony tascona. border crossings, 16(1), 4–5. 231 http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/12/greatest-living-artists-poll http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/12/greatest-living-artists-poll http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/newsflash-060602 http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/newsflash-060602 barski figures figure 1 tony tascona, standard bearers, 1962, oil on canvas, 81.5 × 102 cm. available at: http://wag.ca/art/art-search/display,result/54897, collection of the winnipeg art gallery figure 2 tony tascona, lobby of manitoba centennial concert hall, tascona with mural, painted aluminium. available at: http://0.static.wix.com/ media/a4b7337f45b75557229cf22640f263e4.wix_mp_1024, university of manitoba archives figure 3 tony tascona, continuum, 1982–1983, lacquer on routed aluminium, 91.4 × 243.9 cm. available at: http://wag.ca/, collection of the winnipeg art gallery figure 4 tony tascona, untitled (prop cycle), 1973, lacquer on aluminium, 121.7 × 152.3 cm. available at: http://wag.ca/ collection of the winnipeg art gallery figure 5 tony tascona, suspended resin discs. available at: http://www.winnip egarchitecture.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/freshwaterinstitute_lobby 2_c72.jpg, winnipeg architecture foundation figure 6 richard serra, the matter of time, 2005, steel available at: https://flic.kr/p/6qpkjw, (photograph: tony higsett, 2009) figure 7 tony tascona, sun spots, 1999, ink on paper, 52 × 70 cm. available at: http://wag.ca/, collection of the winnipeg art gallery 232 http://wag.ca/art/art-search/display,result/54897 http://0.static.wix.com/media/a4b7337f45b75557229cf22640f263e4.wix_mp_1024 http://0.static.wix.com/media/a4b7337f45b75557229cf22640f263e4.wix_mp_1024 http://wag.ca/ http://wag.ca/ http://www.winnipegarchitecture.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/freshwaterinstitute_lobby2_c72.jpg http://www.winnipegarchitecture.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/freshwaterinstitute_lobby2_c72.jpg http://www.winnipegarchitecture.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/freshwaterinstitute_lobby2_c72.jpg https://flic.kr/p/6qpkjw http://wag.ca/ introduction biography academic training and early influences setback and isolation tascona's art and innovation comparisons with richard serra conclusion the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 the arbutus review is produced by the division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the university of victoria. the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009 as the undergraduate research scholarship program the then vice-president academic and provost, and current university president, jamie cassels. it was designed to support and create truly formative research experiences for exceptional undergraduate students. the division of learning and teaching support and innovation administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submissions that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review sometimes publishes other exceptional work from students in departments across campus. 1 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by a faculty member at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper. dr. annalee lepp, department of gender studies author: jacqueline kittel dr. francisco colino, department of exercise science, physical & health education authors: meghan mcgowan, camille hémond-hill, & justine nakazawa dr. heather alexander, division of medical sciences authors: rachel rickaby & jeanine sinclair dr. brian thom, department of anthropology author: michael graeme dr. mihai sima, department of electrical & computer engineering author: brosnan yuen dr. david scott, department of philosophy author: andrada-elena holmgren as well, all submissions are reviewed blind by at least two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. john buxcey ilamparithi thirumarai chelvan aidan collier elise forest-hammond nova hanson katie harms philippe lucas alexa norton claire sauvage-mar thomas service s. gokhun tanyer david vogt jordan wadden ryan wong ramin zaeim 2 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 the arbutus review would also like to thank others whose ideas, work and guidance have contributed to the journal. laurene sheilds, executive director of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, who provides guidance to the journal and oversees the online journal systems software that allows us to publish online madeline walker, arbutus review editor and typesetter, uvic centre for academic communication coordinator shailoo bedi, director (student academic success) of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation; arbutus review managing editor; and director, academic commons and strategic assessment, uvic libraries zachary adams for help with latex the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions, or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors, the advisory board, and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: shailoo bedi, phd director (student academic success) division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca madeline walker, phd coordinator, centre for academic communication division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria cacpc@uvic.ca ————————————————————– 3 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 assisted migration and latitudinal limitations of whitebark pine jesse wood ∗ the university of victoria jessewood123@hotmail.com abstract whitebark pine, a high alpine tree species, is limited up to 55◦n despite uncolonized suitable habitat that exists in northern british columbia. it is unclear what limits its northward distribution. whitebark pine is dependent upon a bird species, clark’s nutcracker, for its seed dispersal, therefore, the bird’s limitations must be examined. as optimal seed caching sites are located in recently burned sites, this paper hypothesizes that the fire regime in northern forests is not conducive for the creation of these sites. assisted migration projects must focus more attention to long-term regeneration by addressing the needs of clark’s nutcracker. keywords:whitebark pine; pinus albicaulis; clark’s nutcracker; nucifraga columbiana; assisted migration; species range limits; restoration; conservation i. introduction w hitebark pine (pinus albicaulis) is an endangered tree species located in the highest forested sites in the northwestern united states and southwestern canada (tomback, arno, & keane, 2001). whitebark pine plays a critical role in the high alpine ecosystems, producing food, shelter, and influencing watershed hydrology (tomback et al., 2001). the distribution of whitebark pine is shrinking due to white pine blister rust (cronartium ribicola; further referred to as wpbr), mountain pine beetle (dendroctonus ponderosae; further referred to as mpb), fire suppression (which leads to enhanced competition from other tree species), and climate change (tomback et al., 2001). climate change is forcing the migration of whitebark pine to higher elevations and higher latitudes, but the slow reproductive rate of whitebark pine may inhibit the drastic migration needed to sustain the species (mclane & aitken, 2012). bower and aitken suggest that the only hope for this species’ survival is restoration of the whitebark pine habitat by means of migrating blister rust resistant genotypes “along environmental gradients and into areas of new potential habitat” (p. 74). this process of transplanting seedlings to uncolonized areas will be referred to throughout this paper as assisted migration. species distribution models (sdms; which show the predicted range of a given species) show that, although much of whitebark pine’s current range will be lost due to climate change, a similar sized suitable climate will emerge in northern british columbia (bc); (mclane & aitken, 2012). interestingly, these models also reveal that whitebark pine does not inhabit all of its current suitable climate range in northern bc (hamann & wang, 2006). as whitebark pine is dependent upon clark’s nutcracker (nucifraga columbiana) to disperse its seeds, this paper hypothesizes that the latitudinal limitations of whitebark pine are rather limitations of clark’s nutcracker (tomback, 1982). it is then hypothesized that a possible explanation for the latitudinal limits may be related to the ∗i would like to thank jill harvey for her encouragement, insight, support, and contagious passion for trees. i would also like to thank my family, allie simpson and laurie waye from the arbutus review for their continued support. finally, i would like to thank the anonymous peer reviewers for their helpful recommendations and questions. 17 mailto:jessewood123@hotmail.com the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 fire regime of northern forests, which may not be conducive for clark’s nutcracker, as it has an affinity to cache its seeds in recently burned sites (tomback, 2001). for this reason, the ecological interactions between these two species should be further understood and be given higher priority in restoration research. future research in this area could improve the success of assisted migration restoration projects and will be explained in greater detail in this paper. this paper will be of most interest to those working in government, forestry, and various academic disciplines such as geography and biology. it is my hope that this paper will serve to draw attention to an endangered species and generate discussions that may build upon the ideas shared in this paper. coupled with further research, assisted migration, if conducted properly, may prove to be an effective means to protect an endangered species (and ecosystem) that will likely disappear without active human intervention. ii. whitebark pine ecology and significance whitebark pine inhabits windy, moist climatic zones which experience short, cool summers and long, cold winters (arno & hoff, 1989). whitebark pine stands may be pure or mixed with lodgepole pine in areas with low precipitation, engelmann spruce and subalpine fir (essf) in the rockies, and mountain hemlock in the coastal mountains and the cascades in bc (arno & hoff, 1989). whitebark pine’s large seeds are an important food source for a variety of species including clark’s nutcracker, squirrels, and grizzly bears (tomback & kendall, 2001). whitebark pine is a keystone species, a species whose impact on its environment is disproportionately large given its abundance (tomback et al., 2001; paine, 1995). it protects watersheds through regulating runoff and reducing soil erosion as it stabilizes the soils in the high alpine regions in which it grows (tomback et al., 2001). whitebark pine promotes biodiversity and facilitates succession (the development of the ecological community over time) by creating microclimates more conducive for the colonization of other species (tomback et al., 2001). whitebark pine is also known for providing food and various types of shelter for a host of vertebrate and invertebrate species. for these reasons, the loss of whitebark pine would alter watershed hydrology, successional processes and the diversity of high alpine communities (tomback et al., 2001). interestingly, the existence of whitebark pine is dependent upon a single species of bird to disperse its seeds. whitebark pine has a mutualistic relationship and hypothesized coevolution with clark’s nutcracker (tomback, 1982). whitebark pine seeds are very large, wingless, high in fat, and are the primary food source of clark’s nutcracker (tomback, 1982). this bird is responsible for the dispersal and reproduction of whitebark pine as it creates seed caches of three to seven seeds, two centimetres below the soil surface, in sites ideal for seed germination (tomback, 1982). although other species such as mice, squirrels, and chipmunks collect and store seeds, cache and site conditions chosen by these animals are less conducive for germination and are less abundant (tomback, 1982). with little effective dispersal from other animals, the establishment of whitebark pine seedlings is, therefore, almost completely dictated by clark’s nutcracker. thus, clark’s nutcracker habitat and behaviour is of utmost importance to the preservation of whitebark pine. the following paragraphs will elaborate on the role of climate change on whitebark pine, its geographic distribution, its habitats requirements, current restoration initiatives, and the requirements for assisted migration. drawing information from these topics, i conclude with recommendations for future research and restoration. 18 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 iii. biogeography i. climate change along with wpbr, mpb, and fire suppression, climate change poses a significant threat to whitebark pine (kendall & keane, 2001). arno notes that whitebark pine is a slow-growing species, taking around 65 years to produce female cones (kendall & keane, 2001). mclane and aitken (2012) suggest that with the current rate of climate change and the slow reproductive rate of whitebark pine, the species will not be able to adapt or migrate at a fast enough rate to save it from extinction. hamann and wang’s sdm generated for bc’s biogeoclimatic zones show that by 2025, 59% of the current whitebark pine habitat will be lost while 52% new habitat will be created (2006). by 2085, the percentages will increase to 73% and 76% respectively (hamann & wang, 2006). interestingly, it was also noted in hamann and wang’s models that whitebark pine was observed in only 54% of its current predicted range (2006). whitebark pine ceases to exist beyond 55◦n in bc. in another sdm created by wang for mclane and aitken (2012), the majority of the uncolonized suitable area lies in northwestern bc. by planting whitebark pine seeds in various locations within the predicted areas north of its current observed range, mclane and aitken (2012) have proven that whitebark pine is able to establish. their findings support their sdms and eliminate climatic conditions as the sole limiting factors for the species’ northward colonization. the development of restoration programs must then consider both the changing climatic conditions as well as the existing limitations restricting the species. ii. latitudinal limitations it remains unknown why whitebark pine does not currently grow at latitudes beyond 55◦n in bc despite the suitable climate that exists (d. f. tomback, personal communication, november 23, 2014; mclane & aitken, 2012). mclane and aitken (2012) determined that snow pack and snowmelt timing may affect the germination of whitebark pine, but it is unlikely that those factors alone restrict whitebark pine’s northward colonization. a combination of climatic and nonclimatic factors likely dictate the species range. i hypothesize that the latitudinal limitations of whitebark pine are actually limitations of clark’s nutcracker. it is possible that the uncolonized habitat in wang’s models may be suitable for whitebark pine, but not for clark’s nutcracker. the presence of clark’s nutcracker “seems somewhat unpredictable at the northern end,” and ”there are fewer alternative seed sources to support them” (d. f. tomback, personal communication, november 23, 2014 and may 24, 2015). while limited alternative seed sources could be contributing to the latitudinal limits, i hypothesize that there are multiple factors influencing the range limits of clark’s nutcracker: most notably, the availability of optimal seed caching grounds. such optimal caching grounds can be created through disturbance; thus, fire plays an important role in maintaining the structure of the high alpine community (tomback, 2001). iii. importance of fire whitebark pine is a pioneer species that is often the first conifer species to establish after a stand-replacing event (a disturbance that has killed most or all of the trees in the stand) (tomback et al., 2001). the hardiness of its seeds, its shade intolerance, and its effective dispersal method (clark’s nutcracker) enable it to establish quicker and in greater abundance than wind-dispersed species in recently disturbed areas (tomback, 2001). it also is less flammable than its subalpine competitors, increasing its chance of survival in the event of ground fires (tomback et al., 2001). these adaptations allow whitebark pine to thrive in environments with mixed-severity fires. 19 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 whitebark pine is able to establish quicker than its competitors as clark’s nutcracker cache their seeds in open, disturbed sites, and have an affinity for recently burned sites (tomback, 2001). i hypothesize that northern bc does not have a fire regime suitable for the creation of nutcracker caching sites. similar to the effects of fire exclusion, successional replacement (replacement of whitebark pine by englemann spruce and subalpine fir) would also occur in areas with long fire return intervals. arno (2001) notes that whitebark pine fire intervals typically range from 50 to 300+ years and fires are typically of mixed–severity. i hypothesize that southern bc experiences more frequent, less severe fires than northern forests in the same biogeoclimatic classification. at latitudes higher than 55◦n, the essf zone could have a fire regime that is less optimal for whitebark pine and clark’s nutcracker caching grounds. restoration programs should, therefore, consider further research on the latitudinal differences in fire regimes in high alpine communities along with identifying other potential limitations for clark’s nutcracker. iv. restoration i. current restoration initiatives academic literature, research, and governmental restoration initiatives, in both canada and the united states, indicate that whitebark pine is a species that many people are passionate about saving, as it is essential to ecological health on a local and regional scale. as whitebark pine seeds can be an important dietary component for grizzly bears, an iconic species in the northwest, they receive more public interest than they might otherwise. in 2012, whitebark pine was listed as an endangered species under the species at risk act (sara), giving it legal protection in canada (species at risk public registry, n.d.). the provincial governments of bc and alberta recognize the tree’s ecological value and have both established restoration programs (bc parks, 2012; alberta whitebark limber pine recovery team, 2014). silvicultural restoration techniques alter the forest structure, through selective tree cutting, for various desired outcomes. practitioners may remove individual trees infected with wpbr or mpb, remove competing tree species (such as engelmann spruce and subalpine fir), create openings for caching sites for clark’s nutcracker, and create fuel (by leaving cut trees) for future prescribed fires (tomback et al., 2001). other common restoration techniques that are often used in tandem with structure alteration are prescribed burning and the planting of rust-resistant seedlings (tomback et al., 2001). in 2011, the bc ministry of forests, lands and natural resources (2014) began a restoration program that involved the collection of seeds from rust-resistant genotypes in the selkirk mountains. planting occurred in the summer of 2014 on three sites: nelson (1000 seedlings), revelstoke (1000 seedlings) and cranbrook/kimberley (2000 seedlings) (ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations., 2014, october 20). additionally, parks canada has implemented prescribed burns on mt. greenock in jasper national park in attempts to create more whitebark pine habitat as historical fire exclusion policies in northwestern us and southern bc have led to successional replacement of whitebark pine by subalpine fir and engelmann spruce (species at risk public, n.d; tomback et al., 2001). research and restoration efforts in manning park have resulted in the planting of seedlings in 2011 as part of bc parks 100 year celebration (bc parks, 2012). while these restoration efforts address the threats from the wpbr, fire suppression, and mpb, they may be futile if the restoration sites are to become inhospitable in the coming decades. more drastic restoration initiatives must be utilized based upon our knowledge of whitebark pine’s reproductive rate, the predictions of shifting habitat due to climate change, and the unknown factors currently limiting its range expansion. 20 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 ii. assisted migration: an emerging restoration technique due to its unique high alpine range, slow reproductive maturation, and its poor competitive ability, whitebark pine is unlikely to become an invasive species if transplanted in an assisted migration project (mccaughey & tomback, 2001; mclane & aitken, 2012). as very few species, especially conifers, can endure the harsh high alpine conditions at which whitebark pine grows, it poses little threat to the native vegetation; rather, it creates microclimates more conducive for the colonization of other species (tomback et al., 2001). rather than create temporal guidelines based upon the species reproduction, bower and aitken (2008) suggest geographical and temperature guidelines for transporting seedlings: up to 1.9◦c in mean annual temperature of the coldest month in the northern region and 1.0◦c in the rocky mountain region. this translates to 505 kilometers northward in the northern region of the province and increased elevation of 320 meters in the rocky mountain region (bower & aitken, 2008). these guidelines increase the likelihood of seedling establishment and decrease the potential for cold-related injuries. along with the seed transport temperature guidelines given above, bower and aitken (2008) recommend avoiding the transfer of seeds between mountain ranges and caution against exceeding the temperature guidelines as doing so may lead to maladaptation (traits that become more harmful than helpful). translocating seeds from multiple locations may have adverse effects on the local population, reducing local adaptation, productivity, and health (aitken & whitlock, 2013). however, in the face of climate change, it could be beneficial to facilitate assisted migration of individuals to promote adaptation to the changing climate (aitken & whitlock, 2013). mahalovich et al. (2006) found that each seed zone they examined had enough genetic diversity (having rust resistant and cold hardy seedlings) to facilitate breeding and restoration programs. due to the high mortality rates caused by the wpbr, rust-resistant and cold hardy genotypes need to be identified and collected for migration following the temperature guidelines established by bower and aitken (2008). iii. recommendations current restoration efforts and proposed assisted migration programs have not prioritized further understanding of clark’s nutcracker habitat limitations and behaviour. the alberta whitebark pine recovery plan does stress the importance of the clark’s nutcracker, although their perceived threat is that the numbers of clark’s nutcracker will diminish as seed density decreases due to the death of trees infected with wpbr and mpb (alberta whitebark limber pine recovery team, 2014). of moderate priority on their list of research priorities is “current and future habitat for clark’s nutcracker” (alberta, 2014, p. 28). although this knowledge gap may be classified as a moderate priority in alberta (as whitebark pine is found in all of alberta’s high alpine environment), in bc it should be classified as a high priority because there are unclear limiting factors for both whitebark pine and clark’s nutcracker. the introduction of whitebark pine at higher latitudes has the potential to change patterns of predation in species which use whitebark pine seeds as a food source, such as grizzly bears, squirrels, and clark’s nutcracker. before an assisted migration project is undertaken, its interactions with the regional wildlife should be understood and examined. this could be carried out by examining the results of previous restoration initiatives such as in yellowstone national park. to ensure the long-term viability of human-planted whitebark pine populations, assisted migration project sites should be located in the ideal habitat for clark’s nutcracker. if no habitat currently exists, it could be established through various means such as creating small openings in the forest for caching sites (tomback et al., 2001). to successfully facilitate assisted migration projects, prescribed fire techniques, replicating ideal cache-creating fire regimes should be used. 21 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 creating ideal nutcracker habitat north of its current range could facilitate the natural migration of clark’s nutcracker and potentially facilitate the natural colonization of whitebark pine along environmental gradients. establishment of whitebark pine stands through assisted migration could naturally attract clark’s nutcracker, especially as the climate continues to warm. if the natural migration of clark’s nutcracker does not occur, breeding pairs could be relocated after whitebark pine has established and is producing seed. although the natural migration or introduction of clark’s nutcrackers would not occur until the trees began to produce sufficient seed, nutcracker habitat should be one of the main considerations with site selection in assisted migration and restoration projects. v. conclusion the literature and my personal communications suggest that the latitudinal limitations of both whitebark pine and clark’s nutcracker are not well understood. despite the unclear limitations, mclane and aitken (2012) have proven that whitebark pine is able to establish north of its current observed range. based upon their work, i have hypothesized that the latitudinal limitations of whitebark pine are rather limitations of clark’s nutcracker. secondly, i hypothesize that clark’s nutcracker may be partially limited by available caching sites due to the differences in the fire regimes between southern and northern forests. to my knowledge, these hypotheses have not been explicitly stated in the academic literature. although i have not undertaken field work (gathering data) to support my hypotheses, i hope that this publication serves to generate critical thinking by readers that may then contribute to this topic. to save an ecologically significant species and ecosystem, i argue that restoration initiatives should prioritize research on the limitations of clark’s nutcracker. an altered fire regime is one of the many explanations for the current lack of northern colonization, therefore more research on the limiting range factors of clark’s nutcracker should be undertaken to better understand both species’ ranges. this research would greatly benefit the emerging restoration technique of assisted migration. given the mutualistic relationship between clark’s nutcracker and whitebark pine, assisted migration projects must address the habitat requirements for clark’s nutcracker if the transplanted stand is ever to naturally regenerate (rather than rely on human planting). assisted migration projects should consider using restoration techniques such as prescribed burning to create the ideal habitat for both whitebark pine and clark’s nutcracker. in order to maintain viable whitebark pine populations, assisted migration projects must: 1) be located within clark’s nutcracker’s current range; 2) implement strategies to relocate breeding pairs once the stand produces seed; or 3) encourage natural migration to established whitebark pine stands. assisted migration projects, in facilitation with research on fire regime and clark’s nutcracker range limitations, could be an effective means to save whitebark pine from extinction and diversify high alpine environments. references aitken, s. n., & whitlock, m. c. (2013). assisted gene flow to facilitate local adaptation to climate change. annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics, 44, 367–388. alberta whitebark limber pine recovery team. (2014). alberta environment and sustainable resource development 2013-2018. alberta environment and sustainable resource development, alberta species at risk recovery plan no. 34. edmonton, ab. 22 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110512-135747 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 arno, s. f. (2001). community types and natural disturbance processes. in d. f. tomback, s. f. arno, & r. e. keane (eds.), whitebark pine communities: ecology and restoration. washington, dc: island press. arno, s. f., & hoff, r. j. (1989). silvics of whitebark pine (pinus albicaulis), general technical report. int-gtr-253. u.s. department of agriculture forest service intermountain research station. research station, ogden, utah, usa. bc parks. (2012). bc parks 2011/2012 annual report. retrieved from http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/ bcparks/bc-parks-annual-report-dec12.pdf bower, a. d., & aitken, s. n. (2008). ecological genetics and seed transfer guidelines for pinus albicaulis (pinaceae). american journal of botany, 95(1), 66–76. hamann, a., & wang, t. (2006). potential effects of climate change on ecosystem and tree species distribution in british columbia. ecology, 87(11), 2773–2786. kendall, k. c., & keane, r. e. (2001). whitebark pine decline: infection, mortality, and population trends. in d. f. tomback, s. f. arno, & r. e. keane (eds.), whitebark pine communities: ecology and restoration (pp. 221–242). washington, dc: island press. mahalovich, m. f., burr, k. e., & foushee, d. l. (2006). whitebark pine germination, rust resistance, and cold hardiness among seed sources in the inland northwest: planting strategies for restoration 2005. usda forest service proceedings rmrs-p-43, rocky mountain research station, fort collins, colorado, usa. mccaughey, w. w., & tomback, d. f. (2001). the natural regeneration process. in d. f. tomback, s. f. arno, & r. e. keane (eds.), whitebark pine communities: ecology and restoration. washington, dc: island press. mclane, s. c., & aitken, s. n. (2012). whitebark pine (pinus albicaulis) assisted migration potential: testing establishment north of the species range. ecological applications, 22(1), 142–153. ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations. (2014, october 20). whitebark pine experiment takes aim at blister rust. retrieved from http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/10/ whitebark-pine-experiment-takes-aim-at-blister-rust.html paine, r. t. (1995). a conversation on refining the concept of keystone species. conservation biology, 9(4), 962-964. species at risk public registry. (n.d.). species profile: whitebeark pine. retrieved from http:// www.registrelep.gc.ca/species/speciesdetails_e.cfm?sid=1086 tomback, d. f. (1982). dispersal of whitebark pine seeds by clark’s nutcracker: a mutualism hypothesis. the journal of animal ecology, 51(2), 451–467. tomback, d. f. (2001). clark’s nutcracker: agent of regeneration. in d. f. tomback, s. f. arno, & r. e. keane (eds.), whitebark pine communities: ecology and restoration. (pp. 89–104). washington, dc: island press. tomback, d. f., arno, s. f., & keane, r. e. (2001). the compelling case for management intervention. in d. f. tomback, s. f. arno, & r. e. keane (eds.), whitebark pine communities: ecology and restoration (pp. 3–25). washington, dc: island press. 23 http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/bc-parks-annual-report-dec12.pdf http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/bc-parks-annual-report-dec12.pdf http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/10/whitebark-pine-experiment-takes-aim-at-blister-rust.html http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/10/whitebark-pine-experiment-takes-aim-at-blister-rust.html http://www.registrelep.gc.ca/species/speciesdetails_e.cfm?sid=1086 http://www.registrelep.gc.ca/species/speciesdetails_e.cfm?sid=1086 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.95.1.66 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87%5b2773:peocco%5d2.0.co;2 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/11-0329.1 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09040962.x text box http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3976 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 tomback, d. f., & kendall, k. c. (2001). biodiversity losses: the downward spiral. in d. tomback, s. arno, & r. keane. (eds.), whitebark pine communities: ecology and restoration (pp. 243–262). washington, dc: washington, dc: island press. 24 introduction whitebark pine ecology and significance biogeography climate change latitudinal limitations importance of fire restoration current restoration initiatives assisted migration: an emerging restoration technique recommendations conclusion the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 watching the crew: commercial aircraft operations and the surveillance of pilots before and after mh370 joel c. holdaway* university of victoria holdaway@uvic.ca abstract the disappearance of flight mh370 drew attention to some of the deficiencies of current surveillance technologies used to track aircraft. this article links these deficiencies to systemic controversies surrounding several aspects of aircraft surveillance that also includes the monitoring of pilots’ drug and alcohol use and the gathering of flight data from the cockpit. i argue that the debate around aircraft surveillance began over a decade earlier, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. prior to 9/11, regulators, management, and pilots worked together in a model where thorough investigations would take place after every incident. measured changes in policy that were satisfactory to all three parties would subsequently be recommended and implemented. i conclude that pilot discontent over regulatory decisions has translated into a host of undesirable outcomes, including less trust in the procedures and lower morale. only through transparent negotiation can the trust between pilots, management, and regulators be restored. keywords: mh370; surveillance; aircraft; alcohol/drug testing; safety i. introduction because the u.s. navy’s pinger locator can pick up signals to a depth of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet), it should be *i would like to express my gratitude to dan lett for his thoughtful editorial suggestions as well as dr colin bennett for his recommendations during the writing process. 41 mailto:holdaway@uvic.ca holdaway able to hear the plane’s data recorders even if they are in the deepest part of the search zone — about 5,800 meters (19,000 feet). but that’s only if the locator gets within range of the black boxes — a tough task, given the size of the search area and the fact that the pinger locator must be dragged slowly through the water at just 1 to 5 knots (1 to 6 mph). (perry & ng, 2014, para 2) the qote above describes the most advanced technology avail-able to the multinational operation that, at the time of writing,is attempting to locate malaysian airlines flight 370 (mh370). one might expect that it would be relatively simple to trace one of the largest and most sophisticated aircraft in the world, yet a boat equipped with a pinger locator would have to travel at jogging speed and be within 300 metres of a crash sight to locate such a plane. in fact, modern-day pingers are based on technology developed in the 1950s (international society of air investigators, 2014). so why is it then, that we still use in-flight navigation and rescue technology from shortly after the second world war? though the answer may be unsatisfactory to many (especially those who lost a loved one aboard mh370), it lies in the well-established methods for gathering information and improving safety within commercial air operations. in this paper, i will reveal these methods, and conduct a limited discussion of the ways surveillance has been used since the establishment of commercial air travel. this paper will answer the following questions: in which ways has the increased security of air travel affected the surveillance of pilots, both inside and outside the workplace, and are these new forms of surveillance consistent with current academic concepts of privacy of the person? i subsequently predict that the industry will implement new modes of surveillance after mh370 — modes of surveillance that will ultimately be rejected by pilots and their unions, continuing a trend of lower morale and distrust between regulators and pilots that began with regulatory responses after the 2001 terrorist attacks. 42 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 i begin by reviewing surveillance practices within contemporary commercial air travel. first, i discuss cockpit data collection procedures. second, i focus on regulations and procedures for commercial pilots, specifically alcohol and drug testing. after this brief review, i analyze the significance of these uses of surveillance technology. the final section of this paper will link surveillance to broader issues in contemporary society, including conflicting theories of the right to privacy, the labour implications of increased surveillance on pilots, and the convergence of ideas concerning surveillance, justice, and safety. because few secondary sources on pilot surveillance and industry practices exist, the data in this study come from several personal interviews i conducted with industry and union stakeholders. in my semi-structured interviews, i asked interviewees basic questions concerning corporate surveillance practices, particularly those related to alcohol and drug testing, and union and pilot expectations. i also asked interviewees to give their predictions as to how surveillance would change after the disappearance of mh370. interviews were conducted either via a 30-minute telephone conversation or through email correspondence.1 ii. overview of current surveillance practices 1. flight data as demonstrated by the case of mh370, we know that at least some airplanes are not equipped with any sort of reliable wireless streaming of flight and voice data in the event of an emergency. however, a discussion with two airline representatives indicates that this is not always the case. when asked about current flight data monitoring systems in place by air canada, blake murphy, leader of the vancouver local executive council of the air canada pilots association (acpa), specifically referenced mh370 to assure me that air 1two of my interviewees’ concerns about privacy prevent me from publishing a transcript of our communication. 43 holdaway canada’s boeing 777 aircraft (the same type that went missing) are all equipped with automatic dependent surveillance (ads), a modern technology that murphy claimed was not installed on mh370. a private surveillance company called flightradar24, however, claimed to have status reports from mh370 that originated from ads signals (flightradar24, 2014). thus, there appears to be an inconsistency between the information circulating in public and the information disclosed in my one-on-one interview. further investigation revealed that ads is not a single technology, but comprises three separately defined technologies. airplanes equipped with ads-b (and manually turn on the outgoing and incoming functions) send automated static updates of their gps location and identifiers to other aircraft and air traffic control. ads-c, however, is a separate function that, if manually turned on, automatically sends out the gps location, the aircraft identifier, and any flight data information requested from an air traffic controller to an “air traffic service unit” (atsu).2 the information that a controller could request (and thus receive without first asking the pilot) could include fuel levels, altitude, air speed, and navigational settings (personal communication, blake murphy, march 22, 2014; anonymous canadian airline pilot, march 15, 2014; smith & evers, 2003). it is possible that murphy was referring to adsc when he claimed that mh370 was not equipped with this technology. but why does this inconsistency matter to overall aircraft surveillance practices? i argue that it is a good example of the current complexity within aircraft systems. ads is supposed to be a new technology designed to be used in correlation with computer pilot data link communications (cpdlc), traffic control avoidance system (tcas), vhf radio, and hf radio. while some of these communications (such as ads) remain voluntary in most regional jurisdictions (countries have national supremacy over their airspace), the older technologies (vhf radio and hf radio) are mandatory. this leads to a plethora of different technologies being used at the same time. 2i was surprised to learn that the pilot could turn many of these technologies off, including the black boxes. 44 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 experts claim that these new technologies increase safety (the question is how much) and since they are installed on air canada aircraft, we know that they are available (rakas, hansen, jirajaruporn, & bolic, 2003). the fact that these technologies were not installed globally on all aircraft, however, show that they do not come standard from boeing’s factory in washington state. this raises a number of questions. first, canadians may be curious whether the installation of these technologies are voluntary, or if they are regulated by federal government regulations (in canada, air space is federal jurisdiction). if the canadian government regulates them, are all aircraft flying in canada monitored? i searched specifically for these questions and if you happen to be what pilots refer to as “a nervous flyer,” my findings will likely not provide any comfort. the installation of these new gps-based technologies in canada remains completely voluntary. while jurisdictions are beginning to require mandatory use of the new technology (ads and cpdlc rather than vhf and hf radio), each jurisdiction has set a different time frame for the conversion. while australia has fully implemented these technologies (but not yet made them mandatory), the european union will do so by 2017 and the united states by 2020 (european union, 2011). thus, one can hope that the old voice-based technologies and unreliable radar coverage will no longer be in use by 2020. at this point, one familiar with air travel may be curious — what about the international civil aviation organization (icao) and international air transport association (iata)? what are their roles in the regulation of these technologies and why are they not able to ensure a more timely transition to twenty-first century technology? even though nearly every country in the world has signed the chicago convention — the premiere treaty for air travel that is the backbone of the icao — the implementation of the convention is left to sovereign nations, who are expected to implement laws that are consistent with the treaty (international civil aviation organization, 2010). naturally, this leaves lots of room for inconsistencies. furthermore, changes to the chicago convention require agreement from all states since there is no amending formula. thus, contrary to 45 holdaway what many people may think, despite nearly universal recognition of the iata and the icao — the united nations body responsible for air travel — there are no universal laws governing air space. due to the state-based nature of air travel regulation, responses to new technologies and procedures also tend to be state-based. this can be seen through pilot and flight attendant labour movements. even if pilots across international boundaries are concerned about a specific procedure, their union will direct their lobbying efforts in a way that increases pressure on relevant national governments. westjet’s flight data management system (fdms) provides a good example of how pilot resistance manifests. fdms is a new technology that was installed on most of westjet’s boeing 737 aircraft to monitor pilot responses within the cockpit, even in non-emergency situations. while the flight data recorders are designed to record the last thirty minutes of data inputs within the cockpit prior to an accident, fdms gathers this information on a continual basis (essentially an advanced keystroke monitoring system within the cockpit). westjet argued that they installed fdms to monitor current practices to determine whether current pilot procedures and decisions are effective in ensuring the safe operation of the aircraft (transport canada, 2004). not surprisingly, however, pilot concerns over privacy and surveillance were subsequently raised (and later rectified with national assurances). these concerns were raised within the context of canadian regulations and practice, not with international organizations such as the icao or iata.3 2. alcohol and drug testing i suspect that many will agree that the currently diverse range of surveillance systems operating within the cockpit is not reassuring to the average canadian traveller. unfortunately, current alcohol and drug surveillance practices of pilots are equally complex. like the data-gathering and communications-sharing methods outlined 3i came to this conclusion through the synthesis of various texts within my bibliography, primarily my three interviews, and the caesn annual report. 46 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 above, each jurisdiction has the right to set their own laws and regulations concerning alcohol and drug testing. since iaco and iata do not play a role in these procedures, i will outline the different rules by comparing and contrasting two different countries, canada and the united kingdom. contrary to what many may believe, the government of canada has not enacted statutory legislation requiring alcohol and drug testing of pilots. this, however, does not mean that alcohol and drug testing does not occur. within canada, pilots (of all nationalities and airlines) may be tested for alcohol or drugs if there is reason to believe that they are in violation of a statutory law or company rule (personal communication, anonymous canadian airline management member, march 22, 2014).4 though the acceptable limit varies between drugs, pilots are in violation of statutory law if their blood alcohol content is higher than 0.2 percent. additionally, my anonymous management interviewee informed me that his airline also conducts alcohol and drug tests during the hiring process. unless there is reason for concern, alcohol and drug tests are not carried out during a pilot’s semi-annual mandatory check-up with the airline’s doctor. the uk has similar alcohol and drug testing policies to canada. according to the railway and transportation safety act 2003, “a constable may perform a preliminary test when she ‘reasonably suspects that the person is committing an offence.’” while there is at least some consistency between the two countries, the fact that government regulations tend to be rather weak mean that there is still considerable variability in the actual drug and alcohol surveillance practices of airlines. consider, for instance, the implementation of corporate substance abuse programs. while canadian airlines appear to test prospective pilots during the hiring process, they do not conduct random tests for alcohol or drugs. though i cannot speak for all of canada’s airlines, air canada, canada’s only scheduled service international airline, has instead instituted a peer-review process to assist pilots with substance abuse problems (personal communication, mur4drug and alcohol rules established for airlines are generally more stringent than those mandated by the government of canada. 47 holdaway phy, march 22, 2014). under this program, if a co-worker suspects a colleague is struggling with alcohol or drugs, the co-worker may refer the colleague to management. this individual subsequently undergoes a mandatory assessment and if the allegations of abuse are proven true, he is removed from aviation duties and placed in a rehabilitation program. upon successful completion of this program, the individual is allowed to return to his aviation duties. to the dismay of the british airline pilots association (balpa), british airways, has not introduced a peer-review process and, as of 2004, initiated random workplace drug testing policy for all uk-based staff (from baggage handlers to managers). though i was not able to retrieve specific statistical data on how many people tested positive at british airways, or how many pilots passed through the peer-review system at air canada, pilot unions (balpa, acpa, and alpa the union that represents the pilots of 31 american and canadian airlines) have consistently favoured a peer-review process over random drug testing in the workplace.5 the role of surveillance within the airline industry is not promising. new surveillance technologies to aid in aircraft communication and flight tracking are slow to be adopted and westjet’s fdms preliminary surveillance project designed to monitor flight procedures was initiated by management rather than government regulators. furthermore, fdms was challenged under a national, rather than international labour code. when it comes to a common international alcohol and drug policy, national regulations are weak and inconsistent and corporate policies vary considerably. the fact that air space remains a national jurisdiction appears to play a role in this absence of congruency, but jurisdictional issues could still be resolved through a comprehensive international treaty. a question thus remains: what factors have prevented a comprehensive international treaty and what are the drivers of change within commercial aviation? 5i make this claim after aggregating data from the three interviews, the uk railways and transport safety act, balpa’s report, and james coll and michelle mccann’s report. 48 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 iii. current surveillance practices of commercial flight operations the 2001 terrorist attacks in new york city have drastically changed public perceptions of air travel. not surprisingly, these concerns have been reflected in the policy-making processes of transport agencies internationally, whether these processes are public or private in origin. these new attitudes on the ways in which aircraft can be used as a weapon have resulted in sweeping reforms to the rules of air operations. all commercial aircraft are now equipped with a steel door separating passengers from the pilots and there is a legal procedure for pilots wishing to use the washroom. first, the pilot calls back to the flight attendant in the galley to inform her that he wishes to use the facilities. next, the flight attendant discretely closes the curtain, then the pilot exits the locked door (which automatically locks behind him) and goes straight into the washroom. when he is finished, he radios the pilot still in the cockpit, who looks through the reinforced glass window to ensure it is safe to unlock the door. once the pilot has safely returned to the cockpit, the curtain separating the passengers is discretely reopened. in the terminals, where pilots used to be able to bypass security checkpoints, they now have to go through security screening with the other passengers. banned items such as nail clippers and pocket knives are confiscated from pilots as well as passengers. these new forms of surveillance have, not surprisingly, generated discussion amongst pilots and their unions, academics, lawyers, and policy-makers. though lawyers, academics, and policy-makers may commend the recent changes, pilot unions have consistently questioned their effectiveness and have raised concerns about undue discrimination and invasion of privacy (for example, pilots appear not to have accepted many legal arguments concerning the possibility that the nail clippers may be lost beyond security or that pilots may act in tandem with aspiring terrorists to bypass security). however, while the procedures and discussions may be new, the way in which pilots expect airlines and regulators to implement these 49 holdaway new regulations are not. though no specific procedure, method, or trend is absolute, the implementation of any new regulations (whether it be a change in procedure or the implementation of a new surveillance technology) follows a cycle that airlines and regulators have traditionally argued has been very successful (personal communication, anonymous canadian airline management member, march 31, 2014). both airlines and the public institution responsible for air transportation regulation (in canada, transport canada) invest heavily in accident investigations. each time a procedure fails, no matter how small, a formal investigation takes place (razaboni, 2013, p. 13). despite the possibility of these investigations taking years to conclude, the accident report must provide a detailed analysis of not just what happened, but also the procedural and mechanical reasons that caused the accident. national and international regulators, as well as airlines then discuss adjustments to the rules of procedure or mechanics of an airplane to prevent a similar accident in the future.6 this procedure was followed after the 2001 terrorist attacks. but instead of having a mechanical fire, or emergency procedural flaw, investigators concluded that the terrorist attacks occurred due to an absence of surveillance. the current procedures that were in place to prevent passengers with ill intentions from compromising the aircraft were deemed insufficient. the idea of hijacking an aircraft as part of a suicide mission was new and government officials felt that the learn from past mistakes system could no longer be solely relied upon for ensuring the safety of citizens. 1. flight data with the knowledge of the learn from past mistakes model in mind, it may now be understandable why, despite the technology being in place since 2000, mh370 did not have live streaming of its voice and data recorders. there simply has not been a recent accident where investigators were not able to locate the flight data recorders (black 6the sharing of accident information between jurisdictions appears to be very transparent. 50 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 boxes). thus, new surveillance technologies, such as cameras, data collection systems (including keyboard monitoring and control inputs), and live streaming of voice data have not been implemented.7 according to air canada pilot blake murphy, however, mh370 might change this. furthermore, the less-than-positive response to 9/11 now has pilots fearing that airlines and regulators will be overly reactive when it comes to implementing or adjusting procedures and practices. thus, one can see how new surveillance technologies, which were previously implemented in response to an accident, but since 9/11 seem to be implemented without adequate evidence of improved safety (in the opinion of pilots), raise questions surrounding the appropriate surveillance and privacy of pilots. 2. is more surveillance an issue? one often understands surveillance as an action that compromises privacy of the person, or in this case, privacy of the pilot. i argue, however, that surveillance of pilots does more than compromise privacy. though i disagree with david lyon, who argues that people need to be concerned about “where the human self is located if fragments of personal data circulate within computer systems beyond any agent’s personal control,” there is still an abundance of negative outcomes that result from multiple surveillance systems that need to be addressed (lyon, 19994, p. 18). but what are these negative outcomes and why are pilots generally not concerned with deviations in their perceived identity as a result of surveillance? first, pilots know that the nature of commercial air operations means an increased level of surveillance and thus increased fragments of personal data. for their own safety and the safety of others, the learn from past mistakes system has ensured that this surveillance is conducted under strict guidelines and the surveillance conducted is only what is necessary. because surveillance is traditionally only conducted when it is necessary, i noticed a strong professional pilot culture in not questioning 7since pilots always wear their headset, the black box records everything that is said, regardless of whether it is intended for the co-pilot, passengers, or the aircraft control tower. wireless streaming of voice data would likely do the same. 51 holdaway procedures and regulations. there is an immense trust not just in the regulations, but also in the expectation that pilots will follow them in all situations and at all costs. refusing to do so would be unsafe and irresponsible. for example, one interview that i conducted with a canadian pilot categorically ruled out the possibility of a fire on mh370 because a fire would mean the pilots would have broken procedure. despite an airplane missing for a month, this pilot still had an immense trust that had there been a “textbook incident” (and the textbook encompasses nearly every possibility imagined), and procedure still would have been followed. the second reason that ensures pilots need not be concerned about personal data fragments lies with the straightforward procedures of promotion at most commercial airlines. because procedures must always be followed, there lies limited opportunity for pilots to contend for promotion on the basis of merit. thus, promotions are handled purely on the basis of seniority. unless a pilot is dismissed, pilots that were hired earlier enjoy greater choice and opportunity regarding the aircraft they fly and the routes they select. this limit to promotion restricts ambiguity on how their personal data is being handled and instills confidence that there will not be unfair discrimination from surveillance data (bennett, 2011, p. 490). since the 2001 terrorist attacks, however, pilot trust in the system appears to be shifting. as noted earlier, the investigators determined that the 2001 terrorist attacks occurred due to an absence of surveillance. thus, in accordance with the learn from past mistakes system, new surveillance mechanisms were expected to be implemented. most passengers are probably familiar with some of these changes. there is now more comprehensive security at all commercial airports, limited liquids can be taken on board, and passenger name records must be sent to us homeland security for any flight travelling over the united states. as briefly mentioned in the previous section of this paper, pilots now have a procedure for using the washroom and must pass through the same security checkpoints as passengers. no passenger may visit the cockpit while in flight, and flights originating or terminating in the us must send the complete 52 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 list of persons residing in the cockpit to homeland security twentyfour hours before departure (this means that a pilot not on duty who wishes to travel no longer has the right to sit in the jump seat unless planned the day before a third seat in the cockpit that is commonly used for this purpose). not surprisingly, many pilots appear to not be satisfied with these new rules. many of these new post-9/11 procedures have been approached with caution from pilot unions such as acpa. concerning the possibility of cockpit cameras in response to mh370, murphy indicated to me that acpa would likely be systematically opposed.8 the reason for this opposition is concerning because it threatens the integrity of the traditionally trusted learn from past mistakes system. murphy argues that pilots increasingly do not see the correlation between recently implemented surveillance mechanisms and safety. that a pilot cannot take her nail clippers through an airport security checkpoint does not make sense to many pilots and induces (even if unintentionally) a lack of trust within the pilot’s ability to safely care for her crew and passengers (personal communication, anonymous canadian pilot interview, march 15, 2014). considering the immense responsibility entrusted to pilots, scepticism of the procedures and regulations is a clear reason for concern. 3. alcohol and drug testing it is for similar reasons that pilot unions, including acpa, alpa, and balpa are opposed to random alcohol and drug testing. it is argued that these modes of personal restriction and invasion of personal integrity without just cause reflect an absence of trust in the pilot’s ability to conduct his duties responsibly and care for his crew and passengers. furthermore, unions argue that random alcohol and drug testing is not consistent with the learn from past mistakes system. all three pilot unions have argued that a system proven to most effectively manage alcohol and drug abuse amongst pilots is that which incorporates a peer-review process. considering the risk of air travel, 8it is important to note that discussion surrounding cameras was only seriously considered after mh370 and murphy emphasized to me that this is his personal prediction since acpa’s board has not actually formed an official opinion yet. 53 holdaway some may be surprised that tort and statutory laws are not frequently cited and, at least in canada, do not serve as the basis for the union grievances against alcohol and drug testing. in fact, random alcohol and drug testing has never been implemented in canada or the uk by government regulators (railways and transport safety act, 2003). concerning canada, some lawyers have even suggested that corporate-based tests would have to test indiscriminately in order to not fall afoul of current human rights law (coll & mccann, 2013). in the context of the uk, balpa remains unsatisfied with the current policy of random alcohol and drug testing because they feel that the peer-review process in place at air canada and major carriers in the united states is more effective in ensuring air safety without the intrusive surveillance of random testing. we now know that it is rare for western governments regulators, such as those in canada and the uk, to conduct random alcohol and drug tests but despite all this discussion, i have yet to introduce any numbers to prove its effectiveness.9 unfortunately, the only numbers i found in my research were a non-scholarly third-party source that suggests balpa argued against random testing by citing statistics from the united states, where only ten pilots were caught abusing alcohol between 2000 and 2010 compared to five-hundred that entered a substance abuse program. since the us does not have a formal drug testing policy in place, nor is there any widespread program of corporate testing, these numbers are sure to be inaccurate. in the spirit of adopting the learn from the past system, i decided i would include this question in my three interviews. while the anonymous canadian pilot was unsure of the numbers, both murphy and the anony9for simplicity and clarity, i use canada and the uk as specific case studies of alcohol and drug testing. though i cannot speak for every country in the world, i was not able to find any specific case anywhere in the world where public officials randomly test pilots for substance abuse. there are cases, however, of public officials (in this case, the london metropolitan police), randomly stopping crew buses “to board and welcome the crews to lhr and advise them of the regulations.” according to the pilot bulletin, “the stop will only take three minutes and is an educational program” with the objective of providing information and educating crews of the uk alcohol regulations. 54 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 mous management member refused to answer this question, citing confidentiality.10 though i do not intend to challenge the effectiveness of the peer-review process, i must gently point out that keeping the number of pilots undergoing rehabilitation confidential is not the best way to defend the integrity of the program. iv. “it’s breaking apart”: the impact of surveillance on current practice perhaps the least relevant, yet most humorous fact that i learned in my interviews is the last words of pilots before an accident – “oh s***, it’s breaking apart.” such a statement summarizes quite nicely the current surveillance situation of flight crew. the fact that there is increased secrecy, discontent, and distrust involving post-9/11 surveillance procedures is concerning as it threatens the willingness of pilots to follow procedures and regulations that prevent accidents and keep passengers safe. such discontent necessitates further research into how surveillance has disrupted the learn from past mistakes system that was once so highly respected by pilots, management, and government regulators. luckily, this surveillance upset that is brewing distrust and disruption is not as complicated as it may seem. let us start with the random alcohol and drug testing. as i mentioned in the first section, even though national borders do not contain commercial air travel, it is still national law that is supreme. in canada, air travel falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government and thus, as far as privacy is concerned, commercial action must be consistent with the personal information and protection of electronic documents act of 2013 (pipeda). i do not see, however, how a random alcohol and drug testing policy would conflict with pipeda. there is a requirement that personal information (in this case, alcohol and drug samples and results) not be disclosed without personal consent (pipeda, 2013), however, a well designed program that is similar to the one in place at british airways would likely account 10despite a thorough search, i was also not able to gather these statistics from other sources. 55 holdaway for this concern. furthermore, if issues of consent from random testing were to be a problem, then arguably there would already be problems surrounding the mandatory testing of all new pilots, as well as the mandatory medical check-ups every six months (where any discrepancy is passed on to the airline and the pilot’s health report is retained by the airline’s doctor). as far as pipeda is concerned, the only clause that may conflict with a random testing policy is if pilots can prove that the collection of this personal information is not relevant to the safe operation of an airplane (the information is no longer used as intended since the intended application is irrelevant). in this respect, i do not feel that i could speculate as debate surrounding what is necessary would be outside the scope of this paper since it would require complex qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the current safety mechanisms (such as the peer-review process), and an evaluation of whether it would lead to a clear improvement in air safety. procedures involving data collection from flight management systems have been more contentious. though i was not able to find any public statements regarding the us department of homeland security’s policy of registering every person in the cockpit twenty-four hours prior to departure, the two pilots i interviewed did not understand how the program increased safety. though pilots appear (and claim) to comply, the inability or unwillingness for homeland security to actually consult with the experts on the ground (i.e. the pilots) means that pilots are less accepting of this new form of surveillance. it appears that in the eyes of aircrew, homeland security’s approach on this issue does not reflect moderated steps from past mistakes but instead reflects a blanket surveillance policy that is unnecessary and ineffective. one canadian pilot justified this approach as a “kneejerk reaction because they feel they have to do something immediate in response to the accident” (personal communication, anonymous canadian airline pilot, march 15, 2014). surely this deviance from the learn from past mistakes model does not serve to increase pilot morale, nor is it consistent with the tradition of a respected mutual relationship between public regulatory bodies, commercial airlines, 56 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 and their unions. unfortunately, however, there is more bad news. since the disappearance of mh370, murphy indicated to me that many airlines and regulatory bodies have begun to consider installing video cameras inside the cockpit. the “knee-jerk reactions” since the 2001 terrorist attacks have reduced trust between the pilot unions, management, and public agencies, resulting in pilots being concerned that there will be another unbalanced and unproven surveillance mechanism forcefully introduced into “their workplace” (personal communication, murphy, march 22, 2014). murphy indicated to me that though acpa has yet to formally determine their position on this matter, it would likely be opposed to cameras, as they would be an unproven violation into a pilot’s workplace. one may argue, however, that the debate surrounding cameras in the cockpits is really not that new. as noted earlier, westjet’s fdms also faced opposition when it was first introduced. inconsistent with the learn from past mistakes model, fdms was introduced not in response to an accident but in response to new technological capabilities. though pilots were originally unclear of the benefits and drawbacks of this new form of surveillance, transparency on behalf of westjet’s management reassured them of the system’s value in improving overall safety. satisfied with the value of the project, pilots accepted the increased surveillance from the fdms program. it will be interesting to follow how management and regulators will approach the question of cockpit cameras. unless pilots are convinced, through transparent and genuine intentions, that this new surveillance mechanism will improve overall air safety, i suspect that they will continue to express discontent, and continue flying in reluctant compliance of the new reality. v. conclusion in which ways have the recently installed security measures and procedures affected the surveillance of pilots, both inside and outside the workplace? outside of the workplace, pilots undergo little scrutiny. 57 holdaway the traditional environment of trust between the employer, pilot, and regulator appear to remain intact. in airports and on airplanes, however, surveillance of pilots has increased. though the learn from past mistakes model has traditionally accounted for new modes of surveillance, there is now a divergence between regulators, management, and pilots when it comes to deciding what new modes of surveillance are necessary. concerning pilots, this discontent has translated into a host of undesirable outcomes, including less trust in the procedures, lower morale, and new concerns that due process would not be followed in the event of a future accident. considering the importance for pilots to have absolute trust in the procedures and regulations, this divergence should be a serious concern for passengers. the national nature of airline regulation, combined with limited government oversight in alcohol and drug testing, means that new relationships need to be negotiated on a case by case basis, sometimes between the pilots and the national regulator and sometimes between the pilots and management. as westjet’s fdms installation suggests, however, one factor appears to be universal: only through transparent negotiation can the trust between pilots, management, and regulators be restored. though i believe such reversal in the current trend is doubtful, one may hope that the investigation following mh370 uncovers areas of procedural improvement that is satisfactory to all three stakeholders, thereby improving pilots’ trust in procedures and ultimately improving the safety of air travel. 58 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 references bennett, c.j. 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(2003). user request evaluation tool and controller-pilot data link communications: integration benefits assessment. transportation research record 1850(1), 20–29 razaboni, p.m. (2013). instant flight data analysis: international society of sir safety investigators. retrieved from http://www.isasi.org/ 60 http://www.icao.int/publications/pages/doc7300.aspx http://www.icao.int/publications/pages/doc7300.aspx http://www.isasi.org/ http://www.isasi.org/ http://news.nationalpost.com/ http://www.isasi.org/library/technical-papers.aspx http://www.isasi.org/library/technical-papers.aspx text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0261-5177(90)90016-3 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0373463300026199 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8519.2008.00697.x text box http://dx.doi. org/10.432 4/9780203 927137 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(asce)0893-1321(1998)11:1(17) text box http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/1850-03 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 library/technical-papers.aspx regan, p.m. (2013). regulating surveillance technologies. in kristie ball, kevin haggerty, and david lyon (eds.), routledge handbook of surveillance studies. new york: routledge. smith, a.e. & evers, c. (2003). method and apparatus for improving utility of automatic dependent surveillance. rannuch corporation. vol. us 6633259 b1. united states. transport canada. (2014). backgrounder canadian air transport security authority (catsa). retrieved from http://www.tc.gc.ca/ eng/aviationsecurity/page-168.htm transport canada. (2004). canadian aviation executives’ safety network annual meeting report. 765689th congress. 61 http://www.isasi.org/library/technical-papers.aspx http://www.isasi.org/library/technical-papers.aspx http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/aviationsecurity/page-168.htm http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/aviationsecurity/page-168.htm text box http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203814949 introduction overview of current surveillance practices flight data alcohol and drug testing current surveillance practices of commercial flight operations flight data is more surveillance an issue? alcohol and drug testing "it's breaking apart": the impact of surveillance on current practice conclusion the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 can cold brew coffee be convenient? a pilot study for caffeine content in cold brew coffee concentrate using high performance liquid chromatography sarah lane, josh palmer, dr. brian r. christie, dr. juergen ehlting, cuong h. le∗ university of victoria slane@uvic.ca abstract cold brew coffee is a brewing method that is increasing in prevalence. while it has been anecdotally suggested that this method may provide a more aromatic and flavourful coffee product, there is little research published that looks at the concentration of caffeine or other coffee substituents in cold brew coffee. the potential alteration in chemical composition in cold brew provides a few interesting avenues for research. can caffeine in cold brew be quantified by conventional methods? if so, how does the caffeine profile of cold brews relate to hot brew methods? here we report the caffeine content and variability in small batch cold brew coffee and show that hplc/uv-vis, a standard method for quantitation of caffeine in other extraction methods, is useful for detection of caffeine in cold brew coffee. the mean concentration of caffeine in an average 355 ml serving was found to be 207.22 ± 39.17 mg over five distinct batches of cold brew coffee concentrate. cold brew preparation methods produce similar quantities of caffeine as hot brew preparation, yet may have increased storage capabilities including improved retention of flavonoids and other secondary metabolites. therefore, cold brew may provide utility in clinical trials examining caffeine and the effect of other components of coffee as it is commonly consumed. keywords: cold brew; coffee; caffeine; hplc; extraction; caffeine is north america’s most popular psychoactive drug and is consumed at a dietary levelby 90% of the usa’s population (frary, johnson, & wang, 2005; heckman, weil, mejia,& gonzalez, 2010). caffeine is a naturally occurring alkaloid, and its popularity in part stems from its actions as a generalized stimulant through non-selective inhibition of adenosine receptors in the brain (fisone, borgkvist, & usiello, 2004; nehlig, daval, & debry, 1992). this inhibition, alongside systemic vasodilation and improved calcium intake, results in a boost to physical, psychomotor, and cognitive abilities and improvements to subjective factors, such as mood and alertness (einother & giesbrecht, 2013; ferré, 2008). since the primary source of caffeine intake for adult populations is coffee, it is important to consider caffeination effects in a dietarily relevant vehicle (wanyika, gatebe, gitu, ngumba, & maritim, 2010). however, coffee as a beverage category shows a large variability in caffeine quantity between preparation methods, and not all are ideally suited for research purposes. in general, caffeine content is dependent on the brew water temperature, length of contact time, extraction pressure, grind size of bean, coffee bean roast method, the coffea species, and cultivar the beans originated from (barone & roberts, 1995; wanyika et al., 2010). ultimately, these factors ∗this work was supported by an nserc discovery grant to juergen ehlting. the authors are also very appreciative of sam jones of 2% jazz coffee for the generous donation of cold brew concentrate used in this study. 15 mailto:slane@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 are chosen to reflect both cultural and individual preferences of flavour, aroma, and caffeine content (gloess et al., 2013). a unifying factor across most brewing processes is the use of hot water to improve the solubility of many coffee constituents (farah, 2012). however, coffee can be brewed using cold water if the grounds are given adequate time to steep. this extraction method, coined “cold brew,” has experienced a recent surge in popularity, breaking into the inventory of major coffee distributors within the last two years (“nariño 70 cold brew,” 2017). cold brew extraction utilizes lukewarm to refrigerated water and steeps the coffee grinds for upwards of 12 hours. the low temperature better retains volatile organic components, and therefore the coffee maintains its flavour in long term storage or in open environments. these compounds are difficult to study in hot extraction methods, as the high temperature of water necessary for brewing increases the volatility of many of the flavourful secondary metabolites and causes them to be lost or altered (albanese, di matteo, poiana, & spagnamusso, 2009; salamanca, fiol, gonzález, saez, & villaescusa, 2017). this change to the brewing process will alter both the profiles of caffeine and other secondary psychoactive metabolites, as well as flavour and stability of the product. despite an increase in the prevalence of cold brew coffee, to our knowledge at the time of writing, few peer-reviewed studies have been published examining the relative amount of caffeine, or secondary psychoactive components, in cold brews. although the cold brew market has increased by 580% between 2011 and 2016, much of it is in the ready-to-drink category, which is often bottled with additional ingredients that are not ideal for research purposes (barry, 2016; sisel, 2016). smaller producers that make it in-house are therefore potentially more appropriate, but small batches may lead to more variability. this study examines if caffeine content in cold brew can be adequately quantified by hplc/uv-vis, the standard method of detecting caffeine in hot extractions, and how caffeine content from cold brew concentrate prepared by an independent small-batch coffee company relates to general recommended dosages per serving published from other extraction methods (cano-marquina, tarín, & cano, 2013). materials and methods reagents methanol (meoh, hplc grade) and formic acid (fa, reagent grade) were purchased from caledon laboratories ltd (georgetown, on, ca), and acetonitrile (acn, hplc grade) was purchased from fisher scientific (markham, on, ca). double distilled water was purified by a super-q water filtration system (model zdpp02254, millipore, bedford, ma, usa) before use. caffeine standard for the purpose of instrument calibration was obtained from esa biosciences (model 70-6565, analytical grade, chelmsford, ma, usa). apparatus analysis was performed using high performance liquid chromatography (hplc), and based on standard methods such as those reported by naegele (2013). method was developed for caffeine determination of cold brew concentrate on a dionex ultimate 3000 (model hpg-3400a, thermo fischer scientific, waltham, ma, usa) equipped with a solvent rack with inline degasser (model srd-3400, thermo fischer scientific), a binary high pressure gradient pump (model hpg-3400, thermo fischer scientific), and an autosampler (model acc-3000t, thermo fischer scientific) with a 20 µl sample loop. a uv-vis photodiode array (model pda-3000, thermo fischer scientific) with a flow cell pathlength of 10 mm was used to detect analytes. the column was a kinetex reverse phase c18 (2.6 µm; 100 å, 150 x 4.6 mm, model 00f-4462-e0, phenomenex, torrance, ca, usa). 16 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 the binary mobile phase was a: 0.4% fa in ddh2o (v/v) and b: 0.4% fa in acn (v/v). elution was a gradient of 0 10 min, 80:20 (a:b), 10 20 min 50:50, at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min, with a column temperature of 30 ◦c. full loop sample injection was controlled at 10 ◦c with an injection volume of 20 µl, and the detection wavelength was 272 nm. sample preparation five individual batches of cold brew coffee were prepared independently by 2% jazz coffee (victoria, bc, ca) according to their proprietary standard method on randomly selected days. a 500 ml sample of each batch was collected and stored at 4◦c until preparation of sample for analysis. one ml of each sample was loaded onto a stratatm-x polymeric reverse-phase column (model 8b-s100-fbl, phenomenex), eluted in 1 ml meoh, and diluted 1:20 in ddh2o, before running the sample on the hplc. samples were run in triplicate. determination of linearity, recovery, and calibration a standard curve was prepared by dilution of an analytical grade caffeine standard (model 70-6565, esa biosciences) with an original concentration of 0.250 mg/ml to 0.200 mg/ml, 0.150 mg/ml, 0.100 mg/ml, 0.050 mg/ml and 0.025 mg/ml in ddh2o, which was run in triplicate. matrix effects of other components in coffee on caffeine recovery were assessed by method of standard addition. 0.075 ml of coffee sample was spiked with an analytical grade caffeine standard and diluted to 0.150 ml with ddh2o to achieve a total spike concentration of 0 mg/ml, 0.020 mg/ml, 0.040 mg/ml, 0.060 mg/ml, 0.080 mg/ml and 0.100 mg/ml. limit of detection was determined using a serially diluted low range standard curve of 0.040 mg/ml, 0.020 mg/ml, 0.010 mg/ml, 0.005 mg/ml, 0.0025 mg/ml, and 0.00125 mg/ml. standard error, loq, and lod were calculated using microsoft excel 2016 as outlined by shrivastava and gupta (2011). results and discussion the analysis of caffeine in cold brew coffee reported here was based on hplc, the separation of chemical compounds that, when paired with an ultraviolet/visible light detector, allows quantification of these compounds by measuring light absorption as they exit the column and are eluted. in this study, the wavelength used was 272 nm, close to the absorption maximum of caffeine. for absolute quantification, this was compared to an analytical grade caffeine standard analyzed under the same conditions. retention time for the caffeine standard was 4.5 min, and it had absorbance maxima at 275.7 nm and 231.0 nm (figure 1). 17 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 figure 1. hplc trace of 0.100 mg/ml caffeine standard measured at an absorbance wavelength of 272 nm; inset of uv trace for caffeine peak obtained from 3d chromatogram. caffeine standard has a retention time of 4.5 min; uv trace shows λmax at 231.0 nm and 275.7 nm. employing various caffeine concentrations, the linear range for the detection method was observed to be between 0.025 mg/ml and 0.150 mg/ml, with an r2 value of 0.9904 (figure 2). this indicates very high linearity within this range. the limit of detection (lod) was 0.000527 mg/ml, whose figure 2. a. complete range of caffeine concentrations analysed during development of method used to quantify caffeine in cold brew coffee samples. b. lower range of caffeine concentrations used in determination of lod and loq scores. lod: 0.000527 mg/ml; loq: 0.00160 mg/ml. c. linear range of the calibration curve used for quantification of caffeine in cold brew coffee samples. linear equation is y = 1698x + 16.889, r2 = 0.9904 18 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 value is determined from parameters of the regression line of the calibration curve (shrivastava & gupta, 2011). the limit of quantitation (loq) was 0.00160 mg/ml by a similar method and is an indication of the lowest measurement that can be obtained accurately. this was at the lowest part of the linear region, further suggesting that quantifications within the range of the standard curve are highly reliable. to assess technical variability, replicate injections of pure caffeine at a concentration of 0.100 mg/ml were performed. the coefficient of variation was 1.20%, with a mean observed concentration of 0.1069 ± 0.0008 mg/ml. to assess effects of other compounds in coffee extracts, pure caffeine was added to a sample of coffee at a final spike concentration ranging from 0 mg/ml to 0.100 mg/ml (figure 3). this process establishes the amount of caffeine that can be figure 3. method of standard addition curve for recovery of caffeine under the matrix influences of cold brew coffee concentrate. linear equation is y = 1797.9x + 48.409; r2 = 0.9963. recovered from coffee by considering other potential molecular interactions that might affect how caffeine is detected. the relationship between all concentrations tested showed a linear increase in caffeine detected (r2 = 0.9963), which suggests that the matrix effect of coffee’s other components on the recovery of caffeine is consistent over this range. the recovery of the caffeine spike under matrix effects was 97.4%, sample spike concentration of 0.100 mg/ml caffeine. this suggests losses owing to experimental parameters were negligible. a total of five independent cold-brew coffee batches were analyzed. all samples showed a distinct hplc peak eluting at the same time as the caffeine standard (4.5 min) (figure 4). the absorption spectrum of this peak closely resembles that of the standard (compare insets in figures 1 and 4), thereby identifying this peak as caffeine. additional peaks were detected (figure 4), which eluted at different times and showed distinct absorption profiles when compared to the caffeine standard. these signals thus refer to other compounds present in the coffee samples, which were not further investigated here. the average caffeine content per batch was 1.1678 ± 0.2207 mg/ml. to assess the amount of caffeine per serving, caffeine was normalized to the average volume of cold brew concentrate used by 2% jazz coffee (1:1 concentrate to water ratio) in the making of a 355 ml (12 fl. oz.) beverage. the mean caffeine content per serving was 207.22 ± 39.17 mg (table 1). this is within the range of values reported by other companies manufacturing cold brew coffee drinks when normalized to the same serving size. one analysis of swiss water r© brand coffee reported their caffeine content of cold brew concentrate in a 1:2.268 (concentrate to water) dilution as equivalent to 238 mg (strumpf, 2015). starbucks r© reported their cold brew beverage contained 19 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 figure 4. hplc trace of a representative coffee sample measured at an absorbance wavelength of 272 nm; inset of uv/vis trace for caffeine peak (x) obtained from 3d chromatogram. peak x has a retention time of 4.5 min; uv trace shows λmax at 231.0 nm and 275.8 nm, which is consistent with parameters observed for the caffeine standard (see fig. 1) 150 mg per serving (“nariño 70 cold brew,” 2017). the value of caffeine reported for cold brew here is also consistent with reported values for caffeine brewed using hot extraction methods (de mejia & ramirez-mares, 2014; gloess et al., 2013). when reported values were adjusted to a 355 ml (12 fl. oz.) serving size, the caffeine content for regular drip coffee was 142.5-495 mg, and for a single espresso (29.6 ml, 1 fl. oz.) caffeine content was 75-225 mg (de mejia & ramirez-mares, 2014). in another study, espresso had an equivalent caffeine content of ~63 mg, but that varied by machine (gloess et al., 2013). cold brew coffee in this study showed some variability between batches, with a standard deviation of 39.17 mg over five samples and a range of 99.36 mg, normalized to serving size (table 1). the table 1 caffeine content in individual coffee concentrate batches prepared using standard cold brew method from 2% jazz coffee. batch caffeine content (mg/ml) caffeine content per serving (mg/355ml) 1 1.3408 ± 0.0143 237.74 ± 2.54 3 1.1069 ± 0.0028 196.41 ± 0.50 4 0.8619 ± 0.0027 152.94 ± 0.47 5 1.1087 ± 0.0042 196.73 ± 0.75 average 1.1678 ± 0.2207 207.22 ± 39.17 note: batches were independently brewed on randomly selected days and stored at 4◦c until tested. caffeine content per serving is normalized to 355 ml (12 fl. oz.) to represent the standard volume of concentrate used by 2% jazz coffee in the preparation of cold brewed coffee for the consumer. average percentage variance per serving is 14.6 ± 9.5%. this variance agrees with studies that suggest variation in aroma, flavour, and other components of coffee is natural and based on grind, roast, and other factors that are difficult to account for (barone & roberts, 1995; wanyika et al., 20 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 2010). however, the range of caffeine content for other coffee preparations, 150 mg for a single espresso and 352.5 mg for brewed coffee, is significant as reported by de mejia and ramirez-mares (2014). this value is much greater than the range reported here for cold brew, 99.36 mg, which is suggestive of a much narrower variance in cold brew than in hot extractions. if the batch variance in cold brew production could be minimized further, then cold brew concentrate may have a significant advantage over hot preparation methods as a research tool. conclusion here we show that caffeine content in small batch cold brew can be quantified by hplc/uv-vis and when normalized to a serving proportion is similar in caffeine content to various hot coffee brews. the variability in small batches reflects the variable nature of both the roasting and brewing process, but remains within the range of caffeine deemed acceptable for public consumption (cano-marquina et al., 2013). because cold brew concentrate has the potential for improved shelf life, better retention of secondary metabolites and volatiles, and can be brewed in volume, it may be useful in a research setting as a reliable source of caffeine in a commonly ingested form. future studies should look at characterising the components of cold brew coffee that are not retained in hot extractions and their effect on the consumer. other studies might examine the kinetics of caffeine release, optimal brew time, and other variables that contribute to the batch variability observed in this study, which would improve its potential for use in clinical caffeine trials. 21 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 references albanese, d., di matteo, m., poiana, m., & spagnamusso, s. (2009). espresso coffee (ec) by pod: study of thermal profile during extraction process and influence of water temperature on chemical-physical and sensorial properties. food research international, 42(5–6), 727–732. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2009.02.027 barone, j. j., & roberts, h. r. (1996). caffeine consumption. food and chemical toxicology, 34(1), 119–129. barry, d. (2016 december 28). competition heats up in the cold brew category. food business news. retrieved from http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/business_news/2016 /12/competition_heats_up_in_the_co.aspx?id=%7b24abf61d-320f-46fb-b713-b5cfb 2967789%7d cano-marquina, a., tarín, j., & cano, a. (2013). the impact of coffee on health. maturitas,75(1), 7–21. doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2013.02.002 de mejia, e. g., & ramirez-mares, m. v. (2014). impact of caffeine and coffee on our health. trends in endocrinology & metabolism, 25(10), 489–492. einöther, s. j., & giesbrecht, t. (2012). caffeine as an attention enhancer: reviewing existing assumptions. psychopharmacology, 225(2), 251–274. doi:10.1007/s00213-012-2917-4 farah, a. (2012). coffee constituents. in y. chu (eds.), coffee: emerging health effects and disease prevention, (pp. 22–58). retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=y0qa89vcr3mc& printsec=frontcover&dq=coffee:+emerging+health+effects+and+disease+prevention&hl=en& sa=x&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=coffee%3a%20emerging%20health%20effects%20and%20 disease%20prevention&f=false ferré, s. (2008). an update on the mechanisms of the psychostimulant effects of caffeine. journal of neurochemistry, 105(4), 1067–1079. fisone, g., borgkvist, a., & usiello, a. (2004). caffeine as a psychomotor stimulant: mechanism of action. cellular and molecular life sciences, 61(7), 857–872. frary, c. d., johnson, r. k., & wang, m. q. (2005). food sources and intakes of caffeine in the diets of persons in the united states. journal of the american dietetic association, 105(1), 110–113. gloess, a. n., schönbächler, b., klopprogge, b., lucio, d., chatelain, k., bongartz, a., . . . & yeretzian, c. (2013). comparison of nine common coffee extraction methods: instrumental and sensory analysis. european food research and technology, 236(4), 607–627. heckman, m. a., weil, j., mejia, d., & gonzalez, e. (2010). caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) in foods: a comprehensive review on consumption, functionality, safety, and regulatory matters. journal of food science, 75(3), r77–r87. naegele, e. (2013). determination of caffeine in coffee products according to din 20487. application note agilent, 1–6. retrieved from https://www.agilent.com/cs/library/applications/59 91-2851en.pdf nariño 70 cold brew. 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(2017). extraction of espresso coffee by using gradient of temperature. effect on physicochemical and sensorial characteristics of espresso. food chemistry, 214, 622–630. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.07.120 22 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2009.02.027 http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/business_news/2016/12/competition_heats_up_in_the_co.aspx?id=%7b24abf61d-320f-46fb-b713-b5cfb2967789%7d http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/business_news/2016/12/competition_heats_up_in_the_co.aspx?id=%7b24abf61d-320f-46fb-b713-b5cfb2967789%7d http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/business_news/2016/12/competition_heats_up_in_the_co.aspx?id=%7b24abf61d-320f-46fb-b713-b5cfb2967789%7d https://books.google.ca/books?id=y0qa89vcr3mc&printsec=frontcover&dq=coffee:+emerging+health+effects+and+disease+prevention&hl=en&sa=x&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=coffee%3a%20emerging%20health%20effects%20and%20disease%20prevention&f=false https://books.google.ca/books?id=y0qa89vcr3mc&printsec=frontcover&dq=coffee:+emerging+health+effects+and+disease+prevention&hl=en&sa=x&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=coffee%3a%20emerging%20health%20effects%20and%20disease%20prevention&f=false https://books.google.ca/books?id=y0qa89vcr3mc&printsec=frontcover&dq=coffee:+emerging+health+effects+and+disease+prevention&hl=en&sa=x&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=coffee%3a%20emerging%20health%20effects%20and%20disease%20prevention&f=false https://books.google.ca/books?id=y0qa89vcr3mc&printsec=frontcover&dq=coffee:+emerging+health+effects+and+disease+prevention&hl=en&sa=x&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=coffee%3a%20emerging%20health%20effects%20and%20disease%20prevention&f=false https://www.agilent.com/cs/library/applications/5991-2851en.pdf https://www.agilent.com/cs/library/applications/5991-2851en.pdf https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/brewed-coffee/cold-brew-coffee#size=11044804 https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/brewed-coffee/cold-brew-coffee#size=11044804 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.07.s120 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716816 shrivastava, a., & gupta, v. (2011). methods for the determination of limit of detection and limit of quantitation of the analytical methods. chronicles of young scientists, 2(1), 21-25. doi:10.4103/2229-5186.79345 sisel, e. (2016 july 29). the strength of cold brew. mintel. retrieved from http://www.mintel.com/ blog/drink-market-news/the-strength-of-cold-brew strumpf, m. (2015 july 14). keep your cool with cold brew. specialty coffee chronicle. retrieved from http://scaa.org//2015/07/14/keep-your-cool-with-cold-brew/ wanyika, h. n., gatebe, e. g., gitu, l. m., ngumba, e. k., & maritim, c. w. (2010). determination of caffeine content of tea and instant coffee brands found in the kenyan market. african journal of food science, 4(6), 353–358. 23 http://www.mintel.com/blog/drink-market-news/the-strength-of-cold-brew http://www.mintel.com/blog/drink-market-news/the-strength-of-cold-brew http://scaa.org//2015/07/14/keep-your-cool-with-cold-brew/ the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 technology supports for community-dwelling frail older adults richelle stanley ∗ the university of victoria rstanley@uvic.ca abstract population aging is placing extensive pressure on home care programs to provide the necessary services for complex care clients to remain in their homes and avoid institutionalization or hospitalization. finding innovative and cost-effective ways of meeting the healthcare needs of older adults and the healthcare workers who support them is becoming a pressingly urgent issue. assistive in-home technologies, such as tools for fall prevention and medication management, have been demonstrated to positively impact health outcomes and the quality of life of autonomous older adults living in the community. this literature review identifies supportive technologies that may improve the home care of complex older adults while reducing caregiver stress through a comprehensive examination of current literature in the field of “gerontechnology.” past research has demonstrated the adoption of technology for home care support is beneficial in retaining older adult independence while reducing the risk of falls, medication errors, and caregiver stress. the findings of this review highlight how technologies are currently being integrated into home care and how the healthcare system can better include these technologies for home care support in the care of community-dwelling older adults. keywords: technology; elderly; aging; home care; smart homes; aging in place i. introduction p opulation aging is occurring around the globe — the numbers and proportions of older adults are rising in all countries. according to the united nations, the global proportion of adults age 60 and over will rise from 11.7% in 2013 to 21.1% by 2050 and it is estimated that by 2050 over 2 billion people will be aged 60 and older (united nations, department of economic and social affairs, population division, 2013). the most recently available data show that canada’s older adult population increased by 14.1% between 2006 and 2011, a trend which is expected to continue in coming years (statistics canada, 2011). in addition to an increasing aging population, current life expectancy at birth in canada is also increasing. currently, the life expectancy in canada is 81.24 years of age and is expected to increase to 86 years by 2050 (united nations, department of economic and social affairs, population division, 2013). among the growing populations of older adults, the most rapidly growing subgroup are those aged 85 and older; the age group at greatest risk for multiple comorbidities, cognitive impairment, and functional limitations that can threaten independence. because older adults have higher utilization of healthcare services, including hospitalization, than younger age groups, home care programs are vital to allow older adults to successfully age in their communities and in their own homes where they prefer to be (gitlow, eastman, gefell, o’connor, & spangenberg, 2012; mahmood, ∗this literature review was made possible by the contributions and support of the technology evaluation in the elderly network. 41 mailto:rstanley@uvic.ca the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 yamamoto, lee, & steggell, 2008). certainly, the aging population has placed increased pressure on home care programs that offer the support and services to help older adults remain in their homes and prevent institutionalization. given both a rapidly growing population of older adults and longer life expectancies, our healthcare system is now presented with the challenge of how to provide adequate care and services. innovative and cost-effective ways to meet the healthcare needs of older adults at home is an urgent issue. one promising strategy to meet this growing demand is to develop integrated technology systems that can supplement and even potentially replace selected caregiving services. recent advances in "gerontechnology" have focussed on designing technologies to improve the lives of the elderly and are changing the possibilities for assessing and supporting older adults in their homes (demiris & hensil, 2008; rantz et al., 2013). the development of integrated information and communication systems to provide support will revolutionize home care. the purpose of this scoping literature review is to explore technologies being used in home care, to identify gaps in support and services, and to make recommendations for next steps in research and development in home care technologies. ii. purpose according to reeder, demiris and marek (2003), the demand for home care has reached an all-time high as that provider workforce is also aging and dwindling in numbers. appropriate technologies have the potential to reduce the workload of healthcare workers, while allowing earlier identification and treatment of symptoms, enhance coordination of care resulting in better health outcomes and improved quality of life for older adults living in the community (jacelon & hanson, 2013). this scoping literature review will identify technologies currently being used in home care that may mitigate risk and improve health outcomes for older adults. critical analysis of the literature is useful in determining how technologies are being used and whether they: 1) are effective in enhancing communication between healthcare professionals and patients, and 2) empower patients and families to manage care more effectively and independently. the results of this study are discussed in relation to the international resident assessment instrument’s (interrai) home care assessment system to consider whether integrated technology might be used to inform and supplement clinical assessment (interrai, 2007). lastly, the result of this review highlights the direction in which further research efforts should be focused. iii. method an extensive search of studies published since 2004 was conducted using automatic searches in the cumulative index to nursing and allied health literature (cinahl), pubmed, google scholar, and science direct databases. key search words and phrases used in varying combinations were “technology,” “elderly,” “aging,” “home care,” “smart homes,” and “aging in place.” the inclusion criteria were a) the article highlighted technologies currently being used in home care to support senior independence, and b) the article aided in the identification of new technologies being implemented in home care, and c) the article was written within the last 10 years. articles were excluded if they did not provide sufficient information regarding the functionality and impact of technologies in home care. from this information, a total of 43 articles were read and analyzed, however only 23 were included in this review as they best met the inclusion criteria. although there were additional articles that discussed technologies and home care, some were not included in this literature review as they were not descriptive enough in regards to the technologies being discussed or were not included in order to avoid repetition of technologies. 42 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 iv. results technologies were classified into four common categories identified in the literature: 1) medication management and optimization, 2) fall prevention, 3) safety and behaviour monitoring, and 4) smart home technology. the majority of technologies fit into one of these categories. i. medication management and optimization according to reeder, demiris, and marek (2003), over 60% of older adults have at least one chronic condition requiring medication management, and on average require eight medications varying in dose, timing, and route of administration. medication errors in seniors are a common cause of adverse events, such as hospitalization or institutionalization. in order to decrease medication errors, numerous studies indicate that automated medication management systems for older adults are effective in helping them manage complex medication regimes (reeder et al., 2013; marek et al. 2013). older adults living at home without a medication management system are almost three times more likely to be admitted into a nursing home compared to those who have some kind of medication management stystem (reeder et al., 2013). thus, the use of automated medication systems to help older adults manage complicated medication regimes can ensure adherence and avoid medication errors. automatic medication dispensers in the home are an increasingly common strategy for managing medications (reeder et al., 2013). recent clinical trials have investigated whether the integration of an automated medication dispensing system could improve medication adherence and ultimately older-adult health outcomes (2013). the dispensing system used in these trials was called md.2 r© (automatic monitored medication dispenser) and is commercially available. the md.2 r© dispenses pre-loaded medications automatically (2013) and provides verbal alerts when medications need to be taken. in the case where medication has been missed or if the dispenser needs to be refilled, the md.2 r© automatically notifies a specified contact via a phone line (reeder et al., 2013; marek et al. 2013). the dispenser can hold enough medications for two weeks before it needs to be refilled. the findings indicated that older adults found the dispenser easy to use, reliable, and helpful in medication management (reeder et al., 2013). overall, the adoption of this medication management technology helped older adults maintain independence while reducing the risk of medication error or non-adherence. in addition to studies that investigated technology for medication dispensing, cheek, nikpour, and nowlin (2005) examined information and communication technologies (ict ) to assist with monitoring vital signs and other physiological measurements. the tools reviewed included a talking glucose meter or blood pressure and pulse monitor to provide information to adjust diabetic or hypertensive medications to reduce acute risks (2005). another medication management technology identified was the medication sensor pad. medications are placed on the pad, which sends an alert to the caregiver when they have been removed and taken by the client. additional medication management technologies being developed to support home care include videoconference calls between nurses and patients to assist and remind clients to take medications, as well as assistive robots that aid the client in adhering to the medication regime (2005). these robots might take the form of a virtual pet that reminds clients to take medications and becomes ill if the medication regime is not followed. medication mismanagement is a pressing issue that adversely impacts health care systems and the health of seniors. in the united states alone, the annual cost of medication non-adherence is estimated at 300 billion dollars (dimatteo, 2004). in canada, a study discussing polypharmacy in seniors determined that 25% of patients with chronic conditions reported having an adverse 43 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 drug event related to complex medication regimes (canadian institute for health information, 2010). medication management technologies can be cost-effective by reducing medication errors, non-compliance, and hospitalizations, as well as reducing caregiver stress regarding complex medication regimes. ii. fall prevention and monitoring in addition to medication errors, falls are another risk for older adults living at home. on average, one in three older adults falls each year (tinetti, gordon, sogolow, lapin, & bradley, 2006). while most falls do not result in injury, a significant number result in hospitalization or other medical care. about 40% of older adults admitted to a hospital after a fall are subsequently admitted into a long term care institution and do not return home (2006). these statistics drive fall-prevention efforts and technological strategies for the home. tchalla et al. (2012) explored whether an automated light path leading from the bedroom to the bathroom could reduce the risk of falls at night. this technology was coupled with tele assistance services so if a fall should occur, harm could be drastically reduced due to a quick response (2012). findings indicate that the combined technologies had a significant impact on the prevention of falls at home, while early detection also reduced the likelihood of hospitalisation (2012). several popular approaches have incorporated automatic lighting systems (e.g. the clapper r© in which clapping activated a light) to prevent falls in the home. advances in technology have made automated motion detecting lights a reality, as well as pressurized mats that remotely turn on the lighting system when stood on (wagner et al., 2012). in addition to lighting systems designed to prevent falls, a range of fall monitoring and notification systems are also being explored. a current example is a video surveillance system that uses a 3d camera programmed to track the movements of the older adult (wagner et al., 2012). it recognizes movements suggesting a fall and sends an alert to caregivers or a response centre (2012). this strategy can be more effective than a medical alert system that requires the older adult to push a button when an emergency occurs (2012). however, continuous monitoring (even when videos are not involved) may make a client uncomfortable. a less invasive fall monitoring system is a floor vibration-based fall detector that is reasonably cost efficient (2012). this technology requires a small sensor to be installed in each room of the house that can detect the difference between an object being dropped versus a person falling. when a fall is detected, an alert is sent to a caregiver’s phone or to a pre-determined response centre. at present, many of these fall detection technologies are relatively new, and more research is needed to assess their effectiveness at reducing falls and injury, as well as cost efficiency. iii. behaviour and safety monitoring medical/emergency alert systems and home sensor systems (e.g., carelink r©) have been available to older adults for a number of years (carelink advantage, 2009). for many home sensor systems, the client need only press a button and a response center will be notified of their emergency, giving clients and their caregivers a sense of security (wagner et al., 2012). other behaviour monitoring tools include home sensor or warning systems to alert caregivers to the absence of activities (blaschke, freddolino, & mullen, 2009). sensors are placed in common areas of the house, such as the refrigerator, stove, or dresser drawers, and function to monitor movement. alerts are sent to caregivers when no motion is detected after a specified period of time (wagner, basran, & bello-hass, 2012). these sensor systems are useful for monitoring clients with dementia who are prone to wandering or for detecting changes or decline in functional levels (blaschke, freddolino, & mullen, 2009). mattress sensors are being developed that monitor restlessness or 44 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 getting out of bed, vital sign measurements, and body fluid leaks, like incontinence (wagner, basran, & bello-hass, 2012). other technologies in development to promote home safety include automatic taps where water flow is initiated via motion sensor to prevent overflow if a senior forgets to turn off the tap (kim, lee, & yim, 2009). similarly, an intelligent bathtub system will have tap controls to limit the temperature and prevent scalding along with water flow regulators to prevent overfilling (2009). finally, new clothing materials will have the ability to monitor heart rhythm and vital signs as well as provide global positioning satellite (gps) location (wagner, basran, & bello-hass, 2012). these are all relatively new types of technologies and thus have minimal testing and information regarding the benefits to older adults in the community. further research will need to be done in this area in order to determine the effectiveness of these devices in improving older adult independence. iv. smart home technology one of the most comprehensive strategies emerging is the “smart home”. these environments integrate specific monitoring technologies into homes to allow remote and intelligent monitoring (demeris & hensel, 2009). intelligent monitoring systems “learn” the normal behavior and patterns of an elderly individual to determine behavioural abnormalities and functional decline (wagner, basran, & bello-hass, 2012). for example, wagner, basran, and bello-hass discuss the intel-ge care innovations quietcare system, a home monitoring and emergency alert system that utilizes smart sensors and analyzing software to detect trends and changes in the normal routine of the adult (2012). a daily report of the individual’s activities is generated and sent to the caregivers to provide information such as if the client got out of bed, how many times they used the washroom, or if they used the stove to prepare a meal. the authors note that this integrated system can also detect emergencies like falls or extreme changes in function (2012). this was an example of a smart sensor system while there are projects that have created an entire smart home environment from these types of sensor systems. an example of a smart home innovation is that of the tigerplace project in missouri, usa (demeris & hensel, 2009). this independent retirement community was designed to research specific monitoring technologies for older adults. the design of tigerplace reflects the preferences of older adults; thus, the technologies are unobtrusive, reliable, user-friendly, detect a range of emergencies, and require minimal action from the user (rantz et al., 2013). at tigerplace, inexpensive motion sensors are installed throughout residences to monitor changes in activity and increase safety. sensors can detect whether a stove is left on and bed sensors provide data on restlessness and changes in body temperature (rantz et al., 2013). there are a multitude of other smart home systems currently being developed and tested, like the prosafe r© monitoring system in france, which detects patterns of function (wagner, basran, & bello-hass, 2012). the awarehome project in georgia tests emerging home technologies and introduced tracking technology to help older adults keep track of commonly lost items such as wallets, glasses, and keys (2012). many of these technologies are still in the early stages of development and more research is needed to evaluate cost-effectiveness and impact on outcomes. however, the potential benefit of smart-home technology on older adults is significant. tigerplace researchers have shown that sensors detect changes in function in elders two weeks before significant health events like falls or illness occurred (rantz et al., 2013). home technologies can support older adults in the home, allowing aging in place to be a reality for seniors, thus significantly improving quality of life by increasing safety (2013). the table below collectively organizes the many technologies introduced in this review into the four previously highlighted categories of types technologies used in home care. 45 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 medication management these kinds of technologies were found to be cost effective by reducing medication errors, non-compliance, hospitalization, and caregiver burden • automated medication dispenser (md.2) r© • assistive monitoring tools with voice prompts – e.g. blood pressure, pulse, and blood glucose • medication sensor pad to notify caregiver if medication not taken • video conference calls with home care nurse for medication reminders behaviour and safety monitoring these home-tools are designed to provide clients and caregivers with a substantial sense of security • medical/emergency alert systems that are client activated through personal device (e.g. carelink) • home and furniture sensors to detect client level of function • automated faucets to control water temperature and overfill • technology-fitted clothing to monitor vital signs and provide gps location fall prevention many older adults who experience a fall will be hospitalized or institutionalized and will not return to their home in community; these technologies have been shown to help reduce that risk • automated light path guides client from bed to bathroom coupled with teleassistance • automated motion detecting lights • pressurized mats turn lights on when stood on • video surveillance coupled with teleassistance • floor vibration-based fall detector smart home technology smart home intelligent monitoring systems “learn” the normal behaviour and pattern of the elderly individual to determine behavioural abnormalities and functional decline • the quietcare home monitoring system utilizes smart sensors and analyzing software to detect functional changes • home and furniture sensors to detect client level of function • tigerplace is a retirement community designed to research specific monitoring sensors and technologies to detect changes and increase safety • prosafe r© and awarehome r© systems are in development to detect patterns of function 46 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 v. discussion this literature review examines some of the most promising technologies that are currently commercially available or being developed for home care purposes. the research clearly demonstrates that home technology strategies can reduce or delay institutionalization while maintaining quality of life and increasing safety. although home technologies have consistently shown to improve health outcomes, there are many barriers that prevent it from being readily adopted, such as financial limitations and a lack of knowledge about technologies. in terms of financial limitations, these home technologies and home modifications remain relatively inexpensive, offering a costeffective alternative to long-term residential facilities (tomita, mann, stanton, tomita, & sundar, 2007). despite this, more research is needed to determine if technology for home care support is a realistic possibility for those with limited finances (boger, quraishi, turcotte, & dunal, 2014). currently, technology is utilized minimally in home care, for reasons that include limited caregiver knowledge about technologies and the lack of healthcare coverage for it. for example, there was a recent study conducted by boger et al.(2014) that focused on the opinions of caregivers who discussed the kinds of tools they thought would be useful to reduce stress and workload in caring for older adults. many of the technologies suggested already existed, but the general population was not aware of common technologies like medication dispensers or fall monitoring systems (boger, quraishi, turcotte, & dunal, 2014). clearly, more information regarding commercially available products needs to be provided to caregivers. one method that might increase awareness of available technologies may be through the implementation of an assessment system that uses eligibility criteria to gauge health and care needs and recommend appropriate technologies to benefit older adults (demiris & hansel, 2009). an example of a system currently being used in canada is the home care interrai assessment instrument, which was designed to highlight and address issues in functioning and quality of life in community-dwelling seniors (interrai, 2009). home care nurses use this comprehensive system to assess the needs, strengths, and preferences of a client through consideration of activities of daily living, pain, and mental status. the interrai assessment is administered in person and used to determine what home care supports are needed for the client and to monitor changes in health and function for home care services (interrai, 2009). these scores are then analyzed by the software system that indicates areas of the care plan that may need changes since the last assessment. for example, the software will highlight if the client is at risk for institutionalization and if so, what areas of the care plan need to be addressed in order to reduce this risk. this scoping review suggests that this type of assessment system may also be a tool to determine which technologies a client may benefit from based on their domain scores. for example, a client at risk for institutionalization due to poor medication management scores would be identified by the system as an individual who may benefit from trialing an assistive medication device. likewise, if an interrai assessment discovers a client has a high risk of falling, it would indicate that the client may benefit from a fall prevention device. although these technologies have been shown to be cost-effective in the long run, the biggest limitation of this review remains as difficulty in determining the cost-effectiveness of initially integrating supportive technology into home care. there remains the question of who pays for the initial start-up costs as well as the cost of maintenance of technology systems. as well, it is unclear if reliance on these home systems may mask early cognitive or function decline, thus delaying health diagnoses (e.g., dementia, parkinson’s). however, assistive at-home tools may still be high–gain and low-cost: their long term benefits to older adult health outcomes, quality of life, caregiver stress, and healthcare system expenses may ultimately outweigh their limitations. because many of the technologies discussed in the literature are still under development, it will 47 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 take a significant amount of time and continued research efforts before they become commercially available and aid in making prolonged community-dwelling a reality. the purpose of this review was to determine if the adoption of home care technologies could assist older adults in remaining in their homes in the community. it was ultimately determined that while current research has shown the beneficial impact of home care technologies on seniors, further research efforts need to move toward to cost effectiveness and overall development and testing of these technologies. vi. conclusion in 2009, almost 80,000 seniors in canada indicated that they had at least one unmet need for their home care services (hoover & rotermann, 2012). as the number of seniors in canada increases, the ability of home care workers to meet these needs within our current care system is going to become increasingly difficult. there are many opportunities to integrate supportive technology into home care which, despite current questions of cost–effectiveness, may be a viable way to reduce the stress on home care services and caregivers, while enabling older adults to make the most out of their independence and lives in the community. this review has highlighted several types of technologies that are currently in use or being developed and provided insight into methods of integrating these technologies into the lives of community-dwelling older adults. it is hoped that future research efforts can better highlight the overall cost effectiveness of in home technology systems for older adults, as well as determine the kinds of technologies that older adults and their families indicate as beneficial to improving quality of life in the home. references blaschke, c., freddolino, p., & mullen, e. 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coprésence ; explicite ; implicite ; intertextualité ; références le lecteur attentif de paul a un travail d’été de michel rabagliati repère de nombreusesréférences au petit prince dans ce roman graphique. ces rapports sont de plusieurs natureset constituent des références intertextuelles, tantôt implicites, tantôt explicites : la différence entre le comportement des enfants et celui des adultes autour d’eux qui suscite le découragement, la transformation grâce à l’amitié, la notion de responsabilité, le symbole de l’étoile et la vision qui vient du c. je vais les aborder en ordre chronologique de lecture et de découverte, de manière à ce que les allusions explicites soient discutées en premier et les allusions muettes ensuite. cet essai va prouver que les leçons du petit prince sont toujours actuelles. rabagliati est donc un exemple contemporain qui utilise des références intertextuelles aux leçons du petit prince dans sa bande dessinée. il le fait en situant l’histoire au québec, avec les personnages réalistes, les premières amours, les camps d’été, les enfants et les familles. il crée une atmosphère où le potentiel de maturation pour un adolescent à l’âge adulte se produit. autrement dit, il décrit un monde où un adolescent grandit avec les leçons tirées de l’histoire du petit prince. selon gérard genette, spécialiste de la littérature, «l’intertextualité »(8) est une relation définit comme une coprésence, souvent identifiée dans «[s]a forme la plus explicite et la plus littérale »(8) c’est-à-dire par «la pratique traditionnelle de la citation (avec guillemets, avec ou sans référence précise) »(8). en fait, c’est la présence «d’un texte dans un autre »(8). paul a un travail d’été fait référence au petit prince et ces deux textes créent donc une coprésence. en mentionnant le petit prince dans sa bande dessinée, rabagliati crée «une relation de coprésence »(genette, 8) entre deux textes. le petit prince est une œuvre pour les enfants traduite en plus de 200 langues. c’est l’un des livres les plus populaires dans le monde. le narrateur est un pilote de l’air, victime d’un écrasement dans le sahara. c’est là où le narrateur rencontre le petit prince qui s’occupe d’une image d’un mouton. le petit prince explique qu’il est venu de l’astéroïde b 612, qu’il a quitté car sa fleur lui a ∗je tiens à remercier mon professeur et mon mentor, mme. hélène cazes qui est une source d’encouragements et des conseils sans fin. de plus, je tiens à remercier ma famille d’avoir toujours été en faveur de mes objectifs 119 mailto:brynnfader@alumni.ubc.ca the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 menti. le petit prince est déterminé à rencontrer de nouveaux amis. il rencontre plusieurs hommes étranges, un renard et un serpent, chacun lui enseignant une leçon de responsabilité, de vie, d’amour ou d’apprivoisement. paul a un travail d’été est une bande dessinée québécoise qui raconte la vie d’un homme à travers sa maturation. paul est déçu de sa vie jusqu’à ce qu’il rencontre annie et les campeurs à un camp d’été où il obtient un emploi d’été comme moniteur. grâce à annie, paul apprend la responsabilité ainsi que l’apprivoisement et il trouve l’amour. il comprend qu’il faut avoir ces telles choses dans le but d’avoir une vie heureuse ; sans quoi l’on devient tellement triste. plus tard de sa vie, il exprime ces leçons à sa fille qui en comprend bien l’importance. la première allusion explicite au petit prince qui se trouve dans la bande dessinée est celle de l’étoile. les étoiles sont un symbole et représentent l’amour éternel. par exemple, dans paul a un travail d’été, l’étoile est d’abord un symbole de l’amour éternel entre annie et paul. annie lui donne un cadeau qui est placé dans le ciel à perpétuité : «c’est un cadeau que tu ne peux pas prendre dans tes mains et qui est très loin d’ici ! hi hi ! »(129). ce cadeau est une représentation symbolique de la relation entre annie et paul qui peut être trouvée n’importe où. l’étoile figure dans le petit prince à la page 79, où le renard dit : tu regarderas, la nuit, les étoiles. c’est trop petit chez moi pour que je te montre où se trouve la mienne. . .mon étoile, ça sera pour toi une des étoiles. alors, toutes les étoiles, tu aimeras les regarder. . .elles seront toutes tes amies. et puis, je vais te faire un cadeau. la relation significative est symbolisée par cette étoile, visible de partout. de la même manière, annie et paul seront toujours ensembles, jamais seuls. paul a confié ce secret, la référence au petit prince, à sa fille curieuse et fascinée. il lui montre l’emplacement de la planète b 612, pour laquelle il indique une étoile dans le ciel. «tout juste au-dessus de la deuxième étoile, collée, collée dessus, il y en a une toute petite que personne ne remarque »(rabagliati, 151). il a choisi une étoile seulement pour elle. cette action est semblable à celle d’annie, qui avait donné, des années plus tôt, l’emplacement d’une étoile à paul. dans paul a un travail d’été, l’étoile représente un symbole d’amour dans le ciel, où que sa fille se trouve, à tout moment de sa vie. l’amour est invisible et devient plus beau grâce à son invisibilité même. ce concept d’invisibilité est tiré de la citation du petit prince : ce qui est essentiel est «invisible pour les yeux »(saint-exupéry, 65). dans ce cas, c’est l’amour entre paul et sa fille qui est invisible. en outre, le renard attire l’attention sur le fait que l’étoile est très belle parce qu’elle est unique (on peut ajouter que cela est semblable à la fleur, qui elle aussi est unique) et qu’elle lui appartient. le renard en fait cadeau au petit prince. de la même manière, la fille de paul peut voir éternellement que l’étoile de son père lui est unique. quand annie a fait ce cadeau significatif à paul, il a pleuré. grâce à ces larmes, on comprend que ce cadeau a beaucoup de mérite et qu’il aime beaucoup annie, bien que certainement d’un amour différent de celui qu’il porte à sa fille alice. cette étoile représente ainsi deux types d’amour : l’amour entre une fille et son père et l’amour entre deux amants. pour illustrer cela, sa fille portera l’étoile partout avec elle. comme le petit prince et le renard, paul et sa fille sont devenus uniques l’un pour l’autre et sa fille pensera au petit prince. paul avait dessiné une image à l’école secondaire du petit prince et du renard (rabagliati, 12). à l’âge adulte, son intérêt pour le petit prince a continué à se manifester lorsqu’il a donné l’étoile à sa fille. l’allusion explicite centrale, voir avec le cœur, est illustrée par deux exemples. le premier est que paul applique indirectement cette maxime en s’occupant de marie, la petite fille aveugle qui séjourne au camp où il travaille. il apprend, tout au long du temps qu’il passe avec elle, qu’elle est gentille, douce et heureuse malgré son handicap ; elle refuse d’abandonner (lloyd, 54). paul, qui a adopté les comportements d’un adulte, a besoin de comprendre comment «voir avec le cœur »pour 120 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 trouver le bonheur malgré les difficultés qui peuvent survenir. on peut conclure que les enfants dans ce roman graphique voient naturellement avec le cœur. plus profondément, l’esprit d’un enfant est par nature plus optimiste et les enfants sont occupés par l’imagination et la rêverie (hughes et king, 68). un exemple de cela est marie, de même que la fille de paul, car elles expriment qu’il faut toujours voir avec le cœur, en dépit du mal. l’esprit ouvert de marie est personnifié par la poupée que paul, adulte, trouvera sur le terrain abandonné. cette poupée est ensuite donnée à sa fille, qui fait référence à l’œuvre dans un dialogue avec son père. elle remarque immédiatement : «heille ! elle n’a pas d’yeux ! »(rabagliati, 150). ceci pousse paul à dire «qu’elle est comme le petit prince ; elle n’a pas besoin d’yeux pour voir, elle voit avec son cœur. . .»(150). la poupée présente un trait physique de marie, la cécité. avant d’avoir trouvé la poupée, à l’âge adulte, paul avait besoin d’un souvenir de marie et du camp, n’arrivant pas à être en paix avec lui-même. la poupée qu’elle a laissée au camp des années auparavant représente et perpétue le souvenir de marie. ensuite, c’est la fille de paul qui lui rappelle de voir avec son cœur lorsqu’il est adulte. alex farris, journaliste, traduit que ce qui est essentiel dans la vie est presque toujours invisible à l’œil nu (par. 2). cela est évident dans l’exemple de paul qui se souvient de marie dès qu’il trouve cette poupée aveugle. c’est donc marie qui provoque ce sentiment de voir avec le c œur. une leçon du petit prince est le secret essentiel du renard : «on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. l’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux »(saint-exupéry, 78). rabagliati incorpore cette leçon dans sa bande dessinée. le renard explique que ce secret est «habituellement oublié »(galembert, 22) et toujours oublié par les adultes. rabagliati démontre que ce secret est oublié par paul lui-même. cette phrase a été utilisée dans paul a un travail d’été dans le but d’expliquer le message positif : on n’a pas besoin des yeux pour voir la beauté de la vie ou du monde, une vérité répétée par marie. cette notion vient du petit prince : «les yeux sont aveugles. il faut chercher avec le cœur »(saint-exupéry, 73). en fait, marie a besoin de chercher avec son c œur, car elle est aveugle. cet esprit positif est celui auquel paul s’adapte pendant ses vacances au camp. dans le petit prince, «les étoiles et la fleur sont des images du poète (saint-exupéry) [qui aident le prince à devenir émotionnellement] ouvert aux autres et au monde »(pagé, 96). c’est la fleur qui aide le petit prince à devenir plus ouvert et c’est marie qui aide paul. l’idée «de voir avec le cœur »est une leçon de vie essentielle tirée du conte de saint-exupéry, et nous voyons à travers la bande dessinée que cette leçon est transmise de génération en génération. ayant comparativement discuté les références explicites, on doit donc exposer les références implicites. la première allusion est la différence du comportement entre les adultes et les adolescents, laquelle crée une tension entre eux. dans paul a un travail d’été, paul a l’impression que les adultes ne le comprennent pas, car le directeur ne lui permet pas de terminer son projet d’une fresque du petit prince et du renard. paul est très passionné et a «envie de faire ce projet-là plus que tout au monde. . .ça [lui] tient vraiment à cœur »(rabagliati, 14). cependant, il semble raisonnable au directeur de ne pas lui permettre de le réaliser à cause de ses mauvaises notes scolaires. en dépit du fait que la décision semble raisonnable, l’expression de sourire sur le visage du directeur est insensible, distante et impassible. la réaction du directeur et sa décision d’empêcher paul de travailler davantage sur le projet illustrent que les adultes ont des priorités différentes de celles des enfants. tandis que le directeur pense que les notes sont plus importantes que la fresque, paul est de l’avis contraire. néanmoins, paul est devenu extrêmement déçu et perturbé à cause du directeur, car celui-ci n’exprime pas de compassion. or, la fresque irréalisée devient l’album paul a un travail d’été, une fresque inspirée par le petit prince, retravaillée et mise en narration. pareillement, le narrateur dans le petit prince est déçu parce que les adultes ne comprennent pas le dessin du serpent qui digère un éléphant. les adultes interprètent le dessin de manière littérale et voient seulement un chapeau ; il manque aux adultes la capacité de se servir de leur imagination (saint–exupéry, 57), et donc l’aptitude de voir la vraie image d’un serpent qui mange un éléphant. 121 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 le narrateur déclare avoir eu «au cours de [sa] vie des tas de contacts avec des tas de gens sérieux. [il a] beaucoup vécu chez les grandes personnes »(saint-exupéry, 3). par conséquent, on voit un parallèle dans un comportement différent entre les adultes et les enfants à partir des deux textes. cette notion est importante parce qu’elle établit une différence fondamentale entre les deux groupes et est décrite comme le problème initial pour paul et le petit prince. plus profondément, la question est de savoir pourquoi ces deux groupes ne se comprennent pas. on en vient à la conclusion que les adultes et les enfants se préoccupent de choses différentes. d’un côté, [les adultes sont] piégés par le côté matériel, vulgaire de l’existence, victimes de leur vanité, de leur cupidité ou de leur paresse intellectuelle, les «grandes personnes »jugent le propos de quelqu’un d’après son costume [c’est le cas de l’astronome turc], évaluent la beauté d’une maison d’après son prix et croient connaître un jeune ami d’après les revenus de son père (hughes et king, 68). le narrateur développe cette idée en disant qu’il «ne lui parlai[t] ni de serpents boas ? ni d’étoiles. . .. [il] lui parlai[t] de bridge, de golf, de politique et de cravates »(saint-exupéry, 3). les adultes s’occupent par les «jeux fonctionnels basés sur la répétition (l’homme vaniteux), jeux fictionnels esquissés avec le roi et menés à terme avec le renard (jouer à rendre la justice) et jeux d’acquisition exerçant la mémoire »(biagioli, 33) ou «acquièrent [seulement] des connaissances stables sur l’astronomie, le système solaire et le comput du temps »(33). ils sont complètement consommés par les activités quotidiennes ; tellement absorbés, en fait, qu’ils n’ont pas de relations avec les autres et sont seuls. leurs activités divergent de celles des enfants, car le monde adulte est si compliqué (manoll, 20). de l’autre côté, les enfants s’occupent «de jouer, de [rêver] »(68), d’imaginer, d’aimer sans réserve, veulent un ami et ont le «besoin de communiquer avec quelqu’un »(pagé, 89). par exemple, ce trait se retrouve chez la jeune fille de paul et chez le petit prince. il veut un ami, tandis qu’elle imagine et aime sans réserve. le petit prince déclare «je suis responsable de ma rose. . .»(33) et la fille de paul a hâte de parler du petit prince, de chercher la planète b 612 dans le ciel et de parler à son père. les adultes et les enfants sont tellement différents parce que leurs comportements et leurs priorités diffèrent. il n’est donc pas surprenant qu’ils soient souvent en opposition. une autre référence intertextuelle traite du comportement : elle se trouve lorsque l’adolescent paul démontre les mêmes tendances que les adultes et contre lesquelles le renard met en garde le petit prince. par conséquent, paul ne peut construire de vraies amitiés que lorsqu’il abandonne son travail à l’imprimerie et la maison de ses parents pour se rendre au camp : il doit s’y faire des amis dans le but de survivre en tant que moniteur et doit prendre soin d’autres personnes que lui-même. avant cela, paul était seul. c’est précisément ce que dit le renard au petit prince : en tant qu’adulte, vous ne pouvez ni oublier vos amitiés, ni vous adapter au comportement majoritaire, et ni non plus oublier la force et les devoirs de l’apprivoisement. la leçon d’apprivoisement suggère que si tu veux un ami, il faut l’apprivoiser dans le but de rendre cet ami unique. cette allusion ne lie pas de fait paul et le comportement du petit prince, mais lie plutôt le comportement des adultes aux attitudes contre lesquelles le renard met son ami en garde ; ainsi, la transformation que paul a subie est adaptée à celle que le renard juge un comportement approprié (monin, 171). la transformation de paul grâce à l’amitié et à l’amour se lit également par allusion au petit prince. paul a établi des amitiés avec annie et marie qui l’aident à progresser. par exemple, il craint pour l’enfant qui a failli se blesser en canoë (117), il aide marie à imaginer le paysage en le lui décrivant (101), il l’aide à chercher la poupée qu’elle a perdue et puis, quand elle n’a pas pu la trouver (114), il dort à côté d’elle (115). il encourage aussi un autre campeur à la conquête de son vertige alors que le groupe fait de l’escalade (74). en devenant moniteur du camp avec annie, il se dispute avec elle lorsqu’elle lui reproche d’avoir peu de patience et de compassion (70). sa collègue 122 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 annie le fait réfléchir sur sa propre vie et il se rend compte qu’il a une vie facile (70-1), surtout en comparaison avec les campeurs. elle l’a donc aidé à progresser dans son comportement parce qu’elle le critique (77) et il a changé son point de vue sur la vie. il ne pense plus qu’il est malheureux et il est devenu reconnaissant de son sort. de plus, parce que la petite marie est aveugle, il lui est nécessaire de changer afin de prendre soin d’elle aussi bien que des autres campeurs et ainsi réussir dans son travail au camp. mais c’est grâce à annie et marie, qu’il mûrit. avant la transformation, paul regrettait d’avoir pris le poste de conseiller. les choses changent avec l’arrivée d’une campeuse aveugle qui refuse de se rendre à son handicap. leur liaison permet à paul découvrir un sens de soi, l’ouverture aux gens et le monde autour de lui. vingt ans plus tard, paul semble en colère et cynique. quand il revient, son cœur s’ouvre à nouveau, l’attirant à sa fille dans un point culminant de catharsis émotionnelle (lloyd, 54). on voit la progression de paul lorsque le jeune campeur dit que «c’est l’fun avec toi »(rabagliati, 75) et quand il se rend compte que les campeurs l’aiment, «euh. . .p. . .pis moi aussi j’aime ça avec vous autres, les gars. . .»(75). la progression est bien marquée par le fait qu’il commence à accepter ses émotions durant le départ de son premier groupe de campeurs et de celui de marie. en particulier, l’amour entre paul et annie déclenche aussi la progression de paul. leur relation amoureuse devient évidente quand paul est fasciné par le corps d’annie et quand il se dispute avec elle (une préfiguration définitive de l’amour) (lloyd, 54). grâce à elle et à leur relation, il apprend comment s’abstenir de hurler et comment aider les autres. lorsqu’il adopte les traits comportementaux d’un adulte, il n’est pas mûr. il éprouvera les premières «douleurs de l’amour. . .confrontera des échecs, et le sentiment d’être rejeté ou accepté »(hughes et king, 68). il n’adopte plus les comportements d’un adolescent, tels que d’être content, imaginatif et d’avoir un esprit ouvert, ou de faire preuve d’amour sans condition. malgré les traits qu’il possède au début de la bande dessinée, paul démontre sa capacité à changer grâce aux expériences qu’il vit au camp, à sa relation avec annie et en s’adaptant à sa mission de chef en collaboration avec elle. de même que paul, le petit prince a progressé grâce à l’amitié et l’amour avec la fleur, mais c’est le renard qui l’aide à accepter ses sentiments pour la fleur, pour qu’il puisse l’aimer telle qu’elle est. d’une certaine façon, le renard est marie, comme la fleur est annie pour paul. bien qu’il soit difficile pour le petit prince d’avoir une relation réciproque avec la fleur, il a besoin de cette relation. la relation avec elle se relie au message du renard parce que celui-ci prône la loyauté et le dévouement au petit prince. en dépit de la multiplicité des fleurs, l’amour pour une seule fleur dépasse la pluralité des amours possibles. il explique aussi qu’il a déjà apprivoisé sa fleur car il en prend soin. plus spécifiquement, le petit prince ń sera pour [le renard] unique au monde (saint-exupéry, 61). l’amitié avec la fleur conduit le petit prince vers un voyage, en raison du mensonge de la fleur, au cours duquel il apprend à aimer inconditionnellement et le véritable besoin et sens de l’amitié. cette progression est marquée par le fait qu’il a changé d’opinion à propos de la fleur. après il se rend compte du fait que c’est à lui de s’occuper de ses responsabilités (des campeurs, d’annie, de marie, de lui-même). il a mûri émotionnellement. le premier amour d’un adolescent se produit souvent au cours d’un point de maturation particulier ou pendant “une période initiatique” (paquin, 4). c’est le cas pour paul. son premier amour se produit pendant la maturation hormonale. plus précisément, paul a commencé à s’intéresser au sexe, aux filles et à l’amour, notamment après avoir rencontré annie au camp (rabagliati, 18, 127). en même temps, la relation entre paul et annie montre que paul grandit grâce à l’apprivoisement d’une relation importante et qu’il a internalisé des leçons du petit prince. au cours de son adolescence, paul est chargé du bien-être des campeurs ; il est responsable de quelqu’un d’autre que lui-même. plus tard, au cours de sa vie d’adulte, il sera responsable de sa 123 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 petite fille. la responsabilité est ainsi un autre exemple implicite. par conséquent, tout au long de ce roman graphique, paul illustre son sens des responsabilités par le soin des autres. autrement dit, paul a une obligation envers sa fille en tant que père, et comme chef de camp, envers les campeurs, notamment marie. le fait qu’il a rencontré marie au cours de son adolescence, qu’il l’aime et qu’il se soucie d’elle, l’aidera à apprendre le sens des responsabilités et c’est une leçon qui influencera sa relation avec sa fille. en revanche, le petit prince était en colère contre la fleur parce qu’elle a menti ; il est assez fâché pour quitter sa planète qu’il avait également prise en charge. il est responsable du bien-être de sa fleur et de sa planète. le renard a enseigné au prince à «répondre de ses actions ? [c’est] une connaissance difficile à acquérir. . .»(monin, 162). d’autres exemples illustrent cette même notion de sa capacité d’être responsabilisé : celui des baobabs qui ont besoin d’être élagués (saint-exupéry, 15) et celui de la fleur qui a besoin également d’être protégée (24-7). pour le dire autrement, pendant son voyage et en répondant au renard et aux hommes sur les planètes, le petit prince prend conscience de ses responsabilités envers sa planète ainsi que la fleur. plus profondément, le petit prince et la rose, désirent être aimés (monin, 146). la fleur (pour le prince) et marie (pour paul) sont donc les «catalyseurs uniques »(162) qui conduisent la responsabilité de paul et du petit prince, ce qui est un indicateur (d’un type) d’amour. en général, on voit que paul doit apprendre, avec difficulté, le sens des responsabilités dans des situations difficiles. d’après les notes de l’auteur, son «vrai »travail, le camp d’été, et se responsabiliser n’ont pas été faciles pour lui. cela est le cas pour paul, de même que pour de nombreux adolescents actuellement. en présentant honnêtement ces difficultés, rabagliati partage avec le monde les difficultés qu’un adolescent peut rencontrer avant de prendre ses responsabilités, avec tous les sacrifices et les luttes qui accompagnent ce mûrissement. il y a là un parallèle avec le petit prince, qui a du mal à assumer sa responsabilité envers la fleur mais qui est aisément à la hauteur de la tâche pour le bien-être de la planète. par conséquent, on peut dire que rabagliati nous apprend par sa fiction qu’il est difficile, même dans une histoire inventée, de reconnaître ses responsabilités. rabagliati met en œuvre ce concept en le combinant avec les leçons du petit prince et en les projetant dans paul, qui est un personnage plus réaliste et actuel que le petit prince. paul a un travail d’été est donc un «travail modeste . . .[qui prend] conscience de la confiance et de l’affection »(4). la bande dessinée est un voyage à travers l’adolescence dans lequel beaucoup peuvent se retrouver pour dire que les leçons du petit prince sont toujours actuelles. paul a un travail d’été fait usage d’allusions intertextuelles à la fois explicites et implicites qui tirent leur origine du livre le petit prince. i. références bibliographiques biagioli, n. (2001). le dialogue avec l’enfance dans le petit prince. études littéraires 33 :2, 27-42. www.ebscohost.com brunet, martine (2013). les pauls de michel rabagliati. québec français, 168, 108. www.érudit.com farris, alex (2011, 26 juilliet). «book review : the little prince. »www.yahoo.com galembert, laurent de (2002, 26 novembre). la grandeur du petit prince. le manuscrit, 1-98. http ://nitescence.free.fr/dea.pdf gérard, genette (1982). palimpsestes. paris : seuil. 124 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/501291ar the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 hughes, janette, et alyson e. king (2010). dual pathways to expression and understanding : canadian coming-of-age graphic novels. children’s literature in education, 68-73. www.ebscohost.com lloyd, chelsey (2003). ’paul has a summer job.broken pencil, 22, 54. manoll, michel (1961). saint-exupéry, prince des pilotes. paris : société nouvelle des éditions g.p. monin, yves (1976). l’ésotérisme du petit prince de saint-exupéry. paris : éditions a.-g. nizet. noel-gaudreault, monique (2013). comment michel rabagliati a écrit certains de ses livres. québec français, 168, 106-107. www.érudit.com pagé, pierre (1963). saint-exupéry et le monde de l’enfance. montréal : fides. paquin, eric (2005, mars-avr.) souvenirs de jeunesse. spirale magazine. www.érudit.com rabagliati, michel (2003). paul a un travail d’été. (helge dascher, trans.). montréal : drawn and quarterly. saint-exupéry, antoine de (1943). le petit prince. paris : harcourt, inc. viau, michel (2008). la bd au québec : une route semée d’embûches. québec français 149, 32-34. 125 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10583-009-9098-8 références bibliographiques specker communities of song: collective musical participation and group singing experiences in victoria, bc sharonne k. specker* university of victoria s.k.specker@gmail.com abstract this research investigates the social processes and effects of participation in two community-oriented choirs in victoria, bc, and seeks to identify the way in which social cohesion is experienced during group singing practices. interviews with ten choristers and two conductors reveal the feelings of community that can arise among participants and provide data for exploring how this phenomenon occurs. results indicate that social bonding in the choral setting manifests itself in various ways. the key factors of a common goal, shared values, a safe environment, community interaction, and social infrastructure facilitate feelings of collective participation, lead to increased levels of trust, equality, connection, and mutual caring. participant exceptions also emerge, evidence of the group’s heterogeneous approach to sociality. analysis of both the processes and outcomes indicates that this example of social interconnection is consistent with victor turner’s anthropological definition of communitas, or intense communal bonding. keywords: community; sociality; singing; choirs; participation *thanks are extended to the author’s supervisor, dr. alexandrine boudreaultfournier; to dr. ann stahl, anthropology department chair; to dr. quentin mackie; to the university of victoria for the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, which facilitated this research; and to the participants of this study, for the generous sharing of their time, thoughts, and music. 62 mailto:s.k.specker@gmail.com the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 i. introduction life can, at times, provide instances for the individual to join inwith the social collective. singing communally is one such op-portunity that has great potential for generating feelings of social cohesion. the knowledge that group singing can foster is widely affirmed in literature both recent and established, but the matter is often approached with a focus on product rather than on process. the present study seeks to uncover how this social experience occurs, how it can be analyzed anthropologically, and how this awareness can be beneficial. concerns over increased social isolation and alienation are a recurring point of discussion in the modern world. from the alienationfocused commentary of marx (1927/1974), to mid-twentieth-century and contemporary debates about the problems of loneliness and social isolation (cattan, newell, bond, and white, 2003; hortulanus, machielse, and meeuwesen, 2006; josephson and josephson, 1962; murchland, 1971; pappenheim, 2000), trepidation over reduced connection and interaction among citizens of industrial societies has pervaded the social sciences. hortulanus et al. (2006, p. 4) note that “(t)he fairly small communities in which people used to live have made way for a multiplicity of social bonds within which people have to function”. in this light, activities facilitating communal bonding in contemporary urban society take on a high degree of relevance. i propose that research into the practice of choral singing, through direct interaction with participants themselves, may provide insight into ways in which such social connection is experienced. through the study of two victoria community choirs, the gettin’ higher choir and the victoria good news choir, i examine the way in which participants experience collective bonding through practice. drawing on the work of victor turner (1969, 1986) and alfred schütz (1951), i suggest that singing together can establish a strong sense of social unity, which can be explored through the experiences of “mutual-tuning in” and communitas. this experience of communitas fills an important space in social life — one of interaction, cohesion, 63 specker and validation as part of a group. the goal of the study is tri-fold: first, it is to gather participant data documenting the lived experiences of shared community in a choir setting, with an emphasis on how these experiences come about. second, it is to determine whether this experience and context is consistent with the potent feeling of social togetherness referred to as communitas by anthropologist victor turner in his seminal studies on ritual and liminality, thus giving further insight into the social processes. third, it is to open the door to further discussions on how this kind of socio-musical experience can be an effective, positive tool of social intervention and change. ii. review extensive research has been done on the topic of group singing, although the interdisciplinary nature of the topic means that the vast majority comes from diverse, non-anthropological sources. the beneficial social components of group singing activities have been significantly addressed in the fields of biology, psychology, health, music therapy, sociology, social work, and music education, as well as in the areas of sound studies and anthropology. the positive impact of the social singing experience has therefore been repeatedly studied and acknowledged, providing a firm and thorough grounding for the present study. biological research has asserted the physiological basis of feelings of community derived from group singing experiences. singing together has been shown to generate release of the so-called “bonding hormone”, oxytocin, which may contribute to consequent experiences of communal bonding (grape, sandgren, hansson, ericson, & theorell, 2002). neurological studies have shown evidence of brainwave synchronization during concurrent musical activity (lindenberger, li, gruber, & müller, 2009), and research has revealed that coordinated singing raises and lowers participants’ heart rates simultaneously (vickhoff et al., 2013). endorphin production accompanies singing, leading to positive shared experiences that can have a unify64 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ing effect (dunbar, kaskatis, macdonald, & barra, 2012). given these documented factors, it is unsurprising that the field of music therapy has taken particular interest in the shared singing phenomenon. choral activity has been studied as a means of providing social and psychological benefits to marginalized populations such as homeless men (bailey & davidson, 2002, 2003, 2005) and female prison inmates (silber, 2005). bailey and davidson found that participating in a choir strengthened feelings of community among choir members who had experienced alienation and dissociation through homelessness. silber’s work in a prison in israel indicated that participation in a choir — involving collaboration, cooperation, focus, and balance — had substantial effects on interpersonal interactions, conflict resolution, and processes of bonding. choral singing has also been shown to be beneficial to participants suffering from physical disadvantages such as illness and disability. a study with neurological patients in new zealand illustrated similar experiences of increased social interaction and feelings of acceptance and community (fogg and talmage, 2011). these effects have been extended to more general health studies, which extoll the virtues of participating in choirs for general wellbeing (eades & o’connor, 2008, gick, 2011). several studies have examined the effect of creative activities on aging populations, and choral singing in particular has provided an avenue for reducing social isolation and depression (cohen, 2006; cohen et al., 2006; creech, hallam, hilary, & varvarigou, 2013; dingle, brander, ballantyne, & baker, 2012; greaves & farbus, 2006; teater & baldwin, 2014). in recent years, the focus of studies has begun to include choral singing among the general public. bailey and davidson (2005) compared their study of the men’s homeless choir with a socioeconomically middle class choir, to research the issues of primary importance for each group. in australia, judd and pooley (2014) studied the role of community choirs for their non-marginalized members. similar themes emerged, with social cohesion and community engagement ranking high on the list of choral attributes described by participants. this suggests that choral singing has integral unifying features that 65 specker generate feelings of community among participants of all spheres. research by mary copeland kennedy (2009) in victoria, british columbia sets a precedent for the current study. from a music educator’s perspective, she sought to reveal participant experiences of the community-oriented gettin’ higher choir (one of the choirs also featured in the present study). conducted by shivon robinsong and denis donnelly, and now in its 18th year, the choir’s philosophy maintains that anyone can sing and all are welcome. in her fieldwork, kennedy found that the social aspect of singing in the choir was a very powerful component of members’ involvement. she notes that “(b)y far the most important feature of choir membership was the aspect of community established among choir members” (kennedy 2009:189). however, since the article takes a broad approach to the nature of the choir as a whole, these particular responses are not the focal point and there is limited capacity to explore this topic in detail. rather, it remains confined to a paragraph. i wished to know more about these social experiences — not merely the fact that they were happening, but how and why they came about, and whether they had elements in common with a more widely applicable experience of social bonding. the localized nature of kennedy’s research meant that i was able to continue with the same choir and region. this study therefore takes these results as the basis for further research and examination, returning to this same choir but seeking to dig deeper into the process to determine the key factors contributing to social cohesion. in order to examine this social phenomenon in a methodical manner, i sought a system of analysis that could be transferred across genres and be compared to other social practices and activities. an understanding of the social processes inherent in choral participation, and identification of the progression and contextual setting through which these processes occur, equips both the individual and the community with the knowledge needed to use this social and musical resource to its greatest potential. coming from the field of anthropology, i chose to situate the topic within an anthropological framework and turned to the work 66 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 of renowned cultural anthropologist victor turner. while his ideas about cultural practices and sociality were first posited in the midtwentieth century, and have since been debated and critiqued up until the present day (e.g. eade & sallnow 1991) aspects of his work are still respected as being highly relevant and valid. turner’s writings drew on van gennep’s (1909) outline of the human ritual process, as divided into three basic stages: separation, liminality, and reintegration. liminality — the most relevant of these categories, for the present study — refers to a transient state of being in limbo, of being in between stages of existence and removed from one’s usual structured position in life. it is this state, when shared with others, which can give rise to the compelling feeling of social unity that turner defines as communitas, and which i will subsequently discuss in relation to the choral experience. in utilizing turner’s ideas, i have been selective about which aspects i incorporate, and which i reject. turner’s fieldwork in kinshipbased societies emphasizes a division between secularity and sacred ritual, a distinction which i find does not necessarily apply in the case of community choirs. he also suggests that the state of liminality (and consequently communitas) can only occur when a group undergoes a distinct separation from society; again, this is not applicable in my research. however, his discussion of the social relations that facilitate communitas, as well as of the surrounding criteria that may be present, holds a high degree of relevance when analysing similar experiences among choral members. turner describes communitas as a sensation of intense social bonding, occurring spontaneously when a group of individuals undergo the same shared, equalizing experience (turner, 1969:96-97). drawing on ritual examples, turner suggests that communitas occurs when participants join together in a procedure or activity that generates a context of lowliness and sacredness, of homogeneity and comradeship. we are presented, in such rites, with a “moment in and out of time,” and in and out of secular social structure, which reveals, however fleetingly, some recognition (in 67 specker symbol if not always in language) of a generalized social bond that has ceased to be and has simultaneously yet to be fragmented into a multiplicity of structural ties. these are the ties organized in terms either of caste, class, or rank hierarchies or of segmentary oppositions… (turner 1969:96; my emphasis) turner posits that the circumstances necessary to experience communitas are those that accompany a liminal state — a situation of being “in-between” or removed from normative social states or conditions. turner compares two possible circumstances of social existence — one of structure, and one of anti-structure. the first involves being firmly situated in one’s hierarchical social role or position. the second, characterized in liminality, involves the opposite traits. these include equality, anonymity, absence of status and rank, heteronomy, and humility (1969, p. 106). he explains that the latter state of this dialectic, and the consistent inverse relationship between them both, is “a matter of giving recognition to an essential and generic human bond, without which there could be no society” (1969, p. 97). according to turner, the experience of communitas occurring in liminality “dissolves the norms that govern structures and institutionalized relationships” (1969, p. 128). the high and the low temporarily come together, acknowledging one another’s innate humanness and social validity. in turner’s view, this group of equals is often presided over by an external authority figure (although this suggests inconsistencies pertaining to the hierarchy/equality dialectic). the process of coming together as equals, departed from their usual roles in society, is prevalent in choral participation, leading me to believe that turner’s approach may be justly applied to an analysis of the associated social experience. while turner’s work forms the primary theoretical foundation for my study, various additional sources supplement and further complement this approach. edith turner (2012), in her recent book communitas: the anthropology of collective joy, notes that music, among other activities, can serve as a vessel for the communitas experience of social cohesion. anthropologist and musicologist thomas turino 68 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 (2008) further pursues this principle in the introduction to music as social life: the politics of participation. he suggests that joining in musical performance constitutes a transient, exceptional experience akin to the aforementioned state of liminality. he also points out that making sounds collectively requires blending and cooperation, resulting in synchrony (a similar point is made by silber, 2005). turino notes that participatory musical practices are usually focused on egalitarian relations and a welcoming community spirit, that they are often “more about the social relations being realized” (2008, p. 29), and can, in any context, be “valuable for processes of personal and social integration” (2008, p. 1). this important community role of shared music-making is represented by the ideologies of the choirs featured in this study, and evidence of the social dimension was expected to be strongly present in the impressions of participants. sociologist alfred schütz (1951) has argued that shared musical practices have a unique capacity for facilitating interpersonal relationships, through a process in which “each, simultaneously, shares in vivid present the other’s stream of consciousness in immediacy” (1951, p. 95) the experience of participating in the same immediate musical moment may provide another example of the way in which communitas is experienced by choral participants. schütz further elaborates on this concept, stating that: …this sharing of each other’s flux of experiences in inner time, this living through a vivid present in common, constitutes…the mutual tuning-in relationship, the experience of the “we”, which is at the foundation of all possible communication. (schütz 1951:92) the “mutual tuning-in relationship” expressed by schütz in many ways epitomizes the way in which communitas can be applied to choral singing. his allusion to a collective “we” — derived from the “i” and “thou” — is a probable expression of buber’s “i-thou” philosophy (1923/1970), which is also referenced by turner in his discussion of communitas (1969, p. 126-127), linking these respective approaches. 69 specker i propose that communitas can be realized through group singing practices based on the way in which individuals join together in pursuit of common values and goals. in a choral setting, the opposition to societal structure is not intentional so much as circumstantial — to effectively create a successful choral product, one must put aside personal differences in favour of the collective whole. i suggest that this characteristic may emerge in participant responses, and that turner’s approach to social relationships in a liminal context may provide a theoretical basis for the common experience of social bonding through choir membership and group singing, as well as illustrate a means by which the individual may feel themselves to be part of a social collective. iii. methods for this project i interviewed a total of ten choir members and two conductors from two different community choirs in victoria, b.c., canada. i chose the choirs — the gettin’ higher choir and the victoria good news choir — based on their inclusive, community-oriented ideology, and because they were secular, amateur, non-auditioned, mixed-voice, and voluntary. since the study focused specifically on how singing together can be experienced as a communal social mechanism, it made sense to choose choirs for which social communion was part of the intended goal. it was also preferable to avoid any compounding factors resulting from a religious context, obligatory participation, or professionally oriented musical goals. this will have had an effect on the data collected, as participants were aware of the community focus of the choir and the study; different results would have been obtained had the sample choirs maintained a different ethos. the human research ethics board at the university of victoria provided approval to undertake the project. in this study i sought to take a phenomenological approach, documenting the first-hand experiences of participants in order to best represent the social dynamics of the choir from the ground up. my goal was not simply to provide further definitive evidence that choirs are social, but rather to doc70 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ument how this sociality is experienced. therefore, in the style of kennedy (2009) and judd and pooley (2014), i concluded that semistructured one-on-one interviews would be the most effective for gathering this type of qualitative data. following contact with choir directors, i attended a rehearsal of each choir, explaining the nature of the research and offering an information package with further information, my contact information, and a copy of the consent form. the sample obtained was therefore a sample of convenience, as only interested and forthcoming choir members took the information and subsequently contacted me to agree to participate in the study. i conducted the interviews in a convenient location for participants, and they were audio-recorded. a sample list of key interview questions is included in table 1. participants had the option of remaining anonymous. although the majority agreed to be named, i have represented participants by single letters for the sake of convenience, and altered the letters of those who chose to remain anonymous to protect their identity. table 1: sample interview questions why do you sing? why do you sing in a choir/group? what is the social atmosphere like? how do you feel when you sing in a choir? physically? emotionally? how do people in the choir relate to each other? how does a choir compare to other group activities? how does performance compare to rehearsal? how are choir activities in relation to other activities in your life? through what avenues do you experience a sense of community? i used these questions in most interviews so as to maintain consistency. however, due to the semi-structured nature of the interviews, further unanticipated discussion also emerged during the fieldwork process and informed the collected data. 71 specker following data collection, i sorted the responses and grouped them into themes, as recommended by judd and pooley (2014). relevant quotes have been included for each section. in keeping with the desire to represent the experience of choristers themselves, the full context of the quotes has sometimes been included in the paper, so as to give a more insightful picture of the individual cases. iv. results participant responses were divided into two general categories, (1) responses that specifically involved the sonic experience of singing in a choir; and (2) responses that encompassed the broader social context of the experience. the first of these categories is addressed at length in a separate paper (specker, 2014, unpublished). it included physical engagement; multi-sensory embodiment; sound production, perception, and harmony; creation; shared sound as social therapy; and sound as collective memory. the second category, examined below, featured more widely applicable social experiences that can be discussed through the framework of turner’s common liminal criteria and identified as examples of communitas. most cases indicated feelings of community among participants. however, there were also exceptions and instances in which the choirs did not fulfill the expected function. social cohesion encompasses a range of experiences. the emergent factors that contributed to social cohesion were (a) working towards a common goal, (b) shared values or topics of interest, (c) an accepting environment, (d) interaction with the greater community, and (e) external/extracurricular social infrastructure. these, in turn, contributed to the secondary outcomes of establishing a common connection, caring about each other as a group, mutual equality and responsibility, and trust. of the participants, four choir members cited social engagement as a primary reason for joining the choir, while four also joined the choir because of pre-existing social connections. the conductors of the gettin’ higher choir also gave input as to the 72 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 social dynamics of the choir.1 the conductors in this context play dual, dialectical roles. turner himself juxtaposes equality with authority in a somewhat conflicting manner, as one of his criteria for liminality refers to an alliance of temporary equals who nonetheless submit to a figure of authority, the latter remaining outside the liminal group. in this respect, the conductors represent the authority figures. previous research has been carried out on the topic of conductor influence on choral participants (durrant 2005), and further research could be done in this respect, although this was not my area of focus due to the relatively constrained scope of the study. however, particularly in the gettin’ higher choir, the emphasis on inclusion is such that the conductors also play a participatory role in the experience. one chorister commented on how she perceived the conductors as treating the choir members as equals. one of the conductors also noted the leveling properties of communal vocal participation (see below), and in working towards a final performance both the conductors and choristers were sharing a common goal. given this dynamic, i felt it was important to interview the conductors as well as the choristers. i also felt that the conductors would be able to draw on prior experiences with choirs, to illuminate their reasons and objectives in forming this kind of community-oriented choir. both conductors discussed the communal aspects of participating in a choir emphatically. they cited the positive musical and social aspects of the choir as being key to the creation and existence of the choir. shivon: i knew that singing together creates a field between people, a field of, you could say, connection and 1contrary to what one might expect, reasons for joining the choir did not appear to have a direct impact on the results. links between preexisting social connections and social outcomes within the choir were not consistent; the same can be said of desired intent upon joining the group and subsequent experience. given this indication, i have chosen not to pursue the matter further in this paper. further research may, however, be informative. 73 specker fun and trust, an enjoyable field – what you could call community is created, and it gets people out of their shyness, it gets people out of their isolation – you really don’t have to be talking about opinions, this and that… the voice is a great leveler, you know. denis: just to form a really safe place where people could rediscover their voices, and develop a kind of community around that, which was supportive and musical and joyful. the concepts of trust, connection, support, cooperation, and equality are evident in the above comments, and they emerge further in the response of participants. both conductors noted that working together towards a common goal requires different levels of interpersonal engagement, which can in turn establish community: shivon: on the surface, we’re all learning the song, we’re learning the words of the song, we’re learning the rhythm, we’re learning the melody, we’re learning the harmonies, all that — but the subtext of what’s going on is, we’re all practicing listening to ourselves and to each other at the same time. which is a wonderful skill for building harmony, like, harmony in the community, harmony in the world. denis: there is an element, when you sing together, that is almost primal… it’s the breathing, and the making sound, and the working towards a common goal, and a big part of it is…just listening and being really tuned in, and having your voice match the other people’s voices, and being able to experience that. so you get the vibrations from them in your body and you pass your vibrations to them, and it all kind of becomes this soup, where the focus isn’t on any individual, it’s on what happens with all the individuals, because it’s something no one person can do by themselves. 74 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 the cooperative musical experience described above by denis echoes schütz’s (1951) premise of the “mutual tuning-in relationship”, and emphasizes the need for collective participation and equality. also noted was the outreach and community service aspect of the choir, which situates the group within the greater social context: shivon: a community, to have longevity, has to have something outside of itself – it adds to the sense of purpose… it’s a big part of community building. this indicates that, like all avenues of communitas, the experience exists in balance with the structure of the enveloping society. shivon gave further input on the social outcomes of singing: shivon: somehow the singing together, well, it develops an atmosphere of trust. that feeling of ‘i am because we are’, that we are all connected… the relationship between the “i” and the “we” (buber; schütz; turner) was described as being a central aspect of the choral singing experience. many of the points noted by the conductors also emerged in participant responses. participants’ comments revealed that the feeling of communitas did indeed prove applicable to the choral singing experience. however, it became evident that communitas was facilitated through a variety of avenues, and, once present, was experienced in several ways. most members cited a welcoming atmosphere as being present upon entering into either choir, and stressed the importance of the community aspect. c: what i liked about the gettin higher choir was…the spirit that shivon and denis bring to it – of, serious about what we’re singing, but almost more for the building of community than for some kind of musical perfection. i feel it’s one of the communities i’m part of in victoria – not just that you go there and go away again. 75 specker t: this particular choir (the victoria good news choir) is about community more than anything else, that’s the highest priority… i think what’s happened with this choir is the ones who stay are the ones who are seeking that community, want to be a part of it, contribute to it. s: it’s like its own little cosmos, its own community… (it’s about) more than just arriving and warming up and singing, but also the element that shivon and denis cultivate – about community-building. the environment and feeling of community, in most cases, seemed to be the first step towards generating a feeling of cohesion comparable to communitas. given the nature of the choirs being studied, there was often a pre-existing recognition of the social function of the activity. 1. contributing factors 1.1 common goals one repeatedly emerging catalyst for social bonding was the process of working together towards a common goal. in some cases, this took on specifically sonic attributes, but often it was the general collaborative process that participants cited as the source of cohesion. the interdependence of choir members in order to build a greater musical whole was recognized as a crucial component of the choral experience. c: i think everybody singing together probably forms some form of community… i guess it must be something to do with intention, the shared intention to do something…the choir’s kind of like that, we have a task, and our task is to learn these songs, and we learn them by heart. so we sing off book, and so you really have to make a commitment to do that… and so i guess it’s everybody committing that amount of their time and energy, 76 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 that draws you together, a shared enterprise or something like that. s: it’s individual in that you’re working hard, and then you get to your goal, but it does have more of a sense of journey, or group creation — and then when you get there…finally…it’s very satisfying. the sensation of journeying described by s. suggests parallels with the state of liminality and the experience of communitas. the process of joining together as equals towards a common end is precisely that — a process — which can in some capacities be seen as akin to the ritual processes believed by turner to facilitate the communitas phenomenon. 1.2 shared values and interests often members expressed feelings of commonality derived from the mutual interests or values shared by other participants in the choral setting. s: that sense of connection and purpose, whether it’s working on a particular section and we get it, or that there is a common value system that i’m sharing with everyone there, so it feels like…potential for intensive emotional connection. o: i meet a lot of people who have similar values — people that are into gardening, people who are into social justice, i meet people who care about the environment…a lot of us are in same demographic, we have similar ideas…you can always discuss things with people. the perception of sharing values and social knowledge with a group of like-minded individuals was a strong component of the experience. although members of the choir came from diverse backgrounds, participating in the choir placed them in a situation where they could set aside other differences in favour of what made them alike. 77 specker 1.3 accepting atmosphere participants also mentioned the open, inviting, and safe environment of the choir as an important aspect of the positive social effect. m: you go in there and there’s this aura, there are all these people chatting, and smiling, ‘nice to see you, how was your week?’ — people you haven’t known very long. g: i had some idea of the supportive nature of that choir, so that gets through some of my inherent resistance — being able to push my envelope, but being somewhat comfortable, somewhat safe. t: it’s very important that nobody feels bad in this choir… ‘welcome’ comes out a lot, that word is the attitude. this environment of safety and support appeared to be a direct facilitator of the experiences of equality and trust experienced by choir members. in this way, the structural components of the choir itself contributed to the potential for communitas among participants, presenting an interesting take on the structure/liminality dialectic discussed by turner (1969). 1.4 community interaction situating the activity within the greater community was, for some participants, an important aspect of the experience. several noted that participating in the choir brought them into contact with other citizens in their city, with whom they would ordinarily have little contact. in some cases this referred to members of the choir, as below: o: (there’s) a lot of people you might not have met otherwise. c: i guess…it’s people that i would never encounter in my daily life… it makes me feel part of the community. both comments address the stretching and diversification of social ties, which can be important in reducing social isolation. in other 78 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 cases, similar comments pertained to participants in the outreach settings, such as when choir members joined in singing with a weekly choir for disadvantaged citizens. t: you change your judgment of people, because you’re interacting with a population you wouldn’t normally have interacted with…you expand your horizons by the opportunities that are part of this experience. s: (the choir is) grounded locally and globally as well. this ties back to the equalizing cause and effect of communitas, and the greater social repercussions and importance of the experience. social status or hierarchies need no longer be relevant when singing, because — as noted in previous responses — all singers are equally required to contribute and to blend. additionally, the experience brings together different parts of society, stitching together the larger whole. 1.5 social infrastructure participants discussed a variety of social activities and setups connected with the choir, which facilitated further community building among participants. i: we have a potluck at the beginning of each session, and i’ve gone to most of them – that’s always fun. we made some friends, because we did some carpooling in our neighbourhood – made some very good friends. t: we do social stuff too — there’s potluck dinners…a bake sale, where we sell to each other and the money goes to the choir — and we’ve done people’s birthdays… o: i like the newsletter – it sort of keeps the group together. from these responses, the contribution to group cohesion is evident. the infrastructure further emphasizes the unity of the choir, but also 79 specker provides opportunities for social growth. one participant in particular stressed the social values of these activities. c. the singing and the dancing and the eating are all important, but actually it’s the being together that’s important. because we’re social animals. some of these comments reveal increased lasting friendship ties. however, for the most part, they reveal the social microcosm that is the choir — a social venue or network that exists in and of itself, and in which people partake through participation. 2. outcomes the perceived outcomes of the choral singing experience are highly interconnected, but a few broad categories emerged. 2.1 connection participants usually noted that they felt a connection to other choir members outside of the choral setting, even if it was simply an acknowledgment of mutual involvement. i: someone says they are part of the ghc and that’s a little connection that we have, yeah. s: (when out walking with elderly mum) inevitably will see someone from choir, and it’s because it’s their community too, and so that’s a very nice element. and we may or may not exchange words but we always smile or wave or something. so that is very validating, of one’s ‘humanness’…you feel like there’s that shared experience, so i would feel…that there’s a connection there, even though we don’t know each other. o: if we see each other we will talk – and there’s some really interesting people. m: the sopranos are over there and we’re the altos — and often we don’t know them, but when there’s a potluck 80 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 or we run into them in the street, “oh, yes yes, you’re a soprano!”, (though) we’ve probably maybe not talked to them… you just feel a deep sense of connection with other people in the choir. participants indicate feeling that they have a bond that is outside their usual social circle, and that connects them with others who have shared in this community-building experience. recognition of mutual involvement is an expected byproduct of a group activity, but these responses indicate that this can facilitate reduced social alienation through an extended network of acquaintances and involvement. the level of social connection differed among participants — for some it was quite trivial, for others deeply meaningful, revealing that communitas, although widespread in some capacities, was not in fact a homogeneous experience. 2.2 caring the perception of being cared for by others in the choir emerged very strongly among some participant responses. c: i like the community aspect, that everybody’s really friendly and caring and supportive… i think that anytime you get together a group of people from diverse neighbourhoods and what have you, and give them a common goal and a common purpose, it draws people together, and anytime we draw together into community, then it’s a more caring world that we’re living in. i. the choir community’s been very powerful…(when our grandson was in hospital) the choir sang to us and for us…i would say that choir members care about each other in some way… i don’t know a lot of names, but i know quite a few, so you know who you’re singing to – it’s great, we care about each other. s. i suppose there is that sense of journeying, of all going together… and there’s exposure, vulnerability, i think, 81 specker that i experience and witness in varying degrees — so that closeness, and just admiration and caring that comes from that. o. a nice group of people. not in each other’s face, but people care when you’re there; it’s a good feeling. the above comments illustrate possibilities for social support through shared participation. responses indicate a heightened interest and investment in fellow members of the choir, as well as the reciprocal personal experience of this phenomenon. 2.3 responsibility and equality the experience of contributing to a common cause appeared to emphasize the value that each participant brought to the whole. people described rising to the occasion in order to make the overall experience worthwhile for everyone involved, taking responsibility, but without expectation of individual recognition due to the communal nature of the experience. i: there’s something about doing that with all those other people, and making it flow together, and them doing another part, and we’re doing another part, and that flows together… you lose your ego… (it’s a) very ego-dissolving process. t: the performance element, working up to putting it out there… supporting each other – let’s do this together, gotta make sure your buddy beside you gets it as well as you do – that empowerment of yourself and others is attractive, and it feels good to do that. the feeling of equality in some cases extended to the directors, as choristers at times perceived them as creating an environment that facilitated that feature. j: that competitive edge that you find sometimes in music isn’t there…(the directors) model a level playing field 82 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 like no choir conductors i’ve ever known about do, they’re there with us…very much as equals…and the fact that we stand in a circle, i think says it all, for me. although the choir directors were in some ways the authority figures, their attitude also ensured that a perception of equal contribution remained present. this is yet another indicator of liminality and communitas among participants, as directors and choir members did not place themselves above or below other members, but instead focused on commonalities and accepted a position of equal stature. 2.4 trust experiences of trust more often emerged through expressions of connection and community, than through explicit use of the definitive term. however, participants often cited the safe social environment as a means of establishing greater comfort with one’s fellow singers. c: i think there’s a level of trust that, if you’re there in community, everyone will be supportive. the trust that is built by the choral experience is evident in the descriptions presented in this paper — of the caring attitude, the responsibility of contributing to the whole, and the feelings of shared connection with other choir members. the experience of communitas would seem to be closely tied to feelings of trust, in order for participants to fully engage with one another. 3. exceptions one participant in particular noted that she did not experience a strong social connection in her current choir. however, the participant’s comments indicated that she had experienced feelings akin to communitas in previous choirs. it appeared that the ultimate decisive factor regarding collective bonding was the group’s common goal — in this case, the participant’s musical goals differed from others in her current choir, which had not been the case previously. therefore, 83 specker one can gather that a shared sense of common purpose may need to be present before social cohesion can occur. this is consistent with turner’s (1969) criteria for liminality and, consequently, communitas, in which individuals join together with a shared desired outcome or experience. some participants emphasized that, although they recognized the strong social component of choir participation and considered the group a community, they did not consider themselves heavily involved or rely on it for their sole social fulfillment. this illustrates variation and fluctuating degrees to which people could feel part of a given social enterprise. others sought to develop or increase lasting friendships through the choir and joined it for this purpose, but found that this was not occurring. it may be that the social experience of coming together in song is dictated by its specific parameters, and requires the choir structure to be in place, without which social connections do not necessarily endure (a feature that would not be inconsistent with communitas as turner [1969] describes it, as the effect derives primarily from the communal action itself). here, perhaps, the plausible link between communitas-inducing experiences and greater social inclusion breaks down — for while one may be experiencing communitas in the moment, this does not necessarily translate to an increased support network for all participating parties. v. discussion over the course of the fieldwork, the community choir experience emerged through participants as a complex and nuanced social occurrence. conversations with participants indicated that attaining social connection through singing can be a multifaceted process, with numerous variants and possibilities. in this instance, the activity was able to give rise to a range of positive social outcomes, yet these were in turn reached through several different avenues. the key factors of a common goal, shared values, a safe environment, community interaction, and social infrastructure were gateways through which 84 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 the feelings of collective participation could be achieved. the outcomes included increased levels of trust, equality, connection, and mutual caring, which together were shown to form the basis for a common experience of communitas. providing a categorical means of discussing the social experience of shared singing practices allows one to further build on the work of kennedy (2009) and others in a practical fashion. beyond generalized descriptions of social benefits, this approach brings greater depth and clarity to the topic, by identifying specific processes and requisite criteria for the feeling of communitas to emerge among participants. the experience was examined from the ground up, as it were, via the practice and process, rather than taking a top-down approach and only acknowledging the final product. in this capacity, turner’s (1969) approach was helpful. the properties of ritual, liminality, and correlated social bonding, appropriately modified, revealed themselves to be a useful means of exploring and analyzing participant responses, providing a framework within which to situate and understand the dynamics of collective participation. the feelings of togetherness that can, at times, be derived from singing in a group are evocative of the characteristics of communitas and lend credence to schütz’s principle that making music together can facilitate social bonding. turner’s system was nonetheless lacking in some capacities, not least because it failed to adequately account for the nuances and individual experiences of communitas for each participant, and instead focused primarily on the collective. the relatively rigid definitions of structure and of liminality, or anti-structure, in ritual contexts are also not feasible in this setting. rather, the study results indicate that a feeling of communitas is, in some cases, enhanced by structured extra-curricular elements, therefore blurring the lines between the structured and the liminal. while turner does acknowledge that one must exist in order for the other to occur, the choral setting seems to push even these boundaries, for its members move fluidly between the two states. what this approach does accomplish, however, is to establish the 85 specker choral social experience within a more universal social context. in knowing the specific processes that contribute to communitas and social cohesion in this setting, one can make a case for the utility of choirs as a social tool. as demonstrated in the literature review, many scholars have given indications of how such organizations can be socially viable. their beneficial nature has been demonstrated among convicts, homeless persons, invalids, and the socially isolated, to name a few notable cases. however, these have mainly been developed on a case-by-case basis. with the approach of this paper, one can proceed to establish an operable set of ideal criteria for choirs with a social purpose. these choirs may be presented as requiring the following: • a safe, non-threatening environment for participants • occasions for interaction with, and participation in, the greater community • extra-curricular opportunities for members • a compelling, inclusive, shared mission and intent for the choir and its members (this may serve to links the elements of both common goals and values) if these conditions are in place, one can make the reasonable assumption that the choir shares common traits with other liminal contexts and processes of social cohesion, and may thus be able to foster communitas, by way of the outcomes noted in this study. to name a few possible examples of practical uses, social workers may concretely consider choirs as a viable means of socially supporting disadvantaged populations on an interpersonal level. intercultural associations and community-building projects may recommend choirs as a way to feel less isolated, whether in a new location or in a socially difficult environment. denis donnelly and shivon robinsong each already offer singing workshops in business contexts, to facilitate greater relational skills and cohesion among participants (donnelly, n.d; robinsong, n.d.). for every traditional support group, might there not also be a singing group for those who wish to participate? their functions differ somewhat, to be sure, but they may complement each other well. if the criteria is clear and the claims to 86 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 communitas legitimate, the activity can move out of the recreational sphere and be considered as a valid means of bringing positive social change — or at least moments of meaningful interpersonal engagement — into the lives of many. still, more research remains. responses were, in all probability, inspired by the community-oriented philosophy of the choir, placing limits on the data collected. additionally, the choirs were highly localized and the sample size was small, therefore results can only truly represent the expressions of the participants. further research is needed with other kinds of choirs, to evaluate whether the premises of equality and unity that inform the experience of communitas are present. the role of the conductors may be especially important if choirs are applied in social work contexts. the relationship between preexisting social networks and benefits derived from the choral context needs more investigation; additionally, it would be interesting to compare participants’ social standpoints and priorities with their potential musical ones, and to identify divergence and overlap. vi. conclusion in the context of discussions surrounding social isolation and cohesion, the responses of participants offer an insightful grounded perspective on what the process of social bonding may entail. they bring to light the practices of engaging with one another through singing, by way of a common 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(2013). music structure determines heart rate variability of singers. frontiers in psychology, 334(4), 1–16. 90 http://shivonrobinsong.com http://www.jstor.org/stable/40969255 http://www.jstor.org/stable/40969255 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1445 2/mr-052-02-2000-06_4 text box http://dx.doi.org /10.1080/14613 800500169811 text box http://dx.doi.org/10 .1093/bjsw/bcs095 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00334 introduction review methods results contributing factors common goals shared values and interests accepting atmosphere community interaction social infrastructure outcomes connection caring responsibility and equality trust exceptions discussion conclusion the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716806 vichy france’s collaboration with nazi germany stephanie kates∗ university of victoria skates@uvic.ca abstract during the second world war in france, a fascist government known as the vichy government replaced the third french republic. in 1995, the french government publicly admitted that shortly after signing an armistice with nazi germany in 1940, the vichy regime was responsible for implementing racist policies and contributing to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. the purpose of this article is to begin exploring the extent to which the vichy government participated and collaborated in the killings, internment, and discrimination of many thousands of people during the second world war. the following article focuses on three major aspects of the vichy government’s collaboration: anti-semitic legislation, the internment camps in france, and the roundup at the vèlodrome d’hiver. the case study of the vèlodrome d’hiver alongside the other aspects of collaboration are illustrative examples that offer new insights suggesting that vichy france’s government operated as an emphatic collaborator with nazi germany rather than simply submitting to or passively assisting this administration. the article’s thesis advances the notion that this emphatic collaboration was implemented mostly without direction or instruction from the authorities of the nazi occupying forces. keywords: vichy france; nazi germany; second world war; anti-semitism; collaborationist in french history, both the french resistance and its defiance against the axis powers duringthe second world war hold great weight in the public’s imagination and remembrance. in thefrench “collective memory,” a “myth of resistance” perpetuated by charles de gaulle took precedence in defining the roles and positions french governments, scholars, and the public adopted after the second world war (collins-weitz, 1995, p. 305). french historian henry rousso coined the term “résistancialisme,” a term illustrating the myth of the significance and extent of french resistance during the second world war. he argued that this myth emerged post-war and described the widespread impression of unanimous resistance during the war period. in his review of douglas porch’s book on the french resistance, bernard kaplan cites porch and writes that in reality “only about 5 percent of the french were even nominally members of the underground. of these, scarcely any ever fired a shot in anger, dynamited a train or sent a clandestine radio message” (1996, para. 6). the french government officially recognized only 220,000 male and female resistors (collins-weitz, 1995), less than 1% percent of the wartime population. an opposing aspect to france’s promulgated myth of resistance is the vichy government’s willing participation in the mass genocide and persecution of minority groups in europe during the second world war. although it is relatively well-known that the nazi party in germany introduced discriminatory laws against those whom they classified as undesirable, it has also been established that the vichy government in second world war france devised similar laws to isolate what they considered to be dissimilar or incompatible racial, national, religious or opposing political groups (such as the ∗i would like to thank dr. charlotte schallié for her invaluable guidance, encouragement, inspiration and feedback over the past four years, and jamie cassels undergraduate research award for funding this research. 37 mailto:skates@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716806 french communist party). both the vichy government in france and the nazi party in germany were ultra-nationalistic and shared many common racial and societal values. not only was this newly-established government in france fundamentally right wing, but they introduced anti-semitic laws, built and controlled internment camps for “undesirables,” and instigated a roundup of more than one-quarter of france’s native and refugee jewish population, including women and children, against previous gestapo orders to round up only fit men. this government of france chose to implement certain nazi-like policies in ways that were independent from nazi administrative orders, yet served a common goal. three historical examples are examined to offer insight into the nature of these government actions: the implementation of anti-semitic legislation, the internment camps in france, and a case study of the roundup at the vélodrome d’hiver. these examples suggest that vichy france’s government operated as an emphatic collaborator with nazi germany. this article contributes to the argument made by scholars such as michael marrus, robert paxton, and john merriman that the vichy government collaborated largely on their own authority, rather than simply cooperating with or obeying the orders of their occupier. collaboration versus cooperation the difference between the two words “collaboration” and “cooperation” can be both subtle and ambiguous. by definition, these words are rather similar; however, their connotations are extremely different. the etymologies of the words are quite comparable as well—collaborate coming from the latin word “collaborare” or “to labor together” (“collaborate,” n.d.) and cooperate coming from the word “cooperari” or “to work together” (“cooperate,” n.d.). however, in modern english, cooperation can be defined as “the actions of someone who is being helpful by doing what is wanted or asked for” (“cooperation,” n.d.), while collaboration is defined as “a purposeful relationship in which all parties strategically choose to cooperate in order to achieve shared or overlapping objectives” (rubin, 2009, p. 2). the word collaboration is typically employed when describing active participation, whereas the word cooperation comes from a passive appeasement. furthermore, as yale history professor john merriman said, “the term collaboration took on a less neutral meaning . . . because of the experience of countries like france, in the second world war, where . . . people actively helped the nazis achieve their goals. so, collaboration took on this sort of sinister term as well” (2007, 10:31). since the events and actions discussed in this paper originated with and were implemented by the vichy government, the words “collaboration” and “collaborationist regime” (“france opens archives,” 2015, para. 2) are thought to be more a more accurate descriptor of this administration’s actions than the word cooperation. in fact, the term collaboration has been used frequently in discussions regarding the vichy regime in historical literature since 1940 in order to emphasize the ways that the government acted autonomously. according to marrus and paxton, “vichy france bears an important part of the responsibility for this disaster” (1981, p. xv) since the explicit, active, and rapid implementation of anti-semitic laws and willingness to cooperate with nazi policies better fit the criteria of active participation than passive appeasement. therefore, the term collaboration rather than cooperation describes how these two governments worked independently towards a common end. pétain’s government and armistice with hitler prior to discussing the contextualizing information and illustrative historical examples, it is important to review the historical conditions that set the stage for the vichy regime to assume power. the fascist period in france was defined by certain ideologies and movements, and “it was in france that the radical right soonest acquired the essential characteristics of fascism, and it was in france, 38 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716806 also, that this process was most rapidly completed” (sternhell, 1986, p. 1). not only did the great war play a significant role in the birth of fascism in france, but social and political conditions such as “widespread unemployment, an impoverished middle class, [and] a terrorized petite bourgeoisie” and nationalist or racist ideology contributed to the popularity of right-wing regimes during the interwar period (sternhell, 1986, p. 1). this growing popularity of the right contradicted the traditional form of liberal democracy in france at the time and led to the undemocratic appointment of, yet undercurrent of support for, a new leader during the second world war. in june 1940, consequently, maréchal philippe pétain, an 84-year-old retired war general, was granted the leadership of a new right-wing vichy government that replaced the third french republic upon recommendation of the preceding president albert lebrun. on june 22nd, this new government brought an end to the battle of france by quickly formulating and signing an armistice with nazi germany in a train car located in the forest of compiègne. this armistice also served to appease hitler while maintaining a certain degree of independence for france (marrus, 1995). from 1940 to 1942, france was considered a client state of nazi germany (rosbottom, 2014). the country was divided in three parts according to the second and third articles of the convention (franco-german armistice, 2008). the north half of the country was under the occupation of the germans and labelled the “occupied zone,” with the exception of a small region in northeastern france annexed to belgium and labelled the “forbidden zone.” the newly established rightwing vichy government assumed power over the southern half of france, which was labelled the “unoccupied zone.” the headquarters of this professed “vichy government” were located in the town of vichy in southern france and thereby infamously resulted in the government being renamed (jackson, 2001). this government enacted a series of policies that represented three main promulgated values: catholicism, family, and work. it was an idealized state epitomized in the following quote: “true france is what they called it, true france, the real france, not the france of jews, not the france of grèves—no strikes, strikes [were] illegal. not the france of working class organizations, no cgt, organized workers need not apply, need not exist, et cetera” (merriman, 2007, 47:50). the vichy administration changed france’s motto from liberty, fraternity, and equality to family, work, and country, yet kept the revolutionist anthem la marseillaise, originally a revolutionary song that held ties to the more subversive aspects of france’s past (jackson, 2001). the government also introduced a secret police called the “milice” (jankowski, 1991) that enacted the more severe forms of the vichy government’s fascist ideologies and eventually carried out various crimes against humanity, such as murder, extortion, surveillance, and torture. the purpose of the secret police was “to get tough on the jews, get tough on the resistors, get tough on the communists—and these were some of the worst of the collaborators” (merriman, 2007, 29:08). under the leadership of a war general (rosbottom, 2014), the vichy government is noted as one of the cruelest fascist regimes during the second world war to legitimately sanction racist government guidelines and policies. vichy government and their anti-semitic policies the independent enactment of racist policies is one of the central examples that demonstrate the collaborative nature of the vichy government. in the fall of 1940, a series of anti-semitic laws were created without any instruction from the occupying nazi government and introduced within three to six months of the vichy government coming into power (marrus & paxton, 1981). legislative changes were introduced three months after inauguration and began with the “abolition on august 27, 1940 of the ‘marchandeau decree”’ (poznanski, 1992, p. 118), which repealed prior laws against anti-semitism in the media. in the beginning period of the regime, “the bulk of [the vichy government’s] statutory work was directed to denaturalization policy” (weisberg, 1996, p. 37). the first statutory initiatives worked towards defining who was a jew within a bureaucratic and 39 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716806 political apparatus and “set the tone for all subsequent religious legislation” (weisberg, 1996, p. 39). the next laws came with “confiscating property belonging to jews, [along with] restricting their movements” (marrus & paxton, 1981, p. xv). pre-war works by french authors pierre gaxotte, marcel jouhandeau, paul morand, and charles maurras, leader of the action francaise (jackson, 2001), echoed anti-semitic sentiments that were embraced by both politicians and supporters of their anti-semitic laws. the political and cultural environment of the time encouraged the denouncement of jews and resuscitated pre-1930 anti-semitism, resulting in a lack of outcry about, or repeal of, any racist legislation. “hugely successful” right wing political groups converged with a rising unemployment rate and an influx of refugees to inflame intolerant attitudes and contributed to changes in the inter-religious atmosphere of depression-era france (millington, 2012, para. 5). regardless of whether anti-semitism was a large proponent of their political platform or not, the “vichy [government] was publicly and conspicuously anti-semitic” (marrus & paxton, 1981, p. xvi) and made no secret of the fact that they wished to create what they saw as a truer, purer france. beginning in october 1940, the nazis ordered that all foreign and national jews were to register with the french police, and shortly afterwards, those lists and files were handed over willingly to the gestapo and ss (rosbottom, 2014). jews were then forced to identify themselves with the stamp of “juif” on their identity cards and were forced to wear star of david armbands and patches on their clothing. eventually, jews were banned from certain public places and subsequently forbidden to practice certain professions such as medicine or law (rosbottom, 2014). a huge public discourse emerged around the origin of jews who had emigrated from other countries such as germany and whether they would have the same rights as those who were french jew nationals. related to this discourse, “time and time again [there were] examples of internal debate, impervious to german influence, on crucial questions of vichy racial policy” (weisberg, 1996, p.43). in addition, the new vichy government had created a “committee on the jewish questions” (commissariat général aux questions juives) in 1940 that was led by xavier vallat (weisberg, 1996, p. 78). with the exception of ordering the registration of jewish persons, “none of these actions were forced upon by the [nazis]; on the contrary . . . the [nazis] noted the rapidity and scope of french legislation with bemusement, opportunistic glee, and even occasional annoyance” (weisberg, 1996, p. 38). the vichy government was in fact “eager to legislate, [and] prideful of tracking its own course on questions of race” (weisberg, 1996, p. 46). these sets of laws and policies contributed to the hostile anti-jewish environment of both northern and southern france after the vichy government obtained power, without excessive force or extortion from the nazi regime. this political atmosphere created fertile conditions for the future internment camps that provide a second historical example. internment camps in second world war france during the first world war, france was home to a number of internment camps that were set up for many different uses; housing prisoners of war and refugees were the most widespread and common. on october 4th, 1940, the vichy government legalized “the internment of stateless jews” in these camps (weisberg, 1996, p. 37) in addition to a substantial number of other peoples labelled “undesirable.” however, after the introduction of vichy anti-semitic policy and the initial collaboration with nazi occupying forces, the internment camps were primarily used for interning a specific subset of the “undesirables” (bernadot, 2008, p. 12), which were foreign and native jews, before they were shipped off to nazi death camps in alsace, germany, and poland. the most well-known were the drancy and beaune-la-rolande camps (rosbottom, 2014), located mainly in the urban centers throughout various regions of france, which housed many “thousands of jews” (“the holocaust,” 2017, para. 2), before deporting them to auschwitz, particularly after the roundup of 1942 (“the holocaust,” 2017). these camps had horrendous living conditions that paralleled 40 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716806 conditions in the nazi camps. the french camps had “faulty sanitary facilities,” and food provisions could not “sustain even a bare minimum of existence” (“concentration camps,” 2017, para. 3). the prisoners had neither the ability to appeal their internment nor to allay the conditions, and hundreds died “due to disease, cold and starvation; thousands of prisoners reached a state of malnourishment” (“concentration camps,” 2017, para. 3). the internment camp drancy in particular was originally under the control of the french police until july 3rd, 1943, when it reverted to the leadership of alois brunner, a schutzstaffel (ss) officer. the french police carried out additional roundups of both native jews and jewish refugees throughout the war without the instruction or management of the nazi occupying forces (“drancy,” n.d.). the camp beaune-la-rolande was shut down on august 4th, 1943 “by [the same leader of drancy] ss-hauptsturmführer alois brunner . . . under direct orders from heinrich himmler” in order to use drancy as the primary camp and streamline operations (wieviorka, 2000, p. 31). these internment camps were built and completely run by the french police forces and the vichy government, making this administration responsible for deporting thousands of jews to their eventual execution and aiding the nazi party in exterminating millions of people. the roundup of 1942 an indisputably important historical event in france’s past, presented here as a case study, further establishes the vichy regime’s participation in and culpability for second world war crimes. in the summer of 1942, over 14,000 french native and refugee jews were taken from their homes, arrested, and brought to the vélodrome d’hiver in the 15th arrondissement of paris. the roundup was ordered by the nazis, but was executed by french police forces. these forces additionally rounded up women and children even though this was not part of the gestapo order (marrus & paxton, 1981). the arrestees were forced to turn off any gas, water, and electricity to their homes and give their keys and pets to their landlords (marrus & paxton, 1981). they were transported to and locked inside the vélodrome in inhumane conditions that lacked food, water, proper toilets and sanitation, healthcare, or personal belongings. occupants often suffered from malnutrition, dehydration, and sickness (rosbottom, 2014). the vélodrome was extremely noisy due to loudspeaker announcements regarding deportations to internment camps and the chatter of “the thousands waiting in the vél d’hiv to find out their fate” (rosbottom, 2014, p. 280). the arena was continuously lit by fluorescent lighting. after temporary internship in the vélodrome, the arrestees were expulsed to the drancy or beaune-la-rolande internment camps before being transported further to auschwitz in poland. of those 14,000 rounded up and deported, only 811 survived after the war (marrus & paxton, 1981). in the vélodrome, suicide was extremely common, even in pregnant mothers, who jumped from bleachers to avoid a more humiliating death at the camps (merriman, 2007). it was not until 1995 that the modern french government, under the leadership of jacques chirac, “officially recognized the french state’s responsibility in the deportation of jews” and their involvement during those war years (“france opens archives,” 2015, para. 2). although the original idea of a roundup was conceived by the nazis, the vichy government and the french police were eager to participate independently in the roundup, expanded the age range, included women and children, and were responsible for the inhumane conditions and treatment in the vélodrome. this historical event demonstrates the vichy government’s willingness to implement their own anti-semitism within these roundup policies. 41 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716806 conclusion the vichy government’s actions, viewed by scholars such as john merriman, michael marrus, and richard weisberger as acts of collaboration, were largely executed on their own authority and by their own legislation. the vichy government had their own laws and statutes regarding race and citizenship imposed on july 16th, 1940, yet these policies intensified and progressed alongside the bond with nazi germany and at the same time as the right wing vichy government became stronger and strove to maintain independence. internment camps, created and run by the french vichy government, were changed from their original usage for prisoners of war during the first world war and used to house so-called “undesirables.” the roundup was a mass extermination that eliminated the majority of the french jewish population. the full extent of the roundup was not solicited by the nazis, particularly the inclusion of women and children, as well as the poor conditions in which the interns lived. although the nazi party did have some input into the affairs of the vichy government, the majority of these policies were introduced through the government themselves without direction. rather than simply follow orders of nazi germany, members of the vichy government largely participated as emphatic collaborators in the european racial genocide of the second world war. 42 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716806 references bernadot, m. 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(2000). les biens des internés des camps de drancy, pithiviers et beaune-larolande. mission d’étude sur la spoliation des juifs de france, 5, 1+. retrieved from http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/var/storage/rapports-publics/004001395.pdf 44 http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/var/storage/rapports-publics/004001395.pdf the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 #activism: identity, affiliation, and political discourse-making on twitter alexah konnelly ∗ the university of victoria alexahk@uvic.ca abstract twitter is increasingly recognized for having transformative potential for group advocacy. it also acts as a forum for spreading awareness and information on social justice (or activist) movements, as well as for dialogue between users on a given social justice subject. this study examines what motivates the use of hashtags in the activist context, and how this usage connects to broader discourses and ideologies. drawing on a corpus of two prolific activist hashtags – #yesallwomen and #heforshe – i employ a range of methodologies and frameworks to tease apart issues of use, affiliation, and context. i operationalize systemic functional linguistics (sfl), an analytical approach concerned with linguistic choices and how language is structured to achieve socio-cultural meanings, to analyze the engagement, meanings, and functions manifest in the dataset. the quantitative results are interpreted within the framework of feminist critical discourse analysis. i argue that hashtags are both linguistic and social facilitative devices, employed by users to assert their collective identity and political affiliation. editors note: in academia, occasionally researchers delve into controversial topics which can include material considered to be offensive to some. when researching discussions on such contentious issues, disturbing and offensive matter can arise in the data set. some of this data appears in this article in order to provide evidence for the author’s analysis. the opinions expressed in these pieces of data do not necessarily represent those of the university, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors, the journal staff, and the peer reviewers. keywords: hashtags; twitter; electronically-medicated communication; sociolinguistics; activism i. introduction a s a microblogging platform, twitter includes communication practices not necessarily envisioned in its original tag-line question, “what are you doing?” daily chatter, sharing of information and links, and news reporting (java et al., 2007) all co-occur with conventions such as the #hashtag and @replies. while twitter has recently drawn attention for its political potential (e.g. gruzd & roy, 2014), research thus far has been restricted primarily to network (e.g., himelboim et al., 2013), diffusion (e.g., bastos et al., 2013), and popularity prediction analyses (e.g., ma et al., 2012). however, twitter also acts as a forum for spreading awareness and information on social justice (or activist) movements, as well as for dialogue between users on a given social justice subject. this dimension of twitter remains relatively unexplored. since users have found new ways to use hashtags to communicate on an interpersonal level (i.e., from one user to another) and ∗this research was conducted under the supervision of dr. alexandra d’arcy, and was supported by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) through the vice president academic and the learning and teaching centre (ltc) at the university of victoria. i would like to express my sincerest thanks, appreciation, and gratitude to dr. alexandra d’arcy for her guidance and support throughout the course of this project. 1 mailto:alexahk@uvic.ca the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 on a community-building level (i.e., building affiliation with others more broadly) (shapp, 2014, p. 39), hashtags contribute to ongoing discussion of what constitutes ‘community’ in electronicallymediated communication (emc) (shapp, 2014, p. 39). this study seeks to explore and identify what motivates the use of hashtags in the activist context, and how such employment connects to broader discourses and ideologies. the activist context (and the specific hashtags, to be discussed below) was chosen, in line with zappavigna (2011, p. 792), ”to conduct a case study in which field variables, that is, the topic of the tweets, was held relatively constant to afford a rich investigation of meaning-making in a single domain.” twitter has many communication conventions (e.g., retweeting, favouriting, @replies), but the hashtag is arguably its most powerful. according to bruns and burgess, ”the hashtag has proven itself to be extraordinarily high in its capacity for “cultural generativity” (2011, p.3), the diverse ”creative, social, and communicative activities” in which users engage (burgess, 2012, p. 41). a key example is #blacklivesmatter. the hashtag first surfaced in 2012 as a response to the acquittal of george zimmerman, a florida neighbourhood watch coordinator who shot and killed 17 year-old trayvon martin (robertson & schwartz, 2012). it subsequently drew more attention after the deaths of micheal brown in ferguson and eric garner in staten island in 2014. that year, the american dialect society voted #blacklivesmatter its word of the year (curzan, 2015), demonstrating that hashtags can develop profound cultural salience. in short, hashtags perform both linguistic and social work, rendering them empirically valid objects of inquiry. efforts have been made to categorize the hashtag into different types, and a multiplicity of internet guides are available suggesting the type of hashtag to choose for “greatest effect” (e.g., van veen, n.d.). absent from these guides, however, are political hashtags of any nature. there is a wide variety of hashtags that could be described as political, but which likely perform different functions than one another (e.g., #cdnpoli, for discussing canadian politics; #potus, for discussing the president of the united states; etc.). therefore, it is unlikely that the term political hashtag itself represents a homogenous, unified category. i propose one category that is relevant for the work presented here: the cause hashtag. the cause hashtag is used or created with a specific goal in mind—to advance a cause, raise awareness, or rally support for a particular social issue. #blacklivesmatter is one such example. given this context, the questions i ask here are: (1) how do users engage with the emergent sociality that is ’hashtagging’? (2) how do hashtags add meaning to a tweet and what function(s) do they serve? and (3), how are the discourses connected to hashtags embedded within broader social ideologies and identities? i argue that hashtags act not only as a meta-message within a tweet, but also as tools of affiliation, political discourse-making, and collective identity-informing. in the course of this research, i encountered many viewpoints. some of these were offensive, but were kept in my study because they were intrinsic to analyzing the data. these tweets do not reflect my views, but have been included as evidence of the breadth of data collected. additionally, although the hashtag is used on multiple online platforms and social media (e.g., facebook, instagram, tumblr, pinterest, blogger, etc.), i use the term hashtag to refer exclusively its use in the twitter environment. ii. data and method to address these questions, i draw on a corpus of cause hashtags and employ a range of methodologies and frameworks to tease apart issues of use, affiliation, and context. to answer questions (1) and (2), i operationalize systemic functional linguistics (sfl) (halliday, 1994) in order to analyze the engagement, meanings, and functions manifested in the tweets. i outline this framework in section iv. to answer question (3), i interpret the quantitative results based on the 2 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 feminist critical discourse analysis literature. i. data two prolific cause hashtags are targeted here: #yesallwomen and #heforshe. in addition to being viral, these hashtags share two features: their narratives are temporally close to one another, and their respective messages are simultaneously congruent and divergent. ii. temporality and context #yesallwomen first surfaced in may of 2014 in response to the isla vista killings, an attack fuelled by the shooter’s desire for “retribution” against women he alleged had rejected him (massarella, rosenbaum, & greene, 2014, n.p.). the hashtag emerged out of a desire to assert that, while not all men commit violent sexist crimes, all women have experienced some form of violence or harassment from men. #yesallwomen was intended to focus the discussion on the shooting as an incidence of systemic violence against women, and not simply the isolated acts of one mentally ill individual. #heforshe originated in september of 2014. it represents the official “solidarity campaign” for gender equality initiated by the united nations (monde, 2014, n.p.). the campaign, introduced by un women goodwill ambassador emma watson, seeks to facilitate greater involvement of men and boys in the achievement of gender equality worldwide. in the words of ambassador watson, #heforshe is men’s “formal invitation” to participate in ending gender-based discrimination (watson, 2014, n.p.). iii. congruence and divergence #yesallwomen and #heforshe are congruent in that they both address systemic gender-based violence and/or discrimination. they are divergent in that they target different audiences. whereas #yesallwomen focuses primarily on women sharing their stories and their relationships with institutionalized sexism, #heforshe focuses primarily on men and their relationship with the same thing. however, #yesallwomen has been criticized by men who feel that it “disparages men in [a] grotesquely unfair fashion” (hemingway, 2014, n.p.), and #heforshe has been criticized by women who are concerned about the implications of a gender equality movement that “relies on the primary oppressor” to achieve its goals (deaver, 2014, n.p.). thus, the two tags are valuable subjects of comparison because they target the same topic from contrasting perspectives and sources. tweets containing #yesallwomen and #heforshe were extracted from twitter using tweet archivist (https://www.tweetarchivist.com/). the first tweets downloaded are those from the 24-hour timeframe in which the search was executed; afterwards, the spreadsheet is updated hourly. given the dynamic nature of twitter, even a 24-hour timeframe can result in thousands of tweets meeting a particular query. for this analysis, only the initial data were used—any tweets from the hourly updates were excluded. tweets in languages other than english were also excluded. this was done to restrict the analysis to english-speaking communities of practice. finally, straightforward, unaltered retweets (“rts”) were removed (although rts in which the user added text to the tweet were retained), to ensure, as best as possible, that all tweets contain the intellectual property of the user who tweeted them. this approach resulted in 370 tokens of #yesallwomen (reflecting 24 consecutive hours of twitter discourse from october 2014) and 240 tokens of #heforshe (reflecting 24 consecutive hours of twitter discourse from january 2015). this method was employed in order to obtain a random sample reflective of the entire set. 3 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 iv. theoretical framework the theoretical framework adopted for this study is systemic functional linguistics (sfl), which explores “how social worlds are [. . . ] established in and through language” (kazemian & hashemi, 2014, p. 1179). in other words, sfl focuses on how language is structured to achieve socio-cultural meanings, often through the analysis of texts in consideration to the social context in which they occur (kazemian & hashemi, 2014, p.1179). according to sfl, language enacts three metafunctions: an interpersonal function of negotiating relationships, an ideational function of enacting experience, and a textual function of organizing information (halliday & matthiessen, 2004). these three functions relate rather neatly to the central questions outlined so far. question (1), “how does the hashtag add meaning to the tweet?,” is textual, organizing information. question (2), “what function(s) does it serve for users, not just in interaction with others but in ‘solo’ messages to an imagined audience?,” relates to the interpersonal and the negotiating of relationships. and question (3), “in what ways are the discourses that surround the hashtag embedded within broader social ideologies and identities?,” is ideational, enacting experience. to analyze the meanings manifest in the tweets, i will also draw on the theory of appraisal, developed by martin and white (2005) within the sfl paradigm. this theory deals with ‘evaluative language’. according to zappavigna (2011, p. 794), “evaluation is a domain of interpersonal meaning where language is used to build power and solidarity by adopting stances and referring to other texts.” since cause hashtags are used or created to advance a cause, raise awareness, or rally support for a particular social issue, ‘building power and solidarity by adopting stances’ is arguably their foundational function. use of cause hashtags regularly involves a process of ‘referring to other texts,’ often through the sharing of links related to the hashtag or its message. thus, evaluative language can be said to be a domain intrinsic to #yesallwomen and #heforshe. the theory of appraisal considers how text construes emotional language in three areas: attitude (making evaluations), engagement (bringing other voices into the text) and graduation (scaling up or down evaluations). as graduation did not operate significantly with either hashtag, it has been omitted from this work and will not be discussed further. each of these areas can be understood as ‘systems networks’ (zappavigna, 2011) containing additional choices. accordingly, attitude was divided into three factor groups: attitude-type, explicitness, and attitudepolarity. attitude-type was coded as either affect (expressing feeling or emotion), as in (1), judgment (expressing opinion, ethics, or morality), as in (2), or appreciation (expressing aesthetics or value/worth), as in (3). the categories affect, judgment, and appreciation could conceivably co-occur. however, in this dataset, they are mutually exclusive. whether or not this is due to the character limit on tweets or the ideological nature of the hashtag’s message is unclear, and i leave this open to future research. (1) best way to get me in a bad mood is #yesallwomen hashtag (2) #genderequality is not only a women’s issue. . . so we need men to support feminism.[link] #heforshe (3) she’s just such a great human being all around #heforshe [link] explicitness was coded for inscribed (explicit meaning, easily discernible), as in (4), or invoked (latent meaning, requires deduction), as in (5). attitude-polarity was coded as either positive-attitude (user agrees with the message of the hashtag), as in (6), or negative-attitude (user does not agree), as in (7). (4) i’m a boy, and i’m 12, but it’s obvious enough that this is right. @emwatson #heforshe @heforshe [link] 4 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 (5) when i do a ’feminist post’ on social media, i hope that men will respond positively. men will benefit from gender equality too! #heforshe (6) yes i’m a guy, and i do support feminism! #yesallwomen (7) #yesallwomen need a good beating to put them in their place what poses a challenge for coding attitude polarity is that tweets can appear attitudinally ambiguous when users do not explicitly state their ideological affiliation. in fact, sometimes responses are not related to the intended topic of the hashtags at all, as in (8)–(10). (8) @twitteruser1 if i consent to have sex with a female & later find out he-shes a post op transexual=(man) did he-she rape me? #yesallwomen (9) #if she says no and you still do it, you’re either a baller or a rapist #yesallwomen (10) #yesallwomen think that #hitlerdidnothingwrong frequently these tweets take the form of a rape joke or rhetorical question, and sometimes both, as in (8). given that these hashtags are intended to raise awareness for systemic violence and discrimination against women, tweets that trivialize or derail this discussion, as in (8)–(10), were interpreted as indicating a negative attitude polarity. finally, engagement was coded as mono-glossic (non-conversational; ‘solo’), as in (11), or heteroglossic (conversational; contains @username, a rt, or is otherwise directed at an individual), as in (12). (11) if not me, who? if not now, when? #heforshe (12) @twitteruser @twitteruser #yesallwomen exactly, "boys will be boys" doesn’t cut it anymore. where the information was available, tokens were also coded for user gender. since previous research in emc has shown a relationship between gender, hashtag use, and twitter behavior (e.g., bamman, eisenstein, & schnoebelen, 2012; shapp, 2014), whether it is also a factor in the use of #yesallwomen and #heforshe is of interest, particularly in light of their innately gendered narratives. gender is challenging to code for, however, since most users do not include any gender-identifying information on their twitter profiles (cf. table 1). those who did use explicit self-identifying language in either their tweets or their twitter profiles were coded accordingly; the rest were coded unknown. to investigate how patterns of hashtag use intersected with gender identity, cross-tabulations of gender with each internal predictor were performed.2 the quantitative analysis explores the ways in which users engage with the hashtags on twitter. the model used here is proportional, examining the distribution of factors (i.e., attitude, explicitness, etc.) within and across the two cause hashtags. the qualitative portion of this study is informed by feminist critical discourse discourse analysis (fcda), which focuses on gendered social practices. since the hashtags in question are definitionally ‘about’ gender, the task is to examine how power and ideology are discursively produced, resisted, and counter-resisted through textual representations that have had their meaning components ‘broken down’ by appraisal analysis. 1the names of twitter users have been removed to protect the identity of the authors of tweets used in this study. 2the only genders that were self-identified within this dataset are men and women. since the ‘unknown’ gender group is too internally heterogeneous to make any meaningful extrapolations, it is therefore excluded from examination of gender. this brings the number of #heforshe tokens to 81 and #yesallwomen tokens to 187 for this part of the discussion. 5 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 table 1: user sample by gender gender #heforshe yesallwomen users,n tweets,n users,n tweets,n women 35 41 46 122 men 33 40 29 65 unknown 110 159 111 183 total n 178 240 186 370 v. distributional results in this section, i present the distributions of the hashtags according to internal (i.e., attitude, explicitness) and external (i.e., gender) factors, in order to expose the discursive strategies and meanings constructed through their use. distribution of tweets based on attitude type, attitude polarity, engagement, and gender in particular reveal certain facts that contribute to an understanding of how each hashtag functions, as well as how participation in each of the hashtags differs. figure 1: distribution of #heforshe and #yesallwomen by attitude type given that #heforshe and #yesallwomen share the goal to raise awareness for a social justicerelated issue, it follows that the majority of tweets express an opinion, judgment, or relate to ethics. figure 1 reports the results for attitude type. as expected, the majority of tokens for both hashtags encode judgment. #yesallwomen has a higher proportion of tweets indicating a judgment attitude type, yet for both hashtags these attitudes generally express opinions related to the message, and positive judgments for both are quite similar: they tend to express agreement with the message. the two diverge, however, when it comes to negative judgments. disagreement with #yesallwomen is expressed indirectly—for example, claims of sexism are challenged (13, 14), or are hyperbolic (15). in contrast, negative judgments of #heforshe challenge the usefulness of the hashtag (16), contest its goals (17), or accuse it of being one-sided (18): (13) so..are you saying that you’ve never checked out a guy before? never? #yesallwomen (14) #yesallwomen because some women fake rape (15) i have a penis therefore whatever i have to say is wrong. #yesallwomen (16) #heforshe support your feminism, just as long as you look like emma watson #mysogyny #radfem #feminism #yesallwomen 6 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 (17) #heforshe support your feminism as long as your idea of freedom is making cupcakes & wanting to be a princess. #misogyny #radfem #yesallwomen (18) @twitteruser #heforshe is worthless without #sheforhe. #yesallwomen and #heforshe have different sources: #yesallwomen represents a grassroots effort with no official leader or spokesperson, while #heforshe is largely attributed to united nations ambassador emma watson. this difference is reflected in the use of affect and appreciation attitude types. many #heforshe tweets are addressed directly to emma watson and express an affect (19-20) or appreciation (21-22) attitude type: (19) @emwatson’s un speech about gender inequality inspires me. so brave, empowering and moving. #heforshe (20) @emwatson i hope that we support #heforshe campaign here is saudi arabia :) (21) @emwatson@ellebelgique you look soo beautiful, what an incredible cause! #heforshe #emmawatson [link] (22) emma watson is cute’n sexy. she makes me wish i was a big brawny badass so i could protect her from rapists and terrorists. #heforshe with #yesallwomen, however, there is a smaller proportion of affect-oriented tweets. these tend to either express emotions regarding personal experience, as in (23), or gender-based discrimination in general, as in (24): (23) did not enjoy seeing my friend being harassed by two drunken sexists though.#yesallwomen #streetharassment (24) @twitteruser @twitteruser #yesallwomen i’m fed up with feeling unsafe in the world that i live in, no more! when cross-tabulated with gender, as in figure 2a (left), women use #heforshe to express a wider range of attitude types than men do. regardless, #heforshe is significantly more likely to encode a judgment attitude type than any other (χ(1) = 7.42, p < 0.05). this is consistent with the assumption that cause hashtags, which characteristically represent a goal to raise awareness for a social justice-related issue, would be primarily opinion-, judgment-, or ethics-oriented. figure 2: distribution of attitude by gender in #heforshe tokens (left) and #yesallwomen (right) 7 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 reported in figure 2b (right), there is less variability of attitude type for #yesallwomen. for both genders, judgment again comprises the vast majority of tokens (women: 84 %, n=102; men: 88%, n=57), but the likelihood of judgment use is not statistically significant (χ(1) = 0.56, p = 0.45). affect and appreciation are marginalized in the data. broadly construed, #heforshe involves more affectand appreciation-oriented engagement than #yesallwomen does, which can be connected to the origins of the hashtags. #heforshe has a spokesperson, who draws affectand appreciation-based attention from users. #yesallwomen, as a grassroots movement, has no such leader. as such, the smaller proportions of affect-oriented tweets with the hashtag tend to either express emotions regarding personal experiences or gender-based discrimination. figure 3: distribution of #heforshe and #yesallwomen tokens by attitude polarity figure 3 reports the results for attitude polarity. in terms of both overall distribution and distribution by gender (cf. figures 4a and 4b), the hashtags show different levels of attitude polarity. for example, 89% (n=213) of all #heforshe tokens indicate a positive attitude polarity, a figure that drops to 64% (n=235) for #yesallwomen. when cross-tabulated with gender, distribution of #heforshe by attitude polarity is similar for both men and women—the orientation is primarily positive (women at 95%, n=39; men at 90%, n=36). however, the situation is markedly different for #yesallwomen. women have a primarily positive attitude polarity (93%, n=113), but men have a primarily negative attitude polarity (78%, n=51). this association is highly significant (χ(1) = 98.34, p < 0.01). figure 4: distribution of attitude polarity by gender in #heforshe tokens(left) and #yesallwomen (right) the role of gender in the patterning of attitude polarity can be connected to the target audience 8 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 for each hashtag. while #heforshe explicitly includes men as part of the message, #yesallwomen excludes them (though they remain an important part of the implicit rhetoric). this is likely why men respond negatively in the majority to #yesallwomen, but in the minority to #heforshe— #yesallwomen has a solidarity-building function whereby users (specifically women) build a collective identity characterized by their shared personal experiences. however, rather than using a different hashtag to encode their dissent (e.g., #notallmen), men with a negative attitude polarity towards the hashtag(s) continue to use them. that is, they specifically employ #yesallwomen to express their dissent. this shows that a hashtag’s ‘core demographic’ (men for #heforshe; women for #yesallwomen) is therefore not the only participant group. of course, disagreement with a hashtag goes beyond target demographics. there are certain discourses that both preclude and inform the use of these hashtags—that systemic gender-based violence or discrimination does not exist (25), that it is equally experienced by men and women (26), or that it does exist, but women are deserving of it (27). while language is central in producing culture, discourse can express or reveal meanings that have developed over time, “prior to a particular linguistic act” (avlesson and karreman, p. 1137). (25) you want a pay raise? work hard and then ask for it. you want to stop catcalling? don’t give them the attention. #yesallwomen (26) @twitteruser i know #yesallwomen don’t care about that sexist law, which is why i don’t care about sexism towards women. tit-for-tat (27) @twitteruser @yesallwomen actions speak louder than words! are you a celibate virgin? if not you’ve been saying yesss in denial #yesallwomen consequently, it follows that some users respond strongly to the hashtags. both #yesallwomen and #heforshe have a clear connection to broader discourses and ideologies related to their message. when users agree or disagree with the hashtags, they are also agreeing or disagreeing with the discourses and/or ideologies connected to them, a process described by zappavigna (2013, p. 789) as affiliation. figure 5: distribution of attitude polarity by gender in #heforshe tokens next, both hashtags pattern similarly with respect to explicitness (figure 5)—both favour an inscribed meaning. neither is more likely to encode one than the other (χ(1) = 0.26, p = 0.61). when cross-tabulated with gender, the overall patterns displayed in figure 5 are replicated: differences between the genders are not significant (#heforshe χ(1) = 0.53, p = 0.47; #yesallwomen χ(1) = 1.8441, p = 0.17). notably, both genders use latency primarily in the form of rhetorical 9 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 questions, yet the nature of such questions differs. while all rhetorical questions in the dataset produced by women express frustration over a personal experience (28–29), those produced by men overlap with a negative attitude polarity (see (8) and (30)). (28) so i can’t wear lipstick to work without my misogynistic coworker asking me which one of my male coworkers i’m dressed up for? #yesallwomen (29) @twitteruser #yesallwomen so women are being heard, huh? (30) when did female #empowerment become female infantilization? [link] #feminism #yesallwomen #heforshe #victorian thus, latency is a resource applied in different ways by both genders in their engagement with the hashtags. in terms of overall distribution, #yesallwomen and #heforshe pattern identically with respect to engagement. when cross-tabulated with gender, this overall pattern remains effectively stable for #yesallwomen—no gender effect is evident (figure 6b; χ(1) = 1.7045, p = 0.19). however, important gender-based variation emerges for #heforshe, where tokens produced by men have a higher percentage of hetero-glossic (i.e., ‘conversational’) engagement than those by women: 58% (n=23) versus 32% (n=13) respectively. this association is significant (χ(1) = 5.4552, p < 0.05). figure 6: : distribution of engagement by gender in #heforshe tokens (left) and #yesallwomen tokens (right) differences in levels of monoand hetero-glossia across genders may reflect their functions. women tend to use the hashtags to facilitate a mono-glossic narrative to discuss their own personal experiences (31–32), whereas men tend to use them to engage with women about those experiences, either positively (33) or negatively (34); for #heforshe, the audience is often ambassador emma watson or one of the united nations or heforshe campaign accounts (35). (31) thanksgiving’s next week. as a pregnant full-time working mum, i’m thankful for a husband that views women as equals. #heforshe (32) going far, far out my way to go home because one dude refused to take ”please leave me alone” for an answer. #yesallwomen (33) good thoughts & strength out to @twitteruser her & her family received specific, graphic, death threats for speaking out. #yesallwomen (34) @twitteruser the blaming of your imperfections on all men is the definition of feminism. #yesallwomen 10 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 (35) as a #heforshe, i’m committed to #genderequality. i invite you to stand with me. @heforshe [link]. props to @emwatson to summarize, these two hashtags pattern quite differently, and sometimes in significant ways. the hashtags appear to share the following characteristics: both encode a primarily judgmentoriented attitude type, as well as a primarily inscribed explicitness and mono-glossic engagement. at the same time, there are statistically significant associations between gender and attitude polarity and gender and engagement that operate distinctly across #heforshe and #yesallwomen. with respect to gender and attitude polarity, agreement with #yesallwomen is the inverse for men and women, an association that is highly significant. finally, analyzing the patterning of engagement along with gender reveals that the hashtags perform different functions for both genders. iii. discussion i now return to the original research questions. how do users engage with the emergent sociality that is ‘hashtagging’? how do hashtags add meaning to the tweet in this domain, and what function(s) do they serve for users? and finally, what are the ways in which the discourses connected to hashtags are embedded within broader social ideologies and identities? in section 3.1, i contextualize the engagement with hashtagging in the cause hashtag sub-domain in terms of collective identity. in section 3.2, i outline the function and meaning of the hashtags as evidenced by the analysis. i. engagement: collective identity despite the similar message of #yesallwomen and #heforshe (i.e., addressing systemic genderbased violence and/or discrimination), these hashtags show different levels of engagement across genders. a tag’s ‘core demographic’—men in the case of #heforshe, women in the case of #yesallwomen—are never the only participants. those that fall outside of the core also participate, and they make their feelings about being ‘excluded’ known: this is evidenced by the significant associations between gender and attitude polarity (cf. fig. 4a and fig 4b). crucially, these users maintain the hashtag; they do not, for example, deploy a different hashtag to encode their dissent, e.g., #notallmen. this shows that a given hashtag is a linguistic and social resource employed by users irrespective of whether or not they identify with it—in fact, some may very well use it specifically because they do not identify with it. users who do not agree with the hashtag can employ it to directly engage with members of the opposing side (i.e., those who do agree with the hashtag). preservation of the hashtag thus becomes a means by which users can speak to the community. clearly, hashtag use is more complex than being used “without rules, sense, or intelligence” as previously argued by biddle (2011, n.p.). this is discussed in greater detail below. in characterizing hashtagging as an emergent sociality, there is also the question of what kind of sociality is at stake. in the context of this particular sub-domain, it appears that hashtags are acting as markers of collective identity. melucci (1996, p. 44) defines collective identity as “an interactive and shared definition produced by several individuals (or groups at a more complex level) and concerned with the orientations of action and field of opportunities and constraints in which the action takes place.” taylor, and whittier (1992, p.105) argue that, in addition to collective identity involving a group’s shared definition about its situation and place in the larger society, it also has three additional characteristics: boundaries, consciousness, and negotiation. boundaries separate the group from the opposition by emphasizing differences between group members and members of the opposition; in so doing, they emphasize the minority group’s shared perceptions 11 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 and sentiments of being distinct from the dominant group. this is evidenced in #yesallwomen tweets such as those in (36)–(38). (36) depending on where we live & what work we do; women get threatened with rape & murder. #yesallwomen #whyineedfeminism (37) @twitteruser #yesallwomen it shouldnt, but the lens through which women are viewed, is quite different than how men are viewed.#yesallwomen (38) #yesallwomen because nobody ever asks how many people guys fuck to get where they are.-.-’ in each of these tweets, the users emphasize the differences between themselves and the opposition (in this case, men): in (41), the difference is that women receive threats of rape and murder that men do not; in (42), the difference is ‘the lens’ through which women are viewed compared to men; and in (43), the difference is in the questions that women are asked that men are not. however, the boundaries established by #heforshe differ from those established by #yesallwomen. while the opposition in #yesallwomen tweets is men, in #heforshe tweets, it is broader: the boundary is between those who support gender equality versus those who do not. a level of consciousness of the members of a minority group is also required for a collective identity to become established. this means that a group becomes aware of itself through a series of self-re-evaluations of shared experiences, shared opportunities, and shared interests (ayers 2003, p. 151). this is achieved for both hashtags primarily through discussion of either the user’s personal experience (39–40) or their shared belief in gender equality (41). (39) some guy catcalled me, snapped his fingers at me and called me madonna while making kiss faces. i am not an object! #yesallwomen @twitteruser (40) as a man, i find it noteworthy how infrequently my employer’s religious convictions affect my health coverage.#heforshe#yesallwomen (41) as a #heforshe, i’m committed to #genderequality. i invite you to stand with me.@heforshe [link] finally, collective groups use a process of negotiation to build their collective identity, often through dialogue amongst themselves and/or with the opposition. this is evidenced in the many hetero-glossic tweets in the data, where users engage with one another (42–43) or an out-group member (44) on the topic. (42) @twitteruser’s support for #heforshe doesn’t solve any problems at all, but good reaction. we need international help on damned rape cases. (43) @twitteruser what you think about @emwatson project #heforshe? (44) @twitteruser_ why do i need a man? because i am a woman??? that’s sexist!! #yesallwomen in their negotiation with the collective groups (i.e., those who support #yesallwomen and #heforshe), users that disagree with the hashtag often directly challenge the boundaries and consciousness of those who support them, evidenced by examples (25) and (26), repeated below. (25) so..are you saying that you’ve never checked out a guy before? never?#yesallwomen 12 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 (26) #yesallwomen because some women fake rape in (25), the user challenges the boundaries established by the collective group by implying that women are not that different from men in that they engage equally in what is presumably either street harassment or objectifying behaviour (which they interpret as “checking out”). in (26), the user challenges the consciousness of the collective group by challenging the validity of their shared experiences (in this case, that all cases of rape are real). in all, the engagement in both #yesallwomen and #heforshe demonstrates that hashtags can be understood as semiotic linguistic resources: hashtags act as facilitative devices for asserting one’s collective group identity and ideological affiliation. #yesallwomen is used primarily in this data set to establish a collective identity of women, whereas #heforshe is used primarily here to establish a more broad collective identity of supporters of gender equality. ayers (2003) notes that “shared definitions of right and wrong help a person link her beliefs to the larger group’s same belief, thus attaching the individual to the group” (p. 151), and it appears that the hashtags are a resource that users employ in communicating these beliefs and attaching themselves to their desired group. this also shows that in establishing and maintaining collective identity, hashtags act as a specific resource that users can draw upon and organize their efforts around. according to fominaya (2010, p. 398), the development of collective identity “is the result of an interaction between more latent and submerged day-to-day activities and visible mobilizations,” crucial arenas in which activists can foster reciprocal ties of solidarity and commitment, clarify their understandings of who they are, what they stand for, and who the opposition is. hashtags allow users to perform all of these functions not only in real time, but across space and time as well. communication between users is initiated and organized by use of the hashtag itself, enabling them to form communities of collective group identity and shared ideological affiliation. ii. function and meaning building on the above discussion, it is now possible to answer question (2), how do hashtags add meaning to the tweet in this domain, and what function(s) do they serve for users? this can be answered in two parts. first, cause hashtags clearly have an interpersonal function: users affiliate with values related to the hashtag itself. these values may be affective, ideological, or aesthetic; they may be inscribed or invoked; and they may be negotiated in interaction with other users (i.e., hetero-glossic). hashtags also function as linguistic devices that are able to mark the topic of evaluation in different ways. they may act as an independent tag marking the entire tweet, they may mark the topic of engagement, and they may be embedded in the syntax of the tweet’s message itself. ultimately this shows that, in addition to acting as social devices (i.e., having the ability to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of collective identity, outlined in section 3.1), hashtags perform linguistic functions as well. instead of being stuck in digital statements to “validate them as part of [a] new, mangled syntax” (biddle, 2011, n.p.), it seems that hashtags fit quite comfortably into the existing syntax of the language. second, hashtags are not capable of carrying meaning in addition to their initial message, but they do co-occur with a variety of semantic information. attitude type, attitude polarity, explicitness, and engagement are all encoded in tweets containing both #yesallwomen and #heforshe. yet, the hashtags cannot stand for any of these meanings independently. this means that, aside from the specific message that they encode, the hashtag is restricted by the information added by the user. therefore, it appears that the contribution of a hashtag (i.e., what semantic content it adds to the tweet when used) involves a combination of its meaning (or message) and function, and the meaning of the text in the tweet itself. 13 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 iv. conclusion this project has examined the use of cause hashtags on twitter, focusing on #yesallwomen and #heforshe. i have argued that hashtags have an unambiguous interpersonal function wherein users affiliate with values related to each hashtag, which are themselves linguistic devices that mark the topic of evaluation in different ways. i have also argued that hashtag use can be understood as a semiotic activity, with hashtags acting as facilitative devices for asserting one’s collective identity and political affiliation. cause hashtags, and hashtag activism more generally, may represent a new form of resistance and challenge in the technological world. it is one of many new methods for increasing awareness of advocacy efforts, and allows for “bypassing the gatekeepers by giving a range of advocates, from everyday citizens to multi-million dollar companies, an opportunity to get their messages out to others” (stache, 2014, p. 2; emphasis in original). given this potential, analyzing hashtags as linguistic units with the potential of community-building and identity negotiation can contribute to our understanding of “the inevitable linguistic complexity that arises as people commune online” (zappavigna, 2011, p. 804). as online communication becomes increasingly searchable, the amount of data available to researchers is sure to grow. hashtags not only develop profound cultural salience, but they also perform social and linguistic work. this research demonstrates that it is possible to analyze hashtags in-depth in both these domains, and that both their meanings and functions can be broken down componentially. the hashtag is a powerful tool, and analytical possibilities are on the rise. there remains plenty of room for future research on this sociolinguistic device. references ayers, m. d. 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(2011). ambient affiliation: a linguistic perspective on twitter. new media & society, 13(5), 788-806. 16 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.3898/newf.78.02.2013 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444810385097 introduction data and method data temporality and context congruence and divergence theoretical framework distributional results discussion engagement: collective identity function and meaning conclusion the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 transidentitaire : sexe, genre et sexualité dans volkswagen blues de jacques poulin et le goût des jeunes filles de dany laferrière rachel baker* university of victoria bakerra@uvic.ca résumé à l’heure où les rôles de genre traditionnels sont invariablement réexaminés, déconstruits et réécrits, les conceptions de la masculinité et de la féminité prennent une importance majeure. cet article examine la multiplicité des identités de genre dans la littérature québécoise contemporaine : volkswagen blues de jacques poulin et le goût des jeunes filles de dany laferrière. à partir d’un modèle transidentitaire basé sur des travaux théoriques d’isabelle boisclair et de lori saint-martin, deux critiques littéraires québécoises, on examine la manière dont ces écrivains évoquent la masculinité et la féminité. poulin et laferrière abordent les questions du sexe et de l’orientation sexuelle, et celles du genre, de son identité et de son expression, créant des espaces où les corps oscillent souvent entre masculin et féminin et ont des qualités masculines et féminines qui apparaissent simultanément ou en alternance, ainsi rejetant un modèle binaire traditionnel du genre. *ce projet a été soutenu par la bourse jamie cassels undergraduate research award. je remercie chaleureusement dr. dave mckercher. je lui serai toujours gré de son partage des connaissances et son enseignement passionné. de même, je remercie les professeurs au département de français, sans lesquels je n’aurais pensé à faire des études littéraires : mme. annye castonguay, dr. marc lapprand, dr. catherine léger et dr. sada niang. en particulier, je suis reconnaissante à ma directrice de thèse, dr. marie vautier, dont l’expertise et l’amour de la littérature québécoise m’ont guidée jusque-là. les encouragements reçus le long du projet m’ont été d’une aide précieuse. je remercie également mon deuxième lecteur, dr. emile fromet de rosnay, de son appui et de ses judicieux conseils. et bien sûr, je remercie mes diverses communautés de leur soutien indéfectible et de leur diversité précieuse. 191 mailto:bakerra@uvic.ca baker à travers les devises narratives, les textes présentent des personnages qui occupent le continuum du genre et effectuent leurs identités en fonctions des contextes dans lesquels ils se trouvent. enfin, ces œuvres encouragent le lecteur de s’interroger sur leur conception du genre, ce que veut dire être homme et ce que veut dire être femme. keywords : transidentitaire ; masculinité ; féminité ; genre ; sexualité ; identité sexuelle ; multiplicité de genre ; genderqueer ; études littéraires du genre ; littérature contemporaine québécoise ; dany laferrière ; le goût des jeunes filles ; jacques poulin ; volkswagen blues ; continuum du genre i. introduction l’écriture est aussi un espace pour rêver, et pour croire qu’il est possible d’être né à port-au-prince, de vivre à montréal et de penser qu’on est un écrivain japonais. dany laferrière en plus d’être un espace pour rêver, la littérature est un lieutransformateur, et ainsi elle joue un rôle essentiel dans le dia-logue qui se déroule autour du genre, autant à l’intérieur qu’à l’extérieur des frontières littéraires et du cadre universitaire. les théories genderqueer et les études du genre (gender studies) sont de plus en plus au premier plan dans de nombreux domaines. les études littéraires trans* 1 peuvent sensibiliser les lecteurs à l’évolution des 1. gate (global action for trans* equality http ://transactivists.org/trans/) utilise le terme trans* pour décrire les individus qui transgressent les normes (binaires) (occidentaux) du genre. trans* comprend ceux qui ont une identité de genre qui n’est pas le genre assigné à la naissance et/ou ceux qui se sentent obligés, qui préfèrent ou qui choisissent — soit par des vêtements, des accessoires, des produits cosmétiques ou des modifications du corps — de se présenter autrement qu’aux attentes du rôle assigné à leur sexe de naissance. cela comprend entre autres les individus transsexuels et transgenres, les travestis, les « cross-dressers », les individus sans genre et genderqueer. le terme devrait être vu comme un indicateur de plusieurs identités, la plupart desquelles sont particulières à des cultures locales et à des contextes historiques, décrivant des individus qui élargissent et diversifient la conception binaire du genre (ma traduction). 192 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 conceptions du sexe, du genre et de la sexualité dans l’espoir que l’exposition continue engendrera davantage d’empathie pour le nombre croissant d’individus qui ne relèvent pas du champ identitaire binaire. volkswagen blues (1984) de jacques poulin et le goût des jeunes filles [1992] (2004) de dany laferrière s’éloignent de cette binarité et participent à ce dialogue autour du genre, ce qui justifie de les étudier. ces textes nous invitent à nous poser une question toute simple : « qu’est-ce qu’un homme ? qu’est qu’une femme ? » la réponse, elle, n’est pas binaire. ce travail, divisé en quatre parties, explore les interactions entre la masculinité et la féminité, et la façon dont les écrivains créent des espaces où les corps de papier subvertissent la stricte binarité traditionnelle de ces catégories. la première partie décrit le modèle « postmoderne » de la conception du genre développé par isabelle boisclair et lori saint-martin (2006), et présente les écrivains et les romans ; la deuxième partie porte sur le sexe des personnages et analyse si leurs performances des rôles sociaux entrent en conflit avec les attentes traditionnelles du sexe biologique ; la troisième partie examine le genre des personnages et la manière dont les textes évoquent le masculin et le féminin ; et l’étude de la vision de la sexualité véhiculée par les textes constitue la quatrième partie. laferrière et poulin créent des espaces littéraires où les personnages glissent du masculin au féminin à travers une multiplicité de perspectives, et où les traits genrés ne correspondent pas toujours avec le sexe biologique. l’analyse compare et contraste les textes pour mieux comprendre les enjeux et les procédés qui, malgré la mise en scène de couples mâle/femelle, véhiculent une conception que je qualifierai de « transidentitaire » du sexe, du genre et de la sexualité. ii. un modèle « postmoderne » des identités sexuelles dans la littérature qébécoise contemporaine dans l’article, « les conceptions de l’identité sexuelle, le postmodernisme et les textes littéraires », isabelle boisclair et lori saint193 baker martin (2006) proposent trois modèles pour concevoir l’identité sexuelle dans le but de montrer comment certains écrivains véhiculent une conception du sexe, du genre et de la sexualité qui bouleverse le système identitaire traditionnel. le premier modèle, surnommé « patriarcal », soutient que les hommes et les femmes existent dans un système de genre binaire, où l’identité de genre (homme/femme) est conforme au sexe biologique (mâle/femelle). à l’intérieur de ce système phallocentrique, adopter le comportement du genre opposé est contre nature et l’hétérosexualité est la norme obligatoire ; toutes les autres expressions de sexualité sont aberrantes. le deuxième modèle, surnommé « féministe », privilégie l’égalité entre les sexes et se manifeste lors de l’émergence du féminisme dans les années 1970. en plus de l’égalité, il valorise l’homosexualité, ainsi rejetant la présomption d’hétérosexualité. pour ce qui est du sexe, le modèle est toujours binaire. c’est-à-dire, l’identité de genre et/ou le comportement du genre peuvent ne pas correspondre au sexe biologique, mais les pôles eux-mêmes (homme/femme) ne sont pas remis en cause. le troisième modèle pour concevoir l’identité sexuelle, que boisclair et saint-martin surnomment « postmoderne », décloisonne la binarité traditionnelle du sexe, du genre et de la sexualité, et coïncide avec le décentrement de la littérature québécoise dès les années 1980, où celle-ci « entre dans l’ère du pluralisme » (biron, dumont et nardout-lafarge, 2010, p. 531). désormais, la question identitaire fait éclater le paysage littéraire. selon sherry simon (1991), l’identitaire renvoie à l’identité considérée comme une construction et, dans le contexte québécois, celle-ci est de plus en plus marquée par l’hétérogène, ce qui ouvre la voie au questionnement fondamental des concepts de l’identité en tenant compte du caractère performatif des discours identitaires (p. 9-11). le modèle « postmoderne » autorise une multiplicité d’identités fluides. en d’autres termes, des identités qui non seulement basculent entre les pôles, mais qui les occupent simultanément. le sexe biologique ne dicte pas nécessairement l’identité d’ « homme » ou de « femme », si celle-ci entre en conflit avec la matérialité du corps. ainsi parle-t-on d’identités genderqueer ou transgenres, ainsi que d’un continuum du genre. cependant, l’usage des étiquettes 194 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 est problématique puisque les termes sont souvent employés pour englober un groupe important parmi lequel l’éventail des identités s’incarne dans des individus. mâle/femelle, homme/femme, et masculin/féminin ne sont pas des catégorisations binaires, mais représentent plutôt des échelles mobiles sur lesquelles l’individu se glisse dans un contexte donné. dans ce modèle, la sexualité est également multiple et mobile, sans présomption d’hétéronorm-ativité. toutefois, tenant compte de l’ambiguïté du terme postmoderne dans le domaine littéraire, et ne voulant pas mêler toutes les conventions du courant postmoderne à l’analyse des textes de poulin et laferrière, je propose l’utilisation de transidentitaire. 2 ce terme s’oppose aussi bien aux étiquettes « patriarcal » et « féministe », et permet l’idée d’intégrer la notion québécoise de l’ « identitaire ». à cet égard, ce travail examine comment volkswagen blues et le goût des jeunes filles véhiculent une conception transidentitaire. iii. l’écrivain de la douceur et l’écrivain haïtien-qébécois-japonais jacques poulin, « l’écrivain de la tendresse », dès son premier roman mon cheval pour un royaume (1967), construit une œuvre qui tourne autour des thématiques intimistes et des figures emblématiques. les relations homme-femme, l’amour et l’amitié, la survie du français en amérique, les chats et les mots occupent une place majeure dans ses écrits. déjà lauréat de nombreux prix littéraires, il reçoit en 2008 le prestigieux prix gilles-corbeil, le « nobel québécois », décerné pour l’ensemble de son œuvre par la fondation émile-nelligan. selon robert lévesque, président du jury : il y a chez jacques poulin le paysage avant le pays, la géographie avant la politique, les odeurs avant les cau2. bien que le problème des étiquettes soit adressé plus haut, et que la définition de trans* permette l’hétérogène, il est toutefois important de ne pas abuser du terme et par là retomber dans l’homogène. il se peut que le terme risque de gêner les individus et les communautés qui s’identifient comme trans* et qu’il soit donc inapproprié. il serait peut-être mieux de recourir à un terme plus neutre. 195 baker seurs, et puis et surtout les mots, les mots, ces pierres polies, […] le poli d’une phrase, au contraire du lustre, le mot infiniment pesé, posé, enlevé, remis à la bonne place, déposé sur la page, le mot avec […] une balistique de la précision, et en retour, un art de l’émotion retenue, c’està-dire, […] cette chose qui n’a pas de sexe, ni d’âge, et qui s’appelle la tendresse. (montpetit, 2008, para. 12) avant de se consacrer à l’écriture, poulin a fait une formation de conseiller d’orientation et a travaillé dans ce domaine. la psychologie en demeure un élément essentiel de son œuvre puisqu’il cherche toujours « comment ça marche [l’esprit humain] » (montpetit, 2008, para. 5). ne se considérant pas un homme public, poulin reste un écrivain discret, difficile à saisir. comme les chats qui peuplent son univers romanesque, il demeure énigmatique. il est difficile de dire si la figure emblématique de l’écrivain désabusé, qui porte souvent le même nom de plume « jack waterman », est une représentation de jacques poulin. bien que certains critiques lui reprochent le caractère répétitif de ses romans, d’autres reconnaissent l’élément essentiel de l’écriture poulinienne : la réécriture. justement, en parlant de son métier, poulin dit : « il y a une condition essentielle pour continuer d’écrire, et c’est de trouver une faiblesse dans le livre que j’ai fait. et dans le livre suivant, j’essaie de corriger ça » (desmeules, 2001, para. 5). selon biron, dumont et nardout-lafarge (2010), « toute véritable écriture [chez poulin] est une réécriture, de la même façon que toute véritable lecture est une relecture » (p. 547). comme jack, jacques pose un regard critique sur son œuvre, même si celle-ci lui vaut des honneurs. l’autoreprésentation équivoque et la réécriture sont des thématiques également importantes chez dany laferrière. en 2001, laferrière a déclaré qu’il était fatigué, « fatigué surtout de [se] faire traiter de tous les noms : écrivain caraïbéen, écrivain ethnique, écrivain d’exil. jamais écrivain tout court » (skallerup bessette, 2013, p. 9). laferrière a fui la dictature de jean-claude duvalier en 1976 pour montréal par crainte d’être assassiné en raison de ses 196 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 associations et activités politiques. le cœur de son œuvre est formé par son «autobiographie américaine», un cycle de dix romans, dont fait partie le goût des jeunes filles. ce touche-à-tout ne veut ni être étiqueté, ni être mis dans des cases : « je ne sais pas à quel genre appartiennent mes livres. je les crois hybrides, inclassables […] » (sroka, 2010, p. 77). dans son essai « how to read dany laferrière without getting tired », la critique lee skallerup bessette (2013) suggère que l’action hybride entre le réel et le fictif de son écriture autofictionnel reflète le refus d’être catégorisé et que l’écrivain habite une identité liminale qui « danse aux frontières, toujours en mouvement » (p. 16). cela dit, il reconnaît ses identités multiples, comme il s’est exclamé lors de son élection à l’académie française le 12 décembre 2013 : « ce n’est pas donné à tous d’avoir deux pays. c’est une chance de pouvoir vivre entre le québec et haïti » (ici.radio-canada, 2013). suscitant la controverse depuis son premier roman, comment faire l’amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer (1983), laferrière, en quelque sorte l’antithèse de poulin quant à sa participation sur la scène publique, est également difficile à saisir. bien que la critique féministe ait posé un regard négatif sur les portraits dits « machistes » dans son œuvre, il est tout de même important de considérer les personnages féminins sans recourir à une analyse réductrice. laferrière joue sur les stéréotypes et confie des fonctions incontournables aux personnages féminins pour construire des textes polyphoniques et complexes. le contexte historique postcolonial et le duvaliérisme — caractérisé par les abus de pouvoir et l’exploitation violente du peuple par la milice paramilitaire, les tontons macoutes — est essentiel pour une interprétation plus vaste de l’œuvre de laferrière. une lecture qui ne tient pas compte de ce contexte risque de repérer uniquement des stéréotypes unidimensionnels, attaqués comme antiféministes. iv. présentation des romans : volkswagen blues et le goût des jeunes filles le récit principal du goût des jeunes filles (montréal : vlb, 2004 ; désormais gjf) raconte un week-end en 1971. vieux os, l’alter ego 197 baker autofictionnel de laferrière sur lequel repose l’« autobiographie américaine », a quinze ans et se réfugie chez sa voisine miki parce qu’il se croit la cible des tontons macoutes. marie-michèle, une adolescente bourgeoise de la riche banlieue pétionville, s’est infiltrée au groupe de filles qui entoure miki dans le quartier populaire et elle écrit toutes ses observations dans un journal intime. vingt ans plus tard, dans le récit qui encadre ce week-end, la publication de ce journal réveille les souvenirs de vieux os. il narre sa version du week-end sous forme cinématographique. le générique qui commence le récit encadré indique que « l’action se passe à port-au-prince, à la fin du mois d’avril 1971. les années soixante venaient à peine de commencer en haïti. avec dix ans de retard. comme toujours » (gjf, p. 39). les années soixante représentent « les années de la jeunesse, de cette jeunesse qui se donnait pour mission de tout chambarder, qui remettait tout en question : l’amour, la mort, l’argent, la maternité, la beauté, etc. […] » (gjf, p. 327). en haïti, cet esprit n’arrive qu’en 1971 juste avant la mort de françois duvalier, « papa doc », et ce week-end représente un moment d’espoir de liberté brièvement vécu avant que le fils du dictateur, jean-claude duvalier, « baby doc », arrive au pouvoir. volkswagen blues (montréal : babel, 1988 ; désormais vb) s’organise autour d’un voyage, à la fois géographique, temporel et identitaire. jack waterman part à la recherche de son frère, théo, disparu depuis quinze ans. en pleine crise d’écriture, jack cherche non seulement théo, mais il est également en quête de sa propre identité. à gaspé, d’où théo lui a envoyé la dernière carte postale, jack rencontre une jeune fille métisse, pitsémine, qui devient sa compagne de voyage. surnommée « la grande sauterelle », pitsémine cherche à réconcilier ses identités disparates. ensemble dans un vieux volkswagen, ils traversent l’amérique moderne, l’ancienne amérique des colons, l’amérique mythique des héros du far west, ainsi que l’amérique des amérindiens. de la gaspésie à san francisco, en empruntant les routes anciennes, telles le fleuve saint laurent, le mississippi, la piste de l’oregon et la piste de la californie, jack et pitsémine interrogent l’histoire ; ils tentent, à travers l’opposition entre passé et présent, entre héros mythiques et pionniers ordinaires, de reconstruire 198 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 l’imaginaire de l’amérique et de réconcilier l’identitaire québécois et sa complexité grandissante. en effet, ils retrouvent théo, personnage absent qui représente cet aventurier mythique, atteint d’une creeping paralysis et incapable de reconnaître qui que ce soit. l’évolution de jack est à l’encontre de celle de son frère : au cours du récit et la quête de l’ouest, son apprentissage de la vie et de lui-même auprès de pitsémine lui permet de rentrer à québec et de recommencer à écrire. sa quête finie, jack laisse le volkswagen à pitsémine qui n’a toujours pas réconcilié ses identités et qui pourra peut-être les réunir dans la ville ultime de la diversité identitaire, san francisco. selon boisclair et saint-martin (2006), un écrivain « qui donne la parole à un protagoniste du sexe opposé […] montre un grand intérêt pour l’autre et une volonté de traverser la frontière des genres » (p. 12), ce qui constitue une manière de véhiculer le transidentitaire. écrits par deux hommes, les textes mettent en scène un protagoniste accompagné de l’autre : laferrière présente deux narrateurspersonnages, un garçon et une fille, tandis que poulin présente un narrateur extradiégétique qui raconte deux personnages, un homme et une « fille ». le goût des jeunes filles, publié pour la première fois en 1992, montre l’intérêt de la part de laferrière pour l’autre car il a réécrit le roman en 2004 pour l’augmenter considérablement : mariemichèle partage la narration et la diégèse également avec vieux os. en effet, les femmes sont indispensables au texte et laferrière le souligne dans l’épigraphe : seules les femmes ont compté pour moi. une lecture attentive soulève des personnages et des figures nuancés. en donnant la parole aux filles, surtout à marie-michelle, laferrière remet en question l’autorité masculine à ce moment charnière de l’histoire d’haïti et tente de reconstruire un lieu d’autonomie féminine. ainsi, les deux écrivains font preuve d’un intérêt pour l’autre en faisant accompagner leur alter ego, vieux os et jack respectivement, d’un personnage du sexe opposé. par conséquent, les textes invitent une analyse plus fine du sexe des personnages et la manière dont ils l’expriment. 199 baker v. le sexe d’après boisclair et saint-martin (2006), « la désarticulation entre les traits particuliers d’un personnage et son sexe » (p. 12) constitue une manière d’actualiser le modèle « postmoderne », ou en mes termes, d’avancer le transidentitaire, et elles citent la multiplication de l’indifférenciation et de l’indétermination dans l’œuvre de poulin comme exemple (p. 12). volkswagen blues présente deux protagonistes dont les aspects masculins et féminins se brouillent constamment et contribuent à la problématisation identitaire dans le texte. l’incipit raconte la rencontre de jack et pitsémine. celle-ci est présentée comme une jeune fille assez féminine : elle est habillée en robe blanche, les jambes longues et fines, les cheveux longs et tressés. plus loin, quand jack se décrit en fonction de son frère, théo, on nous laisse entendre que théo est l’idéal masculin et « le contraire de [jack] : il était grand, un mètre quatre-vingt-dix, les cheveux… noirs comme [pitsémine] et il ne se cassait pas la tête pour rien » (vb, p. 11). ainsi, jack est éloigné du masculin et sa masculinité (traditionnelle) est remise en cause. selon edith vandervoort (2011), il y a un contraste frappant entre jack et les hommes de la frontière qui se sont battus contre les indiens et la dure réalité de la piste de l’oregon. de plus, les traits de gentillesse, passivité, tristesse, ainsi que son manque d’agressivité et sentiment d’infériorité, sont souvent des traits associés avec les femmes. en dépeignant un homme doux, contemplatif et incertain, poulin a créé un personnage qui subvertit la patriarchie (p. 317). d’ailleurs, le rapprochement de théo (l’idéal masculin) et pitsémine remet en question la féminité (traditionnelle) de celle-ci. en fait, la comparaison commence sa masculinisation. sa capacité de conduire est particulièrement parlante puisque cette habitude est typiquement réservée aux hommes : « la fille conduisait très bien dans les côtes. elle n’avait pas besoin de regarder le compteur pour savoir à quel moment elle devait changer les vitesses ; elle écoutait simplement le bruit du moteur et ne se trompait jamais » (vb, p. 238). les personnages occupent des rôles en opposition à leur sexe biologique : jack cuisine et fait le ménage, tandis que pitsémine est mécanicienne, un 200 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 métier hautement masculin où jack avoue son ineptie. l’anecdote des manchots que pitsémine raconte à jack illustre et autorise l’inversion des rôles car eux aussi tiennent des rôles inversés : le mâle prend soin de l’œuf, tandis que la femelle part à la pêche. doucement, poulin subvertit les rôles traditionnels, et légitime le comportement « masculin » chez les femmes et « féminin » chez les hommes. il n’y a rien de doux dans la manière par laquelle laferrière questionne le lien entre le sexe et les rôles sexués. le début du goût des jeunes filles met en scène le modèle féministe à travers tante raymonde qui questionne l’utilité des hommes : « les hommes, nous, on n’en a pas besoin. d’ailleurs à quoi ça sert, hein ? qu’est-ce que je ferais d’un homme ? » (gjf, p. 16). elle diminue le rôle des hommes dans leur famille : « aucun homme ne peut nous séparer, il y a eu un seul homme dans cette famille et c’est ton père, le seul… je sais que gilberte a eu des amants, et ninine aussi quelquefois, mais c’était toujours passager, ce n’était pas vraiment important… » (gjf, p. 19). pour tante raymonde, le rôle d’un homme est purement physique, soit pour les travaux manuels, soit pour combler les envies sexuelles et les besoins de la reproduction. l’homme est ainsi réduit à son corps, voire son sexe biologique, ce qui maintient une vision binaire du sexe puisque tante raymonde ne propose pas que les femmes remplissent ces fonctions. en revanche, elle s’occupe des besoins matériels de toute la famille. le rôle masculin de soutien de famille peut être subverti par une femme, mais en gardant l’aspect féminin. cela dit, la masculinité est remise en question par vieux os qui ne se conforme pas aux normes sociales traditionnelles relatives aux rôles des hommes telles que véhiculées par le roman où les personnages masculins n’ont souvent que des rôles violents et cruels (papa, frank et les tontons macoutes) ou absent (son père). bien qu’il soit jaloux de la liberté qu’il perçoit chez son ami gégé qui incarne cette masculinité traditionnelle, vieux os est un garçon doux et sensible qui lit de la poésie. en famille, vieux os prend l’aspect masculin puisqu’il est le seul mâle, mais par rapport à gégé, il paraît moins masculin. encerclé par les filles chez miki, il retient le statut de « garçon », mais sa masculinité est remise en question puisque il lui manque les 201 baker traits typiquement masculins, surtout l’agressivité. dans volkswagen blues, bien que pitsémine effectue des actes typiquement féminins, comme se brosser les cheveux et porter des robes, elle alterne la stylisation féminine et masculine de son corps. juste avant de se mettre en drag à l’hôtel ymca, pitsémine s’hyper-féminise en se mettant nue devant jack. mais en drag, pitsémine ne perd pas son allure : jack la trouve « très drôle [et son] chapeau de tennis est absolument irrésistible » (vb, p. 112). en le remerciant elle dit, « […] je suis votre homme ! » (vb, p. 112), brouillant davantage son l’identité sexuelle. plus loin, saul bellows, l’écrivain anglais et lauréat du prix nobel qui reconnaît que pitsémine est une fille, dit : « when you’re looking for your brother, you’re looking for everybody ! » (vb, p. 119). un tel énoncé laisse entendre que la masculinité et la féminité sont des caractéristiques qui ne sont pas incompatibles, mais, comme l’idée d’un continuum de genre le soutient, peuvent empiéter l’une sur l’autre. ceci rejoint les propos de boisclair et saint-martin (2006) qui disent que « la non-considération de la spécificité sexuelle peut mener à tenir le féminin pour humain, pour universel » (p. 11). ainsi, le masculin et le féminin peuvent se retrouver chez tout individu à des degrés divers. poulin cherche à soulever les ressemblances de jack et pitsémine : ils parlent « d’une seule voix » (vb, p. 207), ils marchent « côte à côte » (vb, p. 218), ils sont « deux vrais zouaves ! » (vb, p. 260) et « les deux plus grands menteurs de l’amérique du nord ! » (vb, p. 84). le texte insiste sur une rencontre égale entre l’homme et la fille. « chacun à leur façon, l’homme et la fille étaient maniaques des musées » (vb, p. 134, je souligne). jack et pitsémine peuvent avoir des identités similaires, soit masculin et/ou féminin, et les exprimer chacun à leur façon. par conséquent, ce type d’énoncé illustre le transidentitaire qui insiste sur la pluralité et l’individualité du genre. dans le goût des jeunes filles, le sexe et le corps sont fortement liés. selon marie-michèle, le rôle maternel est indissociable du corps féminin et son questionnement du maternel est essentiel à la critique qu’elle fait de sa mère. elle rêve d’avoir été élevée comme les enfants de la classe populaire qu’elle voit dans les rues en allant à l’école : ces mendiantes que je vois toujours avec un bébé atta202 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 ché à leurs hanches, la bouche suçant frénétiquement un sein flasque où ne semble plus rester une seule goute de lait. d’abord, ma mère n’aurait jamais accepté que je maltraite à ce point son sein (elle y tient), elle ne m’aurait non plus jamais nourrie de ses dernières réserves, comme le font, avec abnégation, toutes ces mères. (gjf, p. 47) bien que le jugement négatif sur la capacité maternelle de sa mère soit lié au déni du sein, et semble en soit une réduction au corps, le rôle de mère n’est pas présenté comme inéluctable. les traditions littéraires québécoises, surtout les romans du terroir, enfermaient les personnages féminins dans le rôle traditionnel de la maternité ; devenir mère était une fin obligée, voire indiscutable. marie-michèle, elle, ne veut pas avoir d’enfants, mais ce rejet de la fonction reproductive ne fait planer aucun doute sur son sexe, ni son identité sexuelle. le texte rejette la notion d’un lien obligatoire entre les femmes, la féminité et la maternité, et ainsi remet en cause un des fondements de la conception de ce qu’est une femme. vi. le genre l’ambigüité identitaire, surtout la fluidité de genre, sont centrales aux textes et se manifestent à travers les représentations d’entre-deux que sont les identités plurielles et le mouvement. selon pierre hébert, l’un des thèmes essentiels chez jacques poulin est l’équilibration intérieure des parties féminine et masculine de notre être (1997, p. 8). comme le dit pitsémine : « je suis partagée entre les deux, et je sais que ça va durer toujours » (vb, p. 59). poulin crée un entre-deux constamment partagé où le transidentitaire est autorisé. jack et pitsémine cherchent à réconcilier leurs propres identités, mais il y a aussi une tentative de parcourir la distance entre celles-ci. les postes de traite représentent l’entre-deux où l’exploration est valorisé : « […] les postes de traite étaient situés le long des cours d’eau… alors ils n’ont pas seulement été utilisés pour la traite des fourrures : on s’en est servi aussi comme points de départ pour toutes sortes d’expédi203 baker tions » (vb, p. 45). aucun côté n’est privilégié, mais l’importance est accordée au milieu. les postes de traite et les points de départ sont aussi importants car c’est aux endroits d’échanges qu’ils reçoivent des informations pour le prochain bout de voyage. de cette manière, le texte et les personnages sont rarement immobiles, mais constamment en transit. par exemple, en passant la ville de brantford, elle veut passer la nuit dans le cimetière où est enterré le chef thayendanegea (joseph brant) pour « se réconcilier avec elle-même » (vb, p. 87). dans ce contexte particulier, pitsémine se dessaisit du drag et se reféminise. devant un ancien chef mohawk, peuple qui faisait partie de la confédération des six-nations dans laquelle les femmes ont joué un rôle important, « elle avait l’air de croire que, d’une façon ou d’une autre, le vieux chef pouvait l’aider à se connaître elle-même » (vb, p. 88). ainsi, elle enlève son costume de garçon et remet une robe pour reprendre le sexe et le genre féminin. malgré ceci, le résultat est un échec : « il ne s’est rien passé du tout » (vb, p. 93). la réconciliation ne peut se faire qu’avec la mise en équilibre de toutes ses parties. ce n’est qu’à san francisco, la ville ultime de la diversité et de subversion des normes sociales, qu’elle peut s’établir : « elle pensait que cette ville, où les races semblaient vivre en harmonie, était un bon endroit pour essayer de faire l’unité et de se réconcilier avec elle-même » (vb, pp. 317-318). jadis, l’entre-deux n’était pas permis dans les sociétés. en tentant de réconcilier l’histoire de l’amérique du nord dans son intégralité en joignant le passé au présent, jack et pitsémine deviennent une nouvelle représentation d’un couple originel ; il n’y a plus de guerre entre les sexes, ils ne sont pas en compétition et ils s’entraident le long du roman. quand jack demande pourquoi elle s’occupe de lui, pitsémine explique : « parce que… on est deux. on est ensemble. on ne peut pas vivre comme si on était séparés » (vb, p. 147). le texte souligne leur identité plurielle, à la fois leur statut en tant que deux individus, et leur statut commun en tant que couple. plus loin, jack dit que théo « est à moitié vrai et à moitié inventé. et s’il avait une autre moitié… […] la troisième moitié serait moi-même » (vb, p. 149). cette troisième moitié remet en question le binarisme et met en valeur l’hétérogène. 204 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 l’entre-deux où le masculin et le féminin coexistent fait preuve d’un lieu de coopération, illustré lors d’une panne ; ils travaillent ensemble pour résoudre le problème, tout en subvertissant les rôles : comme elle travaillait au soleil, il lui fit une sorte d’auvent en utilisant la couverture de flanelle. pour qu’elle ne fût pas obligée de rester en position accroupie, il lui apporta le petit tabouret en vinyle jaune du volks. il avait versé de l’eau fraîche dans un grand plat et, de temps en temps, il lui épongeait le front avec une serviette mouillée […]. et lorsque tout fut terminé et que le moteur […] se mit à tourner comme un neuf, il […] déclara à la fille, qui avait la figure barbouillée d’huile et les mains et les bras noircis jusqu’au coude : « vous êtes le plus beau mécanicien que j’aie jamais vu ! je vous adore ! » il se laissa aller à toutes sortes d’excès de langage » (vb, p. 267-68, je souligne). la coexistence du masculin et féminin est représentée non seulement pas la coopération entre jack et pitsémine, mais par le narrateur qui permet la concurrence des genres. le narrateur maintient le sexe femelle de pitsémine et le sexe mâle de jack en les appelant invariablement « la fille » et « l’homme » respectivement, sans exiger qu’ils renoncent leurs identités de genre fluides ou à leurs rôles nontraditionnels. pitsémine est à la fois « fille » et « le plus beau mécanicien ». cette concurrence du masculin et du féminin s’inscrit dans le transidentitaire qui insiste sur la pluralité. la pluralité identitaire se retrouve également dans le goût des jeunes filles sur le plan structurel. le texte comporte des formes multiples entremêlées — littéraires, cinématographiques, poétiques et journalistiques —, et souligne un refus des conventions traditionnelles du romanesque. ainsi le texte fonctionne comme une revendication du pouvoir de l’écrivain. la multiplicité des formes recèle l’hétérogène, exigeant un mode de lecture hybride chez les lecteurs. le récit encadré des souvenirs de vieux os prend la forme d’un scénario « weekend à port-au-prince (un film écrit, filmé et réalisé par dany laferrière) » et la voix narrative de marie-michèle vient se mêler en forme de 205 baker journal intime. ces entrées n’appartiennent pas strictement au même week-end puisqu’elles sont publiées au présent (25 ans après le weekend), et la fin du texte est un entretien avec marie-michèle à propos de son journal. laferrière refuse de se laisser encadrer dans des catégories romanesques traditionnelles. dans ce texte, il y a une liberté de forme, loin de la forme classique de l’autobiographie et de la fiction. de plus, la mise en scène d’une narratrice permet un point de vue féminin. toutefois, l’entre-deux ne produit pas le même effet de fluidité chez les personnages. vieux os et marie-michèle se rencontrent à la fois dans le texte et dans la maison de miki : « c’est incroyable combien on était à la fois si proche et si loin : pendant que j’enregistrais dans ma tête et dans mon cœur ce qui se passait de l’autre côté de la rue, durant ce fameux week-end, eh bien, au même moment, elle notait presque les mêmes évènements dans son journal » (gjf, p. 33). bien que la maison de miki soit un lieu de rencontre, l’entre-deux n’est que possible à travers l’écriture et la lecture du texte, contrairement au cas de l’union entre jack et pitsémine. ici, les personnages ne peuvent pas s’intégrer l’un à l’autre : « c’est l’époque qui est ainsi tricotée : on sait ce qu’on fait, on sait qui on est, pourtant on ignore ce que fait l’autre au même moment, bien que l’on soit tous les deux sur la même longueur d’onde » (gjf, p. 33). alors que poulin rapproche ses personnages, les personnages laferriens gravitent dans une orbite à la fois proche et éloignée. cela dit, le texte, et surtout la réécriture, insistent sur la présence des deux points de vue : « […] pour comprendre bien cette époque, il sera nécessaire de regarder mon petit film […] tout en lisant le journal de marie-michèle. si mon œil objectif balaie la surface des choses, l’oreille ultrasensible de marie-michèle descend jusque dans les grandes profondeurs pour capter certaines vibrations » (gjf, p. 33). pourtant, en tant que personnages, ils ne peuvent pas partager ce lieu de rencontre et ils racontent leurs observations en alternance. c’est seulement à travers le texte qu’ils peuvent, vingt-cinq ans plus tard, coexister, l’un à côté de l’autre, en égalité. ainsi, le texte devient un lieu de concurrence masculine et féminine, tout en se différenciant l’un de l’autre. 206 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 par la voix de marie-michèle, laferrière légitime le questionnement de la condition des femmes et l’état du féminisme à l’époque de papa doc. cependant, le discours féministe de marie-michèle est lacunaire. elle pense que les filles chez miki vivent plus librement, mais en fait le mode de vie des filles est imposé par des injustices sociales, qu’elles en soient conscientes ou non. marie-michèle reproche à sa mère et aux femmes de sa classe d’être hypocrites et elle les incite à s’émanciper de leur prison dorée, mais les problèmes existent au niveau de la structure sociale « basée sur trois choses fondamentales : la richesse familiale, l’exploitation du peuple et la corruption de la classe politique en fonction » (gjf, p. 80). ainsi, la société et surtout le développement du féminisme est entravé par ces structures défendues par la mère de marie-michèle qui représente l’élite minoritaire. l’hypocrisie et la stagnation du cercle doré contrastent fortement avec le cercle de miki « où les liens de sang n’existent pas, rien n’est permanent. tout bouge constamment » (gjf, p. 84). enfin, marie-michèle rejette irrévocablement le cercle et s’installe à new york où elle se libérera des contraintes des structures sociales traditionnelles. le mouvement dit beaucoup sur l’identité dans les deux textes. pitsémine, née dans une roulotte, reste en mouvement le long du texte et même après la fin de celui-ci puisque jack lui donne le volks. justement, la fluidité, ou la traversée des « frontières » identitaires, devient l’identité elle-même, ce qui rejoint le propos de judith butler (1990) qui soutient dans son ouvrage trouble dans le genre qu’il est impossible de décrire un individu transsexuel par « homme » ou « femme », qu’il faut « témoigner de la constante transformation — transformation qui « est » la nouvelle identité —, et même de l’« entre-deux » qui interroge ce qu’est une identité genrée » (p. 32). comme le volks, pitsémine représente une identité fluide qui n’arrête pas d’explorer. cela dit, le parcours est également important chez jack, mais se manifeste dans l’écriture. dans leur dernière conversation, pitsémine lui rappelle que « l’écriture est une forme d’exploration » (vb, p. 318). l’écriture, comme le voyage, permet d’explorer l’identité et de franchir, voire d’occuper, les frontières de l’entre-deux. leur adieu à l’aéroport évoque une telle occupation partagée de l’entre-deux à la fois 207 baker du corps et de l’esprit : alors ils se serrèrent l’un contre l’autre, assis au bord de leur siège, les genoux mêlés, et ils restèrent un long moment immobiles, étroitement enlacés comme s’ils n’étaient plus qu’une seule personne. (vb, p. 320) selon pierre l’hérault (1989), « les rapports entre jack et pitsémine sont un jeu de déplacement à l’intérieur d’un champ identitaire d’où le monologique est exclu. jack n’est jamais pitsémine ; pourtant il l’est. de même pitsémine n’est jamais jack ; pourtant elle l’est de quelque façon […] dans ce jeu […] le personnage se déplace, non seulement par rapport à l’autre, mais aussi par rapport à lui-même, dans un mouvement de décentrement qui va de l’unique au multiple » (p. 34). vu sous cet angle, il est évident que le texte fait ressortir les valeurs du transidentitaire. vii. la sexualité en ce qui concerne la sexualité, jack exprime succinctement les valeurs de liberté et de respect : « dans le domaine sexuel, je trouve qu’on devrait avoir le droit de tout faire à condition de respecter la liberté de l’autre » (vb, p. 82). jack applique cette philosophie lorsqu’à saint louis pitsémine sort avec un autre homme. quand elle rentre très tard une nuit, jack ne veut pas être hypocrite et lui faire la morale : « je n’aime pas la morale. vous êtes libre et vous n’êtes pas à moi » (vb, p. 138). leur relation est fondée sur le respect mutuel et l’égalité, et les tentatives sexuelles entre eux tombent à l’eau lorsqu’il y a une inégalité de pouvoir. contrairement, la sexualité dans le goût des jeunes filles est toujours en rapport avec le pouvoir et deviennent une stratégie de survie. choupette exprime le même principe de liberté que jack dans volkswagen blues, bien que plus crûment, quand elle parle de sa relation avec papa : « […] c’est pas moi qui le retiens… si ça ne fait pas son affaire, il sait toujours quoi faire… je l’ai averti : « ok, tu veux rester, reste, mais mon cul est à moi, et à personne d’autre. » et il était d’accord » (gjf, p. 198). dans le texte, les rôles 208 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 masculins et féminins sont souvent inversés : les filles détiennent le pouvoir sexuel, tandis que les hommes sont soumis. frank, l’amant de pasqualine, est aussi un homme-objet, mais il représente explicitement le pouvoir exploiteur et le danger auquel les filles font face en fréquentant les tontons macoutes puisqu’il travaille actuellement à fort dimanche, la prison où les tontons macoutes torturent les détenus. bien que frank soit un tueur, la conversation entre pasqualine et marie erna montre l’inversion du pouvoir : — comment fais-tu avec lui ? — je l’ai dompté. — c’est tout ? — c’est tout. — comment fais-tu alors pour baiser avec un tueur ?[…] — ce n’est pas différent d’avec un autre, sauf que quelqu’un comme lui est plus sensible, tu vois… comme si tu manipulais une bombe. — c’est dangereux ! — très […] et puis, quand il jouit, il appelle sa maman. […] un vrai bébé… (gjf, p. 207) cela dit, il n’y a pas tout à fait un renouvellement de la conception du sexe/genre car l’univers fictionnel, ancré dans le contexte historique d’haïti en 1971, insiste sur un lien étroit entre la sexualité et le pouvoir. dans le cas de pasqualine, elle est obligée de s’engager dans une relation sexuelle avec frank pour sauver son frère qui a été emprisonné. de même, miki et choupette participent à des relations où la sexualité est une obligation contractuelle, qu’elle soit sous-entendue ou explicite. les relations sans intimité, sans sentiment, qui sont des relations de pouvoir, transforment l’être humain en objet. ainsi, le discours féministe est renversé sur lui-même à partir du moment où l’on fait de l’autre un objet. l’humain est évacué du sexe : les figures d’hommes sont abusives, sans émotions, tandis que les filles, bien qu’elles aient des émotions, sont également abusives. laferrière dit que « c’est la sexualité comme instrument de pouvoir politique, de pouvoir social, de pouvoir économique […] et on a ceux qui sont 209 baker prêts à vendre la seule chose qu’ils ont, c’est-à-dire leur jeunesse et leur corps » (sroka, 2010, p. 76). le texte critique une société encore en guerre — les hommes contre les femmes, les pauvres contre les riches. ces liaisons « dangereuses » (le roman de choderlos de laclos est abondamment cité dans le journal de marie-michèle) détruisent la vie humaine, et pour les filles démunies, ce ne sont pas des jeux de société, mais de survie. dans volkswagen blues, jack et pitsémine partagent bien de moments de complicité et leurs gestes affectueux pourraient être interprétés comme des avances sexuelles. toutefois, le texte ne repose pas sur la présomption d’hétérosexualité. les gestes n’aboutissent pas à des scènes de passion typiques d’un couple hétérosexuel, mais créent une dynamique douce et tendre. ce n’est pas une relation de pouvoir, mais de complicité et de rencontre. ce qui les excite véritablement, c’est leur parcours. par exemple, à saint louis en vue du gateway arch, « tout de suite, jack et la fille avaient été séduits par l’arc métallique dont la silhouette très délicate […] » (vb, p. 133), et pitsémine affirme la corrélation entre le mouvement et le bonheur : « quand on est sur la route, je suis contente » (vb, p. 179). le mouvement, le parcours du territoire, de l’identité et de l’écriture sont plus séduisants, bien qu’ils se témoignent beaucoup d’affection, voire amour, l’un pour l’autre. d’ailleurs, les frontières sont d’autant plus importantes dans le récit, et, particulièrement, leur franchissement. quand les personnages franchissent une frontière, c’est un évènement qui dénote un changement ou une transformation importante. les ponts, les routes, les croisements, les intersections, ce texte leur attribue une qualité transformative. le geste de traverser, non seulement le parcours géographique, mais le parcours intérieur, est essentiel pour la quête identitaire et s’inscrit dans le transidentitaire. jack dit, « je voudrais qu’ils me disent ce qu’ils aperçoivent de l’autre côté et s’ils ont trouvé comment on fait pour traverser » (vb, p. 131). c’est seulement en traversant qu’il fera sa propre réconciliation. c’est à la ligne de partage des eaux — où les eaux se divisent et choisissent de couler vers un côté ou l’autre — que pitsémine propose de faire l’amour. bien que ce soit un acte hétérosexuel entre un 210 the arbutus review • fall 2014 • vol. 5, no. 1 homme et une femme, les rôles sont inversés. pitsémine est « l’agresseur » et elle prend le contrôle, ce qui est typiquement masculin. jack prend le rôle de soumission qui est typiquement féminin. non seulement l’inversement subvertit les rôles de genre, mais l’inégalité du pouvoir fait de l’acte une faillite. jack est incapable de prendre parole pour prévenir pitsémine, et il jouit prématurément. typique du discours du féministe, pitsémine est insatisfaite par l’acte. selon edith vandervoort (2011), jack est une figure émasculée qui est incapable d’accomplir le comportement essentiel chez tous les animaux : la procréation. l’échec de l’acte sexuel sur la ligne de partage est symbolique de son incapacité de réaliser son rôle d’homme. elle avance une raison symbolique, que jack et pitsémine sont plus comme frère et sœur et qu’une telle union serait incestueuse (p. 321). or, une conception transidentitaire permet une lecture plus nuancée du sexe et des genres. selon moi, plutôt qu’une relation fraternelle, il s’agit d’une relation d’amour où les participants ont un comportement sexuel non-traditionnel, c’est-à-dire sans sexe. comme la philosophie exprimée par jack au début, le texte prône l’égalité et, qu’importe les rôles, une relation déséquilibrée est vouée à l’échec. la symbolique de faire l’amour directement sur la ligne de partage — le point même sur lequel les eaux basculent avant de choisir un côté — indique une tentative de célébrer la rencontre des sexes. en fait, il illustre davantage l’entre-deux et le basculement possible, tout comme les eaux qui glissent tantôt vers le pacifique, tantôt vers l’atlantique. plus loin pendant la nuit, pitsémine dit « qu’elle n’[est] ni une indienne, ni une blanche, qu’elle [est] quelque chose entre les deux et que, finalement, elle n’[est] rien du tout » (vb, p. 246), mais jack marque son désaccord en disant : « je trouve que vous êtes quelque chose de neuf, quelque chose qui commence. vous êtes quelque chose qui ne s’est encore jamais vu » (vb, p. 247). l’entre-deux devient un espace de création, où tout est possible comme le transidentitaire nous ferait entendre. 211 baker viii. conclusion de nos jours, bien que la politique antigaie et les mouvements anti-homosexuels ne soient pas acceptés au canada, il existe toujours de la confusion, des malentendus, de l’hostilité, voire de la violence, envers les individus et les communautés trans*. malgré la place importante du transidentitaire dans le dialogue qui se déroule autour du genre, les nouveautés ne sont pas toujours accueillies chaleureusement et après leur conversation, jack « rêva que la grande sauterelle était une extra-terrestre » (vb, p. 247). la conception binaire du sexe et du genre traditionnel, soutenue par un langage inadéquat pour nommer l’ambiguïté de l’entre-deux, contribue à cette image « extraterrestre ». autant accepter notre diversité et remettre en questions les binarités strictes telles que le masculin et le féminin qui occultent le transidentitaire. la littérature peut être un puissant moteur de développement des identités, et il nous incombe en tant que critiques et chercheurs de participer à celui-ci. comme le dit sherry simon (1991) : « la critique contribue, au même titre que les fictions qu’elle commente, à donner existence aux espaces identitaires qu’elle nomme » (p. 11). volkswagen blues de jacques poulin et le goût des jeunes filles de dany laferrière sont des textes qui participent à ce 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(2013). dany laferrière : essays on his works. toronto : guernica editions. sroka, g. (2010). conversations avec dany laferrière. montréal : editions de la parole métèque. trans*. (n.d.). gate global action for trans* equality. retrieved from http ://transactivists.org/trans/ vandervoort, e. b. (2011). subverting the masculine image in jacques godbout’s salut galarneau and jacques poulin’s volkswagen blues. in masculinities in twentiethand twenty-first century french and francophone literature (pp. 305–324). newcastle upon tyne : cambridge scholars publishing. 215 http://transactivists.org/trans/ introduction un modèle « postmoderne » des identités sexuelles dans la littérature québécoise contemporaine l’écrivain de la douceur et l’écrivain haïtien-québécois-japonais présentation des romans : volkswagen blues et le goût des jeunes filles le sexe le genre la sexualité conclusion the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 musical connections: a descriptive study of community-based choirs consisting of persons with dementia and their caregivers zach anderson and debra sheets, ph.d., faan∗ university of victoria zacharyanderson20@gmail.com abstract this descriptive qualitative study explores the key characteristics, benefits, and lessons learned from community-based choirs consisting of persons with dementia (pwd) and their caregivers based on reports from choir administrators and directors. although there is growing interest in choirs for pwd, there has been no synthesis of information on these choirs. semi-structured interviews were conducted between december 2016 and february 2017 with six administrators and/or directors of community-based choirs for pwd and their caregivers. the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. content analyses indicated that choirs had many similarities in membership (e.g., early to mid-stage dementia), establishing formal sections and harmonies (e.g., soprano, alto, tenor, bass), administration (e.g., leadership, fees), and music programming (e.g., public performance, duration, and length of practice sessions). benefits of the choir include enjoyment, sense of purpose, empowerment, caregiver support and respite, and increased awareness of dementia by others. in conclusion, this descriptive study suggests that community-based choirs are a cost effective and valuable program that improve quality of life for pwd and caregivers. keywords: social inclusion; dementia; family caregivers; community choir; intergenerational the term dementia is used to classify a group of neurocognitive disorders that worsen overtime and affect memory, judgement, and behaviour (alzheimer society of canada [asc],2017). current dementia statistics in canada estimate 564,000 canadians are affected by the disorder, a number that by 2031 is projected to grow to 937,000 canadians (asc, 2016). dementia has physical, psychological, social, and economic impacts on both the persons with dementia (pwd) and their caregivers and a significant financial impact on the health care system (asc, 2015; dassel & carr, 2016; dugeon, 2010). there is no cure for dementia; however, there are pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions that can improve quality of life through symptom management (asc, 2015). non-pharmacological interventions (e.g., music therapy) and staying active can maximize function and independence, reduce behavioural symptoms, reduce caregiver burden, and improve the quality of life for both pwd and caregivers (asc, 2012; dayanim, 2009; hulme, wright, crocker, olubovede, & house, 2010; maratos, gold, wang, & crawford, 2008; sampath, forbes, barton, & blake, 2015; wall & duffy, 2010). choral singing is a non-pharmacological intervention that is garnering increased interest due to promising findings from several pilot studies (bannan & montgomery-smith, 2008; camic, williams, & meeten, 2013; unadkat, camic, & vella-burrows, 2016). community-based choirs offer pwd and their caregivers an opportunity to engage in meaningful activity that promotes social engagement, physical activity (e.g., respiratory, musculoskeletal), and sensory stimulation (e.g., hearing, vision) ∗this research was supported by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, university of victoria. 72 mailto:zacharyanderson20@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 (bannan & montgomery-smith, 2008; camic et al., 2013; h. kivnick, personal communication, march 1, 2016; unadkat et al., 2016). some community-based choirs also include other participants such as students, which is beneficial for both students and pwd (alzheimer society london and middlesex, 2017; alzheimer society oxford, 2017; alzheimer society waterloo wellington, 2016; harris & caporella, 2014) because pwd can develop new relationships and students can gain a better understanding of the lived experience of pwd (harris & caporella, 2014). the purpose of this study is to describe the organizational structures and identify common elements to the success of existing community-based choirs consisting of pwd and their caregivers based on reports from choir administrators and directors. while interest in choirs for pwd is growing, to our knowledge there has been no effort to systematically compare and contrast these choirs. it is timely and important to examine the perceived benefits as well as lessons learned from community-based choirs for pwd and their caregivers. the key research questions we asked were 1) what are the key characteristics of the choirs (e.g., program structures, sources of support/funding)? 2) what are the perceived benefits to participants? and 3) what are the lessons learned from existing choir programs (e.g., what works well and what does not)? methods sample the purposive sample consisted of six community-based choirs for pwd and their caregivers (see table 1). choirs were identified using an internet search. inclusion criteria for choirs selected were 1) choir performs publicly; 2) membership is primarily pwd and caregivers; 3) choir is community-based (i.e., participants are living at home); 4) choir leadership is english speaking; and 5) director is a music professional. exclusion criteria were community singing groups in which there was 1) a primary focus on music therapy; or 2) a sing-along-group rather than a performing choir. data collection semi-structured phone interviews lasting 30-45 minutes were conducted with key informants (e.g., director, administrator) of the choirs between december 2016 and february 2017. the interview guide was designed to elicit information on the choir administration, program structure, benefits to participants, and challenges. interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. ethics approval was received from the university of victoria and participants provided written informed consent. analysis interviews were transcribed and then independently reviewed by the authors to identify themes using the constant comparative method associated with grounded theory (strauss & corbin, 1990). the authors then met to discuss the preliminary codes and identify themes. disputes were resolved by discussion and joint review of transcripts. descriptive analyses were summarized in tables. quotations that the authors judged to be representative of the responses for each theme were selected for inclusion in this paper. 73 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 table 1 overview of choirs, their locations, and size name (n = 6)∗ location(s) year program started choir size when created current size pwd∗∗ circle of music intergenerational choir∗∗∗ waterloo, on (canada) 2016 30 n/a 10 intergenerational singers∗∗∗ oxford, on (canada) 2013 23 n = 23, 1 choir 3∗∗∗∗ the alchemy chorus canberra (australia) 2016 50 n = 80, 1 choir 30 sing here now choir portland/beaverton, or (usa) 2011 20 n = 36, 2 choirs 18 giving voice chorus minneapolis/st. paul, mn (usa) 2014 30 n = 174, 3 choirs ~74 forget-me-not chorus cardiff/newport, south wales (uk) 2011 40 n = 125, 3 choirs ~62 ∗ “n = x” denotes sample size. ∗∗ ratio of caregiver to pwd is 1 : 1. ∗∗∗ includes high school or elementary school students. ∗∗∗∗ this accounts for pwd from the community and does not include pwd participants from the retirement home. results key characteristics of choirs choir format and practice locations. a descriptive summary of choir format and practice locations is provided in table 2 (see below). the duration of choir practice ranged from 60 minutes to 120 minutes. the singing portion lasted 40 minutes to 100 minutes. a short social time often preceded choir practice as people arrived and a longer social time during a midway break in practice or at the end, which generally included refreshments and allowed caregivers to connect with other caregivers while also providing a supportive and safe place for pwd. choir programs ranged from 16 to 40 weeks in length and were divided into seasons that lasted 8 to 30 weeks. most (n = 5) choirs had multiple seasons in a year. many (n = 4) choir practices were held in a donated room at a local organization. choir sections, volunteers, fees, and funding. a summary of choir sections, volunteers, fees, and funding is provided in table 3 (see below). some (n = 2) of the choirs only sang in unison while others (n = 4) incorporated sections with two-part melodies, harmonies and/or bass, alto, tenor, and soprano. each choir utilized volunteers. those that volunteered were church members, previous choir members, members of other choirs, and community members. many (n = 3) of the volunteers were given training in regards to interacting and supporting pwd. choir membership fees were implemented by some (n = 2) choirs. the majority of choirs relied on donations from private donors and/or charitable foundations to help fund their choir programs. 74 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 table 2 summary of community-based choir format and practice location name singing practice structured social time weeks/ year practice location(s) location fees circle of music intergenerational choir 40 min. 40 min. 30 church donated intergenerational singers 60 min. 0 min. 16 retirement home donated the alchemy chorus 90 min. 30–40 min. 40 community centre rented sing here now choir 75 min. 25 min. 16 alzheimer association office; church donated giving voice chorus 90 min. 30 min. 40 community centre; music school donated forget-me-not chorus 100 min. 15 min. 36 community centre; church; school rented public performance. all (n = 6) choirs held at least one public performance per choir season. many (n = 4) of the choirs hold their concerts in a donated space, while others (n = 2) perform in a rented space. one choir rents performance space because it requires a venue that can accommodate public attendance of 300-600 people. to cover the expense of renting a venue, tickets are sold to attend the concert. another choir rents public performance spaces that are well known in the community as it gives the choir members a sense of pride to present their work there and raises the visibility of dementia within the community. to help cover some of the rental costs, there is a donation bucket at performances. in addition, several choirs (n=4) have been invited to perform by different groups and organizations. choir administration. one-half (n = 3) of the choirs rely on volunteer choir administrators, choir directors, and accompanists. another (n = 1) choir has a paid program administrator with a volunteer choir director and accompanist. some (n = 2) administrators give the volunteer choir directors and accompanists a small stipend or gifts of appreciation. the larger programs (n = 2) have a volunteer board of directors and paid administrators, music directors, and accompanists. time of practice. most practice sessions (n = 5) are scheduled during daylight hours to make transportation and participation easier (i.e., less traffic, more parking, less fatigue, improved cognition). the intergenerational choirs (n = 2) schedule practice in the late afternoon to make it possible for students to participate. one choir has practice in the early evening, which makes it easier for family members to participate after work. no negative effects were reported by the choir that meets in the evening. recruitment. all the programs (n = 6) collaborated with an alzheimer organization to advertise the program and/or recruit participants. several programs (n=4) advertised more broadly through newspaper, social media, radio, community centers, adult day programs, and word of mouth. choir requirements. choir programs had varying requirements for participation. some programs (n = 3) had broad requirements such as having a diagnosis of dementia where others (n = 3) required a specific stage of early to moderate dementia to participate. one choir administrator reported that there is a natural attrition in the choir as dementia progresses and functional abilities decline. a couple of programs (n = 2) stated that there are some participants with late stage 75 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 dementia who still participate in the choir. sustainability. when asked about choir sustainability, all choir administrators (n = 6) reported that the choir programs are sustainable. some noted that sustainability is based on ongoing volunteer support (n = 1) and ongoing fundraising (n = 2). several (n = 3) choirs administrators plan to add additional groups in their area or expand to new areas. in order to appeal to different funding organizations, one choir administrator adjusts the focus of each choir season to receive further funding (e.g., adding an element of writing and poetry to the program). table 3 overview of choir structure name choir sections volunteers volunteer training choir membership fees funding circle of music intergenerational choir unison church members yes∗ none none intergenerational singers sections/ unison support volunteers yes∗ none alzheimer society and donations at concerts*** the alchemy chorus unison support/ singing volunteers from other choirs n/a $5/ person/ week none sing here now choir sections support volunteers n/a none alzheimer association fund raising giving voice chorus sections/ unison support/ singing volunteers yes $50/ person/ 16 weeks community charity foundations and private donors forget-me-not chorus sections support volunteers no∗∗ none forget-me-not chorus foundation: community charity foundations and private donors ∗ training given to students participating in the choir as well. ∗∗ volunteers are caregivers/previous choir members whose loved ones with dementia passed away. ∗∗∗ these funds cover the $380 annual cost of running the choir program. benefits to participants purpose. choir directors report the pwd and caregivers find the choir a significant source of meaning and purpose, as well as being relaxing and fun. 76 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 • “the choir changed their lives. it’s what they get up for. it gives them something to work on. something was expected of them and they could do it.” • “one care partner says that his wife talks about the program all week long when it is in session because it is the thing she looks forward to during the week.” • “one caregiver said when things are really tough at home with my partner (with dementia), i just think about next thursday and coming to choir and that helps me get through.” empowerment. the choir offered opportunities to learn, to engage, and to communicate with others. • “one of the men that takes part in the choir can really not make himself understood with words because of his aphasia and he can sing. he can sing beautifully. it gives him an opportunity to contribute, be successful, and be good at something.” • “once someone gets diagnosed society writes them off as ‘this person isn’t going to be able to think anymore or be part of things anymore.’ through singing they can be part of things, they can learn, they can be engaged.” enjoyment. the choir provides a supportive setting that allows participants to interact with others and have fun together. • “one caregiver said that she doesn’t remember the last time her husband smiled before he came to the choir and started singing.” • “they celebrate something they are still able to do. they are happy to be engaged and happy to interact with people that know what they are going through.” caregiver support. social networks have expanded and information is shared informally between caregivers. • “when the care partners are talking to each other, they are likely to give referrals or insights into other resources in the community that they are using (i.e., in-home help, assisted living, transportation services). it means a lot more to the people when they talk to someone that has had personal experience with it.” • “you can have an hour and a half of not having that weight on your mind.” discovery. for students and volunteers who participate, there is valuable learning that occurs and relationships that can develop where there might not have been the opportunity before. • “a student from the high school latched onto the atmosphere provided by the choir and is still with us . . . she has found a place to belong.” • “the principal of the elementary school said at the end of a session, ‘i could not think of a better way to spend a tuesday afternoon in the whole world.’ ” • “students [gain] an understanding of dementia and develop empathy [by] conversation and getting some viewpoints from people you would not otherwise know.” other reported benefits included improved behaviour after choir sessions, reduced isolation, feeling accepted, decreased depression, and increased confidence. 77 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 lessons learned administrators of the community-based choirs were eager to share lessons learned and some of the challenges they had encountered. lessons learned included the importance of structured social time and of participant recognition. structured social time. many (n = 4) of the choirs emphasized the importance of a planned break time/social time that provides valuable time for peer support and relationships to develop. the social time also offers an opportunity for the caregiver to relax and interact with others since volunteers and other caregivers help to ensure a safe and supportive environment for the pwd. participant recognition. some (n = 2) choir directors spoke of strategies that were successful in giving pwd a voice and empowering them further than just singing in the choir. the music director of one choir uses spotlighting–asking choir members’ opinions and inviting members to do solos or lead part of the warm up. this choir also incorporates other forms of art such as poetry and visual displays at public performances that showcase the life and experiences of pwd. another choir allows choir members to request songs that are significant to them. before performing the song at a concert, the choir member that suggested the song shares the significance of that song (e.g., a childhood song or a song from their first date). the choir activities allow the pwd to develop a self-identity as a singer, contribute to a bigger group, and build their confidence in their ability to learn despite memory losses. challenges common challenges of establishing and maintaining a choir for pwd and their caregivers included 1) keeping sessions engaging; 2) selecting music that works well for the group (i.e., challenging yet familiar or simple and energetic); 3) having a large enough song repertoire; 4) working within a limited budget; 5) dealing with dementia progression; 6) and distance and transportation. discussion this descriptive pilot study adds to a small but growing body of research literature on communitybased choirs for pwd (bannan & montgomery-smith, 2008; camic, williams, & meeten, 2013; harris & caporella, 2014; unadkat, camic, & vella-burrows, 2016). our interviews identified many similarities in membership (e.g., early to mid-stage dementia), establishing formal sections and harmonies (e.g., soprano, alto, tenor, or bass), administration (e.g., leadership, fees), and music programming (e.g., public performance, practice sessions). choir directors and administrators report that the programs they are currently implementing have a positive impact on all participants. the pwd find enjoyment in participation, mental and social engagment, and a sense of purpose. these findings fit well with the literature (bannan & montgomery-smith, 2008; camic et al., 2013; unadkat et al., 2016). the benefits that caregivers experience such as social support and enjoyment also fit well with what has been found previously in the literature (camic et al., 2013; unadkat et al., 2016). a planned social time can play an important part in providing the opportunity for peer support. this support can be crucial in alleviating the social isolation and stress that often occurs among caregivers of pwd. students that particpated also benefited through interacting with pwd, as the literature suggested (harris & caporella, 2014). a similar non-pharmacological intervention to a community-based choir is music therapy. music therapy can consist of listening to music, creating music, dancing, and singing (american music therapy association, 2017). music therapy has shown to be effective in reducing disruptive behaviours, anxiety, and depressive moods, and when done in groups can promote social engagement (ahn & ashida, 2012; chang et al., 2015; matthews, 2015). the literature also shares that music 78 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716810 therapy is a low-cost intervention that has positive benefits (ahn & ashida, 2012; chang et al., 2015; matthews, 2015). a community-based choir shares similar aspects and benefits as music therapy; however, a community-based choir adds the unique aspect of public performance. performing and sharing talents can bring a sense of empowerment and new levels of engagement that music therapy might not provide for pwd and caregivers. public performance also raises the visibility of dementia, can change perceptions, and can reduce stigma. these opportunities might not be possible with music therapy. the unique aspect of public performance in community-based choir participation might not appeal to all pwd and their caregivers. one choir director mentioned the reluctance of pwd to participate in the choir if they had no prior experience singing in a choir. community-based choirs may be an effective intervention for a specific group of pwd that enjoy singing in public and having weekly social engagement. as observed by the increasing number of participants in the community-based choirs in this study, there is a growing interest. with volunteer support and donated space for practices and performances, forming and maintaining a community-based choir can be successful with an annual expense as low as $380. as a choir grows and requires a larger space to practice and larger venues to perform, the expenses go up. a choir may need to charge participation fees or look to outside funding to support the program. limitations this descriptive study is exploratory and has several limitations. the sample size is small and purposive with no comparison group, which decreases generalizability. in addition, constraints on time and resources prevented additional interviews, so this study does not reflect the entire population of community-based choirs for pwd and caregivers and only reflects perspectives of western cultures. the study also does not gather primary data from participants, so findings reflect the perceptions of the key informants, which may introduce bias. conclusion a community-based choir offers pwd and caregivers an opportunity to share an enjoyable activity in a supportive setting. the community setting brings pwd and caregivers out of isolation and into a network of support and engagement. pwd regain an identity in which they can continue to learn, express themselves, and be part of a socially meaningful activity. a community-based choir also benefits people other than the pwd and caregivers. the low cost of establishing a community-based choir for pwd and their caregivers make these programs an attractive approach for a non-pharmacological intervention. since the conception of several of the community-choirs, there has been substantial growth in membership, showing interest in the dementia community; however, because these programs are relatively new, long-term stability and the impact on outcomes has yet to be studied. a community-based choir for pwd and caregivers has the potential to positively impact pwd, caregivers, and a whole community. suggestions for future research include using a randomized control trial that will gather data directly from pwd and 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(2015). a systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions for persons living with dementia based in the home or community. perspectives, 38 (2), 6. strauss, a., & corbin, j. (1990). basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. unadkat, s., camic, p. m., & vella-burrows, t. (2016). understanding the experience of group singing for couples where one partner has a diagnosis of dementia. the gerontologist, gnv698. doi:10.1093/geront/gnv698 wall, m., & duffy, a. (2010). the effects of music therapy for older people with dementia. british journal of nursing, 19 (2), 108-113. doi:10.12968/bjon.2010.19.2.462 81 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 application of bosnia v serbia to the individualist charge of ineffectiveness: a defense of state responsibility felix lambrecht∗ university of victoria lambrecht.felix@gmail.com abstract this paper aims to combat the individualist challenge to the notion of state responsibility in international law. that is, this paper attempts to counter the criticism of international law that suggests responsibility for wrongful acts should be attributed to individuals rather than states. while prior scholarship has focused on the individualist’s fairness complaint, this paper focuses on the charge of ineffectiveness that would remove states as the primary duty-bearers in international law. by using the international court of justice case of bosnia v serbia (2007), this paper demonstrates that there are long-term important obligations in the international system that require states to remain primary duty-bearers in international law. keywords: state responsibility; individualist challenge; collective responsibility; international court of justice; responsibility to protect. within the philosophy of international law, there is considerable discussion about the natureof state responsibility, often centring on the question of who should have to pay for thewrongful actions of a state. these questions of repair should be resolved if international law is to become more developed moving forward. as will be explored in this paper, resolving this question is significant for the prevention of large-scale wrongful state actions such as genocide and aggressive warfare. although customary international law requires that the wrongfully-acting state must collectively repair damages that are consequences of state action, some in the international community view this model as problematic and suggest a model of state responsibility that focuses on individuals rather than states. this view of responsibility that suggests re-working the international legal system to focus on individuals is called the “individualist challenge” and has been put forward by prominent legal scholars such as antonio cassese (2005) and philip allott (1988). as will be demonstrated in this paper, although the individualist challenge aims to resolve issues in international law, it is ultimately flawed. in this paper,0 i will apply the international court of justice (icj) case decided in 2007 of the application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (bosnia and herzegovina v. serbia and montenegro [henceforth bosnia v serbia]) to the framework of collective state responsibility outlined by james crawford and jeremy watkins (2010). this paper uses crawford and watkins’ (2010) framework of collective responsibility as it offers a comprehensive account, both empirically and philosophically, of how responsibility is attributed in the international system. moreover, this paper uses bosnia v serbia (2007) since it is the landmark case used to strengthen the responsibility put on states for preventing genocide and frames the discussion of state responsibility as international law develops. that is, since bosnia v serbia offers a new and stronger interpretation of state responsibility (schabas, 2008), i use it to argue that international law requires collective responsibility in order to better prevent crimes like genocide. using the icj ∗i would like to thank dr. cindy holder for her support and advice throughout the writing of this paper. 45 mailto:lambrecht.felix@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 judgement, i defend against the charge of ineffectiveness that challenges collective state responsibility. specifically, i argue that the icj’s strong interpretation of the obligation to prevent genocide implies a need for long-term obligations that can only be effective if states are the primary duty-bearers of international law. in addition, i present parallels between catherine lu’s (2011) discussion of collective responsibility in the japanese-korean conflict and bosnia v serbia to demonstrate that collective state responsibility (rather than individual responsibility) is needed to address issues such as social structures and state proxies that are apparent in bosnia v serbia. furthermore, to support my argument for collective responsibility and states being the primary duty-bearers in international law, i show that the developing doctrine in international law—the responsibility to protect—is contingent upon collective responsibility. this discussion of the responsibility to protect is framed with reference to prominent scholars such as buchanan (2013), forlati (2011), turns (2007), and winklemann (2010). in this paper, first, i explain crawford and watkins’ (2010) framework of state responsibility. second, i will present the individualist challenge and the charge of ineffectiveness. third, i will summarize the key points in bosnia v serbia (2007) and demonstrate that the icj’s ruling supports crawford and watkins’ argument against the individualist challenge, and i will use further literature, such as lu’s (2011) discussion of collective responsibility and literature discussing the responsibility to protect, to argue for collective responsibility with states as the primary duty-bearers in international law. finally, i will discuss possible objections to this argument against the individualist challenge, referring to scholarship from buchanan (2013) and forlati (2011). a model of state responsibility in characterizing state responsibility, crawford and watkins (2010) point out that the international legal system operates on a civil, rather than a criminal, system. they explain that when a state performs a wrongful act, the framework that is imposed on the “delinquent” state is purely reparative rather than punitive (p. 286). this approach requires that any unlawful act done by a state results in both an obligation to cease and an obligation to repair. the obligation to cease the unlawful action demonstrates that international wrongful acts are ones that are disallowed or forbidden. this contrasts with wrongful actions which can be committed so long as the actor pays (or repays) the right price; rather, internationally wrongful action cannot ever be done. the obligation to repair requires the responsible state to undo the consequences of the wrongful act (where possible) and offer reparations to restore the status quo ante (the situation before the law was broken). crawford and watkins note that often a literal restoration to the status quo ante is impossible in cases of international wrongful acts, but nonetheless either financial compensation or apologies are implemented in order to provide some reparation (pp. 286-287). based on this underlying civil system of state responsibility that focuses on reparations for forbidden unlawful acts, crawford and watkins (2010) explain how state responsibility is attributed. they argue that because international state responsibility is grounded in the obligation to repair forbidden acts, losses that are suffered as a result of these forbidden acts should not “lie where they fall” (p. 286). in other words, they insist that since an internationally wrongful act is going to result in losses for a state, the burden of cost for reparation for these losses must be shifted onto the responsible state, a process they refer to as “loss-shifting” (p. 286). in addition to providing victims of wrongful acts with security and compensation, this loss-shifting serves to illustrate that the “freedom of action” of certain states is outweighed by the importance of certain kinds of individual rights (crawford & watkins, 2010, p. 287). for instance, by signing the un convention against torture, the united kingdom (among other nations) expressed that the remedial rights that incur from torture and the protection against torture were more important than the freedom of action in 46 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 certain respects (namely, the freedom of action to extradite to nations where individuals might be tortured) (crawford & watkins, 2010, pp. 287-288). this demonstrates that loss-shifting acts as both a security for potential victims of international wrongful actions and a normative judgement that the prohibition of certain actions is more important than state freedom of action. this loss-shifting is integral to crawford and watkins’ (2010) view of the rules of attribution in international law. they note that states can only truly act through the agency of individuals (p. 287). so, any action by an actor who is considered a public official under national law counts as an action of the state itself, and thus the state would be responsible for the action. the contrast to this view of attribution is a “controlling mind” view of responsibility in which only the direct actions of national leaders would count as the state’s actions (crawford & watkins, 2010, p. 288). however, crawford and watkins point out that this controlling mind model would actually result in more unremedied losses because it would reduce the number of agents who would count as state actors and thus reduce the legal necessity of loss-shifting (p. 288). in other words, because the international liability system is a civil model that focuses on repair though loss-shifting rather than punishment, the international legal system’s rules of attribution are cast in a way that makes more actors bound as subjects of state responsibility, and thus the international system allows for the maximum cases that can give rise to remedial rights (crawford & watkins, 2010, p. 288). the individualist challenge in response to this framework of state responsibility in which a state repairs damages of wrongful acts through interstate loss-shifting, some critics propose the “individualist challenge” (crawford & watkins, 2010, p. 289). one proponent of the individualist challenge is the prominent legal scholar antonio cassese (2005) who argues that international law is “archaic” and “primitive” in that it forces the entire population of a wrongfully acting state to pay for the state’s wrongful actions (p. 241). this challenge generally involves two steps that argue for a more individualized model of blameworthiness: the fairness complaint and the charge of ineffectiveness. the fairness complaint insists that the loss-shifting aspect in state responsibility is unjust to the populations in a state that committed an internationally wrongful act because there are almost certainly members of the state who are morally blameless for the actions of the state (crawford & watkins, 2010, p. 290). as a result, an individualist would argue, the international legal system ought to introduce a more individualized aspect of state responsibility. likewise, the charge of ineffectiveness, put forward by philip allott (1988), argues that international noncompliance is a result of international law speaking more to states than to individuals, thus allowing public officials and leaders to distance themselves from internationally wrongful acts (p. 14). as a result, an individualist may argue, individuals, as opposed to states, ought to become the primary duty-bearers of international law. although crawford and watkins (2010) set aside this charge of ineffectiveness in order to focus on combating the fairness complaint, in this paper i attempt to combat the individualist’s charge of ineffectiveness. as explained above, one consequence of the ineffectiveness challenge is the suggestion that individuals, rather than states, should be the primary duty-bearers in international law. before setting aside the charge of ineffectiveness to focus on the fairness complaint throughout the rest of their article, crawford and watkins offer suggestions for how their framework could be used to combat the charge of ineffectiveness in future scholarship. one offered suggestion is to demonstrate that there are benefits for states rather than individuals being the primary duty-bearers of the international legal system (p. 292). one such benefit could be that certain goals would require longevity that an individual leader or regime could not provide. that is, a demonstration of long-term obligations in international law would require the longevity of a state, which in turn would require states to be the primary duty bearers of international law (crawford & watkins, 2010, 47 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 p. 292). i believe that the icj judgement of bosnia v serbia (2007) can be used to demonstrate this kind of long-term obligation, and following crawford and watkins’ suggestion to demonstrate that states do have long-term obligations that require them to remain the primary duty-bearers of international law, i use bosnia v serbia to combat the individualist’s charge of ineffectiveness. bosnia v serbia: a demonstration of state-first obligations the icj ruling centres on the ethnic conflict during the bosnian war in 1992. with nationalist movements in neighboring countries serbia and croatia and desires in these countries for ethnic homogeneity, ethnically bosnian serbs attempted ethnic cleansing of muslim populations in areas controlled by bosnia, serbia, and croatia (turns, 2007, pp. 400-401). while this process of ethnic cleansing did not always involve extrajudicial killings throughout the war, there were many cases of widespread killings, specifically at srebrenica (schabas, 2008). it is important to note that many of these killings were carried out by paramilitaries and proxies in what was perceived by many to be an attempt on the part of serbian officials to distance themselves from the illegal acts (turns, 2007, p. 401). in 1993, while the conflict was ongoing, bosnia put forward a complaint to the icj that demanded serbia be deemed responsible for the genocidal acts throughout the war (bosnia v serbia, 2007, p.1). on february 26, 2007, the icj issued its ruling for the case of bosnia v serbia (2007). the applicant, bosnia and herzegovina, argued that serbia had failed to act in accordance with the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (henceforth “genocide convention”). specifically, the icj ruled to determine whether serbia committed genocide, was complicit in genocide, or failed to prevent genocide (bosnia v serbia, 2007). ultimately, while the court concluded that serbia did not commit genocide, nor was complicit in genocidal acts, it did rule that serbia had failed to prevent genocide in srebrenica. specifically, i focus on one of the most significant features of the court’s reasoning: that the obligation to prevent genocide extends to cases in which individuals are not necessarily state actors or have the “right” kind of connection with the state that would normally entail an obligation to prevent genocide (schabas, 2008). that is, even if those who commit genocidal acts are not public officials, the state has an obligation to try to prevent or constrain, to the best of its abilities, any genocidal acts. in order to reach this conclusion, the icj demonstrated a broad interpretation of the genocide convention. while the genocide convention does mention an obligation for states to “prevent” genocide, it does not elaborate as to how far this obligation extends (clearwater, 2009). in the icj’s ruling, the court expressed a broad interpretation of this obligation to prevent genocide: “for a state to be held responsible for breaching its obligation of prevention, it does not need to be proven that the state concerned definitely had the power to prevent the genocide; it is sufficient that it had the means to do so and that it manifestly refrained from using them” (bosnia v serbia, 2007, p. 158). the court here concluded that a state has the responsibility to attempt to prevent genocidal acts in any way possible. in other words, the court concluded that serbia could, in theory, be held responsible for the failure to have prevented genocide even when the military committing genocide was not completely in serbia’s control or had the “right” state-actor relationship to serbia (schabas, 2008). as a result, the court’s ruling indicates that merely an ability to have prevented (in some way) the genocidal acts is enough to entail an obligation to prevent such acts. therefore, the icj’s ruling strengthens the obligation to prevent genocide that is imposed on states. while the icj judgement imposes a stronger obligation for states to prevent genocide, this does not mean that the obligation on individuals to prevent (or not commit) genocide is weakened. that is, the obligation for individuals to prevent genocide is not altered following the icj judgment; rather the obligation for states to prevent genocide is expanded (bosnia v serbia, 2007, p. 158). as 48 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 clearwater (2009) explains, this is because the icj is interpreting the obligations outlined by the genocide convention as constituting dual responsibility extending to states and individuals alike. as william schabas (2008) explains, the icj’s ruling seems to fit into the progressively expanding doctrine of the responsibility to protect. briefly, the responsibility to protect is a doctrine that makes the rights of state sovereignty (such as the right to non-intervention) conditional upon the state’s ability to protect citizens from unpunished or unmitigated atrocities. in failing to protect its own citizens, therefore, a state would forgo the rights entailed by sovereignty (winklemann, 2010). in other words, the responsibility to protect makes it a legal obligation for states to uphold the rights and safety of the individuals living inside the state. should a state fail to provide this protection, international law would allow other states to intervene in order to restore the human rights and safety of the citizens (winklemann, 2010). because the icj ruling indicates the strengthening of the obligation to prevent genocide even when those committing the genocidal acts are not directly under the control of the state, schabas insists that the icj’s ruling supports the doctrine of the responsibility to protect that would ensure protection for individuals (2008). in other words, the icj’s ruling that strengthens obligation on states to prevent genocide creates a general duty on states to prevent genocide. based on these implications, i suggest that the icj ruling that strengthens states’ obligation to prevent genocide can be used to counter the individualist’s charge of ineffectiveness. as noted above, one of the consequences of the charge of ineffectiveness is that it would make the primary duty-bearers of international law individuals rather than states. however, as crawford and watkins (2010) suggest, one way of combating this charge is by pointing out that there are long-term benefits to a system that takes states as the primary duty-bearers. the fact that the icj ruled to strengthen states’ obligation to prevent genocide would require that states remain the primary duty-bearers in international law. that is, the fact that a state must be responsible for the prevention of genocidal acts indicates that there are long-term goals needed in order for a state to succeed in preventing genocide that would surpass the longevity of any individual regime. moreover, the fact that this obligation to prevent genocide would be an ongoing obligation indicates that the state would continuously be responsible in the event of a regime change; the longevity of a state, as opposed to an individual, is required. so, in order for this obligation to prevent genocide, strengthened by the icj ruling, to be successfully upheld by a state, a state would have to be the primary duty-bearer of the long-term obligation. in addition to this specific long-term obligation to prevent genocide, the icj ruling also offers the long-term obligation of the responsibility to protect. since the icj judgement creates a stronger obligation on states to prevent genocide, this ruling indicates a step in the direction of the long-term goal that reinforces states’ obligation to ensure a minimum level of human rights through the responsibility to protect. that is, the icj’s strong interpretation of a states’ obligation to prevent genocide is part of the developing doctrine that requires states to have a duty to protect human rights. as explained above, the goal is to be able to provide more security to citizens of states by requiring the state’s sovereignty to be contingent on successfully upholding this duty of protection. but, if states were not the primary duty-bearers of international law, it would be more difficult to create the kind of obligation that would require them to ensure this minimum level of security. if individuals were the primary duty-bearers of international law, a general duty to protect and guarantee a minimum level of security and human rights within a state would be less feasible. in order to create the kind of long-term obligation that guarantees a minimum level of security for individuals within a state, states would have to be the primary duty-bearers of international law. thus, not only does the icj’s judgment demonstrate the need for long-term obligations for states to prevent genocide, but it fits into the long-term ongoing development of the responsibility to protect which requires states to provide a minimum level of human rights, both of which would require 49 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 states to be the primary duty-bearers of international law. one final way in which bosnia v serbia (2007) could be used to support an argument against the charge of ineffectiveness is by highlighting the structural aspects associated with the case. although lu (2011) focuses on a case of a structural injustice in which colonial actions were technically legal, her scholarship provides parallels to the case of bosnia v serbia in regards to how it can be used to reject the charge of ineffectiveness. lu describes the unjust colonial acts committed by the japanese government against the korean people from 1910–45. she argues that an individualistic account of blameworthiness does not adequately capture the correct form of justice needed to repair and punish the acts that were a direct result of japanese colonialism (pp. 269-70). rather, she suggests, a structural injustice approach would better repair the injustices done and would change the structures in order to ensure that the injustices would not happen again (p. 271). specifically, lu argues that although the japanese were the colonial power and were indeed guilty of many atrocities, korean individuals and the korean government itself supported and conducted many atrocities done to their own people. as a result, lu thinks that blaming individual japanese leaders and militants is not the correct method for repairing the atrocities committed as a result of colonialism, as this method would implicitly absolve other complicit or supportive koreans (p. 271). as crawford and watkins (2010) note, one vein of reasoning used with the charge of ineffectiveness is to argue that international noncompliance is a result of state leaders and officials knowing that they could distance themselves from the state and therefore avoid responsibility for internationally wrongful acts (p. 292). consequently, this line of reasoning might argue that international law should make individuals the primary duty-bearers in order that state officials and leaders cannot avoid responsibility. however, i believe that lu’s (2011) discussion of the colonial acts illustrates that specifically targeting individuals with responsibility can implicitly absolve others who are complicit or supportive of atrocities. in the context of bosnia v serbia, if one were to claim that certain individuals were the only ones responsible for the failure to prevent genocide, then one could be implicitly absolving others who were complicit in the failure to prevent genocide. this idea of implicitly absolving certain individuals reveals that the individualist’s worry, that holding states responsible creates a way for guilty individuals to distance themselves from the state and avoid blame for internationally wrongful acts, is still a worry when individuals are made the primary duty-bearers of international law. that is, individuals would still be able to distance themselves from the wrongful act by ensuring that others were attributed primary blameworthiness, and thus be implicitly absolved. following lu, i argue that making individuals the primary duty bearers in international law would actually allow precisely the same kind of distancing from the state and wrongful actions that it would be trying to avoid. another point in lu’s (2011) article that is worth noting is her emphasis on the reparation of social structures that is required in her model of responsibility. she insists that social structures (including attitudes and rhetoric) would need to be changed in order that atrocities do not repeat themselves. this idea of societal change is an example of a long-term goal that crawford and watkins (2010) suggest could be an element of a state-centric model of responsibility. the idea that social ideas within a state need to be changed in order that atrocities do not repeat themselves could be applied to rhetoric behind ethnic cleansing and religious persecution in the case of bosnia v serbia (2007, p. 122). since these ideas are based in structural rather than individual attitudes, following lu, i insist that an individual model of responsibility is not enough to enact the long-term societal change that would be necessary in order to change attitudes and, in turn, prevent genocide. accordingly, in order to be able to enact this long-term societal change, states would have to remain the primary duty-bearers of international law. a further structural argument can be made to demonstrate that states need to be the primary duty-bearers of international law. as jamieson and mcevoy (2005) point out, the international legal 50 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 system has developed a culture of using proxies in order for wrongfully-acting states to distance themselves from wrongful acts. this idea of distancing can be seen in bosnia v serbia (2007) in which the court and witness testimonies extensively discussed serbia’s use of paramilitaries (p. 139). however, while serbia attempted to use paramilitaries in order to distance their wrongful actions from the responsibility of the state, the icj ruled that serbia still had an obligation to prevent genocide, even when those committing genocidal acts were not state actors (p. 158). this ruling that requires states to be responsible for even non-state actors is a move to limit the amount of “othering”—the practice of states distancing illegal actions and actors from the government in order to avoid responsibility for an internationally wrongful act—that a state can do to avoid responsibility for an internationally wrongful act (jamieson & mcevoy, 2005, p. 505). in other words, the icj ruling demonstrates a desire to move away from a culture in international law that allows for distancing methods. thus, the fact that bosnia v serbia demonstrates a desire to move away from a culture of distancing methods could be used to combat the charge of ineffectiveness in two ways. first, moving towards a system that uses fewer proxies would be the kind of long-term structural change that requires the cooperation of states. second, the fact that the icj judgement entails a wider scope of responsibility that does not allow distancing to avoid blame would actually result in fewer cases of unpunished or unmitigated wrongful acts, thus rendering the charge of ineffectiveness ineffective. objections so far i have argued that the icj judgement of bosnia v serbia (2007) can be used to reject the individualist’s charge of ineffectiveness in three ways. first, the icj ruling strengthens states’ obligation to prevent genocide in such a way that states would have to remain the primary dutybearers of international law in order to effectively realize this long-term goal of preventing genocide. second, the icj judgement fits into an ongoing long-term doctrine, the responsibility to protect, that would require a cooperation of state actors to be the primary duty-bearers if this doctrine that is intended to ensure a minimum level of human rights and security is to succeed. third, bosnia v serbia parallels other cases of international conflict in which structural solutions that require collective action are needed to prevent implicitly absolving guilty or complicit actors and in order to collectively change the culture of distancing from wrongful acts, both within domestic systems and the international legal system. i now briefly consider possible objections to my arguments against the charge of ineffectiveness: first, the objection that the icj judgement that strengthens states’ obligation to prevent genocide will ultimately weaken the ability for individuals to be punished for genocidal acts, and second, the objection that the responsibility to protect, which requires states to be the primary duty-bearers in international law, is ultimately flawed and will result in abuses by states. an individualist might argue that the icj’s judgement that strengthens states’ obligation to prevent genocide would inevitably weaken the responsibility for individuals not to commit or prevent genocide. the worry here is that if a public official committed (or failed to prevent) genocidal acts then the state, according to the icj judgement, would be the primary duty-bearer for this act and the individual would be (at least partially) absolved. however, as clearwater (2009) explains, although the court did not fully explain its reasoning, it concluded that the objection that individual responsibility for preventing genocide would weaken rests on a poor interpretation of the judgement. specifically, the court expressed a notion of dual responsibility; just because a state official committed (or failed to prevent) genocide, and thus the state is responsible, does not preclude the fact that the individual can also be held accountable qua individual. so, in light of this idea of dual responsibility, clearwater (2009) argues that holding states directly responsible (as the icj judgement would 51 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 allow) will strengthen the obligation to prevent genocide. that is, it would require both states and individuals to be responsible for the prevention of (and for not committing) genocide. as a result, the objection that a model of international law in which the states act as the primary duty-bearers would weaken individual responsibility can be rejected. the second objection—that the responsibility to protect, which requires states to be the primary duty-bearers in international law, is ultimately flawed and could result in abuses by states—is a controversial and heavily debated aspect of international law. for example, david turns (2007) argues that the icj judgement in bosnia v serbia (2007) sets a stage that would allow states to intervene by invoking a responsibility to protect in such a way that could allow stronger states to prey on weaker states in order to further state goals. that is, because the responsibility to protect can be invoked when one state believes that another is not providing a minimum level of human rights and safety for individuals in that state, one worry is that some states could use the responsibility to protect to justify intervention that really has ulterior motives. in fact, many see russian action in ukraine as such an abuse of the responsibility to protect that is motivated by russian interests, rather than the protection of rights and security of ukrainians (see de geest, 2015; rudolph, 2014). however, for the purposes of this paper, i merely need to show that the responsibility to protect implied by bosnia v serbia does not necessarily entail abuses by states. serena forlati (2011) offers potential responses to this objection in light of the icj’s judgement that strengthen states’ responsibility to prevent genocide. for example, forlati suggests that the international legal system could create specific standards of conduct for the prevention of genocide (pp. 202-205). that is, the international system could develop specific rules and guidelines that could outline the conditions necessary for a state to be entitled to intervene through claiming a responsibility to protect. thus, according to forlati, the responsibility to protect, properly developed, would not necessarily entail abuses by states. others, such as allen buchanan (2013), agree that if the system were properly institutionalized, the risk of abuse would be minimized. specifically, buchanan thinks that one way of minimizing the risk of abuse with responsibility to protect is to institutionalize it in such a way that intervention on the grounds of protection would require the collective action of multiple state actors (p. 283). that is, buchanan suggests that as long as the duties of states are properly articulated and require collective action, the risk of abuse would be minimized. thus, the responsibility to protect does not necessarily result in abuses by states. conclusion the icj judgement of bosnia v serbia (2007) strengthens the obligation for states to prevent and not commit genocide since it extends a state’s obligation to using whatever means necessary for the prevention of genocide, even if that occurs outside the state’s borders (pp. 156-158). accordingly, i have argued that this judgment can be used to reject the individualist’s charge of ineffectiveness since it creates long-term and ongoing goals that require longevity of states in three ways: by strengthening states’ obligation to prevent genocide, by supporting the doctrine of the responsibility to protect, and by requiring collective action to change social structures and the culture of judicial distancing both domestically and internationally. moreover, i have argued against the objection that bosnia v serbia demonstrates that the icj’s judgement would inevitably weaken the responsibility for individuals to prevent genocide and the objection that the responsibility to protect entailed by bosnia v serbia necessarily results in abuses. in other words, because the findings in bosnia v serbia present a stronger responsibility for states to prevent genocide, the case supports the idea that states must undertake long-term efforts that individuals would be incapable of upholding. since the charge of ineffectiveness would require individuals, as opposed to states, to be the primary duty-bearers of international law, through the icj judgment i have argued that there are long-term obligations and 52 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 goals that require states to be the primary duty-bearers of international law, and thus to reject the charge of ineffectiveness and the individualist challenge to state responsibility. since individuals are incapable of upholding certain obligations in international law, as this paper has argued, collective state responsibility ought to remain the primary way of attributing responsibility in international law. 53 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716803 references allott, p. (1988). state responsibility and the unmaking of international law. harvard international law review, 29, 1-26. application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (bosnia and herzegovina v. serbia and montenegro), judgment, 2007, i.c.j. 191 (february 26). buchanan, a. (2013). the heart of human rights. oxford, england: oxford university press. cassese, a. (2005). international law. oxford, england: oxford university press. clearwater, s. (2009). holding states accountable for the crime of crimes: an analysis of direct state responsibility for genocide in light of the icj’s 2007 decision in “bosnia v serbia.” auckland university law review, 15, 1-41. crawford, j. & watkins, j. (2010). international responsibility. in s. besson & j. tasioulas (eds), the philosophy of international law. oxford, england: oxford university press, 283-298. forlati, s. (2011). the legal obligation to prevent genocide. polish yearbook of law, 31, 189-205. de geest, s. (2015). russian intervention in ukraine: r2p limits and reclaiming the concept. [website article]. retrieved from http://www.hscentre.org/russia-and-eurasia/russian-interventionukraine-r2p-limits-reclaiming-concept-narrative/ jamieson, r. & mcevoy, k . (2005). state crime by proxy and judicial othering. the british journal of criminology, 45 (4), 504–527. lu, c. (2011). colonialism as structural injustice: historical responsibility and contemporary redress. journal of political philosophy, 19 (3), 261-281. rudolph, j. p. (2014, march 7). how putin distorts r2p in ukraine. [website article]. retrieved from https://www.opencanada.org/features/how-putin-distorts-r2p-in-ukraine/ schabas, w. a. (2008). application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide case (bosnia and herzegovina v serbia and montenegro). in r. wolfrum (ed.), the max planck encyclopaedia of public international law. retrieved from http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1245 turns, d. (2007). application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide: bosnia and herzegovina v. serbia and montenegro. melbourne journal of international law, 8 (2), 398-427. winklemann, i. (2010) responsibility to protect. in r. wolfrum (ed.), the max planck encyclopaedia of public international law. retrieved from http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/978 0199231690/law-978 0199231690-e1464?prd=epil 54 http://www.hscentre.org/russia-and-eurasia/russian-intervention-ukraine-r2p-limits-reclaiming-concept-narrative/ http://www.hscentre.org/russia-and-eurasia/russian-intervention-ukraine-r2p-limits-reclaiming-concept-narrative/ https://www.opencanada.org/features/how-putin-distorts-r2p-in-ukraine/ http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1245 http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1245 http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1464?prd=epil http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1464?prd=epil the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 the barbizon school (1830–1870): expanding the landscape of the modern art market lorinda fraser∗ university of victoria lorindafraser76@gmail.com abstract from the 1830s to the 1870s, a cohort of french artists developed new approaches to landscape painting and became known collectively as the barbizon school. this informal group of artists were proponents of an innovative way of painting in which nature was the central subject of their artworks. moreover, nature was depicted without the classical idealization or polished refinement required by the french academy at the time. barbizon artists were also the catalysts for changes in how art was sold during the 19th century, paving the way for an open art market system that spread across the globe and continues unchanged to this day. using jean-baptiste-camille corot (1796–1875) as a case study, i establish the ways in which the barbizon school forged new stylistic and economic possibilities for later modern art movements, most prominently impressionism, outside the purview of the french academy. i also highlight the ways in which the barbizon artists and their supporters contributed to the formation of a new art market founded upon an interconnected network of producers, consumers, and distributors. keywords: barbizon; camille corot; landscape; 19th-century; art market “barbizon art was both heir and testator. it drew to itself the disparate riches of past traditions and passed them on, expanded and enriched.” —robert l. herbert, barbizon revisited from the 1830s to the 1870s, the barbizon school of french landscape painters initiated stylisticand commercial changes to the art world that continue today. the artists were proponentsof an innovative way of painting, representing a transition from romanticism’s imagination, drama, and emotion to naturalism’s real-life objects depicted in their original settings, with nature as the central subject. moreover, within barbizon paintings, nature was depicted without the classical idealization or polished refinement required by the french academy at the time. barbizon artists were also the catalysts for changes in how art was sold during the nineteenth century, paving the way for an open art market system1 that spread across the globe and that continues unchanged to this day. using jean-baptiste-camille corot (1796–1875) as a case study, i argue that the barbizon school forged new stylistic and economic possibilities for later modern art movements, most prominently impressionism, outside the purview of the french academy. i begin by introducing the barbizon school, highlighting the ways in which they developed new and innovative approaches to landscape painting in the nineteenth century. i then discuss the ways in which the artists and their supporters ∗i would like to express my sincere appreciation to dr. melissa berry for her enthusiastic support and guidance, her determination to mould her students into professional scholars, and her contagious passion for the arts of 19th-century europe. i would also like to thank dr. catherine harding for her unfailing encouragement and mentorship throughout my undergraduate studies. 1an art market in which the selling and buying of art is not limited to a restricted number of institutions, genres, subjects, or participants. 4 mailto:lorindafraser76@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 made significant contributions to the formation of a new art market founded upon an interconnected network of producers, consumers, and distributors. lastly, i assert that the artistic and commercial contributions made by the barbizon school have been overshadowed by their impressionist students and successors in art history literature and art exhibitions. i explore why attempts to revive the popularity of the barbizon school with the general public and scholars alike have failed despite the artists’ widespread and long-lasting contributions to the art world. artists as producers establishing the barbizon school the term barbizon school arose out of a need to distinguish the new group of french landscape painters that emerged during the early 19th century. at the time, they were commonly referred to as either the school of 1830 or the fontainebleau school, but those terms were often confused with other movements and were eventually abandoned (quinsac, 1980; thomson, 1891). instead, members assumed the name of the village of barbizon, located on the edge of the forest of fontainebleau in north-central france. though not every member of the barbizon school resided in the village for extended periods, they all frequently joined the crowds of painters that flocked to the area in the early decades of the nineteenth century. there they painted the forest and the modest peasant life of its surrounding villages. the central figures of the barbizon school included jean-baptiste-camille (camille) corot, théodore rousseau (1812–1867), jean-françois millet (1814–1875), narcisse diaz de la peña (1807–1876), constant troyon (1810–1865), charles-françois daubigny (1817–1878), and jules dupré (1811–1889). however, as i will demonstrate, their influence and mentorship spread beyond the purview of their french contemporaries, and their artistic and commercial impacts continue to be felt today. new landscape frontiers just as they became precursors for the impressionists, the barbizon school also did not emerge out of a void. three influential books primed french patrons and audiences for the popularity of a new form of landscape painting and the barbizon school movement: classical landscape painter pierre-henri de valenciennes’ original approach to landscapes and outdoor painting in elémens de perspective pratique in 1800 (brettell, 1991), charles nodier’s nationalistic 1920 series voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l’ancienne france, and abel hugo’s france pittoresque of 1835, which promoted france as “contain[ing] all the riches of nature, combined with the treasures of intelligence and industry” (as cited in house, 2007, p. 79). increased tourism and notions of the lone, liberated traveler were also common themes of intellectual discourse and illustrated publications at the time. these themes fostered romanticized conceptions of the artist as the definitive traveler and interpreter of the land (house, 2007). during the early 19th century, the traditional styles of late 18th-century neoclassicism and romanticism were imposed upon all practicing artists by the académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (the academy). during this time, only artists sanctioned and approved by the academy were considered worthwhile producers, safe for investment by collectors and patrons. artists’ works were selected for inclusion in the academy’s annual salon exhibition by previous winners trained and judged within the same system—continuously perpetuating the academy’s preferences and mandates. the domination of this program meant that artists had few or no alternative markets in which to exhibit their works, to establish their reputation, or to obtain patronage. consequently, 5 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 the academy’s influence shaped their creative output throughout their careers.2 it is within this environment that two painters, valenciennes (1750–1819) and achille etna michallon (1796–1822), studied together at the textit’ecole des beaux-arts in paris and were trained to produce landscapes in the classical, romantic tradition. later, they chose to paint such works plein air.3 however, at exhibition, the artists were careful to denote the pieces as mere preparatory sketches or “studies,”4 which could later be polished and refined in the studio to academy standards (herbert, 1962, p. 19; jones, 2008). regardless of their training and experience, artists such as valenciennes and michallon had no option but to work within the limits set by the academy in order to succeed in their profession. despite these restrictions, valenciennes and michallon’s plein-air practices soon became popular with other painters. by the early 1820s, artist colonies inundated the forest of fontainebleau villages of marlotte, chailly, and barbizon each summer (herbert, 1962). as early as 1817, a french academy prix de rome scholarship for landscape painting was established, formally signalling the country’s worship of nature and depictions of the french countryside (herbert, 1962). the invention of portable metal paint tubes in the early 1840s5 and the expansion of the railway system from the mid-century onward allowed artists even greater freedom to travel and work in remote, outdoor locations (ayres, 1985; house, 2007). as the 19th century progressed, landscape painting became prevalent in salon exhibitions, increasing from 19 paintings of the forest of fontainebleau at the salon of 1833 to 77 in 1880 (kelly, 2008). more broadly, it is estimated that landscapes comprised 30% of the works exhibited in the salon by the 1860s (kelly, 2008). as prominent 19th-century british art dealer david croal thomson celebrates in the barbizon school of painters, at long last landscape painting was being recognized as “the last of the pictorial arts to be appreciated by the multitude” (1891, p. xiv). as i will demonstrate, the barbizon artists were highly influential in perpetuating critical, scholarly, and public appreciation of the style and its primary subject matter—nature. it was within the growing acceptance of landscape painting that the barbizon school established its own distinct movement. the artists sought to escape the tensions and sense of alienation increasingly being experienced by artists in paris, to express nationalistic pride for the landscape of france, and to assert themselves against the classical idealism of the academy (zimmermann, 2010). further influenced by british topographical travel books, english painters such as john constable (1776–1837), and 17th-century dutch lowlands paintings, the barbizon painters sought a more sentimental form of expression than that of constable, but also a landscape that was more visually and philosophically opposed to the industrialized city than dutch artworks (brettell, 1991; champa, 1991b; herbert, 1962; zimmerman, 2010). as such, while the barbizon style is predominately remembered for its plein-air technique, it also encompassed a fundamental shift to nature becoming valued as a primary subject instead of mere background to humanity. furthermore, by depicting nature as it was found—in its natural state—barbizon artists excluded demonstrative evidence of “the creative human mind” which moulded and ordered nature into romanticised forms and compositions (herbert, 1962, p. 16). instead, nature devoid of human figures and signs of modernization offered a space for individual introspection, as well as a rejection of the socio-political 2inclusion of an artwork for a salon exhibition in no way guaranteed the selection of an artist’s pieces in subsequent years. 3to paint outdoors. 4typically small and quickly executed, sketches or studies were used as preparatory exercises for expressing spontaneous design ideas, testing a project’s composition, and/or demonstrating a proposed commission to a patron. they were produced prior to an artist’s underdrawings and final fine art painting (oil sketch, 2008). 5the first “collapsible metal tube” was patented in 1841 by american portraitist john g. rand (ayres, 1985, p. 132). initially marketed by thomas brown, the design was franchised in 1842 by art supply firms such as winsor & newton, who then patented the screw-top lid still in use today (ayres, 1985). 6 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 pressures of urban industrialization (house, 2007). additionally, in contrast to romanticised beauty which was painstakingly refined to traditional tastes and expectations, barbizon works were quickly executed using broad brushstrokes. their colours were taken directly from the landscape itself, rather than a particular palette, so as to capture a specific moment or play of light. stylistically, the barbizon school “narrow[ed] the gap that had traditionally existed between the direct sketch and the finished studio picture” by seeking to capture nature realistically and without the need of embellishment beyond the inherent value and beauty of the natural landscape (herbert, 1962, p. 15). the barbizon school was instrumental in the increased acceptance and popularity of french landscape painting, combining dutch lowlands and early 19th-century english aesthetics, topography, french regionalist ideologies, and the classical tradition with the compulsion to paint plein air (herbert, 1962). as herbert claimed in his seminal volume, barbizon revisited, this multifaceted legacy “led to fundamental changes in the appearance of painting” (1962, p. 63). as one of the two most influential artists of the barbizon school, along with rousseau, corot was to later become “the most important teacher of landscape painters in the history of that art” and an ideal case study for exemplifying the influences of the barbizon school (brettell, 1991, p. 17). case study: camille corot born in paris in 1796, camille corot was a central figure in landscape painting and the barbizon school during the 19th century. the son of well-off merchants, he attended nighttime drawing classes at the académie suisse in paris during his late teens (champa, 1991a). despite his father’s early demands that he become a man of business, corot was eventually given a small allowance and the freedom to study full-time under classical landscape painters michallon and jean-victor bertin (1767–1842) (champa, 1991a; thomson, 1891). under the tutelage of michallon, corot began painting plein air in 1822, travelling around normandy, fontainebleau, and outer paris before spending 1825–1828 in italy (herbert, 1962). in 1827, he had his first painting accepted for exhibition in the french salon. thereafter, he had works selected for inclusion 35 out of the next 44 years, during which time he also won a total of two second-class medals and a legion of honour (herbert, 1962). between 1831 and 1834, corot entered successive paintings of the forest of fontainebleau into salon exhibitions, including une fôret (fôret de fontainebleau) (figure 1). he gained increased attention from art critics when he sold two paintings to the duc d’orléans in 1838 and his first work to the french government in 1840, setting sun (little shepherd)/le petit berger (herbert, 1962). in the late 1840s, corot began simultaneously expanding the market for his artworks and expanding what was deemed acceptable by the french academy in terms of stylistic technique and subject matter. in 1848, he made his first foray beyond the salon by exhibiting in the third exhibition of l’association des artistes, held in the galleries of the bazar bonne-nouvelle department store (herbert, 1962). simultaneously, he began gradually entering his plein-air paintings to the salon: an italian landscape, the coliseum at rome (1849), and a french landscape, le port de la rochelle (1851) (figure 2). at the 1855 paris exposition universelle, corot, rousseau, and troyon each won first-class medals, signifying the barbizon school’s increased recognition by the established art community. another triumph for corot occurred that same year when napoleon iii purchased la charrette, souvenir de marcoussis (1855) (figure 3) (champa, 1991a; herbert, 1962). as a formally trained painter, corot repeatedly proved his skill and merit by successfully producing artworks that stayed within the traditionalist confines of the academy. by establishing his professional reputation, not to mention earning an income independent of his father, he was afforded the opportunity to gradually explore and expand his paintings beyond the subjects and 7 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 stylistic techniques of his training—pushing at the boundaries imposed by the academy. despite the academy’s increasing acceptance of barbizon-style landscapes, corot continued to work within two distinct formats: large canvases meant for salon exhibition that emphasized his classical training and remained within the confines of romanticist sentimentality and smaller paintings of nature that highlighted his growing naturalist aesthetic and preferred barbizon style. as an example, we can compare the size, subject matter, and painting techniques employed by corot in two of his works completed during or around 1850. une matinée, la danse des nymphes (1850) (figure 4) is atmospheric; its mythological subjects dance through a precisely rendered landscape and the work measures a stately 98 x 130 cm. alternatively, in abandoned quarry (ca. 1850) (figure 5), rocks and trees are the central subject, and corot’s loose, sketch-like brushstrokes and warm earth tones prevail. a bent and toiling peasant woman to the central right can just be distinguished by the red of her headscarf. she is in no way the subject or focal point of the work; instead nature is given preference over her human form. idealized humanity and nature have been abandoned for a realistic depiction of the french countryside as it appeared to the artist in the moment of creation. this piece measures only 29 x 43 cm, far more suitable dimensions for a middle-class parisian’s city home than une matinée, la danse des nymphes. this highlights another key difference of the barbizon style. by keeping their pieces small for ease of portability, barbizon artists such as corot could also create more pieces within a given time. subsequently, works such as abandoned quarry could be priced at lower price points and fit into more modest-sized homes, expanding the market for potential art buyers beyond the wealthy elite. comparing these two works of approximately the same time exemplifies how corot strategically managed his artistic output to influence and alter the confines of the salon system and the art market. une matinée, la danse des nymphes comfortably met the criteria of those confines in size, subject matter, and aesthetic. in contrast, abandoned quarry pushed the academy, art critics, and the public to consider new possibilities for defining what art should and could be, what subjects were appropriate and desirable, and the ways in which art could be sold to a broader audience. camille corot provides the ideal case study for exemplifying how the barbizon school altered expectations for fine art in the 19th century. having gained widespread recognition during the 1840s, he was able to obtain significant commissions and patronage during his lifetime. as an early proponent and central figure of 19th-century french landscape, corot taught two generations of painters—later barbizon school artists such as daubigny and eugène boudein (1824–1898) as well as emerging impressionists berthe morisot (1841–1895) and camille pissarro (1830–1903). he shared with each of them his five-decade relationship with the forest of fontainebleau, painting plein air, and emotive naturalist realism. while much scholarship and press have been allocated to the impressionists for their more dramatic break from the salon system, as we have seen, they were not without artistic and commercial predecessors. corot and his barbizon contemporaries began working both within and outside of the salon as early as the 1830s. by establishing his reputation as a skilled classical artist via the academy alongside his plein-air landscapes, corot gradually influenced the consciousness of salon juries over a series of yearly submissions. he set the stage for the acceptance of a broader range of aesthetics, techniques, and subject matter beyond refined, classical, romantic traditions. for example, in 1889, corot and the barbizon artists were featured in no less than three major art exhibitions: 21 paintings by corot were exhibited at london’s goupil gallery, an exhibition of barbizon works was held by the barye monument society in new york, and 52 works were exhibited at the 1889 paris exposition universelle (rathbone, 1962; thomson, 1891). simultaneously, corot’s reputation also contributed to the lessening of the academy’s monopoly over the french art market by imbuing value and respectability upon those collectors and dealers who purchased and distributed his barbizon-style paintings. during and shortly following their careers, the barbizon artists were critically and publicly recognized as the producers of a new kind 8 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 of art, art that could be bought and sold by a new type of consumer in a rapidly evolving market. as we will see, such acclaim was not to last. collectors as consumers following france’s revolution of july 1830, intellectuals within the orléanist faction were the first collectors of barbizon art outside of the salon (herbert, 1962). they were attracted to the school’s radical approach to landscape painting and resistance to the salon’s traditionalist system. the spokesperson for the faction, duc d’orléans ferdinand philippe, was an avid collector of the barbizon school during the 1830s. following ferdinand philippe’s death in 1842, paul périer, paul barroilhet, and paul collot then asserted themselves as the preeminent collectors of avant-garde6 naturalist landscape paintings, namely from the barbizon school (kelly, 2004). from similar middle-class backgrounds, the three collectors each developed close relationships with their favoured artists. like the orléanist faction, they seemed particularly drawn to works that had been refused by the salon, both out of loyalty to the barbizon painters, but also as an affront to the traditionalist values perpetuated by the academy and its jury system (kelly, 2004). the most prestigious and affluent of these 1840s collectors was paul périer. a banker with inherited money to initially support his collecting, périer brought himself to near financial ruin by the middle of the 1840s through risky land speculation deals and his immense accumulation of old masters and modern artworks (kelly, 2004). in 1846, he was forced to sell much of his collection at auction, liquidating over 50 paintings and drawings (kelly, 2004). this event attracted substantial interest from art critics and raised the prestige and prices of barbizon artworks, some as high as 50% (kelly, 2004). one of the barbizon’s most celebrated collectors was operatic baritone paul barroilhet. upon leaving the paris opera in 1847, barroilhet devoted himself to art collecting, buying and selling off a minimum of six collections between 1855 and the mid-1860s (kelly, 2004). much more private than his contemporaries, the haberdasher7 paul collot focused his attention on forming one of paris’ most notable modern art collections during the late 1840s and early 1850s (kelly, 2004). though little is known about collot, it is assumed that, like his contemporaries, it was financial difficulties that likely forced him to sell 74 of his beloved artworks in 1852, at the first major auction of the hôtel drouot auction house (kelly, 2004). though the support of the barbizon school by périer, barroilhet, and collot was relatively short lived, they were key consumers of barbizon artworks. their continuous buying and selling kept barbizon artists in the consciousness of the public and of future buyers, and over time barbizon paintings increased in value as a result of this activity (kelly, 2004). by purchasing artworks directly from the artists whenever possible or art dealers when necessary, ferdinand philippe, périer, barroilhet, and collot circumvented the salon system and were significantly influential in the establishment of the open french art market during the 19th century. dealers as distributors in the 1860s, art dealer paul durand-ruel (1831–1922) took on the role of championing barbizon school painters outside the salon system. arguably the most innovative and influential dealer of the 19th-century, durand-ruel is best known for his support of barbizon and impressionist artists. early in his career, he developed several strategies for promoting the work of his chosen artists, based on seven principles: 6to be new and/or experimental. 7a seller of sewing items or notions, such as buttons and thread. 9 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 the protection of the art first and foremost; the exclusivity of the artists’ work; the founding of art reviews; the marriage of the worlds of art and finance; the staging of solo rather than group exhibitions; a network of international galleries, and regular unrestricted access to his galleries and apartment. (durand-ruel & durand-ruel, 2015, p. 41) acting as the barbizon school’s chief buyer and source of moral support from the late 1860s onwards, durand-ruel was instrumental in strategically securing public interest for their paintings (durand-ruel & durand-ruel, 2015). replacing his father as head of the durand-ruel gallery in 1865, durand-ruel soon moved the business to 16, rue laffitte/11, rue le peletier (nicknamed “la rue des tableaux/the street of pictures”) within the artistic centre of the parisian art community (patry, robbins, riopelle, rishel, & thompson, 2015, p. 22). though an avid collector of all barbizon school artists, durand-ruel clearly favoured corot, buying 225 of the artist’s works from fellow dealers and collectors between 1866 and 1873 (kelly, 2015). already well established by this time, corot’s paintings regularly made durand-ruel profits of 20% to 30%, but occasionally works such as une matinée, la danse des nymphes doubled his return (kelly, 2015). though most widely known as the impressionists’ primary art dealer, durand-ruel once wrote that “the only artist that he admired as much as delacroix was corot” (kelly, 2015, p. 63). he praised corot on a purely artistic level, responding to his meditative naturalistic style, favouring it above even that of his much lauded impressionists (kelly, 2015). durand-ruel’s innovative approaches and strategies for supporting his artists allowed him to hold monopolized control over several artists’ oeuvres,8 effectively controlling their prices and steadily increasing them over time (kelly, 2015). he used an artist’s biography to garner interest from collectors, catering to the tastes and nationalistic ideologies of buyers in london, paris, throughout the rest of europe, and in the united states (kelly, 2015). in january 1869, durand-ruel established a european-wide monthly arts magazine la revue international de l’art et de la curiosité to publish articles in support of the artists he promoted (kelly, 2015). the magazine provided a venue for maintaining ongoing dialogue and discourse about an artist, their biography, and their work (kelly, 2015). durand-ruel also offered public lecture series within his gallery space to inform potential buyers. often those lectures would then be published in la revue, further reinforcing a sense of expertise and ongoing media exposure in support of the movement. in 1878, he organized an exhibition of 382 barbizon paintings at his rue laffitte gallery during the paris exposition universelle (kelly, 2015), drawing numerous positive reviews from critics and art aficionados, if not large public crowds. unsurprisingly, dealers and collectors saw an increase in prices for barbizon paintings in the following years (kelly, 2015). in his memoirs, durand-ruel wrote that his career, indeed, his personal and financial life, had been “dominated by two campaigns: the first to raise the value of ‘the beautiful [barbizon school],’ and the second to increase support for his cherished impressionists” (cited in kelly, 2015, p. 56). through his one-artist and group shows, monopolization of specific artists, network of relationships with critics and other dealers, and international connections, durand-ruel made long-lasting changes to the 19th-century art market for artists of the barbizon school and their successors. in return, the barbizon school artists, corot in particular, were instrumental in establishing the role of art dealer as a respectable, legitimate profession divorced from the crass realities of commerce. they provided a balanced model of academically-trained yet avant-garde producers on whom consumers, collectors, and dealers could depend to be fiscally stable even with art purchased outside the relative security of the academy (herbert, 1962). barbizon artists were simultaneously altering what was deemed acceptable within the art community and permanently influencing our tastes and preferences. to 8an artist’s body of work. 10 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 put it plainly, the barbizon school’s artists’ methodical and seemingly moderate transitions made impressionism and other modern art movements possible. however, i contend that they have not been given credit for the radical long-term changes they are responsible for because their nuanced, methodical, and moderate approach has not attracted the attention that they deserve. the barbizons eclipsed despite their influence upon the subjects, styles, and commerce of art in 19th-century france, the barbizon school has fallen into obscurity. while entire art history courses are devoted to the impressionists, few of today’s emerging scholars are introduced to their predecessors. in the foreword to robert herbert’s barbizon revisited, perry t. rathbone claims that the 1962 exhibition catalogue was “only the second serious attempt in the twentieth century to appraise the whole achievement of the school in extenso” (p. 10). furthermore, according to rathbone, most other books written on french art were inadequate to “bring into critical focus, to understand and enjoy anew. . . a school which in a sense lies buried, but refuses to die” (as cited in herbert, 1962, p. 10). herbert pondered whether the barbizon artists were considered too “sentimental,” particularly by post-world war audiences fascinated with depictions of modern urban life (1962, p. 15), in other words, those seeking freedom within the anonymity of the city rather than the solitude of the countryside. in the late 19th-century, david croal thomson predicted that “to be properly appreciated, [corot’s work] requires more knowledge; but as the world becomes older and wiser, this will gradually vanish as an objection to his work” (1891, p. 5). sadly, this additional acquired knowledge has yet to come to fruition. we continue to wait for “another generation who shall comprehend and gladly accept them,” acknowledging the breadth and importance of the barbizon school’s contributions to the landscape of painting and the art market (thomson, 1891, p. xv). more than a century later, and 25 years after herbert’s “epochal” barbizon revisited exhibition, most literature on the barbizon school was written in the 19th century, and the relationship between the barbizon artists and the impressionists has been largely ignored (champa, 1991b, p. 23). in the rise of landscape painting in france: corot to monet, kermit champa (1991b) claims that the 1991 exhibition was the first to make such connections explicit. even the naming of the exhibition “recognize[d] by [its] very subtitle how little the public understands the prehistory of impressionism in french landscape painting,” thus effectively exploiting monet’s widespread name recognition (brettell, 1991, p. 20). even that attempt at a revival of recognition is, yet again, 25 years in the past. while respectfully acknowledging the validity of the scholars above, i argue that the barbizon school artists were too subtle in their skillful manipulation of the academy system. they were so successful, in fact, that their influence was difficult to detect then and has become even more challenging to distinguish now with the distance of time. instead, the radical approaches and highly publicized, flagrant defiance of the academy by the impressionists lingers in our myths, memories, and artistic discourses. returning once again to corot as an example, we are presented with a quiet bachelor who remained close to his sister until her death and who generously supported numerous charities and friends, including the widow of his colleague and friend j. f. millet (thomson, 1891). more broadly, among his many students he was universally known as père corot for his selfless mentorship (thomson, 1891). corot’s is not a biography of legendary exploits or political activism. his quiet but powerful transformation of the world of art was just as understated as his life, but no less appreciated by those who knew him. i argue that it was corot and the barbizon school’s nuanced but highly effective undermining of the french academy system, from within, that is simultaneously their greatest legacy but also the ultimate source of their current obscurity. 11 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 conclusion the barbizon school holds a unique place in the transitioning art world of 19th-century france. they were the first artists to publicly designate their naturalist paintings as finished artworks while also highlighting nature as their central subject. as such, barbizon artists served as strategic catalysts in the process of expanding academy expectations and notions of what constituted fine art beyond romanticist and neoclassical aesthetics and ideologies (herbert, 1962). corot in particular was a crucial mentor to other 19th-century painters, most significantly the impressionists, setting “the standards for landscape practice for half a century” (champa, 1991a, p. 116). most importantly, by working within the salon system, slowly introducing images of the forest of fontainebleau and plein-air pieces that appeared to conform to traditional ideals, barbizon artists created a legacy for future modern art movements and the art market. despite being all too frequently eclipsed by the fame of their impressionist successors, the barbizon artists were undeniable catalysts for change. in capitalizing on their well-established prestige and respectability, the artists, their collectors, their distributors, and their successors were able to develop a network of economic and personal relationships for expanding what was available on the art market and how it could be sold. by selling art beyond the purview of the salon, the barbizon artists created new financial and commercial possibilities that spread far beyond the markets of france and continue unchanged today. 12 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 references ayres, j. (1985). the artist’s craft: a history of tools, techniques and materials. oxford, england: phaidon. brettell, r. r. (1991). introduction. in k. s. champa (ed.), the rise of landscape painting in france: corot to monet (pp. 15-21). new york, ny: currier gallery of art. champa, k. s. (1991a). catalogue entries. in k. s. champa (ed.), the rise of landscape painting in france: corot to monet (pp. 99-225). new york, ny: currier gallery of art. champa, k. s. (1991b). the rise of landscape painting in france. in k. s. champa (ed.), the rise of landscape painting in france: corot to monet (pp. 23-63). new york, ny: currier gallery of art. durand-ruel, p-l., & durand-ruel, f. (2015). paul durand-ruel (1831–1922): a portrait. in s. patry (ed.), inventing impressionism: paul durand-ruel and the modern art market (pp. 30-53). london, england: national gallery company. herbert, r. l. (1962). barbizon revisited: essay and catalogue. new york, ny: clarke and way. house, j. (2007). framing the landscape. in m. tompkins lewis (ed.), critical readings in impressionism and post-impressionism: an anthology (pp. 77-99). berkeley, ca: university of california press. jones, k. (2008). landscapes, legends, souvenirs, fantasies: the forest of fontainebleau in the nineteenth century. in k. jones (ed.), in the forest of fontainebleau: painters and photographers from corot to monet (pp. 2-139). new haven, ct: yale university press. kelly, s. (2004). early patrons of the barbizon school: the 1840s. journal of the history of collections 16 (2), 161-172. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1093/jhc/16.2.161 kelly, s. (2008). the mystery of the forest: paintings of fontainebleau at the salon. in k. jones, (ed.), in the forest of fontainebleau: painters and photographers from corot to monet (pp. 140-151). new haven, ct: yale university press. kelly, s. (2015). durand-ruel and ‘la belle ecole’ of 1830. in s. patry (ed.), inventing impressionism: paul durand-ruel and the modern art market (pp. 54-75). london, england: national gallery company. oil sketch. (2008). in g. ward (ed.), the grove encyclopedia of materials and techniques in art. retrieved from http://www.oxfordreference.com patry, s., robbins, a., riopelle, c., rishel, j. j., & thompson, j. a. (2015). paul durand-ruel, an ‘unrepentant risk-taker.’ in s. patry (ed.), inventing impressionism: paul durand-ruel and the modern art market (pp. 10-29). london, england: national gallery company. quinsac, a-p. (1980). the school of barbizon. in s. bijutsukan (ed.), millet, corot and the school of barbizon: the seibu museum, 15 march-14 april, 1980 (n.p.). tokyo, japan: seibu museum. rathbone, p. t. (1962). foreword. in herbert, r. l., barbizon revisited: essay and catalogue (pp. 10-13). new york, ny: clarke and way. thomson, d. c. (1891). the barbizon school of painters: corot, rousseau, diaz, millet, daubigny, etc. london, england: chapman and hall limited. zimmermann, m. f. (2010). radical alienation–radical involvement: a brief history of subjectivity and landscape up to impressionism. in s. f. eisenman (ed.), from corot to monet: the ecology of impressionism (pp. 107-119). new york, ny: skira. 13 https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1093/jhc/16.2.161 http://www.oxfordreference.com the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716809 figures figure 1 jean-baptise-camille corot, une fôret (fôret de fontainebleau), 1834, oil on canvas, 175.6 x 242.6 cm. available at: https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/collection/art-object-page.46584.html, collection of the national gallery of art, u.s.a. figure 2 jean-baptise-camille corot, le port de la rochelle (the harbor of la rochelle), 1851, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 71.8 cm. available at: http://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/52867, collection of the yale university art gallery figure 3 jean-baptise-camille corot, la charrette, souvenir de marcoussis, 1855, oil on canvas, 98.2 x 130.3 cm. available at: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache =1&zsz=5&lnum=&nnumid=16678, collection of the musée d’orsay figure 4 jean-baptise-camille corot, une matinée, la danse des nymphes, 1850, oil on canvas, 97.7 x 130.5 cm. available at: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache =1&nnumid=000243&chash=c18188b082, collection of the musée d’orsay figure 5 jean-baptise-camille corot, abandoned quarry, ca. 1850, oil on paper on canvas, 29 x 43 cm. available at: https://demesdagcollectie.nl/en/collection/hwm0062, the mesdag collection, the hague 14 https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/collection/art-object-page.46584.html http://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/52867 http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&zsz=5&lnum=&nnumid=16678 http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&zsz=5&lnum=&nnumid=16678 http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&nnumid=000243&chash=c18188b082 http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&nnumid=000243&chash=c18188b082 https://demesdagcollectie.nl/en/collection/hwm0062 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 the spirituality of atheist and “no religion” individuals in the millennial generation: developing new research approaches for a new form of spirituality samantha a. bahan ∗ the university of victoria sbahan@uvic.ca abstract as of 2011, those who identify as non-religious represented a portion of canada’s population 2.5 times larger than the combined total of those reporting as muslim, jewish, buddhist, sikh, and hindu, with no indication that the rate of growth for this population is subsiding. despite this growing population, religiously unaffiliated spiritual millennials are going undetected in the academic literature, and there is confusion between contemporary understandings of spirituality and religiousness for both researchers and millennials. researchers seeking to understand the spiritual lives of millennials have typically assessed the growth of this movement by the number of individuals who identify as “spiritual but not religious,” a phrase which emerged alongside the 1960s new age movement to describe the so-called ‘spiritual seekers.’ this paper seeks to identify some of the sources of millennial spirituality, such as culture shifts during the 1960s and 70s and the secularization of the canadian public education system, and to define a new form of spirituality unique to millennials. alternative approaches to studying this group are proposed, and it is suggested that the phrase “spiritual but not religious” is no longer sufficient for understanding the spirituality of religiously unaffiliated individuals. keywords: millennial spirituality; new age movement; spiritual but not religious; secular spirituality. i. introduction a s of 2011, those who identify as non-religious represented a portion of canada’s population 2.5 times larger than the combined total of those reporting as muslim, jewish, buddhist, sikh, and hindu, with no indication that the rate of growth for this population is subsiding. the growing number of individuals who identify as having “no religion” has promoted curiosity among researchers who want to understand the spiritual and religious lives of the millennial generation (bryant, choi, & yasuno, 2003; smith & denton, 2005). many young individuals who do not identify with traditional religion in any form experience spirituality in their lives (bibby, russell, & rolheiser, 2009). these people struggle to describe their experience due to a restricted vocabulary on the topic, and/or avoid identifying with the term “spiritual.” this paper offers a closer look at the current rates of “spirituality” in millennials who say they are atheist ∗i would like to thank dr. paul bramadat for his ongoing and invaluable mentorship, support, and encouragement in my pursuit of a second undergraduate degree in religious studies. i would also like to thank dr. siobhan chandler, whose kind words inspired the topic of this paper. 63 sbahan@uvic.ca the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 or that they have “no religion.” specifically, this paper will discuss some reasons why spiritual millennials are going undetected in the academic literature, the confusion between contemporary understandings of spirituality and religiousness for both millennials and researchers, as well as alternative approaches to studying this group. overall, i want to suggest that the phrase “spiritual but not religious” is no longer sufficient for understanding the spirituality of religiously unaffiliated individuals. ii. the sources of millennial spirituality the growth of unchurched millennial spirituality can be traced to culture shifts in the 1960’s, emphasizing values of pluralism, equality, diversity, and individual freedom (chandler, 2008). these values were exemplified in political changes such as the 1982 charter of rights and freedoms, and the secularization of canadian education systems (bramadat & seljak, 2008; seljak, 2005). many individuals of the baby boomer generation readily adopted these values, along with new age religious ideas, which rejected the borders and dogma of traditional religion. the effects of these culture shifts have rippled into the millennial generation; the secularization of canadian education systems, alongside religiously unaffiliated baby boomer parents, resulted in many individuals growing up without religion at home or school. collectively, these factors have contributed to a substantial growth in the number of people who identify as atheist or nonreligious. in addition to contributing to the growing population of religiously unaffiliated individuals, the effects of these culture shifts are also connected to a trend of religious illiteracy. while many millennials report that they are religiously unaffiliated, research has shown that some also report spirituality in their lives. however, a lack of exposure to various belief systems —as well as a perception that spirituality is inextricably intertwined with religion—has led to some confusion and vocabulary barriers for many young adults trying to articulate their spirituality. furthermore, these barriers, in concert with questions reflecting a lack of clarity about how spiritual experiences should be understood and described, are resulting in these individuals going undetected in research seeking to understand millennial spirituality. given the vast growth of those who identify as non-religious in north america over the past forty years, it is important to accurately study these individuals in order to understand what implications may stem from the growth of this population. although many millennials appear to experience and value some kind of “spirituality,” the academic literature on this generation reflects a lack of clarity about a) how these experiences should be understood and described and b) how they might relate to or differ from those that researchers (and millennials) associate with “religion.” this situation warrants a deeper reflection on the ways researchers have been analyzing these individuals and their spiritual practices, and points to the need for new research instruments to gather more accurate data about this movement. in an effort to do this, the remainder of this paper will first look at the growth of spiritual but religiously unaffiliated millennials, and some cultural and political distinctions between millennials in canada and the usa. following this, the role of baby boomer parenting practices and the secularization of the canadian public education system in millennial’s spiritual ambiguity will be discussed. lastly, this paper will assess research challenges associated with the use of the new age phrase “spiritual but not religious” as an umbrella term for studying religiously unaffiliated spirituality, and an alternative approach to studying the spirituality of millennials is proposed. 64 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 iii. the growth of millennial spirituality the growth of millennial spirituality is linked to the growing percentage of canadians who say they have “no religion”. prior to 1971, less than 1% of the canadian population reported having no religion (statistics canada, 2001). by 1991, this rate had jumped to 12%, and by 2001 it was 16%, accounting for just under 4.8 million people in canada. forty percent of this group were aged 24 or under, with a median age of 31 years. this trend was most prominently seen in western canada, with residents in the yukon territory and british columbia reporting “no religion” more frequently than any other response. between 1991 and 2001, british columbia saw a 39% increase in residents who reported having no religion, accounting for more than a third of the provincial population. according to canadian sociologist reginald bibby, surveys conducted on millennial teens in comparison to adult reports from the 2001 census revealed the percentage of those who reported having no religion was greater for teens in every region of the country, with twice as many teens compared to adults reporting having no religion nationally (bibby, russell, & rolheiser, 2009). between 2001 and 2011, the population of non-affiliated canadians continued to grow, with approximately 23.9% of the canadian population reportedly having no religion (statistics canada, 2011 national household survey). as of 2011, this group represented a portion of canada’s population 2.5 times larger than the combined total of those reporting as muslim, jewish, buddhist, sikh, and hindu. the increasing number of individuals who are religiously unaffiliated and experience spirituality has captured the interest of professionals in a range of areas related to science and particularly psychology (culliford, 2011). the founding of such organizations as the institute of noetic sciences in california in 1973 — inspired by a spiritual experience by apollo 14 astronaut edgar mitchell — demonstrate a broadening of scientific inquiry to include often overlooked phenomena, such as the study of consciousness and its potential unknown capabilities. furthermore, according to writer and psychotherapist victor schermer, the integration of spirituality into psychological theories regarding understanding the mind, and the practical application of this in therapeutic settings, is representative of a paradigm shift in the study of psychology (culliford, 2011). these shifts represent how important the growth of millennial spirituality is becoming to a range of academic disciplines. the decline of religion and the rise of spirituality is currently the topic of a lively debate among scholars, and multiple perspectives have been adopted to discuss the terms spirituality and religion. while the focus of this article is not to debate these terms, a clarification is helpful for the purposes of this paper. in accordance with dominantly held definitions, religion refers to historically consistent social systems and phenomena associated with doctrines, institutions, dogma, established rituals and traditions, and beliefs related to the afterlife which are usually about divinity (bramadat, 2005; bryant, choi, & yasuno, 2003). spirituality on the other hand, refers to a personal phenomenon—a set of qualities that may be cultivated that is not dependent on institutional settings such that an individual may experience a sense of healing, and or affirmation of the transcendent, their community, or themselves (ammerman, 2013; chandler, 2008; culliford, 2011). overall, academic literature on millennial spirituality has reflected a vague understanding of how best to study this topic, and how millennials relate to the concept of “spirituality.” discrepancies about how to understand the terms “religious” and “spiritual” may contribute to teens’ lack of ability to accurately reflect and describe their stance on spirituality and spiritual needs. according to sociologists of religion bibby, russell, and rolheiser (2009), the number of teens identifying as atheist has jumped from 6% to 16% since the mid 1980’s, with fewer than half of all canadian teens “definitely” believing in god as of 2008. nonetheless, one in seven atheist youth and only 30% of teens with no religion reported having “spiritual needs” (bibby, 2011). 65 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 conversely, robert wuthnow’s research on the millennial generation in the united states reported that 60% of religiously unaffiliated millennials said “spiritual growth” was at least fairly important to them (2007). a longitudinal study of first year students from fifty colleges and universities across the united states found that, despite an increasing personal commitment to integrating spirituality into their lives over their first year in post-secondary, only 12% of those having no religious affiliation also identified as highly spiritual (bryant et al., 2003). collectively, these studies suggest that a range of religiously unaffiliated millennials say they are spiritual, have spiritual needs, place importance on spiritual growth, or commit to integrating spirituality into their lives. the variety of these reports reflect the diverse and vague conceptualizations of “spirituality” held by both millennials and the researchers who are studying them. before discussing further what millennial spirituality is, it is necessary to consider some important cultural variations that influence the experiences of religiously unaffiliated canadian and american millennials. i. “no religion” millennials in the united states and canada describing millennial spirituality requires a brief discussion of the cultural and political differences between the united states and canada, and how they influence the extent and implications of religious illiteracy and non-affiliation. like canada, the pattern of decline in religious affiliation has also been exhibited in the usa, but the influence of religion on american culture has remained quite prominent, as have the social repercussions of being nonreligious (smith & denton, 2005). throughout the usa, and particularly in the south and midwest, attending religious services and belonging to a religious congregation are cultural norms. according to the national study of youth and religion in the usa, teen popularity at school is significantly associated with attendance at religious services, with 15% of nonreligious american teens reporting that they have been made fun of or experienced at least a little pressure from their schoolmates for being religiously unaffiliated. the social acceptance of individuals identifying as nonreligious is quite different in canada, particularly in provinces such as british columbia where as many as one third of the provincial population reported having no religion as of 2011 (statistics canada, 2011 national household survey). given these cultural differences, the trend of religious illiteracy and unaffiliation is likely less exaggerated in american millennials, for even those who were raised with little or no education about religion at school or at home most certainly still know peers with strong religious ties. in canada, especially in urban areas of bc and other regions, this may not necessarily be the case. additionally, the social ramifications of non-religiosity are evident with regards to the role religion plays in the political arena (wuthnow, 2007). in both canada and the usa, religion plays an important role in how people evaluate political issues, movements, and candidates. according to robert putnam and david campbell’s book american grace, the so-called culture wars that emerged in the post-1960s and gave rise to the surge of evangelical protestant affiliation greatly benefitted the republican party, who harnessed this opportunity with a call to return to “traditional family values” (olson, 2012). the religious convictions of american voters consistently influence election outcomes, with regular church goers and evangelicals having generally favoured republican candidates in all but one presidential election since 1968 (wuthnow, 2007). conversely, the growing population of frequently secular and religiously unaffiliated individuals has consistently demonstrated decreasing levels of support for republican candidates, in opposition to the attitudinal uniformity of religious conservatives who are against abortion and same-sex marriage (olson, 2012). young americans with various religious affiliations consider the mixing of politics and religion as acceptable, unlike non-religious individuals who tend to consider the mingling 66 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 of these two to be unfavourable (wuthnow, 2007). given the differing cultural norms described between these two countries, it seems likely that all other things being equal, a religiously unaffiliated individual seeking political involvement will receive less support in the usa than in canada. understanding the differences between canada and the usa is important because much of the data discussed in this paper was gathered from studies conducted in the united states. this is quite simply because research on the spirituality of religiously unaffiliated millennials is currently more extensive in the usa than in canada. therefore, relating the findings of these studies to canadian millennial spirituality, and the associated challenges of studying this population, requires careful consideration of the differences in cultural norms and religious illiteracy and unaffiliation between these two countries. in addition to these difficulties, other research challenges will now be discussed in greater depth, beginning with a closer reflection on two factors that have contributed to the spiritual ambiguity of religiously unaffiliated millennials. iv. the spiritual confusion of millennials research investigating millennial spirituality has shown that many individuals of this generation are uncertain about how to describe and explain their “spirituality” and “spiritual” experiences. there are several contributions to this struggle, but two significant sources will be discussed here. the first, is the guidance (or lack thereof) provided by religiously unaffiliated baby boomer parents on religion and spirituality and the second, the secularization of canadian education systems. this combination both limited their vocabulary and conceptual understanding of religion and spirituality and subsequently resulted in a trend of religiously illiterate and unaffiliated millennials. the baby boomer generation gave rise to the counterculture of the 1960’s (chandler, 2010), of which a significant component was the rejection of restrictive dogmas associated with traditional religion in favour of a new spiritually awakened living — a trend recognized as the ’new age’ movement (chandler, 2008). some significant contributions to the cultivation of new age spirituality included: eastern religious teachings that emphasized individual enlightenment, the use of psychedelic drugs, and alternative medical practices focusing on holistic healing. pluralism, equality, diversity, and individual freedom were values woven into the parenting practices of many baby boomers who, unlike their own parents, were less inclined to expose and involve their children in religious traditions and faiths (bibby et al., 2009). consequently, many millennials received passive guidance from parents, who actively chose to allow their children to independently explore religion and spirituality. the freedom to autonomously explore these areas appears to have been engaged to varying degrees by millennials growing up, and for some likely contributed to a sense of religious illiteracy. this re-evaluation of traditional religion (mainly christianity) led to a transformation of canadian public education from predominantly christian-based schools into a secular system in provinces across the country (bramadat & seljak, 2008; seljak, 2005). the implementation of the 1982 charter of rights and freedoms provided grounds for legal actions such as the banning of religious instruction, exercises, festivities and practices from public secular classrooms. furthermore, the legal removal of these religious components created ambiguity regarding the appropriateness of any discussion about religion, such as through religious studies, which is embraced or excluded to varying degrees across provinces, though it is not legally restricted. thus, many children of the baby boomer generation also received little or no exposure to religion at school, contributing to a generation of religious illiteracy. for some, this absence of education about religion is noticed in post-secondary settings as well. in 1992, sheridan and colleagues conducted 67 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 a study that assessed the views of 328 clinical social workers, psychologists, and professional counselors; 83% reported having received ’little’ or ’no’ training in religion and spirituality during graduate school (starnino, 2002). similar results were found in canda and furman’s study in 1999, which reported that of 1,069 social workers, 73% had received no instruction in their social work education on either religion or spirituality (starnino, 2002). furthermore, the majority of respondents in these studies reportedly felt ill-equipped to address religion and spirituality with clients, and believed more education on both of these topics was necessary (starnino, 2002). the culture shifts of the 1960’s developed through the baby boomer generation, and ultimately immersed millennials in a secular culture that emphasized values which are incongruent with the principles of most traditional religions. these cultural changes were manifested in both home environments and school settings, leaving many millennials with significantly less knowledge about religion than their preceding generations. the effects of this can be seen in both the incredible growth of canadians reportedly having no religion, and research reflecting a vague and limited understanding of the experiences and values of “spirituality” in the lives of millennials. the latter requires a deeper reflection on how these experiences might relate to or differ from the conceptualizations that we (and they) associate with “religion” and “spirituality.” v. millennial spirituality: what is it? the historical conceptualization of individual pursuits and experiences of spiritual affirmation has always been inextricably intertwined with that of “religiousness,” yet alongside the new age movement emerged the phrase “spiritual but not religious” (sbnr) to describe the so-called “spiritual seekers.” these individuals were characterized by a general resistance to and suspicion of committing to an organized religion, alternatively pursuing individualism and autonomy through selectively mixing and matching metaphysical beliefs, practices, and denominations from various religious traditions (chandler, 2008; fuller, 2001; smith & denton, 2005). since the 1960’s, sbnr has become an umbrella term for spiritual individuals ranging widely in their association to “religion,” with some affiliating or self-identifying with a traditional religion, and others opting for little or nothing to do with any form of organized religion (chandler, csrs public lecture, 2013). the concept of sbnr, as understood via “spiritual seekers” and new age spiritual eclecticism, has served as the basis for many researchers interested in studying contemporary spirituality, acting as a form of relative measurement for how seriously or actively individuals are exploring their spirituality. however, millennials who have had little exposure to religion may be unfamiliar with the concept of sbnr, thus they may continue to associate the term ’spiritual’ with ’religious’ or something related to divinity, and in turn express hesitation identifying as “spiritual.” for this reason, many religiously unaffiliated millennials who are ’spiritual’ from an academic perspective, may be going undetected in research efforts. this challenge is depicted by smith and denton (2005) who discussed the findings of the national study of youth and religion (nsyr), considered to be the largest and most comprehensive study of american teens’ religion and spirituality to date. to explore the category of religiously unaffiliated spiritual seekers, american teens across the country were asked about sbnr in an effort to detect whether they embraced the “spiritual but not religious” philosophy with the same enthusiasm and eclectic methods as had the preceding generation. the interviewers asked whether teens consider themselves to be “spiritual but not religious” and respondents were required to select from options of “very true,” “somewhat true,” “not at all true,” or “don’t know/refused.” the results revealed that only 8% felt sbnr was very true for them, but 46% reported it as somewhat true. another question asked about the inclusion of practices from a list of various religions into one’s own spirituality, and the responses to these two questions were considered to 68 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 depict the “trend” of sbnr in contemporary american teens. smith and denton interpreted these results to be most certainly inaccurate, on account of confusion about what the term sbnr meant based on their own experiences of interviewing hundreds of teens across the country. of the interviews they had conducted, smith and denton noted that the vast majority reportedly had not heard of the phrase “spiritual but not religious,” and even among those who had some familiarity, there was little meaning or understanding attached to it (2005). these responses were interpreted as clear indications of a lack of commitment to spiritual seeking relative to that observed with sbnr in the new age movement. while it is likely true that few millennials are spiritual seekers in the same manner as those in the new age movement, to conclude that the population of young individuals who are spiritual yet nonreligious is declining would be inaccurate; the statistics described earlier demonstrate this growth. one could interpret the lack of spiritual eclecticism as spiritual “laziness,” but it could also be that the form of “spirituality” many millennials are experiencing is quite different from that of past spiritual seekers, and therefore the methods through which they foster this “spirituality” or relate to the concept of “spirituality” would also be different. overall, millennials are like their baby boomer parents in that they have a general resistance to and suspicion of committing to an organized religion, alternatively pursuing an individualistic endeavor which they only sometimes define as “spiritual.” what the results of the nsyr indicate is that, at least in the united states, the phrase “spiritual but not religious” is no longer sufficient for understanding the spirituality of religiously unaffiliated individuals, largely because for many millennials, even “spirituality” has become an ambiguous concept. vi. why sbnr inaccurately describes millennial spirituality the challenge of understanding millennial spirituality was demonstrated in a longitudinal study that included over 3600 first year students in post-secondary school in the united states (bryant et al., 2003). students participated in both the 2000 cooperative institutional research program (cirp) freshman survey, a four page questionnaire administered to american freshmen, and the 2001 your first college year survey, administered at the end of freshmen year to follow-up the cirp. following the data collected from these surveys, this study explored the importance of religious and spiritual practices over the duration of these students’ first year at school. interestingly, the results found that the rate of students who self-reported as “highly spiritual” at the start of the school year decreased 4.2% by the end, whereas those who initially identified as “below average” or in the “lowest 10%” increased 5.4% by the spring. additionally, the number of students who considered the integration of spirituality into their daily lives as “essential” or “very important” rose 5.6% and 4.5% respectively over the course of their first year in post-secondary school. furthermore, the majority of students involved in the study who reported being very spiritual were also very religious (also true for the reverse). for example, 38.1% of highly spiritual individuals identified as being moderately religious and only 3.7% of individuals who reported being highly spiritual were not very religious. thus the results revealed a significant overlap between spirituality and religiousness for the first year american post-secondary students who were surveyed. one interpretation of these results would be that the proportion of “no religion” first year students who are also highly spiritual is very minimal. however, an alternative interpretation could suggest that these results indicate a poorly articulated conceptual distinction between the terms “religious” and “spiritual,” perhaps both on the part of the students responding and the researchers asking the questions. the latter was the interpretation taken by bryant, choi, and yasuno (2003). they argued that the results revealed a clear sense of value associated with commitment to integrate spirituality into the lives of the participants, suggesting that sbnr as a 69 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 basis for researching religiously unaffiliated spirituality may inaccurately articulate the kind of “spirituality” and spiritual practices experienced by millennials with no religion. these studies suggest that the understanding of millennial spirituality may be currently unclear, with research findings turning up few individuals who self-identify as both very spiritual and religiously unaffiliated. given the statistics reflecting a growing population of canadians with spiritual needs but “no religion,” it is clear that many millennials of this group are going undetected in the research. the phrase “spiritual but not religious,” as understood from the new age movement, is not sufficient for capturing and understanding the contemporary spirituality of millennials, possibly because some religiously unaffiliated individuals are not identifying with the term “spirituality.” this may be more likely for canadian millennials, who experience fewer social consequences than american millennials for rejecting concepts such as “religion” and “spirituality.” if this is true, detecting this cohort of individuals will require efforts to enhance our understanding of the kind of “spiritualities” they are experiencing, and how it differs from prior conceptualizations in order to develop new research tools and gather more accurate data about this movement vii. research going forward research instruments that more accurately articulate contemporary religiously unaffiliated “spirituality,” would likely reveal less overlap between religious and spiritual self-identification. developing such research instruments first requires an effort to better understand the various forms of “spirituality” and its social meaning in cultural and daily discourse; this was the goal of a recent study conducted by ammerman (2013). through the analysis of 330 texts of 95 participants in the forms of life history interviews, diary recordings, photo elicitation interviews and field notes, descriptions of spirituality and spiritual experiences were systematically grouped into four thematic categories. ammerman identified four main discourses connected to the term sbnr. the first was the “theistic package” where spirituality is about god and one’s relationship with god. the second was the “extra-theistic package,” which characterized a spirituality pertaining to an affective experience unrelated to divinity, explanation, or life after death. the third was “ethical spirituality,” which is described as the single common denominator between the two prior packages, related to spiritual experiences encountered through helping others, overcoming ones’ selfish needs to do what is morally right, and random acts of kindness. the last was “belief and belonging spirituality,” which referred to believing in god and belonging to a religious tradition. the packages that best explain millennials are the “extra-theistic package” and “ethical spirituality,” the former describing spiritual experiences as an interconnection with something beyond oneself, which could refer to a group or community, or something transcendent and extraordinary. this spirituality is rooted at the core of the self, and is experienced by way of seeking ones’ individual life meaning, experiencing a meaningful life pattern, or encountering an awe evoking form of beauty through such things as art, music, or nature. these spiritual descriptors demonstrate a form of spirituality that has nothing to do with answering questions about death or an afterlife, a quality of millennial spirituality which has also been recognized in findings by bibby et al. (2009). therefore, their use would help overcome the challenges associated with using sbnr to identify the number of spiritual but religiously unaffiliated members of this generation in the academic literature. the current limitations described above warrant further reflection on the development of new research instruments, such as survey or interview questions, which incorporate the unique challenges experienced by millennials with less knowledge about “religion” or “spirituality.” the philosophy of monism may provide a framework for conceptualizing these questions. unlike most 70 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 religious traditions, which describe a dualistic theology that separates god from creation, monism as expressed in buddhism describes a divinity within the individual and an interconnectedness of everything and everyone (chandler, csrs public lecture, 2013). monism is a philosophy in which one is capable of experiencing wholeness or fulfilment in this lifetime, and that is inclusive of values such as diversity, autonomy, and equality. given these qualities and its distinctiveness from the dominant philosophies of western traditional religion, monism may resonate with millennials. a monist framework combined with descriptions of spirituality as explained in the “extra-theistic package” (ammerman, 2013), may be effective for developing questions to be used in new research instruments to study millennial spirituality. moreover, millennials’ struggle to conceptually dissociate the terms “spiritual” and “religious” from one another also needs to be considered for both the phrasing and order of questions. with these factors in mind, i will describe potential questions for a survey that could be used in future research seeking to understand “spirituality” as it is, and perhaps will be, experienced in the everyday lives of millennials and the generation that follows them. using the framework discussed above, the proposed survey will be broken into three sections, with the purpose of the questions for each section focusing on: 1) identification 2) emotions, practices and settings and 3) personal significance. each section will consist of two types of items: statements which participants will respond to by selecting an option from “strongly agree”, “somewhat agree,” “don’t know,” “somewhat disagree” and “strongly disagree;” and an openended question to allow alternative responses not provided by the statement items. the first section will inquire about one’s religious identification. table 1. outlines examples questions in this section of the survey. table 1: identification i identify as as a religious individual with a denomination such as: • protestant • catholic • jewish • muslim • buddhist • hindu • sikh • other religious tradition i identify as: • having no religion • atheist • agnostic open-ended: is there another way you would describe your religious identification that is not included in the options here? questions of this nature will help clarify which individuals self-identify as non-religious, whereas the next sections will explore “spiritual” affective experiences and activities. section two of the survey is intended to help clarify whether and how participants feel or experience something spiritual, however, the items will not directly use the term “spiritual” in their content; this section is further separated into two subsections. subsection one will focus on affective experiences, and subsection two will focus on the kinds of settings, objects, or activities that evoke this sense of connectedness. 71 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 table 2: emotions, practices, and settings subsection 1 & subsection 2 i think/believe in: • an interconnectedness between all living things • in a connection to something transcendent of myself • in something bigger than myself when i experience this feeling of connectedness i feel a sense of: • ’wholeness’ within myself • awe or wonder • hope or comfort • purpose • meaning for my life i experience this feeling of connection when: • i am in nature • i experience or witness something i think is beautiful • i spend time with people who are important to me • i spend time with my pets • i listen to music • i observe artwork • i gaze at the stars • i do yoga or meditation . . . open-ended: are there any other emotions you feel when you experience this feeling of connectedness that have not been described above? open-ended: are there any other activities, settings, or things, that evoke a feeling of interconnectedness or personal connectedness to something greater than yourself? the final section of the survey would inquire about the importance or value of these experiences for the participant, and how they relate these experiences to the term “spirituality” as they understand it. table 3: personal significance i make an effort to foster this feeling of connectedness to something bigger than myself by: • seeking experiences which evoke this feeling in me • intentionally partaking in or going to a meaningful activity/setting when i feel stressed or in despair • doing at least one thing every day that evokes this feeling of connectedness yes/no: i personally identify as a spiritual person the term ’spiritual’ accurately describes my sense of connectedness to something bigger than myself open-ended: if ’spiritual’ is not an accurate term for the feeling of connectedness you experience, why not? is there a different term or way you would describe this experience for you? these items are just examples for questions on this topic, but the format of this hypothetical survey requires further explanation. given that many millennials grew up without religion in their daily lives, many have a restricted vocabulary and conceptual framework from which they can draw from to make sense of and articulate their spiritual beliefs and experiences. the statement items are thus intended to provide a conceptual starting point for participants to reflect on their personal experiences throughout each section, priming them for their responses to the open-ended questions. whereas the statement items provide the researcher with an idea of whether the description of “spirituality” as a feeling of 72 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 connectedness with something beyond oneself, resonates with the experiences of the participants. lastly, the open-ended questions provide further insight into other forms of spiritual experience in the lives of millennials, and ideas for revision of the research instrument. by asking questions in this way, it diverts the conception of “spirituality” away from its understanding as spiritual eclecticism and provides room for learning about alternative spiritual experiences or pursuits in the millennial generation. studying this phenomenon with descriptive statements that do not directly refer to the terms “spiritual” or “spirituality” (though that is what is being investigated from the academic perspective), allows for the opportunity to hear from individuals who perhaps do not perceive these terms to be appropriate descriptors of their experience. moreover, the responses to these statements and the follow-up question asking why the term “spiritual” might not be a good fit would potentially provide further clarification as to whether or not religiously unaffiliated spiritual millennials do actually identify as “spiritual,” and if not, why not. the responses to the items described here would hopefully provide researchers with a more accurate orientation for conducting future research on religiously unaffiliated spiritual individuals. the questions outlined above were described for use in a hypothetical survey. however, these questions could also be used in an interview setting, or as discussion points in workshops or focus groups. if the religious illiteracy described earlier in this paper is in fact a restrictive factor for millennials when reflecting on their religious and/or spiritual beliefs and experiences, the simplest way to alleviate these limitations is through thoughtful discussion on these topics. what is most important for future research on millennial spirituality is an open approach that provides an opportunity to hear about new forms of spirituality rather than limiting analyses to the contrasting categories of “religion” and “spirituality,” not to mention the relative neologism of sbnr. it is possible that youth discourse is evolving such that discursive transitions between metaphors of “religion,” “spirituality,” and “sbnr” are no longer sufficient for capturing their “spiritual” experiences. for academics who would like a new metaphor for this group, i believe the idea of postmodern “secular spirituals” may be appropriate. this metaphor seeks to capture an individualistic pursuit of something transcendent of the self that is unrelated to concepts of “religion” and “spirituality.” however, it is important to recall that these “spiritualities” have less to do with an identifiable label and more to do with a felt experience, which i would characterize as a secular transcendent interconnectedness. in other words, these experiences are defined by a sense of connectedness between the individual and something beyond the self that does not pertain to concepts of “religion” or divinity. capturing these multidimensional experiences is even more challenging, given that they may vary not just between individuals but also within a single person, with the impact of the “spiritual” experience depending on the emotion it evokes, which depends on the situational context. for example, while one individual may experience a deep sense of oneness within themselves and everything around them through the practise of yoga, the person practising next to them may only mildly experience this, but alternatively feel a sense of wonder and interconnectedness with humanity when they witness a random act of kindness between strangers. overall, more research in this area would provide opportunities for scholars to expand their own understanding of contemporary spirituality, and for millennials to reflect on the spirituality of their daily lives. viii. concluding remarks the new age movement in the 1960’s developed alongside cultural shifts that emphasized values of pluralism, equality, diversity and individual freedom. concomitantly, many individuals coming of age during this movement came to adopt a hesitation and suspicion of adhering to traditional religions. this mentality was maintained to varying degrees when these individuals raised their 73 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 own children, with some encouraging their children to question religious institutions while others provided more passive guidance on the task of spiritual or religious exploration. upbringings of this nature in concert with the secularization of canadian school systems resulted in a trend of religious illiteracy and significant contributions to the growth of the “no religion” population, from both the baby boomer and millennial generations. with this in mind, it is not surprising that millennials may be experiencing or relating to the concept of “spirituality” in a new way. the understanding of “spiritual but not religious” has evolved since its emergence in the new age movement, and its prior conception is no longer sufficient for understanding or describing contemporary experiences of religiously unaffiliated spirituality. the historical association of spirituality with religion may mean that some teens and young adults are choosing to identify with neither of these terms. this is problematic for researchers seeking a deeper understanding of how millennials are experiencing spirituality. if these individuals are finding spiritual fulfillment in the absence of traditional religion, then it seems plausible that the growth of this population will not subside; understanding non-religious spirituality is essential for understanding the potential implications of this demographic in canadian society. therefore, i have suggested that future research on this population utilize research instruments that inquire about this phenomenon without directly incorporating the term “spiritual” into its questions. this approach will hopefully alleviate some of the confusion between differing understandings of “spirituality” by millennials and academics. future research could seek to further develop a taxonomy for spirituality, explore the use of the alternative research approach described here with secondary and post-secondary students, and aim to promote or provide opportunities for further discussion and reflection on spirituality among millennials. individual experiences related to religion and spirituality are changing, and thus the way we research religiously unaffiliated spirituality in the millennial generation must also change. references ammerman, n. t. (2013). spiritual but not religious? beyond binary choices in the study of religion. journal for the scientific study of religion, 52(2), 258-278. bramadat, p. (2005). beyond christian canada: religion and ethnicity in a multicultural society. religion and ethnicity in canada, 1-29. bramadat, p., & seljak, d. (2008). charting the new terrain: christianity and ethnicity in canada. christianity and ethnicity in canada, 2, 1. bibby, r. w., russell, s., & rolheiser, r. (2009). the emerging millennials: how canada’s newest generation is responding to change and choice. lethbridge, canada: project canada books. bibby, r. w. (2011). beyond the gods and back: religion’s demise and rise and why it matters. lethbridge, canada: project canada books. bryant, a. n., choi, j. y., & yasuno, m. (2003). understanding the religious and spiritual dimensions of students’ lives in the first year of college. journal of college student development, 44(6), 723-745. chandler, s. (2008). the social ethic of religiously unaffiliated spirituality. religion compass, 2(2), 74 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12024 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/csd.2003.0063 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 240-256. chandler, s. (2010). private religion in the public sphere. life spirituality in civil society. in s.& d. houtman (eds.), religion of modernity relocating the sacred to the self and the digital (pp. 69-88). leiden/boston: brill. chandler, s. (2013, april 4). spiritual but not religious: navel gazing or a new paradigm for religious faith in modern times? [video file]. retrieved from http://vimeo.com/66026539 culliford, l. (2011). the psychology of spirituality: an introduction. london, uk: jessica kingsley publishers. fuller, r. c. (2001). spiritual but not religious: understanding unchurched america. oxford: oxford university press. olson, l.r. (2012). religion and american public life [review of the book american grace: how religion divides and unites us]. perspectives on politics, 10(1), 103-106. seljak, d. (2005). education, multiculturalism and religion. in p. bramadat & d. seljak (eds.), religion and ethnicity in canada (pp. 178-200). toronto, canada: pearson. smith, c. & denton, m. l. (2005). soul searching: the religious and spiritual lives of american teenagers. new york, ny: oxford university press. starnino, v. (2002). textitreligion, spirituality, and social work education: taking the next step. retreived from proquest dissertations & theses global. (305505520). statistics canada, 2011 national household survey, statistics canada catalogue no. 99-d12x2011026. retrieved from http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/direng.cfm statistics canada web site. (2013) retrieved march 22, 2014 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ wuthnow, r. (2007). after the baby boomers: how twenty-and thirty-somethings are shaping the future of american religion. princeton, nj: princeton university press. 75 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8171.2007.00059.x text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/0195146808.001.0001 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1537592711004348 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/019518095x.001.0001 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400831227 introduction the sources of millennial spirituality the growth of millennial spirituality ``no religion'' millennials in the united states and canada the spiritual confusion of millennials millennial spirituality: what is it? why sbnr inaccurately describes millennial spirituality research going forward concluding remarks the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 native versus invasive crab effluent effects on byssal thread production in the mussel, mytilus trossulus (gould, 1850) rachel rickaby∗, jeanine sinclair∗ university of victoria rachel.rickaby@gmail.com, jeanine.sinclair3@gmail.com abstract mussels have evolved many adaptations to protect themselves, including the production of byssal threads. these are strong, proteinaceous fibres that mussels secrete to adhere themselves to rocks, preventing detachment by waves and predators. these byssal threads may be strengthened if mussels can recognize potential threats, such as native crabs, as their populations have a long history of coevolution. unfortunately, the introduction of invasive predators poses a challenge for prey, which may not be capable of recognizing them. in this study, byssal thread production in the pacific blue mussel (mytilus trossulus) was observed when exposed to effluent from the native red rock crab (cancer productus) or the invasive european green crab (carcinus maenas). m. trossulus were placed in closed systems with effluent from either c. productus, c. maenas or control (no predator), over a 24-hour time period. final measurements of number, length and diameter of byssal threads were recorded. m. trossulus exposed to effluent from c. productus produced byssal threads at a statistically significantly faster rate than in the control group over the first 7.5 hours. m. trossulus exposed to effluent from c. maenas produced byssal threads at a statistically significantly faster rate than both the c. productus and control groups. however, after 24 hours, there was no statistically significant difference between the mean number of byssal threads for any treatment. additionally, we found no statistically significant difference between the mean diameter of byssal threads produced or length of byssal threads produced for any treatment. keywords: adaptive defense; cancer productus; carcinus maenas; predator-induced defense; phenotypic plasticity prey species have evolved many adaptations to protect themselves against predators. throughstrong selective pressure, predators have profoundly influenced life history strategies, be-havioural, physiological, and morphological defensive traits that are observed in extant prey species (côté, 1995; tollrian & harvell, 1999; via & lande, 1985). however, permanent defensive structures are energetically costly, thus some anti-predator responses may only be initiated under reliable environmental stimuli (brönmark et al., 2012; tollrian & harvell, 1999; via & lande, 1985). phenotypically plastic traits can be induced so the most appropriate form of that trait is displayed for the exact conditions exerted on the prey (carter, lind, dennis, hentley, & beckerman, 2017; côté, 1995; lowen, innes, & thompson, 2013; via & lande, 1985). the co-evolution of predators and prey have helped facilitate phenotypically plastic traits to be induced when prey can accurately assess a predation risk, so energy is only spent on a defense when it is essential to survival (reimer & tedengren, 1997; tollrian & harvell, 1999; via & lande, 1985). unfortunately, the lack of ∗the authors thank the bamfield marine sciences centre, for making this work possible. the authors would also like to thank professor tao eastham, professor heather alexander, aaron eger, allan roberts, rylan command, beth rogers, maddy walter, siobhan gray, haley robb, sophia kontou, hailey shafer, mary clinton, olivia walker, and their fellow fall program students for guidance and support. 20 mailto:rachel.rickaby@gmail.com, jeanine.sinclair3@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 coevolution of prey species with invasive predators poses a threat, as prey rely on predator detection to prompt defenses (freeman & byers, 2006). inducible defenses have evolved as a cost saving strategy, where resources are only allocated to a certain defensive trait if it directly aids in survival (brönmark et al., 2012; griffiths & king, 1979; kats & dill, 1998; via & lande, 1985). otherwise, these resources can be used in growth or reproduction (brönmark et al., 2012; via & lande, 1985). for many bivalves, induced anti-predator defenses include shell thickening, strengthening of the adductor muscles, and increasing byssal thread production when exposed to wave action, sea stars, and crabs, respectively (caro, escobar, bozinovic, navarrete, & castilla, 2008; cheung, tong, yip, & shin, 2004; freeman & byers, 2006; reimer & tedengren, 1997). in mussels, byssal threads are a vital defensive mechanism used to hold onto a substrate and maintain their position in clumps, which decreases predation risk (behrens yamada & boulding, 1998; côté & jelnikar, 1999; elner, 1978). reimer and tedengren (1997) tested byssal thread production in the mussel mytilus edulis (linnaeus, 1758), and found that the mussels produced a strong byssal thread attachment when exposed to the sea star, asterias rubens (linnaeus, 1758) and the european green crab carcinus maenas (linnaeus, 1758), which is native to that region. in the northwest atlantic, côté (1995) studied m. edulis, and found that energy is directly reallocated from growth and reproduction into byssal thread production. côté (1995) also demonstrated how effluent from a crab native to the area, cancer pagurus (linnaeus, 1758), increased the number of thicker byssal threads produced by their prey, m. edulis, compared to those with no predator or a non-threatening herbivore (côté, 1995). however, no equivalent study to côté’s exists for the relationship between mytilus trossulus (gould, 1850), cancer productus (randall, 1840) and carcinus maenas in the pacific northwest. the blue mussel, m. trossulus, is commonly found in intertidal habitats along the northeastern pacific coast. as a foundation species, m. trossulus beds provide vital habitat and shelter from predation to over 300 intertidal species (lafferty & suchanek, 2016). these fundamental aggregations promote biodiversity along the coastlines and are therefore a very important west coast species to research (lafferty & suchanek, 2016). the distribution of the native mussel, m. trossulus, overlaps with that of their predator, cancer productus, the native crab species (braby & somero, 2006; carroll & winn, 1989). the invasive european green crab, c. maenas, thrives outside its natural range due to its lack of predator and high tolerance to fluctuating environmental conditions (behrens yamada & gillespie, 2008; carlton & cohen, 2003; leignel, stillman, baringou, thabet, & metais, 2014). a strong cohort of this species was first detected on the pacific coast in san francisco bay in 1989 and most likely dispersed north to barkley sound during the 1997/1998 el niño episode (behrens yamada & gillespie, 2008). the invasive c. maenas have established breeding populations in parts of barkley sound, such as useless inlet and pipestem inlet. certain populations of c. maenas have been found to overlap with the native m. trossulus (braby & somero, 2006; carlton & cohen, 2003). both crab species forage on m. trossulus during high tides, where they cut the mussels off the rock and use their powerful chelae to crush their hard shells (behrens yamada & boulding, 1998; carroll & winn, 1989). research conducted on prince edward island, canada found evidence to suggest that the invasive c. maenas may threaten commercially important bivalves such as m. edulis as well as compete with a native rock crab, cancer irroratus (miron, audet, landry, & moriyasu, 2005). in central california, it was found that european green crabs were causing massive declines in the population of the native clams, nutricola spp., as well as the local shore crab, hemigrapsus oregonensis (grosholz, 2002). grosholz (2002) indicated that c. maenas can alter the structure of the native rocky shoreline communities in areas of low water flow by predating on mussels. in new england, native periwinkle 21 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 snails, littorina obtusata, were observed for their varying degrees of phenotypic plasticity when exposed to the introduced c. maenas (trussel & smith, 2000). they found that the degree of induced defense they displayed was largely based on their previous experience with exposure to the c. maenas (trussel & smith, 2000). these results may allude to a potential situation occurring on the western coast of canada, with the native c. productus and the same invasive c. maenas. in this study, the native species, m. trossulus and c. productus, are highly influential in their respective ecosystems, and the invasive c. maenas has been observed to have negative effects on similar prey and competing species. unfortunately, the lack of evolutionary history between an introduced predator and native prey, such as c. maenas and m. trossulus, often gives no opportunity for adaptive defensive traits to evolve against the threat (freeman & byers, 2006). this can leave prey vulnerable to attack if they depend on induced traits where chemical effluents are a signal of a predator threat (freeman & byers, 2006). if m. trossulus display changes in byssal thread production in the presence of the native c. productus effluent, this could indicate an adaptive response due to frequent predator-prey interactions over evolutionary time. if m. trossulus do not display any changes when exposed to the invasive c. maenas, this may indicate an inability for prey to respond to novel invasive predators, leaving them susceptible to predation. in this study, we experimentally determined whether m. trossulus sampled from bamfield inlet, b.c., increased their byssal thread number, length, and thickness when exposed to the native red rock crab, c. productus. we compared this response to the invasive european green crab, c. maenas, a relatively recent recruit to barkley sound. we hypothesized that 1. effluent from the native crab would induce an overall higher number of byssal threads in mussels than the invasive crab or control; 2. the byssal threads produced in the presence of the native crab would be thicker and shorter than the control or the invasive predator treatments; 3. and the invasive predator treatment would not induce significantly different byssal thread production from the control. materials and methods collection of study species the two native species, c. productus and m. trossulus, were both collected from the bamfield inlet, b.c., canada (48◦50′3.9′′ n, 125◦8′13.1′′ w) where their habitats naturally overlap in the protected intertidal, in early november, 2018. however, c. maenas were collected from two separate sites, both over 20 km away from bamfield inlet (fig 1). three c. maenas were collected from useless inlet (48◦59′22.7′′ n, 125◦3′16.2′′ w) and seven c. maenas were collected from pipestem inlet (49◦1′35.2′′ n, 125◦15′36.1′′ w) in october and november, 2018. c. productus and c. maenas were transported back to the bamfield marine sciences centre, housed in separate sea tables with flowing seawater, and fed mussels twice weekly, one month prior to the experiment. mussels were carefully removed from rocks by cutting their byssal threads nearest to the substrate, to avoid damaging the pedal apparatus and altering byssal thread production. mussels were kept together in containers with flowing seawater for one month prior to the start of the experiment. all mussels held in the lab were fed a cumulative 1 tsp of algae paste (innovative aquaculture products ltd) suspended in seawater, 24 hours before each trial began. experimental setup experimental design and measurement of byssal threads were adapted from côté (1995). the three treatments were as follows: the invasive treatment contained a single male c. maenas in 22 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 a plastic container with drilled holes on all four sides, which was placed into a larger plastic bin. the bin and container were filled three quarters full of seawater before shutting off water flow and replacing it with an airstone in the now closed system. crabs were not fed during the trial, to avoid chemical cues from injured conspecifics influencing results. the native treatment was the same setup, except a single male c. productus was placed in the container. for the control, all conditions were identical, excluding the crab in the container. each container and bin setup represented one experimental unit. crabs were placed into each unit 12 hours before mussels were added, to allow effluent to accumulate and flow evenly throughout each bin. four sea tables held six experimental units each, and a fifth sea table contained three units, resulting in nine replicates of each treatment (n = 9) for a total of 27 experimental units. each table held two replicates of each treatment (except table five which only had one of each treatment), and all experimental units were randomly assigned positions within the table (fig 2). approximately 30 minutes before adding mussels to the experimental units, mussels were prepared by carefully cutting all byssal threads off as close to the byssal stem as possible and without damaging the pedal apparatus. mussel shell length was measured using vernier calipers to the nearest 0.05 mm (specimen length). all mussels were randomly assigned individual specimen ids that identified treatment type and bin number. mussels were placed into individual plastic petri dishes and put into their corresponding experimental unit. byssal thread counts the number of threads secreted by all mussels were counted by observing through the base of the petri dish. threads were counted after 30 minutes of exposure to their closed treatments, one hour after that, and then each subsequent hour after, until 7.5 hours elapsed from the start of the experiment. after 24 hours, all mussels were removed from their experimental units and a final byssal thread count was taken. any mussels that produced 0 threads during the 24 hour period were eliminated from analysis. one mussel from each experimental unit was then randomly selected using a random number generator for further byssal thread measurements. measuring byssal thread length and diameter the selected mussel from each experimental unit was used to determine average byssal thread length (µm) and diameter (mm). to determine the average length for each individual mussel, three byssal threads (longest, shortest, and one randomly selected) were measured to the nearest 0.05 mm with a vernier caliper. any threads that could be removed were set aside and used to determine average byssal thread diameter. this was measured using an ocular micrometer on a compound microscope (olympus cx31). individual threads were taped lengthwise to a microscope slide and the maximum diameter (mm) was recorded at the maximum width. statistical analyses we used a linear model to test for a relationship between the number of byssal threads secreted and time, while also asking if this relationship was different between the treatments. to analyze the differences between the rates in each treatment, we performed an ancova. we used a linear model to test for differences between the number of byssal threads secreted after 24 hours in each treatment and this was analyzed using anova. to test for differences in byssal thread diameter by treatment, a linear model was used and analyzed using anova. to test for differences in byssal thread length between the two treatments, we used a generalized linear model with a gamma distribution to account for non-normality. anova was then used to analyze the differences. because the length of 23 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 the mussel influenced the secretion rate and length of byssal threads produced, we accounted for the length of each individual mussel in the models. we determined a result to be statistically significant if the p-value was less than 0.05. all analyses were conducted in the r programming environment 3.4.1 (r core team, 2017), and the package ggplot2 (wickham, 2009) was used. results number of byssal threads the rate of byssal thread secretion over the first 7.5 hours of the experiment was highest in the invasive crab, c. maenas, treatment, second highest in the native crab, c. productus, treatment, and lowest in the control treatment (fig 3a). using ancova, we found that the invasive crab treatment had a statistically significantly higher average secretion rate than the control, with an average of 0.029 more byssal threads produced per mm of individual mussel length (p = 10−6). the invasive crab, c. maenas, treatment also had a statistically significantly higher average secretion rate than the native crab treatment with an average of 0.014 more byssal threads produced per mm of individual mussel length (p = 5.63 × 10−4). the native crab treatment also had a statistically significantly higher average secretion rate than the control, with an average of 0.014 more byssal threads produced per mm of individual mussel length (p = 5.60 × 10−4). after 24 hours, m. trossulus in the control, native, and invasive treatments had produced an average number of byssal threads of 8.64 ± 3.85, 10.72 ± 4.04, and 9.87 ± 3.31, respectively (fig 3b). using anova, we found no difference between the mean number of byssal threads for any treatment (f = 1.82, df = 26, p = 0.184). diameter of byssal threads byssal threads produced in control, native, and invasive treatments had average diameters of 0.33 ± 0.07 µm, 0.45 ± 0.14 µm, and 0.41 ± 0.11 µm, respectively (fig 4). unlike the number and length of threads produced, the length of the individual mussel did not influence the diameter of byssal threads produced. using anova, we found no difference between the mean diameter of byssal threads for any treatment (f = 2.72, df = 26, p = 0.086). length of byssal threads byssal threads produced in control, native, and invasive treatments had average lengths of 11.31 ± 3.56 mm, 9.47 ± 2.82 mm, and 9.62 ± 3.00 mm, respectively (fig 5). using anova, we found no difference between the mean length of byssal threads for any treatment (f = 0.95, df = 26, p = 0.402). discussion the aim of this study was to observe the difference in byssal thread production in m. trossulus when exposed to two different predators, the native red rock crab, c. productus, and the invasive european green crab, c. maenas. this study demonstrates how m. trossulus increases byssal thread secretion rate when exposed to effluent from both the native predator, c. productus, and the invasive predator, c. maenas. this is the first time that byssal thread production of m. trossulus has been investigated comparing c. productus and c. maenas from the northwest pacific coast. previous research by côté (1995) investigated byssal thread production in a related mussel species, m. edulis, and a related crab species, cancer pagurus, on the north atlantic east coast. 24 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 côté (1995) found that m. edulis produced more byssal threads that were shorter and thicker when exposed to predator effluent. these differences were evident after 6 hours but after 22 hours had no statistically significant differences between treatments. our experiment showed similar results: the rates of byssal thread secretion over the first 7.5 hours were statistically significantly higher than the control for both predator treatment, but after 24 hours there was no statistically significant difference in the number of threads present. contrary to côté (1995), we found no statistically significant differences in byssal thread length or diameter between treatments. the number of byssal threads secreted over time (secretion rate) was statistically significantly higher for the native c. productus treatment, in comparison to the control. the secretion rate for the invasive c. maenas treatment was also statistically significantly higher than the control. however, the secretion rate was highest in the invasive treatment, with a statistically significantly higher rate than the native treatment, which was unexpected. additionally, m. trossulus specimen length had a positive relationship with secretion rate; secretion rate increased with increasing specimen length. these results suggest that m. trossulus were able to recognize effluent from both c. productus and c. maenas, and increase the number of byssal threads produced. while we expected this response from m. trossulus in the presence of c. productus, we did not anticipate the same response in the c. maenas treatments. the response seen in the c. productus treatment is likely due to m. trossulus and c. productus populations co-evolving over a long period of time, where chemosensory abilities were selectively favoured over other anti-predator defenses (kats & dill, 1998). it is possible that through co-evolution and adaptive traits, m. trossulus are able to detect the pheromones and excretory products from c. productus as water-borne chemical cues, as this has been found for similar mussel species (côté, 1995; kats & dill, 1998). however, it is possible that many crabs elicit similar water-borne cues and m. trossulus are therefore able to detect many crab predators, such as c. maenas. furthermore, perhaps m. trossulus has been in contact with c. maenas long enough for evolutionary change to occur in the mussel population. nunes, orizaola, laurila, and rebelo (2014) found that an invasive crayfish imposed strong predation pressure on its prey, resulting in rapid evolutionary shifts for the invaded populations. as c. maenas is a voracious predatory invader, it could likely impose a similar strong predation pressure. this potential evolutionary shift could explain why m. trossulus seem adapted to the invader and why they produced an even higher byssal thread secretion rate in the presence of c. maenas compared to c. productus. the increased secretion rate in these treatments is most likely m. trossulus attempting to secure themselves to the substrate with as many threads as possible for stronger attachment. mussels aggregate in tightly packed clumps and have been observed to aggregate under risk of predation in a laboratory setting (côté & jelnikar, 1999). many predacious crabs hunt along the edges and the top of mussel beds, where exposed mussels are more vulnerable to their byssal threads being cut (côté & jelnikar, 1999). the increase in byssal thread production of all individuals upon detection of a predator could benefit the group by increased attachment to each other and the substrate, reducing the threat of predation by detachment (côté & jelnikar, 1999). after 24 hours, there were no statistically significant differences between the number of byssal threads present for any combination of treatments. according to côté (1995), this could be due to energetic cost, as byssal thread production uses a considerable amount of the nitrogen and carbon budgets that are normally allocated to growth. additionally, griffiths and king (1979) found that there is a direct trade-off between growth and byssal thread production. therefore, a long-term increased rate of byssal thread secretion may not be feasible. furthermore, after 24 hours of exposure to a predatory crab, the mussel would have either been preyed upon or left alone by the respective predator. the 24 hour period is therefore considered a good measure of whether the mussel would have survived or been eaten with the induced defenses it may or may not have produced. byssal thread diameters and lengths were not statistically significantly different between any of 25 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 the three treatments. this may be due to the m. trossulus allocating more resources to producing a greater overall amount of byssal threads in the presence of a predatory crab, rather than making those byssal threads thicker in diameter or shorter. although côté (1995) found a statistically significant decrease in length and increase in diameter of atlantic m. edulis byssal threads when exposed to c. pagurus, the pacific m. trossulus mussels do not appear to show these same changes. nonetheless, there was a clear trend seen in fig 4, that byssal threads in the native treatment were, on average, thicker than byssal thread produced in the control groups. this trend may have become significant if we had a higher sample size. the larger diameter seen in the native treatment may be due to byssal threads being stronger when they are thicker, thus reducing detachment by predators (côté, 1995). the introduction of c. maenas is just one example of anthropogenic transport of invasive species to novel communities (carlton & cohen, 2003; freeman & byers, 2006). novel introductions bring organisms with no shared evolutionary history, where predators have an advantage over prey relying on chemical cues from the local predators (cox, 2004; freeman & byers, 2006). if prey cannot recognize new predators as a threat, they will be unable to generate the appropriate defense mechanism and will be left vulnerable (freeman & byers, 2006). as an abundant species in the pacific northwest, m. trossulus is fundamental for providing shelter to many organisms and supporting intertidal biodiversity (lafferty & suchanek, 2016). our results show that m. trossulus may be capable of defending against this voracious predator, which is promising. these essential aggregations of mussels could promote further expansion of c. maenas by providing an easy food source if their populations experience constant increased predation (lafferty & suchanek, 2016). most effective predator recognition by prey occurs when the prey and predator share common evolutionary history (nunes et al., 2014; strauss, lau, & carroll, 2006). the native crab, c. productus, has had an overlapping distribution with their prey, m. trossulus, for a long period of time (freeman & byers, 2006). therefore, it is logical that c. productus elicits a defensive response in m. trossulus. invader-driven rapid evolutionary change is rare, so developing a defense response to predation by an invader may take many generations (cox, 2004; freeman & byers, 2006). however, as shown by nunes et al. (2014), a rapid evolutionary shift in a prey population is possible. this is particularly true when the invader provides constant and intense predation (nunes, et al., 2014; strauss et al., 2006). we suggest two possibilities for why c. maenas induced an increased rate of byssal thread secretion: 1. m. trossulus recognizes a general water-borne chemical cue, similar to many crab species. 2. rapid evolutionary changes have occured in m. trossulus as a result of strong selective pressure imposed by c. maenas. future research should investigate the rate of byssal thread secretion on more natural substrates, as our study was limited to secretion on plastic. in the intertidal zone, m. trossulus frequently lays down byssal threads on rock and other mussels, so replicating this may cause increased rates of thread secretion (côté & jelnikar, 1999). it may also be beneficial to monitor the byssal thread secretion rate for longer than the first 7.5 hours, to see how the rates change between 7.5 and 24 hours. additional research should investigate m. trossulus populations that overlap with both c. productus and c. maenas and compare results to m. trossulus populations that have never been exposed to c. maenas. this will test if m. trossulus can evolve an induced response in byssal thread production in the presence of c. maenas effluent. 26 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 figure 1: map of collections sites; bamfield inlet (48◦50′3.9′′ n, 125◦8′13.1′′ w), useless inlet (48◦59′22.7′′ n, 125◦3′16.2′′ w), and pipestem inlet (49◦1′35.2′′ n, 125◦15′36.1′′ w). mytilus trossulus and cancer productus were collected from bamfield inlet. carcinus maenas were collected from either useless inlet or pipestem inlet. figure 2: experimental design of sea table 1. container has holes to allow for water flow, and a lid to contain the predator. the bin was approximately three quarters full with an air stone and no water flow. five petri dishes were placed in each bin, each with one individual of mytilus trossulus. all individuals of m. trossulus had markings to id to bin and treatment numbers. 27 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 figure 3: top: average rate of thread secretion of mytilus trossulus in each treatment over a period of 7.5 hours. there was a positive correlation between specimen length and secretion rate (p < 0.001), so secretion rate was standardized by taking the average number of byssal threads produced per length of individual. bottom: average number of byssal threads secreted by mytilus trossulus in each treatment after 24 hours. error bars represent standard error. 28 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 figure 4: average diameter of byssal threads secreted by mytilus trossulus in each treatment after 24 hours. error bars represent standard error. figure 5: average length of byssal threads produced by mytilus trossulus in each treatment over a period of 24 hours. there was a positive correlation between specimen length and secretion rate (p = 0.026), so byssal length was standardized by taking the average length of thread produced per length of individual. error bars represent standard error. 29 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818384 references behrens yamada, s., & boulding, e. g. 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exceptional undergraduate students. the division of learning and teaching support and innovation administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submissions that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review sometimes publishes other exceptional work from students in departments across campus. 1 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by a faculty member at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper. dr. laura parisi, department of gender studies author: lauren frost dr. andrew marton, department of pacific and asian studies authors: julian brook ruszel dr. martha mcginnis, department of linguistics authors: lee whitehorne dr. eric hochstein, department of philosophy author: passia pandora dr. debra j. sheets, school of nursing author: nicholas tamburri, michaella trites, debra j. sheets, andre p. smith, & stuart w. s. macdonald dr. brian starzomski, department of environmental science author: clara reid as well, all submissions are reviewed blind by at least two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. mark shakespear matthew adeleye stephanie arlt kevin mccartney kelsey lessard bryan bennett christina moser carrie hill drew halliday timothy lukyn alejandra zubira perez angel chen theo holland elena holmgren katie harms chandra hozempa deborah deacon ginger sullivan kimberly shapkin 2 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 the arbutus review would also like to thank others whose ideas, work and guidance have contributed to the journal. laurene sheilds, executive director of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, who provides guidance to the journal and oversees the online journal systems software that allows us to publish online gillian saunders, arbutus review editor and typesetter, uvic centre for academic communication english as an additional language specialist shailoo bedi, director (student academic success) of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation; arbutus review managing editor; and director, academic commons and strategic assessment, uvic libraries tyler schulz for help with latex the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions, or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors, the advisory board, and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: shailoo bedi, phd director (student academic success) division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca gillian saunders, phd candidate interim coordinator, centre for academic communication division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria cacpc@uvic.ca ————————————————————– 3 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 bridging the gap between instruction and assessment: examining the role of dynamic assessment in the oral proficiency skills of english-as-an-additional-language learners jeness weisgerber ∗ the university of victoria jenessodel@gmail.com abstract this exploratory study investigated the role of dynamic assessment (da) in improving the oral proficiency skills of english-as-an-additional-language learners. it focused specifically on speaking test scores and the use of language learner strategies, with the goal of providing empirical evidence as well as pedagogical recommendations. seven participants were administered a section of the ieltstm speaking test in both dynamic and standardized formats. each test was followed by a think-aloud protocol in order to ascertain participants’ thoughts and strategic behaviours during the testing process. in terms of test scores, results showed no holistic differences, but did show differences in fluency, grammatical range, and lexical resource scores. scores for grammatical range and lexical resource were higher in da, while scores for fluency were higher in standardized assessment. an analysis of the participants’ strategic behaviours also showed a greater use of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use in da. these results point to da’s potential to facilitate the development of grammatical and lexical abilities as well as to foster the use of language learner strategies within the sample. keywords: speaking test; dynamic assessment; english-an-an-additional language; language learner strategies i. introduction s econd-language assessment tools are not only used to assess language skill, but are also perhaps one of the most fundamental learning and teaching tools (huang, 2014). increasingly, there is a dichotomy in the field of education between two types of assessment: standardized and dynamic. during standardized assessment (sa), sometimes referred to as traditional assessment, learners receive a set of items or problems and attempt to solve these with minimal or no feedback (sternberg & grigorenko, 2002). conversely, during dynamic assessment (da), learners receive intervention during assessment, often in the form of feedback (sternberg & grigorenko, 2002). da, in contrast with sa, has a premise based on the role of mediation that “enables learners to perform beyond their current level of functioning, thereby providing insights into emerging capabilities” (poehner & lantolf, 2013, p. 323). da has become of particular interest in the fields of applied linguistics and second language acquisition (sla), due to the dynamic nature of language learning. many researchers (e.g. poehner, 2008; sternberg & grigorenko, 2002) advocate for da practices in the classroom. despite this, according to poehner (2008), there is a gap in the da literature within the field of sla in regards to second language (l2) performance from ∗this research was funded by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) through the vice president academic and the learning and teaching centre at the university of victoria. i would like to especially thank my supervisor, dr. li-shih huang, for her continued support, guidance, and mentorship throughout this project. i would also like to thank catherine chao for her invaluable assistance with the video-stimulated recall, test rating, and transcribing. 25 mailto:jenessodel@gmail.com the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 a da perspective. in an attempt to fill this gap, the current research focuses on examining the role of da in facilitating the oral proficiency skills of english-as-an-additional-language learners. this exploratory study aims to provide pedagogical insights as well as empirical evidence to help instructors make informed decisions about the best method of classroom-based assessment for improving english language speaking proficiency. it is important to note that the aim of this study is to determine the best method of assessment solely in regards to the goal of improving language proficiency, rather than other potential goals of language assessment (i.e. predicting learner success in a certain english class). in the sections that follow, i first provide an overview of the key concepts and research in the areas of da, including the role of language learner strategies. then, i outline the methods used throughout the current study. lastly, i present the research results and discuss their implications, particularly in regards to pedagogical recommendations. ii. literature review i. dynamic assessment da has its basis in l.s. vygotsky’s (1978) notion of sociocultural theory (sct) and the zone of proximal development (zpd). sct can be understood as the idea that humans develop uniquely through their interactions with others and their environment, including in the form of mediation using various tools (physical, cultural, symbolic, etc.), and that this leads to higher forms of cognition that would not be possible without this interaction (poehner, 2008). from this, vygotsky (1978) defined the zpd as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (p. 86). the ideas of mediated learning and skills that are still in the process of developing are central to sct and the zpd, and are also core tenants in the concept of da. moreover, da is founded in vygotsky’s influential idea that in the zpd “instruction leads development” (lantolf & thorne, 2006, p. 327). these notions are crucial to understanding and operationalizing da. da is commonly divided into two general sub-types: interventionist and interactionist (lantolf & poehner, 2014). interventionist da is similar to some methods of sa because it retains certain standardized procedures and has a greater emphasis on results that can be measured and used to compare between tests, both in regards to tests taken by the same learner at different times and between learners (poehner, 2008). on the other hand, during interactionist da, assistance surfaces from the “interaction between the mediator and the learner, and is therefore highly sensitive to the learner’s zpd,” and has little regard for the amount of time needed or for any preset outcomes (poehner, 2008, p. 18). i.1 standardized assessment versus dynamic assessment sternberg and grigorenko (2002) discuss three main ways in which da differs from sa. these criteria centre on development, feedback, and examiner involvement. firstly, sa “taps more into a developed state, whereas dynamic testing taps more into a developing process” (sternberg & grigorenko, 2002, p. 28). secondly, in sa, feedback during assessment is viewed as a hindrance to the testing process and, therefore, is avoided. in da, however, feedback during assessment is encouraged and is often provided in varying forms (i.e. implicit to explicit). lastly, in sa, the examiner tries not to be involved directly during the testing process itself. in da, however, the examiner creates a setting of teaching and mediation in order to help the examinee improve in the process of testing. furthermore, lantolf and thorne (2006) argue that the main component 26 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 that categorizes da from sa is that da creates a unity between instruction and assessment. this is further exemplified by poehner (2008), who states, “da overcomes the assessment-instruction dualism by unifying them according to the principle that mediated interaction is necessary to understand the range of an individual’s functioning but that this interaction simultaneously guides the further development of these abilities” (p. 24). da integrates instruction and assessment into one process of learning and development, with the desired outcome of learner improvement during the assessment process (poehner, 2008). in the sla field, there is a general agreement among researchers on the important role of corrective feedback in the process of second language acquisition (e.g. sheen, 2011) and in the role of corrective feedback within a learner’s zpd (e.g. nassaji & swain, 2000). aljaafreh and lantolf (1994) explain two criteria to which corrective feedback provided within the zpd should adhere. firstly, corrective feedback must be “graduated,” which means that feedback starts as implicit (e.g. step 1, figure 1) and gradually increases in specificity to be more explicit (e.g. step 4, figure 1) (p. 486). secondly, feedback must be “contingent,” which means its provision must depend on when, or whether, the examinee requires it (p. 468). moreover, corrective feedback affords learners with “dialogically negotiated assistance as they move from other-regulation towards self-regulation” (lyster, saito, & sato, 2013, p. 9). in this way, corrective feedback and the zpd are complimentary processes, which has implications for the use of corrective feedback in da. aljaafreh and lantolf (1994) conducted a descriptive study using this type of graduated and contingent corrective feedback working within the learner ’s zpd (nassaji & swain, 2000, p. 36). in this study, learners received one-on-one corrective feedback on written essays. this feedback was provided as a 12-step regulatory scale, which ranged from implicit to explicit. following from this research, nassaji and swain (2000) conducted a similar study where they compared two methods of corrective feedback. this involved one method following the regulatory scale, which took the learner’s zpd into consideration, and one using the scale randomly, therefore ignoring the learner’s zpd. therefore, following the regulatory scale put forth by aljaafreh and lantolf (1994), the feedback provided within the learner’s zpd was collaborative and graduated, while the other feedback was random. consequently, they found that the former was more effective (nassaji & swain, 2000). i.2 critiques of da there are several critiques of da, which often stem from the way that traditional sa is viewed. first, proponents of sa claim that the focus da places on learner development in the process of assessment risks the test’s “internal-consistency reliability” (i.e. whether learner performance is stable throughout the test) (poehner, 2008, p. 71). this is a potential problem because the entity being assessed is altered and, therefore, can no longer be accurately determined (poehner, 2008). for proponents of da, however, this change in learner ability is evidence of a successful procedure precisely because the individual is learning (poehner, 2008). this is one of the main areas in which sa and da seem to be irreconcilable; sa finds problematic one of the core aims and outcomes of da. further critiques are associated with the concepts of reliability and validity. reliability refers to the extent to which a test-taker would receive the same results on a test over repeated instances (huang, 2013). in terms of reliability, critics of da are concerned that its interactionist nature makes reliability vulnerable because the provision of various mediations at different points in time may affect outcomes (poehner, 2008). this critique is somewhat less significant in interventionist da because certain levels of standardized procedures ensure the same assistance and feedback is given to each learner. validity refers to the extent to which a test measures what it is seeking 27 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 to measure (huang, 2013). similar to the critique of reliability in da, the same argument can be made for validity. poehner (2008) explains that for da, standard methods for ensuring validity are compromised by the assessment’s aim of learner improvement. however, because development is a desirable outcome in da, it is possible that the validity of da should instead be understood as the degree to which it encourages development (poehner, 2008). because this study assumes that the goal of assessment is improving learners’ english language proficiency, poehner’s argument is noteworthy. in addition to concerns over reliability and validity, other criticism involve generalizability, which refers to the extent to which one can make predictions about learner performance in non-assessment contexts based on performance during assessment (poehner, 2008). in sa, it is assumed that a learner’s performance on a test should be able to accurately predict how they perform in non-assessment contexts. in da, however, this emphasis on generalizability is less crucial because this dichotomy between assessment and non-assessment contexts is minimized by the merging of instruction and assessment (poehner, 2008). furthermore, commenting on da’s potential incompatibilities with traditional test criteria, poehner (2008) argues that, “it should be clear that da’s incompatibility with more traditional frameworks does not invalidate it as an approach to assessment. rather, their incommensurability simply points to the need for da researchers to outline their own methods” (p. 73). in this way, da’s potential lack of standardized notions of reliability, validity, and generalizability does not necessarily invalidate the method, but rather indicates a need for a different outlook on these criteria. i.3 recent major studies in da in lantolf and poehner’s (2014) most recent synthesis of da in applied linguistics, they point out that the application of da in the field has been sparse, and did not really begin until their own research in the early 2000s. however, there were a few studies that appear to have implemented a da-like format without using the actual term dynamic assessment (e.g. nassaji & swain, 2000). that being said, research on da in applied linguistics has been growing since these early studies. this section reviews some of the recent da-related studies in the field of applied linguistics. poehner (2008) implemented a da program focusing on the oral communication skills of six advanced french learners. throughout his study, he found that learners’ conceptual understanding of the verbal aspect in french developed uniquely though da. results also indicated that learners became more agentive (i.e. were independently active in improving their speaking skills) in their own learning, using various strategies to overcome obstacles. overall, poehner (2008) found that learners stretched beyond their current abilities to more complex tasks in da. like poehner, antón (2009) also found positive results in da . she conducted a study with five participants from an advanced spanish language program, analyzing da’s role in the diagnostic assessment of speaking and writing levels. her qualitative analysis indicated that da allows for a deeper and fuller description of learners’ actual and developing abilities. she argues that this allows programs to individualize and tailor the instruction to learners’ specific needs. in addition to antón, travers (2010) also used da to investigate speaking levels. he compared ieltstm speaking tests in sa and da formats in a novel application of da used to modify a standardized speaking test format. in his study, he sought to ascertain da’s potential advantage in regards to participant performance over independent speaking tests as well as examine the potential use of da for learners from individualist versus collectivist cultural backgrounds. his findings from seven participants showed no difference in terms of mean test scores or gains over successive tests, but did show differences for grammar and lexical scores. these three studies all had unique aims and outcomes which have greatly contributed to da 28 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 research in the field of applied linguistics. however, there is still a need for research investigating quantitative test scores in da. moreover, further research into the interaction between language learner strategy use and performance using the da method is needed. this is particularly pertinent when examining canale and swain’s (1980) prominent theory of communicative competence, which cites strategic competence as one of its main components (huang, 2013). to my knowledge, the current research is the first study with this unique focus. ii. language learner strategies language learner strategies or strategic behaviours are defined as the “conscious, goal-oriented thoughts and actions that learners use to regulate cognitive processes with the goal of improving language learning or language use” (huang, 2013, p. 5). language learner speaking strategies are often grouped into six major categories: approach, metacognitive, cognitive, communication, affective, and social (huang, 2013). these six major categories of strategies and their definitions are outlined in table 1. table 1: six major strategy categories and definitions (huang, 2013, p.7) strategy category definition approach orienting oneself to the speaking task metacognitive examining the learning process in order to organize, plan, and evaluate efficient ways of learning cognitive manipulating the target language for understanding and producing language communication involving conscious plans for solving a linguistic problem in order to reach a communication goal affective involving self-talk or mental control over affect social interacting with others to improve language learning/use over the past four decades, the use of language learner strategies in the language learning context has been shown to positively affect language learning (huang, 2012). studies have shown a significant correlation between strategy use and success in language learning (e.g. green & oxford, 1995; wong & nunan, 2011). huang (2010) contends that studies indicate that the use of metacognitive (e.g. purpura, 1999) and cognitive (e.g. oxford & ehrman, 1995) strategies have a positive correlation with proficiency level, and in turn, this indicates the potential benefits of employing certain types of strategies. however, recent research supports the assumption that these strategies may not necessarily have a positive correlation with learner performance across all learners and situations, as certain specific strategies may have negative effects in testing or high-pressure contexts (e.g. huang, 2013; swain et al., 2009). furthermore, learner strategies allow students to take more responsibility in their own learning and development (wong & nunan, 2011). cohen (1998, as cited in grenfell & macaro, 2007) claims that language learning strategies can help learners shoulder more of the responsibility in their own learning, rather than relying solely on the teachers. in results from his survey of experts in the language learner strategy field, cohen (2007) ascertained five purposes for language learning strategies: to enhance learning; to perform specified tasks; to solve specific problems; to make learning easier faster, and, more enjoyable; and, to compensate for a deficit in learning. it is evident that many experts agree that language learner strategies have a range of purposes that have the potential to enhance language learning. the examination of strategy use is an important component of sla research. as discussed, canale and swain’s (1980) influential framework of communicative competence includes strategic competence as one of its main components (huang, 2013). strategic competence can be defined as the, “learners’/speakers’ ability to use communication strategies to deal with communication 29 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 breakdowns” (huang, 2013, p. 6). furthermore, bachman (1990) put forth that strategic competence was not only important for purely communicative interactions, but that it also served an executive function in all domains of language learning and use (huang, 2013). in this way, the examination of strategy use in relation to assessment is crucial for sla research. moreover, huang (2013) argues that even though there is recognition that strategies can potentially affect learner performance, there remains a gap in the research about the strategic component in speaking contexts, and about the specific interaction between strategic competence and second-language performance. ii.1 critiques of language learner strategies despite the research on the effectiveness of language learner strategies, there have been some criticisms in this area. early criticisms of language learner strategies questioned the efficacy of the verbal expression of strategy use. for example, seliger (1983, as cited in grenfell & macaro, 2007) postulated that researchers cannot assume that the verbalizations of learners correspond to internal mechanisms because strategies are so deeply rooted in the mind of the learner. however, white, schramm, and chamot (2007) outlined several methods in which the internal processes of strategy use are more apparent, including retrospective interviews, self-report questionnaires, reflection journals, and think-aloud protocols. for example, in her study on the use of oral reflection in facilitating oral production and strategy use, huang (2012) found that gains over preand post-test scores could be indicative of oral reflection as an effective meditational tool to help learners progress in their use of metacognitive strategies. moreover, white et al. (2007) discuss the efficacy of the successful elicitation of think-aloud protocols, which should include careful orientation, practice, and prompting, multiple language use, and “integration into an authentic action context” (p. 115). for the purposes of this study, a think aloud, also called video-stimulated recall, refers to a method that involves videotaping a participant doing a task and then replaying the video for the participant as a prompt to elicit his or her thoughts on content that is in the scope of the research (huang, 2014). video-stimulated recall has the potential to “capture and investigate the dynamic nature of task performance” and, as such, one of its main purposes is “the potential to provide a wealth of information on the cognitive processes and strategic behaviours that participants engage in and deploy as they carry out a particular task or tasks across types or contexts” (huang, 2014, p. 3). several studies have pointed to the efficacy of using stimulated recall in the examination of language learner strategies (e.g. sime, 2006; macaro, 2006; huang, 2014). for a detailed discussion of this method and its pros and cons, refer to huang (2014). iii. research questions the current research aims to address the following two research questions: 1) is there a difference amongst students in the research sample between standardized and dynamic testing in terms of holistic (overall) and analytical (individual section) test scores? and 2) do students in the research sample use different strategic behaviours in sa and da contexts? iii. methods i. participants seven participants took part in this study. participants, who speak mandarin as a first language (l1), were recruited from the undergraduate student body of a mid-sized university in western 30 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 canada. i chose mandarin-speaking students because there is a large population of chinese students at this university. i chose only undergraduate students because i wanted to control for age and proficiency level to minimize individual learner variables. all participants were advanced learners of english. table 2. presents participant demographics. table 2: participant demographics criteria category and responses age mean range 19.3 18-23 length of residence mean range 1 year 3 months-2 years gender male female 4 (57.1%) 3 (42.9%) first-language chinese test taking background ielts (6) toefl (1) score range: 5.5-6.5 score: 86 before beginning participant recruitment, i received ethics approval from the university of victoria human research ethics board (protocol number 14-360). i recruited participants through several methods including email, posters, and facebook postings. each recruitment method outlined the purpose of the study and the steps involved in participating, as per the university’s ethical guidelines. ii. instruments ii.1 background questionnaire all participants completed a background questionnaire. this questionnaire, adapted from huang (2012), included questions on gender, age, degree program, possible linguistic qualifications, first contact with english, length of learning english, length of residence in canada, english usage per day, other languages spoken, and standardized test-taking background. ii.2 ieltstm speaking test i used the international english language testing system (ieltstm) speaking test to conduct the study. ieltstm is a widely accepted test of english language proficiency worldwide and is used by 9,000 organizations in over 140 countries (ielts, 2013). the ieltstm speaking test consists of three sections, one of which was used in this study. i adapted the test to consist of only the first task, which involves general questions about familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies, or interests (ielts, 2013). the other sections were not used because the second section consists of the examinee speaking about a topic for several minutes uninterrupted; therefore, it would not have been feasible to adapt this portion to a da format. likewise, i could not use the third section because many questions in this section depend on the answers that learners provide in the second 31 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 section. the first section usually involves only four to five questions and lasts approximately four to five minutes; therefore, the duration and scope were not enough to adequately measure a participant’s speaking ability. in consultation with a certified examiner and a language-testing specialist, i extended the first task. in order to do this, i incorporated two task-ones and added two, randomly selected longer opinion questions from task three to each test. therefore, each test was divided into two topics, with each topic having four shorter questions about basic information (from task 1) and one opinion question that required a longer answer (from task 3). these tests were used for both the standardized and the dynamic version of the test. ii.3 regulatory scale for da for the da procedure, i used the regulatory scale as adapted from travers (2010) and aljaafreh and lantolf (1994). as mentioned, this corrective feedback scale ranges from implicit (e.g. step 1, figure 1) to explicit (e.g. step 4, figure 1). travers’s scale included four steps, but i modified the scale to follow five steps because the provision of the extra step (i.e. step 4) would offer the participants an additional opportunity to self-correct. additionally, i decided to provide a recast (rather than the correct utterance) as the final step because i did not want the correction to affect participant performance on the remainder of the test. the scale used in the present study is outlined in figure 1. 1. examiner indicates that something may be wrong in a speaking turn (“sorry”’). 2. examiner narrows down the location of the error (e.g. examiner repeats the specific speaking turn that contained the error). 3. examiner indicates the nature of the error, but does not identify the error (e.g. “there was something wrong with the tense marking there”). 4. examiner provides clues to help the learner arrive at the correct form (e.g. “it is not really past but something that is still going on”). 5. examiner provides a recast (no matter if utterance is correct or incorrect). figure 1: regulatory scale iii. data collection procedures iii.1 outline of procedure data collection consisted of two sessions over two days. each session included one test (standardized or dynamic) followed by video-stimulated recall. the first session began with informed participant consent followed by administration of the background questionnaire. i then administered the first test. each participant took one standardized test and one dynamic test, and i acted as the examiner for all tests (i.e. standardized and dynamic). i randomized the test order, so that some participants took the standardized test the first day and the dynamic test the second, while some did the opposite. each participant took two different tests with different questions, to minimize potential practice effects regarding topic. all the tests were video recorded in order to facilitate the video-stimulated recall, which immediately followed the testing. all video-stimulated recall sessions were conducted by a research assistant, who is a graduate student in an applied 32 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 linguistics program. at the end of the recall session, the research assistant asked the participant a few more follow-up questions concerning whether he or she treated it as a real test and what he or she liked and disliked about the test itself. the second session started with a verification of ongoing participant consent. then, i administered the second test, which consisted of the testing method not used in the first session. this was again followed by video-stimulated recall and the same follow-up questions as the first session, with the exception of one additional question, which asked the participant to compare the two tests. iii.2 standardized testing procedure i conducted the standardized ieltstm speaking tests following ieltstm test administration guidelines. i asked the questions and did not give any feedback other than providing neutral responses (“okay”), answering clarification requests, such as repeating the question or explaining the meaning of a word (s. abrar-ul-hassan, personal communication, nov. 14, 2015), and encouraging the participant to elaborate with responses such as “why?” or “can you tell me more about that?” in cases where he or she did not provide enough information. iii.3 dynamic testing procedure i conducted the dynamic tests in a more interactive manner. this study followed a more interventionist type of da due to the nature of the research and the need for quantifiable results, following previous studies (e.g. travers, 2010). therefore, the dynamic method involved providing graded levels of corrective feedback, following the regulatory scale (figure 1), when the participant made a grammatical mistake. i followed these steps until the participant self-corrected or, in the case of no self-correction, until the last step (i.e. recast). i chose to focus solely on grammatical errors and of those, on common errors made by learners with a chinese l1. this includes areas such as inflection of gender, number, and case, subject-verb agreement, verb tense, progressive aspect, absence of “be” before predicative adjectives, prepositions, articles, and count/non-count nouns (swan & smith, 2001). i did this in order to narrow down the amount of errors for research purposes. iii.4 video-stimulated recall the video-stimulated recall involved the research assistant and the participant watching the video of the testing process just conducted. throughout this time, the research assistant paused the video periodically when the participant did something of interest (e.g. pausing, self-correcting, attending to examiner feedback) and asked the participant to comment on what he or she was thinking at that moment. this included questions such as, “what were you thinking before the test?” “what were you thinking here?” “i noticed you did x here. what were you thinking then?” and “when the examiner said that, what were you thinking?” the participant also had the option to pause the video and comment at any point. the research assistant is a mandarin-as-a-first-language speaker; therefore, participants were given the option to speak in or be spoken to in their l1 at any time throughout the stimulated recall. iii.5 scoring with ieltstm descriptors the first stage in my data analysis involved scoring the tests with the ieltstm speaking descriptors, which are measured on a 9-point scale (ielts, 2014). these descriptors encompass four different analytical sections, including fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range 33 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 and accuracy, and pronunciation. i scored both the standardized and dynamic tests, analytically and holistically, using these descriptors. additionally, the research assistant independently scored the tests using these descriptors, in order to ensure inter-rater reliability. we then compared our scores, and in cases where they showed a difference of more than 0.5 points, we discussed the score until we agreed on a score within 0.5 of each other. in order to get the final scores, i then averaged both of our scores for each analytical component, so as to have one score for each component, and averaged these to calculate the holistic scores. iii.6 transcribing and coding strategies in order to analyze the data from the video-stimulated recall sessions, i first transcribed all the video clips. the research assistant translated and transcribed the portions that were in mandarin. i then coded all the transcript data for both the reported and observed strategies. after i had coded all the strategies, i crosschecked one participant transcript with my supervisor, in order to have inter-rater reliability. i also recoded the data from 43% of participants, without referring back to the original, and then crosschecked these codes with my initial ones. my intra-rater reliability was 82%. after coding, i grouped these individual strategies into major categories including approach, metacognitive, cognitive, communication, affect, and social. i then calculated the percentage of use of each major strategy category (including both reported and observed strategies) for each method of assessment. i also counted the number of occurrences for each individual strategy and calculated the percentage of use with regard to the major strategy categories as well as to the total number of codes within that method of assessment. lastly, i determined the top scoring and low scoring participants for each assessment type and analyzed each of these participants for strategy use. iv. results and discussion research question 1: is there a difference amongst students in the research sample between standardized and dynamic testing in terms of holistic and analytical test scores? out of seven participants, six reported treating the simulated exam as a real test. holistically, there was very little difference (i.e. table 1, column 2 & 8) in test scores between standardized and dynamic tests. analytically, however, there were several differences. scores for fluency and coherence showed variation, with 71% of participants scoring higher in sa. scores for lexical resource also showed variation, with 57% of participants scoring higher in da. similarly, in the category of grammatical range and accuracy, 57% of participants scored higher in da. scores for pronunciation did not differ much between the two methods. table 2 summarizes test scores. the difference in fluency scores could potentially be due to the method of corrective feedback used in the da procedure. when participants made a grammatical error, i would disrupt their flow of speech in order to help them self-correct. therefore, it is possible that this mediation interrupted their fluency. the format of the dynamic test could also be a factor in the variation of lexical and grammatical scores. my sole focus on grammatical errors could potentially play a role in participants’ learning potential in this area. this is in congruence with results from travers (2010). furthermore, it is possible that this focus on grammatical errors positively contributed to lexical resource scores, as the criteria for this category are associated with paraphrasing and the use of idiomatic phrases, both of which can be influenced by grammatical ability. amongst the sample participants, the results indicate that da is better able than sa to facilitate certain language abilities (i.e. grammatical and lexical); therefore, assuming the goal of assessment is improving language proficiency, da is potentially better able to achieve this goal amongst the 34 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 table 3: participant test scores standardized dynamic p hol flu lex gram pron p hol flu lex gram pron 1 6.0 5.8 6.0 6.3 6.0 7 5.9 5.8 5.8 6.0 6.0 3 5.9 5.8 5.5 5.8 6.3 3 5.8 5.3 5.8 6.0 6.0 7 5.9 6.0 5.8 5.8 6.0 2 5.7 5.8 6.0 5.0 5.8 6 5.8 6.0 5.8 5.5 6.0 4 5.7 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.3 2 5.7 5.5 5.5 5.8 6.0 6 5.7 5.8 5.5 5.8 5.8 5 5.7 5.5 5.3 5.8 6.0 5 5.6 5.5 5.5 5.3 6.0 4 5.6 5.3 5.3 5.5 6.3 1 5.5 5.3 5.3 5.5 6.0 m 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.8 6.1 m 5.7 5.5 5.6 5.7 6.0 note. p= participant; hol= holistic; flu= fluency and coherence; lex= lexical resource; gra= grammatical range and accuracy; pro= pronunciation; m= mean. sample. however, this may not be the case if the goal of assessment is considered differently. it is also important to note that this type of descriptive statistical analysis is meant only to generalize amongst the sample participants, and cannot be used to generalize real differences between the two methods of assessment in the population. when asked about their test preference, three participants reported preferring the standardized test, three reported preferring the dynamic test, and one had no preference. of the participants who preferred the standardized test, two said it was because stopping for corrective exchanges in the dynamic test made them more nervous. it is possible that due to the small scale of this research, with participants only taking one test of each type, there was not sufficient time for participants to become comfortable with the da testing process. this is supported by travers (2010), who examined gains over three successive tests, and found that out of the participants who reported being nervous or uncomfortable with the corrective interruptions in the da format in early tests, all reported being comfortable with these corrections by the third test. additional reasons for test preference included order of test taking, question preference, and interest in the topic (i.e. if a certain test topic was more interesting to the learner, they sometimes cited preferring that test). research question 2: do students in the research sample use different strategic behaviours in standardized and dynamic assessment contexts? in total, i recorded and observed that participants used 33 different individual strategies with 270 occurrences across the two methods of assessment. within these strategies, four were approach strategies, twelve were metacognitive strategies, nine were cognitive strategies, five were communication strategies, one was an affective strategy, and two were social strategies. figure 2 illustrates strategy use in sa and da. overall, approach and communication strategy use was similar across both methods of assessment. instances of metacognitive strategy use were greater in da than in sa, and for both methods, this was the type of strategy used the most in comparison with other strategy categories. although the proportion of metacognitive strategy use was the same (48%) for both da and sa, there were more individual instances of use for da (78 versus 52). cognitive strategies were also greater in da. previous studies have shown a positive correlation between metacognitive (e.g. nakatani, 2005) and cognitive (e.g. oxford & ehrman, 1995) strategies and language proficiency (e.g. huang, 2010). anderson (2005) proposes that metacognitive strategy use is more effective because “once a learner understands how to regulate his or her own learning through the use 35 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 metacognitive 48% cognitive 15% communication 19% approach 13% social 5% affect0% metacognitive 48% cognitive 20% communication 13% approach 10% social 7% affect 2% figure 3: reported and observed strategy categories for sa (n= 107) (left) and da (n= 163) (right) of strategies, language acquisition should proceed at a faster rate” (p. 766). affective strategy use was also greater in da in the study sample; however, the only affective strategy recorded was expressing affect in response to correction, which relied on correction only provided in the da format. lastly, social strategies were higher in da, as is expected from the interactive format of the da method. differences in individual strategy use revealed that sa showed greater instances of evaluating test performance, generating words, seeking clarification, elaborating, and self-assessment, while da showed greater instances of evaluating oral production, attending to feedback, formulating ideas, and l1 translation. in addition to an examination of individual strategy use, i also determined top scorers in each group to be any participants who scored at or above the mean score; this corresponded to four participants for sa and five participants for da. the only common top scorer strategy used in both sa and da was self-correction. the different strategy use between top scorers for the two methods of assessment may be indicative of context-/method-specific strategy use, rather than based on proficiency level, as three of the participants were top scorers in both sa and da and showed little commonality. these results are supported by research on learner strategy use and context, which indicates a variation in strategy use across contexts (e.g. huang, 2013; swain et al., 2009). specifically, in her study of the use of language learner strategies in testing and non-testing contexts, huang (2013) found differences in strategy use between these two contexts as well as between different ieltstm tasks, but did not find significant differences in strategy use in regards to proficiency level. this is further supported by white et al. (2007) who argue, “strategy use is not a fixed attribute of individuals, but changes according to the task, the learning conditions, and the available time” (p. 93). low scorers, those who scored below the mean score, also demonstrated some differences. in da, the two lowest scorers showed the highest individual use of self-correction and evaluating oral production, which indicates a limited repertoire of strategies. studies have shown that successful language learners have a more extensive range of strategies and utilize a variety of individual strategies in the process of language learning (anderson, 2005). however, this does not necessarily mean that higher strategy use always correlates to better performance. anderson (2005) claims that it is important that learners apply strategies in an effective manner, and that this is more significant than number of strategies or particular strategy use. similarly, huang (2010) argues that “what matters for individual learners is not accumulating or using a wide variety of strategies, but managing a repertoire of strategies” (p. 19). 36 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 i. pedagogical recommendations the results from this study brought to light several noteworthy pedagogical recommendations: a. familiarize learners and teachers with the da method. as individual participant’s comfort with the corrective feedback exchanges varied within the sample, it is important to ensure that the learner and teacher understand and are familiar with the da method in order for the assessment to be productive for both. if the teacher was familiar with the da procedure, then he or she would be better able to assist and scaffold the learner within his or her zpd. b. tailor da to learner proficiency level. the participants in this study were all advanced learners of english, and, as such, this could have been a factor in their response to corrective feedback in regards to affect and receptiveness. it is possible that for advanced learners of english, da should be less interruptive in order to avoid disrupting fluency or idea coherence and to increase learner receptiveness. c. focus da on linguistic features where learners need to develop. da can potentially facilitate grammatical and lexical competence of learners, as indicated by the differences in participants’ grammatical range and accuracy and lexical resource scores. the foci of mediation were imperative to outcomes in participants’ da scores. d. attend to the strategies used by learners in da. it is possible that the da method potentially promoted the use of metacognitive and cognitive strategies amongst participants. as discussed, research shows that use of these strategies tends to correlate positively with learner oral production in the learning context. it is important to attend to strategies because awareness, for the learner as well as for the examiner or instructor, is essential to the successful use of strategies in language learning. e. promote learner agency through da. it is possible that da promoted learner agency amongst the participants in the sample. this is indicated by the much greater use of strategies such as evaluating oral production and attending to feedback in da. this is in congruence with results from poehner’s (2008) study, which revealed learners exhibiting agency through the use of various strategies during da. these particular strategies promoted learner agency because they allowed the learner to evaluate inwardly and independently find a solution to a language problem. learner agency is a good thing for both learners and instructors because it allows the learners to develop independent language problem solving skills that they can use on their own without relying on the instructor, and consequently, this takes some of the responsibility off of the instructor (cohen, 1998, as cited in grenfell & macaro, 2007). ii. limitations and future research directions the results from this study should be considered in light of the following three research limitations. first, at times during the dynamic test, participants did not realize that they had made a mistake or did not understand my attempt to help them self-correct. moreover, because i chose to follow a standardized scale of corrective feedback in order to enhance reliability for research purposes, i could not answer when a participant asked a question that veered from the responses based on the corrective scale. second, because the study consisted of only seven advanced learners, further research should be conducted involving a larger sample size with learners of different proficiency levels in order to decipher other potential differences in areas such as test scores (holistic and analytical) and strategy use through statistical analysis. third, because the test format included only the first section of the ieltstm speaking test, further research should examine the role of da 37 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 in performing a full-scale standardized test with a focus on other linguistic features. additionally, there are several pedagogical limitations. it is possible that including recast in the regulatory scale (rather than the correct answer) may have undermined participant learning. in addition, the da method is quite time-consuming and, as such, the method may not be feasible for large class sizes. rather, it is more conducive for workshops or english-for-specific-purposes, with instruction tailored to the needs of individual learners. v. conclusion this exploratory research has examined the differences between sa and da in terms of speaking test scores and language learner strategies. it has highlighted differences in terms of fluency, grammar, and lexical resource. test scores were higher for fluency in sa, while scores were higher for grammar and lexical resource in da. this points to the potential of da as a mediating tool to facilitate the development of grammatical and lexical abilities amongst the participants. moreover, strategy use was greater in da, particularly for metacognitive and cognitive strategies, which tend to correlate positively with learner proficiency and performance in the learning context. empirically, the current study has contributed to the research on da in the fields of sla and applied linguistics. practically, this study can inform instructors about the best method of classroom-based assessment for improving english language proficiency that goes beyond standardized testing, in order to facilitate the potential for learners to improve their english-speaking skills. references anderson, n.j. 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(2011). the learning styles and strategies of effective language learners. system, 39(2), 144-163. 40 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0346-251x(95)00023-d text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1362168813482935 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/iral.2006.009 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511667121 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.05.004 introduction literature review dynamic assessment standardized assessment versus dynamic assessment critiques of da recent major studies in da language learner strategies critiques of language learner strategies research questions methods participants instruments background questionnaire ieltstm speaking test regulatory scale for da data collection procedures outline of procedure standardized testing procedure dynamic testing procedure video-stimulated recall scoring with ieltstm descriptors transcribing and coding strategies results and discussion pedagogical recommendations limitations and future research directions conclusion the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 a spiritual profit for western yogis? the spiritual significance of postural yoga for religious “nones” samantha bahan∗ the university of victoria sbahan6@gmail.com abstract is postural yoga evolving beyond merely a fitness practice into an important component of the spiritual lives of religious “nones” in british columbia and perhaps elsewhere in north america? this article looks at christian and hindu perspectives of contemporary debates over the westernization of yoga, and utilizes qualitative survey data to investigate the spiritual value that yoga is taking on for nonreligious millennials seeking to enhance the self. societal shifts indicate a growing cultural value of discovering one’s individual authenticity through self-development efforts, and research suggests that yoga is one way that this is being pursued. using media coverage of two controversial canadian incidents — the cancellation of a proposed mass yoga class on vancouver’s burrard street bridge, and the cancellation of a free annual yoga class over concerns of cultural appropriation at the university of ottawa — this article explores different perspectives of practicing postural yoga in north america. it is argued that postural yoga is evolving into a spiritually beneficial or profitable component of the lives of many religious “nones”, and that future contestations of the practice of postural yoga may require consideration of its value in the spiritual lives of a growing population who have no religion. keywords: postural yoga; yogaphobia; religious ’‘none(s)”; yoga on burrard street bridge; yoga at university of ottawa; spirituality of yoga; cultural appropriation of yoga i. introduction i s postural yoga evolving beyond merely a fitness practice into an important component of the spiritual lives of religious “nones”1 in british columbia (bc) and perhaps elsewhere in north america? the rise of postural yoga in western culture has sparked debates regarding the westernization of yogic practices. research addressing such debates have primarily addressed hindu and christian perspectives, but have neglected to adequately investigate the spiritual meaning that postural yoga has taken in the lives of many religiously unaffiliated individuals in north america. societal shifts towards a culture of authenticity, along with an increasing pervasiveness of ideals related to self-development and reaching one’s potential, have come to characterize a form of nonreligious spirituality that is centered around the self. moreover, qualitative survey research has indicated that yoga is an activity many nonreligious millennials (defined here as those born in 1980 or later) are utilizing to engage in self-care and self-development. this suggests that some individuals find postural yoga to be spiritually beneficial or profitable, which in turn complicates discussions about whether this form of yoga is culturally appropriative of a hindu practice. ∗i would like to thank dr. paul bramadat and the centre for studies in religion and society, where i have consistently been challenged and encouraged to push my academic abilities to new heights. 1“religious nones” refer to those who when asked what their religion is say “none,” or that they have no religion 68 mailto:sbahan6@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 the following article seeks to articulate how some of these yoga controversies have been playing out in canada, and to outline why future incidents may become further complicated given the spiritual significance that postural yoga is taking on for many nonreligious individuals, particularly in terms of self-care and self-development. in an effort to do this, i will first discuss the methodology of a survey i conducted for a related research project, from which some relevant findings have been incorporated into this article. second, the yoga debate will be explored, including an exploration of the rise of postural yoga in europe and north america since the mid-nineteenth century and the perspectives of christian and hindu opponents to its spread in western culture. this will be followed by an investigation of the characteristics of 1960s new age “spiritual seekers,” and how values of these individuals have been transmitted into alternative spiritualities that are centered around the self. these characteristics will be incorporated with aspects of what philosopher charles taylor refers to as a ‘culture of authenticity,’ and some of my own survey findings. collectively, these sources indicate that discovering one’s “authentic true self” (through reaching one’s potential and pursuing one’s calling or life path) and continuously working on self-development are primary goals for many millennials. moreover, those who practice postural yoga do so not only to enhance their physical fitness, but also to engage in a self-care activity. with these factors in mind, the hindu, christian and religious “none’s” points of view are considered through media coverage of two controversial incidents: the backlash toward and subsequent cancellation of an event scheduled to take place on june 21, 2015, that would have entailed shutting down the burrard street bridge in vancouver for seven hours to allow a mass yoga class in celebration of international day of yoga; and the cancellation of a free annual yoga class at the university of ottawa over concerns of culturally appropriating hindu practices. i argue that while yoga is historically rooted in the hindu tradition, the westernization of postural yoga is evolving into a spiritually valuable component of the lives of many religious “nones,” and that future contestations of the practice of postural yoga may require consideration of its value in the spiritual lives of a growing population who have no religion. ii. research methodology my argument incorporates findings from a survey project entitled “investigating contemporary religiously unaffiliated spirituality in cascadia” which builds on an earlier paper i wrote arguing that the phrase “spiritual but not religious” is no longer sufficient for capturing the spirituality of religiously unaffiliated individuals (bahan, 2015). this paper was particularly focused on the millennial generation, who comprise a large portion of a growing population of religious “nones” in canada and the u.s. the survey received ethics approval from the university of victoria, as well as other post-secondary institutions that it was sent to. participants received a letter of information for implied consent, and the survey (composed of 36 questions) was made anonymous and voluntary. it was distributed electronically through post-secondary institutions in british columbia, washington and oregon from february to april 2016. moreover, it was open to individuals of any gender, race, ethnicity, class or religion, but participants were required to have been born in the year 1980 or after and to have resided for at least one year in a city or town within british columbia, washington or oregon since 2005. using publicly available contact information, faculty and staff at various educational institutions in these regions were contacted and asked to forward the survey to their students. utilizing a snowball sample method, i asked that participants pass along the survey information to other potential participants they know. 126 faculty and staff from 13 different institutions were emailed with the request to pass the survey link and its corresponding information to students in their current classes. of those faculty and staff who were contacted in this way, 40 were in oregon, 46 were in washington, and 40 were in 69 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 british columbia. additionally, the survey and its information were distributed using facebook group pages for various universities, yoga studios, and meditation groups in bc, washington and oregon. readers were asked to share the post with their social media networks and, from these efforts, 253 individuals opened the survey and 225 met the participant criteria to complete it.2 a majority of the participants who responded to this survey were white females under the age of 25, were predominantly nonreligious, and reported never participating in religious services or ceremonies; 81% of respondents reported living in the vancouver island/coast region of british columbia3. overall, the findings from this study suggest that nonreligious millennials, at least in western british columbia, are beginning to reject a “spiritual” label in addition to traditional religion, a trend that may become more prominent as these individuals age and instill their values and worldviews into the upbringing of their own children. furthermore, the results of the survey suggest that millennial “nones” are engaging in activities related to nature and the self in order to foster a feeling of connectedness to something beyond themselves — a feeling that is often described through the various emotions it evokes, and which is understood as unrelated to religion, divinity, or even something metaphysical. these activities, such as practicing yoga and spending time in nature, are fulfilling the functions that religion has historically been identified as serving. some questions in this survey investigated respondent’s engagement with postural yoga, and therefore are incorporated into the discussion later in this article. it is important to note that the majority of participants who completed the survey were postsecondary students, and therefore may not be representative of the general population. according to data collected by the canadian census since 1971, and the 2011 national household survey, college-educated canadians are somewhat less likely to have a religious affiliation than canadians without a college degree. this difference, however, has narrowed over time, from an eight-point gap in 1971 (12% of college graduates vs. 4% of those with less education) to a two-point gap in 2011 (23% of college graduates vs. 21% of those without a college degree) (pew research center, 2013). given this, the fact that most participants were post-secondary students does not necessarily mean that the percentage of those who reported having no religion is misrepresentative of the population in western british columbia. lastly, before moving on to discuss the contemporary yoga debate, it is important to distinguish between the concepts of religion and spirituality. scholars have demonstrated a multitude of approaches to understanding, defining, and discussing the terms “spirituality” and “religion”. for the purposes of this article, religion may be understood as historically consistent and unified social systems of beliefs, practices and rituals related to “the sacred,” which enhance the wonder of the world while offering explanations for evil, and are often related to the afterlife and divinity (bramadat, 2005; arnal, 2000; tweed, 2006). alternatively, spirituality is a personal and usually individual phenomenon that is largely independent of institutional settings, whereby a set of qualities may be cultivated in accordance with self-development or ‘self care.’ this may be done by either drawing on multiple faith traditions or through secular activities often including nature, such that a sense of healing or affirmation of the transcendent, their community, or themselves may be experienced (bahan, 2015; chandler, 2008; killen & silk, 2004; shibley, 2008). with these 2the first questions of the survey asked in what year, after 1980, the participant was born, and if they had resided in a city or town in british columbia, washington or oregon for at least one year prior to completing the survey; this was to ensure the respondent met the participation criteria. if the respondent indicated that they did not fulfill both of these requirements, the survey automatically ended to prevent them from completing the remainder of the survey questions. 3the fact that most survey respondents were female and under the age of 25 is not necessarily surprising, given that this survey was distributed and advertised in person to several undergraduate classes at the university of victoria, which likely resulted in many of these students responding to the survey. at the university of victoria, the male to female ratio for students is 40% to 60% respectively, according to the university of victoria mini viewbook, https://www.uvic.ca/assets/documents/pdfs/miniviewbook.pdf 70 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 factors in mind, this article will now focus on the rise of postural yoga in europe and north america, and the subsequent debate among christian and hindu opponents to its popularity and practice in western culture. i. the contemporary yoga debate the popularization of postural yoga in north america and europe has given rise to a growing opposition movement from both christian and hindu protesters who argue that yoga is essentially hindu (jain, 2014). scholar jain (2014) identifies these two oppositional perspectives as the “christian yogaphobic” position and the “hindu origins” position. christian protesters argue that yoga is incompatible with christianity because of its hindu origins, and in its popularized forms poses a threat to the christian essence of american culture (jain, 2014). conversely, hindu protesters criticize the popularization of contemporary yoga forms for failing to acknowledge their hindu origins and therefore illegitimately co-opting yoga as a product for enhancing well-being and turning a profit (jain, 2014). the problematic nature of these arguments has been articulated by jain, who suggests that these positions are both polemical and prescriptive, and are therefore indicative of religious fundamentalist agendas which dictate narrow ideas of how an authentic christian or hindu should be religious. these two positions assume a conception of yoga as a static homogenous system, which westerners have been fooled into conceiving as merely a fitness regime by a consumer marketplace (jain, 2012). while the yogaphobic and hindu origins positions articulate perspectives of the contemporary yoga debate, it is important to note from the outset that these two positions are not representative of all hindus or christians, many among whom perceive the popularization of postural yoga to be unproblematic. these positions will now be contextualized through a brief overview of the rise of postural yoga in europe and north america since the mid-nineteenth century. the image one has of yoga practitioners today typically includes individuals who gather with their yoga mats and spandex yoga attire to engage in sequences of āsana, or postures, that are, through pranayama or “breathing exercises,” synchronized with the breath (jain, 2014). postural yoga classes of this nature can be found in nearly every city of the western world today, and increasingly in the middle east, asia, south and central america, and australasia (singleton, 2010). despite its worldwide popularity and growth as a multibillion dollar business, scholar mark singleton (2010) explains that postural yoga has never been the primary aspect of any traditional indian yoga practice. rather, transnational postural yoga practices are a new phenomenon and a product of contemporary consumer culture (singleton, 2010; jain, 2014). in the late 1800s, a mainly anglophone yoga revival began in india, with new techniques and theories beginning to emerge primarily under the teaching of swami vivekanada (1863-1902) (singleton, 2010; jain, 2012). vivekanada was one of several early modern yoga reformers who sought to reconstruct yoga as a refined holistic and spiritual indian system, censoring pre-colonial yoga body practices to align with his modern philosophical interpretation of the yoga sutra and hindu nondualist thought (jain, 2012). while vivekanada is known for disseminating yoga to americans, the yoga he promoted was very different from the popularized postural forms seen today (jain, 2012). at the time of vivekanada in the late nineteenth century, āsana (postures) and other techniques associated with hatha yoga were seen as distasteful and unsuitable as compared to yoga’s philosophical and meditative techniques that are often equated with raja yoga (singleton, 2010; jain, 2014). postural yoga practices were associated with the term yogin or yogi, a term that was employed loosely to refer to a variety of ascetics, magicians, and street performers, and which came to represent hatha yoga’s backwardness, superstition, and incompatibility with the hindu religion (singleton, 2010). during the nineteenth century, quasi-religious forms of physical culture spread from europe to 71 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 india, and fueled a reinvention of āsana as a hindu expression of exercise, which later found its way back to europe and north america and merged with forms of “esoteric gymnastics,” an activity that had garnered popularity independently from yoga traditions in europe and america since the mid-nineteenth century (singleton, 2010). around this time, christian leaders began warning that yoga, despite various understandings of its exact nature, represented a hindu religious movement that posed a threat to christian identities and commitments (jain, 2014). the reinvention of āsana as established modes of stretching and relaxing gave rise to postural yoga in the twentieth century. given this, postural yoga is the result of what singleton (2010) refers to as “a dialogical exchange between para-religious, modern body culture techniques developed in the west and the various discourses of ‘modern’ hindu yoga,” reminiscent of techniques developed during the late nineteenth century yoga revival (p. 5). as indicated by jain, hindu protesters in the contemporary yoga debate have rooted their objections in western stereotypes about indian people and culture, which leads to an omission of acknowledging yoga’s hindu origins by postural yoga practitioners (singleton, 2010). they argue that the body-centered hatha yoga practices that were reconstructed to assimilate western fitness practices into indigenous indian fitness techniques were recognized by the west for their partly hindu origins, unlike the popularized forms of postural yoga today (jain, 2014). the hindu american foundation (haf), a minneapolis-based organization that initiated the “take back yoga — bringing to light yoga’s hindu roots” campaign in january 2010, released an official statement that brought attention to problematic stereotypes that view hinduism as nothing but “caste, cows and curry,” which subsequently make hinduism “unmarketable.” (jain, 2014). instead, according to haf, yoga is marketed as a practice that is “spiritual but not religious” and beneficial for both physical and mental health (jain, 2014). furthermore, the haf has described postural yoga practitioners as “self-indulgent appropriators of yoga” who practice yoga forms steeped in “new age blather” (jain, 2014). aspects of the hindu origins perspective are shared with other groups as well, including several american christian leaders who see the rise of postural yoga in western culture as a threat to the christian faith. the new age movement has been criticized in christian yogaphobic rhetoric by albert mohler, president of the southern baptist theological seminary. mohler considers the popularization of yoga to be a symptom of the “post-modern confusion of america,” alluding to a conception of american culture that is essentially christian and which is under threat from hindu and new age traditions (jain, 2014, 2014). mohler warns that the united states is becoming a “nation of hindus,” based on his interpretation of a 2008 pew forum survey that indicated americans are becoming increasingly open to the idea that “many religions can lead to eternal life” (jain, 2014, p. 440). his views express a desire to return to an historical period where christianity dominated american political and social spheres, and traditions such as hinduism and new age practices were marginalized in society (jain, 2014). the fear and suspicion of yoga promoted by albert mohler has been echoed by other religious leaders in america, including mark driscoll, pastor of the mars hill megachurch in seattle, washington who in 2010 stated that: yoga is demonic. . . it’s absolute paganism. . . yoga and meditation and easternism is [sic] all opening to demonism. . . if you just sign up for a little yoga class, you’re signing up for a little demon class. that’s what you’re doing. and satan doesn’t care if you stretch as long as you go to hell (jain, 2014, p. 137-138). while the christian yogaphobic position has garnered more attention over recent years, many christians in north america and europe have alternatively adapted postural yoga into a unique christian religious practice. in “christian yoga,” āsanas are taught with a meditative focus on the word of god, and are utilized to intensify practitioners’ relationship with jesus (alvarez, 72 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 2010). in contrast to the yogaphobic views of figures such as mohler and driscoll, christian yoga instructor amy russell explains that “one of the things that most christians and most people don’t get is that yoga is not a religion. . . it does not belong to hinduism any more than it belongs to christianity” (alvarez, 2010). furthermore, reverend anthony randazzo, pastor at notre dame roman catholic church in new jersey, began a serious practice of yoga ten years after becoming a priest, and has even started teaching yoga at his church. rather than sanskrit chants swaying him from christ, randazzo has stated he actually feels “more deeply rooted in the christian faith than ever” (alvarez, 2010). a growing prevalence of christian yoga classes in america demonstrates that not all christians view their faith and their yoga practice as incompatible. the anxiety around yoga as expressed by christian yogaphobic protesters comes from the view that practicing yoga, given its hindu origins, conflicts with christian doctrine, ethos and worldviews and therefore contradicts christian commitments and may even threaten the christian essence of american culture (jain, 2012, 2014). hindu origins protesters argue that the co-opting of yoga in western culture for profit, and denial of yoga’s hindu origins as a market-strategy, have consequently corrupted an otherwise authentic hindu system of practice (jain, 2012). these two positions are similar in that they both argue that postural yoga is essentially a hindu practice. however, the problematic nature of this point differs between proponents of the hindu origins position versus the christian yogaphobic position. for those arguing the hindu origins perspective of the yoga debate, most notably by the haf, the issue centers around a denial of yoga’s hindu nature in contemporary western yoga practices and products, and further, that this lack of recognition stems from stereotypes and discriminatory views of hindus maintained in north american and european cultures. alternatively, those arguing the christian yogaphobic side of the debate are concerned with yoga practices corrupting the christian faith at an individual level and, for some christian leaders in the united states, at a national level as well; this position may also be seen as maintaining discriminatory views of hinduism. these two positions assume a conception of yoga as a static homogenous system, insofar as they both argue that the hindu essence of the earliest forms of yoga which emerged as part of the hindu religion, has remained unchanged in contemporary postural practices despite yoga’s present disguise as a fitness regime (jain, 2012). however, as jain (2012) argues, the history and development of yoga is anything but homogenous and unchanging. rather, it is expressed in various brands, including iyengar, ashtanga and bikram yoga practices, is practiced by both religious and non-religious individuals, and is viewed by many to be compatible with any religious tradition that values health and well-being and accepts a modern biomedical perspective on the human body. these qualities of contemporary postural yoga made it very popular among new age ‘spiritual seekers’ in the 1960s, from whom many values have been transmitted into alternative spiritual forms among religious “nones” in western british columbia; to this topic, the focus of this article will now turn. ii. the value of postural yoga in the lives of religious “nones” over recent decades, individuals in north america and particularly in canada have been straying from mainstream religion at a rate that has piqued the curiosity of scholars interested in understanding the spiritual needs and lives of this population. prior to 1971, less than 1 % of the canadian population reported having no religion (i.e. were religious “nones,”) but by 2011, 29% of canadians born between 1987 and 1995 and approximately 25% of the canadian population overall reported this way (statistics canada, 2011; pew research center, 2013). religious “nones” are particularly concentrated in the province of british columbia, with nearly half of the provincial population indicating they had no religion in 2011, and only 20 % both identifying with and 73 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 participating in traditional religious institutions (shibley, 2008). similarly, this trend is seen in the u.s.a. (though to a lesser extent) with religious “nones” being concentrated in the pacific northwestern states of washington and oregon. this region has always been dominated by an “unchurched” or nonreligious population, with its religious adherence rate reaching only 34.4% in 1970 — the united states as a nation reached a 34.4% adherence rate in 1890 (killen, 2004). according to the american religious identification survey (aris) 2008, “nones” increased from 8.1% of the u.s. population in 1990 to 15% in 2008 (jumping from 14 to 34 million); 22% of young americans between the ages of 18 and 29 self reported as having no religion (kosmin, keysar, cragun & navarro-rivera, 2009). in comparison, one quarter of the population in washington and oregon identified this way (shibley, 2004, 2008). given the predominance of non-religiosity in the pacific northwest, it is commonly assumed that these individuals are disinterested in religion and spirituality. however, research has shown that many individuals who do not identify with traditional religion do cultivate spirituality in their lives (shibley, 2004, 2008; soden, 2004). moreover, it is estimated that only 5 to 7% of oregon and washington’s populations, and 14% of british columbians, identify as atheist (suggesting these individuals are both nonreligious and nonspiritual) (shibley, 2008). for canadian teens in particular, the percentage of those identifying as atheist jumped from 6 to 16% between the 1980s and 2011, yet even among these individuals, 1 in 7 reported having “spiritual needs” (bibby, 2009). various studies looking at religiously unaffiliated millennials reveal that these individuals place importance on spiritual growth, have spiritual needs, or commit to integrating spirituality into their lives (bibby, 2009). in the pacific northwest, this has meant that individual spiritual quests have resulted in various expressions of new age spiritualities, which emerged out of the eclectic spiritual practices of ‘spiritual seekers’. these range from neo-paganism, metaphysics, channeling, and “new spirituality,” all of which center around a belief that the self is “sacred” (shibley, 2009; shibley, 2008). this can be understood to mean that individuals feel a sense of connectedness to something beyond oneself (the ‘something’ is perhaps what has traditionally been understood as “the sacred”), and in this form the ‘sacred’ is perceived as something that is internal and accessed through discovering one’s “authentic true self” (i.e. discovering the essence of whom one really is and pursuing an individual calling or reaching one’s potential). the new age movement was a product of the 1960’s counterculture, characterized by post-war civil unrest and a growing trend to reject the restrictive dogmas associated with institutionalized religion in favour of an independent spiritually awakened way of living; this trend was subsequently carried forward among the baby boomer generation (bahan, 2015; chandler, 2008). the new age spirituality that emerged incorporated aspects of eastern religious teachings that emphasized individual enlightenment, and promoted alternative medical practices focused on holistic healing. furthermore, the new age movement instilled values of self-care and self-exploration into mainstream culture (chandler, 2008). as such, the orientation of contemporary new age and alternative spiritualists is to transform the human condition, uncover one’s “authentic self,” and encourage individual spirituality and enlightenment over the dogma of institutionalized traditional religions; personal enlightenment is seen as a precursor to societal change (shibley, 2004, 2008). given that postural yoga’s central feature is a body-centered approach to self-development — an approach that has been valorized in capitalist consumer culture — its popularity among the religiously unaffiliated in europe and north america as a means for self-care and personal development is not surprising (jain, 2014). popular brands of postural yoga include iyengar yoga which incorporates the use of fitness tools, ashtanga yoga which is characterized by its emphasis on the sequential flow from one posture to another, and bikram yoga where single sequence postures are performed in a room heated to one hundred and five degrees fahrenheit with 40% humidity (jain, 2012). each of these brands use postures synchronized with the breath to achieve 74 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 modern ideals of physical fitness and health (jain, 2012). while none of these brands are linked to any conventional religious orientation, they tend to take place in yoga studios and may be seen to represent distinct flavours of a broader yoga culture. given this, the experience of other postural yoga practitioners outside of these brands may be considered more casual, including those who take yoga classes at their local gym or who practice at home following instructional videos online. for many religious “nones” in the pacific northwest and elsewhere in north america, postural yoga has promoted a popular nonreligious means of fostering self-development, enhancing one’s overall health, and even facilitating the discovery of one’s “authentic true self.” these ideals are reflective of some of the broader defining changes of modernity effecting western society; renowned philosopher charles taylor refers to this as a culture of authenticity (taylor, 1991). since the 1960s, the growth of individualism and self-fulfillment as ideals has resulted in tendencies to focus on the self while simultaneously shutting out awareness of issues or concerns that transcend the self, including those which are religious, political or historical (taylor, 1991). while this form of individualism has been criticized by academics, including allan bloom and christopher lasch, the latter of whom refers to this as a “culture of narcissism,” taylor explains that the moral ideal behind self-fulfillment is that of being true to oneself, insofar as individuals feel their life may be wasted or unfulfilled if they do not pursue what they believe they are called to do (taylor, 1991). this view supports a liberal society that must remain neutral on questions of what constitutes living a good life, in order for individuals to resolve this question in their own way (taylor, 1991). what is particularly new about this is that, as a society, views of morality and fulfillment are less linked to a connection with a source such as god or the idea of the good, and more connected to a source found within the depths of our individual selves (taylor, 1991). the values of self-care and self-exploration from the new age movement, and the societal shift towards a focus on individual self-fulfillment, are both ideas consistent with findings from my own survey research investigating spirituality and the importance of postural yoga in the lives of predominantly nonreligious millennials in western british columbia. according to this research, 80.44% of 179 respondents either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed to the statement “it is important to me to discover my authentic true self.” moreover, 92.78% of 180 respondents either strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement “it is important to me to continuously work on self-development.” lastly, of 80 respondents, 61.73 and 50.62% reported that their motivation for practicing some form of yoga was “to engage in a self-care activity” or “to maintain a sense of balance in my life,” respectively. these responses suggest that, at least among millennials in western bc, many young individuals view constructing “the self” as quite important. moreover, engaging in some form of yoga, even if it is once or twice a week, seems to be a means for engaging in such self-care, especially for religiously unaffiliated individuals who see yoga as a nonreligious activity. these points of view will now be considered, along with those of the hindu origins position and the christian yogaphobic position, through an analysis of two controversial incidents in vancouver and ottawa in 2015. iii. a spiritual profit for western yogis? i. yoga controversies at the burrard street bridge and the university of ottawa “only in vancouver? burrard bridge to close for mass yoga class;” was the title of a cbc article from june 5, 2015 which reiterated bc premier christy clark’s announcement earlier that day that vancouver’s burrard street bridge would be closing for seven hours on june 21 to host a one-hour yoga session and the largest international day of yoga event outside of india (cbc 75 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 news, 2015). an article by the globe and mail explains that ms. clark conceived of the event following a visit with india’s prime minister, as a means of strengthening ties between canada and india and celebrating international day of yoga with more than 100 other countries around the world (bailey, 2015). the week following the announcement saw a great deal of backlash and politicization of the event, particularly regarding the expected $150,000 cost of the burrard street closure, and the inherent disrespect of holding the event on national aboriginal day (bailey, 2015). an interview with terry mcbride, the ceo of yoga-studio company yyoga, explained that the burrard street bridge was intended to be a symbolic transformation of a busy place into a space for reflection and pause, as is done in times square for international day of yoga in new york (bailey, 2015). furthermore, mcbride explained that the event was never intended to take away from aboriginal celebrations at trout lake, which would have taken place in the afternoon long after the morning yoga class had been conducted (bailey, 2015). moreover, ethical concerns were raised by integritybc regarding lululemon’s sponsorship of the event, given that the company had previously made donations to the liberal party (ctv news, 2015). by june 12, event sponsors lululemon, yyoga and altagas (a liquefied natural gas sponsor who also stirred controversy among bc environmentalists) announced they were backing out as a result of the backlash and planned protests against the event, explaining that they were responding to the community’s concerns and would be exploring other options to celebrate international day of yoga (crawford, 2015). a few months later in november, the cancellation of another yoga event in ottawa made numerous headlines and received international backlash. yoga instructor jennifer scharf, who had led a free weekly yoga class for about 60 students at the university of ottawa since 2008, was told her class was cancelled due to concerns over cultural appropriation (helmer, 2015). the class was run through the centre for students with disabilities, which stated that because yoga practices come from cultures which “have experienced oppression, cultural genocide and diasporas due to colonialism and western supremacy. . . we need to be mindful of . . . how we express ourselves while practicing yoga” (helmer, 2015; kozicka, 2015). president of the student federation romeo ahimakin explained that the yoga session was undergoing consultations to make it more accessible and inclusive “to certain groups of people that feel left out in yoga-like spaces,” and to conduct the sessions in a way that “students are aware of where the spiritual and cultural aspects come from” (helmer, 2015). this was missing the point according to scharf, who explained that the purpose of the class was to have students become more mindful of their physical health, not to educate them on “ancient yogi scripture.” scharf even offered to rename the class “mindful stretching,” a proposal that was denied over issues of finding an accurate french translation (helmer, 2015). the cancellation of the event sparked international backlash, primarily on social media over what was seen as an overuse of political correctness (duffy, 2015). for example, a tweet by canadian conservative david frum stated “yes, so unacceptable the way indians appropriated european calisthenics to create modern yoga” (duffy, 2015); this comment refers to the history of postural yoga’s rise in the west as a product of both european and indian influences. the incident brought to light different perspectives on the popularization of postural yoga in canada. for example, andrew foote of cbc discussed this issue with a husband and wife at the hindu temple of ottawa-carleton (both of whom practice or teach yoga), who stated that they did not believe yoga taught by a non-hindu instructor was culturally insensitive, that yoga is more a spiritual than religious practice, and that the benefits reaped by practitioners outweighs issues concerning yoga’s commercialization (foote, 2015). in january, the free yoga sessions were brought back to the university of ottawa under new instructor priya shah (helmer, 2016). shah reported to the toronto sun that she admits wondering whether she was hired to instruct the yoga classes because she is indian (helmer, 2016). 76 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 the proposed burrard street bridge yoga event and the temporary cancellation of free yoga classes at the university of ottawa are both concerned, at least in part, with acknowledging yoga’s historical roots in the hindu tradition. christy clark proposed using the burrard street bridge to celebrate international day of yoga and pay tribute to canada’s relationship with india, recognized as the birthplace of yoga. the student federation at the university of ottawa was concerned with culturally appropriating a traditional hindu practice without acknowledging its hindu roots, and therefore resumed the classes under the leadership of a young indian woman who presumably was believed to provide a more “inclusive” and culturally sensitive yoga experience. in these ways, both incidents are supportive of the hindu origins and the christian yogaphobic positions that the practice of yoga, even western adapted postural yoga, is essentially a hindu practice. furthermore, both events demonstrate instances of yoga being perceived as insensitive to the beliefs of spiritual or religious traditions such as christianity (though this view was not explicitly covered by the media), hinduism, or indigenous practices; for these reasons, both events received extensive backlash. however, these events did not necessarily discourage the practice of postural yoga in the west, as the hindu origins and christian yogaphobic positions might desire. while there are various perspectives espoused in the coverage of these two yoga incidents, there is little to no consideration given to how the decisions related to these events impacted the yoga practitioners who participated (or would have participated) in these classes, which neglects the spiritual importance and value of yoga to non-hindu practitioners and, more specifically, the growing population of those with no religion. ii. the meaning of postural yoga for religious “nones” postural yoga evolved from both indian and european cultural influences which, as has been discussed in this article, complicates questions of whether this contemporary form of yoga is purely a hindu practice. it is important to recognize that nonreligious yoga practitioners in canada represent a privileged population, and it is not my intent to suggest that this group should determine whether or not postural yoga — including those who participated or would have participated in the classes at the university of ottawa and on the burrard street bridge — is culturally acceptable or appropriated. rather, my hope is to acknowledge that postural yoga provides physical, mental and even spiritual benefits to this nonreligious population, particularly in terms of self-care. the actions taken by the student federation at the university of ottawa suggest that incorporating more hindu culture into their free yoga class (by hiring a yoga instructor who is indian) makes it more inclusive. while this action is sensitive to hindu yoga practitioners, it also neglects the possibility that, for those who participated in the class under the instruction of jennifer scharf, did so in part to engage in a nonreligious form of self-care and self-development. moreover, critics of the cancelled mass yoga event in vancouver saw the closure of the burrard street bridge as unnecessary for hundreds of people to engage in a fitness practice, and as disrespectful for taking attention away from more important spiritual celebrations for national aboriginal day. while the recognition and celebration of indigenous peoples in bc are very important, this reaction similarly negates the possibility that engaging in a mass yoga class in celebration of international day of yoga with hundreds of other countries around the world would be an experience of great personal value for many, and an opportunity to collectively embrace the essence of individual self-development and self-fulfillment that have become central values in the modern age. given that vancouver is part of a region home to the largest population of religious “nones” in north america, where alternative spiritual forms centered around a belief that the self is of central importance are highly prevalent, i believe this is a possibility deserving of consideration. furthermore, my survey research is beginning to reveal that yoga is spiritually 77 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201616054 meaningful for many who are religiously unaffiliated because it serves as a medium for self care and self-development, and given that the extensive growth of north america’s “no religion” population shows no indication of subsiding, it seems plausible that consideration of yoga’s spiritual meaning for religious “nones” will eventually be necessary. with these factors in mind, it is evident that postural yoga is evolving beyond merely a fitness practice and into a spiritually valuable component of the spiritual lives of religious “nones” in bc, and perhaps elsewhere in north america. for the 60 or so students who participated in jennifer scharf’s free yoga class at the university of ottawa, or the hundreds of practitioners who intended to gather to practice yoga together on the burrard street bridge, the cancellation of these events impacted their ability to foster their spirituality through a nonreligious act of self-development. given this, and the likelihood that discovering one’s “authentic true self” is a reflection of a broader societal shift towards a culture of authenticity in the modern age, future incidents contesting the practice of postural yoga should, and perhaps eventually will have to, take into consideration its value and importance in the spiritual lives of a growing population who have no religion. iv. concluding remarks the rise of postural yoga in the west since the mid-nineteenth century has subsequently given rise to an ongoing yoga debate. christian opponents to the popularization of postural yoga maintain that practicing yoga, given its hindu origins, conflicts with christian doctrine and contradicts christian commitments, while proponents of the hindu origins perspective argue that postural yoga has been co-opted in the western world for profit and in doing so, has denied yoga’s hindu origins as a market-strategy (jain, 2012). these two positions assume a conception of yoga as a static homogenous system, which scholars jain and singleton have demonstrated is an inaccurate claim. furthermore, societal shifts towards a culture of authenticity and the increasing pervasiveness of new age ideals to transform the human condition, uncover one’s authentic self, and empower individuals over the dogma of traditional religions, are reflected in the alternative spiritualities in the pacific northwest and elsewhere in north america. the backlash and subsequent cancellation of the proposed closure of the burrard street bridge in vancouver for yoga, and the cancellation of a free yoga class over issues of cultural appropriation, demonstrate differing perspectives on whether postural yoga is, or should be, merely a secular fitness practice. moreover, both events demonstrate instances of yoga being perceived as insensitive to the beliefs of spiritual or religious traditions such as christianity, hinduism, or indigenous practices. they do not, however, take into consideration the spiritual importance and value of yoga to non-hindu practitioners and, more specifically, the growing population of those with no religion. while it is true that yoga is historically rooted in the hindu tradition, postural yoga has never been the primary aspect of any traditional indian yoga practice. given this, over the past 20-30 years, postural yoga has become a popular medium for those who are religiously unaffiliated to nurture and develop their sense of self, which modern societal ideals directly relate to ideas of living an authentic life. in this way, postural yoga is taking on its own spiritual meaning in the lives of religious “nones,” and future incidents contesting the practice of postural yoga should, and perhaps eventually will have to, take into consideration its importance in the spiritual lives of a growing population who have no religion. references alvarez, l. 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(1991). the ethics of authenticity. harvard university press. retrieved from https:// uniteyouthdublin.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/the_ethics_of_authenticity-copy.pdf tweed, t. a. (2006). confluences toward a theory of religion. in crossing and dwelling: a theory of religion, (pp. 54-79). harvard university press. “university of victoria mini viewbook: it’s showtime.” victoria: british columbia. retrieved from https://www.uvic.ca/assets/documents/pdfs/miniviewbook.pdf 81 introduction research methodology the contemporary yoga debate the value of postural yoga in the lives of religious ``nones'' a spiritual profit for western yogis? yoga controversies at the burrard street bridge and the university of ottawa the meaning of postural yoga for religious ``nones'' concluding remarks the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 low cost radiation hardened software and hardware implementation for cubesats brosnan yuen and mihai sima∗ university of victoria brosnany@uvic.ca abstract cubesats are small satellites used for scientific experiments because they cost less than full sized satellites. each cubesat uses an on-board computer. the on-board computer performs sensor measurements, data processing, and cubesat control. the challenges of designing an on-board computer are costs, radiation, thermal stresses, and vibrations. an on-board computer was designed and implemented to solve these challenges. the on-board computer used special components to mitigate radiation effects. software was also used to provide redundancies in cases of faults. this paper may aid future spacecraft design as it improves the reliability of spacecraft, while keeping costs low. keywords: cubesat; satellite; radiation; radiation hardened; computer memory cubesats are just scaled down versions of full-sized satellites. cubesats are used for smallpayloads such as scientific experiments in space, earth observations, and low rate telecommu-nications. for example, aalto-1 cubesat (praks et al., 2015) surveys mineral deposits and farmlands using an earth observation camera. the camera allows miners to find new mining sites. moreover, farmers can calculate the yields of their farms using the images. genesat-1 cubesat (kitts et al., 2007) is an example of a cubesat running biological experiments in space. genesat-1 studies the effects of micro-gravity on e. coli bacteria. furthermore, bricsat-p cubesat (hurley et al., 2016) has an experimental thruster design. bricsat-p tests an electric propulsion system for future rocket designs. the international space station launches most of the cubesats into low earth orbit (leo). these cubesats orbit around 350 km to 800 km above earth. a 10cm×10cm×10cm cubesat costs around $30,000 usd (heidt, puig-suari, moore, nakasuka, & twiggs, 2000) to build and $100,000 usd to launch. on the other hand, a 100kg full-sized satellite costs $100 million usd (bearden, 2001) to build and to launch. costs for constructing and launching cubesats are significantly lower than for full-sized satellites. therefore, cubesats are low-cost alternatives to full-sized satellites. in conclusion, these low-cost cubesats have been adopted by many universities across the world as an exploration tool. the cubesat’s primary objective is the payload execution. most payloads contain scientific experiments or sensor equipment. the cubesat uses the on-board computer (obc) to execute the payload and to retrieve sensor data. moreover, the obc has a microcontroller (mcu) and a memory storage. the mcu processes data, while the memory store stores the sensor data and the program data. after processing the data, the data is sent to earth using amateur radio. spacegrade components such as the $950 va10820 (mouser_va10820, 2018), $2900 msp430fr5969-sp (mouser_msp430fr5969, 2018), $4000 5962h9853702vxc-ctest (arrow_5962h9853702vxcctest, 2018), and $5100 hxnv01600aen (arrow_hxnv01600aen, 2018) are very expensive. as cubesat projects have low budgets of $30,000, cubesat designers cannot afford to use space ∗this research was supported by a jamie cassels undergraduate research award, university of victoria. 46 mailto:brosnany@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 grade components. as a result, cubesat designers use commercial off the shelf (cots) components as cots components are far cheaper. however, cots components are less robust when compared to space grade components. cots components have lower tolerance to radiation, vibrations, and thermal stresses. this lower tolerance limits the cubesat’s lifespan to two years in leo. radiation poses a large risk to the obc as memory regions of the obc could get corrupted. moreover, radiation could cause permanent damage to the obc’s integrated circuits (ics). permanent damage results in an unrecoverable failure. this paper is organized into a literature review, design overview and requirements, implemented designs, and conclusion. the literature review gives detailed background information about the space environment and it compares this paper to other research papers. design overview and requirements gives an outline of the implemented designs. the paragraph above states the problems of the cots components. solutions of these problems are found in the implemented design sections of this paper. the design implementations use special cots components in conjunction with robust software designs. these special cots components have a high tolerance to radiation, temperature, vibrations, and noise. furthermore, these special cots components meet the design requirements while keeping the costs low. in addition to the hardware solutions, software designs also mitigate the problems caused by radiation. in conclusion, this paper will assist cubesat designers in advancing space exploration and scientific experiments. literature review this literature review shows the relevant background information about the space environment. total ionizing dose (tid), single event upsets (seus), single event latch-ups (sels), and single event gate ruptures (segrs) measure the impact of radiation on ics. firstly, tid measures the total amount of dose an ic could receive before an unrecoverable failure. tid quantifies the lifetime of an ic in space. secondly, seus measure the number of corrupted bits and computations caused by radiation. however, seus do not have any long-term effects as cold reboots resolve seus. on the other hand, sels could have long-term effects. sels cause high current states, which may cause permanent burnouts in ic. lastly, segrs cause parts of an ic to rupture. segrs guarantee permanent loss of functionality in an ic. other cubesat designers have tackled the radiation problem using hardware solutions. shields-1 cubesat (thomsen, kim, & cutler, 2015) uses special shielding to protect the cots components against radiation. shields-1 uses z-grade al/ta which has 30% higher shielding effectiveness over standard al. austin et al.’s article (2017) shows radiation mitigation techniques for cots components. their article recommends measuring tids and seus of cots components. this allows cubesat designers to choose the best cots components. austin et al. also recommend the usage of ferromagnetic random access memory (fram) and watchdog timers. these components increase the reliability of the cubesats. unlike austin et al., this paper uses software solutions in addition to hardware solutions. the software solutions in this paper increase the reliability of the cubesats as software provides a cost-effective way of mitigating radiation effects. design overview and requirements the obc is the brains of the cubesat because the obc controls all of the cubesat’s functions. figure 1 shows the implemented obc’s printed circuit board (pcb). the obc’s pcb has a budget requirement of $2000 usd. the mcu is the tms570lc4357. the memory storage is the mr4a16bcma35. tms570 uses mr4a16bcma35 for external memory storage. moreover, the system bus provides power and signal lines to the obc. as a result of the system bus, tms570 is 47 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 figure 1: the implemented obc’s printed circuit board (pcb). able to control other systems. for example, attitude determination and control system (adcs) has gps, magnetometers, gyroscopes, sun sensors, and earth horizon sensors. adcs determines the position and orientation of the cubesat using the sensors. adcs also adjusts the orientation of the cubesat using magnetic solenoids and reaction wheels. furthermore, obc has a tms320c5535 digital signal processor. tms320c5535 processes the low rate telecommunications on the cubesat. telecommunications allow the ground station to communicate with the tms570. two tpl5010-q1 external watchdog timers are placed on the obc. watchdog timers reset the obc in an event of a failure. these low-cost cots components are the solutions to the design requirements problem. unlike other cots components, these components have high radiation tolerances and they operate across large temperature ranges. moreover, they are space flight proven. in conclusion, these cots components cost less while ensuring the cubesat survives the space environment. aside from the hardware descriptions, there are functional requirements. telemetry, payload control, power control, data handling, timekeeping, and memory integrity are examples of the obc’s functional requirements. telemetry is the act of collecting remote sensor data. as a payload is used on all cubesat missions, payload control ensures the payload is executing properly. power control ensures brown-outs do not happen. data handling involves sensor processing, telecommunications, and system monitoring. memory integrity protects the memory from data corruption. type of radiation dose rate ( m ev cm 2 g ) heavy ion 4.75 × 102 proton 9.62 × 102 electron 1.359 × 103 total 2.796 × 103 table 1: dose rates for solar maximum at 8 × 105 m leo (hussmann, 2016). 48 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 hardware requirements were made for leo as they ensure the obc’s survivability. table 1 shows the dose rates of a cubesat at 8 × 105 m leo with 2 × 10−3 m al shielding. table 1 assumes a mission duration of 6.307 × 107 s (2 years). at the end of the mission, the total received dose of a 1cm × 1cm component is 2.825 × 103 rad (si) as shown in eqn. (1). therefore, components must survive tids of 2.825 × 103 rad (si). moreover, components are susceptible to seus. components must also withstand a few seus per hour. dietr (csdc_thermal, 2014) specifies a thermal-vacuum requirement. obc must withstand a vacuum of 5 × 10−4 torr. obc must also have an out-gassing requirement (nasa, 2017). this confines out-gassing to 1% of the total mass. in addition, obc must withstand thermal cycles from −20◦c to 70◦c. dietr also specifies a launch environment tests requirement (csdc_launch, 2014). obc must withstand a quasi-static acceleration test of 12g. the obc must also withstand random vibrations of 1×10−1 g 2 hz at 2 × 102 hz. obc’s pcb is confined to a 10 cm by 10 cm size. for the software requirements, a real time operating system (rtos) is needed. a rtos schedules tasks with high timing accuracy as the rtos allows microsecond control of the cubesat. moreover, rtos also manages memory allocations and hardware drivers. a file system is also needed to protect the data from radiation. the file system must have multiple copies of the file system structure. the file system must use an error correction code (ecc) for data recovery. ecc protects data by encoding the data. encoded data contains multiple copies of the original data. the numerous data copies provide redundancies in case of failures. the file system must be scrubbed within a time interval in order to recover the corrupted data. implemented memory design the obc requires a reliable place to store sensor data and program data. mr4a16bcma35 was chosen as the nonvolatile memory storage for the mcu. each mr4a16bcma35 stores 2mb of data. mr4a16bcma35 is low-cost as mr4a16bcma35 costs around $40 usd (digikey_mram, 2018). mr4a16bcma35 is cheap when compared to other memory storages. for example, 5962h9853702vxc-ctest costs $4000 (arrow_5962h9853702vxc-ctest, 2018) and hxnv01600aen costs $5100 (arrow_hxnv01600aen, 2018). mr4a16bcma35 (everspin, 2017) uses magneto-resistive random access memory (mram) technology. in mram, bits are stored in magnetic fields of the magnetic tunnel junctions. a magnetic tunnel junction has two ferromagnets and one insulator. the insulator separates the two ferromagnets. one ferromagnet is permanent, while the other ferro-magnet is a free layer. orientation of the magnetic field in the free layer determines the bit’s value. in order to write a bit, a large current is required to change the orientation of the free layer. radiation in leo consists mostly of heavy ion bombardments. as nand memory uses charge pumps to store bits, nand memory is susceptible to heavy ions bombardments. heavy ions bombardments corrupt bits in nand memory by changing values in the charge pumps. on the other hand, mram is resistant to heavy ions bombardments as mram uses magnetic fields to store bits. heavy ions bombardments cannot generate large surges of current. therefore, heavy ions bombardments cannot corrupt bits in mram by changing the magnetic fields. as a result, mram has large seu and sel damage thresholds. in conclusion, mram is resistant to radiation as mram uses magnetic fields to store bits. table 1 shows dose rates of components in leo. the required tid in leo is calculated below using the dose rates in table 1. then mram’s tid is compared to the required tid in order to prove mram’s survivability. let leodoserateperarea = total dose rate per area of an object in leo as shown in table 1 let m ramarea = the area of mram 49 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 let leodoserate = the dose rate of an object in 8 × 105 m leo m ramarea = 1cm2 leodoserateperarea = 2.796 × 103 m ev · cm2 g · s 2.796 × 103 m ev · cm2 g · s × 1 1cm2 = 2.796 × 103 m ev g · s 2.796 × 103 m ev g · s × 1000g 1kg × 1.602 × 10−13j 1m ev = 4.48 × 10−7 j kg · s leodoserate = 4.48 × 10−7 j kg · s × 100rad · kg j leodoserate = 4.48 × 10−5 rad s let t = mission duration in seconds. 6.307 × 107s (2 years). let leot id = required tid to survive in leo for 6.307 × 107s (2 years) let m ramt id = mram’s tid as shown in table 2 t = 6.307 × 107s leot id = leodoserate × t (1) leot id = 4.48 × 10−5 rad s × 6.307 × 107s leot id = 2.825 × 103rad(si) m ramt id = 4 × 104rad(si) m ramt id >> leot id parameter limits data retention 20 years tid 4 × 104 rad (si) seu >1 × 102 m ev ·cm 2 mg sel >8.4 × 101 m ev ·cm 2 mg access time 3.5 × 10−8 s ecc 7 bits of parity per 64 bits h field tolerance 8 × 103 a m table 2: properties of everspin mram (everspin, 2017) (heidecker, 2013) (zhang et al., 2018). table 2 shows the properties of everspin mram. mram lasts for 20 years within a temperature range of −40◦c to 85◦c (everspin, 2017). furthermore, mram has a tid of 4 × 104 rad (si) (zhang et al., 2018). mram’s tid of 4 × 104 rad (si) is far greater than the required tid of 2.825×103 rad (si) calculated in eqn. (1). as a result of a large tid tolerance, mram survives the radiation in leo. in spite of mram’s tid being overkill, mram is the only component that has a 50 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 known tid and costs less than $40 usd. other components such as fram, nand flash, and nor flash have unknown tids. on the other hand, 5962h9853702vxc-ctest and hxnv01600aen have tids of 1×106 rad (si) but cost $4000 and $5100 respectively. mram has virtually unlimited read/write endurance as mram does not wear out. mram’s access time of 3.5 × 10−8 s matches mcu’s sdram’s access time. mram’s seu is greater than > 1 × 102 m ev ·cm 2 mg (heidecker, 2013). therefore, mram tolerates seus. mram mitigates bit flips caused by seus as mram has high seu tolerance. seus determines the bit error rate (ber) of memory. ber is important for mram as ber is used to determine the total number of bits errors over a time period. using ber from heidecker’s (2013) study, the total number of bit errors was calculated below for 4mb mram over 7.3 × 102 days (2 years). total number of bit errors shows the mram’s data integrity. note: an upset is a bit error. let pupset = probability of an upset per bit day pupset = 1 × 10−10 upsets bit · day let p = probability of an upset for 1 bit in 7.3 × 102 days p = 1 × 10−10 upsets bit · day × 7.3 × 102days × 1bit p = 7.3 × 10−8upsets calculations below show a pdf of bit errors for a 4mb mram with parity bits. let n = number of bits in memory let k = number of corrupted bits let f = binomial distribution n = 3.55 × 107bits f = ( n k ) pk(1 − p)n −k (2) 51 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 figure 2: pdf of error in mram’s 4mb memory in 730 days. figure 2 shows the binomial distribution of bit errors generated from eqn. (2). mean bit errors are 2 bits over 7.3 × 102 days. as a result of low bit errors, mram fully corrects the bit errors. this results in zero bit errors when mram is turned on. however, there is a case where mram is turned off. during rocket launch, mram is powered off for 1 day. when mram is turned off, mram cannot correct bit errors until mram is turned back on. mram’s ecc uses 7 bits of parity for every 64 bits (everspin, 2017). mram’s ecc recovers a 1 bit error in a 71 bit block. mram’s ecc protects against single bit flips caused by radiation. the calculations below show the probability of failure when mram is turned off for 1 day. the probability of failure determines the data’s integrity during rocket launch. let p = probability of an upset for 1 bit in 1 day p = 1 × 10−10 upsets bit · day × 1day × 1bit p = 1 × 10−10upsets let n = number of bits per block n = 71bits used eqn. (2) to solve for the probability p71bits when k > 1. let p71bits = probability of ecc not correcting bit errors in 71 bits in 1 day p71bits = f(k > 1) p71bits = 6.66 × 10−16 there are 5 × 105 blocks of 71 bits for the total memory capacity (4 mb). n = 5 × 105blocks used eqn. (2) to solve for the probability p4m b when k > 0. 52 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 let p4m b = probability of ecc not correcting bit errors in 4mb in 1 day p4m b = f(k > 0) p4m b = 3.33 × 10−10 the probability of failure when mram is turned off for 1 day is p4m b = 3.33 × 10−10. as a consequence of a small probability of failure, mram’s ecc repairs the bit errors caused by radiation. in conclusion, mram’s ecc preserves data integrity during rocket launch. implemented microcontroller design a mcu is required to control the cubesat. tms570 is a mcu series (texas instruments, 2016). tms570 is low-cost as tms570 costs around $60 usd (digikey_tms570, 2018). tms570 is inexpensive when compared to other mcus such as $950 va10820 (mouser_va10820, 2018) and $2900 msp430fr5969-sp (mouser_msp430fr5969, 2018). tms570 uses dual lockstep cpus. the dual lockstep cpus are identical. each cpu on the tms570 independently executes the exact same instruction. if the exact same instruction produces different results, then both cpus will re-execute the instruction again. dual lockstep cpus protect against seus as they prevent incorrect computations. tms570 also has efuses with parity bits. in efuses, hardwired fuses store data. efuses protect against radiation as radiation cannot damage fuses. tms570 also has self testing capabilities to detect errors in hardware. at boot-up, the tms570 checks each built-in module. self testing enables the tms570 to troubleshoot errors inflight. tms570 operates within a temperature range of −40◦c to 125◦c, thus satisfying the temperature requirements. triumf is a particle accelerator used for radiation testing. radiation testing at triumf determined the tms570’s tid of 5 × 103 rad (si). therefore, tms570 survives the required tid of 2.825 × 103 rad (si). on the other hand, va10820 and msp430fr5969-sp have tids of 3 × 105 rad (si) and 5 × 104 rad (si) respectively. va10820 and msp430fr5969-sp have larger tids, but they cost more than the tms570. the tms570’s 4mb internal memory is used for program data and the boot loader. moreover, tms570’s internal memory uses 64/72 bit hamming for ecc. tms570’s ecc corrects 1 bit for every 72 bits. during rocket launch, tms570 is powered off for 1 day. when tms570 is turned off, tms570 cannot correct bit errors until tms570 is turned back on. the calculations below are for the probability of bit errors when tms570 is turned off for 1 day. the bit errors determine tms570’s data integrity during rocket launch. let h = number of hours let p = the probability of error in a bit let n = number of bits let k = number of corrupted bits let f = binomial distribution p = 1 − e−h(9.0813×10 −6) (3) n = 72bits h = 24hours let p72bits = probability of ecc not correcting bit errors larger than 1 bit error for 72 bits n = 79blocks p72bits = f(k > 1) 53 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 figure 3: pdf of error in 72 bits in 24 hours. p72bits = 1.2 × 10−4 figure 3 shows the probability of ecc not correcting bit errors larger than 1 bit error for 72 bits. bit error calculations used eqn. (2) and eqn. (3) (hussmann, 2016). the bit error probability is very low as p72bits = 1.2 × 10−4. the boot-loader is a critical piece of software. if radiation corrupts the boot-loader then the entire cubesat is useless. therefore, the probability of error for the boot-loader is calculated below using eqn. (2). the boot-loader uses 5000 bits or 79 blocks of tms570’s internal memory. each block has 72 bits. the probability of error determines boot-loader’s survivability during rocket launch. let p5000bits = probability of error in 5000 bits p5000bits = f (k > 0) p5000bits = 9.4 × 10−3 the probability of error in the boot-loader during launch is p5000bits = 9.4×10−3. as the probability of error is small, the boot-loader is safe from corruption during rocket launch. aside from the boot-loader, tms570 also stores program data. program data is susceptible to radiation during rocket launch. therefore, bit errors in the program data will be analyzed below. bit errors for tms570’s 4mb memory are calculated below using eqn. (2) and eqn. (3). the bit errors determine percentage of corrupted regions in the program data. h = 24hours p = 7.3 × 10−8 54 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 n = 3.6 × 107bits figure 4: pdf of tms570’s 4mb memory with parity in 24 hours. figure 4 shows the bit errors for the tm570’s 4mb memory during a 24 hour period. standard deviation is 55 bit errors and the mean is 7860 bit errors. due to large bit errors in the tm570’s 4mb memory, a file system is needed to mitigate the bit errors. the file system design is found in the software design section. implemented software design in addition to the hardware, software also mitigates radiation. tms570 uses freertos, a lightweight and modular rtos. freertos handles task scheduling, interrupt scheduling, memory allocation, and hardware driver management. for task and interrupt scheduling, freertos allows preemptions and static memory allocations, which increase the timing accuracy of tasks and interrupts. freertos allows the obc to react faster to faults and errors. furthermore, freertos uses a round robin scheduler to control the execution of tasks. for each task with the same priority, the tasks receive the same cpu execution times. along with tasks, interrupts are used to warn the mcu of high priority tasks. for example, if the battery system is running out of energy then an interrupt fires. after the interrupt fires, the mcu focuses solely on the interrupt and turns off certain systems to conserve energy. as freertos manages memory allocation, freertos runs directly on the mram instead of the tms570’s internal memory. running on the mram reduces bit errors caused by radiation. figure 5: bit arrangement in the modified queue system. 55 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 queues in freertos are used for interprocess communications between different tasks. for example, one task sends sensor data to a buffer queue. another task receives sensor data from the buffer queue and processes the sensor data. moreover, queues have built-in mutexes to eliminate race conditions between tasks. however, the default queues in freertos are not very robust. therefore, the default queues will be modified. figure 5 shows the features of the modified queue system. each queue element stores an 8 bit cyclic redundancy check (crc8). crc8 verifies the element’s data integrity as crc8 detects up to 8 bit errors in a element. if crc8 detects a corrupted element, then the element is discarded. the 8 bit message id represents the sensor’s label. for example, sensor 1 will have a message id of 1. sensor 5 will have a message id of 5. message id enables the receiving task to distinguish between sensors. messages also have time stamps associated with them. time stamps take up to 64 bits and are measured in seconds and microseconds. a time stamp determines the sample time of the data. file systems protect against data corruption as radiation corrupts data. the file system uses bose chaudhuri hocquenghem (bch) codes (chien, 1964), a type of ecc. bch codes protect the data by encoding the data. in the file system, data is placed into blocks. bch codes encode each data block. each encoded block contains parity bits. parity bits are copies of the original data. when an encoded block gets corrupted, bch codes recover the original data using the parity bits in the encoded block. as a consequence, bch codes repair the errors caused by radiation. thus, bch codes protect against radiation. moreover, bch codes allow designers to determine the number of bits the bch codes recovers. for every mt parity bits in a bch code, the bch code recovers up to t bits. the bch code requires calculations to determine the optimal number of mt parity bits. if mt is too small, then the file system cannot recover from bit errors. if mt is too large, then the parity bits take up too much space. calculations below determine the optimal number of mt parity bits for the tms570’s 4mb memory. calculations assume the file system has 4095 bit blocks with a scrubbing period of 6 hours. let n = number of bits in a block let h = scrubbing period in hours let m = minimal polynomial over the field gf (qm) let p = probability of a bit flip let f = binomial distribution let t = number of recoverable bit errors in a block let r = number of parity bits in the block m = 12 n = 2m − 1 n = 212 − 1 = 4095 h = 6hours using eqn. (3). the probability of one bit flip in 6 hours is calculated. p = 5.448 × 10−5 using eqn. (2) to create a function for every t input there is a p4095bits output. let p4095bits = probability of error in a 4095 bit block p4095bits = f (k > t) 56 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 let n = number of 4095 bit blocks in tms570’s 4mb memory n = 7815 using eqn. (2) again for the total probability of error in tms570’s 4mb memory. let perror = total probability of error in the entire tms570’s 4mb memory perror = f (k > 0) figure 6: probability of error vs number of t bits in tms570’s 4mb memory. figure 6 shows the probability of error in tms570’s 4mb memory vs number of t bits. for the probability of error perror < 10−10, select t = 9 bits. the m = 12 is determined by the minimal polynomial over the field gf (qm). r = mt r = 12 × 9bits = 108bits therefore, the file system requires r = 108 parity bits for perror < 10−10. bch code recovers up to t = 9 bit errors for every 4095 bit block in the tms570’s 4mb memory. the optimal number of parity bits for mram’s 4mb memory was calculated below. furthermore, the scrubbing period was changed to h = 24hours. the probability of one bit flip for mram is changed to p = 10−10. other parameters remained the same. h = 24hours p = 10−10 figure 7 shows probability of error in mram’s 4mb memory vs number of t bits. for an error probability of perror < 10−10, select t = 2 bits. r = 12 × 2bits = 24bits therefore, the file system requires r = 24 parity bits for perror < 10−10. bch code recovers up to t = 2 bit errors for every 4095 bit block in mram’s 4mb memory. 57 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 figure 7: probability of error vs number of t bits in mram’s 4mb memory. implemented watchdog design figure 8: layers of watchdogs on the obc. the space environment causes many faults in ics. however, watchdogs mitigate the faults by restarting ics. thus, watchdogs increase the reliability of the obc. tms570 has, tpl5010-q1, a dedicated external hardware watchdog is shown in figure 8. at $2 usd (digikey_tpl5010, 2018), tpl5010-q1 is low-cost. tpl5010-q1 functions within a temperature range of −40◦c to 125◦c and is vibration resistant. tms570 periodically sends done signals to tpl5010-q1. tpl5010-q1 will force a power reset on the tms570 if tpl5010-q1 does not receive a done signal. tpl5010-q1 ensures the tms570 recovers from faults. moreover, tms570 has a built-in windowed watchdog. the windowed watchdog monitors freertos for a done signal and will force a cold reboot on the 58 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 tms570 if it does not receive a done signal. the windowed watchdog adds redundancy to the watchdog setup. furthermore, a software watchdog monitors the individual tasks in freertos. the software watchdog activates periodically. when the software watchdog activates, the software watchdog checks the tasks’ time stamps. each task has a time stamp, which contains the last time the task fed the software watchdog. if a task’s time stamp is not within the time interval, then the task will be restarted. restarting a task clears the previous state and memory of the task. thus, the software watchdog increases reliability of each individual task. beningo (2010) shows the probabilities of watchdogs successfully recovering from faults. calculations below show the probabilities of success for the entire watchdog system. the probabilities of success for recovering from a fault quantify the reliability of the obc. let p (ew dg) = probability of external hardware watchdog successfully recovering from a fault let p (w w dg) = probability of windowed watchdog successfully recovering from a fault let p (sw dg) = probability of software watchdog successfully recovering from a fault p (ew dg) = 0.85 p (w w dg) = 0.85 p (sw dg) = 0.7 let p (ew dg ∪ w w dg) = probability of external hardware watchdog or windowed watchdog successfully recovering from a fault p (ew dg ∪ w w dg) = p (ew dg) + p (w w dg)− p (w w dg) · p (ew dg) p (ew dg ∪ w w dg) = 0.9775 let p (ew dg ∪ w w dg ∪ sw dg) = probability of external hardware watchdog or windowed watchdog or software watchdog successfully recovering from a fault p (ew dg ∪ w w dg ∪ sw dg) = p (ew dg ∪ w w dg) + p (sw dg) −p (ew dg ∪ w w dg) · p (sw dg) p (ew dg ∪ w w dg ∪ sw dg) = 0.9933 each task in freertos has a probability of at least p (ew dg ∪ w w dg ∪ sw dg) = 0.9933 for successfully recovering from a fault. the probability of a failure is very low as there are many layers of watchdogs. as there many seus per hour in leo, layers of watchdogs ensure the obc will survive throughout the mission duration. conclusion cubesats are a low-cost alternative to full-sized satellites. as all cubesats have a payload, an obc is required to execute the payload. a single obc has a mcu and some memory. moreover, the obc is built using cots components as they are readily available and are cheap. however, cots components are less tolerant to radiation, temperature, and vibrations when compared to space grade components. on the other hand, this paper presents hardware and software solutions to the problems. cots components such as mr4a16bcma35, tms570, and tpl5010-q1 were chosen for the obc. these cots components have a higher tolerance to radiation, temperature, and vibrations. moreover, these components are low-cost as they cost $60, $40, and $2 respectively. 59 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 the mr4a16bcma35 stores the program data and the sensor data. mr4a16bcma35’s tid of 4×104 rad (si) is larger than the required tid of 2.825×103 rad (si). therefore, mr4a16bcma35 survives the radiation in leo. obc also uses tms570, a mcu for cubesat control. tms570 has dual lockstep cpus which protect against seus. moreover, tms570’s tid of 5 × 103 rad (si) meets the required tid of 2.825 × 103 rad (si). software solutions were also developed with the hardware solutions. a file system was designed to protect the data from radiation damage. in conclusion, these solutions can be used to increase the reliability of spacecraft and could be applied to radioactive environments. 60 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818386 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(2018, jul 04). total ionizing dose and synergistic effects of magnetoresistive random-access memory. nuclear science and techniques, 29 (8), 111. retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-018-0451-8 doi: 10.1007/s41365 -018-0451-8 62 https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/7385 https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/7385 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2007/all2007/69/ https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2007/all2007/69/ https://www.mouser.com/productdetail/texas-instruments/m4fr5969sphpt-mls?qs=sgaepimzzmve4%2fbfqkoj%252bozwebft%2ftfazi%252bwbzpt8ye%3d https://www.mouser.com/productdetail/texas-instruments/m4fr5969sphpt-mls?qs=sgaepimzzmve4%2fbfqkoj%252bozwebft%2ftfazi%252bwbzpt8ye%3d https://www.mouser.com/productdetail/vorago/va10820-cq128f0eca?qs=sgaepimzzms1xdpsgahjwl3enhgfvzn1nmczhcpygu8%3d https://www.mouser.com/productdetail/vorago/va10820-cq128f0eca?qs=sgaepimzzms1xdpsgahjwl3enhgfvzn1nmczhcpygu8%3d http://outgassing.nasa.gov https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss.2015.7326023 https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss.2015.7326023 http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tms570lc4357.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?r=20160006374 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?r=20160006374 https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-018-0451-8 references the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019458 the journey of ȼelástenot ȼelástenot (bonnie seward) university of victoria bonnieseward12@gmail.com ȼelástenot tŧe ne sná ćse lá,e sen eṯ w̱sáneć. ȼelástenot is my traditionalname and i am from w̱sáneć (saanich) territory located in the southern part of what is nowknown as vancouver island in british columbia, canada. i have connections to the senćoŧen language through my mother’s territory in w̱sáneć and to the hul’q’umi’num language through my father’s territory in cowichan (duncan, bc). both are coast salish languages. senćoŧen and hul’q’umi’num, along with most first nations languages, were passed orally from generation to generation and hold our history, stories, and teachings. my love for both languages comes from each of my grandparents, my heroes who spoke senćoŧen and hul’q’umi’num as their first languages. i want my mom, my children, and my family to speak our languages like our ancestors did. currently, i am in my last semester of the w̱,senćoŧen ist language revitalization program at the university of victoria. this program is designed to help revitalize the senćoŧen language and develop teachers to build the senćoŧen immersion program in our ƚáu,welṉew̱ tribal school. i began my own senćoŧen language learning journey in 1988, when my family moved from cowichan to w̱sáneć territory. my maternal grandma would speak the language with us grandchildren, though she rarely used full sentences. she would often tell us “ewe” (meaning “no”) when we would run into the house telling her tall tales about what we thought were ghosts or mystical animals outside. she would say, “you’re such a spex,” which meant “you’re full of it.” because my parents did not speak the language in our home, i only heard different words here and there growing up. i know that deep down my mother and my late father wanted to learn their true languages, but, due to the legacy of residential and catholic day schools, they could not bring themselves to learn their languages. before my father went in for heart surgery and passed away in 2018, he talked about the dreams he was having about his elders visiting him and speaking hul’q’umi’num to him. his goal was to sit with his cousin and learn again. the direction that was given to him was to teach the young people the important ways of life he was taught. my father grew up with his great-grandparents who only spoke hul’q’umi’num. until the age of four, hul’q’umi’num was his first language. years later, i could see the frustration he felt as an adult watching some of his cousins speak the language and knowing that his first language was beaten out of him when he was at the catholic day school. my mother grew up hearing the senćoŧen language but, because of my great-grandfather and late grandmother’s experiences while attending the residential school, she would not teach her children the senćoŧen language. my mother and her ten siblings were not taught because my grandma did not want them to experience any beatings for speaking senćoŧen. i want to be a part of giving them healing by returning to our teachings, traditions, and worldview as w̱sáneć people and by speaking senćoŧen. my family has suffered silently for so long, feeling ashamed for speaking the language that connects us to every part of who we are as wilnew (indigenous) people. i attended the ƚáu,welṉew̱ tribal school from 1988 to 1993, where i continued to be exposed to the language. the elders in our community worked very hard to apply for funding to build a school of our own, where our senćoŧen language, history, and culture could be revitalized. this school grew to have elders from our communities coming in and teaching the children the senćoŧen language and our ways of life. when i started attending the ƚáu,welṉew̱ tribal school, there were just one or two language teachers for the whole school. i was able to learn the basic vocabulary and sounds of the 9 mailto:bonnieseward12@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019458 alphabet, but there was not yet an immersion program implemented at that time. when i was a teenager, i felt connected to our senćoŧen language through my elders. when i was surrounded by them physically to learn the language, i could fully engage in our culture and traditions. i would listen to conversations between my paternal grandparents, who were fluent hul’q’umi’num speakers. i always felt a stronger connection between them when they spoke to one another in the language about family connections, teachings, and the future. when they would try to translate, i knew that what did not make sense in english would mean more in hul’q’umi’num. oftentimes, they would talk back and forth in hul’q’umi’num to discuss ways to explain the teachings or family connections in english. my paternal grandfather always spoke about the younger generation losing the way of life because of the loss of the language. he would say, “they [young people] are always in a rush and think they know it all!” i knew he was speaking indirectly at us grandchildren, including my siblings, my cousins, and me. he observed the overall respect for each other and our cultural practices diminishing in the community and in our traditional longhouses, which are places for our cultural practices, a place to heal and teach about the traditional ways of life. my grandfather’s wish was to have someone to pass down the language to who could take over speaking at our traditional gatherings. later in her life, my maternal grandmother became a language teacher/mentor to members of the w̱sáneć community. she found the strength to push past her fear for the young people of being hurt or punished for speaking the language and was asked to join the language revitalization group that taught language classes at the new ƚáu,welṉew̱ tribal school. her everyday life was living and breathing culture and tradition—longhouse, slahal (a traditional guessing game played with bones in which each team sings songs to make the game more exciting) tournaments, and various ceremonies year round. i was always fascinated by her vast knowledge of our cultural way of life. it was always fascinating for me to watch her prepare and guide my aunts, uncles, and older cousins when our communities were getting ready to gather for ceremonies or slahal tournaments. when i was in my early twenties, i did not feel ready to decide what career path i wanted to take. i thought i would find the perfect time to go back to school, slow down, and learn our language. twice, i made attempts to go back to school, but i struggled to find a program close to home that worked with my home life. ten years after these attempts to return to school, followed by the loss of my grandparents and recent loss of my father, my path has led me back to my roots, to where i began my senćoŧen journey when i was eight years old. now, my dream is to graduate from the w̱,senćoŧen ist program, continue on to the bachelors of education in indigenous language revitalization program at the university of victoria, and begin to teach my mom, siblings, and family senćoŧen. the time i have spent in the w̱,senćoŧen ist program— learning each word of senćoŧen, being out on the lands of our w̱sáneć people, and listening to creation stories—has changed my worldview drastically. this is what i want for my family. i want each of them to take back their power through the language. i want to give the light of life and healing to our whole family through senćoŧen. i feel that each year the senćoŧen programs will grow and, as more of the children and youth strive for cultural connection, we will see a thriving senćoŧen speaking w̱sáneć community. we will unite as one and speak our language once again. 10 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 the sweet sounds of syntax: music, language, and the investigation of hierarchical processing lee whitehorne∗ university of victoria lwhitey@uvic.ca abstract language and music are uniquely human faculties, defined by a level of sophistication found only in our species. the ability to productively combine contrastive units of sound, namely words in language and notes in music, underlies much of the vast communicative and expressive capacities of these systems. though the intrinsic rules of syntax in language and music differ in many regards, they both lead to the construction of complex hierarchies of interconnected, functional units. much research has examined the overlap, distinction, and general neuropsychological nature of syntax in language and music but, in comparison to the psycholinguistic study of sentence processing, musical structure has been regarded at a coarse level of detail, especially in terms of hierarchical dependencies. the current research synthesizes recent ideas from the fields of generative music theory, linguistic syntax, and neurolinguistics to outline a more detailed, hierarchy-based methodology for investigating the brain’s processing of structures in music. keywords: music cognition; music perception; syntax; generative grammar; structural processing language and music are highly sophisticated and uniquely human faculties (jackendoff, 2009;lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983; patel, 2007). one of the fundamental elements that distinguisheshuman language from other forms of animal communication is the near-endless human capacity to recombine units of meaning and grammatical function in novel ways to meet our communicative and expressive needs. we group words into abstract, conceptual categories—our nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech—and assemble them based on implicit rules known by the native speakers of a given language. similar structural patterns have also been noted in music, though the communicative ability, sonic properties, and categorization within that domain are vastly different from those of language. put in general terms, both domains feature the combination of discrete sound units into much larger forms. of course, relationships between units in either domain are not of a purely sequential nature. connections are instead formed between events of relative structural importance or function, creating complex hierarchies based on rules known implicitly by the listener (jackendoff, 2009; lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983; patel, 2007). as demonstrated in figure 1, these hierarchical dependencies can occur between non-adjacent units in both language and music, even at large distances, and are essential for understanding incompatibilities in a given sequence. a ready analogue to sentence structure in music comes from tonal relations—systems of musical keys, modes, and harmonies, as described by western musical theory—found across expansive musical passages or even whole pieces. the examples given in figure 1 illustrate how the final unit of each sequence (the main verb in the linguistic examples and the final chord in the musical ones) is dependent on a unit at the beginning of the sequence, rather than those directly adjacent to it. in the linguistic examples, this unit is ∗i would like to extend a great thanks to dr. martha mcginnis for involving me in this research and for organizing a budding music and syntax lab. i am also very grateful to our other interdisciplinary lab members (christy, isabel, and juan) and our many guests for their ongoing support, encouragement, and fresh perspectives. this research was supported by a 2018–2019 jamie cassels undergraduate research award. 36 mailto:lwhitey@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 the sentence subject “the dogs.” in the musical examples, the first chord acts as the tonal centre, the most stable or consonant harmony (or single pitch, in other cases) in the sequence which all other events are related back to. figure 1 also demonstrates how such relationships in either domain can be represented through the use of tree diagrams, with more structurally important connections effectively occurring higher in a given tree, though the intricacies of how these given analyses were reached will not be made explicit at this point. how, then, does the brain parse acoustic input and assemble that information into the proposed hierarchies? the purpose of the research described here is to look deeper into the structures underlying music and language, and to develop new ways of investigating their cognitive foundations. figure 1: long-distance dependencies in language and music. a noun in the subject separated from a compatible (above) or incompatible (below) verb by a relative clause; analogous musical sequences with in-key (above) and out-of-key (below) final chords. the generative power of syntax, responsible for much of the generative power of language itself, has already invited much empirical inquiry that has examined the exact nature of what mechanisms and processes in the human brain allow such a feature to manifest. by varying the content of both target sentences and musical passages, for example, experimental studies have observed the effects of structural differences on neural processing (maidhof & koelsch, 2011). results have suggested facilitation of behavioural responses from structural priming in congruent sequences (i.e., when words or chords fit into their preceding contexts) and response inhibition from structural violations (i.e., semantically unrelated words or dissonant chords) (wright & garrett, 1984). some have also documented the neural activity related to those events (koelsch, gunter, friederici, & schröger, 2000; koelsch, rohrmeier, torrecuso, & jentschke, 2013; loui, grent-’t-jong, torpey, & woldorff, 2005). though these findings inform much of what we understand about syntax and the brain, their methodologies typically adopt linear representations of the structures in question, falling short of the explicit degree of hierarchical detail defined by theories of both linguistic syntax and musical structure, not to mention neuropsychological experiments that have tested said models within the language domain (ding, melloni, zhang, tian, & poeppel, 2015; lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983). this article outlines a movement toward hierarchy-centred methodologies for studying structural processing of music. previous approaches to musical structure will be reviewed from both the experimental and theoretical literature, illustrating some useful parallels from the investigation of linguistic syntax. from those foundations, a new methodology for defining musical hierarchies is 37 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 outlined and demonstrated, resulting in the creation of a novel, hierarchy-based stimulus paradigm. potential experimental applications for this paradigm are then outlined, as well as further possible directions for this vein of research. past investigations of hierarchical processing musical stucture previous attempts at studying the processing of hierarchies in music have focused on relations to a tonal centre, or whether a musical event is heard as belonging to an overarching key or not (koelsch et al., 2000; koelsch, fritz, schulz, alsop, & schlaug, 2005; koelsch et al., 2013; loui et al., 2005). many have used stimulus paradigms composed of five-chord sequences, manipulating target chords in terms of their harmonic congruence (i.e., chords heard as more consonant or dissonant within a given context) (koelsch et al., 2000; koelsch et al., 2005; loui et al., 2005). long-distance dependencies have also been examined on a larger scale, through modulating sections of a complete musical piece away from an established tonal area (koelsch et al., 2013). both stimulus approaches have revealed predictable neural responses to unexpected (or less stable) harmonic events, providing some physiological indicators of hierarchical dependencies. for example, a number of studies have observed brain activity, an early right anterior negativity (eran), in response to structural violations in music (i.e., incongruent chords) that resembles an analogous early left anterior negativity (elan) found in language processing, though with slightly different timing and localization (koelsch et al., 2005; koelsch et al., 2013; loui et al., 2005; maidhof & koelsch, 2011). acknowledging that these studies provide some evidence for non-adjacent dependencies between events in music (i.e., belonging to a shared musical key), they fall short of defining these structural relationships in much detail, especially when compared to linguistic approaches described in the next section (madell & hébert, 2008). looking to linguistic syntax a notable approach to the issue of hierarchy-building in language looked at online processing of these relationships over time, comparing patterns of brain activity across the duration of differently structured linguistic expressions (ding et al., 2015). mandarin words were grouped into intermediate levels of syntactic structure (noun and verb phrases—nps and vps) and combined to form four-word sentences. these sequences were then presented auditorily to participants without any audible pauses or breaks between the groupings. the peaks of brain activity observed in participants were ultimately correlated with the time course of those phrase-level syntactic constituents, not just at the word and sentence levels. these results suggest a neural basis for the fine-grained hierarchies that have long been central to theories of linguistic syntax. this approach was also particularly innovative for its investigation of hierarchical processing using grammatical linguistic sequences, in contrast to violation-based approaches analogous to those outlined in the previous section on musical processing (koelsch et al., 2000; koelsch et al., 2005; loui et al., 2005; maidhof & koelsch, 2011). in other experiments, lexical decision tasks have also demonstrated the effect of different types of phrase-level contexts on the judgment time of a target word (wright & garrett, 1984). by manipulating grammatical intermediate-level constructions and not simply individual events, these approaches suggest some potential directions for exploring analogous types of structure in music. the adaptation of these psycholinguistic approaches to a musical domain does raise some key issues, however. for one, the grammatical categories that define phrase-level constituents in language have no clear parallel in music (jackendoff, 2009; lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983; patel, 2007). though 38 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 recent research suggests that listeners may group similar chords into functional categories based on the predictable contexts they appear in, it remains unclear whether nouns and verbs have counterparts in music (goldman, jackson, & sajda, 2018). additionally, though a word placed unexpectedly in the context of a sentence may categorically violate our intrinsic grammatical expectations, even highly-marked deviants within a musical sequence (e.g., unexpected or unfamiliar harmonies) may find resolution through integration with the following context (lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983). this illustrates the importance of relative stability between events in music, in contrast to the more categorical rules of grammaticality found in language. acknowledging these differences, neural imaging and electrophysiological studies have still demonstrated that our brain at least responds to differences of structural congruency in analogous—however distinct—ways in both music and language (koelsch et al., 2005; koelsch et al., 2013; loui et al., 2005; maidhof & koelsch, 2011; patel, 2007; rogalsky, rong, saberi, & hickok, 2011). therefore, in order to better examine the hierarchical nature of musical structure, those structural relationships must be precisely defined, yet understood in cognitively realistic terms appropriate to the musical domain. a generative approach to musical hierarchies looking toward the theoretical literature, lerdahl and jackendoff’s generative theory of tonal music (1983), or gttm, describes a unique and rigorous approach to analyzing musical structures, applying concepts from the fields of linguistic syntax, musical theory, and cognitive science to formulate a universally applicable theory of musical grammar. in addition to serving as a tool for analysis, however, this theory could help guide new experimental methodologies for investigating hierarchical processing. building in part on ideas developed by the early twentieth-century music theorist heinrich schenker, gttm culminates in a system for reducing musical works to their key prolongational relationships, the implied continued “hearing” of important and stable musical events while the musical surface (the actual notes being heard) morphs and diverges. prolongation can be observed as the sense of “tensing” and “relaxing” a listener experiences when they listen to a piece of music or, alternately, the expectation of certain important musical events to return, and the eventual resolution (or lack thereof) when that return occurs (or fails to do so). this sense of expectation and resolution (or diversion) between non-adjacent constituents can also be found in language processing and, most importantly, found rooted in syntactic structure (patel, 2007; wright & garrett, 1984). transitivity in verbs, for example, can strongly suggest the continuation of a sentence, as found in a sequence like “he gave his sister. . . ”. use of the verb “gave” in this case demands both a direct and indirect object will be present, producing an effect of anticipation in a listener (or reader) as the sentence unfolds a second object or trails off, incomplete. prolongation in music is ultimately described by lerdahl and jackendoff (1983) through explicit hierarchical structures, with all musical events related through recursive branching from events of greater stability, known as prolongational “heads”; less stable events are considered to be “elaborations” of the prolongational heads they branch from. this principle of “headedness” within the prolongational analytical system creates another key parallel with theories of linguistic syntax, many of which also assume head-based hierarchies (lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983; patel, 2007). prolongational heads will be discussed in greater detail in later sections. gttm defines a set of generative rules for analyzing prolongational structures, based on principles of well-formedness (requirements underpinning their analytical approach) and principles of preference (inherent tendencies of the listener to prefer certain potential analyses over others). the well-formedness rules specify all of the possible analyses that could be applied to specific musical passages, without consideration of which analysis would be deemed most correct based on a listener’s 39 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 implicit musical knowledge. as a brief clarification, lerdahl and jackendoff’s (1983) use of the term “well-formedness” in this manner may unfortunately cause some confusion, as the “well-formedness” of a linguistic element generally refers to how well it obeys the specific grammatical rules of a given language. idiomatic musical features are instead represented through the preference rules, further emphasizing the more-gradient and less-categorical nature of musical grammaticality, as discussed earlier. preference rules independently take into account how musical events are perceptually grouped together, as well as how regular metrical patterns (i.e., beats, pulses) are analyzed in the music, integrating these systems together to optimally describe the relative structural importance of the musical piece, referred to in gttm as time-span segmentation and reduction. perceptual groupings, metrical patterns, and time-span structures are all represented as explicit hierarchical relationships, defined through lerdahl and jackendoff’s generative rules, though only the time-span and prolongational systems form headed structures in a way that parallels linguistic syntax. as the ultimate result of prolongational reduction, all musical events in a piece are proposed to be related through either strong prolongation (an exact repetition of an event’s harmonic content), weak prolongation (repetition of pitch content but with harmonic roots—the bass and melody notes—on different pitches within the harmony, known as inversion in western music theory) or progression (changes in harmonic content and different pitch classes). these different types of elaboration are illustrated in figure 2. figure 2: three possible elaborations of a c major chord: a strong prolongation (left, indicated with an open circle node), a weak prolongation (centre, indicated with a closed circle node), and a progression (right). much as with linguistic syntax, the resulting analyses can be represented using both linear and tree diagrams. this fine-grained approach to analyzing hierarchical structures provides the necessary theoretical background for developing a new experimental approach, which is outlined in the following section. developing a new paradigm gttm as a framework for constructing hierarchical structures to investigate the nature of hierarchical processing of music, the structures of any experimental stimuli should be explicitly defined and then manipulated. lerdahl and jackendoff’s (1983) systems of time-span and prolongational reduction provide a clear, rule-based framework for creating these structures. in fact, both systems mutually influence the analyses of the other, as will become apparent later in this section. for the purposes of this article, the aspects of these systems relevant to analyzing short, isolated musical sequences (such as those used in experimental settings) will now be cursorily defined. the interpretation of the rules for this application also assumes features 40 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 idiomatic to the western classical music tradition, though lerdahl and jackendoff make clear where rules may vary between different musical traditions of the world. the choice of focusing on the western classical idiom here is based on overwhelming precedent in the experimental literature and familiarity for the author. all musical examples and figures that follow (including the circle of fifths diagram) were composed or constructed by the author for illustrative purposes. the rules of gttm before establishing prolongational relationships between events, the time-span importance of the musical events in question must be considered first. this analytical system takes input mostly from the independent analyses of grouping and metrical structures, the details of which will not be elaborated on here but are described thoroughly within gttm. time-span reduction involves “the segmentation of a piece into rhythmic units within which relative structural importance of pitch-events can be determined” (lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983). within any given time-span, one event (or one smaller time-span contained within the time-span in question) is chosen as the timespan “head,” the most structurally important event. a time-span head is chosen according to the following preference rules (time-span reduction preference rules, or tsrprs), paraphrased from lerdahl and jackendoff’s own proposals: 1. prefer a head on a strong beat. 2. prefer a head that is more intrinsically stable and/or closely related to the local tonic (most stable harmonic event). 3. weakly prefer a head with a higher melody or lower bass note. 4. if two time-spans appear to be parallel (comprised of very similar melodic, rhythmic, and/or structural patterns), prefer to assign them parallel heads. 5. prefer a head that results in a more stable metrical structure. 6. prefer a head that results in a more stable prolongational structure. 7. if a sequence of events forms a cadence at the end of the time-span, prefer the cadence to be labelled as the head. 8. if the time-span in question is at the beginning of a larger time-span, prefer a head that is close to the beginning of the time-span. one additional preference rule, tsrpr 9, is defined in gttm, though it is only relevant at the level of a complete musical piece and therefore not discussed here. when constructing experimental stimuli, these factors operate in a number of ways (relevant rules are indicated in parentheses). for short sequences of chords, little context will be available to establish metrical regularity. as illustrated in figure 3, listeners tend to group beats (i.e., chords) in twos or threes, dependent on the relative harmonic stability of the events (tsrpr 2) and the time-span analysis of the preceding context (tsrprs 4 and 5); the first beat of each group will also serve as a beat at the higher level of metrical structure (a “strong” beat) (lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983). the first beat of each chord sequence will be preferred as the time-span head (tsrprs 1, 5, and 8), though this can be subverted by decreasing its harmonic stability (tsrpr 2), as shown in figure 4. in general, root position triads are the most intrinsically consonant, becoming less consonant in different inversions and/or with the addition of extra pitches (e.g., adding the seventh 41 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 figure 3: time-span reduction of two simple chord sequences (top staves), represented using tree diagram notation (above) and musical staff notation (bottom staves). dots and brackets beneath the top staff represent different levels of metrical analysis (beats) and time-span segmentation, respectively. figure 4: time-span reduction of two simple chord sequences (top staves). though the first chord of each sequence contains the same pitch classes, the less stable inversion of that chord in the rightmost sequence leads to a markedly different time-span reduction. 42 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 to a dominant v chord). with that in consideration, the metrical analysis (and, consequently, the time-span analysis) can therefore be strongly influenced by the placement of these maximally consonant chords, as demonstrated by the contrast between the first two sequences in figure 5. conversely, a strongly consonant chord placed directly after an identical chord at the beginning of a sequence will likely have less time-span importance due to the preceding chord sounding like a stronger beat (tsrpr 1), as shown by the analysis of the third sequence in figure 5. finally, any cadential sequence at the end of a chord sequence, especially a dominant (v) to tonic (i) progression, will collectively be a more important time-span (tsrpr 7), as illustrated by figure 6. tsrpr 6, in this application, is automatically satisfied by the intentional selection of maximally stable prolongational structures to support an experimental design. figure 5: time-span reductions resulting from differing placements of root position triads. figure 6: two levels of time-span reduction for two similar chord sequences, the rightmost ending in a cadence. note the difference in analysis due to retention of the cadence in the time-span reduction. 43 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 like time-span reduction, prolongational reduction also segments a musical sequence, but into hierarchically-related regions that represent either an overall “tensing” or “relaxing,” “strongly influenced by the relative importance of events in the time-span reduction” (lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983). a prolongational head is chosen for each region, this time representing the most prolongationally stable event in that region. in a tree diagram representation of a prolongational reduction, an increase in tension over time is shown by right-branching elaborations, and a decrease in tension over time is shown by left-branching elaborations. the proposed prolongational reduction preference rules (prprs) for choosing a prolongational head are paraphrased as follows: 1. prefer a head which has a relatively high time-span importance. 2. prefer elaborations of more stable events within the same time-span, rather than across different time-spans. 3. prefer elaborations that form maximally stable connections with more stable events. 3.1. branching condition (see figure 7): a. right-branching elaborations are most stable if strong prolongations (exact repetitions) and least stable if progressions (different chords). b. left-branching elaborations are most stable if progressions, least stable if strong prolongations. 3.2. connections between events are more stable if common pitch collections are involved or implied (see figure 8). 3.3. melodic condition (see figure 9): a. connections are more stable if the melodic interval between them is smaller. b. ascending melodies are more stable as right-branching elaborations; descending melodies are more stable as left-branching elaborations. 3.4. harmonic condition (according to western classical common practice) (see figure 10): a. a. connections are more stable if chord roots are closer together on the circle of fifths (i.e., the number of stacked perfect fifth intervals needed to reach one pitch class from another, shown in figure 11). b. progressions ascending the circle of fifths are more stable as right-branching elaborations; progressions descending the circle of fifths are more stable as left-branching elaborations. 4. prefer elaborations of more prolongationally stable heads (see figure 12). 5. prefer parallel prolongational analyses for parallel sequences (those comprised of very similar melodic, rhythmic, and/or structural patterns). 44 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 figure 7: illustration of prpr 3.1 (branching condition), which prefers the given prolongation analyses based on the observed types of elaboration (i.e., prolongation vs. progression). the centre analysis remains ambiguous without more context. figure 8: illustration of prpr 3.2, which prefers connections between events that share a common pitch collection (pitches c and e between chords 1 and 2, pitches a and c between chords 2 and 3, and pitches f, a, and c between chords 3 and 4). figure 9: illustration of prpr 3.3 (melodic condition), which prefers the given prolongational analyses based on melodic direction and distance instead of harmonic factors. figure 10: illustration of prpr 3.4 (harmonic condition) which prefers the given prolongational analyses based on direction and distance between the middle two chord roots along the circle of fifths. 45 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 figure 11: the circle of fifths. figure 12: prolongational tree for a short chord sequence. though the last two chords are related through weak prolongation, they are both direct elaborations of the first chord due to its stability being greatest. 46 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 a sixth rule and so-called interaction principle are also described by lerdahl and jackendoff, but they are not relevant to the discussion here, based on the scope of the musical structures in question. for experimental design purposes, consideration of time-span importance is therefore quite important for creating a viable prolongational analysis (prpr 1 and 2). the other factors presented above can be overridden if presented in a certain time-span context, as illustrated by figure 13. otherwise, prprs 1 through 5 are somewhat independent and self explanatory. most structural manipulations are therefore dependent on relating events through weighting the various branching preferences. a specific application of these rules is described in the following section. figure 13: time-span tree (left) and two prolongational trees (centre, right) for a chord sequence. the branching condition of prpr 3 alone would suggest the second prolongational analysis, due to the relative stability of strong versus weak prolongations; consideration of time-span importance ultimately leads to adopting the first analysis, however. an example paradigm the current project involved developing a new stimulus paradigm for the experimental study of structural processing in music. sequences of four chords were composed following the four-word stimuli used by ding et al. (2015) for their neural investigation of sentence processing, as well as numerous five-chord paradigms used to investigate musical structure (koelsch et al., 2000; koelsch et al., 2005; loui et al., 2005). the first chord of each sequence functioned as the main prolongational head, asserted by placing a root position major chord in that position of unambiguously high time-span importance. each sequence varied in its underlying prolongational structure, representing every hierarchy combinatorially possible for that number of musical events with the first chord as prolongational head. as prescribed by gttm, this results in a total of twelve structures, without considering the different types of possible elaboration (prolongation vs. progression). with the first chord of each block serving as the prolongational head, the most stable event in the hierarchy, every other chord therefore acts as a recursive elaboration of that event. note that each chord sequence is to be presented audibly in an experimental setting with uniform duration, intensity, timbre, and articulation, minimizing the confounding impact of those elements on the grouping and metrical analyses of a given passage, which affects its time-span and, consequently, prolongational reductions. the prolongational relationships within this paradigm are therefore based primarily on pitch collection (whether notes are shared between two chords), register (inversion of harmonic roots and octave displacement), harmonic distance (based on the circle of fifths), and melodic conditions. for the current scope of this project, different stimuli were created for each type of elaboration possible for the final (target) chord, while the other chords were only elaborated to minimize prolongational ambiguity and held constant 47 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 when possible. nine additional sequences were added to represent certain hierarchies, varying their musical surface material in order to facilitate experimental counterbalancing. this resulted in a total of 45 blocks for the current paradigm, shown in figure 14 with prolongational analyses shown for each structure. moving forward experimental approaches as a next stage of the work reported here, an experiment has been designed to test the efficacy of this new hierarchy-based stimulus paradigm within a behavioural setting. participants will be presented with a block of the current four-chord sequences, representing a set of contrasting prolongational structures, and asked to judge whether two target chords of each sequence are the same or different as quickly as possible. this judgment task directly addresses the prolongational relationship between those two chords, but is also anticipated to expose priming effects from hierarchical dependencies present within the preceding context as well. the expectation created by these constructed prolongational relationships is hypothesized to affect judgment task reaction times, analogous to what has been observed in psycholinguistic lexical decision studies (wright & garrett, 1984). other four-chord paradigms could easily be developed for these applications as well, creating new hierarchies using the methodology described in the previous section. long-distance dependencies could also be investigated by expanding these principles to longer musical sequences, potentially using eye tracking of sight-reading performers as a novel experimental task (madell & hébert, 2008). a further application of these stimuli may be found in neural tracking experiments, investigating the processing of hierarchy-building in music. though much prior research has identified and studied the brain’s event-related potentials (erps) associated with unexpected harmonic events in a musical sequence (koelsch et al., 2000; koelsch et al., 2013; loui et al., 2005; maidhof & koelsch, 2011), the time-course approach taken by ding et al. (2015) serves as a promising framework for investigating different levels of musical hierarchy in the brain. the explicit structural dependencies in this new paradigm allow for a more precise manipulation of the phenomena to be tested and can help tease apart the different structural factors that together form our perception. non-western/classical musical idioms the paradigm designed for this project falls into a common but unfortunate trend found throughout music cognition and perception research: an exclusive focus on a musical idiom of the western european common-practice (classical) tradition (jackendoff, 2009; lerdahl & jackendoff, 1983; patel, 2007). though the neural mechanisms for processing musical structures may be shared across the human species, the various elements that comprise music—pitch, rhythm, timbre, and more—play different structural roles across cultures and traditions. the massive importance of harmony in western music, for example, is actually quite unique among the world’s musics. using the non-idiom-specific rules and abstract structural patterns described in gttm combined with the methodology developed here, however, it may be possible to develop new paradigms based on the musical vocabularies of other traditions. from there, we can better investigate how hierarchical structure is processed universally, as well as what neuropsychological effects different levels of familiarity with a musical idiom might create. 48 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 figure 14: an example experimental stimulus paradigm, with prolongational reduction tree diagrams. open circles at branching nodes indicate strong prolongation of final (target) chord (top rows); closed circles indicate weak prolongations (middle rows) and bare nodes indicate progressions (bottom rows). other elaboration types are not notated. 49 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 conclusion the parallel yet divergent natures of music and language create a rich foil for scientific comparison. beyond examining the cognitive and neurological underpinnings of these human faculties, however, researchers can also learn much from the theoretical and methodological approaches used in each opposing domain. by using a linguistically-informed cognitive theory of music and adapting a neurolinguistic experimental methodology for the musical domain, this article proposes new directions toward investigating structural processing in music, with a focus on how the brain constructs complex hierarchies from a stream of musical input. building on the basic framework outlined here, further approaches could better explore how hierarchical structures are processed in both music and language, how expertise in different musical traditions influences these systems, and how exactly the brain integrates the multitude of elements that form these complex constructions. 50 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918926 references ding, n., melloni, l., zhang, h., tian, x., & poeppel, d. (2015). cortical tracking of hierarchical linguistic structures in connected speech. nature neuroscience, 19, 158–164. https://doi.org/10.1038/no.4186 goldman, a., jackson, t., & sajda, p. (2018). improvisation experience predicts how musicians categorize musical structures. psychology of music, 0 (0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356 18779444 jackendoff, r. (2009). parallels and nonparallels between language and music. music perception: an interdisciplinary journal, 26 (3), 195–204. http://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2009.26.3.195 koelsch, s., gunter, t., friederici, a. d., & schröger, e. (2000). brain indices of music processing: “nonmusicians” are musical. journal of cognitive neuroscience, 12 (3), 520–541. http://doi.org/10.1162/089892900562183 koelsch, s., fritz, t., schulz, k., alsop, d., & schlaug, g. (2005). adults and children processing music: an fmri study. neuroimage, 25 (4), 1068–1076. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage. 2004.12.050 koelsch, s., rohrmeier, m., torrecuso, r., & jentschke, s. (2013). processing of hierarchical syntactic structure in music. proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america, 110 (38), 15443–15448. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1300272110 lerdahl, f., & jackendoff, r. s. (1983). a generative theory of tonal music. cambridge, ma: the mit press. loui, p., grent-‘t-jong, t., torpey, d., & woldorff, m. (2005). effects of attention on the neural processing of harmonic syntax in western music. cognitive brain research, 25 (3), 678–687. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.08.019 maidhof, c., & koelsch, s. (2011). effects of selective attention on syntax processing in music and language. journal of cognitive neuroscience, 23 (9), 2252–2267. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn. 2010.21542 madell, j., & hébert, s. (2008). eye movements and music reading: where do we look next? music perception, 26 (2), 157–170. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2008.26.2.157 patel, a. d. (2007). music, language and the brain. new york, ny: oxford university press. rogalsky, c., rong, f., saberi, k., & hickok, g. (2011). functional anatomy of language and music perception: temporal and structural factors investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging. journal of neuroscience, 31 (10), 3843–3852. https:doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.45 15-10.2011 wright, b., & garrett, m. (1984). lexical decision in sentences: effects of syntactic structure. memory & cognition, 12 (1), 31–45. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03196995 51 https://doi.org/10.1038/no.4186 https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735618779444 https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735618779444 http://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2009.26.3.195 http://doi.org/10.1162/089892900562183 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.12.050 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.12.050 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1300272110 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.08.019 https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2010.21542 https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2010.21542 https:doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.45 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 unorthodox professors: world war one in videogames and on youtube jordan crocker∗ university of victoria jordancrocker974@gmail.com abstract the purpose of this article is to analyse the videogames battlefield 1 and victoria ii and the youtube channels crash course world history and the great war in order to show how these forms of media represent the first world war. given the centennial of the first world war in 2014 and the end of the centennial occurring in 2018, there has been increased attention brought to the first world war, and therefore more representations of the war have been occurring in these media. specifically, these representations affect how younger audiences view the war and will impact their knowledge of it. although there has been scholarship in game studies, historians should engage more often with videogames and youtube in order to ensure the wider public is receiving adequate historical representations from these media. keywords: first world war; videogames; youtube; historical representation; robert rosenstone in his seminal work on film and history, robert rosenstone struggled with the question of therepresentation of history in feature films. famously, he concluded that to accept film-makers as historians. . . is to accept a new sort of history. the medium and its practices for constructing the past—all ensure that the historical world on film will be different from that on the page. in terms of informational content, intellectual density, or theoretical insight, film will always be less complex than written history. yet its moving images and sound scapes will create experiential and emotional complexities of a sort unknown upon the printed page. . . the historical film can convey much about the past to us and thereby provide some sort of knowledge and understanding—even if we cannot specify exactly what the contours of such understanding are. (2012, p.181) here, rosenstone argues that the medium of film should be understood as a legitimate form of history and that our criteria for analysing film need to change (2012, pp. 171, 185). for example, as our world changes, so too does technology. while film is now commonly discussed in academic circles, there are other forms of media that are primarily based on moving images and grip us the same way as film, such as videogames and youtube. videogames are electronic games that are played on a tv or a computer and have an object or character that is controlled by a player. youtube is a platform where users create and share videos for viewing from the public. in 2005, media using moving images experienced a major change, with the seventh generation of videogames beginning (which is characterised by the mass market of videogames with cinematic graphics and a massive increase in popularity). youtube, coincidentally, was also founded this year and contributed to the changes in media. today, these media create experiences that cannot be had in a static text because they introduce sound and images in order to engage and entertain, much like film. they are also becoming increasingly popular, especially with younger people, yet film has ostensibly been studied ∗i would like to thank dr. peter cook for his efforts as my supervisor and the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards for aiding me financially in my project. 24 mailto:jordancrocker974@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 more than these new forms of media, although there is more scholarship becoming available, for example, chris kempshall’s 2015 book, first world war in computer games and adam chapman’s 2016 article, “it’s hard to play in the trenches: world war i, collective memory and videogames.” overall, i argue that videogames and youtube are becoming increasingly popular and as a result are teaching young audiences about history. while some channels on youtube do try to take a documentary-style approach to history, videogames should be evaluated on how well they convey historical information. furthermore, i argue that, for the time being, videogames such as victoria ii and youtube channels such as crash course world history convey or represent historical information about first world war adequately in terms of three criteria: trench warfare, the reasons for the war, and the political alliance system, but that historians need to begin to advise on future projects being developed by videogame developers and youtube creators in order to allow for this education to continue. before continuing, it is worth arguing how the elements of trench warfare, the reasons for the war, and the political system of alliances are important aspects to the first world war. in the great war and the making of the modern world (2011), jeremy black reflects on the impact of the trenches: “stalemate and trench warfare reflected the nature of modern industrial warfare once both sides had committed large numbers of troops and lacked the ability to accomplish a breakthrough” (pp. 57-58). here, black is explaining that stalemates and trench warfare were hallmarks of the first world war. essentially, trench warfare occurred when the two sides dug opposing trenches from each other, with a “no-man’s land” in between. the two sides would shell and bombard the opponents in the hopes of lowering morale, which was followed by an assault through no-man’s land. typically, this did not result in any real gains, but it did contribute to a significant loss of life and fueled the pessimism of the soldiers and the general public about the war. this highlights how the trenches were an element of the first world war, which contributed to making it a conflict that was different from any other previous one. the reasons for the war and the political alliance system are complex. it is difficult to determine how the first world war began, but it is clear the assassination of the archduke of austria, franz ferdinand, on 28 june 1914, ignited the tensions that had existed in europe (clark, 2012, p. 367). these tensions existed due to a militant germany, a humiliated france, an ambivalent united kingdom, and the competing eastern powers of austria-hungary and russia (clark, 2012, p. 123). here, one can observe how many factors could have contributed to the first world war, but one factor in particular can be analysed specifically because it helped to create the circumstances for the first world war to become reality: the political alliance system (clark, 2012, p. 122). the alliance systems that existed during this period were the triple alliance between germany, italy, and austria-hungary and, opposing the triple alliance, the triple entente (clark, 2012, p. 122). the entente was a grouping of russia, the united kingdom (uk) and france, who were bound together through mutual treaties of defence, such as the anglo-russian convention (an agreement between the uk and russia), the franco-russian alliance (between france and russia) and the entente cordial (between the uk and france) (clark, 2012, p. 122). in the end, the elements of trench warfare, the reasons for the war, and the political alliance system are the key aspects that made the first world war unique and therefore crucial to include in historical representations of the war. this is why these three elements are used to evaluate the historical representation of videogames and youtube. videogames beginning from humble origins such as the small-scale videogames of pong in the 1970s, videogames have become an increasingly influential force in the entertainment industry. according 25 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 to the pew research centre, 77% of men and 57% of women between the ages of 18 and 29 have had some experience in playing videogames (duggan, 2015, p. 2). of course, this statistic considers all videogames and genres, but the popularity of the historical videogame should not be overlooked. for example, the popular videogame series call of duty had its beginnings with a game about the second world war in 2003. so far, the series has 13 titles and has been produced since the mid-2000s. more recently, battlefield 1 is an example of a historical videogame that has seen commercial success. in fact, battlefield 1 contributed heavily to the success of electronic arts (ea), the publisher of the game. during the third quarter of 2016, ea reported a 7% increase in revenues to just over $2,000,000,000 on an adjusted basis, which was helped by the strong sales of battlefield 1 and other games such as fifa 17 (tharakan, 2017, para. 8). the game’s success suggests that many young people are playing battlefield 1 and learning history from it, which provides the impetus for my analysis. after all, if moving images can teach us about the past in distinct ways (as rosenstone concedes), one must ask whether videogames can reasonably contribute to a discussion of historical events. while there are many games that can be analysed, this paper focuses on battlefield 1 and victoria ii. battlefield 1 is a first-person shooter (fps) videogame that immerses players in the combat of the first world war. as pointed out above, it was also one of the most commercially successful games for ea in 2016. battlefield 1 follows the model as set out in typical fps games: fast-paced action, unlimited respawns (that is, resurrections of players), and a point-of-view representing a single protagonist. what makes battlefield 1 unusual in the genre of fpss is that the game has a campaign that is told through six distinct war stories where the player assumes various roles as soldiers on the side of the allies (version 1.09; electronic arts, 2016). while all these stories are varied and make for interesting gameplay, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the game is the prologue mission named “storm of steel.” in a jarring departure from the conventions of the fps genre, the death of the player’s character is final in the mission with no opportunities to respawn, with the game even displaying their year of death. in a way, it personalises the war and puts faces to the events. whereas battlefield 1 places the player in the midst of combat on the ground, much like a thematic sequence similar to the opening scenes of steven spielberg’s saving private ryan, victoria ii is more akin to the experience of playing the board game risk. the game takes place between 1836 and 1936 (version 3.03; paradox entertainment, 2010). the player directs one of the countries that existed in 1836 and makes diplomatic, economic, and military decisions in response to circumstances generated by the program’s algorithms. the game reproduces the basic technological and geopolitical realities of the victorian and first world war eras, but between the decision-making of players and the computer-generated events, events may unfold in ways that depart radically from actual history. for the purposes of this paper, battlefield 1 and victoria ii will be analysed with regard to their depiction of trench warfare, their explanations of the war’s causes, and the dynamics of the first world war’s alliance system. while these games are not perfect representations of the first world war, they bring the audience closer to the realities of the war through their representations of the three criteria. battlefield 1 simulates for its players a europe decimated by war seemingly without the horror of the trenches. as gamers play throughout the single-player campaign, the earth is scorched and mortars leave deep craters in the ground, but strangely absent from these war-torn areas are the trenches. they make a brief appearance in the prologue mission of the game, “storm of steel,” but most of the game is played through ruined cities or relatively open landscapes scattered with occasional buildings (version 1.09; electronic arts, 2016). in this way, the player is spared the tedium of successive days of inaction in the trenches. planes soar in the air and gas is a constant danger, but artillery is almost absent and cover can be found anywhere; no-man’s-land does not 26 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 exist. by doing so, battlefield 1 appears to fail the audience in its representations of the past. of course, the game needed to earn money, so the combat was sped up. this is a problem with historical representation. victoria ii is also not a good representation of trench warfare, as battles are conducted as if the player was the leader of a nation and leaders were rarely in the trenches. this means that battles are fought using dice rolls, leadership ability, technology advantages, and the number of men involved in combat (version 3.03; paradox entertainment, 2010). while these are certainly important aspects to any battle (dice rolls could be seen as a random chance factor that is outside of the player’s control), certain elements are missing, such as the trench warfare experience of the common soldier. soldiers and battles turn into nothing but flashing red numbers (which let you know how many men are lost per turn), and a single, impersonal, three-dimensional figure represents the entire army. yet victoria ii, while clearly not providing an experience that demonstrates the reality of trench warfare, comes closer to the experience of decision makers and generals behind the lines, for whom the war unfolded on maps and in memoranda. in terms of the criteria to convey the reasons for the war, battlefield 1 hardly examines the key factors. the closest the game gets to discussing the reasons for the war comes during the prologue mission, which is designed for the player to understand how needless and violent the first world war turned out to be (version 1.09; electronic arts, 2016). in this way, battlefield 1 clearly showcases the general belief of soldiers and the public in 1917-1918, in that the war was seen as unnecessary and drained europe of its sons (brose, 2010, p. 150). it is understandable this was a strong belief in the european population, as 31% or 21,000,000 european men who joined the army received wounds. this does not include the figures for the dead (brose, 2010, p. 151). portraying the idea that the war was a waste of lives is an admirable pursuit for a videogame and a valid historical representation of the past as the game clearly emphasizes the horrors of war. however, the reason for the war is not explicitly discussed in the game. victoria ii better explains the reasons countries went to war. it is important to note though that the first world war is not actually an inevitable event in all play-throughs of the game. instead, victoria ii forces the player to make alliances, manage a national economy, monitor class relations domestically, and keep their country ahead in technology (version 3.03; paradox entertainment, 2010). these systems are complex, and the game can be difficult to master as a result, but this is also victoria ii ’s strength. by showing how complex managing a country can be and by identifying all of the factors that contribute to an industrialised war machine, the game gives players a detailed grasp of the situations that existed in the decades leading up to the first world war. while it does not explain the beginnings of the first world war, victoria ii certainly allows for the player to understand some of the calculations of the great powers and the forces that acted upon the leaders of those nations in deciding to go to war, as the player must analyse how warfare will be harmful or beneficial to their nation. both games have differing analyses for the reasons for the war, but they also have different ideas on how to approach the systems of alliances that existed in europe in 1914. battlefield 1 does not mention these alliance systems. in the game, the player is only given the goal of eliminating their enemies (version 1.09; electronic arts, 2016). the enemy happens to be whoever is attempting to kill the player during the game, whether german or american. the game basically decides for the player who the enemies and allies are, and the possibility of the player altering or influencing those alliances is effectively foreclosed. while this might be an accurate reflection of the experience of the average soldier, it does not engage critically with the idea of the alliance systems prior to the outbreak of war. in fact, in single-player mode, users are only able to play as a combatant representing a few of the warring powers: the united kingdom, the united states of america, italy, australia, and arab nationalists. russia and france can be added through downloadable content 27 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 (dlc). it is the fact that the player is unable to take on the role of germans or austro-hungarians in this mode that is the most egregious weakness of battlefield 1. not allowing players to experience the war through the eyes of a german or austro-hungarian soldier is problematic because it evokes a sense of british and american righteousness and paints the german-speaking powers, much like they were seen in the second world war, as the undemocratic and militaristic enemies of the free english-speaking world. yet, history proves this interpretation is incorrect. while germany and austria-hungary deserve some blame for the first world war, the entente powers of france, russia, and the united kingdom were also responsible for the first world war (clark, 2012, p. 123). as christopher clark points out, “without the two blocs, the war could not have broken out the way that it did. the bipolar system structured the environment in which the crucial decisions were made” (2012, p. 123). here, clark does not blame a particular nation for the war, but rather blames the bipolar alliance system. therefore, it is not only german and austro-hungarian leaders who were responsible for the war, but the alliance system that had divided the continent into opposing blocks. furthermore, this interpretation also shows how there were no villainous nations or great nations. all nations were responsible (clark, 2012, p. 123). unfortunately, battlefield 1 does not delve into this nuance and instead leaves the player with the impression that the germans are warmongering and militant. victoria ii ’s interpretation of the systems of alliances is more nuanced than battlefield 1’s. playing as the leader of a great power in 1836, a gamer may decide to establish an alliance or rivalry with any country that existed in the world (version 3.03; paradox entertainment, 2010). this allows for a range of counterfactual events. however, it is still possible for something similar to the first world war to occur. indeed, the game’s baseline starting point does place certain countries within predetermined spheres of influence and virtually guarantees that conflict will occur often over particular issues. for example, the artificial intelligence (ai: when software mimics the cognitive functions of a human player by problem solving and learning from the player) of france in the game often attempts to incorporate alsace-lorraine into its sphere of influence, and as prussia, alsace-lorraine is crucial in order to form germany due to pre-determined win objectives set by the game (version 3.03; paradox entertainment, 2010). this sets up a conflict between france and prussia and will lead to tensions between france and the newly created germany, similar to what occurred in history (clark, 2012, p. 124). of course, victoria ii is a counterfactual game, and as a result, france may not necessarily attempt to incorporate alsace-lorraine in its sphere of influence. instead, it could focus its attention somewhere different, or it may even decide to have an alliance with prussia. the opportunity to make history is one of the strengths of victoria ii, as it implicitly argues for the notion that historical events are not inevitable but rather the result of extremely complicated factors. however, even with this implicit argument, victoria ii does set preferences for the ai, and the personalities of certain nations create the likelihood of certain outcomes occurring, including a large conflict like the first world war (version 3.03; paradox entertainment, 2010). moreover, given the counterfactual nature of the game, the first world war may not necessarily break out over the area of bosnia, but the probability of a global crisis occurring is still extremely high. this is due to the international crisis system. the international crisis system is a game mechanism that enables smaller, minor powers to appeal to the eight great powers of the world in order to solve a dispute (version 3.03; paradox entertainment, 2010). for the smaller nation, a “backer” is required in the form of one of the eight great powers. after this occurs, an international crisis is triggered. during an international crisis, the great powers are encouraged to take a side in the conflict. in fact, if they decide to remain neutral, there is a penalty to the nations. unfortunately, the negative consequence of joining a side is that afterwards the player becomes committed to that side of the conflict, and with each great power joining in the crisis, it deepens and becomes more difficult to resolve. the process can 28 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 take many months in-game to end, and with each day the game has a greater chance of creating a world war between the great powers. to make a simple analogy to the first world war, serbia would be considered the smaller nation claiming lands in austria-hungary, and the russian empire would be the backer of serbia, precipitating the crisis after the assassination of franz ferdinand. eventually, germany would decide to choose the side of austria, and france would choose the side of russia and serbia. italy would be a neutral third power and the united kingdom would be a supporter of france and russia. between the beginning of the crisis (the assassination of the archduke) and the war, the crisis was further deepened as negotiations failed between the great powers and eventually war was declared. in this way, victoria ii ’s model can produce an accurate simulation of the beginning of the war and is able to implicitly explain the beginning of the first world war and the alliance system that existed in europe at the time of the war. by doing this, the game is a valid example of historical representation. in summary, battlefield 1 and victoria ii are two videogames that attempt to give players a depiction of the past and have different strengths and weaknesses in how they attempt to achieve this goal. on the one hand, battlefield 1 excels when it is depicting the human element of war and for giving an overall sense of what could have happened during the first world war, but it fails with the elements chosen to be analysed in this paper; namely, battlefield 1 does not cover trench warfare in depth, nor does it discuss the reasons for the war or explain the political alliance system. it does, however, give a good representation of the unnecessary nature of the war. on the other hand, victoria ii sacrifices the personal for other elements. trench warfare is not shown or examined in detail, but the game covers the reasons for the war and the political alliance system. while it may not always be accurate, victoria ii does certainly provide an example of how to represent the past in videogaming. overall, videogames may not be accurate, at least the ones in this analysis, but this is a fairly simplistic argument to make. similar to rosenstone’s analysis of film, the evaluation of videogames must also be on how well they represent history. in this way, victoria ii clearly gives a sense of what occurred in the past and brings it closer to modern audiences, whereas battlefield 1 fails almost every measure of the accuracy of historical representation, except for its depiction of the emotional and human impact of the first world war. youtube modern audiences are not only using videogames to receive historical information. youtube is another platform that seeks to bring the past closer to the public. similar to videogames, it also informs a younger audience, but crucially, watching youtube and playing a videogame are different in terms of receiving information. while videogames require the active participation of the player, youtube offers more a passive way to engage with history and is an easy medium to access via modern electronic devices. this could be why, according to youtube’s most recent statistics, the site boasts over a billion users and reaches more 18 to 49 year olds than any cable network in the united states (youtube, 2017, para. 1). this means youtube is becoming increasingly popular and is often looked to for entertainment, which occasionally includes content about history. youtube is a platform, so this paper will analyse two youtube channels instead of the platform itself. these channels are crash course world history and the great war and they will be analysed in relation to the same elements used to assess videogames: trench warfare, the reasons for the war, and the first world war alliance system. this paper argues that these channels aim to teach their viewers about the past and give an accurate representation of history. crash course world history is a video series created by the green brothers, hank and john (“crash course,” n.d.). it is essentially a survey course for those who are curious about the past. the first world war makes an appearance in four episodes: “how world war i started: crash course 29 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 world history 209,” “who started world war i: crash course world history 210,” “archdukes, cynicism, and world war i: crash course world history #36,” and “america in world war i: crash course us history #30.” in this series, john green explains complex historical problems as well as the generally accepted history of the war. according to the creators, the purpose of crash course is to “create free, high-quality educational videos used by teachers and learners of all kinds” (“crash course,” n.d.). the series is thus explicitly pedagogical in intent. another video series on youtube with content on the first world war is the great war. this series follows the first world war week-by-week with a very in-depth narrative account of the war in order to mark the centennial of the conflict (“indy neidell,” n.d.). the channel even includes some special episodes about certain countries, people, and groups (“indy neidell,” n.d.). the team behind the great war describe themselves as a “dedicated group of around five berlin-based people most of whom work full time for this project as employees of mediakraft networks, a german multi channel network” (“indy neidell,” n.d., para. 2). while the channel does not go into a vast amount of detail about the war, it does discuss the significant points. whereas the two videogames analyzed do not often display trench warfare, the youtube channels both examine the trenches in some capacity. crash course world history discusses the trenches during “archdukes, cynicism, and world war i,” as host john green says: “the lines of trenches on the western front covered only about 400 miles as the crow flies, but because of the endless zigzagging, the trenches themselves may have run as much as 25,000 miles” (“archdukes,” 2012, 3:14–3:40). here, there are specific details about the trenches that the video discusses and they use the trenches in order to transition into another of their topics. for example, after green delivers the line about trenches, he immediately states that trench warfare did not exist in every theatre of war, and in fact, he uses this as an opportunity to briefly introduce the more forgotten eastern front and the ottoman theatre of war (“archdukes,” 2012, 3:14–3:40). this creates a video that is constantly engaging and allows green to mention multiple areas of interest to the audience, without sacrificing accuracy. the great war also covers trench warfare, but does this with specific videos about trench warfare. for example, their video “trench warfare in world war 1” identifies the trenches as a worthwhile topic in itself because, as host indy neidell explains, “when people think of the first world war, one of the very first images that comes to mind is of soldiers in the filthy muddy trenches, fighting, smoking, or just being miserable” (“trench warfare,” 2014, 0:00–0:15). while neidell appears to betray his channel’s objectives for covering the trenches (it is a popular topic and therefore the video will generate more views, which will generate more revenue), the video itself covers much about the trenches. the history of trenches, how they came about, how they were supplied and what their conditions were, are all covered by neidell (“trench warfare,” 2014, 0:15–12:02). indeed, the detail with which neidell covers the trenches seems to resonate with viewers, judging by the view count of the episode, which has one of the highest number of views on the channel, at 483,566 as of april 4, 2017 (“trench warfare,” n.d.). furthermore, the great war makes sure to cite their materials in the description of their video. their sources are often recent (the oldest work cited is from 2000) and include both german and english works by respected academics such as peter hart and john keegan (“trench warfare,” n.d.). while youtube channels may be factually correct in their discussions on trench warfare, the reasons for the outbreak of the first world war are also an important barometer of how youtube channels portray the past. crash course addresses the reasons for the war explicitly in a video series titled “how world war i started” and “who started world war i.” in “how world war i started,” green explains how difficult it can be to describe how a historical event occurred: the question we’re looking at today is how. and that’s a much more modest question because we can simply discuss a series of events but it’s still a complicated one because 30 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 when you’re talking about how, you’re always picking from an uncountable number of things that happened. (“how world war i started,” 2014, 1:39–1:50) here, green explains an important aspect about historical understanding; namely, he is examining not only how the war occurred, but also how the audience must be careful in analysing the past and how cause and effect impact our understanding of what occurred. this is a surprising account of history, as green moves away from a simple narrative account of the war but also moves into the significance of historical study itself. of course, green does examine how the war occurred, but he also does this in-depth and critically. for example, in “who started world war i,” green discusses how previous historians have argued that it was german militarism that began the war. he examines this argument through speaking to his “me from the past” persona who typically supplies green the most commonly agreed-upon response in public discourse. essentially, “me from the past” is john green, but before he became educated about the subject matter. for the public, this is an effective device for showing how consciousness can be transformed through historical investigation. the following is a conversation on the reasons for the beginning of the first world war: me from the past (mp): “mr. green, mr. green! that’s easy, the germans started the war.” green: “well, me from the past, as it happens many historians and british politicians would agree with you. i mean, you have an opinion that can be defended. . . ” mp: “. . . maybe they. . . really liked war? i’m not really in the defending positions business. . . ” green: “. . . there’s more to life than that.” (“who started world war i,” 2014, 0:19–0:43) this quote exemplifies green’s engaging with commonly understood public discourse and prompts green’s excursion into who started the war because, as he notes, history is more complicated than the germans simply wanting war. he discusses how this argument began in the 1960s when fritz fischer identified germany as the chief cause of the war, but he also explains this idea likely began in public opinion due to germany’s guilt being written into the treaty of versailles in article 231 (“who started world war i,” 2014, 1:09–1:29). he also explains how it could be understandable that the european public would believe in german aggression being the main reason for the war given how the second world war began due to the german invasion of poland, and given the proximity of the second world war to readers of the 1960s (“who started world war i,” 2014, 1:29–1:45). having stated these points, green goes on to refute the idea of germany being solely responsible for the war. he accomplishes this by pointing out the irony of him living in the united states, a country that spends more on national defence than any other nation on earth: attributing characteristics like militarism or authoritarianism to entire national populations is a little problematic. also, one nation’s militarism is another nation’s strong national defence, and when you live in the country, as i do, that spends more on defence than any other nation, it’s probably not that good of an idea to call people militaristic. (“who started world war i,” 2014, 1:58–2:20) here, green makes history relevant to the present and begins to encourage the audience to question their own views and how similar they could be to the people of the past. the great war takes a slightly different approach to the reasons for the war, as it operates under a constrained structure: namely, a week-by-week narration of the main events of the war. the channel does not provide a forum to analyse the arguments for the war and largely stays on the narrative and event-focused path. in the episode “the outbreak of wwi—how europe spiraled 31 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 into the great war,” neidell emphasizes the assassination of the archduke of austria-hungary and the blank cheque given to austria by germany. similar to crash course, the great war attempts to dispel the idea that germany was solely responsible for the war. as neidell notes, “as an aside here—[the idea to go to war] was the opinion of the generals and some government leaders but it was not the opinion of the german people at large” (“the outbreak,” 2014, 3:30–3:38). here, neidell argues against the contemporary popular opinion that germany started the war and also continues the idea of teaching the audience about what really happened. neidell even points out that on july 6, 1914, the kaiser took a three-week vacation to norway (“the outbreak,” 2014, 4:12). as neidell says, “[this] is kind of not what you’d do if you were basically the most powerful man in the world [and about to go to war]” (“the outbreak,” 2014, 4:12). in this quote, neidell does not offer any significant discussions about history, but he does suggest that commonly agreed upon opinions in the public (and some academic circles) do not always constitute the truth of history. while it would have been better for the great war to look at the wider academic discourse, because this would make it more legitimate in the eyes of historians, the channel offers a solid narrative account of the war and attempts to make its own argument for the reasons for the first world war. the channel does this by discussing how austria-hungary was the main culprit in the war. as neidell states, “everybody except austria thought [that the serbian response to the austrian ultimatum] was just fine, but austria was determined to go to war” (“the outbreak,” 2014, 6:02–6:08). here, the great war is able to position itself in wider debates on the reasons for the first world war and also is able to later convey the complexity of placing blame on a country for the first world war, as multiple powers were involved. the final point of examination in this paper is to assess if the youtube content creators are able to get it right in regards to how the channels represent the political alliance system that existed in the first world war. crash course world history begins this discussion with the video “how world war i started.” the main focus of this episode is to examine the events of july and august 1914 and how an assassination turned into a pan-european conflict. green uses an animation, “thought bubble,” to explain what occurred and how the alliances led to war. instead of the audience watching green sitting in his chair, this device continues to hold the audience’s attention while moving images (cartoon figures) show the complexities of a topic. green provides a voice-over for the animations as he continues to examine the occurrences leading up to an event. green informs the viewer that, while he usually does not make a point of addressing dates specifically in the show, he will make an exception for the origins of the first world war because of the sequence of events and their importance to the history of the war (“how world war i started,” 2014, 5:52–5:58). green then goes on to mention that russia had begun pre-mobilization efforts on july 25, 1914 and was the first nation to mobilize on july 30, 1914 (“how world war i started,” 2014, 5:58–7:04). austria had declared war on july 28, 1914, but as green explains, this war was isolated between serbia and austria, with russia not being threatened directly (“how world war i started,” 2014, 5:58–7:04). germany warned russia to stand down, but mobilized on august 1, 1914 and declared war on russia (2014, 5:58–7:04). france also mobilized on august 1 in support of russia, and germany formally declared war on france on august 3, 1914 (2014, 5:58–7:04). here, green sorts through the minutiae of explaining both how the war began and how the alliances precipitated these declarations of war, ultimately tying the significance of the war to lessons for the contemporary audience. green states, please remember that we are always in the middle of a ”how.” those living in june and july of 1914 could never have imagined how significant that month would be for human history. . . we also can’t imagine what our decisions today will mean in 100 years. (“how world war i started,” 2014, 8:19–8:35) here, green once again makes sure to insert gravity into the value of present actions and how history 32 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 is constantly being made. the great war may not dwell on the broader historical implications, but still presents an accurate account of the alliance system. the video “europe prior to world war i: alliances and enemies” not only explicitly examines europe’s web of alliances, but also mentions why the alliances existed. neidell looks at the historical rivalry between germany and france, russia’s fears for the dardanelles, and even the shaky alliance between the united kingdom and france (they still had plans to invade each other in the early 20th century) as background to why the alliances existed in the way they did in 1914 (“europe prior to world war i,” 2014, 5:58–6:45). neidell specifically delves into why the british may have sought protection from their historical rival france by explaining the anglo-german naval race and explores how germany provoked britain to seek further protection by challenging britain’s major defence: their navy (“europe prior to world war i,” 2014, 7:06–8:52). while neidell and the great war team may not challenge commonly agreed-upon ideas about the beginning of the war, they give a better sense of the motivations of the european powers by explaining how the situation in june 1914 came to be. for example, in russia’s case, neidell speaks of russia’s previous humiliations by japan in 1905 and russia’s inability to prevent bosnian annexation in 1908, a factor that contributed to the tsar’s later readiness to aggressively defend russian interests in the balkans (“tinderbox europe,” 2014, 6:55–7:00). in this way, the great war alludes to a key principle in historical studies; namely, that history does not fit into a clean timeframe. for instance, the reasons for the first world war cannot be determined by looking at the year 1914 alone: one must go back to 1905 and (much more often) go back even further to understand events in history. indeed, one may even examine the mughal empire to understand russian aggressiveness, as an example. the point is that the great war teaches the audience about the complex and causal relationship of history, and how, to understand one event, historians must look back even further. in the end, youtube may not be a conventional medium to understand the past, yet these channels demonstrate a conscious striving for accuracy in the pursuit of historical truth and to represent how history actually was. the channels crash course world history and the great war all address trench warfare, the reasons for the war and the first world war alliance system in their own ways, but fundamentally share this same core principle. these channels also seek to educate their audiences, and with many young people turning to youtube increasingly for entertainment and learning, this may not be a negative development in the way history is disseminated to the public. conclusion on one hand, battlefield 1 and victoria ii have different strengths and weaknesses when looking through the lens of how the games represent the first world war through trench warfare, the reasons for the war, and the systems of alliances that existed before the war. battlefield 1 gives the audience a good sense of how the war was perceived and the human toll of the war, but is guilty of oversimplifying the war to make it more appealing to audiences. victoria ii is about diplomacy, and as a result, showcases the difficulty of negotiations between the world powers and how difficult it must have been to stop a political crisis from devolving into war. on the other hand, the two youtube channels crash course world history and the great war attempt to depict the past as it actually was and adhere more closely to a documentary style approach, where truth is the first objective. as one can appreciate from these channels, the ideas of this truth of the war can vary, due to the different interpretations of what was important to the ideas of trench warfare, the reasons for the war and the systems of alliances. much like a debate between academics, individuals with different biases decide that some elements are more important. in fact, john green alludes to 33 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 this when he says, looking at the diplomatic causes of the war also reveals something to us about the pitfalls of writing history. . . historians have to sift through all of these sources and make choices about which ones to emphasize. . . we had to make choices that many of you will disagree with. either because you don’t think we gave enough evidence or because you don’t like the things that we emphasized, and that’s great. it’s these constructive and critical conversations that lead us to dig deeper, to consult more primary sources, to read more broadly, and that in turn leads to a richer understanding of the world and a more engaged life. (“who started world war i,” 2014, 9:25–10:11) here, green acknowledges the biases of the show and acknowledges that its interpretation of the war is not necessarily the only one that can be made, making crash course good educational material, not only about the first world war, but also about history itself. young audiences are engaging with videogames and youtube and are learning about history through these media by playing games such as victoria ii and for watching channels such as crash course. due to the centennial of the conflict in the 2010s, the first world war has captured the public’s imagination and as a result is increasingly represented through these media. these forms of media also appear to be here to stay, and will only continue to capture more of the public’s imagination in the future. therefore, we, as historians, need to engage with these media regularly in order to ensure the past is represented adequately. some specific recommendations on how to engage with these media include setting up a public history course, reaching out to software developers (and vice versa), starting a youtube channel, writing articles and reviews, or even mentioning videogames and youtube to classes by bringing them up in discussions or by showing short clips. by using some of these recommendations, historians will be able to engage more critically with these media. 34 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 further reading aldrich, c. (2005). learning by doing: a comprehensive guide to simulations, computer games, and pedagogy in e-learning and other educational experiences. san francisco, ca: pfeiffer. chapman, a. (2016). it’s hard to play in the trenches: world war i, collective memory and videogames. the international journal of computer game research, 16(2). retrieved from http://gamestudies.org/1602/articles/chapman chapman, a. (2012). privileging form over content: analysing historical videogames. journal of digital humanities, 1(2). retrieved from http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/1-2/privilegingform-over-content-by-adam-chapman/ crash course. (n.d). home [youtube channel]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/user /crashcourse davis, n.z. (2003). movie or monograph? a historian/filmmaker’s perspective. the public historian, 25, 45–48. doi: 10.1525/tph.2003.25.3.45 de groot, j. (2009). consuming history: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture. london, uk: routledge. egenfeldt-nelson, s. (2007). third generation use of computer games. journal of educational multimedia and hypermedia, 16(3), 263–281. hirumi, a. (2010). playing games in school: video games and simulations for primary and secondary education. washington, d.c: international society for technology in education. kapell, m. & b.r. elliot, a. (2003). playing with the past: digital games and the simulation of history. new york, ny: bloomsbury academic. kee, k., graham, s., dunae, p., lutz, j., large, a., blondeau, m., & clare, m. (2009) towards a theory of good history through gaming. canadian historical review, 90(2). retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/article/267473 kempshall, c. (2015). the first world war in computer games. hampshire, uk: palgrave macmillan. rosenstone, r.a. (2007). a historian in spite of myself. rethinking history, 11, 589–595. doi: 10.1080/13642520701652145 the great war. (n.d.). home [youtube channel]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=jazseue8qvw whalen, z. & taylor, l.n. (2008). playing the past: history and nostalgia in video games. nashville, tn: vanderbilt university press. whitaker, r. (2016). backward compatible: gamers as a public history audience.[web article] retrieved from https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-onhistory/january-2016/backward-compatible-gamers-as-a-public-history-audience 35 http://gamestudies.org/1602/articles/chapman https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/article/267473 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jazseue8qvw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jazseue8qvw https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/january-2016/backward-compatible-gamers-as-a-public-history-audience https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/january-2016/backward-compatible-gamers-as-a-public-history-audience the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716814 references archdukes, cynicism, and world war i: crash course world history #36. (2012, september 27). crash course [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xpzq0lal r4s black, j. (2011). the great war and the making of the modern world. new york, ny: continuum. brose, e.d. (2010). a history of the great war: world war one and the international crisis of the early twentieth century. oxford, uk: oxford university press. clark, c. (2012). the sleepwalkers: how europe went to war in 1914. new york, ny: harper perennial. crash course is creating smarter people. (n.d). patreon [website]. retrieved from https://www. patreon.com/crashcourse duggan, m. (2015, december 15). 1. who plays video games and identifies as a “gamer.” retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/who-plays-video-games-and-identifies-as-agamer/ electronic arts. (2016). battlefield 1 [computer software]. stockholm, sweden: ea dice. europe prior to world war i: alliances and enemies: prelude to wwi—part 1/3. (2014, july 31). the great war [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f11cky b2fca&t=5s how world war i started: crash course world history 209. (2014, september 12). crash course [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd2ch4xv84s indy neidell is creating the great war documentary series. (n.d.). patreon [website]. retrieved from https://www.patreon.com/thegreatwar paradox entertainment. (2010). victoria ii [computer software]. stockholm, sweden: paradox development studio. rosenstone, r.a. (2012). history on film / film on history (2nd ed). new york, ny: pearson. tharakan, a.g. (2017, january 31). ea profit, revenue top estimates on strong ‘battlefield 1’ sales. retrieved from https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-electronic-arts-results/ea-profit-revenuetop-estimates-on-strong-battlefield-1-sales-idukkbn15f2lq the outbreak of wwi—how europe spiraled into the great war—week 1. (2014, july 28). the great war [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fgal0xiazk&t= 213s tinderbox europe—from balkan troubles to world war: prelude to wwi—part 2/3. (2014, august 1). the great war [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d yrofadfmki trench warfare in world war 1: the great war special. (2014, november 24). the great war [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p92guhd7d-8&t=190s who started world war i: crash course world history 210. (2014, september 20). crash course [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pfcpktwcki youtube. (2017). youtube for press. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/press/ 36 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xpzq0lalr4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xpzq0lalr4 https://www.patreon.com/crashcourse https://www.patreon.com/crashcourse http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/who-plays-video-games-and-identifies-as-a-gamer/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/15/who-plays-video-games-and-identifies-as-a-gamer/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f11ckyb2fca&t=5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f11ckyb2fca&t=5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd2ch4xv84s https://www.patreon.com/thegreatwar https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-electronic-arts-results/ea-profit-revenue-top-estimates-on-strong-battlefield-1-sales-idukkbn15f2lq https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-electronic-arts-results/ea-profit-revenue-top-estimates-on-strong-battlefield-1-sales-idukkbn15f2lq https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fgal0xiazk&t= 213s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fgal0xiazk&t= 213s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyrofadfmki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyrofadfmki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p92guhd7d-8&t=190s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pfcpktwcki https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/press/ the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 the pursuit of happiness: the effect of social involvement on life satisfaction in canada leila mazhari ∗ the university of victoria leilamaz@uvic.ca abstract a popular area of discussion within “happiness studies” across disciplines is the question of whether money can buy happiness. contradictory findings have encouraged an ongoing debate and have kept the topic aflame among sociologists, economists, and psychologists. recently, sociologists have branched out to consider other social factors that may bear a closer relationship to a person’s level of happiness: marital status, religiosity, work and employment, to name a few. using quantitative methods to analyze data from the 2005-2006 world values survey, this paper shows that social involvement and civic participation can promote happiness among canadians. statistical controls rule out potential confounding variables, which are based on past literature on happiness studies. the results suggest that social involvement does indeed promote happiness among canadians; however, there are multiple factors that increase or decrease one’s likelihood of being socially involved. three major influencers were identified: affluence, education and religiosity. keywords: happiness; life satisfaction; social involvement; civic participation; canadian society i. introduction f or thousands of years, philosophers have mused on happiness — where it comes from, and what it brings us. in more recent decades, researchers across disciplines have identified the numerous benefits of being happy. happiness has been shown to increase our productivity (vincent-hoper, muser, & janneck, 2013); happy people tend to have higher rates of workplace success (boehm & lyubomirsky, 2008); and, happiness may protect against becoming mentally or physically ill (veenhoven, 2008). for this reason, numerous researchers have become increasingly interested in the correlates of happiness. despite the growing interest, the vast majority of research has been conducted in the united states and there has not been any sociological happiness studies conducted on the canadian population specifically. this is a serious gap, and many researchers have pointed to the difficulties associated with drawing conclusions about the canadian population based on findings that were drawn from the american population. for example, the 2014 world happiness report (helliwell, layard, & sachs) revealed that while the united states ranks fifteenth in the world, canada ranks fifth. clearly there is a significant difference between the north side of the border and the south, and sociological research on happiness-related subjects must acknowledge this. aside from this geographical gap in the literature, there also exists a gap with regards to happiness and social involvement. vinson and ericson (2013) have explored the relationship ∗i wish to express my sincerest thanks to dr. min zhou and dr. andré smith for their ongoing guidance and support over the past year. 76 mailto:leilamaz@uvic.ca the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 between happiness and activity within environmental and humanitarian organizations among australians using data from world values survey conducted in 2011. they found that membership in humanitarian organizations is significantly associated with life satisfaction; however, involvement in environmental organizations did not reveal any significant correlation (vinson & ericson, 2013). though vinson and ericson’s (2013) study might offer some insight, the only indicators used for measuring social involvement and civic participation were membership in humanitarian and environmental organizations; other categories of social involvement and civic participation were not explored. in order to fill this gap, this research seeks to examine the effect of social involvement and civic participation on canadians’ level of life satisfaction. this study goes beyond the investigation of the general effect of social involvement and civic participation in elevating individuals’ life satisfaction; it distinguishes different types of social organizations individuals may participate in. more specifically, this paper examines potentially differing effects of the following six types of social organizations: (1) churches or religious organizations, (2) sport or recreational organizations, (3) art, music or educational organizations, (4) political parties, (5) environmental organizations, and (6) humanitarian organizations. using multiple indicators is one more step towards revealing what social organizations are particularly beneficial in increasing happiness. this article will first review current literature for each of the correlates of happiness, followed by a discussion of seven research hypotheses. the data, variables and method are reviewed, followed by a summary of the results, and a brief discussion. a further analysis is also explored before conclusions are presented. ii. the correlates of happiness and research hypotheses before discussing the correlates of happiness, it is important to note that one issue that has plagued “happiness studies” is the conceptualization of happiness itself; the definition of happiness varies across different literatures — without a clear and consistent definition it can convey multiple meanings. the conceptualization confusion becomes even more problematic when researchers decide to homogenize “happiness” with other terms. especially, happiness is often overlapped with “well-being,” which can be evaluated both objectively (income, health, social ties) and subjectively (the feeling of overall life satisfaction) (fave, brdar, freire, vella-brodrick, & wissing, 2010). the measurement of objective “well-being” is often seen as problematic or not useful, as a high level of objective well-being may not necessarily lead to high levels of self-reported happiness. to avoid this confusion in conceptualization, happiness is defined as the feeling of overall life satisfaction. according to existing literature, there are several potential correlates of happiness, including income, religiosity, marital status, gender, age, employment status, education, and health. i. income and happiness easterlin (1994) showed that sharp rises in national income did not make people happier, but people with relatively higher income report slightly higher levels of happiness. this “easterlin paradox,” which is often referenced in economic literatures, generated debate on possible explanations for these findings. the most popular explanation that has empirical support is the argument that individuals are most concerned about their income in relation to others (clark et al., 2008; clark & senik, 2010; easterlin, 1995; frank, 1999; solnick & hemenway, 2005). in other words, if everyone gains an equal amount of income, it has no effect; however, if some gain income and others do not, the richer will be happier due to their higher position in relation to their peers. this phenomenon 77 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 has been further explored in the field of psychology and sociology. researchers in these disciplines have found that if people strive for a specific level of income with the assumption that it will bring them happiness, upon reaching their goal they are soon habituated and consequently strive for the next level of income (csikszentmihalyi, 1999; fischer, 2007). for this reason, csikszentmihalyi (1999) noted that individuals can be caught in a never-ending pursuit (1999). dunn and norton (2013) explain the contradictions by taking a unique perspective: supported by their research findings, they present the argument that, although people cannot become happier from collecting wealth, they can achieve happiness from spending money — if (and only if) it is spent in the right way. according to their study, people report greater increases in their happiness levels when they buy something for someone else rather than themselves. people also reported higher increases in happiness when they bought something for an experience (such as concert tickets) rather than tangible items (such as shoes). both factors indicate that there is indeed a social aspect to happiness (dunn & norton, 2013). ii. religiosity and happiness in addition to the relationship between income and happiness, research has been conducted to explore the relationship between people’s religiosity and level of happiness. using data from the general social survey, ferriss (2002) examined the relationship between respondents’ self-reported happiness and their attendance at religious services. he found that “the percentage of individuals who claimed to be “very happy” is lower for those who “never” attend religious services (26.6%) than those who attend “more than once weekly,” (46.6%). in contrast, this pattern is not observed for the percentage of those that identified as “not too happy” (ferriss 2002; 206). despite this trend, there were still a significant number of respondents that reported themselves as being “very happy,” yet never or seldom attend religious services (35.3%). ferriss (2002) concludes that “despite inconsistencies, the test of association shows a significant relationship. . . but obviously other influences are operating” (p. 206). in addition to ferriss, witter, stock, okun, and haring (1985) looked at 28 studies that addressed religion and well-being, and found that there was a stronger relationship between the two variables among older than younger samples. this could be explained in part by results found by cox and hammonds (1988): over time, the place of worship “becomes the focal part of social integration and activity. . . providing them with a sense of community and well-being.” here we see the pattern continue: the social aspect of happiness. iii. marital status, gender, age and happiness studies have consistently shown that married people are happier than those who are divorced, widowed, or have never been married. a national survey of approximately 35,000 americans showed that while 40% of married adults reported being “very happy,” only 26% of those who had never been married responded the same (myers, 2000). findings suggest that the reason behind this correlation runs deeper than the formal label: marriage can provide both partners with love, companionship and support (myers, 2000). within this area, researchers have uncovered that there are gender and age differences when it comes to marriage and its relationship to happiness. for example, the benefits of marriage mentioned (love, companionship and support) appear to have more emotional benefits for males than females, and serves as a protective factor for depression among the married men (nolen-hoeksema & rusting, 1999). other research has found little or no gender difference in happiness or life satisfaction, but a strong divide seems to hold in the case of divorce: while more women experience depression, more men turn to alcohol abuse (horwitz, white, & howell-white 1996). such findings run consistent with nolen-hoeksema and rusting’s (1999) explanation for gender differences: “males are socialized not to experience or 78 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 express affect as intensely as females” (p. 344). while males and females may experience the negative effects of separation in different ways or to different degrees, it remains clear that the happiness gap between married and unmarried people is approximately the same if you compare genders side-by-side (myers, 2000). iv. employment status and happiness one’s work status has also been shown to have an influence on a person’s level of happiness, both at an immediate (disappointment, stress) and long-term (lower self-esteem) level (clark & oswald, 1994; wilson walker, 1993). a longitudinal study that compared people’s well-being before and after being laid-off made it clear that unhappiness was the direct result of becoming unemployed (lucas, clark, georgellis, & diener, 2004). to support this further, research has shown that the opportunity to contribute to society can give people a sense of purpose, and thus increase people’s life satisfaction (clark & oswald, 1994). v. education and happiness argyle (2001) did a comprehensive review that shows how one’s level of education, which he defines as the number of years of schooling, has a positive relationship to a person’s level of happiness. however, it appears that the level of education is not necessarily the endmost reason, but the stepping-stone towards having greater job satisfaction, as it generally provides more options for employment (argyle, 2001). cuñado and pérez de gracia’s (2011) study in spain controlled income and found that a positive relationship between education and happiness was indeed present, and their evidence suggested that education increases one’s confidence or “selfestimation” from acquiring knowledge. furthermore, chen (2011) explored this relationship in china, japan, taiwan and south korea, and found that those that receive higher education have larger social networks and have “greater involvement with the wider world” and, through those conditions, achieve higher levels of happiness. thus, education enhances our ability to connect with the wider social world, which in turn makes us happier. vi. health and happiness researchers have found that there is a significant relationship between happiness and physical well-being, as well as longevity (veenhoven, 2008). empirical evidence also shows that a person’s self-reported happiness is closely related to their perceived health status; at the same time, how happy a person feels has a significant impact on their health status (borghesi & vercelli, 2012). despite this, most studies identify life satisfaction as the dependent variable and self-perceived health as the independent variable; these studies have revealed that individuals with better self-perceived health report higher levels of life satisfaction (garrido, méndez, & abellán, 2013). siahpush, spittal, and singh’s (2008) study examined the opposite direction effect, finding that life satisfaction and happiness predicted self-perceived levels of health after a two-year follow-up. it is clear that happiness and health are related, and it appears that the nature of the relationship goes in both directions (borghesi & vercelli, 2012). as noted by diener and sligman (2004), studying well-being and physical health is important to lead public health policy, and could potentially influence health care costs if it is effectively used in a preventative manner. 79 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 vii. social involvement/civic participation and happiness putnam’s (2001) work discusses how americans have drifted apart since the 1950s; americans now sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet in person, know their neighbours less, meet with friends less frequently, and socialize with families less often. putnam (2001) describes how modern society has caused us to become increasingly disconnected from each other, and credits technological advances as playing a significant role in this decline of social involvement and civic participation. however, the last ten years specifically have changed the shape and nature of our social lives exponentially; information and communication technologies (icts) are integrated into our everyday lives more than ever before (haythornthwaite & kendall, 2010). contrary to the headlines that tend to highlight the sense of loneliness that has followed this internet era, much research has found that the internet has actually positively affected relationships, as communication between friends and family that live far away from one another has improved (bargh & mckenna, 2004). on skype we can “have tea” with one friend in victoria, and then another in bangkok minutes later. now there is also an array of online petitions; more and more people are joining internetbased activist groups, and people can provide or receive funding from those who support the same causes (i.e. gofundme.com). social media websites, chat rooms, and forums have also provided a site of “meeting” those with shared interests (bargh & mckenna, 2004). some research has reached the conclusion that the internet is a site of community involvement where users can form and maintain meaningful relationships, which often spillover into “real life” (bargh & mckenna, 2004; haythornthwaite & kendall, 2010). mesch (2010) found that “the formation and active participation in local community electronic networks not only adds but also amplifies civic participation and elevates sense of community attachment” (p. 1197). capece and costa (2013) highlighted that the past two decades have been transformative: we now have “network communities” which differ from “online communities” because “they refer to a specific territory . . . [and] serve as a social catalyst for the corresponding territorial community” (p. 438). davidson and cotter (1991) explored the correlation between sense of community and subjective well-being and found that that there was a significant positive relationship. those with a high sense of community appear to share certain characteristics: “they have a feeling of belongingness; they believe that they can exert some control over the group and also be influenced by the group; they believe that their needs can be and are being met through the collective capabilities of the group; and, because of a shared history, they feel a very strong emotional bonding and investment in the group” (davidson & cotter, 1991:246). horst and coffé (2011) have examined the benefits of friendship networks, and how it can impact one’s subjective well-being, friendship networks were found to promote more social trust, less stress, better health, and increased social support. the horst and coffé (2011) study also found that subjective well-being was significantly positively affected by frequent face-to-face contact with close friendship networks. voluntary organizations that individuals participate in have their own unique social networks that, too, can influence one’s life greatly. researchers such as frey (2008) found that those who volunteer on a regular basis report being happier and of better health than those who do not volunteer. based on these research findings, i make the following hypothesis: h1: social involvement and civic participation has a positive effect on the level of life satisfaction in canada. however, perhaps not all types of social organizations are equally beneficial—while participation in (1) a church or a religious organization, (2) sport or recreational organizations, (3) art, music 80 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 or educational organizations, and (6) humanitarian organizations may promote life satisfaction, involvement in (4) political parties and (5) environmental organizations may potentially make individuals less satisfied with life. viii. participation in a church or a religious organization as discussed in the “religiosity and happiness” section above, being a member of a church or a religious organization provides individuals with a close social circle that offers support and other aspects of social capital. religious organizations often meet on a regular basis and many relationships that are developed within that community extend to other aspects of people’s lives. for example, one family that meets another at church may get together outside of the religious setting and have dinner together, creating an even closer relationship between one another. these relationships may have an especially close bond since both parties share a common set of values, beliefs, and language. in addition to building these social bonds, being part of a church or a religious organization may provide people with a sense of belonging and purpose within a larger social context, fostering overall life satisfaction. for this reason, i make the following hypothesis: h2: being a member of a church or a religious organization has a positive effect on the level of life satisfaction in canada. ix. participation in sport or recreational organizations as with being part of a church or a religious organization, being a member of sport or recreational organizations may also provide people with a community that has close social ties. similar too is that these organizations meet regularly and it is generally a long-term commitment (playing on a soccer team, for example). growing both personally and as a team can foster a sense of solidarity and comradeship, while also giving people a feeling of accomplishment as goals are reached. developing and keeping social ties, as well as reaching individual and team goals, can have a positive impact on people. research has explored how physical activity on its own can contribute to individual’s happiness — both momentary and long-lasting. some studies have found that those who participate in regular physical activity report higher levels of subjective well-being than those who do not (forrest & mchale 2009; huang & humphreys 2012). such findings suggest that participating in sport or other leisure activities can contribute to happiness; when paired with being a member of a collective organization, it seems likely that it can positively affect a person’s level of life satisfaction. to investigate this, i hypothesize the following: h3: being a member of sport or recreational organizations has a positive effect on the level of life satisfaction in canada. x. participation in art, music or educational organizations members of art, music or educational organizations gain similar types of social bonds mentioned so far. art and music organizations in particular tend to have close-knit communities, as they have a common appreciation for creative talent and often meet in social settings, such as a theatre performance or a gallery showing. members of art and music organizations are often artists themselves, giving them a shared area of passion and interest. contributing to the 81 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 organization, whether it be art directly or as an audience, may provides regular and meaningful social relationships and interactions. based on this observation, i hypothesize: h4: being a member of art, music or educational organizations has a positive effect on the level of life satisfaction in canada. xi. participation in political parties while being a member of political parties surely creates a sense of community as well, it is likely that a significant number of these members are unsatisfied with the current government policies. generally those who are heavily involved in politics hold very strong and specific political positions and therefore are drawn towards one specific party. while these members may gain short-term happiness if their particular party gains support and political power for a certain period of time, there is constant tension between parties, particularly around elections. members of these organizations are likely to watch or read the news, which reports (for the most part) negative events taking place worldwide. this, surely, could cause frustration, distress and an overall sense of discontentment that may not have any attainable solution. for this reason, this study makes the following hypothesis: h5: being a member of political parties has a negative effect on the level of life satisfaction in canada. xii. participation in environmental organizations those who have a high level of concern regarding environmental degradation are likely to feel that they are fighting an uphill battle. particularly in canada, where there are few eco-sensitive government policies in place, environmental organization members, while having a community and sense of solidarity with one another, are likely to feel a sense of helplessness throughout their life course. even the most optimistic members are unlikely to ever be satisfied, as goals are extremely difficult to reach in this area. much irreversible damage to the environment has already been done, and one organization simply cannot repair the global environmental degradation. to investigate this, i make the following hypothesis: h6: being a member of environmental organizations has a negative effect on the level of life satisfaction in canada. xiii. participation in humanitarian organization unlike members of environmental organizations, members of humanitarian organizations are much more likely to see progress and reach their goals. for example, a member of a humanitarian organization can actively make a difference by volunteering to build a school in a poor community. their actions, both as individuals and as an organization, have a significant impact on the lives of others and they can see the difference they make right before their eyes. even the most ambitious projects, such as putting an end to homelessness, can be extremely rewarding, since members can make a significant difference within a given community. helping those in need provides a 82 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 sense of purpose, accomplishment, and pride. it can be a very humbling experience and make a person extremely grateful for the resources and rights they have as canadians. these factors surely impact how happy a person is, and their overall life satisfaction and, therefore, i make the following hypothesis: h7: being a member of humanitarian organizations has a positive effect on the level of life satisfaction in canada. iii. data, variables and method i. data in order to test these seven hypothesis, the current study uses the canadian data from the fifth wave of the world values survey (wvs), collected by the world values survey association in 2006. a total of 2,164 individuals were asked to rate their level of life satisfaction, as well as their participation in various organizations. ii. variables ii.1 dependent variable the respondents’ happiness is measured using the questionnaire item: “all things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?” it is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “completely dissatisfied” and 10 being “completely satisfied.” hence, a larger score indicates a higher level of satisfaction. this question was selected over the preceding question that asks the respondent to report their level of happiness, because the life satisfaction question makes clear that they are to consider their life as a whole, rather than a momentary feeling or emotion. ii.2 independent variables seven independent variables are examined, which measure the respondent’s level of social involvement and civic participation. six of the variables are taken directly from the world values survey: (1) a church or a religious organization, (2) sport or recreational organizations, (3) art, music or educational organizations, (4) political parties, (5) environmental organizations, and (6) humanitarian organizations. on the survey, each dimension is coded according to whether the respondent is an “active member,” an “inactive member,” or “not a member.” the first two categories are combined (“active member” and “inactive member”) as they both indicate membership. in other words, this study examines whether the respondent is a member or not, regardless if they are currently active. this is because one’s membership in a humanitarian organization from 1993-1998, for example, can influence a person’s overall life satisfaction, regardless of whether they are an active member at the time of the survey. therefore, each variable is binary. based on the six variables, a seventh independent variable is created: general social involvement. it is a composite one generated by summating the six specific variables, measuring the respondent’s overall level of social involvement. ii.3 control variables in order to rule out potential confounding influences, certain variables are held under control in the analysis. these variables were chosen based on findings in existing research, as presented in 83 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 the literature review: (1) marital status; (2) religiosity; (3) gender; (4) age; (5) level of education; (6) employment status; (7) income level; (8) health. table 1 in the appendix presents the measurement of the variables that are controlled, while table 2 presents basic descriptive statistics for the variables used in this analysis. iv. method the statistical modeling technique used is multivariate regression analysis. more specifically, ordinary least squares (ols) multivariate regression analysis is used to assess the effect of social involvement and civic participation on canadians’ happiness, while holding the identified confounding variables under control. the regression equation is shown below: y = β0 + β1 social + β2 marital + β3 religiosity + β4 gender + β5 age + β6 education + β7 employment + β8 income + β9 health + ε y is defined as the level of life satisfaction. β0 is the intercept, ε is the error term, and β1 − β9 refer to the coefficients of social involvement and civic participation, marital status, religiosity, gender, age, education, employment status, income, and health, respectively. in the analysis, social involvement and civic participation is measured in two ways: first, it is measured by the respondent’s general social involvement and civic participation (i.e., a composite variable constructed from multiple indicators); second, it is measured more specifically by individual indicators (i.e. specific voluntary organizations). accordingly, in the following analysis two separate analyses are used. the first analysis estimates the effect of general social involvement and civic participation on life satisfaction, while the second estimates the effects of being a member of the specific social organizations. within the first analysis (table 3), three models are presented. model 1 presents the effect of general social involvement on life satisfaction. extending model 1, model 2 presents the effect of general social involvement with other control variables taken into account. to examine what variables have greater influences on life satisfaction, model 3 reports the result of model 2 using standardized coefficients. different variables have differing units of measurement (e.g., age is measured in years, income is rated on a 11-point scale, etc.), and standardized coefficients standardize their units of measurement and thus allow for comparison across variables. v. results and discussion in this section, seven tables (table 3 – table 9) report the results of the data analysis; the results are then described and discussed in relation to the corresponding hypotheses. table 3 presents the effect of general social involvement on life satisfaction. at first glance, social involvement has a significant positive effect on canadians’ life satisfaction (model 1). as individuals get more involved in social organizations, they are more satisfied with their life. this seems to be consistent with hypothesis 1. however, this effect becomes insignificant when other control variables are incorporated into the model (model 2). once those other variables are taken into account (namely, age, gender, marital status, level of education, employment status, income, level of health, and religiosity), that effect disappears. significant effects are found in such variables as age, marital status, income, health, and religiosity. specifically, in general older people are more satisfied with life than younger people. those who are married report being happier than those who are not married. canadians with higher levels of income are significantly happier. those who are healthier report higher levels of life satisfaction than those less healthy. lastly, those who are more religious are happier than those who are not religious. gender, education and employment status do not have significant influences over canadians’ life satisfaction. model 3 presents 84 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 standardized coefficients. according to model 3, the strongest predictor for life satisfaction among canadians is their level of health, followed by marriage, income, age, and religiosity. hence, the data from the world values survey (wvs 2006) indicates that while social involvement and civic participation does have a significant effect on the level of life satisfaction amongst canadians, its effect can be explained by such variables as age, marital status, income, health, and religiosity. based on this finding, it appears that older, married, more affluent, healthier and more religious individuals are more likely to be socially involved and active in civic activities, thereby being happier than others. tables 4-9 present the effects of participation in different types of social organizations on life satisfaction. we can identify two patterns from the results and distinguish two groups of social organizations in terms of their effects on life satisfaction. the first group includes (1) a church or a religious organization and (3) art, music or educational organizations, while the second group includes (2) sport or recreational organizations, (4) political parties, (5) environmental organizations, and (6) humanitarian organizations. pattern 1. being a member of (1) a church or a religious organization and (3) art, music or educational organizations appears to have a significant positive impact on canadians’ happiness (model 1 in table 4 and table 6). in other words, it seems the more that people are involved in religious or art and education-related organizations, the more satisfied they are with their life. these results seem to support hypotheses 2 and 4. however, as with the previous table, once control variables are integrated (model 2 in table 4 and table 6), the relationship disappears. also consistent with the previous analysis, significant effects are found in marital status, income, health, and religiosity. those who are married are happier than those unmarried; those with higher incomes are happier than those with lower incomes; healthier canadians are happier than those less healthy; those that are more religious are happier than those who are not religious. once again, it appears that gender, education and employment status do not have significant impacts on canadians’ levels of life satisfaction. hence, the world values survey (wvs 2006) data suggests that being a member of religious organizations or art, music and educational organizations can increase one’s level of life satisfaction; however, this effect may be explained by other variables (namely age, marital status, income, health, and religiosity). older, married, more affluent, healthier and more religious individuals are more likely to be members of religious or art, music and educational organizations, and thus more satisfied with their life. as found with hypothesis 1, when variables such as age, marital status, income, health, and religiosity are accounted for, the effect of a church or a religious organization membership disappears. pattern 2. being a member of (2) sport or recreational organizations, (4) political parties, (5) environmental organizations, and (6) humanitarian organizations does not have a significant impact on canadians’ life satisfaction (model 1 in tables 5, 7, 8, and 9). thus, hypotheses 3, 5, 6, 7 are not supported by the empirical evidence here. however, model 2 in these tables reveals that age, marital status, income, health, and religiosity all have significant effects – consistent with previous tables. older canadians are happier than those that are younger. canadians that are married are happier than people that are unmarried. those who are healthy report higher levels of life satisfaction that those that are less healthy. more religious canadians are happier than those who are less religious or not religious at all. the other variables (gender, education and employment status) do not effect canadians’ life satisfaction significantly. therefore, data from the world values survey (wvs 2006) reveals that being a member of sport or recreational organizations, political parties, environmental organizations, or humanitarian organizations does not have a significant effect on canadians’ life satisfaction, although other variables appear to bear a relationship. more specifically, those that are older, married, more affluent, healthier, and more religious may be more likely to report higher levels of life satisfaction. however, canadians’ 85 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 membership to sport or recreational organizations, political parties, environmental organizations, or humanitarian organizations may not necessarily bring them more happiness than those that are not members. i. further analysis overall, the data from the world values survey (wvs 2006) indicates that there are some significant relationships between canadians’ happiness and their general social involvement or their membership to certain organizations. however, the existing relationships disappear once other variables are controlled (namely age, marital status, income, health and religiosity). in order to have a deeper understanding of these findings, these control variables are examined to explain why canadians participate, or not, in social activities in general, as well as the likelihood of canadians being members of specific types of organizations. for general social involvement, ols regression analysis is the chosen method of analysis and the result is presented in table 10. for participation in social organizations, due to the binary nature of the variable (likelihood of being a member of a certain type of organization or not), logistic regression analysis is used and present the results in table 11. i.1 influences on general social involvement religiosity holds the strongest relationship with canadians being socially involved; religious canadians are more involved socially than those that are not religious. those who are members of a church or a religious organization build relationships with other members within that organization, creating community, belongingness, and so forth. in addition, canadians that have higher levels of education are more socially involved than those with lower levels of education. this may be in part due to the networks that canadians have access to through their education. for example, a canadian that attends university builds a network of students and professors that are socially involved, and in turn become socially involved as well. more affluent individuals are more socially involved than those with lower incomes. certain types of social involvement require financial means, so having a higher level of income allows certain individuals to be socially involved in ways that are simply impossible for those with lower incomes. age, gender, employment status and one’s level of health do not play a significant role in how socially involved canadians are. i.2 likelihood of canadians being members of a church or a religious organizations the only variable that has a significant influence over whether canadians are members of a church or a religious organization or not is their level of religiosity. those that are more religious are more likely to hold membership to a church or a religious organization. age, gender, marital status, employment status, income and health are not significant determinants. there are many possible reasons for why such variables do not have a significant relationship with canadians’ membership. for example, income may not play a role since most religious organizations do not place a financial burden on their members. i.3 likelihood of canadians being members of sport or recreational organizations age, gender, education, income, health and religiosity are significantly correlated with canadians’ likelihood of being members of sport or recreational organizations. younger and healthier canadians are more likely to be members than older and less healthy canadians. young and 86 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 healthy canadians have an advantage over those that are older and less healthy, as it is generally physically demanding to be a member of these organizations. males are also more likely to be members than females. such findings imply that canadian society encourages males to participate in these activities. canadians with higher levels of education are also more likely to be members of sport or recreational organizations. higher levels of education and religiosity can also influence canadians’ likelihood to be members; perhaps due to the networks formed in school and religious communities. in addition, many sport or recreational organizations are tied to educational institutions, and schools often encourage students to participate in such activities. those that are more affluent are more likely to hold membership more often than those with lower incomes. affluence makes it easier for canadians to be active in these organizations, as some can be quite costly. lastly, religious people tend to be more likely to be members of sport or recreational organizations than those that are not religious. martial status and employment status, however, are not significantly related and thus cannot be thought of determinants. i.4 likelihood of canadians being members of art, music or educational organizations in canada, people that are members of art, music or educational organizations are typically younger. those with higher levels of education and higher incomes are also more likely to be members than those with less education and lower incomes. canadians that hold higher levels of education are more likely to build personal relationships with those involved in these organizations since their networks are likely to cover a sphere of students pursuing art as either a profession or a hobby. those with more education may also have more appreciation for art, music or educational organizations since they may have been exposed to such pieces during their school career. in addition, being a member of art, music or educational organizations often requires spending money (to attend plays or gallery showings, for example), so those that are more affluent are more likely to be inclined to be members of these organizations, relative to those that are on tighter budgets. religiosity also bears a significant relationship with membership among canadians. more specifically, religious canadians are more likely to be members than those less or not religious. those with higher religiosity may be members to these organizations since art, music and educational organizations sometimes incorporate religion itself. for example, a christian artist may create paintings of jesus; religious canadians may be a member of a church choir; those who are more religious may participate in organizations that educate others on their religion and beliefs surrounding it. however, gender, marital status, employment status and health are not significant correlates. i.5 likelihood of canadians being members of political party organizations older canadians are more likely to be members of political organizations. life experience, combined with education and work experience, is likely to be tied to this older age group. males are more likely to be members of political party organizations than females, and members tend to have higher levels of education. since the beginning of political history in canada, males have been overrepresented in political positions, and only recently have females entered the political realm. thus, it is more likely for members to be male, since females have fewer figures to identify with and they are less likely to hold positions themselves. political involvement also requires a certain degree of knowledge on political topics; higher levels of education typically provide and encourage this involvement, and schools teach students about political history and current events. having more background knowledge surely gives educated canadians more motivation to be involved in political party organizations than those with less education. affluence also effects canadians’ likelihood of being members of political party organizations. several reasons can 87 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 explain this relationship. for example, those with higher incomes have a significant campaigning advantage over those with lower incomes. lastly, religious canadians are also more likely to be members of political party organizations than those that are not religious. those who are religious may be more likely to be involved since political views are sometimes intertwined with religion. for example, conservatives typically reflect their values and beliefs on their political policy preferences. marital status, employment status and health do not have a significant relationship with whether canadians are members of political party organizations or not. i.6 likelihood of canadians being members of environmental organizations the only identified variable that has a significant relationship with canadians membership (or non-membership) to environmental organizations is their level of education. specifically, those with higher levels of education are more likely to be involved than those with lower levels of education. this may be due to the fact that schools often raise awareness and encourage discussion around climate change and thus educated canadians may have more environmental concern and seek out opportunities to make a difference. age, gender, marital status, employment status, affluence, health and religiosity, on the other hand, do not significantly impact whether canadians are members of environmental organizations or not. i.7 likelihood of canadians being members of humanitarian organizations education levels, employment status, affluence and religiosity all have significant relationships with how likely canadians are to be involved with humanitarian organizations. those that have higher levels of education are more involved than those with less education. educational institutions raise awareness of social justice and human rights issues across the globe. therefore, the more education canadians have, the more likely they are to want to be involved in humanitarian causes. likewise, employment status can also change the likelihood of someone being a member of humanitarian organizations. those that are employed are more likely to have the time and resources to “give back” to those that are in need of help; those that are unemployed, on the other hand, are typically on the receiving end, and do not have the means to help others. canadians with higher incomes are more likely to be members than those with lower incomes. since involvement (and membership) sometimes requires some financial investment, those with higher incomes are more likely to have money available for being members of these organizations. lastly, religious canadians are more likely to be involved than canadians who are not religious. religion often promotes bettering the living conditions of those less fortunate, as religious values and beliefs often stress the importance of equality and looking out for one another. having these values engrained in those more religious may make religious canadians more likely to be members of humanitarian organizations than those that are not religious. age, gender, marital status and health do not significantly affect the likelihood of canadians being members of humanitarian organizations. vi. summary and conclusions i. limitations and future research directions although this article provided insight into the effect of social involvement and civic participation on canadians’ level of life satisfaction and distinguished between different types of social organizations individuals may participate in, this study encountered limitations that are important to note. firstly, the analyses were based on data that was collected from the 2005-2006 world 88 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 values survey; more updated data would have been ideal, but unfortunately the most recent wave (2014) did not include canada. second, the world values survey (wvs 2006) survey was cross-sectional. in the future, researchers should consider collecting data longitudinally in order to see whether canadians’ self-reported level of life satisfaction varies over time in relation to their social involvement and civic participation, or not. in other words, to isolate causality, researchers can examine whether a person’s level of life satisfaction changes between when they are socially involved and when they are not (or vice versa). further research should take multiple angles on this topic, examining both quantitative and qualitative data. taking a quantitative approach to this topic on one hand made it possible to identify confounding variables that may have been overlooked if a quantitative study was done; however, there is a wealth of knowledge that simply cannot surface from a national survey. in-depth interviews could perhaps remedy this, uncovering various underlying meanings and connections. researchers may also consider comparing membership to these organizations to other forms of social involvement (coffee dates, getting dinner with friends, etc.), and examine the similarities and differences. it would also be interesting to look at different definitions of social involvement, and where exactly the cyber-world fits into it. for example, is being part of an activist group on facebook as rewarding as participating in an activist group that regularly meets face-to-face? sociologists can examine happiness in relationship to social involvement in several directions that could help us understand our society better, and make way for better policy design. there are two important conclusions that can be drawn from this study. first, it confirms the hypothesis that social involvement increases life satisfaction among canadians; however, certain variables come into play that can make this relationship disappear. second, it reveals factors that aid or hinder canadians’ likelihood of being socially involved. three major influencers were identified: affluence, education and religiosity; in this section, these conclusions are elaborated on. next, the contribution of this research to existing literature is reviewed, as well as policy suggestions. at first glance, social involvement appears to have a significant impact on how happy canadians are; those that are socially involved are more satisfied with their life than those that are less socially involved. data collected by the world values survey (2006) suggests that older, married, more affluent, healthier and more religious canadians are more socially involved, and thus happier than others. to have a better understanding of these results, a further analysis looked at what factors increase or decrease canadians’ likelihood of being socially involved and members of specific organizations. several interesting findings emerged. age bears a significant relationship with canadians’ likelihood to be members of certain organizations. more specifically, younger canadians are more likely to be members in sport or recreational, or art, music or educational organizations, while older canadians are more likely to be members of political party organizations. while younger canadians have the time and energy to pursue more leisurely activities, political party organizations generally appeal to an older audience and often demand a degree of experience and education, which coincides with age. it also appears that membership to organizations is not necessarily dispersed evenly between females and males: rather, males are more likely to be members of sport or recreational or political party organizations. although more and more women are pursuing these areas as time goes by, males are significantly more physically and politically active than females in canada. furthermore, married canadians are no more likely to be socially involved in any particular organizations than those unmarried, and vice versa. however, education appears to play a key role in canadians’ social involvement and civic participation. more specifically, the more education that canadians attain, the more likely they are to be involved in voluntary organizations– the only exception being a church or a religious organization. healthy canadians are more likely to be a member of a sport or recreational organization than those 89 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 less healthy; however, health does not significantly influence one’s membership to the other organizations. this, of course, has a circular effect: those that are healthy are more likely to join the organization in the first place, and their participation increases their health over time. lastly, religiosity is significantly related to canadians’ involvement in all organizations, other than environmental organizations. this research lends itself to policy implications and contributes to the gap in research regarding the effect of social involvement on canadians’ life satisfaction. it also sheds light on what makes them more or less likely to be socially involved. as we can see, social involvement does indeed increase happiness among canadians; however, there are underlying reasons why canadians are or are not members of certain organizations. in order to bring higher levels of life satisfaction to more canadians, policies and programs must be implemented to aid certain individuals in their access to organizations to get them more socially involved. a church or a religious organization and an art, music or educational organization appears to have the most significant influences on canadians’ happiness; therefore, it is recommended that they receive government attention in the future. on the other hand, while the other organizations did not have significant impacts on happiness among canadians based on the data analyzed, they should not be disregarded. multiple policies and programs can encourage social involvement in canada. for example, since these findings indicate that those with higher incomes are more likely to be a member of sport and recreational organizations, policy-makers should consider subsidizing membership fees for those with lower incomes. tackling other inequalities in canadian society may also increase overall life satisfaction among canadians. for example, since the data revealed that males are much more involved in political party organizations than females, programs can be implemented to encourage female involvement and therefore increase their representation in the political realm. since health is closely tied to life satisfaction among canadians, policies could improve illness prevention and treatment. however, other areas, such as level of religiosity and age, are beyond the control of policy-making procedures. it is crucial to further study this topic, as there is currently very little research that provides opportunities for such policy changes. many of these findings can shed light on the importance of certain aspects of canadians’ life satisfaction. this is a truly fascinating topic that deserves attention among canadian researchers. improving life satisfaction can benefit canadians at both the individual and societal level and i encourage sociologists to investigate further. references argyle, m. 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(2009). wvs 2005-2008 wave official data file. retrieved november 17, 2014 (http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/). 93 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9042-1 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12062 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0033-3506(05)80436-6 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3511048 m ea su re m en t b in ar y va ri ab le : 1: m ar ri ed ( in cl ud in g m ar ri ed a nd li vi ng to ge th er a s m ar ri ed ) 0: n ot m ar ri ed ( in cl ud in g di vo rc ed , s ep ar at ed , w id ow ed , a nd si ng le ) 7po in t s ca le : 1 , m or e th an o nc e a w ee k; 2 , o nc e a w ee k; 3 , o nc e a m on th ; 4 , o nl y on s pe ci al h ol y da ys ; 5 , o nc e a ye ar ; 6 , l es s of te n; 7 , n ev er , p ra ct ic al ly n ev er b in ar y va ri ab le : 1: m al e 0: f em al e m ea su re d in y ea rs 9po in t s ca le : 1 , n o fo rm al e du ca tio n; 2 , i nc om pl et e pr im ar y sc ho ol ; 3 , c om pl et e pr im ar y sc ho ol ; 4 , i nc om pl et e se co nd ar y sc ho ol ; 5 , c om pl et e se co nd ar y sc ho ol ; 6 , i nc om pl et e co lle ge /c e g e p; 7 , c om pl et e co lle ge /c e g e p; 8 , s om e un iv er si ty -l ev el e du ca tio n, w ith ou t d eg re e; 9 , u ni ve rs ity -l ev el ed uc at io n, w ith d eg re e b in ar y va ri ab le : 1: y es 0: n o 11 -p oi nt s ca le f ro m 1 ( an nu al in co m e un de r 12 ,5 00 c an ad ia n do lla rs ) to 1 1 (a nn ua l i nc om e ab ov e 15 0, 00 1 c an ad ia n do lla rs ) 4po in t s ca le f ro m 1 ( po or ) to 4 ( ve ry g oo d) su rv ey q ue st io n a re y ou c ur re nt ly : a pa rt f ro m w ed di ng s an d fu ne ra ls , a bo ut ho w o ft en d o yo u at te nd r el ig io us se rv ic es th es e da ys ? c od e th e re sp on de nt ’s s ex b y ob se rv at io n y ou a re _ _ ye ar s ol d w ha t i s th e hi gh es t e du ca tio na l l ev el th at yo u ha ve a tta in ed ? a re y ou e m pl oy ed n ow o r no t? w e w ou ld li ke to k no w in w ha t g ro up yo ur h ou se ho ld is , c ou nt in g al l w ag es , pe ns io ns a nd o th er in co m es th at c om e in . j us t g iv e th e le tte r of th e gr ou p yo ur ho us eh ol d fa lls in to , b ef or e ta xe s an d ot he r de du ct io ns . a ll in a ll, h ow w ou ld y ou d es cr ib e yo ur st at e of h ea lth th es e da ys ? v ar ia bl e m ar ita l s ta tu s r el ig io si ty g en de r a ge e du ca tio n e m pl oy m en t s ta tu s in co m e h ea lth t ab le 1 m ea su re m en t o f c on tr ol v ar ia bl es the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 94 table 2 descriptive statistics from the world values survey (wvs 2006) variable mean sd minimum maximum life satisfaction social involvement church or religious sport or recreational art, music or educational environmental humanitarian age 7.746 1.874 .522 .399 .333 .151 .314 48.211 1.710 1.713 .500 .490 .471 .358 .464 17.801 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 10 6 1 1 1 1 1 94 gender (male) .415 .493 0 1 marital status .619 .486 0 1 education 6.171 2.008 1 9 employment .536 .499 0 1 income 5.634 2.947 1 11 health 3.164 .824 1 4 religiosity 3.449 2.101 1 7 table 3 ols regression of life satisfaction in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 model 3 social involvement .042* (.022) -.008 (.024) -.008 (.024) age .010* (.003) .101* (.003) male -.137 (.078) -.039 (.078) marital status .531* (.084) .150* (.084) education -.032 (.022) -.038 (.048) employment .020 (.092) -.006 (.092) income .060* (.016) .102* (.016) health .628* (.048) .302* (.048) religiosity .055* (.020) .066* (.020) constant 7.671* (.055) 4.677* (.243) 4.677* (.243) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 95 table 4 ols regression of life satisfaction in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 church or religious organization .142* (.074) -.015 (.093) age .010* (.003) male -.142 (.078) marital status .538* (.084) education -.031 (.022) employment -,032 (.092) income .058* (.016) health .624* (.048) religiosity .054* (.023) constant 7.674* (.053) 4.686* (.242) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. table 5 ols regression of life satisfaction in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 sport or recreational organization .104 (.075) -.062 (.081) age .010* (.003) male -.138 (.078) marital status .534* (.084) education -.030 (.022) employment -.036 (.092) income .060* (.016) health .628* (.048) religiosity .053* (.019) constant 7.706* (.048) 4.690* (.242) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 96 table 6 ols regression of life satisfaction in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 art, music or educational organization .173* (.045) .055 (.085) age .010* (.003) male -.140 (.078) marital status .540* (.084) education -.036 (.022) employment -.032 (.092) income .057* (.016) health .624* (.048) religiosity .050* (.019) constant 7.688* (.045) 4.700* (.243) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. table 7 ols regression of life satisfaction in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 political party organization .002 (.010) -.063 (.104) age .010* (.003) male -.135 (.078) marital status .540* (.084) education -.033 (.022) employment -.027 (.092) income .060* (.016) health .624* (.048) religiosity .053* (.019) constant 7.746* (.040) 4.673* (.242) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 97 table 8 ols regression of life satisfaction in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 environmental organization -.033 (.752) -.088 (.107) age .010* (.003) male -.141 (.078) marital status .531* (.084) education -.030* (.022) employment -.030 (.092) income .058* (.016) health .627* (.048) religiosity .052* (.019) constant 7.751* (.040) 4.677* (.243) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. table 9 ols regression of life satisfaction in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 humanitarian organization .134 (.080) .011 (.085) age .010* (.003) male -.143 (.078) marital status .534* (.084) education -.034 (.022) employment -.037 (.092) income .059* (.016) health .624* (.048) religiosity .050* (.019) constant 7.70* (.045) 4.710* (.243) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 98 table 10 ols regression of social involvement in canada, 2006 variable model 1 model 2 age -.004 (.003) -.046 (.003) male .121 (.076) .035 (.076) marital status -.097 (.083) -.028 (.083) education .159* (.021) .188* (.021) employment .067 (.090) .020 (.090) income .074* (.016) .128* (.016) health .046 (.047) .022 (.047) religiosity .254* (.019) .313* (.019) constant -.327 (.238) notes: ols, ordinary least squares. numbers in parentheses are standard errors; from two-tailed tests, *p<.05. the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 99 m od el 6 h um an it ar ia n .0 07 (. 00 4) -. 07 9 (. 11 0) -. 11 3 (. 12 0) .1 96 * (. 03 1) .2 57 * (. 13 1) .0 73 * (. 02 3) -. 03 2 (. 06 8) .1 97 * (. 02 7) -3 .4 04 * (. 36 2) m od el 5 e nv ir on m en ta l -. 00 8 (. 00 5) .1 77 (. 13 7) -. 10 3 (. 15 0) .1 14 * (. 03 9) .2 87 (. 16 4) .0 45 (. 02 8) .0 29 (. 08 8) .0 33 (. 03 3) -2 .7 48 * (. 44 6) m od el 4 p ol it ic al pa rt y .0 10 * (. 00 5) .4 76 * (. 13 3) -. 02 2 (. 14 9) .1 58 * (. 03 8) .1 63 (. 16 3) .0 55 * (. 02 8) -. 00 5 (. 08 5 .1 31 * (. 03 3) -4 .2 45 * (. 45 1) m od el 3 a rt , m us ic o r ed uc at io na l -. 01 7* (. 00 4) -. 08 3 (. 11 1) -. 22 4 (. 12 1) .2 51 * (. 03 1) -. 20 0 (. 12 9) .0 96 * (. 02 3) .1 17 (. 07 0) .1 57 * (. 02 7) -2 .6 8* (. 35 5) m od el 2 sp or t o r re cr ea ti on al -. 01 4* (. 00 4) .2 91 * (. 10 5) -. 14 7 (. 11 6) .1 52 * (. 02 9) .0 78 (. 12 2) .1 11 * (. 02 2) .1 71 * (. 06 7) .0 95 * (. 02 6) -2 .3 1* (. 33 8) m od el 1 c hu rc h or re lig io us -. 04 2 (. 07 5) .0 16 (. 12 1) .1 96 (. 13 0) .0 27 (. 03 4) .0 22 (. 14 2) -. 00 9 (. 02 5) -. 04 2 (. 07 5) .6 99 * (. 03 3) -2 .3 6* (. 38 1) v ar ia bl e a ge m al e m ar ita l s ta tu s e du ca tio n e m pl oy m en t in co m e h ea lth r el ig io si ty c on st an t t ab le 1 1 l og is ti c r eg re ss io n of m em be rs hi p in s pe ci fi c o rg an iz at io ns n ot es : n um be rs in p ar en th es es a re s ta nd ar d er ro rs ; f ro m tw ota ile d te st s, * p< .0 5. the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 100 introduction the correlates of happiness and research hypotheses income and happiness religiosity and happiness marital status, gender, age and happiness employment status and happiness education and happiness health and happiness social involvement/civic participation and happiness participation in a church or a religious organization participation in sport or recreational organizations participation in art, music or educational organizations participation in political parties participation in environmental organizations participation in humanitarian organization data, variables and method data variables dependent variable independent variables control variables method results and discussion further analysis influences on general social involvement likelihood of canadians being members of a church or a religious organizations likelihood of canadians being members of sport or recreational organizations likelihood of canadians being members of art, music or educational organizations likelihood of canadians being members of political party organizations likelihood of canadians being members of environmental organizations likelihood of canadians being members of humanitarian organizations summary and conclusions limitations and future research directions the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 exploring the nature of elder abuse in ethno-cultural minority groups: a community-based participatory research study heather haukioja∗ the university of victoria haukioja@uvic.ca abstract elder abuse is a significant public health, social justice, and human rights issue in today’s society. despite the recognition that elder1 abuse affects older adults across all racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, very little is known about the experiences of elder abuse among people from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds in canada. the primary objective of this study is to explore the nature of elder abuse within the two largest ethno-cultural minority groups in british columbia (bc), the chinese and south asians (i.e., those who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to south asia, which includes nations such as india, pakistan, sri lanka, bangladesh, and nepal). using a community-based participatory research approach, this study is a collaboration between three academics at the university of victoria and four front-line workers from the inter-cultural association of greater victoria (ica), a not-for-profit, multicultural services organization for immigrants and refugees. the qualitative findings from this interview-based study reveal that cultural context, immigration status, and ethnicity are significant factors influencing experiences of elder abuse. further, the findings provide insights into what resources — awareness and prevention —need to be developed in order to address the issue of elder abuse in these communities. keywords: elder abuse; ethno-cultural minority groups; aging; culture; immigration i. introduction t he demographic transition occurring in contemporary canadian society, specifically, steady declines in fertility rates combined with rising life expectancies, has resulted in an increased aging population within canada (mcdaniel & tepperman, 2010). the canadian population is projected to continue aging into the future; by 2030, close to one in four persons will be aged 65 years or older (statistics canada, 2014). concurrently, canada’s population of older adults is becoming more ethno-culturally diverse due to recent immigration trends and growth among the visible minority population (podnieks, 2008). these trends reveal the timely importance of understanding the experiences, situations, and challenges faced by older adults in various ethno-cultural communities within canada (podnieks, 2008). elder abuse and neglect is one such concern and is a significant public health, social justice, and human rights issue in today’s society (dong, 2012b). ∗i would like to express my sincere appreciation to dr. karen kobayashi for her guidance and tremendous support throughout this project. i would also like to thank the jamie cassels undergraduate research award for their generous support. 1the term elder is used throughout this paper to refer to older adults (i.e. those aged 65 years or older). it is used with the purpose of staying consistent with the terms used in existing academic literature and should not be conflated with the traditional indigenous term. 51 mailto:haukioja@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 generally speaking, elder abuse can be defined as a ”single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person” (who, 2002, p.3). the following are types of abuse that are recognized within the overall framework of elder abuse: ”(1) physical abuse, which includes acts done with the intention of causing physical pain or injury; (2) psychological abuse, defined as acts done with the intention of causing emotional pain or injury; (3) sexual assault; (4) material exploitation, involving the misappropriation of the old person’s money or property; and (5) neglect, or the failure of a designated carer to meet the needs of a dependent old person” (lachs & pillemer, 2004, p. 1264). the effects of elder abuse on the health and quality of life of older adults are profound, including increased risks of premature morbidity and mortality (walsh, ploeg, lohfeld, horne, macmillion, & lai, 2007). while it is difficult to know the exact prevalence of elder abuse within canada due to issues of under-reporting, it is estimated that between four and ten percent of canadian older adults experience some form of abuse or neglect from someone they trust or rely on (public health agency of canada, 2010). elder abuse does not discriminate; it affects older adults across all racial, ethnic, and cultural groups (lee, moon, & gomez, 2014). despite this recognition, very little is known about the experiences of elder abuse among people from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds in canada (ploeg, lohfeld, & walsh, 2013). this gap in knowledge is problematic, as the limited amount of existing research indicates that ethnicity, immigration status, and cultural factors have significant influence on experiences of elder abuse, as well as on the recognition, identification, and prevention of abuse (lai, daoust, & li, 2014; dong, 2012b). given this knowledge, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive understanding of the nature of elder abuse within various ethno-cultural minority groups in canada. moreover, research is needed to identify what resources and supports must be established in order to adequately address this complex issue. ii. literature review elder abuse can be defined as ”(a) intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm (whether or not harm is intended), to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trust relationship to the elder, or (b) failure by a caregiver to satisfy the elder’s basic needs or to protect the elder from harm” (bonnie & wallace, 2002, p.1). although conceptualizations of what elder abuse encompasses vary, the national center on elder abuse (ncea, 2001) has identified six major forms of elder abuse, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, financial abuse, neglect, and abandonment (as cited in hafemeister, 2003). further, there are three basic categories of elder abuse, including domestic abuse, institutional abuse, and self-neglect or self-abuse (mcdonald & collins, 2000). the focus of this study is on domestic abuse, which is defined as any or several forms of mistreatment towards an older adult occurring in his/her own home in the community, or in a caregiver’s home, by someone who has a special relationship with the older adult, such as a spouse, sibling, child, or caregiver (ncea, 2011). the research on elder abuse has seen significant growth since the 1980s, reaching across many different contexts (anetzberger, 2005). despite its increasing emergence in the literature, there remain vast gaps in our understanding of issues surrounding elder abuse. for example, conceptualizations of elder abuse within the literature often reflect a white, middle-class perspective (moon & benton, 2000) while the intersections of ethnicity, cultural factors, and immigration status are largely ignored (lai, daoust, & li, 2014). in particular, scholars in the area have reviewed the literature and concluded that existing research on issues related to elder abuse in ethno-cultural minority communities is insufficient and inadequate (lai, daoust, & li, 2014; dong, 2014). this 52 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 is concerning as experiences such as language barriers, social isolation, financial and emotional dependency, and the characteristics of the victim and perpetrator may all be factors related to the cause and maintenance of elder abuse among ethno-cultural minority groups (podnieks, 2008). another significant gap in the exploration of elder abuse is the lack of community-based participatory research (cbpr) studies in the area. it has increasingly been suggested that research partnerships between academics and community organizations be forged in order to better examine the key issues surrounding elder abuse within particular ethno-cultural minority communities (dong, 2012a). a cbpr approach works to ensure that recognition, response, and support are offered in the most appropriate way for individuals and families with regards to abuse (dong, 2012a). as dong explains, using a cbpr approach allows researchers to gain a cultural awareness of the community and to develop appropriate insights surrounding prevention and intervention measures on elder abuse issues. further, as chang and dong (2014) claim, by “engaging both academic and community partners in an action-driven investigation, the quality and quantity of research is enhanced without losing sight of the local community values” (p. 58). the current study is a response to these identified gaps in the existing literature as it explores the nature of elder abuse in ethno-cultural minority groups using a cbpr approach. iii. purpose statement and research questions i. purpose statement this particular study is an offshoot of a larger project currently being undertaken in british columbia (bc) funded by the council to reduce elder abuse (crea). the larger project represents a collaboration between academic researchers, elder law practitioners, and not-for-profit multicultural service provider administrators and staff. the crea project examines the issue of elder abuse among ethno-cultural minority communities in the lower mainland, which covers the southwest corner of bc as well as in greater victoria. branching off from the larger project funded by crea, the primary objective of this cbpr study was to explore the nature of elder abuse as it is/has been experienced by chinese and south asian (i.e., those who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to south asia, which includes nations such as india, pakistan, sri lanka, bangladesh, and nepal) older adults residing in greater victoria. these two particular ethno-cultural minority groups were chosen for this project as they make up the two largest ethno-cultural communities in canada and their populations are continuing to grow rapidly within bc. as part of the larger project, this study represents a collaborative effort between three academics at the university of victoria and four front-line workers at the inter-cultural association of greater victoria (ica). the not-for-profit front-line workers at ica are responsible for providing a wide range of services and assistance to immigrants and refugees in canada. the front-line workers at ica were appropriate partners for this particular project as they attend to the issues of elder abuse faced by ethno-cultural minority older adults on a daily basis and are directly involved in providing support and resources to both victims and perpetrators. ii. research questions the research questions that guided this study were negotiated and supported by the front-line workers at ica. they are: (1) what is the nature of elder abuse (i.e., types of abuse, prevalence of abuse, factors relating to the cause and maintenance of abuse) within the two largest ethno-cultural communities in bc (chinese and south asians)? (2) what prevention and response resources 53 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 currently exist and what still needs to be developed in order to appropriately address the issue of elder abuse within ethno-cultural communities in greater victoria? iv. research design i. conceptual framework in order to explore the nature of elder abuse within ethno-cultural minority communities in greater victoria, this study used a combination of two overlapping conceptual frameworks, the ecological and cultural sensitivity perspectives. together, these perspectives suggest that the consideration of various contextual and socio-cultural factors is fundamental to both gaining an understanding of the nature of elder abuse and in developing culturally-responsive resources and services to address the complexity of the issue in south asian and chinese communities. i.1 ecological perspective the ecological perspective, developed by bronfenbrenner (1979), focuses on the various contributions that personal, interpersonal, sociocultural, political, economic, and historical exigencies play in shaping human perceptions and behaviours (as cited in lee, moon, & gomez, 2014). the ecological perspective highlights human interdependence and reciprocity with four interrelated levels of environment, including the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem (schiamberg & gans, 2000; lee, moon & gomez, 2014). by taking into account all of the complex, interrelated systems in which families are embedded, this perspective offers insight into how intrafamilial processes are affected by extrafamilial circumstances or conditions (schiamberg & gans, 2000). thus, rather than understanding elder abuse as a phenomenon that relates only to abusers and victims, the ecological perspective provides a comprehensive framework “for conceptualizing the relationships of the multidimensional and contextual variables associated with elder abuse” in ethno-cultural communities (lee, moon & gomez, 2014, p. 246). i.2 cultural sensitivity perspective the cultural sensitivity model highlights the significance of incorporating broader socio-cultural and historical contexts, themes, and values into the development of relevant and effective interventions (kreuter, lukwago, bucholtz, clark, & sanders-thompson, 2002; resnicow, braithwaite, ahluwalia, & baranowski, 1999, as cited in lee, moon, & gomez, 2014). it seeks to explain how “members of a target population perceive and conceptualize the cause, course, and treatment of the problem within their cultural context, as well as normative practices and beliefs” (lee, moon, & gomez, 2014, p. 247). applied to the study of elder abuse, this perspective connects the issue to broader socio-cultural and historical factors and explains perceptions of, and responses to, elder abuse within various ethno-cultural minority communities in a manner that differs from western, more individualistic cultural explanations (lee, moon, & gomez, 2014). this approach also provides the researcher with critical insights into culturally contextualized interventions (lee, moon, & gomez, 2014). as schiamberg and gans (2000) maintain, the recognition and understanding of cultural diversity within a given community is critical in the design of effective prevention and intervention programs. 54 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 ii. methodological approach growing interest among academics in developing new ways of studying and addressing complex health and social problems has intersected in recent years with community demands for research that is community-based, rather than simply community placed (minkler & wallerstein, 2008). community-based participatory research (cbpr) can be defined as a collaborative approach to research that necessitates partnerships between academic researchers, community organizations, and key stakeholders in the examination of a particular issue (dong, 2012b). for the purposes of this cbpr study, the core principles that were implemented included: achieving a balance between research and action; building on the strengths, skills and resources within the community; and, distributing the findings and knowledge to all partners involved. while great diversity exists within cbpr approaches, inherent to the model are three interconnected goals: research, education, and action (hall, 1992, as cited in minkler & wallerstein, 2008). cbpr aims to combine both knowledge and action for social change to improve the community in a sustainable manner (minkler & wallerstein, 2008). as cargo and mercer (2008) suggest, a central strength of participatory research is the ”integration of researcher’s” theoretical and methodological expertise with non-academic participants’ real-world knowledge and experiences into a mutually reinforcing partnership” that benefits the community of interest (as cited in minkler & wallerstein, 2008, p. 6). cbpr was an appropriate approach to use in this study for several reasons. a central aspect of cbpr is ensuring that the research topic is identified by rather than for the community (minkler & wallerstein, 2008). two researchers from the larger crea project conducted a focus group with four front-line workers at ica on the nature of elder abuse within the chinese and south asian communities in october 2015. at the conclusion of this focus group, the front-line workers articulated their desire for a more in-depth exploration into the issues of elder abuse in greater victoria. branching off of the larger crea project, i collaborated with the front-line workers and decided to conduct additional research on the salient issues that arose within the first focus group. thus, this study emerged from the front-line workers themselves, who requested the need for further research on the issues raised in the original focus group. additionally, by engaging ica as partners in this research project, the validity of the findings was enhanced through the recognition and integration of the local communities’ values and perspectives. iii. methods meetings with the front-line workers at ica served a pivotal role in fostering community engagement and directed the overall exploration into the nature of elder abuse within south asian and chinese communities. throughout this study, the partners at ica were included in an ongoing, collaborative process of relationship-building, data collection, and data sharing. implementing these collaborative measures acknowledged and supported the transfer of expertise between partners and worked to ensure cultural appropriateness of the outcomes from the study. iii.1 sample/ research setting this project was conducted within the greater victoria area. as mentioned previously, the group with whom i collaborated were four front-line service workers at the inter-cultural association of greater victoria. this particular group of individuals were involved as partners in the study as the need to thoroughly explore the nature of elder abuse among ethno-cultural minorities in greater victoria was initially identified by the members of the group themselves during the original focus group in october 2015. indeed, the staff at ica underscored the importance and timeliness of 55 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 this research study for their organization in the context of an increasingly diverse older adult population and, as a result, a progressively complex caseload. iii.2 data collection/ analysis this study involved various levels of data collection and analysis (see figure 1). the study began with a thematic analysis of data derived from the original focus group with south asian and chinese front-line workers (n= 4 participants) working at ica crea focus group thema3c analysis of focus group data construc3on of interview guide focus group analysis of focus group data visual image figure 1: data collection/analysis. that was conducted in october 2015 by two academic researchers from the larger crea project. the results from the thematic analysis of this original focus group were used to gain initial insights into some of the key themes that may have potentially arisen within my own research project. after the data from the preliminary focus group was analyzed, i met with the four front-line workers at ica who participated in the first focus group, and we decided upon the topics that would guide the discussion during the ensuing focus group. once the general topic areas were negotiated, i went back to ica and facilitated a second focus group with the same four front-line workers. the focus group methodology was chosen as the informal group discussion encourages participants to become an active part of the process and allows ”research participants to explore the issues of importance to them, in their own vocabulary, generating their own questions and pursuing their own priorities” (kitzinger, 1995, p. 299). i let the front-line workers structure their own responses and gave them each the opportunity to discuss what they believed to be the salient issues surrounding elder abuse within the south asian and chinese communities, and to identify what resources they felt they needed to best support them in their work with older adults who are experiencing abuse. prior to the focus group interview, the four participants gave written consent for their participation and for audio recording. the interview was conducted in english and was organized at the ica welcome centre in victoria. all of the recorded data from the focus groups were transcribed online. i then used a multi-step process to thematically analyze the data from both focus groups, and identified the core themes that represented the nature of elder abuse and the resources needed as outlined by ica. all of the findings were subsequently reviewed by the principal researcher and the research assistant of the larger project. after this step was completed, i sent a written transcription to the partners at ica to review and examine the findings as part of a member check. although not directly involved in data entry or data analysis, the ica participants reviewed and approved all the findings and outcomes of the study to ensure cultural responsiveness and appropriateness of the recommendations for the two communities. the reason that the partners at ica were not directly involved in every step of the data analysis and interpretation process was primarily due to the high demands for services and support that the front-line workers were experiencing during the data analysis phase. after gaining insights from the focus groups, i constructed a visual depiction (see figure 2 on p. 57) of the existing and needed resources that could be used to build awareness in south asian and chinese communities in greater victoria to prevent, recognize, and respond to elder abuse. what is reflected in the visual is a condensed image of the most salient issues that emerged 56 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 throughout the focus groups. after creating the visual, i checked in with ica and verified that what they articulated in the interviews was adequately represented in the visual depiction. figure 2: existing and needed resources v. research findings i. participants’ characteristics a total of four front-line service workers from ica participated in two sets of focus groups, which took place on october 2, 2015 and january 8, 2016. although they held various positions at ica, all participants were settlement workers, who were responsible for and involved in helping newcomers to canada understand their rights and offering them assistance accessing various programs and supports. the participants were all women and all foreign-born: two were born in china and two in india. combined, the participants spoke cantonese, mandarin, vietnamese, punjabi, hindi, urdu, and english. this diversity among the front-line workers was important, as many ethno-cultural minority older adults will only discuss sensitive issues with people whom they share cultural and linguistic characteristics. ii. definition, and types of elder abuse within south asian and chinese communities the front-line workers at ica perceived elder abuse to be a salient issue in both south asian and chinese communities in greater victoria. defined by one participant, elder abuse can be understood as “some form of harm or jeopardization of people’s health and welfare” (fg1, p4). another explained that the definition of abuse is very broad and encompasses a range of experiences (fg1, p3). when asked to describe what types of abuse the participants found to be the most prevalent in their work, all agreed that financial abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect were the most commonly experienced forms in both communities. further, the participants were clear to mention that, in some cases, there are multiple forms of abuse occurring within a single household. when discussing how often the front-line workers encountered situations of elder abuse in their positions at ica, one participant acknowledged that “we know that not everybody in the community is being abused. . . but i’ll say the majority is” (fg1, p1). the participants also mentioned that there were not any significant differences between the prevalence of abuse or types of abuse experienced by south asian as opposed to chinese communities. 57 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 iii. factors relating to the cause and maintenance of elder abuse iii.1 social isolation throughout both focus groups, the participants explained that some ethno-cultural minority older adults are socially isolated as a result of language/cultural barriers, a lack of transportation, family members’ sense of control, and financial vulnerability. the participants explained that many older adults from both south asian and chinese communities in greater victoria are “very isolated at home” (fg1, p3) and have limited social networks/community connections. when asked to identify the “type” of older adult that seemed most likely to be in an abusive situation, one participant stated it was those without transportation or any means to leave the house and participate in the community (fg1, p2). these experiences of social isolation are problematic, as participants discussed how socializing outside the home and accessing various groups or programs in the community are important ways for older adults to avoid situations of abuse. the participants also explained how social isolation, if not by choice, can be a form of abuse in and of itself. for example, family members may intentionally isolate older adults inside the home and control where they go, what they do, who they are in contact with, etc. one participant explained an incident in which the adult children “didn’t give them the information like where to take english training or to socialize, to get to know new people, things like that. . . because ’if we let them go outside they will learn more things”’ (fg1, p4). the participants interpreted this as a form of abuse, as it involved a family member hiding important information and confining the older adult to the home so that s/he would not go outside and become “aware” of their situation. iii.2 power, control, and dependency power, control, and dependency were strongly emphasized by participants as underlying factors that can lead to or intensify situations of elder abuse among ethno-cultural minority older adults. the participants explained that many older adults are dependent on their family members for a number of different reasons, including language barriers, lack of available (i.e., affordable), housing in the community, lack of transportation, financial vulnerability, sponsorship policies, social isolation, health status, etc. due to any one or a combination of these factors, many older adults are “dependent on their family” and thus “feel vulnerable to get out of the home” despite experiences of abuse (fg2, p1). in the words of one participant, these older adults “are not immersed in this culture and independently they cannot live. . . so that’s why they sort of feel forced to live with the family” (fg2, p1). one factor related to why relations of dependency and power imbalances between family members arises is immigration policy. the participants explained that many older adults are financially dependent as a result of canadian sponsorship policies; that is, “because of the policy they were sponsored here, they cannot apply for subsidies for example, for rent or income assistance” (fg1, p4). many sponsors use this dependency as a way to exert control. a number of adult children force older adults to stay home to cook, clean, and babysit, and oftentimes use threats claiming: “if you don’t do what i tell you then i send you back home” (fg1, p3). the participants also explained how fears surrounding deportation or abandonment can be deterrents to sponsored older adults disclosing their experiences of abuse. for example, p3 explained a situation where a man was being physically abused by his son and when he disclosed wanting to report it to the police his wife replied, “don’t say anything. . . we are here because of them. without [our] sponsor we can really not be here” (fg1). 58 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 iii.3 cultural factors language language, which is an important dimension of culture, was frequently identified as a barrier that makes discussing experiences of abuse and gaining access to services significantly more difficult for ethno-cultural minority older adults. the front-line workers explained that due to language barriers, many older adults from south asian and chinese communities cannot communicate with other people or understand existing information regarding how to identify and/or address experiences of elder abuse. this inability to communicate in the dominant language is identified by the participants as the most important reason why elder abuse towards ethno-cultural minority older adults is sustained. the participants all seemed to express the need for resources in the appropriate languages to help older adults identify and/or address situations of abuse. as p1 explains, although there is information about elder abuse, many of the resources are in english, which poses a significant challenge to access. further, and perhaps of equal importance, much of this material may not be culturally relevant to ethno-cultural older adults even if it is translated into the first language of the older adult. cultural stigma in addition to language, the participants explained that the cultural stigma surrounding disclosure of abuse is a central reason as to why older adults from ethno-cultural minority groups do not want to discuss or report their experiences of abuse. the participants mentioned that older adults from both south asian and chinese communities who are experiencing various forms of abuse “don’t do anything about it. . . it’s a family reputation on the line, it’s saving face” (fg1, p2). the front-line workers indicated that no matter how intense the situation of abuse is, the older adults try and cover it up due to the cultural stigma that exists and the fear that their situation will “leak out” into the community. thus, adherence to cultural norms was an identified factor that largely influences the maintenance of abuse in south asian and chinese communities; it was and continues to be an issue that front-line workers face in trying to help victims of elder abuse. attachment to the family an additional cultural factor that influences the experience of elder abuse in ethno-cultural minority communities is the centrality of family to one’s identity construction. as p3 explained, the reason why many older adults from south asian and chinese communities do not report situations of abuse is due to a strong attachment to the family; “they don’t want to leave no matter what. . . they’ll take [the abuse]” (fg2). one participant expanded on this point and claimed that, “even if they are dying they’ll still think about the family” (fg1, p2). moreover, the participants explained that many individuals from south asian and chinese communities have a fear of being separated from their family members and being placed in an institution. there is a perception that many ethno-cultural older adults would actually prefer to live with their family members despite experiences of abuse due to the strong cultural norms around the family and group harmony. iii.4 victim and perpetrator characteristics the participants suggested that risk factors for elder abuse also include the characteristics of both the older adult and the perpetrator. the front-line workers explained that an older adult’s health status, gender, language, financial situation, amount of social support, etc. may increase their risk of being abused. for example, the participants explained how, when an older adult’s mental or physical health status starts to decline, it may cause issues to arise within the family. in terms of gender, the participants indicated that being a female is a risk factor to experiences of abuse. the participants explained that while many older men are educated and engaging in the community, 59 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 due to power relations surrounding patriarchal norms, “women are very stuck” in the home and therefore “get abused even double or more than the husband” (fg1, p1). regarding the characteristics of the perpetrator, the participants explained that it depends on a number of factors, such as their education, background, personality, access to resources, and caregiver burden. for example, the participants discussed caregiver burden and how some caregivers of older adults are working multiple jobs and “they are tired. . . they are burnt out. . . so they need support from other services for home support” (fg2, p2). the demands and stress placed on immigrant caregivers inside and outside the home were described by front-line workers as potentially increasing risks of elder abuse. iii.5 existing and needed resources to address the issue of elder abuse existing resources when asked to describe the various resources the front-line workers at ica currently had access to in order to help address the issue of elder abuse within the south asian and chinese communities, the participants responded that they had very limited resources on vancouver island (fg1, p3). they noted that what currently exists is outdated and not culturally or linguistically relevant to south asian and chinese older adults and their families. as mentioned previously, the participants explained that language barriers are the number one reason why older adults from ethno-cultural minority communities struggle to acknowledge that they are experiencing abuse —they cannot read or understand information on the issue. thus, the participants do not end up recommending many of the existing resources to their clients at ica as they believe that the material is not actually appropriate for them. needed resources in addition to existing resources, the participants were also asked to discuss what resources they believe are needed to address the issue of elder abuse among these communities in greater victoria. important to note is that, although both communities are very diverse, the participants did not identify any differences between the types of resources needed for chinese as opposed to south asian communities. while outside the scope of this project, future in-depth research is needed to explore whether or not different resources are needed for each cultural group. the participants emphasized the need for resources that focus on increasing awareness and providing education on the issue of elder abuse. as p4 explained, they need resources that allow older adults to understand “that they have been abused, because sometimes they even don’t know they are being abused” (fg2). for example, providing older adults with information regarding pension income, and explaining how family members do not have the right to take the money away would help educate older adults on their rights, and on how to recognize abuse. as one participant explained, the resources must provide the older adults with choices and information on where to go if they need help: “or saying like they have choices because they feel oh we are stuck, we don’t have a choice we are helpless” (fg2, p1). when asked what an ideal resource would look like, the participants explained that a visual resource with simple, concise information that appealed to peoples’ emotions would be the most appropriate way to address issues surrounding elder abuse in ethno-cultural minority communities. the participants explained that illiteracy is a common issue for immigrant older adults and thus a visual may be easier to understand than a pamphlet or booklet because even if the older adult does not understand the words, they can see the image and relate to it. it was underscored that resources need to be made available and accessible in multiple locations, including pharmacies, doctors’ offices, the main ferry terminal, libraries, recreation centres, temples, etc. the participants further explained that awareness surrounding the issue of elder abuse should be targeted towards the whole family, not just the victim. as one participant 60 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 explained, having a resource available to everyone is important because then the “parents can understand [what it is] and children can understand it’s a crime” (fg2, p2). vi. discussion this study has provided important insights into both the nature of elder abuse among south asian and chinese older adults as well as guidance regarding what resources need to be developed to help address this issue in greater victoria. as suggested by the ecological and cultural sensitivity perspectives that guided this study, several intrafamilial and extrafamilial factors are related to the cause and maintenance of elder abuse among ethno-cultural minority groups. these include social isolation, dependency, power, and control, cultural factors, and victim and perpetrator characteristics. as articulated in the focus groups, understanding how these factors shape experiences of elder abuse among both south asian and chinese communities has important implications for the development of appropriate community-based prevention and intervention strategies related to the issue of elder abuse. first, social isolation was reported by the front-line workers as a common experience among ethno-cultural minority older adults in greater victoria. the findings here are consistent with existing research studies, which demonstrate the impact of financial vulnerability, language, and cultural barriers, lack of transportation, power over/control from family members, etc. on the construction of situations of social isolation (walsh et al., 2007; tam & neysmith, 2006; koehn, spencer, & hwang, 2010). social isolation is problematic, as older victims have fewer opportunities to disclose experiences of abuse and they face a number of challenges seeking out the help they need to address the issue (alberta elder abuse awareness network, 2016). as tam and neysmith (2006) claim, isolation is a social condition that allows elder abuse to be effectively hidden. further, research shows that older adults with “large social networks and connections with church, community centres, or other family members, were better able to cope in times of crisis than those with smaller social networks” (tam & neysmith, 2006, p. 149). second, in both focus groups, participants explained how dependency and imbalances in the amount of power and control between family members are also experiences frequently faced by older ethno-cultural minority adults in greater victoria. the front-line workers mentioned several factors leading to south asian and chinese older adults’ dependency on their families, including language barriers, emotional and economic vulnerability, social isolation, sponsorship arrangements, lack of understanding of their rights, etc. the findings from this study indicate that increased dependency on family members results in a heightened vulnerability to elder abuse. further, as chokkanathan, natarajan, and mohanty (2014) explain, dependency not only renders older adults susceptible to situations of abuse but may also cause older adults to feel powerless and thus more willing to endure an abusive situation and less likely to seek help. the front-line workers highlighted the influence that canadian sponsorship arrangements have in creating these relations of dependency and power. this is consistent with a growing body of research that recognizes how sponsorship policies may actually cause older adults to become dependent on their family members by fostering an environment of vulnerability that increases the risk of abuse in the relationship (koehn, spencer, & hwang, 2010; ploeg, lohfeld, & walsh, 2013). as mentioned by the front-line workers in this study, during the sponsorship period older adults may not be eligible for public pensions, social services, or other benefits that might foster their integration into the community and reduce their social isolation (spencer, 2008). it is evident from the findings of this study that immigration status significantly shapes the experiences of elder abuse among south asian and chinese older adults in canada. the findings also support the need for the development and maintenance of programs and 61 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 services that reduce the dependency of sponsored older adults on their children (koehn, spencer, & hwang, 2010). koehn, spencer and hwang (2010) argue for “flexible housing arrangements (e.g. re-zoning to facilitate in-law suites), the provision of free or reduced rate bus passes for newcomers, job orientation and placement of able-bodied seniors in work that is less harmful to their health than farming, or affordable english as a second language classes tailored to seniors” (p. 96). thirdly, cultural factors play a major role in shaping chinese and south asian older adults’ experiences of elder abuse. the participants explained that language barriers, cultural stigma, and attachment to the family are all variables that significantly impact experiences of elder abuse, particularly the help-seeking behaviours of ethno-cultural minority older adults. the participants underscored the importance of language barriers in the maintenance of abusive situations within these communities; other research has shown that language barriers can augment both dependence and isolation, making both the disclosure of abuse and the access to services significantly more challenging (alberta elder abuse awareness network, 2016). this finding is useful in that it underscores the importance of developing resources that are linguistically and culturally relevant to people from diverse backgrounds in canada in order to facilitate the process for older adults to report the problem and to receive the support they need. an additional cultural factor that arose from the findings of this study is cultural stigma. the front-line workers explained that taboos against revealing private family issues may hinder disclosure of abuse; indeed many south asian and chinese older adults choose to remain silent about their experiences due to fear of stigma. the findings here are consistent with previous studies that indicate how silence, shame, and secrecy about elder abuse are common in many cultures (tsukada, saito, & tatara, 2001). as chang and dong (2014) note, the cultural stigma surrounding elder abuse can play a critical role in influencing the help-seeking behaviours of ethno-cultural minority older adults and can create significant barriers to various prevention and intervention strategies. this finding is significant as the application of a western cultural perspective to develop an understanding of the nature of elder abuse in other cultures in canada may not accurately account for these experiences and may lead to the development and/or implementation of inappropriate strategies to address the issue. fourth, the findings of this research reveal the centrality of family in the majority of south asian and chinese communities; many older adults will stay with their family members despite experiences of elder abuse. the participants provided insights into the fear that many ethnocultural older adults have about institutionalization and being separated from family members. similarly, tam and neysmith’s (2006) study on elder abuse among chinese older adults found that “in keeping with their desire for family togetherness, chinese seniors did not want to live in nursing homes. . . they would rather die than be sent to a nursing home or institution” (p. 147). this is a significant finding as it suggests that removing older adults from an abusive context and placing them in another setting may not always be the best solution to the problem due to the strong cultural preference for family togetherness. as tam and neysmith (2006) explain, while removing older adults from the perpetrator’s home may end the abuse, it may also create a life filled with remorse and detachment for the older victim. thus, collectivism and family harmony, as core cultural values, profoundly shape experiences of elder abuse within these two communities and directly influence help-seeking behaviour. finally, the characteristics of the victim and the perpetrator of elder abuse were mentioned by the front-line workers in this study as important features influencing the nature of abuse. the front-line workers expressed a wide variety of risk factors relating to the characteristics of the older adult that are consistent with other studies, including their mental / physical health status, social isolation, education, female gender, low financial resources, barriers to accessing services 62 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 in the community, etc. (choi & mayer, 2000; lai, 2011). these risk factors associated with the characteristics of older victims provide significant insights, as specific prevention and intervention strategies should be targeted towards older adults who are at a higher risk of being neglected or abused (lai, 2011; dong, simon, & gorbien, 2007). further, while the participants mentioned multiple perpetrator characteristics that influence abusive situations, caregiver burden was frequently mentioned throughout the focus groups as having an impact. this finding is consistent with other studies on the risk factors relating to elder abuse; for instance, findings from tam and neysmith’s (2006) study reveal that many ethno-cultural minority caregivers work long hours in multiple and/or low paying jobs, and that this accumulated pressure and stress can escalate to experiences of abuse. the caregiving stress and burden felt by the caregivers can trigger situations of abuse and neglect in some cases (choi & mayer, 2000; lai, 2011; tam & neysmith, 2006). this finding indicates the need for more accessible and affordable social supports for family caregivers of ethno-cultural older adults in greater victoria. overall, a central message emerging from this study is the need to understand the influence that ethnicity, cultural contexts, and immigration/sponsorship have on elder abuse and how to incorporate this knowledge into effective resources and services. developing awareness of the issue through culturally and linguistically appropriate methods was a central step recommended by the participants to address the issue of elder abuse within these communities. due to the academiccommunity partnership guided by cbpr principles, this study was able to gather in-depth information on a very sensitive topic and allowed for the outcomes (see key deliverable) to be “accessible, understandable, and locally relevant to community participants’ specific interests and needs” (leung, yen, & minkler, 2004). existing research indicates that working with communities will go a long way in ensuring that the appropriate recognition and response are developed and offered in the most suitable ways to those who experience abuse, including the victim, perpetrator, family members, and other individuals in the community (nova scotia seniors’ secretariat, 2005, p. 20). vii. key deliverable the major deliverable of this study was the visual representation of existing and needed resources identified by ica (see figure 2 on pg. 57). this visual was useful in condensing and mapping out the key points the participants discussed throughout both of the focus groups. additionally, in response to the articulation of needed resources by the front-line workers at ica, researchers on the larger study funded by crea will develop a poster on the issue in both simplified chinese, punjabi, and hindi and distribute it in places frequented by older adults and their families, including doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and recreation centres. placing the poster in a number of publicly accessible locations allows the victim, perpetrator, family members, and other individuals within the community to gain cognizance of the issue. awareness building in the community through simple visual media was identified by the front-line workers as being an appropriate and pragmatic first response to the issue in greater victoria. thus, the overall goal of the poster is to begin building awareness to prevent, recognize, and respond to elder abuse in the chinese and south asian communities. further in-depth research is needed to explore what other resources and services can help address the issue of elder abuse. the participants at ica played a key role in identifying what should be developed based on the needs of key stakeholders in their organization and emphasized their wish that the poster be made available and accessible to all families in the identified ethno-cultural minority communities. all of the findings and outcomes of this study were verified by community partners at ica 63 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615681 as appropriately reflecting their organization’s needs. thus, the use of a community-based participatory research approach allowed for the outcomes of this study to reflect the specific interests and needs of older adults, their families, and communities. i. limitations of study while this study provided significant insights into the nature of elder abuse in ethno-cultural minority groups in greater victoria, there are limitations that are important to note. first, the sample within this study was small and was specific to one particular organization in a specific geographic location. therefore, the extent to which the findings can be generalized to all south asian or chinese groups in canada or to all front-line workers experiences is limited. also, due to the focus group setting and the fact that all participants worked together at the same organization, the front-line workers may have been hesitant to reveal important information and may have expressed opinions that were more socially desirable answers than honest viewpoints. due to practical and financial reasons, data was only analyzed from two focus group interviews. thus, further research that probes even deeper into the key issues expressed by the front-line workers would be very beneficial. finally, although many of the guiding principles of a communitybased participatory research approach were met in this study, it was difficult to fully involve ica in every step of the research process due to the heavy work demands the front-line workers at the organization faced during the data collection/ analysis phase of the study. thus, in taking together all these limitations, larger cbpr studies that represent diverse ethno-cultural minority groups are certainly needed to better assess the nature of elder abuse. viii. conclusion based on the findings from this study, we confirmed that elder abuse is a salient issue within the south asian and chinese communities in greater victoria. although the issue of elder abuse has been recognized in recent decades as a serious public health and social justice concern, the intersections of ethnicity, cultural contexts, and immigration status on the nature of elder abuse have not been well researched. this gap in knowledge is extremely problematic, as this study demonstrates that these factors play a large role in shaping the experiences of elder abuse among ethno-cultural minority communities. further research is needed to gain in-depth understandings of the nature of elder abuse experienced by people from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds in canada. this research is especially important within the context of an increasingly diverse aging population in canada. further, it is necessary to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate resources on the recognition, prevention, and response to the issue of elder abuse. we must move away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to dealing with the issue of elder abuse and recognize the vast diversity present within a given community. references alberta elder abuse awareness network. 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(2002). missing voices: views of older persons on elder abuse. geneva: authors. 67 introduction literature review purpose statement and research questions purpose statement research questions research design conceptual framework ecological perspective cultural sensitivity perspective methodological approach methods sample/ research setting data collection/ analysis research findings participants' characteristics definition, and types of elder abuse within south asian and chinese communities factors relating to the cause and maintenance of elder abuse social isolation power, control, and dependency cultural factors victim and perpetrator characteristics existing and needed resources to address the issue of elder abuse key deliverable limitations of study conclusion the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 women in weed: gender, race, and class in the cannabis industry jacqueline kittel∗ university of victoria jackittel@gmail.com abstract the legitimate cannabis industry is in its developmental stages across north america, leading some to claim that this industry will be a “blue skies market for women” where they will have unfettered opportunities to take on influential and entrepreneurial roles. this discourse, however, ignores the reality that the cannabis industry is just as shaped by gender and intersectional inequalities as other more established industries. drawing on interviews with five women leaders from various cannabis sectors in vancouver and victoria, british columbia, i explore how gender, racialization, and class operate in this increasingly corporatized sector and how white, heteronormative femininity has been used to normalize cannabis consumption keywords: cannabis; gender; race; corporatization; legitimization the cannabis industry in canada is on the cusp of massive changes—from a highly stigmatizedand criminalized underground market to a world of gleaming factories owned and operated bypowerful corporations as federal legalization fast approaches. this development from the illicit to everyday use has occurred in a very short period and women have been central players in this shift in attitudes. based on five in-person interviews with women leaders from various cannabis sectors in vancouver and victoria, british columbia, this paper explores how gender, racialization, and class are being employed by participants in the cannabis industry. this paper further analyzes what role these identities play in legitimizing and normalizing cannabis consumption. it also interrogates a common discourse in the cannabis community and the popular media, which suggests that, as a new and burgeoning sector, the cannabis industry is a “blue skies market for women” (kind, 2015) namely that women have an unfettered opportunity to take on influential and entrepreneurial roles. literature review in canada at the time of this study, cannabis is regulated as a schedule ii drug under the controlled drug and substances act (health canada, 2016). schedule ii drugs are substances that the federal government has categorized as having a higher than usual potential for abuse or addiction. surprisingly, canada was the first nation in the world to outlaw cannabis consumption in 1923, 14 years before the united states (schwartz, 2014). beginning in the 1970s, the prohibition of cannabis was amplified in canada and the us as part of the global “war on drugs,” the argument being that the latter was necessary to combat gang activity and youth consumption through strict punishment and control (gordon, 2006). fast-forward 94 years and cannabis remains in a grey zone in regards to federal legalization in canada, but that has not stopped the cannabis industry from ∗i would like to thank dr. annalee lepp for her support as my supervisor and the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards for providing financial aid in this research project. 32 mailto:jackittel@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 thriving in the illegal and legal realms. canada is currently developing regulations for a federally legal recreational cannabis market that is set to be introduced in the fall of 2018. the cannabis act, or bill c-45, received royal assent on june 19th, 2018 and is expected to be legal across canada as of october 17th, 2018 (scotti, 2018). at present, the cannabis industry is comprised of federally legal licensed producers (lps) who are authorized by health canada; federally illegal compassion clubs and storefront dispensaries that are being regulated on municipal levels; and the underground illicit market that has been thriving under prohibition for the past several decades. my research participants currently operate in the illegal cannabis industry, meaning prohibition has been one of the most significant factors in shaping their experiences in the industry. although there is existing academic literature that considers the various economic and health impacts of cannabis, there is little peer reviewed literature that examines women’s roles in the industry or academic studies that apply a critical feminist and/or intersectional lens to the topic. this research project is significant because it seeks to address the current gap in the existing body of knowledge on this topic. in spite of a lack of research, i did uncover information online about a us-based professional networking organization based out of denver, colorado known as women grow. women grow currently hosts 45 local chapters across the united states with a chapter in eastern canada. monthly chapter meetings and an annual conference work to create a woman-friendly environment designed to foster the development of women’s relationships with other women industry members. jamie shaw, one of my participants, was a co-founder of the vancouver chapter of women grow. in a 2015 online interview with matthew kind for canna insider, jazmin hupp, co-founder of women grow, described the current state of the cannabis industry and women’s role in it as follows: the marijuana industry is blue ocean right now, blue sky. there’s no reason for us to even treat each other like competition because the market is going be large enough that there is room for everyone right now. (kind, 2015) even though women grow was established to address gender inequities in the cannabis industry, the discourse proposed by its co-founder suggests that the industry is simply awaiting confident women willing to make their mark in this quickly growing industry. this perception of women’s access does not adequately acknowledge gender based discrimination and systemic economic inequalities that impact women’s experiences. susan boyd (2015), author of from witches to crack moms, argues the contrary and provides historical and sociological evidence that the global war on drugs has disproportionately impacted women for the worse, especially women from racialized or impoverished backgrounds (p. xi). the above claims from jasmine hupp do not adequately grapple with or acknowledge the invisible obstacles women must overcome to fully participate and succeed in the cannabis industry. there are gendered and racialized differences in regards to risk, financial capacity, and domestic responsibility that influence women’s access, which are largely ignored in the blue skies market discourse. for example, boyd (2015) argues that women face more significant social repercussions for consuming illicit drugs as compared to men due to associations of femininity with the sanctity of the home, mothering, sobriety, and morality that constrain women to behave “appropriately” or face major repercussions (p. xiii). i hypothesize that the description of a blue skies cannabis industry is misleading and that the industry as it stands is not outside of hierarchical gender logics, binaries, and racialized perceptions that influence women’s access. in fact, ashley abraham (2016), founder of the green ceiling, addressed this issue in our interview; she distinguished between what we want the industry to be versus what it is and pointed out that the cannabis industry is “a brand new legitimate industry but it’s not a brand new industry.” the cannabis industry has a history and that history is gendered. 33 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 in addition to unnamed gender based inequalities, when an intersectional lens is applied to the industry, several issues emerge. wanda james is the owner of simply pure and the first woman of colour to own a medical dispensary in denver, colorado. in an interview with ricardo baca from the cannabist (2015), james critiqued the equal opportunity image of the cannabis industry and names the ways in which people of colour are differently situated in the industry as compared to white citizens. james argued that racialized populations are structurally and disproportionately criminalized across north america, which was made worse by the “war on drugs” that has been ravaging communities of colour for decades, which has an impact on the relationship between these communities and the legal market. james has also pointed out that, though there are more women leaders in the cannabis industry as compared to other industries, women continue to represent a minority of the leaders in the cannabis sector. dell and kilty’s (2013) research on aboriginal women drug users in canada describes the influence of race, gender and class that contribute to the stereotype of the “expected offender” image imposed upon aboriginal women. dell and kilty’s work demonstrates the role of colonization and ongoing marginalization that perpetuates a societal distrust of aboriginal female drug users. a powerful stereotype constructs this demographic of women as deserving of punishment and criminalization for the cultural perception of self-induced drug use and the correlating harms associated with that use (p. 53). the stigmatization of aboriginal female drug users in canada is reflected in the reality that, “in comparison to non-aboriginal women, aboriginal women are disproportionately policed, charged, convicted, and sentenced to time in prison for their drug use” (dell & kilty, 2013, p. 53). race, as with gender and class, makes a significant difference in regards to how women may access, interact with and succeed in the cannabis industry due to historical, cultural, and social factors that differently situate women in the public realm. to claim that the cannabis industry is an open and “blue skies” market for women is to ignore the many and overlapping systemic and ideological barriers that insidiously define who is able to sit at the cannabis industry’s negotiation table and whose voices are really heard when it comes to determining the future of the industry. methodology to assess the gendered and intersectional dimensions of the cannabis industry, i employed a qualitative research approach and conducted audio recorded in person interviews with five women leaders and activists with long careers in various cannabis businesses in vancouver and victoria. my participants included jamie shaw, the past president of the canadian association of medical cannabis dispensaries and past director of the bc compassion club society; sarah campbell, co-founder and director of the craft cannabis association of bc; brandi woods, past general manager of the victoria cannabis buyers club; mary jean dunsdon (a.k.a. watermelon), an online media personality, baker, and cannabis activist; and ashley abraham, founder and director of the green ceiling vapour lounge. i asked each participant six questions that prompted them to critically engage with various issues related to the cannabis industry. these questions included the ways in which their gender identity had either enhanced or inhibited their ability to become leaders, the question of diversity in industry members, and their visions for women’s participation moving into the future. my recruitment strategy relied upon networking with my personal friend and mentor ted smith, who has been a local cannabis activist fighting for cannabis legalization in victoria for the past 22 years. ted consented to assist me as a resource for contacting potential research participants for my study due to his extensive career and involvement in the industry and the professional relationships he has developed in that time. working with an industry insider was a strategic option to push my research project outside of the traditional limits of a student 34 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 project. ted was the primary contact with my participants and once participants had contacted me and agreed to assist me with my project, i forwarded participant consent forms to obtain fully informed consent to publish their names and stories in this work. the narrow scope and time available in which to conduct my research resulted in the ability to interview a maximum of five women. therefore, i made the decision to reach out to women working in a range of sectors with the goal of providing a cross sectional assessment of the ways in which gender is being employed in many different areas of the industry. prior to conducting in person interviews with these industry insiders, i obtained approval from the university of victoria’s human research ethics board to proceed with my research and data collection. the application required assessing and mitigating all potential harms and taking into account all ethical considerations related to the research project. in addition to tangible ethical concerns in the research process, i am faced with conceptual ethical concerns including the risk of theoretically homogenizing the cannabis industry and women’s experiences in my writings. the cannabis industry greatly varies from one community to the next; therefore, the central political motivators for women leaders working in one community may be significantly different from the political concerns and motivations of women leaders in different communities. similarly, as devault and gross’ (2006) writings explain, researchers must work in accordance with the widely held feminist stance that “woman” cannot be theorized as a unified and foundational subject, meaning that any conclusions i draw cannot be applied broadly to all women in the industry (p. 175). therefore, my research findings will be limited on several fronts: by the number of women able to participate in my study, that the experiences of my participants do not necessarily apply to all women’s experiences in the industry, as well as being limited to the regional context of the lower mainland of british columbia and the south coast of vancouver island. to conduct my research ethically and to ensure that i did not misrepresent my participants, i chose to adopt a feminist research methodology that is “reflexive and relational” (devault & gross, 2006, p. 175) and that would allow me to interrogate my own biases and “situated perspectives” (lal, 1996, p. 188). doing so involved critically engaging with my own assumptions, limited perspectives, and personal agendas in regards to the research outcome. the theoretical tools i employed to analyze my primary research were based in a feminist and intersectional theoretical framework. as discussed above, i adopted the suggestions of devault and gross (2006) and applied a feminist research methodology that requires researchers to be aware of the dynamics of power in the research context, to be cognizant of the politics of representation involved in representing a person’s experiences, as well as the material and social consequences of knowledge production and claims to truth. i have also applied an intersectional analysis grounded in kimberlé crenshaw’s work that calls attention to the significance of intersecting identities and power that differently affect women’s experiences (crenshaw, 1991; dawson & henley, 2015). no woman in the cannabis industry, or society more broadly, is defined by one component of their identity and if theorizations of the gendered dimensions of the cannabis industry are to be relevant and applicable to the lived experiences of women, research must address questions of intersecting identities. due to the limited scope of this research project, this paper primarily focuses on the intersections of race, class, and gender. further research is required to more fully develop a critical analysis of the significance of intersecting identities in the cannabis industry. findings based upon the interviews i conducted with these professional and well-qualified industry leaders, i uncovered several recurring themes that emerged throughout the transcription process concerning the role of gender and femininity in the cannabis industry. the remainder of this paper is organized 35 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 thematically based upon the recurring themes and issues my participants discussed. these themes are rounded out with theoretical accounts of the motivating factors and social systems that inform the social phenomena my participants discussed so as to develop a critical gender and intersectional analysis of the cannabis industry in southern british columbia in 2017/2018. these themes include discussions about the corporatization of the cannabis industry and the correlating racialization of industry involvement; the gendered contours of the industry; and how gender essentialism has been used as a strategy to legitimize the industry. corporate culture and the racialization of the cannabis industry racialization racialization refers to the process wherein specific characteristics are imposed upon communities based upon historically situated social constructions of difference (pila, 2014). race functions as a method of establishing signifiers of difference based upon perceived innate characteristics and then allocating resources and rights to privileged racial groups at the expense of communities deemed “other” by those in power. in canada, centuries of colonialism have created a white settler nation wherein whiteness is taken as a “natural” or invisible mode of being that is privileged over communities of colour, who continue to face discrimination and oppression based on racial categorization. the cannabis industry, as young as it may be, is not exempt from racial politics, just as it is not outside of gender or class politics. the racial politics of the cannabis industry has largely been shaped by federal prohibition and criminalization. decades of government propaganda developed a dominant understanding of cannabis as a harmful substance, a blight on society and as an industry dominated by gangs and criminals. criminalizing cannabis from the outset was a method of tying an undesirable product to undesirable populations in the eyes of those in power and had little to do with meaningful public welfare concerns. steven bender (2016), the author of the colors of cannabis: race and marijuana, writes that from the very beginning, “marijuana criminalization, as with cocaine and opiates, stemmed from racialized perceptions of users of color as threatening public safety and welfare” (p. 690). to provide a historical understanding of the role of race in the cannabis industry, we must look to the writings of politicians and social influencers at the turn of the 20th century. to justify the prohibition of cannabis in north america, prohibitionists succeeded in discursively associating cannabis use with “unproductive” (i.e., racialized) members of society. for example, the writings of emily murphy—a first wave feminist activist, writer and jurist—contributed greatly to the cultural hysteria towards drug use in canada. in 1916, murphy was appointed as the police magistrate and judge of the juvenile court in edmonton, alberta. throughout her time in the public eye, murphy penned many articles under the name “janey canuck” for maclean’s magazine that were later compiled into a book titled, the black candle (1973). the black candle propagated a distinctly anti-chinese sentiment that reinforced a sensationalist and racialized fear of non-white drug users. the black candle depicts many alarming and disturbing images of drug users that are supported by the “expert” testimony of those working in the helping profession of the era. ultimately, her work portrays drugs and drug users as a menace and threat to civil society brought on primarily by chinese and black communities in vancouver, bc. murphy’s writings were situated in a moment in canadian history that is defined by white supremacy and which formed the foundation for the racialized war on drugs we continue to live with today. in addition to the racialized image of the cannabis community, a classed and gendered representation of cannabis users continues to circulate in the current era that can be best described as the “stoner bro” stereotype. watermelon described this stereotype as “a rastafarian guy or it’s cheech 36 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 and chong, it’s usually somebody like, ‘whoa dude,’ who like you know doesn’t have that great of a vocab ‘man,’ you know what i mean, they just want to surf.” the power of the prevalent stoner bro stereotype worked in modern prohibitionists’ favour to discursively produce a stereotyped image of cannabis users as men in general, and of racialized men as criminals in particular. corporatization over the years, cannabis activism has challenged prohibition, the stoner bro stereotype, and the association with racialized gang culture by emphasizing the medicinal uses of cannabis (mclaren, 2018). the amazing work of pioneers such as hilary black, who opened one of canada’s first medical cannabis dispensaries in 1997, set the stage for the development of the cannabis industry as we know it today. activists michelle rainey, one of canada’s most influential patient advocates and libby davies, a powerful elected voice in the canadian parliament in the early 2000s, had significant influence on the modern cannabis industry in vancouver, bc. rielle capler, rosy mondin, lisa campbell, bethany rae, alison mcmahon, alison gordon, melissa rolston and countless others have given immeasurable hours of work and dedication to move cannabis out of the shadows and into the homes of canadians. the work of these women and countless others have paved the way through federal prohibition and taken significant risks to allow myself and others the opportunity to work in this thriving industry. the work of these activists set the stage for a major cultural shift in the perception of cannabis. the exponential number of storefront cannabis retailers lining city streets across canada has been the result of a move away from the stereotyped image of cannabis users as cannabis consumption moves into the mainstream. ultimately, the shift in the dominant perception of cannabis businesses has provided a ripe opportunity for wealthy white business corporate culture to reap the benefits of impending legalization within this retail context. in other words, this is the process whereby the cannabis industry is being corporatized. the access to cannabis for medical purposes regulations (acmpr), which was implemented in august 2016, is canada’s most recent set of regulations that oversees the legal cannabis industry. though soon to be replaced by the cannabis act, the acmpr is the current legal model that “sets out a framework for commercial production by licensed producers responsible for the production and distribution of quality-controlled fresh or dried marijuana [...] in secure and sanitary conditions” (health canada, 2016). at the time of writing, canada’s current and proposed regulations prioritize licensed producers (lps) as legal manufacturers of cannabis for medical and recreational marijuana users outside of home production. lps are large-scale corporations that are heavily regulated, have a staggeringly high cost for entry, and must meet exceptionally strict compliance, security codes, and health standards. jamie shaw argued in our interview that the federal government’s preference for this model of mass produced agri-business seeks to make the barriers to entry exceptionally high, to the detriment of craft cannabis growers or new industry entrants. while imposing high security and sanitation standards is not unreasonable, the proposed regulations require expensive equipment and high regulatory regimes in order to receive a license. lps are massive operations that are in the business of mass production and for profit corporate culture. canada’s response to regulating the industry has been to re-invest in male dominated, white washed corporate culture. with this image of a corporatized cannabis industry in mind, it is important to ask what role systematic gender barriers play in impacting women’s ability to access the necessary capital required to meet health canada’s regulations to participate in the legal industry. first of all, men have historically and continue to make up the bulk of cannabis industry participants. jamie shaw expressed that, prior to the establishment of women grow, it was quite common for speaker panels at cannabis conferences to be an uninterrupted lineup of male voices. even amongst grass 37 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 roots cannabis activist organizations, sexism remains alive and well. sarah campbell, one of the co-founders of the craft cannabis association recounted that more than once the men at the table of cannabis business meetings expected her to take the minutes because she was a woman. moreover, large-scale business enterprises in canada are not exempt from gender inequality in the diversity and representation of women in leadership and executive roles across multiple sectors; therefore, why would we expect the cannabis industry to be that different? the osler corporate practice group analyzed the gender diversity of companies listed on the tsx and of the 750 companies that reported on the gender makeup of their board of directors, women represented a minority with 12.6% of total board seats (macdougall et al., 2017, p. 10). the canadian federal government is most comfortable with handing the reins of the industry over to “legitimate” business enterprises that most resemble corporations, which is a role that licensed producers fulfill. whiteness is integral to this process of corporatization as it functions to sanitize the cannabis industry’s assumed racialized roots. by aligning the legitimate cannabis industry with white male business culture, the industry becomes more accessible and appealing to white middle-class consumers who are uncomfortable with the association of cannabis and street dealing. this process was also evident in two storefront retail dispensaries i have worked in that had rules against playing music from black culture such as rap or rastafarian music due to its association with the stoner bro stereotype. my participants shared similar anecdotes and agreed that the cannabis dispensaries in victoria and vancouver are overwhelmingly white dominated. by removing the associations of blackness, the underground, and the stoner bro stereotype, modern retail cannabis stores are drawing on the legitimizing power of whiteness and corporate environments to sell their products to mainstream consumers. identifying the role of race and racialization in this process of corporatization is important because whiteness holds most of its power when it is invisible and unnamed (frankenberg, 1993, p. 1). to name whiteness and its power is to identify who is being given the authority to dominate the industry and who is left on the outside with little voice or representation. discussing the racial composition of the cannabis industry additionally exposes the structural inequalities that position people differently in their ability to succeed in the legal industry. this evidence contradicts the “blue skies” depiction discussed above by demonstrating how the industry is becoming white dominated as corporatization takes over. michelle alexander, the author of the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness, points out the crushing irony of this shift when she explains: here are white men poised to run big marijuana businesses, dreaming of cashing in big big money, big businesses selling weed after 40 years of impoverished black kids getting prison time for selling weed, and their families and futures destroyed. now, white men are planning to get rich doing precisely the same thing? (alexander, 2012, as cited in bender, 2016, p. 695) gendered dimensions of the cannabis industry as we have seen, the cannabis industry is not outside of larger systems of power that differentiate people’s ability to participate in an increasingly corporatized cannabis industry based on the social locations of race and class. my interview participants also discussed in detail how gender plays a significant role in shaping the industry. 38 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 boobs and bongs a common issue my participants raised was the prevalence of sexualized representations of women in the cannabis community that has dominated cannabis media for the past 20 years. in fact, images of hypersexualized young women photographed in lingerie with bongs and clouds of smoke were the main portrayals of women the cannabis community distributed. women were used largely as sexual objects to sell cannabis products to stoner bros, the target market of the industry throughout the 1990s and 2000s. women industry leaders i interviewed held differing perspectives on whether such sexualized representations are a source of empowerment or an expression of gender inequality and sexism. watermelon, a popular cannabis activist and media personality, challenged the assumption that sexualized representations of women are detrimental. during our interview, she explained that she had been a centerfold calendar girl for high times magazine three times throughout her career. watermelon suggested that, like most consumer goods in our culture, “everything is going to go through its sexy phase.” she pointed out that, in her experience, the sexualized images of women were not harmful and that women should be able to use their bodies and their sexuality as they see fit. for watermelon, the sexual imagery she produced worked in her favour to give her a platform to discuss issues that were important to her and functioned as a source of empowerment. conversely, jamie shaw, who is a past president of the canadian association of medical cannabis dispensaries, was critical of the use of sexualized imagery to sell cannabis products and saw it as a product of social conditioning that has taught us to accept the objectification of women in our male dominated consumer capitalist culture. most of my participants were unanimous in their assertion that the boobs and bongs images that were characteristic of the cannabis industry, though still existent, have been shifting to incorporate a wider variety of female representations in cannabis media. brandi woods, the general manager of the victoria cannabis buyers club expressed that nowadays, “you’re starting to see on front covers of magazines like women wearing, you know, their suits they wanna wear or their t-shirts they wanna wear, you know clothing that they want to wear, not this bikini and butts.” i would argue that this generalized shift from boobs and bongs imagery to women industry leaders in power suits on the cover of high times is intricately tied to the corporatization of the cannabis industry. as the industry is setting itself up more and more as a legitimate enterprise that consists of business professionals, the representation of women has shifted simultaneously from an over representation of images of women “deep-throating bongs,” in the words of brandi woods, to a more diverse representation of images of and articles about women in their workplaces, wearing lab coats or tailored suits. this shift can be seen as, at once, a celebration of women’s entrepreneurship and as a method by which the industry is working to establish itself as a respectable, legitimate, and professional new field deserving of legalization and incorporation into the free market. women against women when i asked my participants about what kind of obstacles they had experienced during their careers in the cannabis industry, they all highlighted resistance primarily from other women. jamie shaw, for example, talked about the beginnings of women grow in vancouver and indicated that organizers had a very hard time getting older, more established women industry members to come out and participate in their initiative. watermelon talked about the shaming she endured from other women after she became a high times centerfold. all my participants identified prohibition, and the fear, isolation, and necessary survival strategies created by it, as significant factors in creating barriers to meaningful industry participation and in contributing to such woman against woman aggression. each of their careers developed in the 39 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 context of federal prohibition and the very real threats and consequences of criminalization. as shaw pointed out, “when you persecute a group of people, yes that group will get divided.” sarah campbell, the co-founder and director of the craft cannabis association, described the consequences as follows: “i would say in the past i didn’t really meet that many women who were involved in the industry. there wasn’t a lot of openness and sharing and you know there was fear and there were more major consequences than there are now.” the legalization of the cannabis industry will be a great advancement in dismantling the culture of fear that has defined women’s industry involvement for decades. however, legalization alone will not be enough to foster environments for women to succeed in the legitimate cannabis industry. programs and legislation that are attuned to the reality of women’s economic disadvantages, the history of male domination of cannabis, as well as taking seriously the realities of women’s needs and differences will be necessary to create an industry that does not reproduce gender inequalities in this newly legal market. gender essentialism and the legitimization of the cannabis industry as a young woman who is deeply invested and involved in the cannabis community, i believe that women will play increasingly significant roles in shaping the industry for the better. i predict women will contribute to moving the cannabis industry away from the male-dominated corporate model toward a more diverse and socially conscious business approach. all of my participants agreed with this perspective, and, in the process, we are all in part reinvesting in biological determinism and the essentialization of femininity that says women will do business differently simply because we are women. seeing women as essentially different from men reinforces a naturalized binary between men and women that feminist scholars have worked to dismantle for decades. the question at hand is, how does this gender essentialism operate in constructing women’s roles in the cannabis industry, and how does it relate to the intersections of racialization, corporatization, and heteronormativity and processes related to legitimizing the industry? woman as healer when i asked my participants about the gendered dimensions of the industry and what role they saw women playing, many participants discussed the natural compassion and care that women bring to the industry by drawing on a gender essentialist discourse. brandi woods said that the women who work at the victoria cannabis buyers club are more likely to go out of their way to give a patient a hug when they needed it as opposed to their male budtenders. woods suggested that women’s natural capacities as caring service providers make them more compassionate industry members. brandi woods and jamie shaw additionally spoke to the ways in which people are often more comfortable talking about their health care needs with a woman than with a man. i refer to this pattern as the woman as healer discourse which positions women as naturally compassionate healers and caregivers by virtue of their sex and gender identity, a discourse situated within a binarized and essentialist understanding of gender. when i began this research, it was my intention to explore what barriers prevented women from taking on leadership roles in the cannabis industry, such as owning dispensaries or being business executives of lps. in my own experience, i have never met a woman who owns a major cannabis business outside of secondary value-added products such as edibles, topicals, or tinctures. in the process of reviewing my interview data and developing my findings, my research focus shifted because i uncovered gendered norms, binaries, and expectations such as the woman as healer discourse that have an influence over the forms of work women do in the cannabis sector. sarah campbell, 40 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 co-founder and director of the craft cannabis association, agreed that there is a significant gendered division of labour, in that nearly three-quarters of the value added product side of the cannabis industry is dominated by women. i argue that owning a cannabis bakery or making cannabis lotions (as opposed to operating grow-ops and dispensaries) aligns well with women’s assigned roles in the kitchen, preparing food and medicines for families, and the woman as healer discourse. conversely, watermelon, brandi, and sarah described men as the dealers in the industry who are primarily concerned with short-term profits and who have little compassion for patients in the long term. hence, when jazmin hupp, the co-founder of women grow, argued that the cannabis industry is a blue skies market for women, she was in part drawing on the assumption that because women are naturally or inherently different from men, they will naturally take a different approach that is more compassionate and inclusive, without interrogating the gendered assumptions and binaries behind that statement. i argue that discussing men’s and women’s roles in the industry via this biologically deterministic discourse limits men’s and women’s capacity to operate outside this rigid gender binary. as ashley abraham eloquently stated, the cannabis industry is “a brand new legitimate industry, but it’s not a brand new industry,” and hence it is important to unpack the historic and cultural norms that are operating in order to dismantle the gendered discourses that relegate men and women to predetermined roles. the martha stewart of weed as discussed above, the ongoing prohibition of the cannabis industry has been the biggest factor in shaping the social dimensions of the industry as it exists today. for decades, the cannabis industry existed underground as a black market developed in response to the “war on drugs.” as a result, the cannabis community was largely composed of those living on the social fringes, and cannabis continues to be associated with stoner bros living in their mothers’ basements or with criminalized gangs. medicinal cannabis activists have done much to challenge these stereotypes and to sanitize the industry by presenting cannabis as a viable, legitimate, alternative medicine for patients in need. along with the medical model, women have taken the next step in challenging the stoner bro and criminal stereotypes by drawing on the legitimizing power of white, middle-class femininity to normalize the cannabis industry. for decades, cannabis was associated primarily with men and male criminals and the “war on drugs” disproportionately criminalized people of color and indigenous communities attempting to make a living by selling cannabis (bender, 2016; boyd, 2015). seeing a man arrested for cannabis, or people of colour in handcuffs, was and still is a regular occurrence on north american television news broadcasts (bjornstrom, kaufman, peterson, & slater, 2010). cultural stigma associated with cannabis consumption prevented most members of mainstream society from using cannabis, and prohibition effectively deterred many women from engaging in the cannabis community at all. sarah campbell emphasized that if women did participate, it was often done in secret and isolation for fear of the social repercussions or criminalization. unlike their male or racialized counterparts, women, and specifically white women, do not fit the visual image of the stoner stereotype or the racialized criminal gang image of the presumed cannabis dealer, a privilege that is not afforded to communities of colour or indigenous persons as we have seen (dell & kilty, 2013). during our interview, watermelon described the ways in which she consciously used her white femininity to her advantage when it came to her illegal involvement in the cannabis industry. she described herself and the all-female staff at her cannabis bakery as presenting a “disney mom” look that embodies a very traditional feminine representation by wearing lots of dresses and aprons. she portrayed this aesthetic as “looking like somebody you wanted to buy and eat food from”; in other words, her feminine image worked in her favour to present herself and 41 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 her staff as respectable and clean providers of cannabis to mainstream consumers. watermelon also shared that her disney mom look worked to her advantage when she was involved in three separate provincial trials for distributing marijuana edibles in vancouver. she explained that when she was arrested for selling pot cookies on wreck beach, there was a lot of public outcry because she did not look like a stoner bro at all. she was a young, beautiful, blonde woman, and when her image was splashed across television screens throughout canada, it sparked debates about the lawfulness of marijuana prohibition. watermelon acknowledged that “if i was a guy that would have been a very different situation.” i would further the argument by suggesting that if watermelon was a woman of colour, it would have also been a very different situation (boyd, 2015; dell & kilty, 2013). watermelon very consciously used her privileged position as an able-bodied, young, beautiful, white woman to overcome the stigmatization of cannabis users. she also indicated that she often “actually manipulate[d] the situation because i’m a woman.” sarah campbell similarly acknowledged that because she did not look like the stoner bro stereotype, she felt inclined to be more open with her cannabis use to challenge the stigma and assumptions of her peers about cannabis consumption. during our interview, watermelon described her work in the cannabis edible business and her online cannabis baking show as producing an image of the “martha stewart of weed.” martha stewart, of course, represents the epitome of normative white suburban consumer culture. to be the martha stewart of weed is to be the charming woman in an apron, baking homemade goods with cannabis butter for her family. to be the martha stewart of weed is to invoke the power of normative white femininity in order to bring cannabis into canadian homes as a non-threatening leafy green vegetable just like spinach or broccoli. by drawing on these racialized, classed, and gendered images, watermelon and others like her are drawing on the legitimizing power of white middle-class femininity to make cannabis consumption a part of everyday life, just like sunday dinner. here i make the argument that only a very narrow selection of women who occupy privileged identities are able to draw on the power of biological essentialist binaries because these binaries intersect with privileged race and class identities. for example, watermelon is able to draw on her disney mom aesthetic and to mobilize the power of the suburban white mom figure because she herself is a beautiful, young, white, cisgendered woman. in light of dell and kilty’s work that demonstrates how aboriginal women are stereotyped as an “expected offender,” i argue that women of colour and aboriginal women cannot draw on the power of the disney mom image like watermelon and sarah campbell because their racialized identities position them outside of that power dynamic, regardless of how clever or resourceful they are. therefore, i argue that because only a narrow set of women are able to draw on the power of gender essentialism and biological determinism to gain power and access in the cannabis community, they are indirectly reinforcing the privilege and power dynamics that white upper middle class women hold over marginalized women. in summary, if beautiful, white, mom-like women are buying cannabis to use in their brownies or if a caregiver is using a cannabis salve to ease the pains of their aging parents, an increasingly white-dominated corporatized industry is setting itself up to sell cannabis to these consumers in well-lit retail dispensaries. while these strategies have allowed cannabis to become accessible to those in need who would otherwise be afraid or suspicious of this medicine, it is still important to emphasize the ways in which privileged identities are being positioned to dissociate cannabis from its roots in resistance, the underground, and in communities of colour in order to present cannabis as a legitimate industry owned and operated by privileged and valued members of society: white, middle-class, heteronormative men and women. 42 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 conclusion my interviews with several prominent women leaders in the cannabis industry in vancouver and victoria provided insights into its gendered, racialized, and classed dimensions. these included the racialization and corporatization of the cannabis industry, the sexualized representation of women in cannabis, internal divisions between women industry members, the woman as healer discourse, the motivations behind the martha stewart of weed, and the roll of heteronormative femininity in legitimizing the cannabis industry. it is important to ask, do these representations of women in the cannabis industry, which are in part the product of its corporatization, limit women’s access and involvement? or do these trends simply represent what it means to have women involved? if so, do these trends indicate a re-investment in social structures that activists are working to dismantle elsewhere, such as decolonization, dismantling white corporate culture, denaturalizing gender binaries, or overcoming structural racism? the reason for asking these questions is to interrogate what this “blue skies market” really entails and who is set up to take advantage of it. the cannabis industry will be one of the most influential industries canada has ever seen. it is projected to be a multi-billion dollar industry that will have a monumental influence on the national economy, health care, the job market, and much more. as a passionate feminist scholar and an outspoken cannabis activist, i dream of seeing women leading the charge in this ever-expanding cannabis industry. a past manager of mine once said, “we are the pioneers of this industry,” and it is the actions women choose today that will set the precedent for how this industry will take form in the future. it is our responsibility to ensure that the cannabis industry does in fact represent a “blue skies” market and that women from all backgrounds do have a voice that is heard and have a seat at the negotiating table when it comes to shaping this multi-billion dollar cannabis industry for the collective good. before this can happen, however, we must not dismiss the racialized, classed, and gendered histories and social structures in which the cannabis industry was and continues to be embedded. 43 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 references baca, r. 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(2015). gender, risk, and venture creation intentions. journal of small business management, 53(2), 501-515. dell, c. a., & kilty, j. m. (2013). the creation of the expected aboriginal woman drug offender in canada: exploring relations between victimization, punishment, and cultural identity.international review of victimology, 19(1), 51-68. denton, b., & o’malley, p. (1999). gender, trust, and business: women drug dealers in the illicit economy. the british journal of criminology, 39(4), 513-530. devault, m., & gross, g. (2006). feminist interviewing: experience, talk, and knowledge (s. n. hesse-biber, ed.). in handbook of feminist research: theory and praxis (2nd ed., pp. 173-198). thousand oaks, ca: sage. frankenberg, r. (1993). white women, race matters: the social construction of whiteness. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. gordon, t. 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(2014, may 06). a canadian mystery: why was pot criminalized in 1923? retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/marijuana-was-criminalized-in-1923-but-why1.2630436. 44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg4yfxa1qsy&index=3&list=pleianicrbplisfo6gpch77sxkh3bqwsp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg4yfxa1qsy&index=3&list=pleianicrbplisfo6gpch77sxkh3bqwsp http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/stable/29768352 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/marihuana/about-apropos-eng.php http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/marihuana/about-apropos-eng.php https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw85kgmps40&list=pleianicrbplisfo6gpch77sxkh3bqwsp&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw85kgmps40&list=pleianicrbplisfo6gpch77sxkh3bqwsp&index=2 https://www.osler.com/en/resources/governance/2017/2017-diversity-disclosure-practices-report-women https://www.osler.com/en/resources/governance/2017/2017-diversity-disclosure-practices-report-women http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/marijuana-was-criminalized-in-1923-but-why-1.2630436 http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/marijuana-was-criminalized-in-1923-but-why-1.2630436 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818385 scotti, m. (2018, june 20) marijuana to be legal in canada starting october 17, trudeau confirms. global news. retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4285946/marijuana-legal-dateoctober-17-canada-trudeau-confirms. 45 https://globalnews.ca/news/4285946/marijuana-legal-date-october-17-canada-trudeau-confirms https://globalnews.ca/news/4285946/marijuana-legal-date-october-17-canada-trudeau-confirms the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 the imperial german navy, 1897 1918: negotiating the nation jesse bachmann∗ the university of victoria bachmannjesse@gmail.com abstract this article seeks to analyze the linkages between the imperial german navy and germany’s domestic sphere from the years 1897 to 1918. prior scholarship has suggested that the expansion of the imperial german navy, beginning in 1897, was strongly caused by internal domestic factors. this article disagrees with this assertion, pointing out how international concerns were the main motivating factor. nonetheless, the paper does accept the general premise that the navy played a strong role in germany’s domestic sphere. to this end, this article analyzes how, prior to world war one, the navy was built into a national symbol aimed at overcoming the german empire’s regional particularities. this article then bridges a gap in existing scholarship by linking the pre-war symbolic importance of the navy to its experience during the war and the naval revolts that occurred in 1918. in particular, this article argues that the national idea codified in the navy prior to the war was then challenged by the navy’s generally poor experience during the first world war. this contributed to the naval revolts of 1918 which caused a reevaluation of the german nation and toppled the empire. keywords: imperial german navy; imperial germany; german high seas fleet; nationalism; german nationalism; social imperialism thesis; world war one; german naval revolts; german naval mutiny; german revolution 1918-1919; richard stumpf i. introduction o n december 6, 1897, german foreign minister bernard von bülow gave a speech to the reichstag, advocating that germany embark on a policy of weltpolitik in contrast to the europapolitik of the bismarck years, and declaring that germany deserved a “place in the sun” (holmes, 2010, p. 34). the europapolitik pursued by otto von bismarck had been focused on avoiding wars and maintaining a favourable balance of power in europe. as such, he avoided aggressive imperial expansion (alexander, 2012, p. 164, 183). after bismarck’s dismissal, the german government began to pursue weltpolitik which was characterized by an aggressive foreign policy aimed at expanding germany’s power, prestige, and empire. a large navy would be a key part in accomplishing this (holmes, 2010, p. 37). one year after bülow gave his speech, the first german naval law was passed through the reichstag, inaugurating a massive expansion of the german navy that would last until the start of world war one and was supposed to propel germany onto the world stage. while weltpolitik and german dreams of a ‘place in the sun’ suggests that naval expansion was undertaken primarily with international considerations in mind, the primary focus of this article will be to investigate and analyze the relationship between germany’s naval expansion and its domestic sphere. in this regard, this article has two primary ∗i would like to thank dr. helga thorson for her advice and feedback. 82 mailto:bachmannjesse@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 objectives: firstly, to evaluate and respond to the social imperialism thesis, and secondly, to address a historiographical gap in the domestic role of the german navy. the social imperialism thesis has been posited by a number of german historians (see mommsen, 1990; wehler, 1962; berghahn, 1987). the thesis argues that the navy, and the aggressive foreign policy it facilitated, was intended as a means of garnering domestic support and in this manner, strengthening the largely conservative imperial government’s position in relation to the growing social democratic party (spd). this article counters this assertion by highlighting the degree to which those in charge of naval expansion were responding to foreign factors. moreover, by drawing on new scholarship, particularly that of historian jan rüger, this article argues that the german government conceptualized the domestic role of the navy in broader terms; instead of being a tool to counter the spd, the government saw the navy as a medium through which it could articulate its vision of a german nation. building on this foundation, this article seeks to bridge a historiographical gap in research on the imperial german navy. rüger’s work has made progress in the identification of the navy’s role as an anchor point for german nationalism prior to world war one. meanwhile, historians such as daniel horn (1969), holger herwig (1973, 1980), and michael epkenhans (2005) have documented the activities of the german navy during the war. however, the navy’s prewar usage as a national symbol, and its subsequent wartime experience have not been explicitly linked or analyzed in terms of one another — at least not in english language scholarship. making this connection seems natural, in particular because the navy’s wartime experience culminated in the naval revolts of 1918. the naval revolts of 1918 had the immense domestic consequence of triggering the revolution that overthrew the kaiser and ended a certain manifestation of the german nation. hence, the navy was tied to questions of german national identity both prior to and during world war one, giving it a perceivable domestic profile. by establishing and then exploring this linkage, this article broadens the understanding of imperial german history and argues that the imperial navy was constructed as a symbol of german national identity prior to world war one, and then during the war acted as a channel for the continued reevaluation of what was meant by the nation in the german context. ii. the social imperialism thesis german historian hans-ulrich wehler first developed the social imperialism thesis in 1962 in his book bismarck und der imperialismus in order to explain germany’s colonial policy under bismarck (eley, 1976, p. 265). mommsen (1990) defines social imperialism as an attempt by the ruling elite to provide a distraction from domestic social tensions through an aggressive foreign policy, and in this manner preserve the status quo. in particular, the ruling elite were trying to halt the growth of the social democratic party (spd) which was pushing for social reform (1990, p. 77). although initially applied to the bismarckian empire, historians later applied the thesis to the wilhelmine empire to explain weltpolitik and the accompanying massive naval expansion. for example, berghahn argues that weltpolitik was undertaken “in order to preserve the socioeconomic status quo at home,” citing a society full of tensions in which a new industrial working class sought political power against “those forces which resisted any such reform” (1987, p. 31, 32). mommsen (1990) stated that while social imperialism has some shortcomings, it provides the best framework for explaining german imperialism prior to 1914 (p. 77). mommsen’s assertion seems questionable. while there was certainly a link between naval expansion and germany’s domestic sphere, it was not causal; the emphasis social imperialism places on domestic considerations as driving or behind german naval expansion are somewhat overstated. rather, naval expansion was undertaken largely as a result of international considerations. the role that admiral alfred von 83 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 tirpitz played in the expansion of the german navy illustrates this. in 1897 admiral tirpitz was appointed state secretary of the naval office in 1897, making him the most influential man behind naval expansion (herwig, 1980, p. 32). in this position, he drafted and passed all five of the naval laws through the reichstag between 1898 and 1912 that were responsible for expanding the navy. the concerns guiding tirpitz were largely foreign and international in nature. prior to becoming secretary of the naval office, tirpitz spent twelve months in command of the german east asian cruiser squadron which strongly influenced his worldview (bönker, 2013, p. 61). part of his duties at this post included finding a suitable position in china where germany could establish a naval base in order to safeguard and increase its economic interests there. in doing so he quickly became aware of the immense strength of the british and russian empires in the far east, especially in comparison to germany (bönker, 2013, p. 64-79). the russians had constructed a far eastern battle fleet on par with the british far eastern fleet, and wherever he looked for a suitable naval base he encountered british interests on the ground (bönker, 2013, p. 77, 79). essentially, his time in the far east gave tirpitz a sense of scale for imperial competition and indicated that germany would have to match this if it wished to remain a great power. hence, tirpitz’s vision for the german navy was born out of a consideration of foreign rather than domestic concerns; germany would have to expand its navy if it wished to remain competitive on the world stage and not be dwarfed by other powers. consequently, the emphasis the social imperialism thesis places on domestic issues appears to have insufficient support. in addition to being initiated by foreign factors, naval expansion was also sustained by it. as the german fleet grew in size following the first naval law in 1898, the british began to take notice. they responded by reorganizing their navy to have more ships in home waters, neutralizing the growing german fleet (massie, 1991, p. 462, 463). for german naval expansion to amount to anything, it would have to take this larger british home fleet into account. hence, the second naval law of 1900 doubled the number of battleships the navy would build from 19 to 38 and included provisions for a plethora of smaller ships (herwig, 1980, p. 42). likewise, when the british launched the battleship hms dreadnought in 1906, its big gun main armament rendered all prior battleship designs obsolete (herwig, 1980, p. 56). once again, to stay competitive and for continued naval expansion to have an effect tirpitz would have to respond. although the cost of building dreadnought class battleships made them potentially prohibitively expensive (the cost of a pre-dreadnought battleship was 25 million marks while dreadnoughts had reached prices as high as 59 million marks by 1913), tirpitz accepted the british challenge and by 1908 the first german dreadnought class battleship, sms nassau, had been launched (epkenhans, 2011, p. 76, 85). thus, it is clear that international and not domestic considerations played a significant role in animating german naval expansion. while brief, this discussion has illustrated that the social imperialism thesis places too much emphasis on domestic issues in germany as the explanatory mechanism for naval expansion. as has been shown, international factors played the defining role. consequently, the relationship between the navy and germany’s domestic sphere needs readressing. doing so will determine the contours of the following discussion. iii. navy as national symbol: 1898-1914 while the causal relationship that the social imperialism thesis posits between naval expansion and domestic tensions is flawed, there was indeed an important relationship between the german navy and germany’s domestic context. the expansion of the navy prior to world war one involved much more than the construction of new ships or enlarged harbours. as the fleet grew in size, so 84 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 did its domestic importance. the regular facets of naval expansion were accompanied by a slew of public relations initiatives. the naming of ships was done with great care and according to specific requirements, the launching of these ships then became immense public ceremonies, and the flottenverein was created as a public organization to further drum up support. common to all of these initiatives was the manner in which they cast the navy as a symbol of german national identity. the navy was also used as a means to highlight the kaiser’s leadership of germany, and he was presented as synonymous with the german nation. as such, within germany’s domestic sphere, the navy functioned as a symbol around which german nationalism could be built. in order to analyze the relationship between the imperial navy and german nationalism, a working definition of nationalism is necessary. anderson, in his well known book imagined communities, defined a nation as “an imagined political community” that is “both inherently limited and sovereign” (1983, p. 6). even in the smallest nation the members of a nation will never meet all the other members of their nation, hence the community has to be imagined. at the same time, the breadth of whom is imagined as being included in this community is limited; the nation is an exclusive club. anderson also notes that, while the nation is conceptualized as having “deep, horizontal comradeship” between its members, inequality and exploitation can exist within it. finally, the nation is sovereign in that it is the source of legitimate political action (anderson, 1983, p. 7). considering the nuclei around which nations coalesce renders anderson’s definition more concrete. alter identifies shared language, history, culture, or a “common subordination to a given state power” as focal points (1985, p. 8). hence, nationalism can be understood as the act of creating or enforcing an imagined community around certain focal points. indeed, alter states that in nationalism, the nation “is placed upon the highest pedestal; its value resides in its capacity as the sole binding agency of meaning and justification” (1985 p. 9). looking at the role of the german navy in the domestic sphere, it is clear that it operated along these lines, establishing a community wherein the nation is given utmost value. recent scholarship by jan rüger (see, 2007) has begun to investigate how the navy was invested with national symbolism. one element he identifies as indicative is the developments in the naming practices for german warships. in 1903, kaiser wilhelm ii issued a decree on the naming of warships. prior to the decree, german cruisers had generally been named after classical goddesses or female protagonists of the nibelungen; now they were to be named after german cities. between 1903 and 1914, twenty-five cruisers were launched with city names (rüger, 2007, p. 147). similarly, battleships, the largest, most expensive, most complex, and most prestigious ships a navy could build at this point in history, were now to be named after states or provinces within the empire (2007, p. 147). the new naming convention was in direct response to the regions of the empire. in 1903, germany was scarcely more than thirty years old and many of the previously independent states that had been incorporated into the empire by bismarck still maintained distinct identities. a number of these states — most importantly bavaria, baden, württemberg, and saxony — had sided with austria against prussia in the austro-prussian war only five years before unification in 1866 (rüger, 2007, p. 141). that these four states all lay in the south established a north-south divide within the new empire. this was further heightened by religious differences as southern states were largely catholic, while their new emperor and most of the northern states were protestant (lerman, 2008, p. 22). moreover, the constitution of 1871, which brought these states together into an empire, afforded them a fair degree of autonomy in determining education, social policy, economic policy, and their own legal systems and electoral laws (confino, 1997, p. 14). for example, prussia had a three-tier electoral system that was heavily biased towards keeping conservatives in power while württemberg had a more liberal and democratic political system (1997, p. 14). on a symbolic level, rather than portraying the bust of the new german 85 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 emperor wilhelm i, coins used in württemberg portrayed the bust of its own king, karl alexander i, who maintained his position as king of württemberg following unification (1997, p. 21). the army of württemberg was incorporated into the new imperial army as a distinct unit: the xiii württemberg army division. this division was manned only by soldiers from württemberg, resulting in the preservation of a distinct identity from the rest of the imperial army (1997, 21). similarly, the army of bavaria remained entirely separate from the imperial army (gordon, 1964, p. 224). thus, while the prussian military might have created the political boundaries of the german empire in 1871, a corresponding national identity to tie this territory together was not firmly established, being contested with regional identities instead. the potential symbolic value of the navy was a means to counteract this. the navy was used as a way of tying the local to the national, and in this manner broadening the horizons of the imagined community people saw themselves as belonging to. the previously mentioned naming of ships after distinct regions reflects this. it is no surprise that a large number of the battleships built for the imperial navy were given names that connected them to south german states. examples of this include sms könig albert, named after king albert of saxony; sms prinzregent luitpold, named after prince regent luitpold of bavaria; sms markgraf, named in honour of the royal family of baden; sms bayern, named in honour of bavaria; and sms baden, named in honour of baden (rüger, 2007, p. 147-150). the construction of these ships was undertaken for the defence of the empire, not for the individual states after which the ships were named. nonetheless, when these naming practices are considered against the german empire’s regional divides, it communicates that these states were a part of something greater: a unified german nation. moreover, it gave the individual states a symbolic role to play in the defence of this empire; citizens of a state could imagine themselves taking part in the collective defence of germany through ‘their’ ship. this pattern of linking individual areas of the empire to the larger notion of defending the nation was further developed in ship launching ceremonies. prior to germany’s naval expansion, ship launching ceremonies had been quiet, unremarkable affairs. however, after 1898, they evolved into grand imperial pageants (rüger, 2007, p. 41). massive numbers of sailors and officers would be ordered to assemble in full ceremonial dress and attend the launching ceremony (rüger, 2007, p.38). at the launching of sms prinzregent luitpold in 1912 and 1926, 623 officers and sailors were mobilized to take part in the festivities (rüger 2007, p. 149). dignitaries from the locale after which the ship was named would be invited to the launching ceremony where they would give speeches (rüger, 2007, p. 148). the speeches themselves were always heavily proofread and edited by the navy’s public relations office, nachrictenbureau, to ensure they had the correct message. the end result was a ceremony that elevated the value of the nation while bringing together different regions under that nation. at the launching of the battleship sms nassau, it was declared: “the inhabitants of this land [baden] will feel with joyful pride that one of the proudest ships of the imperial navy will in future carry the name of their home over the seas” (rüger, 2007, p. 148). the ship would then be addressed in the informal second person singular pronoun ‘du,’ reflecting the horizontal notion of comradeship central to the idea of a nation, and be bestowed with a mission of defending the fatherland (rüger, 2007, p.40). hence, rüger conclusively illustrates how the naming and launching practices of warships operated as a centre point around which the imagined community of the german nation could be established. of course, the use of warships for such a purpose amounts to an implied rhetorical statement that legitimizes fighting and dying in the name of the nation. not only did warships establish the imagined community of the nation, they elevated its value beyond that of all other possible identifiers. one of the difficulties of using a navy as a national symbol is that only people living along the coast would be able to directly see or interact with it. the flottenverein (navy league), which 86 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 was a public organization, played a key part in overcoming this limitation. it was founded in 1898 after the passage of the first naval law by the kaiser, admiral tirpitz, and in conjunction with the krupp industrial family whose factories would provide the majority of the guns and armour plating for the new fleet (park, 2015, p. 144). the flottenverein’s mission statement was “to awaken, cultivate, and strengthen the interest of the german people for the importance and function of the fleet” (park, 2015, p. 146). crucially, the flottenverein was supposed to reach across different party, confessional, social, or class divides, bringing the nation together behind the idea of a strong fleet (park, 2015, p. 131). as such, the flottenverein aimed to be a truly nationalist organization. the flottenverein undertook a number of activities in order to build national public awareness about the fleet. one striking example was when the flottenverein convinced admiral tirpitz to send a whole division of torpedo boats down the rhine to the rhineland, the palatinate, and baden (loiperdinger, 2002, p. 307). this allowed citizens of these states who would have never otherwise seen the navy in action to do so, once again broadening the scope of the imagined community to which they belonged. the idea of being able to see ships in action led the flottenverein to make use of film, which at this point was new technology. in this regard, the flottenverein was quite innovative. launching ceremonies, sailing maneuvers, and artillery practice were all filmed and then shown to audiences, impressing them with the size, majesty, and firepower of the ships (loiperdinger, 2002, p. 307-312). since the ships acted as national symbols, the emphasis placed on these attributes of the fleet confers them on the nation as well. audience turnout for the flottenverein’s films was large; in 1903/1904, the films had a nationwide total of more than 1.3 million viewers (loiperdinger, 2002, p. 311). consequently, the flottenverein’s pioneering use of film showings acted as a medium for disseminating national symbols (warships) and for elevating the nation that these warships symbolized. finally, it is crucial to note that the national symbolism invested in the navy was geared towards a certain interpretation of the nation. this interpretation centred around the type of state structure by which the german nation would be ruled and was thus most concerned with emphasizing the figure of the kaiser. kaiser wilhelm ii, despite his shortcomings, was attuned to the regional differences of the reich and wished to overcome them (thomas, 1991, p. 156). this came in contrast to his grandfather, kaiser wilhelm i, who, although having unified germany, saw himself as primarily the prussian king rather than german kaiser (1991, p. 156). wilhelm ii, conversely, wished to make the kaiser synonymous with the idea of the german nation — essentially fusing state structure and nation into one (1991, p. 167-172). he was also eager to take the empire that his grandfather had created and turn it into a ‘world empire,’ bestowing the german nation with greatness by making it second to none of the other great powers (epkenhans, 2004, p.16) . wilhelm ii used every means at his disposal to do this and the navy was one such method. the launching of a ship was laden with references to the kaiser. before a dignitary could start a speech, he would have to thank the kaiser for the honour. during the speech, the ships’ mission was commonly defined as fighting for the emperor; the phrase “loyal to your emperor, loyal until death” became a common refrain (rüger, 2007, p. 153). moreover, in fleet reviews, the kaiser would first sail in the imperial yacht along his anchored warships until he got to the flagship, which he would then board. taking his position of command on the bridge of the flagship, he would then observe the hoisting of the imperial banner after which the fleet would set sail to preform manoeuvers and exercises with the kaiser at command (rüger, 2007, p. 187). it is telling that reichstag deputies were never the ones upon whom the symbolic emphasis fell. all of the interactions between the kaiser and the navy were designed to show the kaiser as the patron and leader of the german navy and, in this manner, place him at the head of the german nation. by combining the concept of the nation with the figure of the kaiser, the navy was effectively 87 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 giving licence to the state structure that the kaiser symbolized. prior to german unification, the strength of the prussian royal family was served by the junkers, who were a powerful landed nobility. the junkers dominated the prussian army’s officer corps as well as the state bureaucracy and played a key role in the strength of the prussian state (merriman, 2010, p. 661). with the unification of germany in 1871, the junkers maintained their dominance over the state structure and political power (merriman, 2010, p. 667). simultaneously, unification brought large industrial growth to the german empire that changed its social landscape. in 1882, about 42% of the empire’s population were employed in agriculture. by 1907, it was heavy industry that accounted for 42% of people’s employment and agriculture had declined to around 25% (fairburn, 2008, p. 69). the expansion of heavy industry resulted in urbanization and the growth of a large working class. subsequently, the junkers’ continued dominance over the empire’s state structure appeared anachronistic as the junkers’ interests were largely agricultural. this translated into the entire imperial government assuming a largely conservative character. the antisocialist legislation passed in 1878, which would make the empire’s socialist party illegal until 1890, reflects this (fairburn, 2008, p. 65). fusing the empire’s state structure with the concept of the german nation managed to diffuse this social tension enough to prevent serious unrest. it made obedience to the state and an acceptance of a certain level of social inequality coterminous with nationalism. mark hewiston writes that “to a large extent, imperial germany’s political system was protected and preserved because it was closely associated with a popular fatherland” (2008, p. 45). the combination of the navy, the nation and the kaiser into a symbolic trifecta was a key part in achieving this association and attests to the power of nationalism to overcome social inequalities. while this facet of the government’s symbolic usage of the navy reflects certain aspects of the the social imperialism thesis — particularly the notion that naval expansion was calculated as a move to weaken the spd in order to protect the socioeconomic status quo — the key distinction remains that domestic tensions of any shape or form where not the casual factor behind naval expansion. additionally, the imperial government’s desire to use the navy as an institution around which it could construct a german national identity is a goal much broader in scope than countering the spd. indeed, the government was responding just as much to the german empire’s young age and regional characteristics as it was to the growing strength of the spd. hence, this article disagrees with the notion that the expansion of the german navy was caused by domestic concerns as the social imperialism thesis suggests. instead, it argues alongside others such as jan rüger and martin loiperdinger that in germany’s domestic sphere, the navy functioned as a focus point for german nationalism. ship names were consciously chosen to bring regions that might otherwise maintain a separate identity into the larger community of the nation. the means by which naming practices were then built upon during ship launching ceremonies added to the national symbolism imbued within the navy. the characteristics of the nation were also carefully delineated, and all emphasis was on portraying the kaiser as the leader of the nation. the activities of the flottenverein further tied together the imagined community by giving people a more concrete way in which to experience the navy. finally, all of these undertakings elevated the value of the nation, presenting it as strong, unified, and worth dying for, as the centre point around which people’s political actions revolved. iv. navy, nation, and war: national symbol put to the test while recent scholarship has begun to recognize the national-symbolic importance of the imperial german navy, it has only considered this in the period of 1897-1914. there has been minimal scholarship explicitly analyzing how the navy’s national symbolism functioned during the first world war. filling this gap, and in particular, linking the navy’s national-symbolic importance 88 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 with the naval revolts at the end of the war, is the task this paper will now turn to. if prior to the war the value of the nation was established as something worth fighting and dying for, this was put to the test with the outbreak of war in late summer 1914. by 1918, sailors in the navy revolted, which quickly grew into a revolution, resulting in the abdication of the kaiser. a number of structural features of the navy’s experience in the war are key to understanding why the revolts occurred. firstly, the fleet saw little action, depriving it of the ability to be victorious in battle and redeeming the sacred value of the nation. secondly, and as a consequence of the first point, the fleet spent the majority of its time in port which proved monotonous and dull for the sailors. thirdly, the monotony of life in port was aggravated by marked quality of life differences between officers and sailors, in particular on the issue of rations inequalities. the result was that sailors were unable to affirm their role in the defence of the nation, while class antagonisms between them and the officers were heightened. ironically then, the sailors had lost faith in the national idea that the navy was supposed to symbolize. it was in these conditions that the sailors revolted in 1918. by 1914, despite tirpitz’s best efforts to build a battle fleet that could challenge the royal navy, germany lacked the number of ships required to do so. at the start of the war, britain possessed 25 capital ships (21 dreadnoughts and 4 battlecruisers) to 16 german capital ships (13 dreadnoughts and 3 battlecruisers) (herwig, 1980, p. 144 145). at the battle of jutland in 1916, the only major naval engagement of the war, germany’s numerical situation was even worse: the british had 37 capital ships to 21 german ones (herwig, 1980, p. 178). although the british actually suffered higher losses than the germans in the battle, they were also far more able to absorb these losses. indeed, admiral scheer, who had commanded the german fleet at jutland, delivered a report to the kaiser following the battle stating “there can be no doubt that even the most successful outcome of a fleet action in this war will not force england to make peace” (herwig, 1980, p. 190). to scheer, britain’s numerical advantage in surface units was too great to overcome, and the german navy began to consider alternate strategies such as unrestricted uboat warfare (herwig, 1980, p. 190 197). as such, the german surface fleet spent the majority of the war in port. the lack of any great victory or action did little to help morale. had the surface fleet played a more active role in the war, this could have validated the sailors’ role in defending the fatherland and reaffirmed the supreme value of the nation. indeed, morale did temporarily improve in the aftermath of jutland, reflecting the positive impact that engaging in battle could have on morale (horn, 1969, p. 31). even leaders of the revolt looking back in retrospect felt that had the fleet engaged in battle more often, the revolt would have never occurred (horn, 1969, 31). life in port was itself uninspiring. in order to keep the men occupied, officers resorted to menial and often pointless tasks. drills became a common method for filling time (horn, 1969, p. 21). for long and arduous work like loading coal onto ships, german officers would simply bark orders at the men. in contrast, british officers would often try and make a game or competition out of such tasks in order to keep them engaging (horn, 1969, p. 26). richard stumpf, a sailor on the battleship sms helgoland, wrote a diary recounting his experience on the ship during the war attesting to this. he recounts how the incessant drilling amounted to farce. at one point, the crew of his ship were made to spend a week prepping the ship for an inspection only to find out on friday that the inspection was no longer going to happen (stumpf, 1967, p.149-151). “we had gone through all this trouble for nothing,” remarked stumpf caustically (1967, p. 151). later he states, “i would rather carry rocks all day long if i new it served some useful purpose” (p. 283). overall, stumpf’s diary illustrates a growing frustration with the pointlessness of his service. additionally, as the uboat campaign expanded, the best officers, the ones whom the sailors liked and respected, were taken from the surface fleet and put on uboats instead. thus, the surface fleet ended up being commanded largely by second-rate officers who were uninspiring and held 89 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 superior, apathetic attitudes towards the sailors (herwig, 1980, p. 230). further aggravating this was the fact that there was little chance for respite or relaxation. although the ships spent most of their time in port, they were usually on three to six hour alert, meaning that the sailors were unable to take any leave and escape from their drudgery (horn, 1969, p. 27). the constant state of readiness also stood in marked contrast to the lack of action. these sources of discontent all helped create an atmosphere that made mutiny or outright revolt a growing possibility, but nothing more so than the quality of the sailors’ rations. as the war went on, rations only got worse. in germany in general, after four years of war, daily caloric intake had decreased from 3000 to 1400 calories (epkenhans, 2005, p. 76). on the surface fleet, during periods when germany’s food shortage was at it its worst, rations got so bad that the stokers — the men with the most physically arduous jobs of feeding coal into the ships’ furnaces — would collapse from exhaustion (horn, 1969, p. 40). it is telling that the first major sign of discontent was a strike conducted by the sailors on sms prinzregent luitpold in protest over the poor quality of their rations (epkenhans, 2005, p. 74). however, for the sailors, the biggest issue with the rations was the discrepancies between theirs and the officers’. naval regulations stipulated that sailors were entitled to 1.32 marks worth of food per day, whereas officers were entitled to 3.65 marks worth of food per day (horn, 1969, p. 43). the battleships of the high seas fleet were large enough that officers would have their own separate kitchens and rations, establishing a sense of separateness (horn, 1969, p. 43). that morale was much higher on submarines and torpedo boats, wherein men shared the same kitchens and rations with officers, attests to the divisive role separate kitchens had (horn, 1969, p. 43). if the lack of action and monotony of port life diluted the sailors’ sense of national purpose, the differences in rations heightened the sailors’ sense of inequality, straining the bonds of comradeship that normally tie together different social groups within a nation. hence, sailors began to turn towards other identifiers, in particular, class. similarly, the superior and arrogant attitude of most officers was largely a product of their desire to maintain their own class standing. the officer corps was divided into three different types: executive, engineering, and deck officers. the navy was anxious to ensure that no one from less desirable social circles managed to enter the executive officers but at the same time had to face the fact that as the navy grew, manning the ships with executive officers from its preferred social circle — the nobility — would be difficult (herwig, 1973, p. 68-79). the navy used the cost of the education required to become an executive officer as a means of keeping out those who came from too low a social standing (herwig, 1973, p. 55). completing a successful career as an executive officer was often accompanied with being raised to the rank of nobility by the kaiser, thus offering the opportunity for social improvement and providing an incentive to join (herwig, 1973, p. 75). the other two branches — the engineering and deck officers — were recruited from lower social classes but were anxious to secure higher social standing in a manner similar to what could be achieved by an executive officer. executive officers were in charge of commanding a ship, but the technical skills that the other two branches held were absolutely vital for operating a modern warship. hence the engineering and deck officers argued they were due a higher social standing. the executive officers were loath to grant this, fearing it would dilute their own standing (herwig, 1973, p. 172, 173). the failure to resolve these conflicts during both peace and wartime resulted in an officer corps that was overall self-absorbed with its own desires for social advancement. consequently, this compromised their performance. the engineering and deck officers, who normally acted as intermediaries between the sailors and the executive officers, began not to report cases of insubordination (epkehnahns, 2005, p.72). the living conditions of the sailors became secondary concerns to questions of honour, ennoblement, and dignity. the sailors themselves were almost exclusively working class (horn, 1969, p. 55). as such, officers saw 90 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 themselves as naturally superior to the sailors. overall, the attention paid to one’s social standing within the officer corps indicates that class was of serious concern for officers. this attitude clearly carried over into their interactions with sailors, leading them also to think more in terms of class — and the glaring inequalities therein — rather than national brotherhood, further weakening unity within the navy. richard stumpf’s diary is again illustrative of this. in a diary entry dated to august 15, 1915, he states that the entire crew of his sms helgoland is in agreement “that the privileges of the officers have to be abolished by the end of the war” (p. 119). this statement suggests that value of the nation as something that could overcome inequality no longer held, and the sailors no longer saw the nation as a sufficient justification for the war. instead, some kind of political program to redress social inequality would be necessary to justify it. on the same page he adds “all of us wish that the helgoland would run over a mine and the officer’s quarters would be torn to pieces” (p. 119). clearly, even this early in the war, there was significant ill will born by the sailors against the officers, and this was manifesting itself in the desire for social and political change. later in his diary, on an entry dated march 18, 1918, stumpf gives high praise to david lloyd george: “if one believes the newspapers, he wishes to spend a billion marks to build homes for the soldiers. i simply must take off my hat to such a man” (p. 393). thus, stumpf was able to see the anemic pace of social reform in germany contrasted with actual social change occurring in other countries, producing only further frustration. what makes stumpf’s attitude towards the war and the necessity for social reform all the more surprising is the fact that he was in general a staunch supporter of the monarchy. traditionally, chancellors had been appointed solely by the kaiser. however, the appointment of count hertling to the position of chancellor on october 30, 1917, was done in conjunction between the kaiser and the reichstag and many people took this to be a sign of impending parliamentary rule. in response to this stumpf declared, “i am not at all pleased by the advent of the much heralded parliamentary system of government” (stumpf, 1967, p.371), indicating his monarchical preferences. thus, if stumpf, as a monarchist, was frustrated, other less monarchist sailors could only have been more frustrated. the sanctity of the nation had been tarnished. a lack of action, boring and unfulfilling port life, poor rations, and a growing void between officers and sailors broke the sailors’ morale and heightened their awareness of class identities and desire for social change. all that was needed now was a spark to set them off. v. the end of the war: the death ride of the german navy and the sailors’ revolt the spark was provided when the navy’s commanders decided to plan a suicide mission against the english fleet in order to maintain the prestige of the navy in the face of germany’s overall defeat. in 1918, the german army launched operation michael on the western front, a massive final attempt to secure victory in the war. while initially successful, it was soon turned back, and germany’s armies were in retreat (merriman, 2010, p. 921). by september, the situation was dire. general ludendorff, who had been in absolute command over the german armies, informed the kaiser that an armistice was needed within 24 hours (ryder, 1967, p. 122). this produced shock amongst all parts of the government, including the navy’s commanders. while the army was defeated and needed an armistice, the navy’s commanders were determined to prove that the navy did not. this determination was borne out of the fact that the navy, and the surface fleet in particular, had done little during the war. in order to prove the navy’s worth and therefore secure its future, as well as justifying the massive expense that had been lavished on the navy prior to the war, naval command began to plan for a climactic battle to the death against the royal navy (herwig, 1973, p. 240-248). the navy had indeed cost an immense 91 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 sum, adding over a billion marks to the german national debt between 1897 and 1914 (herwig, 1980, p. 61). the fact that the navy’s leadership was trying to secure the fleet’s future through a suicide battle, which would inevitably result in the destruction of the fleet, illustrates that they had lost touch with reality. nonetheless admirals scheer, trotha, von levetzow, and hipper, the men at this point largely in charge of the navy, went ahead planning the operation. during the planning, the admirals simply assumed that the sailors would obediently follow orders, reflecting the degree to which the officers were out of touch with the sailors. on october 29, 1918 the order was given for the entire high seas fleet to assemble at wilhelmshaven1 (epkehnahns, 2005, p. 79). instead of obedience, the sailors responded with revolt. since the end of september, serious changes had occurred within germany’s government. in addition to telling the kaiser that the army needed an armistice, general ludendorff also indicated his impression that the allied powers would probably offer germany a more lenient peace if they were negotiating with a parliamentary rather than monarchical government (ryder, 1967, p.122). accordingly, prince max von baden, known for his liberal politics, was made the new chancellor and was tasked with creating germany’s first parliamentary government and with negotiating peace with the allies. in what was a historic first, he also included the spd in the government (ryder, 1967, p. 123, 124). on october 26, new constitutional changes were signed into law which effectively made all branches of the military subordinate to the civilian government (herwig, 1973, p. 248). none of the admirals recognized these changes and all the planning was done in secrecy; orders were given verbally not in the customary written manner. neither the kaiser nor max von baden was informed of the plan, making it technically illegal (horn, 1969, p. 210). these changes provide a crucial context for the navy’s planned suicide mission and the resulting naval revolt. particularly, they made it clear that peace was imminent. the inclusion of the spd in the new parliamentary government also suggested that there might be possibility for social reform. seeing this, the sailors had no interest in throwing their lives away. the unconstitutional nature of the plan further undermined it. over four years, the sailors had seen relatively little action, depriving them of experiences that could validate their service for the nation. their sense of national identity and pride was further depredated by the miserable conditions and glaring inequalities they experienced between themselves and the officers. now that the sailors’ grievances were on the verge of being ameliorated, the admirals’ far flung plan was the last straw that prompted revolt. once the order for the fleet to assemble at wilhelmshaven was given, events proceeded rapidly. the sailors on numerous ships refused to sail or stoke the fires for the engines (artelt, 2012, p. 19). because the admirals’ plan was technically illegal, they panicked and tried to meet the men halfway. the third battleship squadron was dispatched to kiel, in the baltic, as a means of indicating there was not going to be a final attempt to fight the english in the north sea (horn. p. 224, 225). en route, though, some of the revolting sailors were arrested. in response, the sailors resolved to free their arrested comrades, and when the ships landed in kiel they established a committee to organize their activities against the officers (epkenhans, 2005, p. 80). karl artelt, one of the leaders of the sailors and a strong social democrat, declared: “this only fuelled our revolutionary commitment. we were determined to free the sailors” (artelt, 2012, p. 19). joining the sailors were workers from the naval yards in kiel, who together established workers’ and sailors’ councils (epkenhans, 2005, p. 80). admiral souchon, the military governor of kiel, tried to quell the uprising with force, but the soldiers he sent refused to follow their orders (epkenhans, 2005, p. 80). artel, thinking in terms of class, stated “the infantrymen — like all of us simple workers and peasants, forced into a soldiers’ uniform without any actual relation to the war — joined our revolutionary movement” (artelt, 2012, p. 22). however, the revolting sailors feared 1the german navy’s main port on the north sea 92 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 that troops loyal to the government might still be brought to bear against them and thus some started to depart from kiel, spreading the revolt to other cities (epkenhans, 2005, p. 82). by november 6, cuxhaven, bremen, and hamburg were all in the hands of workers’ and soldiers’ councils and other areas of the country were erupting in revolt and demonstrations (ryder, 1967, p. 142-3). on november 9, max von baden resigned as chancellor, naming spd leader freidrich ebert as the new chancellor. that same day kaiser wilhelm ii abdicated and the following day, ebert declared germany a republic (merriman, 2010, p. 957). thus, the naval revolt played a key role in toppling the government of imperial germany. before concluding, a few points should be noted. the naval revolt and subsequent revolution did not result in the disintegration of german state that was created in 1871. as a whole, the regional differences that the navy was aimed at overcoming did not tear it apart. as such, the german national idea proved to have a certain degree of resilience. however, the capacity of this nation to overcome inequalities between different social circles was severely tested by the first world war, and amongst the sailors found to be lacking. finally, the imperial government, which was the state structure to which the german nation was subject, and a key part in the way it defined itself, was found to be inadequate in addressing these grievances. thus, while the idea of a german nation survived the revolution, it had to undergo a serious reimagining. vi. conclusion previous historiography has explained the relationship between german naval expansion and germany’s domestic sphere through the social imperialism thesis. this thesis argues that naval expansion was undertaken as a result of domestic considerations. while the thesis is correct in that there was a relationship between naval expansion and domestic factors, the relationship was not a causal one. the naval laws that authorized germany’s naval buildup were in response to foreign factors. likewise, the worldview of admiral tirpitz, the man behind the growth of the navy, was focused on germany’s place in the world and ability to compete with other great powers, not on domestic issues. rather, when the german empire began its process of naval expansion in 1897, the imperial government saw the navy as a tool to build up germany’s national identity and tie together a young nation that still had strong regional differences. this article has sought to highlight and add to recent scholarship that has begun to investigate this phenomena. to this end, the practices of shipnaming conventions, ship launching ceremonies, and activities of the flottenverein have been analyzed in terms of their nationalist contours. this article then went on to analyze the navy’s role as a national symbol in the context of wartime. indeed, the first world war put the national identity embodied in the navy to the test. the navy saw little action, creating a discrepancy between the ‘greatness’ of the nation it was supposed to represent and its actual ability to realize that greatness. simultaneously, the poor quality of life for sailors serving in the navy, juxtaposed with superior and exclusive attitudes of their officers, began to call more attention to class rather than national identities; social reform began to overshadow notions of national greatness in the minds of sailors. the attempt of the officers to launch a suicide mission right when the war was about to end caused this situation to ignite. the ensuing revolt and then revolution resulted in a serious reevaluation of the german nation, one that was far different than the nation the navy had initially been constructed to represent. therefore, within the german domestic sphere, the navy functioned as a focal point for the establishment of the german nation, and the continued negotiation of what the nation should be. 93 the arbutus review • 2016 • vol. 7, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar71201615688 references anderson, b. 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(1991). wilhelm ii and the germans: a study in leadership. london: oxford university press. 95 introduction the social imperialism thesis navy as national symbol: 1898-1914 navy, nation, and war: national symbol put to the test the end of the war: the death ride of the german navy and the sailors' revolt conclusion the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 marie antoinette: innocente ou coupable? une analyse de sa représentation filmique taryn burgar ∗ the university of victoria tcb@uvic.ca résumé avec l’émergence du genre du film historique, explorer les opinions émises dans ces films et leur impact sur les croyances collectives face à l’histoire devient une vraie nécessité. marie antoinette est une personnalité historique qui nous captive encore, plus de 200 ans après son décès. le débat au sujet de son innocence ou sa culpabilité comme reine de france reste encore présent et pertinent dans le domaine historique et dans la culture populaire ; l’intersection entre ces deux perspectives devrait être étudiée de plus près. ce projet de recherche examine huit films qui représentent également les films francophones et anglophones. il démontre que les films se rapprochent de la pensée actuelle des historiens voulant que marie antoinette fût plutôt une victime des circonstances, mais que plusieurs mythes au sujet de sa vie privée persistent dans les films : la société occidentale n’est toujours pas prête à relâcher sa critique d’elle. des variations culturelles sont pourtant apparentes dans plusieurs films. les films anglophones se délectent de l’aspect visuel de versailles et insistent plus sur l’innocence de la reine, tandis que les films francophones ont tendance à se concentrer sur l’aspect historique et ne se distancient pas entièrement de l’idée de sa culpabilité. les mots clés : marie antoinette ; reine de france ; film historique ; mythes ; misogynie ; sexe ; xénophobie ; anglophone ; francophone ; culture ; culture visuelle ; monarchie ; révolution ; versailles ; coppola ; grubin ; w.s. van dyke ; les adieux à la reine ; the affair of the necklace ; la mort de marie antoinette ; l’autrichienne ; marie antoinette : reine de france i. introduction la forme principale de diffusion de la pensée historique en dehors du monde universitairereste le livre destiné au public lettré. cependant, l’émergence du cinéma a créé un nouveaugenre d’histoire populaire : le film historique. l’intersection de ce phénomène avec une des personnalités historiques les plus notoires et captivantes est ce qui rend possible une étude des représentations filmiques de marie antoinette. avec plus de dix films où elle figure comme rôle principal, réalisés partout dans le monde, des états-unis à l’allemagne, elle est une icône qui captive le monde cinématique. à part sa proéminence filmique, pourquoi est-elle une icône de nos jours ? il faut répondre à cette question avec une autre. comment ne pas être captivé par une telle femme, belle et scintillante, qui connut une fin si tragique ? marie antoinette, née archiduchesse d’autriche et mariée à louis xvi, fut la dernière reine de france. jolie et naïve, elle fut rapidement ravie par la vie somptueuse de la monarchie de france après sa jeune accession au trône. elle connut une fin tragique lorsqu’elle fut décapitée pour ses crimes ∗ce projet de recherche a été rendu possible par le jamie cassels undergraduate research award et le département de français à l’université de victoria. j’aimerais remercier surtout ma superviseure, dr claire carlin. sans son expertise, sa passion et son dévouement, ce projet n’aurait pas pu évoluer vers cette étude dont je suis tellement fière. 50 tcb@uvic.ca the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 présumés contre son peuple pendant la révolution française. la révolution est un soulèvement issu de l’aboutissement de décennies de pauvreté et de famine qui a porté à la destruction de la monarchie absolue et première tentative d’institution de la démocratie. de nombreux nobles ont été guillotinés pour leurs vies gaspilleuses et leur ignorance de la pauvreté qui était pourtant répandue en france. infâme et célèbre pour sa vie décadente, sa mort devint le symbole de la destruction de tous les malheurs de la vie française et a été largement fêtée. mais il reste encore ce débat historique quant à l’innocence ou à la culpabilité de marie antoinette. les accusations d’extravagance matérielle et de décadence morale, répandues par les histoires fictives de ses exploits sexuels et la proéminence de ses fêtes libertines, avaient pour but de la construire comme symbole du mal de la monarchie. bien que marie antoinette n’ait pas été la reine ayant rejeté les délices mortels pour rétablir la condition de son peuple, elle fut la victime d’une société de son époque, pleine de préjugés. en ce qui concerne les huit films analysés pour cet article, la dichotomie commence à se dissiper dans sa sévérité pour faire place à une question plus nuancée. des huit films, réalisés entre 1938 et 2012, la moitié est anglophone, l’autre est francophone. avec certains thèmes apparaissant souvent parmi ces films, la représentation générale de marie antoinette reflète les idées des historiens contemporains ; elle aurait plutôt été une victime des circonstances. la considérer entièrement innocente ou non va dépendre du point de vue de chaque spectateur, mais en général, il est clair que les films ne rappellent pas les idées condamnatoires du passé, bien que marie antoinette n’y soit pas non plus dépeinte comme une martyre de france. cet article va examiner brièvement l’évolution de l’historiographie de marie antoinette depuis la période où elle a vécu jusqu’au présent, ainsi que la manière dont son image a été présentée pendant sa vie, un thème qui reviendra plus tard. l’analyse des films est divisée selon trois thèmes : les mythes qui entourent sa vie privée, les représentations discriminatoires qui sont pertinentes à sa vie publique, et les variations culturelles entre les films américains et français. la partie sur les variations culturelles examinera spécifiquement l’accent mis sur l’aspect visuel dans les films américains et celui mis sur le réalisme historique dans les films français, de même que sur les paradoxes qui en résultent. ii. l’étude de l’histoire : l’écriture, les illustrations et l’évolution d’une personnalité historique une vraie évolution de la représentation de marie antoinette depuis le xviiie siècle est notable dans les recherches historiques à son sujet. il est compréhensible que les études historiques depuis la fin des années 1700 jusqu’au milieu des années 1800 soient très sévères quand il est question de marie antoinette. il y a une énorme variation dans les anecdotes au sujet de marie antoinette par ses proches et ceux qui avaient de la sympathie pour elle, comparativement aux textes écrits par ceux qui la détestaient. la révolution a fini par retirer la monarchie du pouvoir ; la reine était une clé aux résultats recherchés par le parti gagnant 1. étant donné qu’il y avait tant de personnes qui la haïssaient, les historiens de l’époque juste après sa vie ont concrétisé une image d’elle empreinte de négativité (fraser, 2001, p. 83, 112). marie antoinette a été diminuée aux yeux du peuple de france par les images négatives qui 1. après l’emprisonnement de la famille royale et l’institution de la république par les révolutionnaires, l’existence de louis xvi et marie antoinette provoquait encore un sentiment de malaise, en partie parce que les révolutionnaires craignaient un soulèvement monarchiste pour restaurer la famille royale, mais aussi parce que leur présence symbolique affectait encore le public. l’exécution de louis xvi n’a pas pu résoudre ce problème de présence symbolique car marie antoinette était vraiment le symbole de tous les attributs négatifs de la monarchie (ce qui sera discuté dans le texte). après l’exécution de marie antoinette, le gouvernement démocratique se sentait plus stable (weber, 2007, p. 266). 51 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 circulaient dès son arrivée à versailles en 1770 (duprat, 2013, p. 17-20). pendant presque toute sa vie, il y avait caricatures d’elle circulaient partout en europe, mais surtout en france. beaucoup de ces brochures étaient pornographiques pour amuser le peuple, mais aussi pour représenter l’immoralité de la monarchie. d’autres brochures étaient plus politiques, avec des références à l’autriche ou à son mari, louis xvi, faisant surtout allusion au lien entre son impuissance et son incapacité à prendre des décisions gouvernementales. souvent, elles combinent le visage de marie antoinette avec le corps d’un animal ou d’une créature démoniaque (weber, 2007, p. 174, 212). les brochures étaient un moyen d’attaquer la monarchie, l’église, la cour et l’aristocratie par le biais d’un seul personnage symbolique, la reine (rigas, 2013, p. 7). celle-ci représentait la corruption de la monarchie avec ses liaisons immorales et était déjà la figure emblématique des dépenses extravagantes de la cour qui ont aggravé la pauvreté répandue en france. les estampes et les caricatures étaient pleines de mensonges et d’exagérations, mais elles avaient pour but de questionner le concept du droit divin de régner et de persuader le peuple que le système monarchique leur était nuisible (duprat, p. 65-66). pour combattre ces images négatives, marie antoinette a commissionné des tableaux de sa famille pour démontrer son maternalisme ou publiciser ses actions charitables (grubin, 2006 ; duprat, p. 65-66). elle aimait beaucoup servir de sujet pour les peintres. grâce aux peintres choisis avec soin et aux tableaux refaits pour satisfaire ses attentes, elle contrôlait son image comme une célébrité de nos jours le ferait. son visage, et surtout son profil, étaient très reconnaissables. selon les recherches conduites par annie duprat sur l’accueil de marie antoinette comme dauphine de france, elle avait plus de brillance que de beauté, mais sa grâce en tout ce qu’elle faisait était toujours une des premières choses à être notées par ceux qui l’observaient (p. 207-209). elle a aussi influencé les arts décoratifs et la mode, inspirant des styles qui restent encore influents aujourd’hui (huisman jallut, 1970, p. 88). la mode en france était un instrument politique et marie antoinette a utilisé la splendeur qu’elle offrait comme moyen d’élargir sa puissance à la cour et aux yeux du peuple (weber, 2007). ces tendances, négatives et positives, se manifestent dans la représentation filmique de la reine. le manque de compassion et les attitudes discriminatoires à l’égard de marie antoinette qui l’ont amenée à la guillotine prédominaient encore jusqu’au milieu du xixe siècle (fraser, 2001, p. 441-451). à vrai dire, à la fin des années 1800, il n’y avait pas beaucoup d’intérêt historique à son sujet. 2 c’est à ce moment-là où elle a commencé à devenir un autre type de célébrité – sinon valorisée, moins honnie (rigas, p. 18). au début des années 1900, il y eut un regain d’intérêt en la personne de marie antoinette lié au développement du consumérisme (rigas, 2013, p. 19). pour les historiens comme caroline weber, elle représente la vie idéale pour une société de consommation : luxueuse, belle et détendue (2007, p. 289-291). comme l’ont dit philippe huisman et marguerite jallut dans le livre marie antoinette : l’impossible bonheur : « les goûts de marie antoinette ne surprendraient personne de nos jours. elle aime le confort : le luxe suprême n’est pas d’étaler sa richesse, mais de réunir dans une élégante simplicité tous les agréments matériels de la vie »(1970, p. 8). tout de même, dans l’écriture historique il y avait encore des attitudes intolérantes qui obscurcissaient les difficultés systémiques qu’a vécues marie antoinette. ces considérations-là ne se sont pas entièrement manifestées avant le milieu des années 1900. à présent, la plupart des travaux d’histoire sont très sensibles aux difficultés dans la vie de marie antoinette et expriment un point de vue plus compatissant. en outre, marie antoinette est toujours un symbole iconique dans la culture visuelle de nos jours, représentant la beauté, la mode et la décadence. la puissance de l’image était aussi forte pendant la vie de marie antoinette qu’elle ne l’est aujourd’hui, comme le montre le livre 2. les seules exceptions sont quelques incidents dits surnaturels, dont plusieurs ont été notées par des universitaires. « l’obsession marie antoinette » est le titre donné par l’historienne terry castle aux visions fantomatiques de la reine de la part de plus de quatre femmes dans des moments différents à cette époque (castle, 2013, p. 1-14 ; rigas, 2013, p. 13-17). 52 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 récent de duprat. comme l’image dessinée ou peinte avait une influence puissante au xviiie siècle, actuellement, le cinéma est un moyen essentiel d’exprimer la condition de la société. iii. l’analyse de films historiques la méthodologie suivie pour l’analyse des films se concentre sur deux aspects. l’analyse focalise principalement sur les moments historiques choisis pour faire partie de l’intrigue, que le film soit fictif ou réaliste, et comment ils sont dépeints. cette forme d’analyse est inspirée de la théorie de robert rosenstone sur les films historiques. il dit que : the familiar, solid world of history on the page and the equally familiar but more ephemeral world history on the screen are similar in at least two ways : they refer to actual events, moments, and movements from the past, and at the same time they partake in the unreal and the fictional, since both are made out of sets of conventions we have developed for talking about where we human beings have come from. my aim here is not only to get you to see the parallels, but also to show how that vanished world can be, and has been, represented in film (2006, p. 2). nous pouvons voir que rosenstone établit un parallèle entre la méthodologie de l’histoire et le film historique pour démontrer qu’il existe de la subjectivité dans les deux, mais aussi pour mettre l’emphase sur l’examen des façons dont l’histoire est représentée. chaque réalisateur a un point de vue qu’il ou elle veut transmettre, qui affecte la représentation de l’histoire. leurs choix de scènes historiques vont démontrer leurs perspectives et auront un impact différent sur les spectateurs. il faut éviter de focaliser trop sur la précision historique comme baromètre de réussite ou échec. il peut être utile d’analyser la précision historique comme cet article le fait ci-dessous, mais il faut aussi comprendre que les films historiques utilisent des incidents fictifs ou des métaphores pour communiquer l’idée générale d’une personnalité historique, surtout quand il est impossible de raconter toute une vie. le film n’a pas la capacité de profondeur qu’a une biographie, mais il peut démontrer l’impact immédiat tel que senti et compris par ceux qui étaient présents pour cet évènement (rosenstone, p.108). mon analyse se concentre sur l’exploration des mobiles du réalisateur pour inclure certaines scènes historiques ainsi que l’effet produit par les aspects visuels des films comme le décor, les costumes et la manière dont le film est présenté esthétiquement. marie antoinette est depuis toujours une icône visuelle. étant donné la puissance du cinéma aujourd’hui, il sera instructif de regarder aussi comment elle est dépeinte visuellement dans les films. iv. les mythes de la vie privée en examinant l’histoire de marie antoinette, il est parfois difficile de distinguer entre le fait et la fiction. elle est toujours entourée de mythes, surtout à propos de sa vie privée, assez exposée en tant que membre de la famille royale, et qui ne cessait jamais d’inspirer les rumeurs. tout était cible légitime, de son mari, l’impuissant louis xvi, à ses amants présumés, hommes et femmes, à sa capacité de procréer et de s’occuper de ses enfants. tous ces mythes, et la publication de faits déplaisants, ont contribué à l’image d’une reine monstrueuse, coupable de tout ce dont elle était accusée. le film marie antoinette, réalisé en 2006 par sophia coppola, commence à démonter ces mythes en s’adressant à la citation iconique « qu’ils mangent de la brioche » : cette déclaration imaginée par le peuple illustre la diabolisation de leur reine. d’autres films sont plus explicites dans le reversement ou l’explication de ces mythes, tel que la version marie antoinette réalisée par w.s. van dyke. par contre, il y a beaucoup de films qui s’attachent encore aux mythes persistants, surtout en ce qui concerne son lesbianisme et sa froideur, pour créer une intrigue plus excitante pour le public. 53 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 marie antoinette : w.s. van dyke (1938) le film de van dyke se veut compatissant envers cette reine de france vouée à l’échec et crée une image d’elle qui vise à nous faire comprendre les difficultés qu’elle a vécues. également, les éléments fictifs de l’histoire de marie antoinette sont présents pour que le public ait une vision d’elle plus charitable. le personnage de louis xvi commence par être presque une caricature d’un homme antisocial qui ne s’intéresse aucunement à sa femme. dans ce film biographique, la comtesse du barry, la maîtresse en titre de louis xv, crée un environnement où marie antoinette et louis xvi sont exclus des affaires de la cour. son isolement pousse marie antoinette à devenir une femme extravagante afin d’être aimée à la cour. historiquement, marie antoinette détestait du barry, mais elle n’était pas aussi isolée qu’elle le paraît dans le film (weber, 2007, p. 51). cette opposition évidente avec du barry est plus facile pour les spectateurs à comprendre que la situation à la cour de versailles, à vrai dire beaucoup plus complexe. dans le film, l’épisode où elle daigne parler pour la première fois à du barry rend furieux le roi et résulte en l’annulation imminente de son mariage. cependant, son retour en autriche est déraillé par la mort de louis xv et c’est la raison pour laquelle elle devient reine de france. le film présente également beaucoup de scènes romanesques où figure son amant supposé, le comte axel von fersen. ici, on ne se concentre pas sur fersen parce ce qu’il s’agit d’une liaison scandaleuse, mais pour souligner l’injustice d’un amour inassouvi. bien que fersen soit l’amour central de marie antoinette dans le film, on peut voir l’affection grandissante de marie pour louis, et la sienne pour elle, qui finit par être de l’amour. d’ailleurs, l’image intime de sa famille à la fin du film, qui touche nos cordes sensibles, montre une révolution destructrice de la famille. marie antoinette : reine de france : jean delannoy (1956) le film de delannoy crée une image de marie antoinette comme femme négligente et indifférente, avec seulement quelques moments de rédemption. elle est représentée comme bien capable de tromper son mari affectueux. sans explication de la normalité de l’adultère à la cour de versailles, sa tromperie remplace sa réputation de frivole par celle d’une femme impitoyable (fraser, 2001, p. 182-183). elle rejette les avances que lui fait louis et ne s’intéresse pas à la maternité. il y a un contraste fort entre marie antoinette et louis xvi dans ce film. nous pouvons le voir dans la scène où marie antoinette est en train d’être habillée. elle ignore louis et sa nouveau-née en train de jouer ensemble jusqu’à ce qu’elle les renvoie de la salle. cette image dure le long du film. les historiens d’aujourd’hui, comme huisman et jallut, sont d’accord pour dire que marie antoinette était une personnalité maternelle, mais dans les années cinquante ces réalités étaient encore cachées derrière les stéréotypes négatifs (1970, p. 140). cependant, le film présente son histoire d’amour avec le comte de fersen. les choix qu’a faits delannoy dans ce contexte démontrent qu’elle est capable d’un amour sincère, même si ce n’est que pour fersen. avec l’ensemble des scènes révolutionnaires et romanesques, on peut voir le commencement de l’évolution de l’histoire de marie antoinette comme icône. ici, elle n’est pas idéalisée, et même si l’histoire n’est pas tout à fait vraisemblable, il s’agit d’une histoire populaire que peut comprendre un public prêt à accepter un point de vue plus compatissant. the affair of the necklace : charles shyer (2001) il ne faut pas prendre au sérieux les propos du film shyer comme biographie de marie antoinette car son objectif principal n’est pas d’apporter des précisions sur la vie de cette reine iconique ; le film a pour but de divertir le public. le film utilise cette histoire mythique de l’affaire du collier comme intrigue de base d’un mélodrame filmique plutôt que pour faire un film historique 3. un film de divertissement n’est pas complet sans le classique duo hollywoodien fait pour attirer le public : 3. en 1784, jeanne de la motte-valois, un escroc, a incitée par la ruse le cardinal de rohan à acheter un collier de diamants extravagant au nom de la reine. il pensait que c’était un ordre officiel, mais il n’a pas pu payer en entier, alors le bijoutier est allé chercher l’argent chez marie antoinette, qui n’avait aucune connaissance de cet achat. enfin, la motte-valois a été punie, le cardinal a été disculpé de tout crime, et marie antoinette fut embarrassée publiquement alors que presque personne ne crut à son innocence (weber, 2007, p. 164-171). 54 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 sexe et violence. certes, ces deux aspects étaient présents dans le temps de marie antoinette, mais ici ils se manifestent d’une façon censée titiller le public, pas pour évoquer les réalités de ce temps. l’intrigue a la forme d’une histoire enfantine : un récit simple cherche à opposer un héros et un méchant. néanmoins, le film n’est pas une complète œuvre de fiction. même si les faits historiques ne sont pas entièrement exacts, l’intrigue générale illustre un évènement déterminant dans la vie de marie antoinette, un évènement qui a bien contribué à la ruine de sa réputation et l’a menée un pas de plus vers la guillotine. dans the affair of the necklace, ce n’est qu’à la fin du film que marie antoinette est représentée avec un peu de charité. hormis ces moments, elle est la reine frivole et froide que l’on connaît bien. l’autrichienne : pierre granier-deferre (1990) comme celui de shyer, le film de granier-deferre tombe dans le piège cinématique du sensationnalisme. pour un film qui est généralement une étude historiquement précise, ce film n’ajoute des allusions au lesbianisme de marie antoinette que pour introduire un peu de scandale tout au long de l’intrigue. l’avant-dernière scène, un flashback des souvenirs de la reine, présente la reine en train d’offrir un collier de perles à la duchesse de polignac qui a la poitrine dénudée. ensuite, après sa condamnation à mort, on la voit en train de pleurer en regardant un petit portrait, pas de son mari, de fersen ou de ses enfants, mais de la princesse de lamballe. elle dépose le portrait pour pouvoir embrasser une mèche de cheveux blonds, la signature connue de la princesse. les adieux à la reine : benoît jacquot (2012) non seulement le film de jacquot est-il une intrigue fictive, mais il incorpore les rumeurs et la propagande qui ont détruit la réputation de marie antoinette à la cour et aux yeux du peuple. la sensualité de ce film évoque l’idée d’une marie antoinette hypersexualisée. nous la voyons dans une scène en train de détruire une masse de lettres de ses nombreux amants. d’ailleurs, son lesbianisme est véritablement accentué, surtout sa relation présumée avec sa favorite, la duchesse de polignac. elle est si amoureuse de son amie qu’elle embrasse sidonie, la lectrice de la reine 4, habillée comme la duchesse avant leur fuite de versailles. en outre, marie antoinette est dépeinte comme une reine capricieuse. nous la voyons dans des moments intimes avec sidonie un instant, mais aussitôt elle devient furieuse sans justification. la complexité de son caractère exigeant est explorée dans la scène où nous la voyons en train de démonter sa coiffure et d’enlever son maquillage avec émotion. elle enlève son masque de maquillage, mais aussi son masque émotionnel de force et d’insouciance pour révéler la tristesse qui existe en dessous. elle se trouve seule, dans une situation en dehors de son contrôle, quand tout est en train de s’effondrer et qu’elle ne veut que conserver sa vie inchangée. même si le film évite de créer un personnage insipide, la complexité de marie antoinette est basée plutôt sur les rumeurs que sur le portrait historique qui existe aujourd’hui. v. les attitudes discriminatoires avec une perspective contemporaine, il est possible de voir que les attitudes et croyances de la france du xviiie siècle auront soumis marie antoinette à une discrimination qui a deux sources principales : des accusations complètement inventées, ou des actions de marie antoinette amplifiées par la haine des attributs sociaux qu’elle représentait (fraser, 2001). la france était fortement nationaliste à cette époque, et presque tout autre pays était considéré comme une menace à la nation française. l’autriche, ou le saint-empire romain germanique, d’où venait marie antoinette était souvent l’ennemi de france. presque personne n’était content de la liaison entre l’autriche et la france créée par l’union de marie antoinette et louis xvi. ce mariage a eu pour effet de rehausser une atmosphère négative dans un pays déjà xénophobe (fraser, p. 35-36). la france 4. joué par léa seydoux, ce rôle n’est pas basé sur une personne historique, mais il est quand même le rôle principal du film pour pouvoir montrer un regard intime dans les coulisses de versailles. 55 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 suivait encore la loi salique, où les femmes n’avaient aucun droit au pouvoir royal. en plus, les idées misogynes, comme la nécessité de la soumission des femmes, leur manque d’intelligence présumé et leur statut de citoyens de seconde classe, imprégnaient toujours le public (huisman et jallut, 1970, p. 120). marie antoinette était souvent condamnée pour n’être pas à sa place comme femme 5 ainsi que pour sa supposée sexualité libérée. les études féministes de caroline weber, antonia fraser et annie duprat ont trouvé beaucoup à examiner dans l’histoire de marie antoinette, et l’inclusion de ce genre de discours de la part des réalisateurs est évidente dans certains films par les choix de scènes, la dialogue et le jeu des acteurs. pour plusieurs réalisateurs, il est important de souligner ces attitudes discriminatoires, qui paraissent si injustes de notre perspective aujourd’hui et qui pourraient convaincre l’audience qu’elle ne méritait pas la guillotine. la mort de marie antoinette : stellio lorenzi (1958) le film de lorenzi se préoccupe des motivations de la révolution et non pas de la vie nuancée de marie antoinette, même s’il prend un point de vue plutôt charitable. il commence avec un photomontage de quelques dessins de la révolution alors qu’un narrateur décrit les évènements révolutionnaires qui ont précédé l’emprisonnement de marie antoinette à la conciergerie. le choix de ces évènements prépare l’orientation du film. tout de même, c’est un film plein d’égards pour marie antoinette. il détaille tous les efforts qui ont été mis en place par robespierre et le tribunal révolutionnaire pour qu’elle soit condamnée sans tenir compte de ses vraies actions et motivations. dans une scène où les révolutionnaires discutent de la nécessité de la mort de marie antoinette, ils disent qu’ « elle est plus un instrument politique que la guillotine » (lorenzi, 1958). dans le film, l’idée de sa montée à l’échafaud est introduite en premier lieu pour faire peur aux pays qui attaquaient la france. mais quand cette idée monte en popularité, on voit qu’ils utilisent l’élimination de la monarchie pour solidifier le gouvernement républicain et pour condamner une femme qui avait trop de pouvoir aux yeux d’un peuple qui soutenait encore les principes misogynes de la loi salique (weber, 2007, p. 119-120). marie antoinette : david grubin (2006) les conditions misogynes de la france à cette époque sont bien expliquées dans le film de grubin en ce qui concerne leur contribution majeure à la haine publique de marie antoinette. avec une multitude d’exemples de brochures et dessins satiriques, il explique que la france l’avait condamnée à cause de la perception que c’était elle plutôt que son mari, le roi, qui avait le pouvoir politique. les exemples des brochures explorent aussi la sexualisation de la reine, qui était l’autre manière dont l’image de marie antoinette a été détruite. marie antoinette : sophia coppola (2006) dans marie antoinette de 2006, nous pouvons clairement voir la perspective féministe de coppola qui explique que ses extravagances sont plutôt dues à son ennui et son isolement, et non à son indifférence et son avidité. ce n’est pas le seul discours féministe sur marie antoinette qui existe, mais coppola voulait évoquer l’idée que marie antoinette était une jeune fille sans l’éducation appropriée (jugée comme peu nécessaire pour les filles) et mise dans une situation impossible. avec kirsten dunst, sa jeunesse et sa beauté sont soulignées en même temps que ses actions et ses paroles, jusqu’aux moindres détails comme cette tache d’encre sur le certificat de mariage. même sa fraicheur de teint, sans le maquillage standard de l’époque, renforce les intentions féministes de coppola. de plus, pour pouvoir faciliter la connexion avec les jeunes contemporains qui visionneront ce film, dunst retient son accent américain et parle sans grande formalité, surtout comparée aux autres acteurs qui parlent avec un accent anglais ou français et emploient plus la langue formelle de la cour. 5. a cause des insinuations diffamatoires, le public français croyait qu’elle avait beaucoup plus d’influence politique qu’elle n’en possédait en réalité. cependant, la doctrine française ne permettait pas aux femmes d’avoir d’autorité politique. c’est la raison pour laquelle elle était jugée si sévèrement à cet égard (weber, 2007, p. 119-120). les reines consorts étrangères comme marie antoinette, anne d’autriche et catherine de medici, créaient encore plus d’indignation à cause de leur pays de naissance étranger (weber, p. 84). 56 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 comme dans d’autres films de coppola, elle évoque l’idée du regard masculin, mais elle développe cette notion en mettant l’accent sur les paroles de la mère, maria theresa, à propos de la vie à la cour de versailles : « tous les regards seront braqués sur toi » (coppola, 2006). l’autrichienne : pierre granier-deferre (1990) dans le film de granier-deferre, les indignités, les malheurs et l’hypocrisie qu’a vécus marie antoinette sont dispersés le long du film pour le rendre poignant. pendant le long et ardu procès démontré dans le film, on voit qu’elle a souffert de la violation de ses droits fondamentaux et de pressions physiques qui l’ont rendu plus malade qu’elle ne l’était (weber, 2007, p. 272). comme l’évoque le titre avec ce surnom infâme de l’autrichienne, les tendances xénophobes de la france au xviiie siècle, qui ont contribué aux condamnations injustes, sont indiquées au long du film avec plusieurs accusations assez exagérées d’avoir conspiré contre la france. le point final de l’accusateur public, un poste officiel pendant la révolution, est indicatif du caractère définitif des paroles « n’oubliez pas qu’elle est née autrichienne » (granier-deferre, 1990). avant d’être amenée à l’échafaud, marie antoinette déclare qu’elle voudra mourir en blanc, ce qui a renforcé encore l’impression de l’innocence qu’elle voulait transmettre aux spectateurs de son exécution (weber, p. 284-288). le film ne finit pas avec la descente de la guillotine, mais avec sa montée en chariot, son regard fixé vers le lointain. c’est un portrait réaliste de la marie antoinette que nous imaginons aujourd’hui ; intelligente et calme, mais avec des moments de fierté, de frustration et de tristesse immense. vi. les variations anglophones et francophones pouvoir fixer une représentation globale de marie antoinette serait presque impossible. même s’il y a beaucoup de changements sur le plan de la compréhension de marie antoinette dans l’étude de l’histoire, les influences culturelles, c’est-à-dire politiques, religieuses et sociales, ont un effet sur la conception de cette personnalité. la comparaison culturelle a joué un grand rôle pendant l’analyse de tous les films. les films étudiés sont soit francophones soit anglophones ; ils représentent les deux grandes forces dans le monde cinématographique en ce qui concerne marie antoinette. le film américain, souvent hollywoodien, vient du pays avec la plus grande puissance filmique en matière de budget, de distribution et de reconnaissance. le film français est aussi important en ce sens, car il représente l’opinion générale du pays qui réclame marie antoinette comme la sienne. dans les films américains, le luxe, l’esthétisation et la culture visuelle sont mis en valeur. les films français par contre se concentrent plus sur la spécificité historique et n’hésitent pas à démontrer la dureté de la vie en france au xviiie siècle. il peut être extrapolé que la tendance américaine vient d’une société de consommation prête à revoir les complexités de la vie de marie antoinette d’une manière plus positive, tandis que les films français veulent garder la valeur de leur histoire qui contient des incidents sombres et veulent souligner les luttes collectives du pays. avant de procéder, il faut noter que, comme c’est le cas pour tout le reste de cet article, il y a des nuances à considérer. on peut voir l’esthétisation de marie antoinette dans certains films français, et on peut voir plus d’insistance sur la vérité de l’histoire dans certains films américains. on peut dire que les représentations anglophones sont plus prêtes à accepter l’idée de l’innocence de marie antoinette que les représentations francophones. cependant, quelques films divergent des tendances que nous avons notées et finissent par mettre en scène l’ambiguïté de la représentation de la reine. marie antoinette : sophia coppola (2006) commençons par les films qui se concentrent sur l’image idéalisée de marie antoinette. le film de sophia coppola est un film qui rend hommage à la culture visuelle du xxie siècle avec un ensemble d’images de marie antoinette. l’expérience cinématographique est belle, attirante et même sensuelle dans sa décadence. les montages multiples qui illustrent la mode, la gastronomie, les fleurs, les fêtes, et les objets de luxe sont là pour démontrer les extravagances de la cour de louis 57 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 xvi, mais ils y sont pareillement insérés pour enchanter l’audience. l’histoire de cette reine de france est tragique, mais en même temps, coppola crée un type de conte de fées. en fait, les tenues prototypiques de marie antoinette dans ce film ressemblent fortement à celles de la cendrillon iconique de disney avec ses robes bleu poudre, cheveux blonds et rubans noirs. ce style ne fait pas partie de la tenue historique de marie antoinette. avec un film qui met un tel accent sur la mise en scène, les couleurs soutiennent l’intrigue. les pastels sont proéminents, sauf pour les costumes des personnages indésirables, comme la comtesse du barry et la comtesse de noailles. pour la plupart, les couleurs employées dans les costumes et le décor ne sont pas historiquement vraisemblables, ce seraient plutôt des couleurs riches ou douces, mais elles servent à évoquer de nos jours le charme de cette époque aussi bien que l’idée de la décadence. les spectateurs ne voient pas les évènements déplaisants comme la mort de marie antoinette. nous savons comment son histoire se termine, mais un décès violent ne coexisterait pas avec l’esthétique séduisante que dessine coppola. par ailleurs, la peinture, qui avait une influence immense dans la culture visuelle à l’époque, est la référence dans quelques scènes, par exemple dans une scène avec le comte fersen, qui ressemble à la liberté guidant le peuple par delacroix. coppola utilise les peintures iconiques pour faire avancer l’intrigue d’une manière concise. le portrait de madame déficit et le portrait de famille qui signale la mort de ses enfants sont encore un moyen d’expliquer les détails désagréables de sa vie d’une manière esthétiquement plaisante. ce film est sans doute celui qui incarne le plus parfaitement la vision imaginaire de marie antoinette de la part du public nord-américain. coppola fait en sorte que nous puissions ré–imaginer la figure de marie antoinette, la voir avec compassion et, peut-être, avec un peu d’admiration. on revoit cette évocation d’un conte de fées dans le film de delannoy, même s’il s’agit un film francophone. la représentation de la vie à versailles est construite d’une manière idéalisée : c’est la vie d’une princesse avec des couleurs vives partout, des manèges et des fêtes. marie antoinette : w.s. van dyke (1938) dans le film de van dyke, il est évident que son point de vue est plus généreux que celui de plusieurs films français, même ceux qui sont réalisés beaucoup plus tard, avec un meilleur accès aux recherches. ce film a été réalisé pendant la grande dépression, et il est facile de voir que cette image d’une marie antoinette jolie et décadente serait idéalisée comme la représentation d’une rêverie heureuse. dans la scène du bal à paris, il y a une ressemblance avec les années 1920. on peut voir la comparaison entre cette période de splendeur américaine avec la france du xviiie siècle. pour expliquer son adoration des beaux objets et des fêtes, à un moment, il est dit par le duc d’orléans : « vous avez créé un bouclier contre la solitude et la tristesse » (van dyke, 1938). cette réplique est clé dans ce film pour expliquer le point de vue que prend van dyke à propos de l’image de marie antoinette. marie antoinette : david grubin (2006) le film de grubin est un documentaire anglophone créé en coopération avec pbs, largement pour le visionnement du grand public américain, qui a une concentration historique à cause de son genre mais solidifie plutôt le thème de l’innocence. dans ce documentaire historique et biographique, on reconnait la puissance de l’image comme force à ne pas sous-estimer. en parlant de toutes les brochures qui circulaient et qui ont détruit la réputation de marie antoinette, le narrateur dit que « c’était une guerre d’images qu’elle était en train de perdre » (grubin, 2006). la collection de peintures et de dessins dont il est question est extensive. également, il y a des scènes filmées à versailles qui jouent sur la beauté idéale du xviiie siècle. les scènes d’acteurs ne sont pas très compliquées, se concentrant sur deux aspects visuellement iconiques de la vie de marie antoinette : sa tenue et la vie au petit trianon. la qualité visuelle du film est exceptionnelle pour un documentaire qui se concentre plutôt sur les faits que sur la cinématographie. comme tout autre film biographique, il faut prendre en considération que le documentaire, même avec l’intention de discuter les faits, n’est pas objectif car il prend le point de vue d’une 58 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 réalité construite spécifiquement pour le film. ce film a l’intention évidente de reformuler l’histoire stéréotypée de marie antoinette. il n’ignore pas les nuances de sa vie, parce qu’il serait difficile d’évoquer marie antoinette comme personnalité exemplaire, mais il met l’accent sur quelques idées, souvent négligées dans l’historiographie passée, qui créent une vision plus charitable d’elle. il insiste sur sa jeunesse en arrivant à versailles, ainsi que sur le manque de formation nécessaire pour comprendre l’étiquette de la cour et la politique de la france, de même que la pression mise sur elle de consommer un mariage avec un mari indifférent, pour expliquer le sentiment d’ennui qu’elle combattait dans sa vie de luxe. comme nous l’avons signalé ci-dessus, ce documentaire est destiné à une audience non spécialisée. il y a alors des simplifications d’évènements et de commentaires pour rendre plus compréhensible le thème de l’innocence. à un moment donné, le narrateur simon schama fait la comparaison entre marie antoinette et « une gamine d’une petite ville avec une carte de crédit sans limites qui fait du magasinage sur l’avenue madison » (grubin, 2006). pour un documentaire américain, qui peut tomber dans l’écueil de l’américentrisme, il n’y a aucun expert américain qui offre ses pensées dans le film. en fait, la plupart sont des français et ils parlent leur langue maternelle. ils incluent évelyne lever, fanny cosandey et antoine de baecque. chantal thomas 6 est aussi présente dans le film, parlant en anglais. les deux experts anglophones sont antonia fraser et simon schama, tous deux de grande-bretagne. en utilisant des experts reconnus dans ce domaine historique, et non pas que des experts américains, le film produit une perspective plus globale qui démontre du consensus sur le sujet de marie antoinette. la mort de marie antoinette : stellio lorenzi (1958) tous les films à propos de marie antoinette sont d’une manière ou d’une autre des films historiques. cependant, certains films, souvent français, focalisent leurs intrigues sur l’histoire précise et tiennent compte de la réalité difficile de la france pendant le xviiie siècle. le film de lorenzi cherche à démontrer la réalité de l’époque d’une manière très linéaire. sauf pour la dernière tentative d’échapper de la conciergerie, il n’y a aucune impression de drame. marie-antoinette elle-même est très sombre et contenue dans ce film, mais tous ses gestes et ses paroles sont doux et sincères. on peut voir son intelligence dans la manière dont elle répond aux questions diffamatoires du tribunal. les réponses sont toutes reliées au bonheur de ses enfants et de la france. son avocat confie à l’accusateur de l’assemblé nationale qu’il croit en sa culpabilité, mais c’est la culpabilité d’avoir été inconsciente de la discorde et des injustices qu’elle avait facilitées. c’est à ce moment-là où l’on peut voir les nuances qui existent pour lorenzi. elle n’est ni une héroïne à célébrer ni un monstre. enfin, on ne voit pas sa route vers l’échafaud, iconisée dans le tableau de jacques louis david. il n’y a que le son de la chute de la guillotine et les cris du public et une prise de vue de la cellule de prison vide. ce film à propos de la mort de marie antoinette ne se termine pas par sa mort, mais par une dernière rencontre entre robespierre et d’autres membres de l’assemblée générale. dans le film, les décisions concernant la vie de marie antoinette ne lui appartenaient jamais. c’étaient toujours les autres qui la déplaçaient comme un pion dans le jeu politique de l’europe. marie antoinette : reine de france : jean delannoy (1956) dans le film de delannoy, une grande partie est composée de toute l’histoire de la révolution relative à marie antoinette, illustrée d’une manière exacte et détaillée. il commence par une scène des femmes du peuple qui prennent l’assaut de versailles. chaque étape de la chute de la famille royale est décrite, du déménagement aux tuileries à l’emprisonnement à la conciergerie, du tribunal de marie antoinette à la descente de la guillotine. marat et danton, deux révolutionnaires clés, paraissent tous deux dans ce film. l’accent est mis sur les évènements et détails précis de la révolution, car ce film reconnait que les spectateurs seraient principalement francophones et donc sensibles à la relation entre le début et la fin du règne du louis xvi. il sert à relater la vie aisée de marie antoinette et sa fin très sombre. toutefois, il tente de se positionner de façon plus ou 6. chantal thomas est l’auteur du roman les adieux à la reine, qui inspire l’adaptation de b. jacquot. 59 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 moins impartiale, préférant s’intéresser aux grands évènements, comme la prise de la bastille, plutôt que de chercher à comprendre la psychologie des personnalités. ce n’est qu’aux derniers moments de la fin du film que delannoy introduit quelques faits historiques qui créent de la sympathie ; elle s’excuse quand, par accident, elle piétine le pied de quelqu’un avant de monter à l’échafaud (fraser, 2001, p. 440). the affair of the necklace : charles shyer (2001) certains films, anglophones et francophones, ne suivent pas la piste générale de la thèse avancée ici. dans le film américain réalisé par shyer, le personnage de marie antoinette est mis en contraste avec celui de jeanne de la motte valois afin de faire de marie antoinette la méchante. pendant le déroulement de l’incident du collier et l’interrogation du cardinal de rohan, marie antoinette est présentée comme impolie lors du refus initial du collier, là où réellement, elle était plutôt gracieuse (weber, 2001, p. 227). dans le film, elle refuse le collier de manière capricieuse parce qu’il a été créé pour du barry. enfin, marie antoinette comme personnalité superficielle est un trope facile qui amuse le public, mais même shyer reconnait la nécessité de démontrer quelques injustices qu’elle a vécues. par exemple, nous voyons avec la haine féroce du peuple qu’elle fut tenue responsable dans cette affaire sans preuves. l’affaire du collier est représentative des méfaits dont marie antoinette fut injustement accusée. marie antoinette est innocente tout au long de cette affaire, mais la scène de la punition de de la motte valois, la véritable coupable, est coupée pour montrer la scène pitoyable de la mort de marie antoinette par guillotine. cette coupure soudaine qui compare les résultats des vies de ces deux femmes suggère que l’accusation faite à marie antoinette pendant sa vie n’était pas nécessairement fondée. l’autrichienne : pierre granier-deferre (1990) le film francophone réalisé par granier-deferre est une étude des tout derniers jours de la vie de marie antoinette d’une manière qui oscille entre les genres historique et dramatique. pendant le générique d’ouverture, il est explicitement dit que le scénario a été écrit d’après le procès-verbal pour que l’audience puisse comprendre que le film est fondé dans l’histoire réelle. granier-deferre et les auteurs ont connaissance de toutes les notions fictives qui circulent et veulent présenter un portrait plus véritable. le procès est central dans le film, car il occupait la majorité de son temps pendant ses dernières journées. le long du film, quelques scènes rétrospectives de sa vie à versailles sont artistiquement entrelacées avec les scènes de la conciergerie et du tribunal. dans un passé idéalisé, elle se promène dans un jardin habillée de ses robes, coiffures et bijoux extravagants. elle s’évade de la réalité dans ces moments revisités qui sont contrastés avec les scènes où elle est misérable. lors de l’accusation d’inceste du tribunal, elle revoit un jeu de balle avec son fils, tout petit, riant. les scènes rétrospectives sont tellement brèves que l’on ressent sa tristesse ; on veut voir plus de cette belle vie et de son bonheur. les adieux à la reine : benoît jacquot (2012) le film de jacquot n’est pas nécessairement généreux envers cette reine de france avec l’inclusion d’une métaphore qui critique l’obsession moderne de marie antoinette. bien que le film soit construit à partir des perceptions fausses qui ont contribué au déclin de la monarchie et ont servi de preuve lors de la condamnation de marie antoinette (comme son lesbianisme présumé mais jamais validé historiquement), il utilise le personnage principal de sidonie comme métaphore pour examiner notre préoccupation actuelle avec cette reine iconique. son dévouement progresse pour devenir une obsession qui la conduit à risquer sa vie pour une requête de la part de la reine. dans cette dynamique de pouvoir entre les deux personnages principaux, il y a une tension sexuelle qui explique en partie la raison pour laquelle sidonie n’est pas capable de comprendre les critiques à propos de la reine, alors qu’elle est enveloppée dans les charmes et le charisme de marie antoinette. ici, jacquot est en train d’explorer si la relation entre marie antoinette et le public actuel est pareille à celle dont sidonie fait l’expérience, une obsession aveugle, alimentée par la beauté de la vie de 60 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 marie antoinette. en plus, le luxe à versailles est présent dans le film, mais avec le contraste de la pauvreté et des habitations des domestiques, il n’est pas idéalisé autant qu’employé pour démontrer la réalité matérielle de cette époque. vii. conclusion après avoir étudié plusieurs représentations de marie antoinette de perspectives variées dans des films et dans des biographies écrites, il manque toujours une image claire de cette reine iconique que l’on pourrait évoquer avec certitude. quelques mythes colorent encore son histoire, surtout à propos de sa vie privée, mais en général il faut comprendre qu’elle fut en partie victime des croyances de son temps. les films en général sont beaucoup plus compatissants que les représentations de marie antoinette pendant le xviiie siècle. collectivement, ils fonctionnent pour réparer son image endommagée. en fin de compte, la manière la plus impartiale de la décrire serait de constater qu’elle n’était ni innocente ni coupable. cela est peut-être insatisfaisant comme conclusion, mais son histoire ne peut pas se réduire à des conclusions nettes. en outre, une explication bien ordonnée serait insensible aux variations culturelles qui existeront toujours et qui ne se conformeront pas les unes aux autres. il est sûr que même si les évènements dans la vie de marie antoinette se produisaient aujourd’hui, il y aurait différents points de vue ; cela fait partie de la condition humaine. avec la tragédie, la beauté, le plaisir, et la politique de sa vie, la personnalité historique de marie antoinette rassemble tant d’éléments qui nous attirent, qu’il est presque impossible de ne pas être fasciné par elle. viii. films et études citées anthony, k. (1933). marie antoinette. new york, new york : blue ribbon. castle, t. (1992). marie antoinette obsession. representations, 1-38. coppola, s. (réalisateur). (2006). marie antoinette [film]. états-unis : columbia pictures corporation. delannoy, j. (réalisateur). (1956). marie antoinette : reine de france [film]. france : franco london films, les films gibé and rizzoli film. duprat, a. (2013). marie antoinette 1755–1793 : images et visages d’une reine. paris, france : éditions autrement. fraser, a. (2001). marie antoinette : the journey. (3e ed.) toronto, canada : anchor canada. granier-deferre, p. (réalisateur). (1990). l’autrichienne [film] france : danon audiovisuel s.a., lira films paradise productions. grubin, d. (réalisateur). (2006). marie antoinette [film]. états-unis : david grubin productions and public broadcast service. huisman, p., jallut, m. (1970). marie antoinette : l’impossible bonheur. paris, france : vilo. 61 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/rep.1992.38.1.99p01062 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 jacquot, b. (réalisateur). (2012). les adieux à la reine [film]. france : gmt productions les films du lendemain. lorenzi, s. (réalisateur). (1958). la mort de marie antoinette [film]. france : office de radiodiffusion télévision française. rigas, m. (2013). marie antoinette : madame deficit or victim of circumstance ? a historiography of the image of france’s most infamous queen. the elizabeth cady stanton student research conference proceedings. villanova university. rosenstone, r.a. (2006). history on film/film on history. édimbourg, écosse : pearson education limited. shyer, c. (réalisateur). (2001). the affair of the necklace [film]. états-unis : alcon entertainment. van dyke, w.s. (réalisateur). (1938). marie antoinette [film] états-unis : metro-goldwyn-mayer. weber, c. (2007). queen of fashion : what marie antoinette wore to the revolution. new york, new york : picador. 62 introduction l'étude de l'histoire: l'écriture, les illustrations et l'évolution d'une personnalité historique l'analyse de films historiques les mythes de la vie privée les attitudes discriminatoires les variations anglophones et francophones conclusion films et études citées the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 imperial or settler imperative? indigenous reserves as a case study for a transcolonial analysis of british imperial indigenous policy darren reid∗ university of victoria dreid820@yahoo.ca abstract my paper presents a comparative analysis of the development of reserve systems in british north america and western australia across the 19th century. the existing historiography seeks to comprehend the relationship between the british metropole and the colonial periphery, and two opposing frameworks of colonial governance have been developed. one holds that the british empire operated as an interdependent system, in which colonial indigenous policies were determined by overarching imperial imperatives based upon imperial capitalism and liberal humanitarianism. the other holds that the explosive growth of settler communities undermined these imperial imperatives and facilitated governance guided by the settlers’ need for land, labour, and security. this paper seeks to end the tension between these two frameworks by using indigenous reserve systems as a case study for understanding colonial governance. through an analysis of correspondence between local and imperial administrators, this paper argues that the development of indigenous reserve systems reveals an entrenched conflict between imperial and local administrators lasting throughout the nineteenth century, a conflict in which the local governments of british north america and western australia subordinated imperial imperatives of imperial capitalism and liberal humanitarianism to local concerns of security and sovereignty. keywords: settler colonialism; transcolonial history; british policy; indigenous reserves the national histories of western british north america (western bna) and western australiagive ample attention to the indigenous reserve systems of each country, but little attentionis given to transcolonial patterns of dispossession. transcolonial history is a unique approach to the history of colonial governance, which problematizes the idea that historians can understand the course of settler-indigenous relations in any one country from within national boundaries. zoe laidlaw, historian at the university of london, expounds the need to re-examine colonial governance from an international viewpoint. laidlaw argues that the contained national histories of colonization prevent historians from making important connections between colonized peoples, enable modern settler societies to perpetuate dispossession, and allow britain to side-step questions of responsibility for imperial crime (2014, p. 133). transcolonial historical analyses acknowledge that national acts of colonialism, such as the creation of indigenous reserves, are individual instances of a larger phenomenon, and dig deeper into the differences between these to better understand the whole. historians tend to consider british indigenous policy as driven by a dialectic between, on the one hand, a framework of imperial liberal humanitarianism and imperial capitalism and, on the ∗i would like to thank dr. elizabeth vibert for her guidance while writing this paper. 55 mailto:dreid820@yahoo.ca the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 other hand, a framework of settler colonialism.1 yet the reserve systems that coalesced in british colonies by the end of the 19th century contained aspects that contradicted the principles of both frameworks. as a response to laidlaw’s call for transcolonial approaches to colonial governance, this paper seeks to reconcile these two frameworks via a transcolonial comparison of indigenous reserve policy. i argue that, while imperial imperatives guided the development of early 19th century reserves, the coercive forms of reserves that appeared by the turn of the century arose only as settler populations came to prioritize the security of their land and the solidity of their claims to sovereignty over imperial obligations. this paper has three sections. the first section is an exploration of the historiography of world patterns of indigenous-settler relations. the second section presents my own primary research into the processes of developing reserves in western bna2 and western australia, organized geographically. by western bna, i refer to present day alberta, saskatchewan, and manitoba. in the name of feasibility and length, i focused on two nations for the similarity of their contexts: both represent frontiers that were settled after the initial settlement of their corresponding colonies. the third section connects the findings from my research along world patterns, organized thematically. finally, there are brief concluding remarks. terms i use the term “indigenous” rather than “native” or “aboriginal” to refer to indigenous peoples and groups; while it is preferable to refer to the self-designated appellations of any indigenous group, in the context of this paper the purpose is not to refer to specific indigenous histories but to policies and colonial reactions to indigeneity as a concept. historical documents of this time refer to indigenous groups as “natives,” and while i keep this term where necessary, bear in mind the legacy of racist attitudes towards “the noble savage” that is attached to this term. i would also draw attention to the term “indigenous policy.” the term conjures an image of “what the government did with indigenous people,” but this is untrue. policy indicates government intentions, but the indigenous groups involved responded to these intentions in many ways and influenced the outcomes of policy. i will draw attention to divergences between policy intentions and indigenous responses when necessary. the dichotomy of imperial and local also requires a brief note. “imperial” and “local” are not directly antonymous, as the appointed governor of a colony could be just as imperially-minded as any official back in london. to control for the ambiguity in separating imperial imperatives from local imperatives, i define local imperatives against the imperatives established by the british colonial office. for example, if a dispatch from the secretary of state for war and the colonies outlines a specific instruction regarding indigenous policy, then i take that policy as the established imperial policy. likewise, if a dispatch from a colonial governor presents an indigenous policy that is divergent from the established imperial policy, then i take the divergent policy as the established local policy.3 1i refer to settler colonialism as defined by adam barker and emma battell lowman: “settler colonialism can be distinguished from other forms of colonialism—including classical or metropole colonialism, and neo-colonialism—by a number of key features. first, settler colonisers ‘come to stay’: unlike colonial agents such as traders, soldiers, or governors, settler collectives intend to permanently occupy and assert sovereignty over indigenous lands. second, settler colonial invasion is a structure, not an event: settler colonialism persists in the ongoing elimination of indigenous populations, and the assertion of state sovereignty and juridical control over their lands” (barker & battell lowman [2015], “settler colonialism,” para. 1). 2arriving at a succinct name for this area is difficult, given that “central canada” is anachronistic and “prairie british north america” is awkward. “central british north america” would also have worked. 3strictly speaking, there was no such thing as one coherent british imperial policy, since imperial policy was determined by a range of contradictory intentions and desires. however, for the purpose of this paper the documented 56 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 finally, given that reserves have existed for centuries while the subject of this paper is a very specific type of reserve from the 19th century, i propose three distinct terms that should be helpful: unprescribed reserves, prescribed reserves, and institutionalized reserves. unprescribed reserves are simply lands that had been set aside by colonial authorities for use by indigenous peoples with no immediate intention to assert authority over them. consider the royal proclamation of 1763, which reserved land as hunting ground and not for coercive purposes (miller, 2009, p. 69). prescribed reserves are those that have been set aside for indigenous peoples’ use with accompanying caveats, such as agreements to build houses or learn agriculture. for example, consider the reserves created by sir francis bond head in the manitoulin treaty (1836), which stipulated that the indigenous people might live traditionally, “inasmuch as it affords fishing, hunting, bird-shooting, and fruit” (bond head, 1839/1969, p. 350) or request assistance “to become civilized and to cultivate land” (bond head, 1839/1969, p. 352). institutionalized reserves are those in which indigenous people must have lived and where the lives of indigenous people were coercively controlled. this paper focuses on two specific versions of institutionalized reserves: those in western bna after the rise of the 1885 pass system and those in western australia created by the 1905 aborigines act. imperialand localdriven frameworks of colonialism imperial-driven frameworks transcolonial historians have developed two distinct frameworks of british indigenous policy, each opposing the other. the first direction works under the assumption that the british empire operated in a systemic fashion. oxford historian john darwin asserts a framework of empire in which britain created an “octopus shaped” world system with systemic control from the centre (2009, pp. 17-18). darwin’s argument assumes that the colonies acted as auxiliaries to a metropolitan center, with the needs of the metropole determining the governance of the auxiliaries. darwin’s systemic empire framework holds that the governance of the british colonies was principally guided by imperial capitalism and therefore implies that the metropole designed local governments’ indigenous policies to facilitate britain’s capitalist agendas.4 similar work on liberal humanitarianism supports the framework of an overarching, systemic ideology driving colonial governance. andrew armitage, professor of social policy, connects the british assimilationist goal to the 1834 british poor law,5 in that both policies approached nonmainstream groups like indigent britons and indigenous peoples as requiring government programs to assimilate them into mainstream society (1995, p. 4). according to armitage, since the 1834 poor law was a fundamental aspect of liberal humanitarianism, the similarities between assimilation policies and poor law policies indicate that liberal humanitarianism spread from the british metropole outwards to the colonies and that liberal humanitarianism was therefore a systemic ideological influence on colonial indigenous policy. policy (i.e., whatever was written down in an official dispatch) will be taken as the dominant imperial policy 4it is important to note here a distinction between imperial capitalism and colonial or local capitalism. imperial capitalism operates to benefit the metropole, just as darwin argues that the colonies worked to serve imperial interests. colonial or local capitalism operates to benefit the setters of the colony. this means that imperial and local capitalism are not necessarily antagonistic, as a thriving local economy may very well benefit the metropole, but it does require differentiation. this is my own definition. 5the idea of the 1834 poor law was to prevent impoverished individuals from becoming a burden on the state by forcing them to labour in workhouses in return for any social assistance, as well as to reclaim indigent children from the perceived immorality of their parents by providing limited industrial education. 57 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 local-driven frameworks the second direction that transcolonial history has gone works under the assumption that either there never was any systemic control of policy in the british empire or at least that the systemic control had disappeared by the late 19th century. oxford historian james belich argues that indigenous groups across the british empire were initially capable of resisting the advances of imperial capitalism, and therefore imperial capitalism cannot have dictated indigenous policies (2009, p. 225). their ability to resist deteriorated in the second half of the 19th century in the face of massively increasing numbers of settler emigrants from britain, an event he terms “explosive colonization.” belich argues that at the centre of explosive colonization was the “boom mentality” of emigrant settlers, in which british settlers placed the security of frontier borders (i.e., non-confrontational relations with indigenous groups) above their concern for economic or moral objectives. this argument undermines the framework of an overarching imperial imperative driving colonial governance, as these imperatives place economic and moral objectives above concerns of safety and stability (belich, 2009, pp. 225-227). reserves as contradictory to the transcolonial historiography these two frameworks of british transcolonial history, that of an overarching capitalist or liberal humanitarian imperative and that of a local imperative, require us to take a closer look at the purposes of indigenous reserves across the british empire because neither framework can sufficiently explain the institutionalized reserves of the late 19th century. both imperatives demand the inclusion of indigenous peoples within the british system, yet the purpose of institutionalized reserves is to isolate them from it. armitage argues that the general policy of isolating indigenous people upon reserves and forcing them to abide by british law and morality was adopted on an imperial scale by the 1837 report of the select committee on aborigines, and that local governments followed this imperial policy throughout the colonies for over a century afterwards (1995, p. 220). however, a careful reading of the report shows that imperial authorities believed inclusion into british society furthered the “civilizing”6 of indigenous people, and that isolation hampered it. the committee declared that “the relations between neighboring nations must ever be extensive, however great the disparity of intellect or cultivation; and it is very questionable, whether it would be proper to restrain this relationship, when it might be conducted in an enlightening manner” (british parliamentary select committee, 1837/1966, p. 152). furthermore, the report stated that british laws do not apply to indigenous groups, “the whole spirit and principles of which are foreign to their modes of thought and action” (british parliamentary select committee, 1837/1966, p. 80). one may argue that the select committee intended these stipulations to be temporary measures, and armitage points to signs that indicate the intention of imperial authorities to scale back these protections in time. yet if we took these indications for granted, we would be reading history backwards. the isolationism and forced legal and moral policing of the institutionalized reserves that local governments established by the end of the 19th century, and which armitage links to the report of the select committee of 1837, contradicted the imperial directive set down in writing, and so the theory that an overarching metropolitan imperative drove indigenous policy falls short. 6i use the terms “civilize” and “civilizing” throughout this paper to refer to the liberal humanitarian “civilizing mission.” the idea of levels of civilization was rooted in eurocentric enlightenment ideas of progress and was popularized by the marquis de condorcet’s “progress of the human mind,” which categorized ten epochs of civilization, such as formation of hordes, adoption of pastoralism, adoption of agriculture, division of the sciences, decline of science and rise of theology, etc. i refer to this highly unscientific and racist idea as historical context, not as historical fact. 58 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 however, the concept of settler needs for peaceful and secure borders driving indigenous policy also cannot explain the development of institutionalized reserves because an inherent characteristic of reserves across the empire was the intent to raise the “level of civilization” of indigenous peoples, something that was expensive and not required for the needs of boom mentality. amanda nettelbeck, historian at the university of adelaide, argues that the policy of providing rations was an integral aspect of indigenous policy and necessary for the survival of indigenous groups, but was only supported by colonial governments when unavoidable out of the fear that rations would lead to idleness (nettelbeck & foster, 2012, pp. 24-26). reserve overseers in western australia explicitly refused to provide rations to “indigent blacks on stations where able-bodied ones are employed” (western australia aborigines department, 1905, p. 6), and reserves in western bna adopted the strategy of providing rations only in payment for jobs around the reserves (satzewich, 1996, pp. 199-200). this preoccupation with enforcing moral norms on the residents of reserves, which was almost unanimously resisted, is irreconcilable with the settler’ need for reducing confrontation and maintaining peaceful borders. much of the motivation for these polices included financial concerns, but the civilizing concern was emphasized. and so, the theory of boom mentality driving indigenous policy also falls short. this paper analyzes the similarities and divergences within the processes of creating reserve systems in western bna and western australia and proposes a revised framework for understanding british colonization in which reserve systems are not anomalous. this section has outlined the two most dominant frameworks already developed and highlighted their weaknesses in regards to reserves. the next section looks at the contexts of reserves in each colony, weighs the debates between local and imperial administrators, and scrutinizes government reports to distill the essential purposes and functions of institutionalized reserves in each colony. tracing the development of institutionalized reserve systems western british north america armitage’s view of bna indigenous policy corresponds with the current historical consensus. canadian historian jim miller argues that the bna government adopted a “civilizing” policy at the end of the war of 1812, when the state grew less dependant on indigenous military aid, and that this policy became increasingly assimilationist over the decades as settlers came to see indigenous groups as inhibitory to progress (miller, 2009, p. 105). just as armitage sees bna indigenous policy as established once and maintained for a century, miller argues for one progressively assimilationist civilizing policy. i offer a new framework of 19th century western bna indigenous policy as an ongoing debate between two iterations of civilizing policy: active civilizing via social integration and social isolation without civilizing. i argue that a civilizing policy was adopted after the war of 1812, but that this policy was replaced by one of isolationism and control which had nothing to do with a civilizing mission and everything to do with security. this framework accounts for the institutionalization of reserves in 1885, while the previous assumption of one assimilationist policy fails to explain this isolationism. the canadian government established the pass system in 1885, which required indigenous individuals to obtain passes to leave their reserve and effectively institutionalized the reserves.7 the creation of the pass system in 1885 was linked with the 1885 north-west uprising and had roots in the manitoulin treaties of 1836. 7there is a debate among historians as to the pass system’s enforcement: no legislative backing was introduced for the pass system, and so police made arrests based on drunkenness and vagrancy rather than pass violation. however, oral histories support its operation into the 1930s. see carter and hildebrandt, the true spirit and original intent of treaty 7. however, indigenous people did not leave the system unchallenged and repeatedly and often left the reserve without obtaining a pass. see barron, “the indian pass system in the canadian west, 1882-1935.” 59 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 sir francis bond head, lt. governor of upper canada, signed the manitoulin treaties with the assertion that “[t]he greatest kindness we can perform towards these intelligent, simple-minded people, is to remove and fortify them as much as possible from all communication with the whites” (bond head, 1839/1969, p. 353). the manitoulin treaties are as noteworthy for what they did not include as for what they did include: they did not include any promises to provide religious instruction or education of any kind, but rather encouraged traditional indigenous methods of subsistence via hunting, fishing, gathering, and bird-shooting (bond head, 1839/1969, p. 350). this policy of social isolation without civilizing was a direct departure from the imperial indigenous policy established in 1830, when the then-governor sir james kempt declared that “[t]he rooted aversion entertained by the indians to intermix with the white population, and with other indian tribes, renders it necessary that they should be located . . . in the vicinity of other tribes and of white settlers. by these means . . . their amalgamation with the mass of the population [will] be most efficiently promoted” (kempt, 1834/1969, p. 95). furthermore, kempt had been ordered by the secretary of war and the colonies, sir george murray, to ensure the encouragement “in every possible manner, of religious knowledge and of education generally” (murray, 1834/1969, p. 88). bond head’s repudiation of kempt’s and murray’s policy of integration and education indicates that there was a debate, from the earliest years of policy making, between proponents of active civilizing via social integration and social isolation without civilizing. bond head’s iteration of civilizing policy was not popular with the imperial government. indigenous leaders themselves petitioned the imperial government, with mississauga leader peter jones travelling to london to personally denounce bond head’s policy (binnema & hutchings, 2005, p. 130). secretary of war and the colonies lord glenelg rejected the policy in 1838 and declared that “[t]he view which sir f. head adopted of the future prospects of the indian race differed no less from the opinion of his predecessors in the government of upper canada than from those which i had been led to form” (glenelg, 1839/1969, p. 314). consequently, the signing of the first seven numbered treaties in the north-west territories between 1870 and 1877 followed kempt’s iteration of active civilizing via social inclusion. during the negotiation of treaty no.1 (at the site of modern-day winnipeg, manitoba, in august 1871), indian commissioner wemyss simpson perceived “with much pleasure” that “the indians have evinced a most friendly disposition, and look upon the emigrants and others now passing through their country, not only without distrust, but with evident satisfaction, and we have no doubt but that, by careful and prudent management, these friendly relations may be permanently maintained” (indian branch of the department of the secretary of state for the provinces, 1871, p. 9). this indicates that the intention of the treaty was not to restrict relations between indigenous people and settlers, but to ameliorate them. indeed, simpson’s indian department annual report of 1871 satisfactorily reported that in the province of manitoba, where labours [sic] is scarce, indians give great assistance in gathering in the crops. at portage la prairie, both chippewas and sioux, were largely employed in the grain field, and in other parishes, i found many farmers whose employees were nearly all indians . . . . although serious trouble has from time to time occurred . . . there is no reason to fear any trouble with those who regarded themselves as subjects of her majesty. their desire is to live at peace with the white man, to trade with him, and, when they are disposed, to work for him. i believe that nothing but gross injustice or oppression will induce them either to forget the allegiance which they now claim with pride, or molest the white subjects.(indian branch of the department of the secretary of state for the provinces, 1871, p. 31) the satisfaction with settlers employing and trading with indigenous people shows that the indigenous 60 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 policy behind the numbered treaties followed kempt’s policy of active civilizing via social integration.8 this changed in 1885, when the canadian government’s belief that “nothing but gross injustice or oppression will induce them either to forget the allegiance which they now claim with pride, or molest the white subjects” (indian branch, 1871, p. 31) was shattered by the north-west uprising. several indigenous nations rose against the canadian government in 1885 in response to settler encroachment, and the government abandoned kempt’s style of inclusionary policy to prevent future uprisings. while modern historians acknowledge that the uprising was a justified course of action taken after many attempts at peaceful negotiation, the government at the time saw no justifiable motivation for indigenous groups to resort to violence. in his annual report for 1885, sir john a. macdonald established that the uprising was “due to circumstances over which this department had no control, but which were the result of specious inducements held out to indians of the north-west territories by the leader of the half-breed insurgents and his lieutenants” (canadian department of indian affairs, 1886, p. 7). since there was no official perception of the uprising being the result of any real grievances, the government’s only means of preventing further violence was to address what they did perceive to be the cause of the uprising: communication between indigenous groups and outsiders. consequently, they designed the pass system to control communication. canadian historian sarah carter doubts the indian department’s belief that the indigenous participants in the 1885 uprising had no actual grievances with the government, and she points to evidence of hushed-up criticisms of the government’s poor management of reserves (1990, pp. 130-34). while this perspective is important to think about, my purpose in writing is to trace and compare indigenous policies, and determining if officials believed in their policies is beyond the scope and purpose of this paper. officials first mentioned forcing indigenous people onto their reserves in may 1885, during the north-west uprising, when major-general middleton wrote to lieutenant governor dewdney asking, “[w]ould it not be advisable to issue a proclamation warning half-breeds and indians to return to their reserves and that all those found away will be treated as rebels?” (middleton, 1885/2009, p. 63). dewdney made this proclamation immediately, and three months after the end of hostilities, deputy superintendent general of indian affairs lawrence vankoughnet argued that not just the hostiles, “but all our indians should be required to carry passes,” and prime minister macdonald agreed that “the system should be introduced in the loyal bands as well” (vankoughnet, 1885/2009, p. 64). the second motivation for expanding the pass system was the perception that the indigenous population’s food supplies were being compromised by farmers abandoning their crops. the annual report of 1886 explains that so for many of them . . . having in the excitement of the occasion [the north-west uprising] left their reserve, no seed was planted . . . . as in the case of other bands on reserves, situated in the districts affected by the disturbances referred to, these indians had for the most part to be entirely fed at the expense of the government. [furthermore,] the ease with which employment is obtained and money earned in summer renders many indians careless and neglectful of their crops. (canadian department of indian affairs, 1887, p. 81) carter disputes the government’s position that poor agricultural production was a result of indigenous carelessness and neglect, instead pointing to a multitude of other handicaps, such as poor soil conditions, an inability to relocate to better soil, and rampant equipment shortages (1990, pp. 161-63). however, this report illustrates that the pass system was a measure to ensure sufficient 8it should be noted that indigenous people chose to work for white farmers as a response to food scarcity, not because integration was the policy. policy agreed with indigenous action rather than caused indigenous action. 61 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 agricultural productivity upon reserves, since the government thought agricultural production was being hindered by indigenous farmers leaving their reserves.9 rather than there being one century-long assimilation policy, the adoption of the pass system represents the abandonment of the policy of active civilizing via social integration and the reversion to a policy similar to bond head’s previous policy of social isolation without civilizing. the pass system had different reasons for isolating indigenous peoples than bond head’s manitoulin treaties, replacing his 1836 despair over the indigenous population’s ability to become civilized with the 1885 fear of warmongering and inciteful communication between indigenous groups and the determination to have indigenous groups produce enough food for themselves. nonetheless, it is necessary to appreciate that the institutionalization of reserves in canada was reversion to an isolationist, non-civilizing policy rather than the failure of a civilizing policy. western australia the institutionalization of reserves in western australia developed as a combination of two intersecting forces: settlers’ desire to harness the indigenous population as a source of cheap labour and the increasing settler fear of indigenous people as decimation of kangaroo herds led them to cattle raiding.10 the australian government neither hid nor denied its obsession with utilizing the labour potential of indigenous peoples, for western australia directly refuted the imperial government’s desire for a civilizing-focused indigenous policy by adopting a labour-focused indigenous policy. following the 1837 report from the select committee on aborigines (british settlements), secretary of state for war and the colonies lord glenelg sent a dispatch to george gipps, the governor of new south wales, dated 31 january 1838. this dispatch outlined the indigenous policy that australia was to adopt, which involved creating an office of “protectors of aborigines” and instructing these protectors that “if the natives can be induced in any considerable numbers to locate themselves in a particular place, it will be the object of the protector to teach and encourage them in the cultivation of their grounds” (glenelg, 1839/1970, p. 375). however, when john hutt, the governor of western australia, received these instructions, he ignored them. instead, he created an office of protectors for which he “considered that the object of the appointment of protectors is, that they may guard against and inquire into any cause of complaint which may arise between the white people and the aborigines” (hutt, 1844/1969, p. 371). this was a very different policy from what glenelg had outlined, and hutt acknowledged this in a dispatch dated 15 may 1841, in which he offered several remarks “explanatory of the reasons which have prevailed with me not to adopt, for the present at least, the suggestions contained in these papers, but rather to afford complete trial to the system in force in this colony” (hutt, 1844/1969, p. 380). his predominant argument was that if indigenous people of new south wales were hostile to settlers and needed to be held on reserves, the indigenous people of western australia were entirely friendly. these dispatches illustrate both that western australian indigenous policy from the very beginning centered on promoting indigenous people’s employment by settlers and that the western australian colonial government rejected the imperial desire to institute a system of reserves. unlike the above exploration of western bna, in which reserve policy evolved according to the government’s changing perceptions of indigenous groups, the western australian perception never changed: it was always about labour. instead, institutionalized reserves developed supplemental to the policy of harnessing cheap labour as a structure to take advantage of the indigenous population’s 9not only was the government determined to prevent indigenous people from rising up out of hunger, but they also wanted to limit the expense of providing rations. 10the decimation of buffalo herds in bna also highly impacted indigenous people’s ways of life, but there was not a parallel fear of cattle raids reflected in government correspondence. 62 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 declining access to traditional kangaroo herds. governor hutt’s policy expressed the opposite of lord glenelg’s imperial policy of reforming hunter-gatherers into farmers. hunter-gatherers were to work on settler farms, but they were never meant to start farming for themselves, for there was a strategic use for government rations as motivation to work for settler farmers. by the 1840s, western australia had a defined policy of using the provision and refusal of food rations to attempt to control indigenous actions. in his annual report of 1840, protector of aborigines charles symmons explained that to endeavor to wean the natives from their habits of indolence, and determined system of begging, i have invariably refused money or food without having previously obtained some equivalent service. . . . to evince our disgust at outrages which, however revolting to civilization, have been perpetrated by the natives . . . . i have invariably punished the offenders by banishment from the town, for a limited period, thus depriving them of many of their comforts, and compelling them to seek a precarious subsistence in the chase. (symmons, 1841, p. 3) the carrot and stick were, respectively, government rations and forced dependence on hunting and gathering, though it is important to note that employers, rather than officials, distributed government rations. there was a fear, in accordance with the predominant western understanding of the relationship between poverty and poor relief, that giving out rations freely would demotivate indigenous people from working, and so, as symmons mentioned above, employers would only give rations in exchange for work. unfortunately for the settlers, this policy backfired because of the encroachment of european settlement on the ability of indigenous groups to hunt for subsistence. as settlement grew, the destruction of kangaroo habitat in addition to the overhunting of kangaroo, which was a traditional source of food among the western australian indigenous population, resulted in a growing desperation for food. ideally (for governor hutt), this would have led to a heightened effectiveness of rations in forcing obedience, but the destruction of kangaroo herds resulted in an increase in cattle theft. as early as 1842, settler pastoralists were making the connection between settler encroachment and the steadily increasing indigenous criminality. john hunter patterson, a pastoralist voicing his opinion in the australasian chronicle, argued that it now appears to be established beyond the reach of dispute that the extensive occupation of the territory has produced a scarcity of those plants and animals which constituted the staple articles of their subsistence; and this view is confirmed by the fact, that the depredations of the aborigines have been, hitherto committed with the sole purpose of obtaining food or clothing. in these circumstances it is sufficiently obvious that, before any system can be devised for ameliorating their condition, an adequate provision must be made for supplying them with the first necessaries of life, for it is idle to talk of reforming, or even of restraining, by punishment or otherwise, a starving population. (patterson, 1842, p. 4) this situation forced an alteration to the practice of using rations as incentive, as public fear of and outcry against the rising indigenous criminality necessitated that distributors provide rations to those indigenous people who were fit neither to hunt nor to work, in order to address the root cause of cattle theft. it was found that sick, young, and elderly relatives of indigenous labourers required more food than a labourer could obtain legally, and so in 1878, the government established a daily ration for non-labourers. in accordance with the earlier policy, employers and farmers (rather than officials) would give out these rations (nettelbeck & foster, 2012, p. 29). this change in rations policy illustrates the agency of indigenous workers within a highly restrictive situation, as 63 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 officials were forced to compromise their concerns over idleness and morality as a result of indigenous choices to support their family members rather than blindly obey foreign codes of behaviour that the government sought to force upon them. while delegating the distribution of rations to the employers had the bonus of incentivising indigenous people to work as labourers, it also made them more vulnerable to settler exploitation. awareness of, and advocacy against, the exploitation of western australian indigenous people became a highly visible and contentious issue during the 1880s, when reverend john gribble, lieutenant colonel e.f. angelo, and magistrate r. fairbairn released scathing indictments of the “disguised but unquestionable system of slavery carried on under the protection of the british flag” (churches, 2006, p. 3). these allegations resulted in the appointment of the royal commission on the condition of the natives in 1904, upon whose recommendations the government passed the 1905 aboriginals act and 1905 native administration act. the commission discovered that the same people who distribute rations, charged to the government, for the relief of indigent and other aborigines, benefit themselves by buying at wholesale and charging at retail current prices, issuing about half the allowance, distributing the food cooked instead of raw. (royal commission on the condition of the natives, 1905, p. 22) to combat this abuse, the commission recommended that “the indigent blacks should, as far as practicable, be collected on to a reserve,” and that “the distributors of relief should be responsible persons, preferably government officials” (royal commission on the condition of the natives, 1905, p. 24). in his 1905 annual report, chief protector of aborigines henry prinsep agreed with these recommendations, but lamented that, regarding the collection of indigenous people upon reserves, “i have tried this over and over again, but under the present law i cannot keep them there. they will have their own way and wander where they like” (western australia aborigines department, 1905, p. 6). consequently, the passage of the 1905 aboriginal act included article 12: the minister may cause any aboriginal to be removed to and kept within the boundaries of a reserve, or to be removed from one reserve or district to another reserve or district, and kept therein. any aboriginal who shall refuse to be so removed to or kept within such reserve or district shall be guilty of an offence against this act. (western australia houses of parliament, 1905, p. 4) the complete reversal of policy from governor hutt’s refusal to create reserves to chief protector prinsep’s lobbying for reserves was therefore a reaction to the starvation caused by settler encroachment on indigenous hunting grounds. there was some minimal humanitarian motivation in terms of anti-exploitation advocacy, but the prominent motivation for the confinement of the indigenous population to reserves was the desire to manufacture a dependence upon government-distributed rations as an inducement into employment, as well as the fear of hostility via cattle theft. unlike western bna, where indigenous policy changed in relation to the perceived vision of the place of indigenous people in settler society, western australian indigenous policy never strayed from its focus on settler need for labour, and instead changed in relation to practical and logistical circumstance. transcolonial themes: imperial-local conflict and definitions of civilize the reserve systems that developed in western bna and western australia shared many similarities, enough to suggest that they adhered to the model of british systemic imperialism. yet these reserves also exhibited substantial differences, which would suggest that they adhered to 64 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 the model government driven by local imperatives. this section compares the processes of reserve development to move towards a resolution of this contradiction. a comparative analysis reveals two primary themes that connect the reserve systems in each country: conflict between imperial and local administrators in the purpose and implementation of reserves and investment in the idea of a civilizing mission. imperial colonial conflict in western bna and western australia, indigenous policies vacillated between different points on a spectrum of desired indigenous integration into settler society.11 in western bna, bond head’s manitoulin treaties of 1836 asserted a novel definition of reserves—as places to separate indigenous peoples from settler society—that was forcefully reversed by lord glenelg in 1838. this antagonism is paralleled in western australia by the conflict between governor hutt’s vision of indigenous people as labourers and lord glenelg’s vision of indigenous people as dependants, in which hutt responded to glenelg’s orders to establish indigenous reserves by blatantly refusing to do so. these political tug-of-wars confirm that colonial governance operated within a dialectic of imperial versus local imperative. they also reveal that the outcomes of these tug-of-wars—western bna’s adoption of the pass system in 1885 and western australia’s creation of reserves in 1905—tended to align with local rather than imperial imperatives. consider the moments at which indigenous policy underwent change toward institutionalization. my research showed that in 19th century western bna, indigenous reserve policy become considerably more coercive and institutionalized with the rise of the pass system after the 1885 north-west uprising. the canadian government considered the two causes of the uprising to be conspiratorial communication among indigenous groups and food scarcity. the pass system addressed both issues by limiting communication and preventing farmers from abandoning their crops. in western australia, reserves were explicitly refused in favour of managing settler-indigenous relations via employment, and the institutionalization of reserves was only undertaken in 1905. the commission on the condition of the natives had found a flaw in the rations system: corrupt rations distributors had prevented those unable to work from accessing rations, leading to an increase in cattle theft. reserves aimed to solve this problem by guaranteeing the distribution of rations to those unable to work and served local imperatives by ensuring safety from indigenous cattle raids. in each colony, the moment of institutionalization was predicated upon a threat to settler ways of life, whether that be indigenous resistance in western bna or loss of indigenous labour and increased cattle theft in western australia. considering the political tug-of-wars between local governors and imperial administrators and the timing of institutionalization relative to moments of settler crises, the process of reserve formation cannot support a framework of overarching imperial imperative. however, the institutional reserves of the late 19th century did share that contradictory emphasis on civilizing indigenous people, so let us consider this next. definitions of civilizing of the three essential characteristics of indigenous reserves established in section one—isolation, administration, and the mission to civilize—only two, isolation and administration, align with a framework of settler imperatives driving reserve policy, as they are both means of addressing the violence of resistance and the organization of labour. the concept of civilizing, however, does not align with this framework, since a civilizing mission is expensive and disruptive to peaceful 11 i say “desired” because indigenous groups interacted with settler society for social and economic purposes whether it was policy or not, hence the need to create things like the pass system. 65 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 settler-indigenous relations. if i am to argue that settler imperatives drove indigenous reserve policy, as i do, then i must be able to explain why settlers would condone the expense and disruption of attempting to civilize indigenous groups. in western bna and western australia, civilizing on reserves was attempted through a combination of industrial education and law enforcement. industrial education and law enforcement differed from the civilizing methods of early 19th-century indigenous policies outlined in the 1837 select committee on aborigines. the committee emphasized that the goal of civilizing was to bring indigenous peoples up to the level of europeans, and that this was best carried out via education in all subjects (rather than just an industrial education). furthermore, the committee explicitly dictated that applying european-style laws to indigenous groups would hamper the civilizing mission. instead, colonies were to allow indigenous groups to follow their own laws and continue traditional practices. late 19th-century civilizing, on the other hand, refused to allow indigenous groups to follow their own laws or participate in traditional activities, and provided only an industrial education. the imperial mission of the early 19th-century sought to improve indigenous society regardless of whether indigenous society conformed to settler society, and the local mission of the late 19th-century sought to conform indigenous society to settler society regardless of whether indigenous society improved. therefore, while both early 19th-century imperial civilizing and late 19th-century local civilizing used the same language of civilization, they were doing two different things. local settlers did not condone the expense and disruption of civilizing indigenous groups, because they were not civilizing in the original meaning of the word. they were, more accurately, assimilating indigenous groups, which was a departure from the civilizing mission of the early 19th-century. laidlaw argues that the british imperial imperative of liberal humanitarianism in regards to its civilizing mission did not exist in conflict with local imperatives, but rather that the imperial government abandoned its stance on civilizing around the 1850s. it is commonly accepted that humanitarianism faded throughout the 19th century as scientific conceptions of race developed, and laidlaw’s argument was developed within this context. she points to the british government’s disinterest in challenging settler colonialism as a marker of britain’s complicity in settler colonialism via a “lack of imperial control” (laidlaw, 2014, pp. 137-141). her argument aligns with mine in results, as we both agree that local imperatives drove the institutionalization of reserves in the late 19th century. we disagree only in regards to the antagonistic relationship between the imperial and local governments. laidlaw might argue that my study of reserve systems cannot reveal the subordination of imperial interests to local interests in the late 19th century because the humanitarianism that fueled the reversals of policy in the early 19th century no longer existed. however, i have never claimed that reserve policy hinged upon humanitarianism alone; from the beginning, i have acknowledged that both humanitarianism and imperial capitalism drove imperial interests. consider the difference between laidlaw’s timeline of humanitarianism’s decline and my timeline of reversals in reserve policy. laidlaw argues that as of lord grey’s tenure as secretary of state for war and the colonies (1846-1852), the imperial government had withdrawn from its civilizing mission, yet i have shown that the settler governments only began institutionalizing reserves in 1885 and 1894. before these transitions, colonial reserves retained the imperial vision of civilizing, involving limited law enforcement, freedom to pursue traditional activities, and general education. these early reserves did not expend resources in attempts to enforce european laws or european agricultural practices on indigenous groups, because doing so would go against the imperative of imperial capitalism. therefore, whether liberal humanitarianism had faded by the 1850s or not, my study does reveal the subordination of imperial interests to local interests because local concerns subordinated concerns of imperial capitalism. john comaroff, professor of anthropology at harvard, argues that “civilizing-colonialism” is concerned with spreading ideas of capitalism and liberalism, while “settler-colonialism” is concerned 66 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 with establishing sovereign authority over foreign populations (1997, pp. 181-182). in western bna, the importance of the north-west uprising in institutionalizing reserves suggests that the civilizing characteristics of reserves align with a settler-colonialist need for sovereignty rather than a civilizing-colonialist mission. throughout the second half of the 19th century, western bna faced increasing pressure to establish sovereignty over the west to resist american encroachment. canadian historian desmond morton argues that the united states could have substantiated a claim to sovereignty over western bna if the government had shown a lack of sovereignty via a breakdown in internal order, a movement for secession, or a failure to restrain hostile indigenous groups (1977, p. 6). the north-west uprising, therefore, represented a huge threat to sovereignty which was met with an assertion of power over the indigenous population. asserting power meant not only restricting indigenous people’s movement through the pass system, but also coercively suppressing their cultural difference from the settler society by quashing traditional activities and enforcing european laws. in western australia, a parallel exists in the uncharacteristic adoption of institutionalized reserves in 1905. in section two, i found that the government’s decision to abandon the earlier policy of allowing indigenous people to live outside of reserves changed in the late 19th century, a result of the indigenous people’s declining ability to provide for themselves due to the decimation of kangaroo herds and food-production habitat. by centralizing the distribution of rations, government reserves served as a strategy to control the everyday lives of indigenous people via controlling their access to food, and the institutionalization of reserves asserted settler sovereignty over the indigenous population. the civilizing mission of institutionalized reserves is therefore not at all contradictory to a locallydriven framework of colonial governance, because the definition of civilizing that institutionalized reserves operated upon was different from the definition of civilizing inherent in imperial indigenous policy. the locally-driven framework was a reaction to indigeneity as a threat to settler sovereignty, while imperial indigenous policy was an extension of liberal humanitarianism’s duty to spread enlightenment coupled with imperial capitalism’s financial interests. concluding remarks this paper is a response to laidlaw’s call for transcolonial analyses, mentioned in the introduction, by seeking to understand, on a global scale, the colonial desire to isolate indigenous people within reserves. as a response, it stands largely alone. there are few transcolonial histories written despite the many claims by historians that transcolonial analysis is necessary, and i set forth to write this paper with the intention to provide an example for historians who are new to this topic. transcolonial analysis is not an easy task: it involves juggling temporal, geographical, and thematic structures in a way that is not traditional in historical narrative. no matter the findings of my research, i hope that historians will use this paper to think critically about how to do this sort of analysis. my research found that, despite differences in local context, the institutionalized reserves of western bna and western australia were similar responses to settler concerns over sovereignty, including sovereignty over both land and culture, and that these local concerns over sovereignty subordinated and overrode imperial concerns over liberal humanitarianism and imperial capitalism. these findings are important for several reasons. in the ongoing movement towards reconciliation, it is common for settler-descendants to dismiss histories of colonialism as “something the british did a long time ago.” yet this paper illustrates how violent colonialism was a distinctly local/settler process which must be addressed by locals/settlers-descendants. furthermore, this paper refutes the common perception that colonization was all about land, and therefore reconciliation only involves 67 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 land claims. reconciliation involves land, but it also requires settler-descendants to recognize the violence of the imposition of settler sovereignty, and to acknowledge the historical sovereignties of indigenous nations. 68 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 references primary sources bond head, sir f. 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(2009). compact, contract, covenant: aboriginal treaty-making in canada. toronto, on: university of toronto press. 70 http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/webfiles/royal+commissions+-+report+of+the+royal+commission+on+the+condition+of+the+natives/$file/report+of+the+royal+commission+on+the+condition+of+the+natives.pdf http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/webfiles/royal+commissions+-+report+of+the+royal+commission+on+the+condition+of+the+natives/$file/report+of+the+royal+commission+on+the+condition+of+the+natives.pdf http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/webfiles/royal+commissions+-+report+of+the+royal+commission+on+the+condition+of+the+natives/$file/report+of+the+royal+commission+on+the+condition+of+the+natives.pdf http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/642592/1765 http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/642592/1765 http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/digitised_collections/remove/73455.pdf http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/digitised_collections/remove/73455.pdf http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/digitised_collections/remove/52790.pdf http://globalsocialtheory.org/concepts/settler-colonialism https://ssrn.com/abstract=2364100 the arbutus review • 2017 • vol. 8, no. 1 • http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/tar81201716801 morton, d. (1977). cavalry or police: keeping the peace on two adjacent frontiers, 1870-1900. journal of canadian studies, 12(2), 27-38. nettelbeck, a., & foster, r. (2012). food and governance on the frontiers of colonial australia and canada’s north west territories. aboriginal history 36, 21-41. satzewich, v. (1996). “where’s the beef?”: cattle killing, rations policy and first nations “criminality” in southern alberta, 1892-1895. journal of historical sociology 9(2), 188-212. 71 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 effects of congruency on bereitschaftspotential while performing a bimanual motor task meghan mcgowan∗, camille hémond-hill∗, justine nakazawa∗ university of victoria meghanwmcgowan gmail.com abstract the bereitschaftspotential (bp)—also known as the readiness potential—is a measure of brain activity that precedes voluntary movement by approximately one second in the supplementary motor area and the contralateral primary motor cortex. motor task reaction time for bimanual task performance is affected by both the individual and the environment; however, it is unclear whether motor task reaction time (as measured via the bp) is significantly affected by congruency. a congruent motor task is an ipsilateral stimulus (e.g., a stimulus on the right is responded to by the right hand), and an incongruent task is a contralateral stimulus (e.g., a stimulus on the right is responded to by the left hand). congruency is re-emerging as an important topic in motor learning as it may require different levels of cortical processing. the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of congruency on the bp. participants were asked to complete the computer task, keyboard hero, where they pressed keys with both their left and right hands in response to discrete congruent and incongruent stimuli. a muse™ apparatus recorded brain activity 1000 ms prior to, and 1000 ms after each stimulus. results from every participant for the incongruent and congruent trials were averaged and compared using a grand average waveform. means of accuracy (how often participants pressed the key correctly) and bp for each condition were averaged and compared using a 95% confidence interval (ci). across congruent and incongruent conditions, a non-significant difference (p > 0.05) was found in bp (p > 0.59), accuracy (p > 0.64), and bp within −200 ms to 200 ms (p > 0.31). bp and mean accuracy scores were not significantly different between congruent and incongruent conditions, which may be due to only minute differences in brain activity or due to the study’s design. further research should analyze individual variations of the present study, such as stimulus location, differences in the responding limb, correctness of responses, and the sensory modality being tested. keywords: bereitschaftspotential; computer task; congruency; muse™; readiness potential congruency is re-emerging in the field of motor learning as a point of interest after an extendedperiod without research. this is due to increased interest in the intricacies of trainingand learning for the most efficient use of instructional time. it is especially of interest in a competitive sport setting where the smallest difference in performance can lead to significant differences in results. furthermore, studies of congruency are applicable in multiple settings: to those who wish to improve motor learning (e.g., coaches, physical educators), and to those who need to facilitate rehabilitation of movement (e.g., physiotherapists). if congruency indeed requires different levels of cortical processing that may affect accuracy and reaction time, then coaches and teachers should be notified to put more emphasis on practicing the skills that are more difficult for the brain to process. for example, a baseball that is thrown to a player’s gloved side is more congruent than a throw to the player’s non-gloved side. it would be useful for coaches to know ∗we would like to thank cameron hassall for his irreplaceable continuous guidance, editing, and encouragement, shikha khurana for editing, dr. francisco colino for his support and use of lab, and our fellow classmates for the provision of data. 63 mailto:meghanwmcgowan\spacefactor \@m {} gmail.com the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 whether the congruent throw or the incongruent throw is more difficult to process cortically, and therefore which is more difficult to catch with the gloved hand. this would give coaches some insight as to which catching skills needs to be practiced more extensively; throws to the same side of the body or throws that require reaching across the body. congruency studies could also be used in a clinical sense so that practitioners are better able to develop graded exercises for their patients. for example, a recovering stroke patient with hemiparesis may find it easier to complete congruent motor actions on their weakened side, so practitioners may decide to start strengthening exercises using solely congruent actions and then progress the activities to involve incongruent actions involving the opposite side of the body. motor task reaction time for bimanual task performance is typically affected by both the individual and the environment. it is unclear, however, whether or not congruency has an effect on optimal reaction time. a congruent task is one in which the location of the stimulus accords with the responding side of the body (i.e., the left side of the body responds to a stimulus on the left) (serrien & spape, 1998). although research shows that congruent conditions with a subject’s hand can lead to improved reaction time, it remains uncertain whether incongruent conditions impair motor skills and increase reaction times. for example, if a stimulus appears on the left side of a display and the participant must respond with his or her right hand, then it is possible that the reaction time will increase, and thus more brain activity will be seen prior to executing the motor task. this uncertainty in the research prompted our study on whether congruency affects an individual’s response time. prior to an individual’s responding action, there are three processes that must occur: (1) stimulus identification; (2) response selection; and (3) response execution. spatial attention plays a decisive role when responding to a stimulus—this phenomenon is termed the “simon effect” (o’leary & barber, 1994). the simon effect hypothesizes that inhibition may play a role during the second stage, response selection, which causes a delay in an individual’s response (o’leary & barber, 1994). this effect may therefore suggest that reaction times are typically faster and frequently more accurate when a stimulus appears in the same relative location as the response location (o’leary & barber, 1994). following the theory of the simon effect hypothesis, a study performed by trapp, lepsien, sehm, villringer and ragert (2012) investigated the effects of reaction times when participants performed tasks with opposite hands. this task involved memorizing a sequence of button presses by the participants. the goal was to react as quickly as possible to a series of visual letters displayed on the screen. trapp et al. (2012) hypothesized that the reaction times would increase when performing the task with opposite hands. for example, if participants started the experiment using their right hands and were then asked to use their left hands during the second trial, their reaction times would increase in the second trial. the results of the study demonstrated that when the subjects were forced to switch hands, ultimately creating incongruent spatial orientation in regard to one’s hands, the reaction times for button presses were significantly slower. also of importance, it was found that over the course of the study, subjects learned and adapted to the altered hand placement, thus leading to decreased reaction time for incongruent spatial orientation. this shows one factor that affects reaction time is the stimulus-response compatibility, the ability to learn through repeated trials (fitts & seeger, 1953). another phenomenon, known as the “stroop effect,” shows that when interference is present while performing a motor task, it is reflected in an individual’s reaction time (o’leary & barber, 1994). this effect is prevalent when individuals try to perform a task that is incongruent; for instance, naming the colour of ink of printed words while ignoring the words themselves (e.g., the word “red” written in blue ink instead of red ink). the results of such an incongruent task exhibit that individuals are slower in responding and are more error-prone in their responses than with 64 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 congruent stimuli, such as saying the word “yellow” written in yellow ink (braverman & meiran, 2010). similarly, in a study by kato, kizuka and endo (2004), reaction times were observed for a congruent task and an incongruent task. researchers used an electromyogram in order to analyze the results from both conditions. electromyography measures the electrical activity of muscles at rest and during a muscle contraction prior to and upon presentation of a stimulus. each participant was seated in front of a visual stimulus panel which consisted of five light-emitting diodes (leds). the panel contained a green led fixation point that was located in the centre of the panel. there were two other green led pre-cue lights located at a one-degree horizontal angle on both sides of the centre fixation point. the pre-cue lights would indicate whether the stimulus was going to be on the right or left side of the panel. finally, there were two red leds located at a ten-degree horizontal angle from the centre. these red leds also indicated a “go” and “no-go” response—the “go” response was associated with a bright light and the “no-go” response was associated with a dim light. participants were asked to depress two keys in order to maintain the fixation point. there was then either a left or a right stimulus light which was presented 0.5 to 1.5 seconds after the onset of a pre-cue light. the congruent task required participants to use a left response for a left stimulus and a right response for a right stimulus, whereas the incongruent task required the participants to use a left response for a right stimulus and vice versa. finally, if a “go” stimulus light was presented the participants had to release the right-side key if the stimulus appeared on the right side. however, if a “no-go” stimulus was presented then subjects were told not to respond, and this meant that the participants needed to keep pressure on the keys. the results of the study showed that response preparation was a crucial factor for reaction time. alongside these findings, it was also found that congruency was associated with faster reaction times. kato et al. (2004) concluded that premotor time varied with the amount of response preparation and stimulus-response congruence. following the findings from these studies, it is apparent that there is some correlation with incongruent tasks and prolonged reaction times as well as increased brain activity prior to the participant’s response. thus, incongruent stimuli seem to have an effect on participants’ preparation time. these discoveries were found using primarily emg data collection (electromyography), which measures electrical responses of nerves in muscles, rather than electroencephalography, which measures brain wave activity. in conjunction with the time allocated for response preparation during a motor task, the bereitschaftspotential (bp), also termed the “readiness potential,” determines the amount of activity in the motor cortex as well as the supplementary motor area of the brain leading up to a voluntary muscle movement (shibasaki & hallett, 2006). this cortical activity must gradually increase before the subject can perform the desired voluntary action. thus, the bp is deduced to be an electrophysiological sign of motor planning, preparation, and initiation of the voluntary action (shibasaki & hallett, 2006). these actions are present in any voluntary motor action, and include finger flexing, moving a limb, and even vocalizing a phenotype. following the findings of the kato et al. (2004) study, congruency should affect the amount of activity seen prior to the execution of a motor task. in our study, the bp will dictate whether or not there is greater or lesser amount of activity in the motor cortex and the supplementary motor area during a congruent or incongruent task. our study measured brainwave activity in order to determine bps and investigated reaction times. each participant had an electroencephalogram (eeg) muse™ device set up around their heads that followed their brainwave activity during both the congruent and the incongruent tasks. in order for the trial to be successful, participants must press the correct key on the keyboard with the correct hand at the correct time. congruent data was defined as the responses from digits vi and v and incongruent data was defined as responses from digits ii and iii, both from the left and 65 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 right hands. the digits iv and v were chosen as congruent for left and right because they were respectively the most left and most right parts of the body involved in this task. from eeg data, the bp was identified and analyzed. data was analyzed in order to determine whether participants had larger bps during the control or experimental trials. the current study provides a more in-depth look at aspects of congruency that have not yet been examined. this includes the isolation of spatial location to elicit a response, as opposed to past studies that require a separate decision to be made about hand position. the study was also smaller in scale; the visual fixation area is smaller, and different responses depend on the use of fingers as opposed to entire limbs. the results are therefore more applicable to fine motor skill tasks. finally, the study used affordable eeg equipment that could potentially facilitate testing of large groups of participants in future studies of congruency. testing larger groups may make subtle changes between conditions more clear and significant. ultimately, in accordance with both the simon effect and the stroop effect—as well as previous research including trapp et al. (2012), and kato et al. (2004)—we hypothesized that the data collected from the eeg monitors would demonstrate a larger bp during the incongruent trial than during the congruent trial. we also hypothesized that reaction time would be significantly longer in the incongruent task due to the relative additional processing time and would be demonstrated in greater amounts of “misses.” the prediction put forward was that, since the response location did not correspond spatially with the subject’s hand placement from initial learning trials, there would be more activity in the motor cortex and supplementary motor areas. thus, there would be a greater readiness potential in the incongruent trials. methods participants the participants (n = 30; 11 male, 19 female; 4 left-handed, 26 right-handed; mean age 22.6 ± 2.0 years) of the experiment were undergraduate students at the university of victoria (uvic) registered in the exercise science, physical and health (ephe) program. the participants were healthy, active individuals with competent, unhindered brain function. this study was gender and sex inclusive. this was a novel task for the participants. participation in this experiment was part of a university class requirement; however, participants gave consent in the beginning of the term, prior to data collection. the data collection room was dimly lit and a small amount of noise was present due to occasional conversations from other participants testing within the same room. four participants partook in a pilot study, and the remaining 26 participants partook in testing. data from both the pilot study and the testing protocol were used in the eeg analysis, but data from the pilot study were not included in the behavioural data analysis due to a change in the testing protocol. the new testing protocol included feedback concerning hits and misses to help guide future responses using a fixation cross that changed color depending on if the participant was accurate or not. procedure and apparatus apparatus the muse™ apparatus (interaxon, ontario, canada) was originally designed to monitor the wearer’s brain activity to give feedback on the meditation practice of the individual. this apparatus was reprogrammed using a unique computer program designed at uvic to show the desired brain activity for this experiment. a single muse™ device was turned on by pressing a start button. using bluetooth®, the muse™ device was paired to a 2012 apple imac® (resolution: 1280 × 800, processor: 3.4 ghz intel 66 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 core i7) with an os x el capitan operating system. horizontal and vertical screen lengths were 59.5 cm and 33.5 cm respectively. the pairing was complete when the corresponding muse™ identification (id) number matched the muse™ number shown on the computer, and the bluetooth icon on the computer was bolded. multiple pairing attempts were necessary. using the unique uvic experiment presented in matlab r2016b (mathworks, natick, ma), the correct coding and test subject’s id were entered. once the program was ready to be run, the muse™ battery life was checked to ensure it could run for the entirety of the experiment. the program was started after the muse™ was appropriately placed on the participant. procedure set-up. with the help of a research assistant, the participant was comfortably seated in a chair in an upright, relaxed position, 40-50 cm (approximately an arm’s length) away from the computer, facing the computer screen with both hands resting on the keyboard. both the keyboard and the computer were kept on the same desk (i.e., at the same height) directly in front of the participant so that the middle of the screen and keyboard were in line with the middle of the participant’s body. the keyboard was placed in between the participant and the computer, 20-30 cm away from the base of the computer. the participant’s knees, toes, and head were pointed forward, they sat with a neutral spine, and arms were flexed forward. the chair was adjusted so both of the participant’s soles were fully in contact with the ground and resting comfortably. ranges of participant and equipment positioning were given to accommodate for variations in participant dimensions and seating preference. long head hair on the test subject was tied back, and hair was tucked behind the participant’s ears. the research assistant placed the muse™ apparatus on the participant’s head with the inside of the convex part of the device in contact with the test subject’s forehead, and the ear pieces behind the subject’s ears. the muse™ was tightened, and water may have been added to ensure a solid connection on all four electrodes for accurate readings. upon placing the muse™ on the participant’s head, the program was started to check the quality of the muse™ connection to the participant. initially an eeg appeared on the screen with four eeg waves corresponding to the four electrodes of the muse™ to the participant. at first, the four waves were red; however, the muse™ was adjusted by the research assistant to ensure that all four waves were green before proceeding to data collection. once appropriate connection was established, the participant was directed to an instructional screen that explained the task, keyboard hero. the participant was instructed to press keys on the keyboard as a colored dot crossed the horizontal line. participants were told not to hold the key for an extended period, but to only press the appropriate key one time as the dot crossed the horizontal line. dots were small and circular (1.3 cm diameter), or large and oval shaped (length: 13 cm, center width 1.3 cm). in addition, the dots were blue or green, which corresponded to pressing the keys with their left hand or right hand respectively. participants were instructed to place digits ii-v of the left hand on keys r, e, w, q respectively, and to place digits ii-v of the right hand on keys u, i, o, p respectively. participants were instructed to read the screen from left to right, meaning that a blue dot on the far left of the screen was to be pressed by digit v of the left hand (key q), and that a green dot on the far left of the screen was to be pressed by digit ii of the right hand (key u). in addition, participants were instructed to keep their eyes on a white cross in the center of the display at all times. the center of the cross was located 5.4 cm above the bottom horizontal line, and 29.45 cm from the left end of the screen. the cross turned cyan when a key was pressed correctly (“hit”), and red when a key was pressed incorrectly (“miss”). prior to beginning the task, the participant was able to clarify the instructions with the research assistant. once the 67 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 participant understood the instructions, he or she was instructed to begin the task when ready. pilot study. participants (n = 4) participated in a pilot study. the set-up procedure and data collection procedure were identical to the testing procedure except there was no fixation cross in the pilot study. therefore, there was no hit or miss information provided to the participants. testing. the testing screen was black with four centered vertical white lines and one horizontal white line. the horizontal line was 8.5 cm above the bottom of the screen, and the vertical lines were 25.7 cm, 28.2 cm, 30.7 cm, and 33.2 cm, from the left edge of the screen, leaving a gap of 2.5 cm between each vertical line. dots appeared centered on one of the four vertical lines, and dropped at a constant rate of 16 ms (0.2 degrees of visual angle for every screen refresh) towards the horizontal line. this rate allowed the participant a minimum of 1000 ms to make a response. dots initially appeared 11.6 cm away from the horizontal line (figure 8) or at the top of the screen (25.2 cm away from the horizontal line) (figure 9). dots would appear in a random sequence, either as a single dot (figure 10) or multiple dots (figure 11); each sequence was restricted to a single colour. each dot was considered a trial, and 480 trials were completed in the task. when the participant believed that a dot was crossing the horizontal line, he or she pressed the corresponding key. if the dot was in fact on the horizontal line when the key was pressed, this was a “hit,” and if the dot was not on the horizontal line when the key was pressed, or if the wrong key was pressed, this was a “miss.” after each trial, the participant was given feedback which showed whether or not they were successful by demonstrating the cyan or red cross respectively. participants were given two breaks for rest and also to check muse™ connection quality. the two breaks were evenly dispersed one-third and two-thirds of the way through the experiment. participants were told to take as long as they needed for rest; however, they were not permitted to remove the muse™ or stand up. throughout the entirety of the experiment, the research assistant monitored the muse™ device to ensure the connection points were receiving data and the battery level was adequate. upon completion of the task, the matlab r2016b (mathworks, natick, ma) with the psychophysics toolbox extension (brainard, 1997) was exited and closed, and the device was removed from the participant. the muse™ device was unpaired from the computer and turned off. data collection behavioural eeg data, as defined as congruent and incongruent data, were collected. for the purpose of this experiment, congruent data were defined as the responses from digits vi and v of the left and right hand, and incongruent data were defined as responses from digits ii and iii of the left and right hand. the digits iv and v were chosen as congruent for left and right because they were respectively the furthest left and furthest right parts of the body involved in this task. in addition, these digits responded to dots descending down the furthest left two vertical lines, or the furthest right vertical lines. therefore, congruency was demonstrated as the stimulus on the left was responded to by the left side of the body and the stimulus on the right was responded to by the right side of the body. in comparison, the digits ii and iii of the left and right hands were chosen as incongruent responses as these digits responded to dots descending down the furthest right two vertical lines, or the two left vertical lines on the opposite side. therefore, incongruency was demonstrated as the stimulus on the left was responded to by the right side of the body, and the stimulus on the right was responded to by the left side of the body. behavioural eeg data were recorded as hits and misses for a total of 480 trials. hits were defined as pressing the correct key at the correct time. correct keys were determined by the vertical line on which the stimulus descended and the colour of the dot; this determined which finger would be activated to press the key. the correct time was determined by the dot crossing the horizontal line; for it to be considered a “hit” the key must have only been pressed as the dot was crossing 68 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 the horizontal line. the participant was alerted to the occurrence of a hit by the white fixation cross turning cyan. misses were defined as (1) a key press that did not correspond to the correct colour on the screen; (2) a key press that did not correspond to the proper location of the vertical line on the screen (i.e., digit ii of the right hand responding to a stimulus on the far right column during a congruent trial); and (3) a key press that was executed too early or too late according to the definition of a hit. the participant was alerted to the occurrence of a miss by the white fixation cross turning red. the eeg data were collected and recorded via the muse™ using a pre-established research sampling rate of 500 hz (i.e., one sample was collected every two milliseconds, and no onboard data processing [interaxon, ontario, canada]). the eeg data were collected through several electrodes on the muse™ that were located at points fpz (reference electrode), af7, af8, tp9, and tp10. as eeg data were collected, they were directly transmitted via bluetooth® into matlab r2016b (mathworks, natick, ma) with the psychophysics toolbox extension (brainard, 1997). during the task, eeg data were recorded between 1000 ms prior to and 1000 ms after each response. data analysis the eeg data for each condition (congruent vs incongruent) were analyzed using a unique script coded in matlab r2016b (mathworks, natick, ma) and were filtered using a 0.1-15 hz bandpass filter. each trial was corrected in accordance to the baseline 1000-800 ms prior to each response; trials were excluded if they exceeded the change in voltage by ±200 µv relative to the baseline. for each participant, all data collection intervals for both conditions for each participant were averaged. data collection intervals were plotted between 400 ms before and after the response. a grand average was then computed across all participants for each data collection interval for each condition. the grand averages for each condition were plotted against each other in a grand average waveform to determine the difference in the bp. normally, the bp data in such studies are obtained from a central electrode located above the motor cortex; however, in this study, the muse™ was placed on the scalp and took averages of electrodes from tp9 and tp10 regions. for the purpose of this experiment, the bp was defined as the mean voltage from 600 ms to 200 ms prior to each response at the pooled electrode tp9 and tp10. the mean bp for each condition was compared using a bar graph. a paired samples t-test was calculated for bp, comparing the congruent and the incongruent conditions to determine if there was an event related potential (erp) difference. hit rates were averaged across all trials, where the program recorded a hit as positive one and a miss as negative one, demonstrating a hit ratio. for instance, an average of positive one implied that every trial was a hit and an average of negative one implied that every trial was a miss, whereas an average of zero was programmed when half the trials were hits and half were misses. furthermore, if there was no button press, the score was not included in the results but was recorded as a zero in the program. the mean accuracy was calculated for every participant for both conditions. a grand average was then calculated to determine the accuracy for each condition. the means were then compared using a bar graph, and a paired samples t-test was conducted to determine if there was any significant variance between conditions. a difference waveform comparing the voltage differences between the incongruent and congruent was calculated. participant averages were then calculated for every data interval point for both conditions. standard deviation and a 95% ci was then calculated from this average. a difference waveform with the 95% ci was then created. using the grand average waveform, the time interval of the bp was determined. using this smaller time interval, a second grand average waveform was calculated. the mean voltage for each condition was then compared using a bar graph. a paired samples t-test was then calculated for bp, 69 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 comparing the congruent and the incongruent conditions to determine if there was an event related potential difference. results analyses focused on the participant’s bp across the two different conditions: the congruent and incongruent spatial orientation tasks. there were three different categories of results which were deemed important: (1) eeg results identifying the mean bp across both conditions; (2) the behavioural results which established whether or not there were differences between the accuracy of button presses (hits vs misses) in both conditions; and (3) eeg results identifying the mean bp in the specific timeframe of −200 ms to 200 ms. the results examined all 480 trials of each participant in both the congruent and incongruent spatial orientations. eeg results bp 1 the first eeg results examined were taken in the time frame of −800 ms to 700 ms. when evaluating the mean bp across the two conditions, congruent and incongruent spatial orientations, results yielded −1.37 µv, 95% ci [−2.13, −0.60] for congruent and −1.19 µv, 95% ci [−1.98, −0.40] for incongruent, as displayed in figure 2 and figure 3. a t-test revealed that the difference in means yielded an insignificant result of t(29) = 0.54, p = 0.59. behavoural results the precision of button presses by participants was calculated by identifying the mean accuracy across the two conditions, congruent and incongruent, as seen in figure 4. results yielded 0.53, 95% ci [0.43, 0.61] and 0.54, 95% ci [0.44, 0.64] respectively. for these conditions, the use of a t-test revealed an insignificant result of t(25) = 0.47, p = 0.64. eeg results bp 2 the mean of the bp in the particular timeframe of −200 ms to 200 ms, across the two conditions was calculated to investigate whether or not there was a significant difference between the two conditions in a more specific time frame. as illustrated in figure 6 and figure 7, a result of −2.08 µv, 95% ci [−3.02, −1.15] for congruent and −1.77 µv, 95% ci [−2.70, −0.84] for incongruent was found. again, to determine whether these differences were significant a t-test was conducted. the t-test revealed an insignificant result of t(29) = 1.04, p = 0.31. discussion the grand average waveform of mean voltages revealed that participant brain activity in congruent and incongruent conditions followed a very similar pattern as seen in figure 2. the average bp across the entire duration of one trial was slightly larger in the congruent condition compared to the incongruent condition as can be seen in figure 3; however, this difference was not statistically significant. similarly, congruent condition voltages were larger negatively than incongruent condition voltages in the isolated time-frame of −200 ms to 200 ms as seen in figure 7; however, these results were also not statistically significant. a difference waveform as seen in figure 5 revealed that there was a significant difference in bps earlier than anticipated, between −700 ms and −400 ms. the behavioural data across both conditions was almost the same as seen in figure 4, and there was no significant difference found in the mean accuracy between conditions. 70 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 the researchers had hypothesized that bps would be larger negatively for the incongruent condition compared to the congruent condition due to the simon effect described by o’leary and barber (1994); however, the findings of the current study do not support the hypothesis considering the lack of significant results. contrary to the hypothesis, bps for the congruent condition tended to be larger negatively than bps for the incongruent condition. additionally, electrical brain activity followed a very similar pattern between conditions (as seen in figure 2), which indicates that participants were putting in effort to complete the task accurately, but also demonstrates a lack of difference in responses. the second hypothesis stated that mean accuracy of response time would be greater for the congruent condition compared to the incongruent condition due to the increased reaction time necessary for incongruent responses (kato et al., 2004); however, the findings of the current study do not support the hypothesis considering the lack of significant results. this could be due to a genuine lack of an effect or due to the study’s design. previous studies consistently found that incongruent conditions hindered performance and caused a larger effect than congruent conditions (forster & pavone, 2008; kato et al., 2004; wang, du, he, & zhang, 2014). considering the wealth of studies finding a significant difference between congruent and incongruent conditions, it is likely that the current study had issues relating to its design that complicated finding a significant result. it is possible that this study found a moderating factor that alters the common tendencies of the simon effect (e.g., the keyboard hero task), but new studies would need to be performed to isolate these variables. the protocols of the present study involved only subtle and simple differences in response stimuli and in response actions. the difference between congruent and incongruent stimuli were separated by only a few centimeters, and the differences in responses was between fingers on the same hand. past studies of congruency tend to use much larger distances between stimuli and separate responses between entire limbs (wang et al., 2014). because of this, it may be that the differences recorded were too small to be significant with the sample size used. increasing the sample size could help highlight these subtle differences; however, in a practical sense, it may be more beneficial to change the design of the study to see larger differences in responses and be more applicable to other settings. in an eeg study analyzing bp, forster and pavone (2008) found that correctly executed responses scored higher negatively in incongruent trials compared to congruent trials in the −200 ms to 0 ms range, but that incorrectly executed responses scored lower negatively in incongruent trials compared to congruent trials in the 0 ms to 200 ms range. considering that the relative magnitudes of the bps for congruent and incongruent trials depended on if the trial was a correct or incorrect response, the results of the current study may have been “washed out” since correct and incorrect responses were analyzed together. the location of the electrodes may also pose a threat to validity as it was found that the largest erp waveforms were recorded over frontocentral electrode sites (forster & pavone, 2008). these sites would relay feedback from the supplementary motor area (sma) and the primary motor cortex (m1), both of which are the cortical sites responsible for the early and late components of the bp respectfully (smith & staines, 2012). the muse™ device does not have receptor sites that cover these areas of the scalp, meaning critical differences in activity may have been lost relating to the difference in bps if the primary site of the decision-making process was not being monitored. improved analysis of these brain regions would also be beneficial to study early bps, considering that differences in voltages between −2 ms and −500 ms are implicated with preparatory motor planning in the sma. additionally, there were significant differences in early bps of the current study as seen in the difference waveform (figure 5). the task may demonstrate more neurological differences in the early bp, which indicates that the focus of the analyses should be shifted to an earlier time period in the eeg analysis. this could imply that this specific task requires more changes in preparatory motor planning from the sma as opposed to general movement planning in 71 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 the m1 (smith & staines, 2012). the findings of the current study seem to contradict past work that tests the simon effect; however, differences in distances between the responding limb and the stimulus screen have been shown to vary the magnitude of the simon effect (wang et al., 2014). therefore, the current study may not contradict simon effect study findings; it could be that the distance between the responding hand and the stimulus was not optimal and therefore did not yield a significant result. larger distances between response sites have shown more significant results (wang et al., 2014), indicating that it may have been beneficial to increase the distance between stimuli and responding limbs in a future variation of the current study. the previously mentioned study by kato et al. (2004) found that incongruent response times were longer using emg technology to record reaction time of a limb. emg may be a better indicator of delayed response time compared to eeg, or the delay in response time could only be significant when it is an entire limb that is incongruent to the stimulus as opposed to digits on a single limb. a study measuring response times using digits ii and iii of each hand on a keyboard found that response times were improved when there was a simple transformational rule applied to relate the stimulus location to the button to be pressed (read & proctor, 2004). this finding is consistent with the current study as the four keys to be pressed aligned logically with the stimuli on the screen, so there was no need for extra processing time considering the easily learned pattern. with regard to these past findings, a test of congruency relating to bps and accuracy may have been better observed if the stimuli directed at each limb (i.e., the left and the right hands) had been switched, or if the organization of stimuli had been more random for each finger across trials. the three variations mentioned above, namely (1) increasing the distance between visual stimuli; (2) changing the data recording to emg; and (3) randomizing the distribution of the response sites may all be useful in enhancing the simon effect to achieve a significant result. there is also a series of similar research studies on the crossmodal congruency effect (cce), which is defined as the difference in reaction time when stimuli across different sensory modalities, such as touch and visuals, are congruent or incongruent (forster & pavone, 2008; sengül et al., 2012). they found that reaction times tend to be slower when sensory modality stimuli are incongruent or opposite to the responding side. the incongruent sensory stimulus is considered a distractor to proper responses (forster & pavone, 2008; sengül et al., 2012). this could imply that congruency may only have a significant effect when multiple sensory modalities are involved that may distract from responding, or that the distraction of experiencing an additional sensory stimulus that encourages an incorrect response (incongruent trial) produces a larger and more discernible effect. the visible effect may be due to the increased level of complexity that multiple modalities add to the task. considering that the current study was using solely visual stimuli, it may be that there is minimal to no significant effect of congruency on response time when only one sensory modality is involved, and that the effects of the current study may be similar to cce studies, but are more difficult to measure. the current study contributes further insight into the differences in cortical planning and accuracy in response time of congruent and incongruent stimuli. specifically, the study highlights the importance of (1) isolating certain variables including correct and incorrect responses; (2) further analysis of early bps; and (3) modifying the design to reflect larger and more applicable differences in responses relating to congruency. the results of the current study were insignificant and were therefore not consistent with the findings of previous literature (forster & pavone, 2008; kato et al., 2004; wang et al., 2014); however, these inconsistencies may have been due to differences in design. future studies could isolate congruency tests that target different sensory modalities such as touch and sound to determine whether congruency has a larger effect on some senses compared to others according to the cce effect. measurement difficulty may also be due to the muse™ apparatus. 72 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 the muse™ headset has four sensors, none of which cover the dorsal scalp. considering that movement planning was the main focus of the study, and that such cortical processing tends to occur beneath more dorsal areas of the skull, some critical brain activity may have been missed by the muse™. future studies may benefit from using a full eeg cap with electrodes that cover the sma and the m1, and may be better at detecting subtle changes in brain activity in the related areas. another method that may be used to strengthen the findings would be to differentially compare congruency and incongruency of entire limbs as opposed to different fingers on a hand. past congruency studies that investigated the difference in hand responses and foot responses tended to yield more significant results. results may also be more significant if correct and incorrect responses are analyzed separately; this minimizes the chances of “washing out” effects that may be opposite to each other depending on the feedback of the trial. overall, these changes to design may yield more significant results with bigger differences between congruent and incongruent trials that are more useful and applicable to teaching and clinical settings. conclusion previous studies looked at the impact of congruency of stimuli and responses in gross motor actions and across multiple modalities on the stimulus identification, response selection and response execution cycle of the simon effect. the current study aimed to find a difference in the level of cortical processing and the accuracy in response time relating to congruent and incongruent actions in a novel computer game task. the task used fine motor skills and isolated vision as a single modality. it was found that there was no significant difference in eeg activity or response accuracy between conditions. this challenges previous findings about the level at which congruency has an effect of cortical processing and performance, and the specificity at which findings are significant in terms of stimulus location, differences in the responding limb, correctness of responses, and the sensory modality being tested. 73 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 figure 1: screenshot of testing screen with a single trial. the fixation cross is red indicating that the previous trial was a miss. figure 2: grand average waveform comparing mean voltages of electroencephalogram recorded brain activity across participants at each time point for both the congruent and incongruent spatial orientation conditions. the waveform displays results from a timeframe of −800 ms to 700 ms relative to initiation of the keypress by the participant. 74 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 figure 3: average bereitschaftspotential voltage of electroencephalogram recorded brain activity of the congruent and incongruent spatial orientation conditions in the time frame of −800 ms and 700 ms with 95% confidence interval error bars. figure 4: average response accuracy of keypress by participants for the incongruent and congruent spatial orientation ( i.e., the precision of button presses the correct key on the keyboard with the correct hand at the correct time with 95% confidence interval error bars). 75 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 figure 5: a difference waveform comparing the mean voltage of electroencephalogram recorded brain activity across time. the waveform demonstrates results of both the incongruent spatial orientation condition to the mean voltage of the congruent spatial orientation condition using error bars with a 95% confidence interval. figure 6: grand average waveform comparing mean voltages of electroencephalogram recorded brain activity across participants at each time point for both the congruent spatial orientation and incongruent spatial orientation conditions. this waveform displays results from a timeframe of −200 ms to 200 ms relative to initiation of the keypress by the participant. 76 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 figure 7: average bereitschaftspotential voltage of electroencephalogram recorded brain activity for both the congruent spatial orientation and incongruent spatial orientation conditions with 95% confidence interval error bars. the figure portrays results from a timeframe of −200 ms to 200 ms relative to initiation of the keypress by the participant. figure 8: sequence of large green dots appearing 11.6 cm above the horizontal line. 77 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 figure 9: sequence of large green dots appearing at the top of the screen. figure 10: sequence of single small green dot. figure 11: sequence of multiple small blue dots. 78 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818387 references braverman, a., & meiran, n. 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(2004). spatial stimulus-response compatibility and negative priming. psychonomic bulletin & review, 11(1), 41-48. retrieved from https://link-springercom.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/content/pdf/10.3758%2fbf03206458.pdf sengül, a., van elk, m., rognini, g., aspell, j. e., bleuler, h., & blanke, o. (2012). extending the body to virtual tools using a robotic surgical interface: evidence from the crossmodal congruency task. plos one, 7(12), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049473 serrien, d., & spape, m. (1998). the role of hand dominance and sensorimotor congruence in voluntary movement. experimental brain research 199(2), 195-200. doi: 10.1007/s00221000-1998-8 shibasaki, h., & hallett, m. (2006). what is the bereitschaftspotential?. clinical neurophysiology 117, 2341-2356. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2006.04.025 smith, a. l., & staines, w. r. (2012). externally cued inphase bimanual training enhances preparatory premotor activity. clinical neurophysiology, 123(9), 1846-1857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2012.02.060 trapp, s., lepsien, j., sehm, b., arno, v., & ragert, p. (2012). changes of hand switching costs during bimanual sequential learning. plos one 7(9). wang, x., du, f., he, x., & zhang, k. (2014). enhanced spatial stimulus-response mapping near the hands: the simon effect is modulated by hand-stimulus proximity. journal of experimental psychology: human perception and performance, 40(6), 2252-2265. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038140 79 https://doi.org/10.3758/cabn.8.1.65 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2466/pms.99.1.19-26 https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/content/pdf/10.3758%2fbf03206458.pdf https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/content/pdf/10.3758%2fbf03206458.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049473 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2012.02.060 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2012.02.060 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038140 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 turn the page, hear her shout: dissident voices in the journals of female secondary school students and the silence of their male counterparts rachel c. lallouz ∗ the university of victoria rachel.c.lallouz@gmail.com abstract this research investigates how a minority of female secondary school students in a writing 12 class resisted internalization of gender stories by rewriting and subverting those same stories through the process of journaling. journal material collected from five female students was analyzed using qualitative narrative analysis of quotes that demonstrate rewritten gender stories. the research examines how female students positioned the self as the storyteller, and by doing so, adopted an active role in reconstructing their narrative identities to include traits of strength and resilience. journal material collected from three male students—the only consenting male students—revealed an absence of these students directly addressing the concept of gender through writing. the research suggests that for these male students, simply engaging in the project of journaling was a form of resistance against gender stories idealizing an noncompliant, less emotionally active male student and writer. keywords: gender story; the self; resistance; shame; space; journaling; identity ”my dearest journal, you will find i am a wandering, wondering wildly wondrous soul. . . beware. . . ” serena i had not expected to come across such a striking warning when i opened the first journal submitted by one of my writing 12 students at victoria high. it reminded me of the scrawled inscriptions many of us mark the very first pages of our diaries with: “this is private” or “for my eyes only!” or written on the first page my own journal: “keep. out. that means you.” this is not to say these journals come without their own physical guards of secrecy, too: locks and keys, or a personal method of mine which entailed leaving the first fifteen or so pages ∗i would like to acknowledge my professors from the university of victoria’s 2014 research institute for professional learning: kristin mimmick and allyson fleming, for reading a very different start of what this paper has become. in particular, i would like to thank dr. kathy sanford, who also supported my pursuit of the jamie cassels undergraduate research award. to the student participants from my writing 12 class: thank you for allowing me more than just a glimpse into your own paper mirrors. 101 mailto:rachel.c.lallouz@gmail.com the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 of my journal blank. this, i felt sure, would throw off the prying eyes of anyone who had gained entry. but if indeed the voyeur had found the journal in its hiding place under the mattress, unearthed the tiny key from the sock drawer, made it past the lock and the first blank fifteen pages, bypassed the pointed finger “you” and its directed pang of guilt, what really was within those pages that needed such carefully constructed defences? writing that is aware of its own power to affect the reader, that is more concerned with keeping itself contained and unseen and controlled—with keeping something in rather than someone out. serena’s journal had no lock and key and was given to me with the open invitation to read and analyze its contents. i knew, though, that i had better heed her warning. the ellipsis gestured, beckoning me to turn the page. i. the study: structure and findings at the conclusion of my practicum teaching writing 12 at victoria high, a public school located in western canada, i carried out an inquiry of collected journal material to analyze how female students challenged gender stories or stereotypes about women in their writing. i was also curious to see if they were carrying on the historical practices of using the journal as a space in which to resist (huff, 2003). at the same time, i wanted to examine the journal material of male students to determine whether they were also using the journal as a space to resist gender stories. gender is understood to be a social construct constituted by the repetition of social, embodied practices (dalley-trim, 2006). one of these practices is the communication of gender stories, what i define as social and cultural messages relaying how to perform a specific, idealized idea of gender correctly. in this study, i was interested in using a feminist lens to close read any moments in the text where the concept of gender stories surfaced or the subject of gender was approached. at the beginning of my practicum, students were instructed to find a blank journal or notebook. students were asked to journal during in-class writing time and at home, for seven weeks. out of a 31 person class, 19 of the students completed the journal assignment and at the conclusion of the seven weeks, 15 students who consented to participate in the study returned their completed journals to me. among the 12 female students who participated, only five approached the subject of gender and rewrote gender stories: jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny, and serena. all student names in this paper are pseudonyms. each of the five journals i analyzed stand as literary spaces in which gender narratives causing shame, frustration, or pain are transformed. this transformation was completed through “rewriting,” defined in this context as the act of reimagining and subverting gender narratives. each student employed the use of “i,” and in doing so, positioned the writing self as the storyteller. by adopting this role, each of the students was calling to an “imagined community” (huff, 2003) of shared female experience crossing time and space. the storyteller role enabled them to draw from their conceptions of female resistance and continue on a legacy of resistance through writing. as storytellers, students constructed a listening “other” to validate the newly rewritten gender stories they were creating, and to legitimize their own voices of resistance which might otherwise be scrutinized or minimized. ultimately, the journals demonstrated the inventiveness of a minority of participating female students in their expression of alternative resistance. that only five female students rewrote gender stories illustrates how the majority of my participating female students did not feel the need to resist gender stories, or were resisting by other means. 102 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 out of the three male students who provided consent—seamus, alistair, and perry—none directly explored the idea of gender or rewrote gender stories. four male students chose not to write a journal at all. the absence of their voices rewriting gender stories, and their absence participating in the project as whole exposed the effect gender stories have on the performance of male student identity in the classroom—one that is seen as “tough” (dalley-trim, 2006) or noncompliant with teacher requests (leaper & brown, 2008), and as enjoying outwardly competitive assignments (butler, 2014). the male students who participated sought to uphold aspects of the idealized male identities espoused by gender stories. rather than risk dismantling their carefully manicured identities by engaging in the project of rewriting, these three male students may have chosen a different means of self-preservation, and a different self to preserve. ii. method when the journals from the 15 consenting students were returned to me, i photocopied each consenting student’s journal, and examined them for common themes in subject matter. what quickly struck me was the number of female students who used their journals to blatantly accost gender stereotypes and stories. though these journals represented a minority of student submissions, their voices echoed in my mind long after i had closed the covers. from those five journals, i pulled from the pages one or two quotes that confront a stereotype or grapple with the issue of gender. i deliberately picked quotes that were visceral and raw, parts of larger streams of consciousness. penny’s quote is the exception, as her exploration of gender and identity occurred most visibly through the subjects and characters in her poetry and fiction, rather than her nonfiction. the quotes included in this paper, though fragments, are complete stories unto themselves. i used gubrium and holstein’s (2009) version of qualitative narrative analysis as a framework for analysis, treating each quote as its own self-enclosed story and each journal as its own distinct text. through narrative analysis, i compared these stories for similarities and differences in both form and content (gubrium & holstein, 2009). when comparing the forms of the stories, i was most concerned with how students were internally organizing their stories, where they were located as subjects of the rewriting, and how technical literary devices of grammar, diction, theme, and tone enabled a reconstruction of a more powerful, active self. despite similarity in theme between the stories, the content of each rewritten gender story differed drastically from the others in scope and experience. how the female students had been affected by gender stories, and how they were transcribing and rewriting them, varied from student to student. these variations and shades were indicative of the unique experiences of sexism and oppression each student had endured or was enduring. narrative analysis takes into account the social context of a narrative (gubrium & holstein, 2009). this form of analysis considers how an inner life story has been shaped by the institutional settings the storyteller writes their story from and about (gubrium & holstein, 2009). as much as i examined the form and content of each story, i could not do so without investigating how that form and content came to be developed as a product of its teller. to examine the act of storytelling required me to envision the storyteller, a figure who was actively transforming through the act of writing (wolgemuth, 2014). i found myself reading the words of the journals and visualizing my changing students. upon “seeing” each student, i looked past them to the social environment giving rise to their words. though i examine specific components of the journals and my focal group is small, it is my hope that this study can provide insight prompting further inquiry into the study of student journal material. as gubrium and holstein (2009) note, narrative analysis of select textual samples can contribute to broader knowledge of a group’s experience. 103 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 iii. justifying form the form of this writing is “pastiche” or hybrid text, a textual experiment of data, analysis, journal excerpts and memoir woven into a whole (ely, 1997). my paper’s form reflects the form of the journals—an effort on my part to move through the same process as the students while completing my research. in doing so, i hoped to unlock deeper meaning in the very text being analyzed. the pastiche demonstrates how form affects meaning (ely, 1997). in this case, the different texts layered together communicate my struggle to piece together a narrative about how others tell their stories. braided into the students’ stories is the story of my research. as ely (1997) notes, the arrangements of different texts in pastiche produce the distinct texture of an overall narrative. each separate text— my first memory of data collection or the transcribed journal entry of a student— acts upon the other to create interconnected meanings that the reader may interpret on their own. the multiple forms in this research, which include different forms pulled from the journals themselves, provide a structural “framework” (ely, 1997) that enables the act of comparison requested of narrative analysis. pastiche has allowed me to present multiple realities, consciousnesses, and portraits of time to the reader. included are the verbatim journal quotes of students and my own memories of teaching the class and completing this research. the memories i include, written in past and present tense, appear in this paper following an asterisk. these memories locate me in the text, providing glimpses as to what spurred my research. the inclusion of my own thoughts and memories connect this research to the writing of my students in a way that stands apart from the analytical gaze i caught myself holding as i poured through their journals. iv. introduction: gender and writing feminist scholars like jule (2003) and baxter (2006) agree that messages about gender build an idealized female identity emphasizing complicity and passivity. basow (2010) has found that female students receive teacher approval for being silent and compliant, and the widespread silencing of female students reflects the internalization of these stories. the silence of female students and the gendered conception of classroom resistance as a verbal act (basow, 2010) have created a myth that romanticizes the notion of classroom resistance as masculine. further research by scholars such as fredericksen (2000) and elmore and oyserman (2012) report that this silencing of female students overlooks the alternative ways female students are resisting, and in light of that, overlooks what tools the teacher may provide to female students as channels for resistance. journals, as texts that reflect narrative identity, have been historically used by women to rewrite or transform gender stories which interfere with perceptions of the self as strong and capable (huff, 2003). i found that jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny and serena “wielded the pen” with a similar intent to disrupt and resist in mind. the texts they produced were wedges of space in which resistance was carried out. in each space, i unearthed core commonalities: the positioning of the writing self as storyteller and the splitting of that self necessary to procure an audience for the story to be “told.” * i turn the page of her journal, and see this: curling around a sketched thought bubble is the orange body of a model, cut choppily from the pages of a magazine. glossy. beheaded. adorned with the face of a grinning wolf. 104 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 “tell me how to dress, and i’ll bite off your head,” the wolf is thinking. i smile, lean back in my chair. * v. from thin air: construction of the gender story “girl, you ought to stop. stop thinking. stop dreaming. stop trying to experience and understand life. stop living in the world of the mind.” –from remembered rapture: the writer at work, bell hooks the message “to stop”, spoken to the adolescent bell hooks by her older sister, reflects a historical norm of controlling the identities of women, in order to satisfy the expectation that complicity is a component of female identity (fredericksen, 2000). “to stop”—to stop resisting and embrace complicity—is one of the many gender stories passed on through this interaction. embedded in this warning is a gender story communicating to hooks what the idealized female identity is. the story is subtle and functions according to what is implied—that thinking, dreaming, understanding life, and living in the world of the mind are wrong. it is implied that doing these things is wrong because they stand in opposition to an idealized, unseen female identity not embraced by hooks. even more deeply coded in the warning is the implication that this unseen, idealized figure would never have tried to live in the way hooks had been trying. that trying, or resisting complicity, apart from being fundamentally wrong, would be futile. once internalized, gender stories become a part of who we know ourselves to be (baxter, 2006). gender has become a ”core identity” (elmore & oyserman, 2012). in this sense, gender matters at school. the identities of students are likely to reflect a struggle to fit into a presupposed gender identity (fine & weis, 2003), or reflect an assimilation of the self into that gender identity (elmore & oyserman, 2012). gender stories, layered finely over each other, have built an idealized female identity embodying behaviour that is ”ladylike“ (fredericksen, 2000). these stories tell us that apart from being complicit, the correct female identity in the public sphere is nice, cooperative, and polite (basow, 2010). baxter (2006) argues that this same ideal female identity holds a passive or non-existent voice in the public sphere, because the female voice exercised in the public sphere is judged as indecent and unfeminine. this unused voice suits the traditional classroom space which values silence and control (fine & weis, 2003). the present day exclusion of female voices from public realms like classrooms relies on this “subtle division of linguistic labour” (baxter, 2006, p. 8). vi. embodying gender stories in the classroom elmore and oyserman (2012) describe the creative writing classroom as an extension of the public sphere. as such, this space can be seen to mirror the historical silencing of women as female students seek to conform to idealized identities. fredericksen (2000) argues that female students are rewarded for being “good,” working cooperatively and for following the rules. in an effort to perform as feminine and appear unaggressive, female students may avoid verbal participation in class (butler, 2014). in comparison, fredericksen (2000) notes that male students 105 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 often verbally dominate the classroom space in group discussions, interrupting female students, and forcing female students to be listeners. similarly, jule (2003) argues that female students are positioned to perform the role of the audience to male students. female students tend to avoid making declarative statements and interrupt male students less, in what jule (2003) describes as “subconscious subordination” (p. 21) to others in the classroom. their own relationship to language is changed as a result of their internalized gender stories and, as jule (2003) notes, women may begin to practice a writing style that is unassertive and consensual, instead of direct and argumentative. vii. the “paper mirror”: journals as reflections of narrative identity gender stories are a specific type of narrative found in a person’s narrative identity—their internalized, changing life story (mcadams, 2011). there is often a relationship between expression of the narrative identity, the gender stories embedded in it, and the use of journal writing. narrative identity, and the gender stories woven into that identity, are reflected in what hubbs and brand have coined the “paper mirror” (2005). they argue that just as a glass mirror reflects an image, the journal page reflects the inner worlds of students and their exploration of the self (hubbs & brand, 2005). the act of writing, insist utley and garza (2011), allows for fragments of a situation to be melded into a more coherent narrative. writing represents a calculated effort to express the narrative identity (moskowitz, 1998). indeed, mcadams (2011) found an intrinsic need students have to relate their narrative identities to others. viii. the historic use of journals by female writers if journals are spaces in which narrative identity is transcribed, it could be assumed that gender stories embedded in that identity would have a long history of replication in the pages of women’s journals. however, huff (2003) insists that journals are historically a site of resistance for women to write their own stories about repressive regimes or ideologies. as noted by steinitz (2011), the diary reflects the status and situation of the writer, and textualizes the present feelings the writer experiences in the literal moment of writing. diaries and journals, huff (2003) argues, focus on the everyday experience. the ordinariness of daily oppression experienced by marginalized members of society is transcribed. for example, cioux and calle-gruber (1997) state ”what is most true is naked life.” the naked life of woman, the truth that a woman’s life is rife with experiences of being silenced, is exposed through the journal in the most frank of terms. it is this naked life—the ordinary life of the personal—that the political mission of the journal draws its life from. quite literally, the feminist mantra “the personal is political” can be seen directly in female journal writing. the privileging of personal experience, insists haronian (1996), is one of the most prominent bequests of feminism’s “political-activist heritage” (p. 32). the journal, wright and ranby (2009) argue, represents a tradition of the feminist practice because it is an outlet for the female voice that is oppressed in the public sphere. the journal of the female writer, in its careful documentation of inequality and resistance, is a politically charged text. only through privileging the personal, writing the self in all of its resistance and encounters being silenced, can women’s stories stop being untold (haronian, 1996). for female writers, journaling is an act of confrontation rather than escape. cioux and callegruber (1997) state that ”to write only holds meaning if the gesture of writing makes fear retreat” (p. 25). writing can be a form of intentional, active resistance (lanas & corbett, 2011). hooks (1999) claims that writing is a means of confronting reality in order to live life fully. we can think back to hooks’ older sister telling her “to stop.” once an order, the message penned by hooks as 106 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 its own newly crafted story has become a source of empowerment. the intent and essence of the order remains the same, but rewritten years later it has become a part of hooks’ longer struggle to resist—ironically, now a memory that has spurred her to act, rather than “to stop.” for hooks (1999), writing is only empowering when it is not an act where she deserts “the shadows” (p. 12) that haunt her. in the ten years hooks (1999) spent writing journals, she asserts that she spent the entire time trying to enter these shadows, rather than abandon them. * you’re such a geek. stop thinking. you’re such a book worm. stop dreaming. you’re such a space cadet, aren’t you? stop living in the world of the mind. * ix. wielding the pen: rewriting gender stories through the process of rewriting, female students were subverting stories prescribed to them about their gender that threatened to interfere with their own perceptions of the self as powerful, intelligent, and strong. in rewriting these gender stories, they were altering their narrative identities; they were restructuring the plots of their own lives, making power and strength key themes in their life stories. the students were fashioning themselves as active protagonists (gubrium & holstein, 2009). as lanas and corbett (2011) note, students are privy to pursuing resistance in which they are the key actors. by addressing negative stereotypes or harmful gender stories as these actors, jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny, and serena demonstrated an “approach (engagement) response” (leaper & brown, 2008, p.207) to cope with sexism. this approach response empowers the acting individual and reduces their stress by confronting the threat (leaper & brown, 2008). apart from hooks’ jumping into the shadows, these students demonstrated a conscious and strategic manipulation of them. as storytellers, students were engaging in the process of poesis: the affecting of change through imaginative making (lynes, 2012) by designing new narratives and different conceptions of the self. poesis in the case of the female students demonstrates an incredibly productive and positive form of resistance (vetter et al., 2012) giving way for narrative identity to be altered, and perhaps changing the way these students will navigate silencing and marginalization in the classroom or other realms of life. this positive resistance demonstrates how the female students are growing as critical thinkers willing to challenge what they consider unfair. their resistance articulates transformative learning about their own identities (vetter et al., 2012). • jamie “i do not have to prove myself to anyone, and i do not feel weak if i need help. if i want to do something, even if it is a ’man’s job,’ i’m going to do it.” in order to rewrite the gender story, jamie first confronts the elements within it she finds harmful. she does not, as cioux and calle-gruber (1997) and hooks (1999) insist, use writing as an escape. instead, jamie deliberately assuages the widespread, generalized story that women are not as capable as men. she includes a literal tidbit from the gender story: the phrase ‘a man’s job.’ it is her blatant inclusion of this phrase, rather than a shying away from it that allows her to 107 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 so effectively knock it down. by confronting the sexism she rewrites the gender story for herself, leaving no room for ambiguity of interpretation. she refuses to allow deceptive gender stories to warp her own understanding of herself. instead, jamie’s perception of herself as capable is sealed, watertight, against any external messages. her use of single quotes when writing the phrase ‘man’s job’ implies that, apart from possessing the courage to directly confront and unravel the gender story, jamie is able to manipulate the concrete language of the story itself. she uses language to orient herself internally and in relation to the social world around her (orr, 2002), and her opposition to this story becomes a part of her own narrative identity. • lisbeth “gender. scared. she. mind. hardship. excuse. day after day.” the power of lisbeth’s resistance is drawn from her direct confrontation not of the gender stories themselves, but of a more deeply rooted, intangible fear that surrounds her identity as a woman. unlike jamie, who approaches the gender story literally to unravel and remold it, lisbeth concentrates on how the gender stories affect her and the fear she experiences living as a woman. lisbeth leaves more to the imagination of the reader; she uses key words which seem to be pulled, floating, from around and within remembrances and experiences that are painful. though nothing about these memories or experiences (if i can assume that is what she is referencing) are articulated in detail, the reader has an immediate and striking sense of the feelings lisbeth holds towards those memories or experiences. lisbeth’s ambiguity requests that the reader work a little harder; they must make connections between the keywords she lays out. though the specifics of her unravelling are deliberately unclear, and are obscured purposefully from the reader in her choice of abstract form, we can understand that lisbeth is approaching a very palpable sense of fear. the subversion of the gender story, like the meaning of the phrase itself, is difficult to access. but in its abstraction is a clear and obvious message, as obvious as the feelings of pain that run sharp and deep from the fragment: that despite experiencing fear, and perhaps not knowing the end of it, lisbeth will continue to survive. • cedar “the whole gender thing is pretty silly. what if i don’t want to be any gender? what if i want to be a ghost?” the innocence and humour in cedar’s musing, although outwardly lighthearted, carry great weight. she uses humour to expose the ludicrousness of having to identify herself according to gender binaries. in questioning “the whole gender thing,” cedar is beginning to undo the idea of living out gender narratives altogether. her questions, unanswered in the seemingly limitless space of the journal, echo outward. whether or not cedar desires to be a ghost is beyond her point; what she is communicating is that she would like to define herself as adhering to no gender. she would like to be other than. cedar’s “ghost” is a red herring—an oddity—thrown to the reader to catch them off guard from the seriousness of her first query and its shattering power. she understands that her question holds a bracing strength, that it could chink a crack into something she senses to be immense and ordered. possibly, cedar feels that her only way to make that fissure is to masquerade her challenge as playful questioning. the lightness of her query holds a private challenge for her reader—can they perceive cedar as existing without prescribing to a specific gender? can cedar live simply as a ghost? 108 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 • penny “but oh, how her spirit is limber and running through the night” these are the concluding lines to penny’s poem “pure sangre” (pure blood), a short poem inspired by henry fuseli’s painting “the nightmare.” in this painting, a ghoul crouches on the body of an unconscious female figure draped in white. the painting imagines a helpless and unknowing woman who is either asleep or dead, but in any regard, is helpless, immobile, and unable to act. penny’s final lines directly address this female figure. rather than choose lines from penny’s journal that blatantly confront and unravel gender narratives, i chose to include these lines because they embody an alternative gender narrative for the female subject of the painting and of the poem. unlike the other students, penny has melded this alternative gender narrative into the story of her poem’s subject. from author to subject moves the act of reimagining the gender story. penny’s personal desire to turn the typical gender narrative inside-out is reflected in her craft and skill as a poet; it is part of the message she leaves the reader. she also hints at the freedom of her subject’s being: her subject’s spirit, disconnected from her comatose body, is “limber.” the image penny leaves us communicates a sense of personal liberty; the night, dark and endless, holds no boundaries. • serena “sit like a lady. she gestures to my open legs. just because i wear a skirt, i have to give up my space? sit like a lady. . . i will sit however i want. (and i’ll wear lipstick while doing it).” serena’s heated musing communicates a story in itself: she does identify with the gender presentation of femininity, and it is natural and comfortable for her to do so, but despite her outward adherence to this presentation she will not accept and internalize gender stories as truth. she proves she will not inherit “commodified mythologies” that exist in “the vacuums created by personal or collective amnesia, amnesia that is often solicited or induced” (wright & ranby, 2009, p.62). her use of underlining, like jamie’s use of single quotes, presents a conscious assertion of power through the text she is creating. the underline seems to be a physical reclaiming of the space that skirt-wearing serena is sitting in. her use of ellipsis represents the space taken by her growing frustration. in the pause of rest between words, i can feel her frustration expand, life-sized and wide-legged. she attacks the gender narrative that women must assume as little space as possible in the public sphere and that they must always accommodate and make room for others. like cedar, serena questions, incredulously, why she must give up her space. like hooks, serena relates an instance of being policed by another woman. serena’s humorous tone calls attention to her supposedly paradoxical gender presentation. she wears lipstick and a skirt, as a woman is expected to do, while taking up space, as a man is expected to do. her promise to “wear lipstick while doing it” might remain confusing and unnerving for the individual who directs her to cross her legs, but she makes it clear that she will do what she wants. * the only words scribbled on the white page: i am a writer. i can write beauty, desire, destruction, sadness. with my own pen poised in hand, i think to myself: revelry. revelry and resistance. * 109 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 x. writing as a place: the journal as a space of resistance in each journal, language is used to create an individual space (knutson, 2011), allowing for the expression of identity. the journal, as a space of resistance, is valuable for female students because of its limitless and infinite form (steinitz, 2011); its blank pages make it an attractive space for leg stretching, or even swagger. wright and ranby (2009) harken to virginia woolf’s concept of “a room of one’s own” when describing the journal as a specific space. they perceive woolf’s metaphor as indicative of the psychic space in which women represent themselves (wright & ranby, 2009). lanas and corbett (2011) argue that a “third space” is needed for students to express themselves in the school environment — one that is not fully public or fully private. the journal, as a private text often shared with the teacher, saddles the public and private worlds. it is the liminal space in which teachers may hear the voices of resisting students. this same space provides refuge for students seeking to express not their “academic voices,” but their “own voices.” fine and weis (2003) believe that the educational system has trained students to undergo “linguistic violence” as they sift out personal strains of themselves from their writing to produce more formal, scholarly material. the journal can be a place where students resist the violence of this separation. * you can write about whatever you want, i say to the class. just remember: write without restraint. anything we want? the student isn’t smiling. yes, anything. but i’m cringing inwardly inside. i’m a little afraid to be so close to the pain of others. * xi. written out, written in: the paradoxical nature of journals the journal paradoxically holds both the rewritten gender stories, and the sources of that resistance. journals become territories where divisions coexist (knutson, 2011). written in the journals are both memories and thoughts triggering shame and the resulting empowerment from it. in rewriting harmful stories, the students are confronting and acknowledging the shame and pain that brought them to resist and rewrite in the first place. shame, brown (2012) argues, derives its power from being unspeakable. hooks (1999), who once faced shame at being admonished “to stop,” uses language and story to bring light to her shame to destroy it, as do jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny and serena. the students are able to resist by knowing and exploring what is causing them to hurt. hooks (1999) echoes this view, stating: “only in fully knowing the wound could i discover ways to attend to it” (p. 13). cioux and calle-gruber (1997) also insist that the shame or pain confronted in writing can be likened to a physical open wound, and that although “we are terribly afraid of looking at it. . . we are perhaps the only ones capable of looking at it” (p. 25). shame holds a sacred place in these journals as the impetus of resistance. jamie, in her assertion that she will do a “man’s job,” is confronting the shame that has been veiled upon her—doubt that she may not do as good a job as a man or doubt that certain jobs will not be easily available to her because of her gender. the shame is unwritten, but it is still present 110 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 in-between the lines of her written fight. lisbeth, who expresses and writes her fear concretely, leaves the detail of her fear to the imagination of the reader. like jamie, lisbeth’s journal holds both resistance and the source of her resistance. cedar’s journal is an exception to this concrete or implied inclusion of shame and pain. her humour attempts to bypass or exclude the source of her resistance entirely. unlike jamie and lisbeth, pain or shame is difficult to detect in her writing. penny’s writing, too, upon first inspection appears only to focus on the freedom of her figure, but perhaps this is because the source of resistance is more deeply embedded in her crafting of a deliberately free subject. xii. the self as storyteller every student, with the exception of penny, uses first person “i” statements. the use of “i” is, in simplest terms, the voice of the “self” (blodgett, 1996). through privileging the “i,” both she and jule (2003) insist, feminist writers have traditionally resisted definition by male authority as they position themselves at the story’s center. the “i,” focusing on the subjective experience of the writer, allows for the recreation of the self on the page, ”subverting the power of fixed representations of selfhood” (wright & ranby, 2009, p.57). use of the “i” naturally positions the students as owners and creators of the stories in their journals; the students become active agents in producing the meaning of their self-identities (utley & garza, 2011). in turn, their identities are shaped through telling the story (faircloth, 2012). as crafters of the stories, the students’ selves are validated as the authority. as the storytellers, each of the students express their subjective desires and move to reclaim their lives (haronian, 1996). we see jamie and her determination: her making of an unspoken promise to never feel weak. we see lisbeth’s pain and her survival, cedar’s ghost, penny’s subject running not from the night, but through it, and finally, the grit of serena, biting back. what we never see is the stillness of acquiescence. there is only movement as the stories and stereotypes and assumptions are undone, twisted this way and that, transformed into entirely different creations. indeed, argue gubrium and holstein (2009), the substance of a story is elastic, molded into different shapes and directions by its teller. by positioning themselves as the storytellers, students construct a storyteller-listener dynamic. one could assume that the very power of the story lies in its relationship with a listener: that a listener validates the story and must exist for the story to be heard (georges, 1990). considering the longstanding tradition of the journal as private, critics could argue that the storyteller-listener dynamic is rendered powerless. but what happens when the voices of the storytellers, silenced and unheard in the classroom, boom to life in the journal? are those silenced voices simply relegated, controlled and quiet, to the private sphere from which they are assumed to belong? huff (1989) argues that journals, though separate entities sitting alone on desks or shoved deep in book bags, connect women writers to “our past selves, our projected identities, and our roots in a collective yet differentiated women’s past” (p. 6). she argues that feminism as a social practice makes connections and establishes community between separated parts of existence (huff, 1989). though the stories in the journal may not be directly shared with a listener or audience, they are crafted from and are part of a shared experience. the “i” written by these female students is not singular, but plural. the “i” is drawn from the identities of all female students and represents the shared experience of asserting the self in a private space (blodgett, 1996). through language—the tiny “i” scrawled on the page—we can connect ourselves to other selves (orr, 2002). though i assume that jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny, and serena would not have shared their journals with each other, all five stories are connected by the shared desire to engage in rewriting. each of these students are part of a communal collective as storytellers who are seeking to alter 111 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 “generational narratives” (huff, 1989). in this sense, the ideal of the “solitary writer” stands to be interrogated, as students join themselves to imagined communities of voices (huff, 1989). the assertive words of these students are buoyed by the knowledge that they are not alone. their words are backed by the strength of others who wrote before them and for them. * a no-send letter dear students, it has been over six months, and i’m still studying the writing in your journals. i’ve seen some very sharp claws, and read some very soft words. ms. l * xiii. the two selves as storytellers without “listeners,” each of the students wrote to their “selves” to make possible the existence of the storyteller. the voice of the storyteller and the presence of a listener—and the belief that both are legitimate—is vital for rewriting gender stories. at the same time as the students were holding their pens, scribbling in the pages, they were, in that moment of storytelling, also acting as listener. in an instance of complete self-sufficiency, students had already procured an audience to legitimize their newly crafted gender stories. this is where the power of the “individual” experience of journaling lies: in its ability to simultaneously call to and speak to the other self. storytelling represents an instinct to connect and communicate with others (faircloth, 2012). we see this movement to connect in the journals as students call to a past, present, and future female consciousness, and we see it further in the journals of jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny, and serena, when their written words call directly to their pen-wielding selves. • lisbeth “do not be a prisoner to the confines you make for yourself. paint a reality that satisfies you.” lisbeth directly instructs herself to both remain a free individual, and to create a life that makes her happy. the actively journaling lisbeth stands apart from the lisbeth who lives at the peril of imprisoning herself. the actively journaling lisbeth seems to hold power to warn of impending dangers that she believes are threatening to her freedom. • penny “dear penny, i’m excited to be you. i’m immensely intrigued about who you will become or who you are.” here, the divide in the two selves is present yet again. the actively writing self is speaking to another self who seems to exist in an unreachable space. penny’s words—her actions as storyteller—create a space in which the writing self can acknowledge the existence of the 112 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 other. her journal is a place where the two selves can meet. in speaking to herself, penny calls out, and though her call goes unanswered—she is not given any answers as to who she will become—she can hold her hand up to the paper mirror and feel her palm rest not against paper, but the skin of herself. • serena “i’m really sorry. i mean, i know. you’re a mess right now. you find yourself eyeing weapons of mass destruction. but please, find other ways to love yourself.”’ as much as serena is writing to herself, there seems to be space between the troubled serena that is being addressed and the serena who presents herself as strong enough to speak to the person sitting in shadow, imploring the other to love themselves. the actively writing serena, the all-powerful storyteller, is positioned as the emotionally able person who is needed at that instance to support the figure eyeing those weapons. xiv. the divide in selves: the reflection in the journal as the “other” when students look into the “paper mirror,” they see a reflection of themselves—they see an “other.” the stories they tell create “selves which produce more selves” (faircloth, 2012). through rewriting stories, students create the other stronger, happier, or freer self. for lisbeth, an imprisoned self is envisioned, but a free self is imagined as rescuer. penny’s “other” is a mystery, remains unidentified or outlined in any way, and because of that, holds infinite possibilities for growth. like her figure running through an endless night, her “other” adheres to no limits. serena‘s “other” is her lifesaver that is drawn from the same fiery strength that sits, knees apart, with lipstick and a skirt on. despite seeing serena act powerfully in two circumstances: her assertion of physical space, and her rescue, we are privy to another self— one that is hurting, messy, and holds no leg stretching bravado or ability to rescue. at the same time as we stand separate from our reflections in the paper mirror, we are our reflections. the actively writing self is our listening self and is our audience. lisbeth is both imprisoned and free, serena’s rescuer and the self eyeing weapons of mass destruction are the same person, and penny is both searching and found. cioux and calle-gruber (1997) claim they are not separate from their own writing and that they only become themselves in the act of writing. the same concept applies to the experience of the journaling students. by adopting the role of storyteller, the students speak to themselves, but holding that role is only possible if there is a distinction or divide made in the self—someone must be spoken to. * i’m facing away from the class, scrawling “i live for the blank —” on the board, almost done. my favourite quote by author lisa unger. i have so many expectations for the class and plans for what the next nine weeks will be like. but first, i have to turn around and introduce myself. deep breath. later, a student will visit the guidance counselor, tell them they think i will teach writing too much like a “girl.” they will receive permission to take the class by correspondence. for the next nine weeks of class, i skip over their name when filling out the attendance sheet. week after week, the unchecked boxes on the sheet merge into a single length of empty white space 113 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 * xv. tracing the shape of absence: the lack of male participants lacuna 1. a cavity or depression in the matrix of bone 2. an extended silence in a piece of music 3. a missing section of manuscript or portion of text; a lexical gap —the english encyclopedia, 2015 when i turned from the journals of my female students to the journals of my male students, that loud and triumphant music of resistance quieted. amidst the many voices shouting out, whispering, and demanding, i sensed a great silence underlying it all. i felt a very palpable ache of something missing. gubrium and holstein (2009) argue that to fully revere the presence of specific narratives, the listener must also consider instances where they are withheld, what he defines as “narrative silencing” (p. 53). in school, male students often embody traits that are considered inappropriate, like disobedience and defiance (henderson, 2008). to align themselves with identities of hegemonic masculinity, male students are pressured to assume “performance practices” (dalley-trim, 2006, p.26). they, too, are pressured to construct themselves as specific subjects, and in doing so, become gendered actors in the classroom (davis, 2015). by acting the parts defined for them and playing tough, refusing to affirm authority, shouting out and interrupting (dalley-trim, 2006), male students are protecting themselves from having to “correct” their identities. apart from having to play this role, strong academic performance may suggest to a male student that they have a compliant identity (butler, 2014). the absence of completed and handed in journals is the reproduction of countless gender stories acting “to stop” the male students from dismantling idealized components of male identity. the order given to hooks to stop thinking, stop dreaming, and stop living in the world of the mind takes on an added level of irony—it is a patriarchal order holding the same purpose for men as it does for women: to manage the self. in the journals of seamus, alistair, and perry, i observed that the concept of gender was never directly and blatantly tackled. gender was not transcribed through their narrative identities, and the journal was not used as a medium in which to confront these issues. somewhere in the space between pen and page the motion to physicalize musings on gender dissipated, or perhaps it was never born in the first place. it is possible that for the male students, the journals presented a means of escape from contemplating gender and identity. perhaps these students needed to do what hooks argues so ardently against. for the male students, the very act of journaling was resistance to performing a hyper-masculine identity in the classroom davis (2015). by engaging in the journaling project, male students were actively adopting what they may have perceived to be a more feminine and less powerful position in school (henderson, 2008). finishing the assignment and demonstrating compliancy (leaper & brown, 2008), dedicating themselves to a fundamentally uncompetitive project (butler, 2014), 114 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 and forgoing the “tough” guy persona (dalley-trim, 2006) to engage in emotional exploration are elements of that resistance. the male students who chose not to hand their journals in were perhaps aiming to protect themselves from punishment on behalf of their peers (dalley-trim, 2006). they, too, were protecting their identities from the possibility of disintegration as vehemently as jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny, and serena. xvi. recommendations for future research and practice i suggest that future researchers should analyze a larger number of male journals to observe whether any address gender and identity through writing, and to compare any commonalities or differences potentially shared with female students who rewrite. facilitating the inclusion of male students in the journaling process would require the non-participatory students to consider that they can have multiple subjectivities or identities (henderson, 2008) that, although contradictory, do not negate the existence of the other. in this sense, male students would need to believe that there are a range of ways to “do” masculinity (dalley-trim, 2006). but the resistance of male students who chose not to participate, and the resistance of seamus, alistair, and perry to exploring gender through writing, may be the natural first step (ergun, 2013) towards one day engaging in a journaling project, or one day using the journal to explore gender and identity. the lack of rewritten gender stories on behalf of the participating male students, their avoidance of approaching the topic of gender, and their lack of participation in the journaling project and study highlight how strongly socialized ideas about identity are thriving in the classroom, and how they may control the outcomes of a potential project or request suggested on part of the teacher. the fact that only a minority of participating female students used their journals to rewrite gender stories points to multiple possibilities: these female students may not feel that gender stories or stereotypes are separate from their own identities as jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny, and serena do. they may identify with genders stories as intrinsic to who they are. that same shame, pain, and frustration that jamie, lisbeth, cedar, penny, and serena experience and seek to rewrite may not be felt as keenly and may require less of a need for the students to transform or redefine it. i believe, however, that it is more likely the female students who chose not to rewrite gender stories are resisting in a multitude of complex and interconnected forms not yet unearthed. when fredericksen (2000) states that “educators make a serious mistake if they believe female silence means acquiescence,” (p. 304) she indicates that female students are strategizing and experimenting with multiple forms of resistance. she is pointing to the craftiness of female students. though female students may not as frequently verbalize their resistance due to ingrained politeness (fredericksen, 2000), and they may not use journaling as a primary means of expressing resistance, it would be unwise to assume that they do not resist in any other way. teachers must acknowledge that the individual resistance of female students will be presented differently than that of male students and of other female students. we must provide them with options to express and channel that resistance in a specific space. if teachers expand their conception of female resistance and focus not only on the silencing and marginalization of female students, but on the creative way these students might choose to resist, they can take into account how specific assignments may either limit or unlock possibility for a student to explore gender in relation to their identity. to envision the journal as a space to nourish female resistance is simply a starting point. my study holds its importance in highlighting the need for teachers to be attuned to moments in text or in the classroom where student resistance is expressed, to recognize it, and to meet that resistance with flexibility and creativity. 115 the arbutus review • fall 2015 • vol. 6, no. 1 xvii. concluding thoughts brown (2012) believes that if an individual “owns” their story, they alone hold the power to rewrite its ending. haronian (1996), however, questions whether or not writers should be rewriting the endings of stories at all. she argues that female writers need to envision stories that have expanded narrative models without endings because she believes that “the end of a story marks not only the end of its tale, but of the teller” (haronian, 1996, p. 23). thinking back to my students, i have to question: will their rewritten stories translate into practice beyond the journal page, or will they simply “end”? will the words of bell hooks’ older sister “to stop” end up becoming the fate of my female writing students? i will never know if jamie will move through life doing every “man’s job” she encounters, and perhaps one day serena’s indignant legs will cross neatly, one over the other. i acknowledge that it is not possible to completely assess the extent to which the resistance demonstrated in their journals is brought forth in their individual lives. to trace the lasting impact of rewriting gender stories and to investigate how resistance carries on beyond the written text, into action, are two inquiries that merit future research. when i picked up and flipped through the journals, i found i was studying living text: stories that i could not pick up and hold so easily, whose writers were constantly shifting as they rewrote the self through their own imaginative making. a self-induced poesis of the mind and body. writing this paper, i found myself submerged in the poesis of my students, far below the words on their pages, in a place where i could hear their voices and envision their subjects. what drew me to this study was the promise to analyze the life of the words on those pages—the intent behind tone, the fashioning of subjects, the use of diction. but the journal, i learned, leaves as much out as is included, is as much a fiction as it is truth, and is, simply, a performance of naked life. despite my examination of the text and analysis of subtext, i seemed to pull from the writing what i already knew, and what i saw in myself as an adolescent journal writer—a single thread, holding fast: the will to fight. * i finish combing through the journals. flex my fingers. strewn around me on the floor are piles of ratty hilton notebooks, one thick leather journal. a clump of graph paper stapled together at the spine. an embossed, hardcover diary. the tea in my mug is cold. i open my laptop up and minimize the pages of scholarly journals, the academic databases and my citation guide, leaving a single blank document. then i stretch out to pick up the closest journal in arm’s reach. beware. . . references basow, s. a. 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(2009). ’composing myself on paper ’: personal journal writing and feminist influences. women’s studies journal, 23(2), 57-67. 118 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00397709.2011.628589 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/110330881101900404 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01151.x text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_5 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230339606 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2011.557312 text box http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468794113501685 the study: structure and findings method justifying form introduction: gender and writing from thin air: construction of the gender story embodying gender stories in the classroom the ``paper mirror'': journals as reflections of narrative identity the historic use of journals by female writers wielding the pen: rewriting gender stories writing as a place: the journal as a space of resistance written out, written in: the paradoxical nature of journals the self as storyteller the two selves the divide in selves: the reflection in the journal as the ``other'' tracing the shape of absence: the lack of male participants recommendations for future research and practice concluding thoughts the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019685 letter from the indigenous guest editor chokma, readers, i write this letter of introduction while in my community, the chickasaw nation, in what is now southcentral oklahoma, us. i begin by acknowledging my connection to place in my ancestral language of chikashshanompa': aba'bínni'li'at yaakni'yappa ikbittook. yakkookay imanhili. i am the indigenous guest editor for this issue of the arbutus review and a postdoctoral fellow for the neⱦolṉew̱ “one mind, one people” indigenous language research project at the university of victoria. i join with the arbutus review and the indigenous mentorship network of the pacific northwest (imn-pn) in acknowledging with respect the lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the university of victoria stands and the songhees, esquimalt and w̱sáneć peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. i invite you to acknowledge the lands and territories on which you live and work. this special interdisciplinary issue, focused on indigenous wellness, is the result of a partnership between the arbutus review and the imn pn. we welcomed submissions from indigenous undergraduates at post-secondary institutions in bc. a guiding principle of this issue was indigenous mentorship. undergraduate writers received feedback from graduate student peer reviewers and also worked closely with me, as the indigenous guest editor, and editor gillian saunders from the arbutus review team. this indigenous-led issue is itself unprecedented, and has also come together under unprecedented circumstances. our undergraduate authors completed their submissions during an ongoing global pandemic and urgent black lives matter movement, white supremacy, and colonization. we stand with the indigenous nations and communities of colour that are being impacted by covid-19 and with our black relatives, including the families of george floyd, breonna taylor, and others who have lost their lives to police violence. as we collectively work toward justice, the writers’ theme of wellness is all the more timely. we open this issue with a personal narrative by ȼelástenot (bonnie seward) entitled “the journey of ȼelástenot.” from w̱sáneć territory and a student in the w̱,senćoŧen ist language revitalization program at the university of victoria, ȼelástenot shares a personal account of reconnecting to her indigenous heritage language of senćoŧen. she writes of her family, which is continuing to heal intergenerational pain inflicted by english-only residential and day schools: “i want each of them to take back their power through the language.” as this narrative reminds us, learning one’s indigenous language is a foundational step toward wellness. olivia ryan-schmidt, who is of métis, irish, russian, and german ancestry and a social work student at the university of victoria, asks university students in helping fields to consider the place of trauma in their wellness journeys. “the trauma within our knowledge bundles: indigenous helpers navigating trauma within social work” suggests that a decolonizing framework positions trauma as an integral component of a knowledge bundle, which holds medicines, teachings, and what has been learned from lived experience. ryan-schmidt writes, “the more i learn from my trauma, the more i am able to reach for its teachings within my bundle.” in the next essay, “the healing power of storytelling: finding identity through narrative,” seren friskie, a student at douglas college whose relations are sts’ailes, stó:lō, and cree, explores storytelling as integral to indigenous wellness. friskie recounts the creation of an indigenous youth storytelling circle 5 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019685 on coast salish territories. through the storytelling circle, youth found community and healing. friskie writes of the power of gathering youth: “we all shared a journey of gaining knowledge and strengthening our identities through story.” also critical to indigenous wellbeing is rematriating the power of those who identify as women, girls, two-spirit, and lgbtqqia+. madeline burns, a métis person from the red river settlement and a student at university of victoria, explores how the work of an indigenous burlesque group to reclaim indigenous sexuality is an expression of sovereignty and decolonizing practice. the essay entitled, “reclaiming indigenous sexual being: sovereignty and decolonization through sexuality in vancouver, b.c.” draws on examples from how performers in the group virago nation disrupt damaging stereotypes. in doing so, burns writes, indigenous peoples “are representing our sexualities …in order to heal through the embodiment of sovereignty.” in “let the land heal you,” charlene menacho also addresses gendered experiences of colonization and calls for support for those who identify as men in their healing journeys as well. as a dene woman, menacho writes a personal letter to her brothers, addressing experiences of intergenerational trauma for dene men in denendeh, a name meaning “land of the people” and referring to the northwest territories in the dene language. menacho exposes the damaging legacies of colonization on her home community of tulita while also offering an inspiring message of resiliency: “indigenous peoples …are not the pain we carry. we are hope, love, resistance, strength, and joy neatly sewn together, like the floral designs on our moccasins.” the theme of wellness as intricately connected to relationship to land is carried through the final essay, “an urban cree finding place at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm.” hailey bird matheson, a cree social work student at the university of british columbia (ubc), reflects on experiences of learning and strengthening identity at ubc’s indigenous health research and education garden, which is called xʷc̓ic̓əsəm (the place where we grow) in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the language of musqueam people. matheson writes, “i have discovered that a personal sense of self and ceremony in my life is facilitated by the interactions i have with ancestral medicine and spending time with elders.” also included in this special issue are two poems. in “living in the in-betweens,” madeline burns explores the tensions that arise when one’s identity does not conform to others’ expectations. similarly, in “native enough,” hailey bird matheson questions what it means to be enough as an indigenous person, to one’s own people and mainstream society. the student authors remind us that our healing and wellness journeys are both individual and collective and entail work to reclaim our ancestral identities, tell our stories, speak our languages, and strengthen our relationships to land and one another. hachinchokma'ni sabanna. i hope you all are well. kari a. b. chew 6 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019689 living in the in-betweens madeline burns métis indigenous but not indigenous enough my skin does not reflect my culture i wear the scars of my ancestors mary, margaret, virginie, maria yet i share the skin of the colonizers white awards me privilege but i am marginalized in my own community bisexual gay but not gay enough my femininity does not reflect my sexuality i bear the stigmas of my sisters hunt, robinson, allen, brant yet i go on dates with many misters heteronormativity awards me privilege but i am marginalized in my own community 8 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 being as value: the phenomenology of value and the ontology of self-realization in charles taylor’s sources of the self andrada-elena holmgren ∗ university of victoria elena.holmgren@gmail.com abstract this article explores one way of putting selves and values back into the world. i analyze charles taylor’s, iris murdoch’s, and donald walhout’s arguments showing that to be a self is to relate to being as a value. i show that the intentional relation of world-directedness that is central to self discloses being first as a value. i argue that our best account of what it is to be a self commits us to the objectivity of values. i then explore taylor’s arguments that, by denying a place for objective values in nature, the standard naturalist ontology leaves a gap between nature and self. i argue that this gap arises because current naturalism cannot account for the place of the intentional relation in the world, the latter of which is our first guide to value. it thereby leaves a gap between thirdand first-personal perspectives that obscures the nature of values as properties of relational situations. i explore michiel meijer’s objection that taylor leaves an unresolved gap between ontology and phenomenology in his defense of value realism. i draw on the little-known work of donald walhout to show how this gap can be filled by analyzing value in terms of function. keywords: metaphysics of self; metaphysics of value; naturalism; phenomenology; experience the existential attitude is one of involvement in contrast to a merely theoretical or detached attitude. “existential” in this sense can be defined as participating in a situation, especially a cognitive situation, with the whole of one’s existence. . . . there are realms of reality or—more exactly—of abstraction from reality in which the most complete detachment is the adequate cognitive approach. everything which can be expressed in terms of quantitative measurement has this character. but it is most inadequate to apply the same approach to reality in its infinite concreteness. a self which has become a matter of calculation and management has ceased to be a self. it has become a thing. you must participate in a self in order to know what it is. but by participating you change it. in all existential knowledge both subject and object are transformed by the very act of knowing. existential knowledge is based on an encounter in which a new meaning is created and recognized. (paul tillich, 1952, pp. 123-124) this article argues that the metaphysics of self depends on the metaphysics of value. i arguethat to be a self is to relate to being as a value. in everyday life, we encounter ourselves invalue situations that are never entirely our own making. for instance, consider the experience of seeing a beloved corner of nature. the pattern of what we see is born of the interplay between ∗many thanks to my supervisor dr. david scott for his support, feedback, reading recommendations, as well as for teaching me most of the background on aristotle—in particular his notion of function—upon which i draw here. thanks also to jcura for funding the research out of which this essay grew, and for the peer reviewers and editors of the arbutus review for their insightful suggestions for revision. 4 mailto:elena.holmgren@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 what we bring to the scene (our capacities and predispositions) and the form of the landmarks themselves. if we bring a friend, we are struck by the fact that each one of us sees a different landscape in the same place. and yet, we also know the place as a site of possible convergence between the various gazes of the subjects that enter into it: i can show you the mossy heap. as this commonplace example of aesthetic perception illustrates, we are used to the fact that our being there with things makes a pattern from which we can isolate our contribution and that of things only through an artificial, after-the-fact analysis. aesthetic perception is chosen here because it is perhaps the most common and well-known experience of value. in this case, aesthetic experience discovers the intrinsic value of the moss. by intrinsic value, i mean the value that a thing has “in itself,” by virtue of the way that it is. the moss is known to have intrinsic value because it acts as the co-creator of the value situation (the emerald hue) that i see. it would be a different green were the moss any different from what it is. such experiences reveal how our being there with things creates a value that is not reducible to our subjective contribution. they also reveal how our being a self is intimately bound up with this cooperative co-creation of values. the problem, as charles taylor points out in his seminal work sources of the self, is that the philosophical picture of nature that interprets modern science today leaves no room for this experience that is so central to selfhood. on this naturalistic view, there is no element of discovery in value experience. rather, values are features of mental states that we project onto a valueless world. in this perspective, we can reduce all talk of values to descriptive talk about psychological facts (namely, the contingent beliefs and desires of the individual). if this view is correct, then, in the example above, the moss itself has nothing to do with the value that it comes to have for us, except as a material to be shaped as we please according to our subjective interests. this is a problem because, as taylor argues, our best account of self implicitly commits us to the objectivity of values. by objectivity of values, i mean those values, such as beauty or truth, that lie outside the individual and that do not depend on that individual’s mental states alone. taylor argues that selves are crucially grounded in the world through their orientation to those regions of the real that they register as intrinsic goods. thus, value distinctions are an ineliminable part of our starting point as thinkers. as a result, objective values must be given a central place in any ontology. hence, as far as ontological status goes, taylor argues that selves and values must either stand or fall together. taylor shows that if the standard naturalist ontology of our day is correct, a conflict arises between the explanation of nature and the explanation of self. one must be eliminated in favour of the other. we are left with a dilemma. if we choose in favour of nature by eliminating value experience, we’re left with an incoherent ontology of self that implicitly presupposes the objective values that it purports to explain away. and if instead we choose in favour of self, we lose all continuity between nature and experience, thereby leaving an insuperable divide between practical, evaluative reason, on the one hand, and theoretical, scientific reason, on the other. moreover, since value is a co-creation between nature and self, we lose sight of the relational situation in which value emerges, too. this unresolved conflict makes finding a unified explanation of our place in the natural world unattainable in principle. instead, all we can have is a fractured paradigm composed of two autonomous spheres: the world of meaningful experience and the alien world of fact. i argue that taylor rightly diagnoses the problem with current naturalist ontologies of both value and self. however, he fails to offer an alternative metaphysical account that solves the issue of grounding the objectivity of values, and therefore of putting selves back into our divided picture of being. ultimately, there remains a gap between taylor’s phenomenological arguments, which reveal the inconsistency between our best account of self and the ontology of natural science and his ontological conclusions that naturalist ontology requires substantive revision. it remains unclear in just what that revision consists. donald walhout’s the good and the realm of values provides a possible way of bridging the gap 5 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 that remains between phenomenology and ontology in taylor’s arguments. i show how walhout’s concept of function bridges the gap between the firstand third-personal perspectives, between the normative and the descriptive, between value and being. as such, it can offer a positive alternative to naturalism that secures the objectivity of value that our best account of self presupposes. i conclude that we need to revise our current exclusively third-personal naturalist ontology in favour of a first-personal naturalism based on a revised aristotelian bridge concept of function. this first-personal naturalism allows us to define objective value as complete being, or as fully realized functioning. i argue that the divide between the normative and the theoretical dimensions of explanation can be bridged only if we recognize both the logical and the ontological priority of the first-person stance in our worldview. in particular, this divide can be bridged if we recognize, like iris murdoch, that the idea of value is a regulative principle of all reasoning, rather than being some epiphenomenal side-issue, as naturalistic ontology makes it out to be. i strive to show that our first knowing encounter with the world is through our intentional relation to reality experienced as a value for us. if this analysis is right, then there is no complete metaphysical explanation without a normative component. this evaluative dimension makes merely theoretical knowledge existentially transformative in tillich’s sense. an essential part of what it is to really know something is to grasp its value for the self. this grasp of value grounds knowledge in the “infinite concreteness” of individual encounter. grasping the value dimension of situations is what turns knowledge into understanding, as opposed to just a formal exercise. in all explanations, we must begin where we are: that is, in the first-person stance, where being is first known as a value. and, once explanation is complete, we must connect our theories to where we started from and still remain, despite all our theorizing. overview in the first section, taylor’s and murdoch’s phenomenologies of value are outlined. taylor introduces a distinction between procedural and substantive reasoning. the former is the model of practical reason enshrined in contemporary naturalist ethics, which locates value exclusively in mental states or in properties of acts. instead, taylor follows murdoch by arguing in favour of a view of moral reasoning as substantive, which, unlike procedural reason, is contentful. substantive reason goes beyond an analysis of formal action procedures in its striving to identify those goods that are the proper objects of love and that empower the self, qua creative agency, in its pursuit of realization. i show that if taylor’s view of practical reasoning as substantive is correct, then morality, by concerning itself with the proper relation between self and the rest of reality, implicates us in the metaphysics of self and value. the second section offers an overview of taylor’s arguments for the conceptual priority of the first-person stance. in particular, i examine the dual role his “best account” (ba) principle plays in both his phenomenological analysis of the structure of value judgments and in his ontological argument for the insufficiency of naturalism as a theory of self and of value. i then explore how the ba principle, by revealing the superiority of a model of substantive reason over the procedural model of naturalist ethics, implicitly commits taylor to ontologically-grounded value distinctions. the third section highlights the gap that remains in taylor’s account between phenomenological and ontological arguments for the objectivity of values. in particular, i support michiel meijer’s claim that taylor’s transcendental arguments may tell us what the best account of experience might be, but they are not by themselves guides to the objective features of the world. therefore, they cannot be used to determine whether values are ineliminable in a metaphysics of self. if meijer is correct, taylor cannot legitimately use his ba principle as a criterion by which to evaluate ontologies. 6 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 i ultimately agree with meijer that taylor needs something more than just transcendental arguments if he is to escape both the closed circle of post-kantian subjectivism and the incoherence of current naturalist accounts. the fourth section proposes what that “something more” might look like. i show how donald walhout’s phenomenology of moral judgment complements taylor’s own but does so while making its ontological commitments more fully explicit. ultimately, walhout’s discussion of value as the realization of a being’s characteristic function provides us with a plausible metaphysics of taylor’s substantive reason. it also provides us with the basis for conceiving what a first-person naturalism that satisfies taylor’s best account principle might look like. 1. what is value, anyway?: taylor’s and murdoch’s phenomenology of value judgment since values are known first through experience, “a phenomenological account of identity” is the proper method for the study of value (taylor, 1989, p. 32). taylor argues that contemporary naturalist moral philosophy operates with a flawed procedural model of practical reason that sees moral reasoning as a set of formal action procedures. and yet, surely, as taylor points out, the procedural question of “what it is right to do” logically depends on the answer to the substantive question of “what it is good to be” (1989, p. 79). this is because determining the content of obligation presupposes a prior answer to the question concerning what the good life considered as a whole might be, since it is through reference to such a view that we can evaluate the relative moral priority of our various obligations. as such, it is the latter domain of substantive reasoning that forms the more basic, as well as the more comprehensive, category of moral deliberation. what’s missing in naturalist understandings of practical reason, then, is any notion of “what it may be good (or even obligatory) to be or love” (taylor, 1989, p. 79). in order to recover a notion of moral value that makes sense of our experience, we need: i) a vision of the good life, which displays how the good person is related to reality, ii) a notion of intrinsically valuable being (“what is valuable in itself, or what we should admire or love”), and iii) a determination of the proper objects we cannot but make reference to in our striving to realization, since striving doesn’t occur in an ontological vacuum, but is motivated by a relation to something beyond the self (i.e., the self’s “objects of love and allegiance”) (taylor, 1989, p. 84, 79). the issue is that the procedural view shows a bias towards identifying value with action considered in just such an ontological vacuum. “good” and “bad” are on this view supposed to be properties that attach to actions considered without reference to being, either the being of the actor, or that of the acted-upon. instead, taylor argues that moral judgments presuppose ontological determinations. he points out that the analysis of action as the exclusive place of value presupposes the larger background understandings of being that form the enabling context of action, which taylor calls our “background pictures.” a background picture is “the moral ontology which articulates [our] intuitions” (taylor, 1989, p. 8). in order to act, we implicitly draw on a moral ontology that situates us in being by presenting us with a systematic view of the world that places us in it as moral agents. this ontology specifies the nature of the relation that we adopt towards being in any given action (taylor, 1989, pp. 5, 9). moreover, a background picture is an “inescapable framework” or horizon within which our lives can be seen as a meaningful whole (taylor, 1989, p. 17). taylor describes “acting within a framework as functioning with a ‘sense’ of a qualitative distinction” (p. 21). defining what it is to act in terms of functioning with a background understanding of qualitative distinctions, where qualitative distinctions are taken to be “defining orientations,” suggests that a value orientation is constitutive of agency (taylor, 1989, p. 41). a framework of qualitative distinctions then is a condition for the possibility of agency. a framework can thus be described as a first-personal view of 7 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 existence from the standpoint of value. to be an agent, on this view, is to navigate being through an orientation to value. the crucial point is that all moral reactions are “implicit acknowledgments of claims concerning their objects” (taylor, 1989, p. 7). moral judgments, as well as value judgments generally, involve an orientation to mind-independent features of the object, the latter of which constrain the range of our possible evaluations, as we saw in the example of aesthetic perception. taylor calls the capacity for qualitative distinctions that lies at the basis of these judgments “strong evaluation.” strong evaluations are “discriminations of right or wrong, better or worse, higher or lower, which are not rendered valid by our own desires, inclinations, or choices, but rather stand independent of these and offer standards by which they can be judged” (taylor, 1989, p. 4). because we experience these goods as being true independently of our mental states, they act as independent, objective reference points that allow us to evaluate the worth of our subjective states. we judge the goods disclosed by strong evaluation as “incomparable” in the sense that they do not admit of degree: they are “not just more desirable, in the same sense though to a greater degree, than some of these ordinary goods are” (taylor, 1989, p. 20). instead, they are implicitly accorded “special status” in our reasoning around which all else is organized (taylor, 1989, p. 20). value judgments are not just some epiphenomenal side-issue, then: they are at the heart of reasoning in its practical modality. the immediate object of practical reason is what taylor calls a “constitutive good”: the constitutive good does more than just define the content of the moral theory. love of it is what empowers us to be good. and hence also loving it is part of what it is to be a good human being. this is now part of the content of the moral theory as well, which includes injunctions not only to act in certain ways and to exhibit certain moral qualities but also to love what is good (1989, p. 93). a value, so understood, is the shape of the real for us, as an object of love and striving. now we are in a position to understand the meaning of taylor’s poignant phrase, “sources of the self.” constitutive goods are the sources of the self insofar as they provide our experience with content and directionality. it is because of this that they can, i would argue, be understood as the ultimate objects of intentionality. we first pick out the real as a value for us. if taylor is right, value is the real seen from the first-person stance of the subject. moreover, strong evaluation is a condition for the possibility of self-knowledge. taylor makes the radical claim that strong evaluation is not only a core part of moral reason, but also the instrument that makes possible the twin processes of self-knowledge and self-construction: to know who i am is a species of knowing where i stand. my identity is defined by the commitments and identifications which provide the frame or horizon within which i can try to determine from case to case what is good, or valuable, or what ought to be done, or what i endorse or oppose. in other words, it is the horizon within which i am capable of taking a stand. (taylor, 1989, p. 27) thus, to know who i am is to identify my characteristic orientation to those regions of being that i register as constitutive goods. this relation to the good just is the individuating principle of selves, in taylor’s view. the spatial metaphors in such passages imply the situatedness and involvement of selves with being, even in their most intimate acts of self-knowing. the fact that identity is “defined” only within a “horizon” within which qualitative distinctions of what ought to be endorsed or opposed suggests that there is an inextricable link between the process of identity formation and the process of moral judgment. “selfhood and the good, or in another way selfhood and morality, turn out to be inextricably intertwined” (taylor, 1989, p. 3). to be a self is to affirm a position in 8 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 what taylor calls “moral space” (p. 25). thus, because self-knowledge is intrinsically a process of orientation to being, it is impossible without qualitative distinctions of being. the process of self-knowledge involves the articulation of a narrative structure that traces my trajectory towards the strongly valued good that explains the direction i see my life taking. a narrative answers the question of who i am by making explicit my relation to the good at different points in my life (taylor, 1989, p. 47). i find out where i am in my life by plotting my movement either towards, or away from, the good that i recognize as binding on me. suppose that the goal that would give my experience meaning would be to learn as much as i can about the subject that i am most passionate about. suppose also that doing this requires that i go against the grain of my lazy nature, tempted, as it is, to cut corners whenever possible. further, suppose that my cutting corners, while keeping me from genuine understanding, would nonetheless produce work whose deficits are not noticed by others and that therefore would not be penalized, not even in the long run. one could say that cutting corners pays in such cases, as far as any merely external measures (pragmatic, social) can say. nevertheless, there is still something available to me in such cases that directs me in evaluating my situation when all external measures, of the kind that naturalists rely on, fail. in other words, i still know that i am somehow cheating myself by cutting corners, even when it makes no externally observable difference to do so. i know this because understanding is for me a constitutive good that is not merely defined according to contingent, social, pragmatic, or even (my own) subjective measures. rather, the content of the goal, “genuine understanding,” is fixed for me in a way that other such extrinsic measures are not. hence, to know who and where i am in my life at any given moment, i implicitly position myself in relation to the goods, such as understanding, that i recognize as constraints on my possible range of actions. i progressively begin to see my life as a whole, structured around the goal of understanding. i determine how i am doing by measuring the distance between where i am (lacking in understanding) and where i ought to be (an epistemically complete agent). taylor’s point is that, without reference to such goods, we cannot make sense of the narrative shape and direction that our lives actually take. we understand who and where we are in our lives in relation to the absolute reference point of a constitutive good (taylor, 1989, p. 47). ultimately, life stories map out positions in moral space. thus, explaining how life stories are possible ontologically commits us to the existence of the moral space that alone grounds them. an adequate moral ontology must make this implicit reference explicit. taylor’s analysis here of the normative structure of reason displays its indebtedness both to iris murdoch and to kant. in the sovereignty of good (1986), murdoch showed that moral concepts are unlike empirical concepts in that they are synthetic a priori1 truths that are best analyzed as ideal limits against which we measure our progress and activity in experience (p. 28). unlike empirical concepts, they cannot be accounted for in terms of a genetic analysis that reveals their psychological, causal history. on her view, a value term can best be understood as “an ideal end-point, as a concept infinitely to be learned, as an individual object of love” (murdoch, 1986, p. 29). murdoch (1986) ultimately argues for a kantian view of reason as intrinsically normative: “reason itself is (for kant) an ideal limit: indeed his term ‘idea of reason’ expresses precisely that endless aspiration to perfection which is characteristic of moral activity” (p. 31). in her view, “the magnetic pull of the idea of perfection,” or of the intrinsically good, is a central regulative standard of practical 1in kant’s terminology in the critique of pure reason, synthetic a priori judgments are synthetic by virtue of the fact that their predicate is not logically contained in the subject, and are a priori because they are known independently of experience. murdoch claims that value judgments are a class of synthetic a priori judgments that have a regulative use by providing stable coordinates to which we refer as we actively organize our experience into a unified whole. the fact that value judgments are both synthetic a priori and regulative implies that their meaning is not dependent on any empirical facts that we could come upon. no empirical facts could fix the content of the proposition “understanding is a supreme value of human life.” 9 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 reason, in the sense that it is only by this idea that we can conceive of our experience as a coherent whole (p. 43). as we saw above in the example concerning the pursuit of understanding, thinking according to value concepts helps us achieve a unity that is otherwise missing in our lives (p. 94). altogether, murdoch (1986) rightly points out that this analysis of value concepts as ideal limits “bring[s] the idea of value, which has been driven by science and logic into a corner, back to cover the whole field of knowledge” (pp. 29-30). thus it is that “moral concepts do not move about within a hard world set up by science and logic. they set up, for different purposes, a different world” (murdoch, 1986, p. 28). the world they set up is the world of experience, in which reality is first known as a value for the self. “‘reality’ and ‘individual’ present themselves to us in moral contexts as ideal end-points or ideas of reason. this surely is the place where the concept of good lives. ‘good’: ‘real’: ‘love.’ these words are closely connected,” writes murdoch (p. 42). in this view, goodness is connected with knowledge, and moral judgments are of reality. they are contentful, rather than formal. however, in the moral sphere, “knowledge,” “truth,” and “reality” acquire a different sense than they do in the scientific sphere. for murdoch (1986), “the idea of ‘objective reality’ for instance, undergoes important modifications when it is to be understood, not in relation to ‘the world described by science’, but in relation to the progressing life of a person” (p. 26). the upshot for murdoch, as for taylor, is that moral knowledge is finding in the real “the proper object[s] of love” (1986, p. 68) and striving. if murdoch is right, the taking up of a moral perspective is an inextricable part of what it means to really understand the world. if taylor’s and murdoch’s analyses of the phenomenology of value judgment are correct, the model of procedural reason that naturalist ethics operates with provides an underdetermined account of practical reasoning that fails to explain its implicit reliance on a background ontology of value. if acting implies functioning with an implicit ontology of value, then any ethics that takes a view of reasoning that denies this fact cannot in principle get us at the whole truth about either agents (as acting selves) or values (as the intentional correlates of acts). ultimately, taylor’s model of substantive reason, together with his rethinking of the concept of moral value as a constitutive good that is contentful and empowering rather than merely formal and procedural, suggests that we cannot separate ethics from metaphysics. this is because ethics asks questions about the true nature of self, about the conditions of self-realization, and about the kind of relation to the real that sustains self-realization and the good life. the problem, as we shall see in part 2, is that there is no place for either substantive reason or for its qualitative distinctions in contemporary naturalist ontology. our naturalist paradigm accounts for reality as an object of theoretical study, but lacks the conceptual resources for displaying such a reality as a fit “object of love” and striving. failing to account for the real as an adequate bearer of the qualitative distinctions without which we cannot make sense of our lives means that there is a split between the theoretical explanation of natural science, on the one hand, and the kind of knowing by which we shape our lives into a coherent whole, on the other. a seemingly unbridgeable gap between these two rational modalities of explaining and evaluating remains, and we are left with an ontology without any place for the self as we live it. using taylor’s analysis, we can reformulate the challenge for value realism today as being one of explaining the place of substantive reason in the world. moreover, we must somehow make sense of constitutive goods as being both objectively-binding constraints on experience, and mind-independent. the answer is found in a first-personal naturalism. 10 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 2. putting the first-person first: strong evaluation and the arguments against naturalism as we saw above, identifying moral value with the good life, together with the various kinds of objectively-grounded qualitative determinations of being that that identification entails, means that neither value theory, nor any account of the self as moral subject, can do without metaphysics. moreover, murdoch’s and taylor’s phenomenological analyses have revealed that value terms are “inescapable structural requirements of human agency” (taylor, 1989, p. 52). thus, we cannot think of value without self, or of self without value. what this part shows is that we must begin to look for the ontological grounding of value in the ontology of the first-person, subjective perspective. i do this by looking at taylor’s arguments that phenomenology ought to be seen as a constraint on ontology. as we saw above, all moral judgments are implicit affirmations of a background ontology. this being so, the challenge for us is to make our implicit moral ontologies explicit, and to then see which ones offer the best explanation of experience. taylor introduces what he calls the “best account” (ba) principle as a criterion for evaluating the phenomenological consistency of various ontologies of self and value. the principle states that phenomenological adequacy must be a central criterion for evaluating the truth of ontologies. this to say that any ontology must be able to place us, as we recognize ourselves in our experience, on the map of “what there is” if it is to be able to guide our life practice. hence, taylor (1989) argues the aim of this account is to examine how we actually make sense of our lives, and to draw the limits of the conceivable from our knowledge of what we actually do when we do so. but what description of human possibilities, drawn from some questionable epistemological theories, ought to trump what we can descry from within our practice itself as the limits of our possible ways of making sense of our lives? after all, the ultimate basis for accepting any of these theories is precisely that they make better sense of us than do their rivals. if any view takes us right across the boundary and defines as normal or possible a human life which we would find incomprehensible and pathological, it can’t be right. (p. 32) according to the ba principle, those concepts without which we cannot make sense of our lives should set our priorities in determining the order of ontological explanation. thus, ontology does not only have the theoretical function of grounding science. it must also make sense of the form of experience as we cannot help but live it. in this sense, taylor denies that we can ever take experience just as an object for theorizing. rather, it is a continuum of interchanges with our world, one in which we are always inextricably involved. taylor here draws on a distinction between theoretical and existential knowing familiar to existentialists such as tillich. the former characterizes reality (including that of self and value) as an object that we can view from a perspective built on abstraction. the latter discloses reality only insofar the self is “involved” with it, or stands in relation to it (tillich, 1952, pp. 123-124). the ba principle merely states that there must be no conflict between the two in a complete ontology. where we must choose between the one and the other, we must never choose in favour of theoretical over existential knowledge of the self. ultimately, the ba principle establishes “that the horizons in which we live must include strong qualitative discriminations” (taylor, 1989, p. 32) and that naturalist ontologies of self and value are false due to their failure to account for this fact. taylor thus uses this phenomenological principle in exposing the gap in naturalist ontology where self and value should be. in particular, the principle forms the basis of three main arguments against naturalist ontology. first, he uses it to show that the naturalist assumption of a value-neutral stance fails to account for the moral phenomenology 11 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 of a functioning human subject and is, as such, conceptually incoherent. second, naturalism, like procedural theories of practical reason, implicitly presupposes the strong evaluation view that it explicitly refutes. finally, naturalism leaves an unbridgeable gap between theoretical and existential knowing that fails to account for practical reason as an ontologically-situated activity. first, taylor argues that naturalism, in seeking to expunge value from ontology, creates a conceptually incoherent stance. this is because the naturalist is implicitly committed to the conceptually incoherent fiction of a “superman of disengaged objectification” (taylor, 1989, p. 27). that is, if the naturalist value-free ontology is right, it must be possible to conceive of “an agent free from all frameworks” or what taylor calls a “disengaged, punctual” subject who is defined merely by self-consciousness and by its contingent collection of mental states (taylor, 1989, p. 27). recall that taylor has shown that the primary way that the real is given to the self is as a value with which the self is involved in the making of its life story. this shows that frameworks are conditions for the possibility of subjectivity, and that, as such, they form an integral part of the structure of the first-person stance. as taylor (1989) puts it, “living within such strongly qualified horizons is constitutive of human agency, [such] that stepping outside these limits [as naturalism asks us to do] would be tantamount to stepping outside what we would recognize as integral, that is, undamaged human personhood” (p. 27). the self, as conceived by the naturalist, cannot function as a human subject. the naturalist’s “superman of disengaged objectification” (taylor, 1989, p. 27) then, is an unrealizable fiction. the trouble is that the naturalist picture sees the self as an object, whereas the fact that “the self is crucially an object of significance to itself” (taylor, 1989, p. 49) is a basic requirement of self-consciousness. hence, the self cannot be defined in neutral terms (that is, outside a framework of questions about the good) as an object in causal relations to other objects. this implies that the self cannot be captured in an explicit description, as objects can. nor can the self be considered apart from its meaning to itself (taylor, 1989, pp. 33-34). taylor’s point here recalls tillich’s (1952) view that “you must participate in a self in order to know what it is” (p. 124). that the self is not an object suggests that the methods of natural science alone could not exhaustively account for the self. (taylor, 1989, p. 34) moreover, “the issue of identity is for us invariably a matter of strongly valued good” since “an identity is something that one ought to be true to, can fail to uphold, can surrender when one ought to” (taylor, 1989, p. 30). identity, then, is an essentially normative concept. hence, the naturalist supposition that we can answer the question of who we are through reference to our contingent psychological states and preferences is “incoherent” (taylor, 1989, p. 30). thus, the naturalist postulate of a value-neutral stance is conceptually incoherent because it violates the ba principle. second, naturalists cannot help but cover up the explanatory deficits of their view by implicitly importing content from the first-person stance that their third-person, objective methodologies explicitly reject. naturalist ontologies, which operate with a procedural model of reason, assume a value ontology that is more robust than the officially admitted view. moreover, if taylor is right and practical reasoning really cannot function without qualitative distinctions grounded in an encounter with being, naturalists cannot help but presuppose the qualitative distinctions they cannot explain (1989, p. 30). for instance, taylor (1989) shows how the continued commitment to human rights of naturalist theorists presupposes a commitment to the constitutive good of intrinsic human dignity that gives the concept of rights its content (pp. 11-13). in this way, an implicit commitment to objective, intrinsic values continues to give content to theories and to empower practice, even when theories explicitly deny the existence of such values. taylor (1989) concludes that “there is a great deal of motivated suppression of moral ontology among our contemporaries,” a suppression that ultimately leads to a false self-understanding and to the “pragmatic self-contradiction” of presupposing in practice terms our theories deny (p. 10). ultimately, the naturalist “lives within 12 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 a moral horizon which cannot be explicated by his own moral theory” (taylor, 1989, pp. 31-32). the conceptual ineliminability of value distinctions ought to be more problematic for the naturalist. in fact, it reveals the conceptual priority of the first-person perspective from which values become intelligible to us. the theories that explicitly deny substantive reason thus implicitly affirm it by their failure to do without it in articulating their own alternative view. lastly, naturalism fails to supply an ontology that serves us both in our life uses and in theoretical explanation. if the practices by which we make sense of our lives presuppose qualitative distinctions and naturalism denies their possibility, it leaves a divide between theory and the kinds of everyday understandings by which we give shape and meaning to our experience. thus, naturalist ontologies of self and value fall afoul of the ba principle and lead to a false self-understanding that fails to explain the existential order of knowing by which we live our lives. if the naturalist should ask why he should accept the conclusion of this phenomenological analysis as decisive for ontology, taylor (1989) answers that it is because “this is not only a phenomenological account but an exploration of the limits of the conceivable in human life, an account of its ‘transcendental conditions”’ (p. 32). taylor makes disregarding the ba principle, and therefore the lessons of phenomenology, a logical fallacy. 3. the problematic leap from phenomenology to ontology so far, taylor has shown naturalist, procedural models of practical reason to be implausible accounts of self and value. he has used the best account principle as the basis for his argument for the superior explanatory power of his own model of substantive reason. however, michiel meijer (2014) has persuasively argued that while taylor’s transcendental arguments help him to ground values as structural requirements of well-functioning human subjectivity, “at the level of transcendental justification, taylor is open to the charge that philosophical anthropology and moral phenomenology are just not the right methods to use in defense of ontological claims” (p. 452). meijer argues that taylor has failed to argue for the unity that underlies and justifies his “hybrid methodology.” he goes on to suggest that taylor’s view evinces “an overly broad or relaxed notion of ontology (that) conceals the fundamental tension between the subjective and the objective” (p. 451). meijer’s objection is premised on a sharp ontological divide between the subjective and objective domains. from this premise, he goes on to argue that since transcendental arguments are anchored in human experience, it must also be clear that ontological questions lie beyond their scope. this implies that, in his critique of naturalism, taylor himself cannot get away from the qualitative discontinuity between morality and ontology. (meijer, 2014, p. 450) i would argue that meijer is correct in identifying this overreliance on transcendental arguments as the great weakness in taylor’s account. moreover, i do not think that the gap in taylor’s argument can be filled even if we deny meijer’s premise that there is a divide between the subjective and the objective domains. this is because taylor’s own account makes a distinction between the moment of creation and that of discovery within value judgments. this implies a distinction between the subjective (created) and objective (discovered) features of these judgments. on the one hand, creation takes the upper hand: we find the sense of life through articulating it. and moderns have become acutely aware of how much sense being there for us depends on our own powers of articulation. discovering here depends on, is interwoven with, inventing. (taylor, 1989, p. 18) 13 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 on the other hand, constitutive goods are objective constraints that are there to be discovered. thus, in moral space, one orients oneself in a space which exists independently of one’s success or failure in finding one’s bearing, which, moreover, makes the task of finding these bearings inescapable. (taylor, 1989, p. 30) this distinction between the created and discovered features of judgments secures a mind-independent constraint on possible evaluation. for instance, if values were creations, we would have to say that child marriage is good or bad only in relation to a given individual’s or culture’s perspective. on this view, there is no perspective above culture or individual subjectivity that we could take in criticizing a given culture’s ascription of positive value to such practices. a culture’s say-so makes it so. and yet, this consequence deeply distorts a key feature of the phenomenology of value judgment, and namely the fact that the properties it discloses exist “independently of one’s success or failure in finding one’s bearing” (taylor, 1989, p. 30) in relation to them. it is possible for us to fail to recognize the intrinsic worth of girls, just as it is possible to fail to constrain our behaviour according to this recognition by giving them the freedom to develop their potential before marriage. as we have seen, it is in part their very mind-independence that makes constitutive goods meaningful. part of their meaning stems from the fact that they provide stable points of reference that do not shift as our subjective assessments or social-pragmatic contexts invariably do. instead, they anchor such assessments to real features that are meaningful because they are constraints on the self’s possible movements. this could only make sense if we take seriously the claim that there is a “discovery” component to value judgment over and above any creativity it might involve. nor can we explain these objective constraints in terms of the structure of practical reason alone, as a perspective-relativist reading of murdoch’s notion of value terms as “ideal limits” might suggest. this is because the applicability of these ideal limits in a given case presupposes our ability to discern the value properties of situations. thus, the principle of respect for human dignity as an ideal limit in the child marriage case presupposes my ability to recognize a given child as having the property of dignity. the appropriate application of the principle presupposes the accurate recognition of the intrinsic properties of the situation. but if taylor’s analysis presupposes the distinction between creation and discovery, and thus between the subjective and the objective moments of value judgment, then he owes us an account of what exactly bridges the gap between the two. meijer is right to suggest that he fails to provide it. below i explore a possible reconstruction of how the transcendental arguments of both taylor and murdoch can be supplemented with a metaphysical account, and hopefully show how the gap between phenomenology and ontology can be filled. 4. the phenomenology of value as the ontology of self-realization donald walhout’s work the good and the realm of values shows how the distinct methods of phenomenology, the ontology of self, and value theory converge on the aristotelian notion of function, where function is defined as the activity in which the characteristic mode of being of a given thing finds its highest realization. for instance, the function of an eye is to see, and its good is its ability to realize this characteristic function without impediment (e.g., disease). according to walhout’s perfectivist theory, value consists in the perfection of being that results from realizing one’s characteristic function. like murdoch, he sees perfection, or completion of being, as a central regulative ideal of reason. he argues that this idea of completion is the most general concept of value from which all the other more specialized definitions proposed by the various theories of ethics implicitly derive their content. thus, the utilitarian’s analysis of value in 14 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 terms of utility, the kantian’s in terms of good will, or the naturalist’s in terms of psychological desire states, all implicitly presuppose the more logically primary notion of value as completion, fulfillment, or realization of being. as we shall see, by defining value in terms of function, which is arguably a core feature of all beings (since we individuate all things in terms of the functions they perform), walhout successfully bridges the disparate domains of the firstand third-personal, the evaluative and the descriptive, being and value. in so doing, walhout’s constructive metaphysics fills the gap in taylor’s account between the subjective and the objective dimensions of value judgment, or between value as creation and value as discovery. i show in this section how the conceptual unity underlying taylor’s “hybrid methodology,” as meijer called it, can be revealed on the basis of such a constructive metaphysics. ultimately, walhout’s discussion of value as functional realization makes explicit what the metaphysical underpinnings of the best account of our experience might look like. i start with a description of walhout’s phenomenology, and i then trace more of its commonalities with taylor’s and murdoch’s accounts. finally, i try to show how we can move from phenomenological descriptions to an analysis of the ontological commitments that these descriptions imply through the concept of functional realization. walhout sees need as a unifying concept for value theory. in his view, any successful moral philosophy is built on an adequate account of the needs that drive us. he formulates the concept of ontological needs, which, in contradistinction with contingent, psychological needs and desires, belong to us by virtue of our nature, and thereby serve to guide us to the realization of this nature in a way that our contingent, often self-destructive desires do not. ontological needs are reliable guides to the characteristic functioning of the self. the structure of these needs discloses facts about human nature and about its most fundamental relation to the rest of being. for example, the need for growth to a state that fully expresses a creature’s characteristic form is an ontological need common to all living things. similarly, as we saw in section 1, the need to unify experience into a coherent perspective or story might be classed as an ontological need. one might add that the need to express the image of the whole of which one is a part according to the constraints provided by one’s starting point as a finite being is a fundamental ontological need. walhout argues that two fundamental needs drive the self in all acts of valuation: the need for completion, which is born of our experience of our finitude and lack, and the need to exercise our capacity for spontaneous acts of creation, or what walhout (1978) calls our need for “variety” (pp. 40-43). the most basic ontological need of finite beings is the need for completion. thus, the first ground of evaluation is our experience of insufficiency, lack, and need. according to walhout, the phenomenology of value shows experience to be a striving for completion that springs from our awareness of our finitude and of the precariousness that characterizes any finite, contingent condition. this experience generates in us a desire for completion that acts as a structuring principle of consciousness. one could say that this striving for completion is exhibited by the structure of intentionality itself, as a perpetual tending-to, and as a restless striving to attain an object that only provisionally brings the mental act to completion, only to have that provisional unity unravelled again as consciousness moves on in search of another encounter with another object. any moment of experience is an unstable resting point for consciousness. the present moment is never experienced as a sufficiency unto itself. in william barrett’s (1979) poignant phrase, “since consciousness points beyond itself, it is in its very being a self-transcendence” (p. 132). all intentionality is in this way a self-transcending activity that is intrinsically aimed at completion. values are, on walhout’s view, the response of the whole subject to the whole of being according to the subject’s innermost need for completion. the experience of the chasm that lies between the incomplete, fragmentary beings that we are and the realized beings that we recognize that we ought to be is, according to walhout, the mainspring of morality and of value experience generally. this experience of incompleteness reveals 15 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 an ontological divide between, on the one hand, the actual, psychological self, and on the other, what walhout calls the “essential” self, which is the pattern of the properly functioning self and the source of ontological needs. on murdoch’s analysis, we could say that the former is a given in experience, while the latter remains a regulative ideal of reason by which we evaluate our experience. thus, our experience in its most basic moments is characterized by the nagging sense that “here i am; yonder is my real self” (walhout, 1978, p. 62). our goal in action is so to relate to being as to bridge the gap between the two selves. if walhout is right, then the motivating source of value judgment is the recognition of what i would call the “two self” distinction between the empirical subject and the essential self that directs practical reason to its realization. recall that for taylor, i determine who i am by measuring the distance between my actual, imperfect, and fragmentary experience against a constitutive good that i implicitly recognize as defining an ideal of completeness that is greater than the one that i have attained (see section 1). i can only measure the imperfection that i am by referring to an object that exhibits greater completeness than i do. for taylor, as for walhout, since i can only define my actual self in reference to the essential self that pulls me to its realization, i know that my actual, empirical self is less real to me than is the ideal held up by my essential, yet-to-be-realized self. the regulative ideal of completion without which i cannot reason about my condition infinitely recedes from me the closer that i progress toward it. the need for completion exhibited by a self-transcending finitude shows one reason why we value things. we value things because it is only by finding the right way of relating ourselves to them that we are delivered to our own possible completion as beings (walhout, 1978, p. 43). value judgments point us to those aspects of being that fill the existential deficiency experienced by the self, thereby completing and fulfilling our being. using walhout’s terminology, we could say that intentionality relates us to being as a perficiens. walhout (1978) calls a perficiens “any entity which contributes to the fulfillment or perfection of another entity” (p. 16). as such, a perficiens is the objective support of valuational activity. i would argue that walhout’s perficiens is the metaphysical correlate of taylor’s constitutive good. i judge constitutive goods to be fit objects of love and allegiance by which i can direct my actions, my strivings, and my becomings, so that i may more fully be, because they exhibit a completeness that i lack. while the need for completion is grounded in our being insofar as it is subject to necessity, the second basic ground of evaluation, the need for creative action, stems from our being insofar as it is free. this second “need” involves us more fully as active agents and as creators of the shape of our lives. notice that the concept of function played a central role in structuring the phenomenological account. what moves us in experience is the striving for completion, and completeness is defined as the ability of a given entity to act according to its characteristic function. however, the notion of function is not only central to the first-personal, phenomenological account. it is also central to the ontological account of the objective constraints of value judgments that make sense of our claims that we discover, rather than merely create, values. value judgments are grounded in being if “they pick out structure and function in the world. structure and function are what exhibit perfection of being” (walhout, 1978, p. 206). moreover, “function relates the world more immediately to purposive worth, which often seems random and inexplicable” (walhout, 1978, p. 210). function, then, describes not merely the formal features of a thing and is not restricted to characterizing its causal role in a larger system defined by external causal relations. rather, it is the ontic ground of our judgments of value by virtue of its intrinsic purposiveness. in this account, value is a property of our intentional relations as subjects to objective functional features in the world. walhout’s analysis of value in terms of function helps account for the mind-independent goods that taylor was concerned to cover with his notion of strong evaluation. this is because values, as fulfillments of function, cannot exist solely as mental states. fulfillments are objective. this implies that i can 16 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 believe that i am fulfilled, and yet be wrong in my assessment of my condition. consider addiction. the addict’s struggle can be seen as an emblem of the universal conflict between the two selves that power value judgment. my desires, as an addict, lead me to pursue precisely those things that destroy me. what is good for me, then, cannot depend merely on my contingent desires and interests. moreover, as an addict, i can believe that i am fulfilled in getting what i want, and yet fail to be accurate in evaluating my situation. this possibility refutes subjectivism, or any identification of value with subjective states. it also refutes standard naturalist attempts to reduce value to the subject’s contingent projects, desires, or goals. thus, the most comprehensive objective ground of value judgments is objective fulfillment, not conscious liking. value judgments have both a descriptive and a normative character. the descriptive side of value judgments reveals the parameters of objective fulfillment, and whether or not they are met in a given situation. moreover, we can generate norms on the basis of these descriptions (walhout, 1978, p. 57). thus, as we saw above in our analysis of the function of the eye, describing the function of things implicitly involves us in qualitative distinctions that help us to specify the course of their ideal functional development. this explains the normative judgments we ordinarily make when we distinguish between “good” and “bad” functioning. i can know, for instance, that my desires as an addict are functioning badly as reliable guides to value. if this is so, we can find out whether a conscious liking is good or bad by seeing whether it is an ingredient in a situation in which one of our ontological needs is in fact fulfilled. hence, value judgments have both a descriptive and a prescriptive character. moreover, the latter presupposes the former, since function is the object of conscious enjoyment (walhout, 1978, p. 207). as such, there can be no subjective enjoyments without objective fulfillments of function. contrary to much modern moral philosophy, walhout shows that experience is, logically, a secondary category to being. our paradigm has difficulty conceptualizing values as fulfillments because it operates with a thing-centric ontology that has difficulty recognizing relational properties. values, as fulfillments, are properties not of things, but of situations. “value judgments describe or define relational situations in which some objective condition, being, or reality fulfills some existential human need or is the completing object of some variety capacity” (walhout, 1978, p. 56). for instance, interlocutors in a conversation act as one another’s perficiens, since each shapes the other in discourse. the conversation, then, is the fulfillment of the individuals’ function as self-shaping beings by taking them up into a larger pattern. as a relational situation of mutual perfecting of all parties involved, a conversation is the paradigmatic example of a value situation. walhout’s (1978) insistence that “the good is alwaya [...] relational” precludes individualism (p. 167). individuals cannot attain functional realization as atoms in a void. rather, they must relate themselves appropriately to those objects in reality that support their process of self-realization. thus, to complete itself, the individual must occupy the place appropriate to its kind in the greater scheme of things that provides it with the fuel for growth that allows its nature to unfold (walhout, 1978, p. 207). if values are properties of relational situations rather than merely of mental states, then it is no surprise that strong evaluations can pick out non-human goods, as taylor insisted that they must. moreover, it is not only humans that have a being that can be perfected. rather, the value of perfectibility applies to all finite beings. thus, human values must be subsumed under a more generalizable conception of the good as completion of being. because of this, we have no reason to assume, as much modern value theory does, that the good is a property that applies only to human conscious states. and because the concept of value generalizes across all beings by being tied to function, value is not some peripheral issue in ontology. rather, it is an integral component of our best concept of the real. this value theory can form the basis for a truly ecological ethics, as well as for an ecological concept of self. the purpose of this short section has been to provide an introductory sketch of the analysis of 17 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 value in terms of function. for a fuller treatment of this many-faceted topic, as well as for replies to some of the main objections facing the theory, i refer readers to walhout’s book-length treatment. this cursory discussion has, hopefully, shown that the goal of an ontology of value is to identify the objective conditions of fulfillment for any being (walhout, 1978, p. 42). the ultimate value is the state of complete actuality (which corresponds to the traditional concept of absolute being). since no finite being can enjoy such a state, for us, value lies in the reciprocal relation of mutual-fulfillment whereby we find as great a completion as our finite natures allow. values lie also in the acts that relate us appropriately to the rest of being: “the response of the whole self to the whole of reality is relevant to every detail and [...] ultimate fulfillment requires such a response” (walhout, 1978, p. 234). walhout proposes “harmonious perfecting” as the foundational concept of value that comprehends all others. just as the best theory is the one that unifies the most of what we know, so the best act is the one that aims at the good of being conceived as a whole, since it is only through such acts that we can experience an intensification of being that transcends the limitations of the finite self (walhout, 1978, p. 68). value theory thus starts with phenomenology, but culminates in metaphysics because it concerns the best things. our incomplete experience tells us that the best thing for us is not the given, empirical subject we are. rather, it is the subject placed in that relation to the whole that alone can complete it as the individual that it is. conclusion walhout’s analysis of value in terms of function shows a way to fill in the gaps that remain between phenomenology and ontology in taylor’s critique of third-personal naturalism. walhout shows that function is a concept that bridges between the firstand third-person stances, between the subjective and the objective, between the being of selves, as functional units, and value. what this paper attempts to show is that taylor needs more than just transcendental arguments and phenomenological redescription if he is to surmount the incoherence of the currently reigning naturalist account of “frameworkless” selves. that “more” is a systematic metaphysics that can bridge the gap between firstand third-person perspectives by giving an account of the intentional relation in which value originates. ultimately, i argue that walhout (1978) is right to remind us that the central problem of philosophy is determining the nature of the relation between goodness and being (p. 170). ethics, together with any other normative endeavour such as epistemology, presupposes an affirmative answer to this metaphysical question, and, if taylor is right, so does our best phenomenological account of the self. third-personal naturalism cannot ground the affirmation of being as good, according to both taylor and walhout. but, perhaps a first-personal naturalism might. this is a naturalism that takes seriously taylor’s best account principle that states that phenomenology, and in particular moral phenomenology, can and must place constraints on ontology. the first-person stance has both a logical and an ontological priority in any account of self for the reasons given above. moreover, we need a better account of reason that takes seriously the analysis of value concepts as ideal limits that murdoch, taylor, and walhout provide. however the argument for a revised naturalism may turn out in the end, i believe that the discussion above shows that the self is first and foremost a moral agent, not an object of scientific description. this simple observation challenges the heart of the currently reigning ontology of self. 18 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818381 references barrett, w. (1979). the illusion of technique: a search for meaning in a technological civilization. garden city, ny: anchor press/doubleday. meijer, m. (2014). strong evaluation and weak ontology. the predicament of charles taylor. international journal of philosophy and theology, 75(5),440-459.10.1080/21692327.2015.1019913 murdoch, i. (1986). the sovereignty of good. new york, ny: ark paperbacks. taylor, c. (1989). sources of the self. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. tillich, p. (1952). the courage to be. binghampton, ny: yale university press. walhout, d. (1978). the good and the realm of values. london, england: university of notre dame press. 19 what is value, anyway?: taylor's and murdoch's phenomenology of value judgment putting the first-person first: strong evaluation and the arguments against naturalism the problematic leap from phenomenology to ontology the phenomenology of value as the ontology of self-realization the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019688 native enough hailey bird matheson what does it mean to be native enough? i do not “self-identify” i am identified by my family line, my kookum, a bird i am both sides, but my skin is of my father so, i am not enough to walk into ceremony without disgusted looks but not little enough to be untouched by residential school not little enough to be untouched by intergenerational trauma fentanyl not little enough to be untouched by smudge sweat ceremony but not native enough to not be questioned not enough to speak my ancestral tongue i don’t fit the settler’s stereotype but i am still not enough for my own people 7 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 floral longevity and attraction of arctic lupine, lupinus arcticus: implications for pollination efficiency clara reid∗ university of victoria nuligag@gmail.com abstract pollination by insects is a mutualistic relationship in which flowers receive pollen for reproduction while pollinators are rewarded with pollen or nectar. floral longevity (the period an individual flower blooms) and floral attraction (the period during which pollinators are attracted to the flower, often indicated by petal colour) both play prominent roles in plant and pollinator success. this study investigated whether floral longevity and floral attraction were mediated by pollination type in arctic lupine (lupinus arcticus s. wats.), a common herbaceous perennial in northwestern north america. flowers were either open to pollinators, cross-pollinated by hand, or bagged to prevent cross-pollination, and floral longevity, seed set, and flower colour were observed. openand hand-pollinated flowers had significantly shorter floral longevities and higher percent fruit sets than bagged flowers. a colour change of the banner petal marking from white to pink occurred in some flowers and was a signal of floral attraction, as pollinators preferentially visited pre-change flowers. pre-change flowers contained more pollen and were less likely to have been injured by herbivory than post-change flowers, yet the colour change was not related to pollination type or fruit set. pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity is likely an adaptation to limited plant resources and pollinator visitation rates. for l. arcticus, this could be influenced by short growing seasons and low annual temperatures in the study area. in the face of climatic changes and shifting species phenologies, the mediation of floral longevity by pollinators could decrease temporal mismatch between plants and their pollinators, yet the many factors at play make this difficult to accurately predict. keywords: pollination; floral longevity; floral attraction; lupinus arcticus introduction pollination ecology makes critical contributions to our ecological understanding. ecosystemsare being threatened by climate change, among other factors, which is having rapid anddifficult-to-predict effects on plants and pollinators. this is relevant to both agricultural and more natural landscapes in which flowering plants play major structural and functional roles, such as food sources and nutrient cycling. for many angiosperm (flowering plant) species, biotic pollinators (e.g., insects) are required for pollination, a process necessary for plants to reproduce. therefore, ∗i would like to thank my directed studies supervisor dr. brian starzomski for guidance throughout this study and help with editing this manuscript, and for encouraging me to examine the ecosystems i participate in more closely. i am grateful for the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, which facilitated this project. 83 mailto:nuligag@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 understanding the complex relationships between plants and their pollinators can help us decipher how ecosystems are being altered as these species are threatened. floral longevity and attraction play vital roles in the success of pollination, influencing the quantity and quality of pollen a flower receives as well as the rewards it disseminates to pollinators. these elements therefore affect plant reproductive output and pollinator health (abdala-roberts, parra-tabla, & navarro, 2007). pollination is necessary for plants to produce (i.e., set) seed, meaning that seed set can be a measurement of pollination success. floral longevity is defined as the time between opening and senescence of a flower, the senescence being marked by closure, wilting or abscission of petals and sepals. this period varies between several hours to months, depending on the species (fründ, dormann, & tscharntke, 2011; stead, 1992; van doorn, 1997). although floral longevity is closely related to the time in which a flower can be pollinated, further distinction between floral longevity and floral attraction is useful. floral attraction is the period during which a flower is attractive to pollinators (van doorn, 1997). in some plant species, flowers attract pollinators for their entire floral longevity. in contrast, a colour change of perianth parts, conclusion of scent or nectar production, or a change in orientation can mark the end of floral attraction prior to senescence (van doorn, 1997). colour changes in response to pollination have been recorded in over 50 angiosperm (flowering plant) families (stead & reid, 1990; weiss & lamont, 1997), including numerous lupine (lupinus) species (see, for example, schaal & leverich, 1980; wainwright, 1978). pollination has been shown to decrease floral longevity in multiple species, including many orchids (orchidaceae), several lupinus spp., foxgloves (digitalis), petunias (petunia), and carnations (dianthus caryophyllus) (halevy, 1986), and is more common in angiosperms with floral longevities of more than one day (stead, 1992). similarly, pollination can mediate floral attraction (stead, 1992). pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity and attraction is thought to be an adaptation to maximize efficiency of plant-pollinator interactions in the face of resource limitations (schoen & ashman, 1994; stead, 1992; van doorn, 1997). for pollinators, the immediate benefit of pollination is a reward, usually in the form of pollen or nectar (schaal & leverich, 1980). senesced flowers do not provide appreciable rewards and are unlikely to be fertile, so by concluding floral longevity and attraction soon after pollination, plants encourage visitation of well-provisioned fertile flowers (schaal & leverich, 1980). this decreases energy spent by foraging pollinators (nuttman & willmer, 2003). for plants, shortening of floral longevity in response to pollination can minimize floral maintenance costs. blooming flowers expend considerable energy through nectar production, water loss via transpiration, and respiration of flower parts (schoen & ashman, 1994). a flower’s main function is to be pollinated, which leads to fertilization and seed set, so it is energetically advantageous for a flower to senesce soon after receiving and disseminating adequate pollen (proctor & harder, 1995). pollinationinduced shortening of floral longevity and attraction also ensures excess pollen is not deposited on stigmas that have already been pollinated, which would cause pollen wastage and heightened competition between growing pollen tubes (stead, 1992; van doorn, 1997). these arguments suggest that species which are pollen-limited (due to lack of mates, high plant-pollinator specificity, or pollinator scarcity) or energetically limited (due to high transpiration rates or inadequate nutrients) would exhibit pollinator-induced shortening of floral longevity and attraction more strongly (abdalaroberts et al., 2007). this theory is supported by various species, including the white-fringed orchid (platanthera blephariglottis) and dancing-lady orchid (cohniella ascendens), which live in hot climates (thus experiencing high levels of transpiration) and have relatively low pollinator visitation rates (abdala-roberts et al., 2007; schoen & ashman, 1994). the mediation of floral longevity and attraction by pollination in some taxa highlights limitations 84 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 in plant-pollinator systems—limitations that could be worsened by climate change. numerous abiotic factors are being altered in response to changing climatic conditions, which in turn impact the health and phenology of both plants and pollinators (pieper, loewen, gill & johnstone, 2011; straka & starzomski, 2015). one issue of interest is timing mismatch between blooming of flowers and activity of their pollinators (rafferty & ives, 2010; straka & starzomski, 2014), which could strain plant-pollinator interactions already suffering from declining pollinator populations (forrest, 2015). this could negatively affect pollination at the landscape scale. as floral longevity can be mediated by pollination, it is an important factor in plant-pollinator phenological mismatch. in this study, i examined arctic lupine (lupinus arcticus s. wats.) plants for an effect of pollination on floral longevity and floral attraction, the latter being indicated by a colour change. plants were subject to three pollination manipulations: bagged to prevent insect pollination, bagged and cross-pollinated by hand, and open-pollinated. i observed floral development and potential pollinators, and recorded seed set to measure pollination success. this research aims to further explicate the complex plant-pollinator interactions of an important boreal species. although the influence of pollination on floral longevity and attraction has been studied for various lupinus spp., the published literature has not focused on l. arcticus. due to its wide distribution and ecological significance, however, studying l. arcticus provides useful ecological information. lupinus arcticus is an herbaceous perennial endemic to northwestern north america, found from alaska to oregon (pieper et al., 2011). it is mainly pollinated by bees, including bumblebees (bombus spp.) (straka & starzomski, 2015). this plant is also a food source for small mammals, such as arctic ground squirrels (spermophilus parryii) and snowshoe hares (lepus americanus) (willow, tamayo, & jóhannsson, 2017), and improves nutrient availability in soils by fixing nitrogen (sharam & turkington, 2005). in this context, pollen and energetic limitation for l. arcticus could have negative demographic consequences for numerous species, especially in the face of our rapidly changing climate. its widespread distribution makes l. arcticus a potential climate indicator species, reflecting how ecosystems of different latitudes are being affected by climatic changes. given these factors, studying the pollination ecology of l. arcticus benefits our understanding of numerous species and ecosystems across its range. methods study design study site. this study took place at seven sites within a 4 km2 section of boreal forest in whitehorse, yukon, canada (60.61◦ n, 134.99◦ w, elevation 750 m) during june and july of 2018. this forest is comprised of a patchy distribution of white spruce (picea glauca), lodgepole pine (pinus contorta), and trembling aspen (populus tremuloides), and major understory plants include soapberry (shepherdia canadensis), kinnikinnick (arctostaphylos uva-ursi), twinflower (linnaea borealis), and feathermosses. lupinus arcticus was common at all sites. i chose the seven sites to represent the area’s varied vegetation compositions and microclimates to help capture the typical behaviour of l. arcticus in the study area. the locations of sites are shown in figure 1. pollination manipulations. i chose 34 individual l. arcticus plants, about five per study site. i used a paired design, with each plant as one replicate (n = 34) and each plant being exposed to all three pollination treatments. on each plant, i chose three inflorescences (stems of flowers) at similar developmental stages and 85 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 figure 1: study sites were in whitehorse, yukon (above). southern whitehorse is expanded on the right to show the locations of the seven study sites. maps were created using arcmap 10.6.1 (esri, usa, 2018) with data from geomatics yukon (geomatics yukon, yukon, 2019). subjected each to one of the three pollination treatments: bagged, cross-pollinated by hand, and open-pollinated. for the bagged and hand-pollination treatments, i enclosed the inflorescence in a pollinator-exclusion bag prior to blooming. these bags were made of 1 mm mesh, measured approximately 10x20 cm, and were fastened around the inflorescence’s stem with a drawstring to prevent insects (larger than 1 mm in diameter) from accessing the flowers. i did not further manipulate inflorescences in the bagged pollination treatment. for the hand-pollination treatment, i cross-pollinated each flower at least once while in bloom, using pollen from blooming conspecifics 10–30 m from the treated plant. this pollen source was chosen because 10–30 m is a distance likely traveled by pollinators, but is far enough to decrease the chance of applied pollen being genetically similar to the treated plant (since lupinus are known to eject their seeds up to six metres (dunn, 1956)). hand-pollination was done by depressing the wing and keel petals to expose the stigma (figure 2), to which pollen was applied; the same action is done by bees pollinating lupinus (wainwright, 1978). open-pollinated inflorescences remained exposed to natural pollinators and were not hand-pollinated. these three pollination manipulations address the potential reproductive systems of l. arcticus. lupinus arcticus is insect pollinated (straka & starzomski, 2015), in which pollen deposited on a flower’s stigma often originates from a different plant (i.e., cross-pollination). the open-pollination treatment captured this activity, while the hand-pollination treatment provided a base level of guaranteed cross-pollination to compare insect pollination to. since the bagged pollination treatment excluded insect pollinators, any seeds produced would likely be the result of self-pollination. thus, seeds produced in this treatment would suggest that l. arcticus is self-fertile, which has not been confirmed. given the complexity of plant reproductive systems, this study does not seek to determine whether l. arcticus is self-fertile (one consideration is bagged undisturbed vs. bagged self-pollinated flowers, as described, for example, in barrett & helenurm, 1986). 86 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 floral development and seed set. i recorded floral development every two days during peak blooming and approximately every five days while pods matured. at each observation event, i classified the flowers of all treatments into seven stages. these stages are as follows: 1) closed—flower bud is tightly folded against the inflorescence rachis; 2) almost blooming—flower has extended away from the rachis and banner remains folded over wings and keel; 3) starting to bloom—banner petal has partially unfolded; 4) blooming white—banner is fully erect and the centre of the banner is white; 5) blooming pink—banner is fully erect and the centre of the banner is light to dark pink; 6) starting to wilt—one or more petals wilting; and 7) wilted—all petals dried and shrivelled. i further examined flowers in stage seven for pod formation, which was indicated by a swelling ovary. anatomy of l. arcticus is shown in figure 2. to help keep track of individual flowers, inflorescences were divided into vertical tiers, each with approximately five or six flowers. i counted the number of pods per inflorescence and the number of fully developed seeds per pod when pods approached maturity, but before they had split and released their seeds. figure 2: anatomy of a lupinus arcticus plant. a: one plant with multiple inflorescences. b: one inflorescence showing the central stem (rachis) and flowers at various stages of development. c: anatomy of a single flower in bloom showing the keel, wing, and banner petals. the stigma (component of pistil where pollen is deposited) and anthers (component of the stamens containing pollen) are originally located inside the keel petal. depressing the keel and wing petals forces the stigma, anthers, and pollen to emerge from the tip of the keel. this action is done during pollination. further plant characteristics. to determine whether pollinator-exclusion bags affected plant growth, i measured the height of each treated inflorescence on all days that floral development observations were made, until they reached their maximum height. i counted the number of pods per inflorescence for inflorescences that were not treated, but were on treated plants. by comparing this to open-pollinated inflorescences, an effect of handling plants (while examining floral development) on reproductive output could be determined. 87 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 potential pollinator counts. to assess whether flowers in the open-pollination treatment were being pollinated, i observed bumblebees and honeybees (apidae: bombus spp. and apis spp., respectively), other bees (e.g., andrenidae and megachilidae), and hoverflies (syrphidae) while examining floral development. taxa were recorded if they were seen (or heard, in the case of bombus spp.) within approximately 10 m of the plant being observed. furthermore, the plant species being visited by the insects were noted. observation periods were roughly 20 minutes per plant while l. arcticus was in full bloom and less time per plant when pods were maturing. data analysis i analyzed data using both an independent and a paired design. the independent design helped me to visualize data more easily, while the paired design eliminated the effects of inherent differences between plants on response variables. when the data were treated independently, each inflorescence was treated as one replicate. each inflorescence had between 7 and 33 flowers (x = 18.108, sd = 5.157), necessitating the calculation of averages or percentages for each inflorescence to effectively compare replicates. in the paired design, each plant was treated as one replicate. each plant had three inflorescences that were studied, each subject to one of the three pollination treatments. i used one-way anovas or their non-parametric alternatives to analyze floral longevity, seed set, and further plant characteristics data because they are a clear way of determining and visualizing how categorical pollination manipulations—the explanatory variable of focus—affect a numerical response variable. all data were analyzed using minitab version 18.1 (minitab software, usa, 2017). floral longevity. i calculated floral longevity as the total number of days a flower was in development stages 4 (blooming white) and 5 (blooming pink). values were averaged across all flowers within each inflorescence. when i analyzed the mean floral longevity independently of the paired design, i calculated the mean floral longevity for each pollination treatment from the average floral longevities for all inflorescences subject to that treatment and compared these using a one-way anova and tukey-kramer post-hoc test. to preserve the paired design of the study, i analyzed the data by calculating the difference in floral longevity between paired inflorescences (i.e., those on the same plant, but subject to different treatments). this was done for all three treatment pairs: “bagged – open-pollinated,” “bagged – hand-pollinated,” and “open-pollinated – hand-pollinated.” these data did not show major deviations from the assumptions of normality and equal variances, so floral longevity differences for the treatment pairs were compared using a one-way anova and tukey-kramer test. reproductive output. percent fruit set was defined as the percent of flowers that formed pods on a given inflorescence. i analyzed data as independent and paired, using the same methods as described for floral longevity data. for the independent analysis, i compared the mean percent fruit sets with a one-way anova and tukey-kramer test. for the paired analysis, the data were not normally distributed, necessitating a kruskal-wallis test to compare treatment pairs. i then used paired t-tests with significance thresholds of 0.05 to test the null hypothesis that percent fruit set did not differ between pairs of treatment pairs. 88 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 i also calculated the average number of seeds per pod for inflorescences with seed set and compared the mean values for the three pollination treatments using a one-way anova. stages of floral development. i calculated the percent of flowers in a given stage of development by dividing the number of flowers in the given stage by the total number of flowers attached to the inflorescence at that date. this was done for all seven stages of development (closed, almost blooming, starting to bloom, blooming white, blooming pink, starting to wilt, wilted), with the addition of a “pod forming” category (a subdivision of the “wilted” stage). i plotted these data against time and visually examined the plots for patterns. further plant characteristics. i calculated the growth rate of all treated inflorescences as the change in height, in cm/day, for the first 10 or 11 days of observation (during which the maximum height was achieved for most plants). this was used to determine whether growth rate varied significantly between pollination treatments. i calculated differences in growth rate between paired inflorescences in a similar method to floral longevity and percent fruit set analyses and used a one-way anova to compare pollination treatments. the number of pods per inflorescence was further calculated for inflorescences that were on the studied plants, but not subject to pollination treatments. i calculated this average value for each plant and compared it to that of the plant’s open-pollinated inflorescence. i used a paired t-test with a significance threshold of 0.05 to test the null hypothesis that handling plants did not affect their pod production. potential pollinator counts. using data from the entire study duration, i determined the number of pollinator observations for the three following taxa: syrphidae, bombus, and other bees. i further subdivided these categories into observations on l. arcticus and on other plant species. plots of these data were used to qualitatively assess the likelihood that l. arcticus in the open-pollination treatment were insect pollinated. results floral longevity pollination treatment had a significant effect on the average floral longevity of each inflorescence. when data were analyzed as independent (rather than paired), floral longevity for bagged inflorescences was significantly longer than for handand open-pollinated inflorescences (tukey-kramer t = 4.63, p < 0.001 for bagged vs. hand-pollinated; t = 5.33, p < 0.001 for bagged vs. open-pollinated inflorescences). floral longevities of hand and open-pollinated inflorescences were similar (t = 0.71, p = 0.761). a plot of the mean floral longevities is shown in figure 3. the same patterns were revealed when data were analyzed as pairs (in which each data point was the difference in floral longevity between inflorescences that were on the same plant but subject to different pollination treatments). 89 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 figure 3: mean and standard error of floral longevity of flowers on inflorescences subject to three pollination treatments: bagged, hand-pollinated and open-pollination. n = 34 for all treatments. reproductive output pollination affected percent fruit set, but not the number of seeds per fruit. calculations of percent fruit set included inflorescences that did not set any fruit (n = 33 for each treatment). when all inflorescences were treated independently, the percent fruit set was significantly lower for the bagged inflorescences than the handand open-pollinated inflorescences (tukey-kramer t = -4.78, p < 0.001 for bagged vs. hand-pollinated, and t = -3.20, p = 0.005 for bagged vs. open-pollinated inflorescences). percent fruit set was highest for hand-pollinated inflorescences, which was statistically similar to open-pollinated inflorescences (tukey-kramer t = 1.58, p = 0.259). the mean percent fruit sets for each treatment are shown in figure 4. when i analyzed data to preserve the paired study design, a non-parametric kruskal-wallis test gave a significant p-value of 0.022. paired t-tests revealed the same patterns as when data were analyzed as independent. figure 4: mean and standard error of percent fruit sets for the three pollination treatments: bagged, hand-pollinated and open-pollinated. n = 33 for all treatments. 90 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 the average number of seeds per pod was statistically similar between all pollination treatments (one-way anova p = 0.675). these data are shown in figure 5. figure 5: mean and standard error of the number of seeds per pod for the three pollination treatments. data does not include flowers that did not set seed. the pollination treatments are as follows: bagged (n = 5), hand-pollinated (n = 26), open-pollinated (n = 19). stages of floral development i observed that the date flowers began to bloom was similar for all pollination treatments. in all flowers, the banner petal had a white marking at its center when it first opened (floral development stage 4, blooming white), and in some flowers, this banner section turned pink (stage 5, blooming pink) before the flower wilted or fell off. blooming white and blooming pink flowers are shown in figure 2. blooming pink flowers accounted for up to one-third of blooming flowers on a given day, as depicted in figure 6. flowers with either white or pink banner markings were observed setting fruit. additionally, many flowers that did not undergo a colour change wilted without forming fruit. i observed these patterns in all pollination treatments. further plant characteristics i analyzed plant characteristics to determine if handling inflorescences affected their growth rate and pod production. growth rate was not significantly different between inflorescences of the same plant that were subject to different pollination treatments (one-way anova f = 0.31, p = 0.732). the average number of pods per inflorescence was not significantly different between untreated and open-pollinated inflorescences on the same plant (paired t-test t = 0.13, p = 0.896). potential pollinator counts i noted a total of 36 syrphidae, 48 bombus spp., and five other bee taxa during the study (june 14 to july 23) with observations at all study sites (figure 7). i observed four bombus spp. and two other bee individuals pollinating l. arcticus, and 23 syrphidae at l. arcticus, although pollination was not observed for this family. potential pollinators appeared to be most active near noon each day and at temperatures between 15◦ c and 24◦ c. 91 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 figure 6: the percent of flowers that are blooming with a white banner marking (“bloom white,” grey) and a pink banner marking (“bloom pink,” black) over the first 30 days of the study. each plot is for a different pollination treatment. a: bagged, b: hand-pollinated, c: open-pollinated. figure 7: figure 7. the average number of hoverflies (syrphidae), bumblebees (bombus spp.), and other bees (e.g., andrenidae) observed per plant during the study, at each site. observations occurred during ≤20 minutes every two days. 92 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 discussion in this study, i found that floral longevity of lupinus arcticus was mediated by pollination, as bagged flowers had significantly lower percent fruit set (indicating unsuccessful pollination) and significantly longer floral longevities than handand open-pollinated flowers. the period of floral attraction, concluded by a colour change of the banner petal from white to pink, was not influenced by pollination, but likely affects pollinator activity. these results have implications for the efficiency of plant-pollinator interactions and phenological mismatch. with the threats currently facing ecosystems, such as diseases and extreme weather events, the future abundance, distribution, and behaviour of species is uncertain. by revealing pollination processes in the widespread l. arcticus, this study can help predict ecological responses to environmental changes. effects of pollination on floral longevity by comparing floral longevity between pollination treatments, i showed that floral longevity was significantly longer for bagged flowers than those that were cross-pollinated by hand or openpollinated (figure 3). i recorded potential pollinators including bombus spp. and other bees at all sites and observed several of these insects directly pollinating l. arcticus flowers (figure 7). this confirms that flowers in the open-pollination treatment were insect-pollinated. these observations show that outcrossing both by hand and natural pollinators induces a shortening of floral longevity when compared to flowers that are only able to self-pollinate. percent fruit set is a metric of reproductive output and was used to measure pollination success. percent fruit set data confirmed that inflorescences with shorter floral longevities had more successful pollination. conversely, longer floral longevities coincided with less successful pollination. the percent fruit set was significantly lower for bagged inflorescences than those that were hand-pollinated and open-pollinated (figure 4). the low seed set of bagged l. arcticus inflorescences indicates unsuccessful pollination and has previously been observed by straka and starzomski (2015). this may suggest that this species is self-incompatible. it is unlikely that manipulating the inflorescences played a role in these results, since i found inflorescence growth rate to be similar between all treatments. furthermore, i did not find a significant difference in number of pods per inflorescence between inflorescences in the open-pollination treatment and those that were on the same plant but not subject to experimental manipulation. shortening of floral longevity in response to pollination with genetically compatible pollen has previously been described in numerous taxa, including tropical and temperate orchids such as the fairy slipper orchid (calypso bulbosa) (proctor & harder, 1995), digitalis, dianthus caryophyllus (stead, 1992), petunia (halevy, 1986), and, of taxonomic relevance to this study, lupinus nanus (dunn, 1956). the presence of this pattern in l. arcticus confirms the widespread geographical and taxonomic range of this phenomenon. resource and pollinator limitation pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity is thought to be an adaptation to increase efficiency of plant-pollinator interactions, therefore potentially improving the fitness of plants and pollinators. this occurs because the senescence of pollinated flowers directs pollinators towards flowers that are more likely to have rewards (e.g., nutritious pollen) and be reproductively viable (schaal & leverich, 1980; van doorn, 1997). furthermore, senescence of pollinated flowers decreases the energy a plant spends on floral maintenance. these ideas imply that flowers exhibiting pollinationinduced floral senescence are likely limited by abiotic resources, pollen, and/or pollinator visitation (schoen & ashman, 1994). this notion is supported by multiple tropical orchid species, including 93 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 cohniella ascendens (abdala et al., 2007), dendrobium spp. (luangsuwalai, paull, & ketsa, 2013), and platanthera blephariglottis, which frequently have high plant-pollinator specificity (corresponding with low pollination visitation rates) and high floral maintenance costs (due in part to high transpiration rates in hot climates) (schoen & ashman, 1994). this study may provide evidence of limited pollination or plant growth resources in a widespread and ecologically important species. from some perspectives, this seems surprising. lupinus arcticus is common throughout most of its range, including the boreal forest in which this study took place (pieper et al., 2011; sharam & turkington, 2005), so a shortage of mates seems unlikely. further, lupinus spp. are mostly pollinated by bombus spp. (schaal & leverich, 1980; wainwright, 1978), and high-latitude bombus spp. can be active at lower temperatures than many other pollinators (personal observation). these factors decrease the chances of pollen limitation. additionally, l. arcticus fixes nitrogen (sharam & turkington, 2005), so is less likely to have nutrient shortage than coexisting plant species. despite these factors, l. arcticus may face pollination and plant growth limitations. the percent fruit set observed in this study was slightly lower for open-pollinated than hand-pollinated inflorescences (figure 4). this is evidence for pollen-limitation in l. arcticus and is likely the result of limited pollinator activity (rather than mate availability). support for this hypothesis comes from a study of several alpine plant species in the coast mountains of british columbia, which showed that abundance of potential pollinators was weakly correlated with seed set in l. arcticus (straka & starzomski, 2015). the short growing season and permafrost present throughout much of this plant’s range may also decrease availability of temperatures, soil moistures, and nutrient concentrations optimal for this species’ growth (pieper et al., 2011). although a study between 1999 and 2008 in the alpine near whitehorse, yukon revealed that vegetative growth of l. arcticus was resilient to temperature fluctuations, number of inflorescences per plant was significantly correlated with number of days per season above 5◦ c (pieper et al., 2011). similarly, straka and starzomski (2015) found that temperature was a weak predictor of l. arcticus seed set in a coast mountains population. it would be interesting to see if pollination-limitation and a relationship between pollination and floral longevity exists in other populations across this species’ range. if so, these limitations could be altering ecosystems by changing the extent and behaviour of l. arcticus and therefore its competitors, influencing species such as herbivores that depend upon them. plant physiology behind floral senescence the method by which pollination causes floral senescence has been closely studied in numerous species (halevy, 1986; luangsuwalai et al., 2013; stead, 1992; stead & reid, 1990; van doorn, 1997). ethylene, produced at the highest rate in the pistil shortly after pollination, is largely thought to cause the wilting and colour changes observed in perianth parts in species including lupinus albifrons (stead & reid, 1990). the method by which pollination signals ethylene production has not been confirmed, but may include damage to nectaries by pollinating insects (stead, 1992), pollen germination, or growth of pollen tubes in the style (nuttman & willmer, 2003). since hand-pollinated flowers in this study showed similar floral longevities to open-pollinated flowers, it is assumed that hand-pollination induced these processes in the same way as natural pollination. colour change and floral attraction in this study, i observed that almost all l. arcticus flowers had a white mark in the centre of the banner petal upon opening, and that this turned pink in some flowers (figure 2). i did not find a relationship between colour change and pollination treatment or fruit set. this suggests that 94 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 in l. arcticus, colour change is independent of pollination and does not always occur with floral maturation. this could be expected, given the diversity of lupinus species. for lupinus flowers, the banner marking often changes colour, but predictors of this vary. much like pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity, pollination (and ethylene production) has been correlated with colour changes in lupinus albifrons (stead & reid, 1990), l. pilosus (ne’eman and nesher, 1995; nuttman & willmer, 2003), and l. nanus (dunn, 1956). in several of these species, colour changes occur naturally, but are enhanced by pollination. colour changes that are not pollination-induced occur in l. arizonicus, l. sparsiflorus (wainwright, 1978), and l. texensis (schaal & leverich, 1980). despite the variation between lupinus spp., this colour change is an important signal of floral attraction to pollinators. many insect pollinators forage based on visual cues (weiss & lamont, 1997), and thus colour can indicate floral attraction, with implications for pollinator efficiency (van doorn, 1997). bees, which are the main pollinators of lupinus (bees include apidae, andrenidae, and megachilidae) are attracted to white and yellow flowers (wainwright, 1978). the white banner petal marking of most lupinus flowers is an orientation point for bees (wainwright, 1978), while the rest of the petals are a dark colour (e.g., violet). this white banner marking often darkens during blooming, decreasing the colour contrast present in the flower and thus its attractiveness to bees (van doorn, 1997). numerous studies and personal observations have revealed that more than 95 the colour of lupinus banner markings likely overlaps with floral fertility (pollen viability and stigma receptivity) as well as pollinator rewards. this has been shown for l. pilosus whose flowers with pink markings contained less pollen than those with white markings (nuttman & willmer, 2003), a pattern i observed for l. arcticus in this study. as such, colour changes and pollinator colour preferences maximize pollination of fertile flowers and pollinator foraging efficiency. it is interesting to note that periods of floral attraction and floral longevity do not always coincide completely. in several taxa, including lupinus, lilies (lilium), and the orchids green antelope orchid (dendrobium antennatum) and eggleaf twayblade (listera ovata), flowers continue to bloom after a colour change has signified the end of floral attraction (schoen & ashman, 1994; van doorn, 1997). the energy expended on maintaining non-attractive (and possibly non-viable) flowers is justified when these flowers add to a plant’s overall floral display and therefore increase visitation of viable, attractive flowers (abdala-roberts et al., 2007; van doorn, 1997). for example, a lupinus inflorescence with 30 blooming flowers (15 with pink and 15 with white banner markings) is likely to attract more pollinator visits than one with only 15 white-marked flowers and 15 non-attractive wilted flowers. since pollinators preferentially visit white-marked lupinus flowers, the former inflorescence will experience more pollinator visits per flower. in many species, colour change is the result of pollination, but it also can be caused by injury. in this study, when dissecting l. arcticus flowers, i found that most (>75%) flowers with pink banner markings contained a white maggot that was eating the flower’s ovary, preventing it from setting seed. further, i noticed that flowers with pink markings appeared to abscise more easily than those with white markings. this represents significant damage to the reproductive output of l. arcticus, especially since up to a third of blooming flowers had pink markings (figure 6). premature flower abscission due to this herbivory likely contributed to the large variation in floral longevities present in all pollination treatments. infestation with maggots probably causes a colour change in l. arcticus due to the plant’s response to injury. when injured, plants release ethylene, the same chemical that induces colour change in lupinus albifrons, l. pilosus, and other taxa (nuttman & willmer, 2003; stead, 1992). a colour change in response to injury (e.g., squeezing of the style, which is directly attached to the ovary) has also been observed in l. nanus (dunn, 1956). this is strong evidence that herbivory of the ovaries in l. arcticus flowers incites a colour change. 95 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 implications for plant-pollinator mismatch plant-pollinator mismatch is a phenomenon in which the blooming of flowers does not coincide temporally with the activity of their pollinators (forrest, 2015; straka & starzomski, 2014). the extent of complete mismatch is not well understood (forrest, 2015), but could have severe consequences for plants (reduced seed set) and pollinators (reduced food sources). in this study, pollination of l. arcticus was shown to decrease floral longevity, a process thought to increase the efficiency of plant-pollinator interactions while decreasing floral maintenance costs (schoen & ashman, 1994; van doorn, 1997). as climate change alters the phenology of both plants and pollinators, this effect may decrease the chance of plant-pollinator mismatch. for instance, if plants exhibiting pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity experience warmer temperatures that stimulate them to bloom several days before the peak of pollinator activity, absence of pollination at the beginning of blooming will result in longer floral longevities, ensuring that flowers continue to bloom when pollinators are most active. this will ensure pollination occurs, and thus the partial phenological mismatch should not have considerable consequences for pollinator and plant success. decreased floral attraction in response to pollination can function in much the same way, as it directs pollination activities towards viable flowers and thus maximizes pollination per pollinator’s energy expenditure (schoen & ashman, 1994; van doorn, 1997; weiss & lamont, 1997). despite the positive impacts these flowering behaviours could have on plant and pollinator health, there may also be negative ramifications. lengthened floral longevities in the absence of pollination causes more energy to be spent maintaining flowers, leaving less for seed production if pollination does eventually occur. this has been demonstrated by the higher seed set of flowers pollinated soon after opening in comparison to those pollinated later (ashman & schoen, 1997, as cited in abdala-roberts et al., 2007). additionally, maintaining floral structures can increase a plant’s risk of herbivory and fungal infection (van doorn, 1997) and rate of transpiration, especially in the face of increasing temperatures and expanding pathogen and pest distributions. a corresponding issue arises for pollinators. pollinator rewards (e.g., nectar and pollen) are made available close to the beginning of blooming, and as the flower blooms, the quality of these rewards may decrease. for instance, pollen of one-day-old lupinus texensis flowers sticks to the pollen sacs and abdomen of bee pollinators more readily than powdery older pollen (schaal & leverich, 1980). thus, visiting older blooming flowers may be worse for pollinator health. as evidenced, many factors are at play in this complex interaction (straka & starzomski, 2014). it is important to note that not all pollinators are equally effective (straka & starzomski, 2014). due to the anatomy of lupinus flowers, bee pollinators are necessary to activate the piston pollination mechanism. furthermore, bombus spp. complete this function more efficiently than smaller bees (personal observation; wainwright, 1978). during this study, i observed other pollinating insects including syrphidae frequently visiting l. arcticus, as did chironimidae, muscidae, and bibionidae on subarctic l. nootkatensis in a study by willow et al. (2017). despite their abundance, these insects likely do not pollinate lupinus, but are effectively pollen-stealers (wainwright, 1978). this highlights the need for accurate understanding of plants’ pollinators if plant-pollinator mismatch is to be evaluated. factors affecting pollinator activity are also important. in this study, highest pollinator activity was observed between 15 and 24◦ c. temperatures above this range did occur but are uncommon for the study area, and as hot spells become more common with climate change, pollinator activity could suffer. the fact that pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity has evolved in l. arcticus and other species suggests that pollen and resource limitation has occurred for a considerable amount of time. pollen-limitation is the current reality for most flowering plants (straka & starzomski, 2015). due to a lack of research, the number of taxa in which the aforementioned pollination-induced 96 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 effects occur is not well known, but may be half of all angiosperms (stead, 1992; van doorn, 1997). depending on behavioural plasticity and rates of evolution, pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity and floral attraction could become a stronger pattern if plant-pollinator mismatch worsens. conclusion in this study, i observed pollination-induced shortening of floral longevity in lupinus arcticus, a widespread boreal herb pollinated by bees. additionally, a floral colour change (likely associated with herbivory of the floral ovary) occurred, decreasing attractiveness of these flowers to pollinators. these effects are thought to increase pollination efficiency by directing pollinators and plant resources towards blooming, viable flowers. this suggests that pollination and resources are limited for this plant species, a condition which could worsen as the climate changes and plant and pollinator phenologies shift. pollination-mediated floral longevity may decrease the chance of mismatched plant-pollinator phenologies; however, the range of factors affecting this situation makes accurate predictions difficult. due to the integral ecological roles plants and pollinators play, including food sources, nutrient cyclers, and creators of structural complexity, healthy plant-pollinator relationships are necessary for ecosystems to function optimally. this study has revealed the flexibility of an l. arcticus plant-pollinator interaction, exposing both the limitations and adaptability of species. 97 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918921 references abdala-roberts, l., parra-tabla, v., & navarro, j. 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(2017). potential impact of nootka lupine (lupinus nootkatensis) invasion on pollinator communities in iceland. journal of icelandic agricultural sciences, 30, 51–54. https://doi.org/10.16886/ias.2017.06 99 https://doi.org/10.26786/1920-7603(2014)18 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3169-2 https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/48.9.1615 https://doi.org/10.2307/2484260 https://doi.org/10.1080/07929978.1997.10676683 https://doi.org/10.1080/07929978.1997.10676683 https://doi.org/10.16886/ias.2017.06 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 1, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019347 an urban cree finding place at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm hailey bird matheson* university of british columbia haileymatheson10@gmail.com abstract this article explores my personal journey as an urban cree and social work student at the university of british columbia (ubc). from this positionality, i reflect on what it means to indigenize social work by privileging personal and professional identity, including ceremony and spirituality, as integral to the ways we interact with others, particularly between indigenous peoples. i offer my own journey connecting to my identity as an urban cree person through working with indigenous plant medicines. in particular, i will highlight my experiences at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm—a garden on the stolen and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm [musqueam] people. also known as the indigenous health research and education garden at the ubc farm, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm means “the place where we grow” in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓. xʷc̓ic̓əsəm embodies a space where indigenous peoples can connect with both human and plant relatives to share stories, engage with traditional medicines, and heal in a space by us and for us. keywords: social work; indigenization; indigenous land-based pedagogies; knowledge keepers; urban garden an urban cree finding place at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm ninanâskomon (i am grateful). ninanâskomon, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, for giving me the opportunity to con-nect with my ancestral memory of muskeg (labrador tea), tobacco, sweetgrass, kinnikinic, andsage. ninanâskomon, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, for providing me with a space to learn about myself and my family alongside other indigenous peoples. ninanâskomon, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, for surrounding me with other indigenous peers and allies. ninanâskomon, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, for allowing me to gift my kookum (grandmother) tobacco that had been grown alongside the medicines i had planted. *** this article explores my personal journey as an urban cree and social work student at the university of british columbia (ubc). from this positionality, i reflect on what it means to indigenize social work *thank you, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, for allowing me to be a guest on your territory and allowing me to walk beside you as caretakers of this land; i humbly stand beside you. it is with deep gratitude that i acknowledge all those who work at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm who have shared time, medicine, art, and knowledge with me, including alannah young leon (opaskwayak cree nation and peguis first nation, phd), georgia pappajohn (greek ancestry), chrystal sparrow (musqueam first nation, coast salish artist and carver), dave robinson (timiskaming first nation, indigenous educator, artist in residence at ubc farm, and native american boxing champion) and uncle shane point (proud member of the point family and equally proud member of the coast salish nation). i would also like to particularly thank eduardo jovel (pipil and mayan ancestry, associate professor, director of indigenous research partnerships, faculty of land and food systems), and wilson mendes (terena ancestry, phd candidate, garden coordinator, faculty of land and food systems) for mentoring me during my time at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm with endless patience and kindness in welcoming me into such unfamiliar scenarios. thank you also to marie nightbird (saulteaux, sioux, msw) for supporting me in this directed study and connecting me with those at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm. thank you to my family for giving me lifelong teachings. ekosi 48 mailto:haileymatheson10@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 1, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019347 through the learnings i had during my journey connecting to my identity as an urban cree person through working with indigenous plant medicines. xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam) people gifted xʷc̓ic̓əsəm (the indigenous health research and education garden at the university of british columbia) its name in their hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language (xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, n.d.). the english translation for xʷc̓ic̓əsəm is “the place where we grow,” representing the aim of the garden to “serve educational and research needs related to indigenous knowledge” (xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, n.d.). indigenous and non-indigenous people sharing space at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm can grow and learn alongside their human and plant relatives. stories can be shared as a medium for traditional knowledge, and interaction with indigenous medicines and ceremony can evoke blood memory crucial to many indigenous people’s wellness and educational journeys. the term “blood memory” refers to memories of activities that an individual’s ancestors engaged in, whether or not the individual has directly experienced these activities. in this manner, the garden is informed by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm protocol to embody a space where participants can access both traditional and non-traditional plant uses in a respectful and reciprocal environment. i am an uninvited guest on the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam) territory, and, as such, i humbly disclose who i am and where i come from. my given name is hailey matheson. on my mother’s side i am nēhiyaw (cree) from the bird family, of peguis first nation, treaty one. on my father’s side, i am of mixed european ancestry, mainly of scottish and french descent. i was born on ktunaxa and sinixt territory in what is now british columbia’s interior and grew up in tonkawa territory in what is now central texas. the lands on which i was raised shaped my passion for interpersonal work with other indigenous peoples, particularly through traditional medicines and land-based practices. a mentor and indigenous professor at the school of social work, which i attended at the university of british columbia (ubc), supported me to connect with xʷc̓ic̓əsəm last year, during my final year of university, to explore alternatives to what social work could look like, by indigenous peoples and for indigenous peoples. interning with xʷc̓ic̓əsəm has been a transformative experience for me as an urban cree woman who grew up and attended university far from my traditional lands in manitoba. since completing my degree, i have continued to live on unceded coast salish territory. in the beginning of this journey, i was apprehensive about interacting with so many indigenous plants. i had received very few cultural teachings on handling many of these plants and often had no personal experience with them. it was challenging to overcome the shame that accompanies the frustrations of not knowing how to utilize the plants my ancestors relied on for medicine, sustenance, and ceremony. this shame is a direct result of colonization and attempted assimilation that was in part facilitated through social work. to acknowledge and attempt to combat this shame, and in turn to integrate knowledge of the pervasive feeling of shame into a social work practice, is my approach to resisting the colonial state. however, this resistance is often easier said than done, and requires constant personal reflection and interpersonal support. through the consistent support of indigenous staff and interns at the garden, i was able to avoid wallowing in guilty feelings; these people were willing and eager to share their knowledge about the medicines in the garden as well as their contacts with elders and knowledge keepers. i began this journey at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm with a disconnection from tobacco, though it is one of the most important and frequently used ceremonial plants by my family and the majority of the cree community. before coming in contact with the xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, i had never seen tobacco that was not already ground by an industrial (typically colonial) grower. through my internship, i participated in the processes of transplanting tobacco seedlings, harvesting them, and completing the extensive drying procedure. elders in vancouver’s urban indigenous community taught me that the way we act and the mental state we are in is absorbed and then impacts the medicine we harvest and gift. as i shared the tobacco we grew at the garden in ceremony and through reciprocal exchange with elders, i became able to feel confident in the emotion that was absorbed by the tobacco during its growth and processing time. i have now placed my feet in the soil and grown with the tobacco. i have felt loss when seedlings did not survive, and i felt joy to see plots of soil turn to birthing grounds for hundreds of tobacco stalks. as a result of this 49 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 1, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019347 intimacy between grower and tobacco, tobacco and ceremony, it is highly comforting to know the place in which the tobacco has been grown (wilson & restoule, 2010). when i look at the tobacco i use in ceremony, now i see this process, and i remember the phases from seedling to harvesting, and all the learning and patience engrained in the cycle. after my internship, i was able to gift my kookum with ceremonial tobacco from the xʷc̓ic̓əsəm garden. bringing home this tobacco from my time at university felt representative of the experiences and knowledge i was able to gain during my time in an urban centre, yet all the while with the intention of returning home. when i am in xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, i find a sense of connection that is challenging to create in the city of vancouver. nixon’s (2014) study of the influence of social disconnections on residents in vancouver established that vehicular transport and city infrastructure can create barriers to emotional connection between individuals. similarly, social work practice often engages with clients in an individualistic manner, often isolating individuals from their connections to community and family systems. this dissonance between individuals is often transferred to the relationships between urban individuals with little access to green spaces and traditional medicines. this disconnection and rapid pace of life is challenged in the garden. this is particularly tangible while living on campus at a university where the typical collective mood is built upon an overwhelming sense of stress, and the time pressures of being a student. to be in the garden is a compilation of both control of and surrender to the medicines. this comes with the understanding that although medicinal plants are in my hands, they are not mine. i must follow my own protocol, taught to me throughout my life by my family and other cree elders, as well as the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, for harvesting and walking alongside these medicines. being in the garden is offering tobacco to the fire and offering a piece of myself when i harvest or remove plants. it is being conscious that the colonial narrative on the incorrect labelling of certain plants as “weeds” ignores their traditional value and neglects their healing potential. for example, stinging nettles can be viewed as weeds that irritate the skin, but this view ignores their powerful medicinal capabilities as a diuretic and mineral supplement when ingested, and topically as an anti-inflamitory agent when prepared (moore, 1993). it is humbling to stand in a place where i cannot predict the tasks to come because the medicines have their own will and grow according to their own agendas, changing constantly with the day and the weather. the blackberries are an accurate example of this self-autonomy. their sweetness and sustenance appeal to many. they are easily accessible for harvesting at the garden, yet their thorny branches prevent most from climbing in their brambles and overharvesting and disrupting the fruit’s availability for animals and for nutrient replacement and composting in the soil. there is also a different kind of community that exists at the garden; again, it is distinct from the impersonal nature of the city. indigenous and non-indigenous visitors here smile and welcome each other. they are willing to walk alongside other visitors, regardless of their level of knowledge about plants and medicines. i have met friends there who have taught me words in our ancestral nêhiyawêwin (cree) language, who have told many jokes, and who have shared many stories and snacks, and i am so grateful for all of them. connecting with other urban cree has provided windows into conversations with others who have validated many of my feelings of disconnection and isolation from community, language, and ceremony. in these interactions, we formed our own community, which gave me courage to seek out my relatives separated through foster care and displacement in vancouver and begin to find ways to learn my language and participate in ceremonies in urban spaces. i am grateful to the groups of young children who pass through or stop at the garden. they bring honest questions and laughter and are not afraid to say when someone is talking too much. watching many children, both indigenous and not, being so receptive to the medicinal and sacred values of plants— not to mention their genuine surprise at the edibility of most—is encouraging. i am hopeful because many of these children and youth have a genuine space in their lives for respecting indigenous medicines and appreciating places where plants are free to grow and be appreciated for their medicinal and spiritual values. 50 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 1, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019347 intergenerational spaces many different indigenous youth-centred groups and programs spend time within xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, which provides a relational gathering space as well as a significant cultural connection for the youth. this approach to supporting indigenous youth by providing time to interact with an outdoor sacred space, often alongside elders, is a unique method of land-based social work to support youth in an indigenous space led by indigenous values. these events and programs are examples of decolonizing work in integrating the teachings of coast salish elders and protocols of host nations into the actions of the youth in the garden. additionally, these programs embrace the value in the spirituality and ceremony of land-based teachings for the holistic wellbeing of youth, as well as the intergenerational benefits of interactions with elders in addition to peers. these days often begin around the ceremonial fire pit in the garden, where introductions and offerings can be made, and intentions for the day can be set. witnessing the joy the youth embody while participating in events at the garden has reshaped my imaginings of the possibilities of social work with youth by demonstrating that positive decolonizing programs and opportunities exist and could be welcome, and have observably positive effects in many communities. sitting around the fire in ceremony with different groups of youth makes me both nostalgic and delighted. it fills my heart seeing so many youth having access to medicine at a young age, to be smudged by an indigenous youth and watch them be able to offer medicine to their friends. at the same time, this makes me wish that i would have had access to a program like this, to establish connections with elders and culture, and to prevent me from having to go on the journey of establishing connection to my indigenous identity alone in my twenties. many of these youth find a balance between fun, spirituality, and respect for elders. they are never serious, always full of jokes, and it fills the garden with a promise of many future caretakers. my personal identity xʷc̓ic̓əsəm garden has challenged me to be curious about and critical of my own developing identity: as a nehiyaw iskwew (cree woman), as a woman of settler ancestry, as a young person, as a student, as a granddaughter, as a sister, and as a caretaker. through my social work education journey, i have struggled to find my place as an advocate and have thus attempted to find fluidity and confidence in my self-identity. acknowledging my appearance and white-passing privilege, and thus making space for racialized indigenous peoples, has been paramount in this journey. a mixed identity for me often represented not feeling “enough” for either group of people i am a part of. i have identified the need to navigate intergenerational trauma, indigenous resilience, and connection with culture, alongside coinciding accountability that i must acknowledge the privileges that have been afforded to me because of my light skin and access to post-secondary education. taking care of my spirit through ceremony, connection to elders, and caretaking of medicine is essential for me as i grow to feel comfortable in my identity, as well as in navigating the ways i can contribute to supporting other indigenous peoples in negotiating their own strengths and autonomy through supportive social work practice. influence on social work practice social work with indigenous peoples must undergo a revolution. social work must be made to support indigenous people and communities, not to punish them by and through further enforcing the ideals of colonialism. we need to look at the ways that we, as social workers, are engaging with indigenous communities, particularly given that we are adhering to a set of guidelines that were made to compensate for social work’s active role in the contemporary realities of colonialism and the historical attempt of assimilation, rather than the true wellbeing of indigenous peoples. scholars have suggested that using 51 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 1, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019347 a non-indigenous approach to healing with indigenous clients (including families) is a continued form of colonial oppression, and, instead, that healing approaches should come from indigenous paradigms of health and wellness, such as indigenous ways of knowing (stewart, 2009). a social work scholar of the mi’kmaq and celtic nations, baskin (2016) explores how anti-oppressive social work and structural social work can be used with indigenous peoples. she argues that while these practices are effective in acknowledging the detrimental impacts of colonization on indigenous peoples, on their own they lack a discussion of indigenous worldview(s) that can guide the healing process for indigenous peoples. this suggests that an anti-oppressive model must be used in conjunction with indigenous ways of knowing, for example, “prayer, fasting, dream interpretation, ceremonies, and silence” (baskin, 2016, p. 90). in addressing these methods of connection and discovery, it is essential to consider where these activities are possible. these activities and spiritual practices are often not included in most urban spaces for indigenous peoples. urban indigenous gardens, such as xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, provide a shared and accessible space where prayer, ceremony, and silence, to name a few of these practices, are welcomed and possible in a space where the presence of indigenous peoples and worldviews is present and visible. these worldviews allow for an extension beyond critical social work theory to include indigenous processes of “agency, resistance, and transformation, which are just as important to social work theory and practice as critical perspectives” (baskin, 2016, p. 95). it is necessary to include traditional methods of healing, such as ceremony, traditional medicines, and food, as equally valid resources for healing the spiritual self, the physical body, and the mental and emotional states of individuals in decolonizing social work practice frameworks. in pursuit of engaging an anti-oppressive and empowering social work practice, indigenous ways of knowing and indigenous methods of healing will guide the following practice framework suggestions. first, in challenging the dominant colonial discourse on indigenous peoples, it is necessary to reframe the misconstrued notion of indigeneity as a risk factor. in my personal experience within the field of social work, indigenous identity is often taught to be a risk factor for violence, suicide, and substance abuse, among many other typically negative activities in canadian society. it is necessary to reframe indigeneity as a protective factor through which indigenous peoples are holders of tradition, culture, ceremony, and ancestral knowledge, which can support them to succeed and to reframe colonialism and settler-colonial society, rather than indigeneity, as the true risk factor for indigenous peoples. in this way, we transition away from seeing indigeneity as the problem and the settler-colonial government as the solution, and towards seeing the settler-colonial government as the problem and indigeneity as the solution. this framework must also include the helper (or service provider) as having a crucial role—connected to their own experiences and ancestry—in the healing journey. michael hart (2005), a social work scholar from fisher river cree nation, advocated for the essential intertwined relationship between the wellbeing of the service provider and the wellbeing of the client or service recipient: “helpers begin the helping process by helping themselves” (p. 105) and by maintaining an awareness of their holistic wellbeing throughout the client’s healing journey. the relationship between the two parties in an indigenous approach, according to hart (2005), is “especially essential to nurture” (p. 54) in order to best enhance development and growth throughout the helping process. the land-based interactions at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm provide mutual aspects of connection between individuals and plant medicines. this space offered me an area of holistic healing and connection to support my wellbeing as a social worker in helping relationships, and it also strengthened my foundational relationship with land and plant medicine. my internship with xʷc̓ic̓əsəm has heavily influenced my emerging social work practice. i have met many people who both nurtured and challenged the way that i think about and approach topics relating to my social work practice. i have met many individuals who are critical of the current supports available for indigenous peoples in vancouver, and those who are striving to indigenize the protocols and policies of the areas in which they work. this has influenced me to be critical, particularly of the fact that, although i am indigenous, i am not xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam,) sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), or səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (tsleil52 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 1, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019347 waututh), and i must ensure that i respect their protocols and ethics as a guest on their lands. through following the protocol of the nations whose lands i practice on, i can begin to acknowledge my social location as an uninvited cree guest on this land, and be cautious of how my behaviour imposes upon the indigenous peoples of this land. these experiences have also taught me to step back: to listen to the knowledge of others without interjecting my own thoughts, and to truly listen to elders and peers alike. this has been a challenging practice in avoiding seeing myself as the expert, which i previously thought i never did. it has been endlessly humbling to be in the garden and have individuals who had never previously been to xʷc̓ic̓əsəm be generous in teaching me about their vast knowledge in plant medicines. i have begun to learn that i am never the expert, even on plants that i have been handling since childhood and have received ancestral teachings on. i always have more to learn. conclusion as i progress in my social work education and career, i hold onto the teachings i have received and the ceremony i have borne witness to through connection with xʷc̓ic̓əsəm. i have discovered that a personal sense of self and ceremony in my life is facilitated by the interactions i have with ancestral medicine and spending time with elders. i have been encouraged to face my self-consciousness during interactions with others and to face the fear that i am perceived as an outsider because i am not a visible minority indigenous person. this privilege is crucial to acknowledge because i have not been subjected to the physical acts of prejudices and stereotypes that many of my relatives have. however, my appearance is not the barrier i initially perceived it to be in interactions with elders and other indigenous peoples. i have begun to learn that my place in community is a product of my interactions within the community, rather than just my physical appearance as an indigenous person. as i committed myself to xʷc̓ic̓əsəm and frequented the garden and its ceremonial fire—and had conversations and shared through food—i found a place for myself among many friends. i found many willing to share with me their family knowledge and their stories, and we shared in explaining our ancestry and familial lines. i found friends willing to teach me their artforms and ask me my opinions on the spiritual associations of their pieces. i found many who knew my relatives and where we come from. i now feel comfortable walking into the space at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm without questioning my validity or ability to belong in the garden. i have been welcomed warmly, taught, and valued, and i have found a place within xʷc̓ic̓əsəm. ninanâskomon, i am grateful. 53 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 1, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019347 references baskin, c. (2016). strong helpers teachings the value of indigenous knowledge in the helping professions. toronto, on: canadian scholars’ press. hart, m. l. (2005). seeking mino-pimatisiwin an aboriginal approach to helping. halifax, ns: fernwood publishing. moore, m. (1993). medicinal plants of the pacific west. sante fe, nm: museum of new mexico press. nixon, d. v. (2014). speeding capsules of alienation? social (dis)connections amongst drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in vancouver, bc. geoforum, 54, 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.04.002 stewart, s. (2009). family counseling as decolonization: exploring an indigenous social-constructivist approach in clinical practice. first peoples child and family review, 4(1), 62–70. wilson, d. d., and restoule, j. (2010). tobacco ties: the relationship of the sacred to research. canadian journal of native education, 33(1), 29–45. xʷc̓ic̓əsəm: indigenous health research and education garden at ubc farm. (n.d.) retrieved from http://lfs-iherg.sites.olt.ubc.ca/the-garden/ 54 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.04.002 http://lfs-iherg.sites.olt.ubc.ca/the-garden/ 403 forbidden<br> the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 the trauma within our knowledge bundles: indigenous helpers navigating trauma in social work education and practice olivia ryan-schmidt* university of victoria oryanschmidt@gmail.com abstract trauma holds a sacred space in the knowledge bundles of many indigenous helpers, including myself. a knowledge bundle represents the knowledge that an individual holds within themselves. this bundle consists of experiential knowledge, knowledge shared through teachings, and knowledge received through genetic memory. this article explores the potential trauma indigenous social workers may face prior to practice, within post-secondary programs, and during practice. the literature written by indigenous helpers working alongside trauma in the field of social work provides incredibly valuable knowledge for current helpers, as well as for students just beginning their journey into the social work field. how might indigenous helpers working within the field of social work care for the trauma they may carry within their own knowledge bundles? this article examines how indigenous helpers prepare to work with trauma, how they may navigate trauma within practice, and what happens after re-stimulation of traumatic events. keywords: indigenous; trauma; decolonization; post-secondary education; social work introduction indigenous content in social work education has made significant shifts in the past decade. the ac-ceptance and recognition of indigenous approaches to social work is growing amongst post-secondaryinstitutions across canada (baikie, 2009). however, these changes are taking place in historically oppressive institutions that continue to privilege western values and ways of learning. once indigenous helpers enter into practice, they often reach for culture-based frameworks, but do not feel as though they have been taught to do so in a good way through western education (linklater, 2014). trauma can have many different symptoms. some of these symptoms are more common than others, such as flashbacks and dissociation (levine, 1997). however, the symptoms for intergenerational trauma can be more complicated and are generally less understood by the clinical field (menzies, 2010). if these symptoms are not as well researched and understood by the medical world, it is possible that they will not be as readily accepted by social workers’ and other indigenous helpers’ employers as having real effects on their practice and their personal well-being. linklater (2014) describes indigenous peoples as *this work would not have been possible without the gentle and unwavering support of dr. billie allan. i would also like to express my deep gratitude to gillian saunders, kari chew, and the anonymous reviewers who contributed to this piece with such kindness and care. and finally, a special thank you to my family and loved ones, who provided me with encouragement and guidance throughout this process. 11 mailto:oryanschmidt@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 having “lived in a multi-traumatic context, meaning that the trauma is personal, collective and historical” (p. 133). this far-reaching context must be understood by organizations and individuals supporting indigenous helpers. kathy absolon (2009) describes a strong knowledge bundle of a helper as containing “knowledge of culture, community, colonialism and decolonization” (p. 192). within this bundle there should also be “knowledge of indigenous healing practices and protocols” (p. 192). in our knowledge bundles we carry teachings from experience, family, and formal education, and often the teachings from lived trauma. the contents of knowledge bundles inform the work that helpers do. we pull from our bundle in times of need, for guidance through challenges. this article draws on personal reflection coupled with insights from current research to explore how indigenous post-secondary students in social work programs prepare to work alongside trauma in practice in a holistic and culturally appropriate manner. it also considers how indigenous helpers might navigate this trauma within their knowledge bundles throughout their social work practice and personal lives. situating myself within this work i begin by situating myself within the research i have done and making my intentions of sharing this knowledge clear. i am of mixed métis, irish, russian, and german ancestry. i was raised on the unceded territory of the ktunaxa and sinixt peoples in a town called nelson, an area heavily exploited by deforestation and mining in the late nineteenth century. my roots on both sides of my family can be traced back to the prairies. the prairies hold much of my family’s history and i feel very connected to the land there, but have never lived upon it. as a social work student at the university of victoria, i have been a visitor on the territories of the lekwungen and w̱sáneć peoples for four years. i am committed to continuously learning how to be a good visitor on these territories and know that this work is an ongoing journey with no finish date. as a métis woman and social work student, i am deeply linked to the topic at hand. my motivations for entering into this work are rooted in my obligations to my fellow indigenous helpers who are navigating trauma in their lives and work. i acknowledge my responsibility to the generations before me who helped to create the path i am on, and the generations yet to come. while entering into research, i am entering into a relationship with the knowledge that i interact with, and i have a responsibility to share this knowledge in a way that stays true to the intentions of its initial sharing. it is important to me that i make clear that my intention in writing this paper is not to glorify or romanticize trauma in any way; instead, i hope to acknowledge the important role it plays in the work that social workers do as helpers. while making these intentions clear, it is also important for me to acknowledge the ways that trauma within indigenous communities has been, and continues to be, discussed in mainstream media and literary works. there is a history of mainstream media outlets choosing to publish stories and articles that reinforce negative stereotypes regarding indigenous peoples, while shying away from stories that may challenge such stereotypes. this means that indigenous stories surrounding trauma are loosely told to a predominantly white-settler population for entertainment. i acknowledge this history and make clear that this paper is not intended for eyes seeking entertainment. the voices shared in this paper predominantly come from indigenous researchers and scholars, and, by sharing these voices, i aim to represent the powerful voices of indigenous helpers holding trauma within their knowledge bundles. indigenous students confronting trauma in post-secondary social work studies the history of social work in indigenous communities is highly problematic and filled with hurt and pain (sinclair, 2009). to ensure that this damage does not repeat itself, this history must be a cornerstone of current social work education. having a deep understanding of not only social work history, but also the ongoing impacts of colonization, is vital for ensuring that past harms do not get repeated. yet, 12 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 for the indigenous students in social work programs, this constant revisiting of colonial destruction can be challenging. discussing the impacts of colonization on indigenous communities can be heavy and exhausting heart work for indigenous students. indigenous students cannot close the book on these topics; the work follows them home when class has ended. covering topics such as colonization in course content may cause indigenous students to confront trauma that they may not be aware of. although this process of confronting trauma in post-secondary education can be challenging, the classroom can be a safe space for indigenous students to discuss topics such as the impacts of colonization. linklater (2014) describes post-secondary institutions that provide indigenous-centred programs as having the ability to create “an environment where everyone is in recovery—recovery from colonization” (p. 47). covering these topics in a space with others processing similar feelings may better prepare indigenous students to encounter challenging situations in the workplace. the act of creating community with other indigenous students is a form of creating trauma-informed support groups. having a community of support that understands the complex realities of being an indigenous student in a social work program can be beneficial in navigating trauma in course content. learning to create appropriate communities of support is a skill that has the potential to aid helpers in navigating future challenges in practice. an important gap to highlight in post-secondary institutions is the lack of acknowledgement of knowledge gathering that takes place outside of the classroom (linklater, 2014). indigenous students often have to seek additional knowledge from knowledge keepers in the community to supplement the western context provided in the classroom. this work can be time consuming, and, although it is an essential part of a helper’s education, it is still not widely recognized in academia (linklater, 2014). this can also be reflected in indigenous educators within social work programs, with the work they do in community still not being recognized and valued by post-secondary institutions (baskin, 2016). work within the community looks different to each educator, but for indigenous educators this may look like providing additional resources for indigenous students outside of the institution, helping students to build connections within the community, and supporting students in countless other ways. of course, many educators work tirelessly to support their students, but this work may look different for indigenous educators and might be less understood by post-secondary institutions. if this important work that is crucial to both indigenous students and educators is not being valued in academia, this sets a dangerous precedent of perpetuating colonizing practices in academic institutions. continuing to incorporate indigenous ways of knowing into the work that we create in the academic world is a powerful act of decolonization. the community connections that i have built throughout my educational journey have given me strength to continue my learning in the classroom and in the community. education has long been a tool used in the war to assimilate north america into eurocentric ways of being (dumbill & green, 2008). the canadian government used the residential school system to assimilate and integrate indigenous youth into western society (dumbill & green, 2008). this resulted in horrific numbers of indigenous children being forcefully removed from their families and communities, exposing them to atrocious harms and long-lasting trauma. though post-secondary education has the potential to create positive community for indigenous students, it is also important to acknowledge that it has the possibility to (and indeed often does) cause harm. post-secondary courses taught with an indigenous focus are not always available, thus causing students to take courses still deeply rooted in practices that privilege western knowledge. navigating historically oppressive institutions, which indirectly encourage colonizing practices, can be traumatizing for indigenous students. educational environments that provide indigenous students with culturally relevant content may help to create space for healing and growth within these institutions. dumbill and green (2008) suggest that in order for indigenous knowledge to be represented in social work programs, the dominant western system must first be disrupted. it is important to acknowledge that this work of shifting the dominant western education system is being done by many remarkable indigenous educators and advocates. 13 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 personal journey alongside trauma being an indigenous student in a helping field requires balancing western knowledge and indigenous knowledge within our knowledge bundles. my personal connection to this paper comes from the feeling that the trauma i have experienced in my own life is something that i should be ashamed of. i was made to believe by western society that this trauma would hinder the work that i do and that it had no place in my knowledge bundle. i hold my hands up in gratitude to the brilliant indigenous educators i have learned alongside throughout my journey. these educators have shared their own experiences and countless teachings, which has taught me how to best carry my own teachings in the work that i do. within my own bundle, i carry teachings and practices that help to keep me grounded. this knowledge is both old and new. all of this knowledge has been touched by colonization, and my journey to connecting with this knowledge has been challenging. i carry my sage and sweetgrass in this bundle, using these medicines when i need to cleanse. my beads and thread are also found in this bundle, tools i use to create beaded florals while connecting with my ancestors. métis peoples are known as the flower beadwork people, and these flowers have taught me lessons about perseverance and the importance of slowing down. the knowledges of these practices are key components of my knowledge bundle, but my bundle also contains less tangible contents. this includes the knowledge i have received through western education, some of which i am in the process of unlearning. i also carry knowledge from my family, some knowledge that i have been explicitly taught, and other knowledge that i hold without ever really being aware of when i picked it up. my lived experiences have also contributed to the knowledge i carry in my bundle; these include experiences of joy as well as pain. my knowledge bundle is a reflection of who i am, what i have lived through, and what experiences have shaped me. as a métis helper in the field of social work, i am aware i bring my own knowledge of trauma into the work that i do. this knowledge will, at times, make it impossible to disconnect from the work i do in my community. i believe this knowledge will be my strength in this work. in my younger years, i was not yet able to fully grasp the idea of a knowledge bundle. during those years, i endured intimate partner violence, an experience that has shaped me and the life path i have taken. i carried this trauma and the knowledge that it gave me for many years, unsure of where to place it in my life. i had created a narrative within myself that this trauma would somehow negatively affect my work as a helper. this narrative was created with the assumption that i could not help others while working through my own trauma. during this time, i was growing my knowledge bundle, and i began to realize that all teachings and practices have a time and place. it took me time to understand how and when to reach for the teachings in my knowledge bundle. i now know when to reach for my sweetgrass and when it is time to put my beadwork down. reclaiming these practices has given me strength. writing these words is a part of my journey to understand how to care for and utilize the knowledge of trauma that i hold within my own knowledge bundle. implications it can be expected that those in helper roles will still experience hardship in their lives. this hardship will take the form of challenging events during practice, as well as in their personal lives. for indigenous practitioners, the line between workplace practice and personal life is often blurred. when helpers work in their own community, the work they do can often become personal. this reality of community connection raises the possibility of re-traumatization for indigenous social workers working in their own communities (absolon, 2009). thus, it is critical to consider the following questions: how are indigenous social workers supported within the organizations they work for? do indigenous and non-indigenous organizations recognize the blurred lines between practice and personal trauma? 14 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 implications for social work practice an important step in preparing for possible trauma in the workplace is acknowledging the distinct challenges that indigenous helpers face during practice (burke, 2018). these challenges may include struggles such as balancing western knowledge alongside indigenous ways of being and navigating the dynamic relationships with members of their communities (absolon, 2019). while working in an individual’s home community, dual relationships may be tricky to manoeuvre and require creating boundaries that provide safety for both the helper and those seeking services (absolon, 2019). discussing the concept of trauma within practice opens the door to speaking freely about it, and therefore may help others feel more comfortable seeking help afterwards. if a community is created in a workforce that does not support discussions surrounding trauma in practice, the employee will not expect to be supported after re-traumatization has occurred. the lack of recognition that indigenous knowledge faces within post-secondary institutions can be mirrored in organizations in the workforce. researcher susan burke (2018) conducted a study examining the experiences of nine indigenous social workers working in the child welfare system. burke (2018) found that although these practitioners accessed some support, such as counselling, through their workplace, many of them had worries surrounding confidentiality that kept them from regularly accessing these resources. this study also found that the practitioners sought additional support, such as outside counselling services, elders, and programs designed for residential school survivors, at their own cost. the need for culturally relevant support to be available and recognized through the workplace is clear. having indigenous voices represented in leadership roles in the workplace can help in creating spaces where indigenous helpers feel supported (burke, 2018). representation in management roles is important. indigenous social workers working within non-indigenous organizations can feel singled out, and may face pressure to be a source of knowledge for others regarding indigenous issues in practice (burke, 2018). these expectations can create feelings of isolation and disconnection with co-workers, including those in management roles. if indigenous voices were represented in leadership roles more consistently, this pressure may not be so individualized. non-indigenous individuals working in the social work field should be actively working towards having a strong understanding while working alongside and within indigenous communities. with indigenous helpers in leadership roles, there may be a greater potential for indigenous approaches to practice to be more accepted as an expected part of social work practice. the disparities in funding between indigenous and government organizations is important to acknowledge when discussing support for indigenous helpers. many indigenous organizations receive less funding in comparison to government-run organizations, and, as a result, have reduced access to resources (burke, 2018). although working in an indigenous organization may help to foster a more supportive environment for indigenous helpers, it can also be challenging due to potential lower wages and higher workload (burke, 2018). if equal access to funding resources existed amongst these organizations, indigenous helpers working within indigenous organizations would be in a better place to succeed, and government organizations might feel increased pressure to incorporate better support for indigenous helpers. if the wages were equal between indigenous and non-indigenous organizations, would this not help to create a more supportive environment for indigenous helpers throughout the social work field? implications for indigenous communities indigenous helpers like me face a greater potential of exposure to re-traumatizing situations while working in their home community (absolon, 2009). this interconnectedness that we feel with members of our community can help us to build trusting relationships with individuals we may be working with. the other side of these relationships is that when the community hurts, we do as well. the inability of helpers to separate self from community can create potential barriers when seeking help in the aftermath 15 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 of re-traumatization. who do helpers reach out to for help when they are usually the ones providing resources? after a helper experiences a traumatic event, there is still significant stigmatization surrounding seeking help (baskin, 2011). it can be challenging for helpers to reach out to their community and support system to ask for help. it is a role reversal in many ways, but one that is inevitable; we all need help at different times in our lives. graham and shier (2014) found that there is an overwhelming expectation for social workers to simply move on after trauma. these unspoken expectations can discourage individuals from speaking out and seeking help after becoming re-traumatized during practice. breaking down western societal norms that helpers face is the beginning of shifting the approach to providing support for helpers. gaps in services through the research outlined in this paper, it is clear that there are gaps in the services available to indigenous helpers in relation to trauma care at both an educational and workplace institution level. these gaps include the lack of indigenous-focused social work programs, lack of discussions surrounding trauma within practice, and limited support for practitioners after re-traumatizing events occur. it seems as though there is a clear connection between the environment of post-secondary social work programs and the environment of the organizations employing indigenous helpers. indigenous helpers must feel safe in their organizations in order to safely work alongside trauma in their practice. i believe that change must begin with the education system: if indigenous helpers are supported in post-secondary institutions in a way that acknowledges both past trauma as well as potential, this sets a standard for organizations to continue with a high level of support and understanding. this may look like open dialog in the workplace about the potential of trauma within practice, clear support systems in place, and opportunities to further personal healing. ending in a good way through this research, i have reflected on my own journey in the beginning stages of entering into a role as a helper. i feel immense gratitude for the knowledge i have gained while engaging with this topic. a significant portion of this knowledge is rooted in stories of personal trauma, and it is my hope that i have remained true to my intentions of representing this knowledge in a good way. carrière and richardson (2017) state that “in an indigenous worldview where everything is connected, it is impossible to believe that we do not change the things we have touched” (p. 33). i have touched this work and acknowledge that my worldview is woven throughout this paper. baskin (2011) describes the act of helping someone else through a trauma similar to one’s own as having healing possibilities. i relate deeply to this idea. as someone with a history of intimate partner violence, i feel the immense benefits of sharing my story in an attempt to normalize these conversations surrounding violence. speaking about my trauma continues to help me understand it and give it a purpose in my life that is decided by me, not my abuser. there were many years where i was not on speaking terms with my own trauma: i was angry, and i hid it. i wanted to detach it from my entire being, my body, my mind, and my spirit. i now accept this trauma as an important part of myself. i do not like using the term “working through” my trauma, as it implies that i will one day come out the other side trauma free. that is not my intention, nor do i think it is an achievable goal. i actively work alongside my trauma, and, because of this, i can draw on these teachings of trauma from my own knowledge bundle. this is not easy. there are days i do not want to draw on these teachings of trauma, or simply cannot. that is the beauty of our knowledge bundle: we get to choose when and what to pull. i find that the more i learn from my trauma, the more i am able to reach for its teachings within my bundle. i may not view 16 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 my trauma as a gift; however, i do see the role that it plays within my knowledge bundle as a gift, and i will continue on this journey of learning how to best care for this important part of my knowledge bundle as i navigate practice. looking backwards is an important part of our journey, so that we may familiarize ourselves with the way home (absolon, 2011). those in helper roles are often required to look to past experiences not only to help themselves get home, but to help others to see their own path back home. this article has shown that trauma has an important role in the knowledge bundles of indigenous helpers. the knowledge shared here has highlighted gaps in services available to indigenous helpers preparing for and working in the field of social work and has gestured towards decolonial pathways by which we can redress these limitations. indigenous helpers working alongside their trauma continue to bring light to the necessary changes needed within education, as well as workplace support, and the post-secondary education system must learn to support indigenous helpers in this vital work. 17 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019460 references absolon, k. e. (2011). kaandossiwin: how we come to know. halifax, ns: fernwood publishing. absolon, k. (2009). navigating the landscape of practice: dbaagmowin of a helper. in r. sinclair, m.a. hart, & g. bruyere (eds.), wícihitowin: aboriginal social work in canada (pp. 172–199). black point, ns/winnipeg, mb: fernwood publishing. baikie, g. (2009). indigenous-centred social work: theorizing a social work way-of-being. in r. sinclair, m.a. hart, & g. bruyere (eds.), wicihitowin: aboriginal social work in canada (pp. 42–64). black point, ns/winnipeg, mb: fernwood publishing. baskin, c. (2016). strong helpers’ teachings: the value of indigenous knowledges in the helping professions (2nd ed.). toronto, on: canadian scholars’ press. burke, s. (2018). supporting indigenous social workers in front-line practice. canadian social work review / revue canadienne de service social, 35 (1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.7202/1051100ar carrière, j., & richardson, c. (2017). calling our families home: métis peoples’ experiences with child welfare. vernon, bc: jcharlton publishing. dumbrill, g. c., & green, j. (2008). indigenous knowledge in the social work academy. social work education, 27(5), 489–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470701379891 graham, j. r., & shier, m. l. (2014). profession and workplace expectations of social workers: implications for social worker subjective well-being. journal of social work practice, 28(1), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2013.810613 levine, p. (1997). walking the tiger healing trauma: the innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences. berkeley, ca: north atlantic books. linklater, r. (2014). decolonizing trauma work: indigenous stories and strategies. halifax, ns: fernwood publishing. menzies, p. (2010). intergenerational trauma from a mental health perspective. native social work journal, 7, 63–85. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/osul/tc-osul384.pdf simpson, l. (2014). land as pedagogy: nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 3(3), 1–25. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index .php/des/article/view/22170/17985 sinclair, r. (2009). bridging the past and the future: an introduction to indigenous social work issues. in r. sinclair, m.a. hart, & g. bruyere (eds.), wícihitowin: aboriginal social work in canada (pp. 19–41). black point, ns/winnipeg, mb: fernwood publishing. 18 https://doi.org/10.7202/1051100ar https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470701379891 https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2013.810613 https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/osul/tc-osul-384.pdf https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/osul/tc-osul-384.pdf https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/22170/17985 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/22170/17985 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness the arbutus review special issue on indigenous wellness this issue of the arbutus review was produced by the division of learning and teaching support and innovation (ltsi) in partnership with the indigenous mentorship network – pacific northwest (imn-pn) at the university of victoria. this special issue on indigenous wellness showcases the work of undergraduate indigenous students. peer reviewers for this issue are indigenous graduate students. this issue supports the goals and actions identified in uvic’s indigenous plan, 2017–2022, specifically goals related to identifying, promoting, and supporting opportunities for undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows to be involved in indigenous research initiatives. as well, it supports the imn-pn goals to support indigenous student to pursue indigenous wellness research and knowledge translation; academic, cultural, and professional mentorship; and experiential learning and training activities. we acknowledge with respect the lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the songhees, esquimalt and w̱sáneć peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. 1 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness special issue cover art statement from charles elliot jr., tsarlip first nation artist i figured as the journal shares the students’ research from their studies, i wanted the cover art to relate to sharing that research and in a way we indigenous peoples share knowledge and tell story. before television, podcast, books, and other medias, one of those ways of sharing knowledge, experience, and story was over a fire. still today, sharing knowledge, experiences, and stories over a fire is very common and something about being by that fire makes the listening intent and receiving that much more memorable. the main design is the sacred fire, and intertwined are different forms of life throughout the flames of the fire. the surrounding images on the cover art portray our ocean and lands. incorporating the salish designs and faces of mother earth. -temoseng chasz 2 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by an academic mentor. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following mentors for their support of an undergraduate research paper. dr. kari a. b. chew, neⱦolṉew̱ ”one mind, one people,” indigenous education, university of victoria author: ȼelástenot (bonnie seward) dr. billie allan, school of social work, university of victoria authors: olivia ryan-schmidt lisa smith, sociology, douglas college authors: seren micheal friskie dr. waaseyaa’sin christine sy, gender studies, university of victoria author: madeline burns dr. billie allan, school of social work, university of victoria author: charlene menacho wilson mendes, phd candidate in indigenous education/land and food systems, ubc author: hailey bird matheson as well, all submissions are reviewed blind by at least two readers. the readers for this issue are indigenous graduate students. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. stephanie day, haudenosaunee from oneida nation of the thames, university of victoria jonathan boron, cayuga from six nations of the grand river, simon fraser university amy schwab, métis, university of british columbia wilson mendes, gaurani-kaiawa (brazilian first nation), university of british columbia 3 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness the arbutus review would also like to thank others whose ideas, work and guidance have contributed to the journal. laurene sheilds, executive director of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation charlotte loppie, school of public health and social policy maria shallard, tara erb, and jess barton, imn-pn network coordinators inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, who provides guidance to the journal and oversees the online journal systems software that allows us to publish online kari chew, arbutus review guest editor gillian saunders, arbutus review editor and typesetter madeline walker, editor shailoo bedi, director (student academic success) of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation; arbutus review managing editor; and director, academic commons and strategic assessment, uvic libraries afif omar for help with latex the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions, or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors, the advisory board, and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: shailoo bedi, phd director (student academic success) division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca gillian saunders, phd candidate eal specialist, centre for academic communication division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria eal1@uvic.ca ————————————————————– 4 403 forbidden<br> the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019324 the healing power of storytelling: finding identity through narrative seren friskie* douglas college serenitymichealfriskie@gmail.com abstract this paper describes the power of storytelling in the context of an indigenous youth collective, which gathers each week to share their lived experiences and learn song, dance, and lessons through story. i begin with my own life narrative followed by an exploration of how the intergenerational transmission of historical trauma has left many indigenous youth searching for a connection to their culture. i then discuss research that reveals the importance of cultural continuity, self-determination, and engagement in the community to the healing journey of indigenous youth. next, i consider oral storytelling as one method of knowledge delivery, utilized by indigenous nations for thousands of years, that seamlessly blends cultural learning and thus connection to identity. i detail the creation of a youth storytelling circle which centres teachings from the stó:lō, haida, nisga’a, salish, and popkum coast salish nations surrounding the shores and rainforests of what is now british columbia. i conclude with reasons why engaging youth in their wellbeing through traditional practices is of high importance to us all as indigenous community members. keywords: intergenerational trauma; healing; storytelling; narrative identity; indigenous knowledge “if the legends fall silent, who will teach the children of our ways?” (george, 1974, p. 54) oral storytelling is a collective enterprise, in which communities are supported, cultures are unified,and identities are formed. there is a power for the individual, and for society, more generally,when stories are shared, and thus knowledge is passed from one to another. narrative has been used within the field of counselling as a tool to facilitate the healing process for those who are living with trauma (archibald, 2008). for many of these individuals, sharing their own experiences in the form of personal narrative or story can bring new awareness and a sense of clarity to painful memories. sharing and interpreting experiences bridges cultural, linguistic, age, and other divides (corntassel, chaw-win-is, & t’lakwadzi, 2009). for thousands of years, indigenous peoples have relied on personal narrative and oral storytelling for the intergenerational transmission of knowledge and culture, reflecting the strength of our people and the resilience of our ancestors (corntassel et al., 2009). storytelling has been used as a sacred method to teach ethics and values, and oral histories allow us to connect ourselves to the past of our ancestors. *i begin by acknowledging that this work took place on the traditional and ancestral territories of the coast salish peoples, including the musqueam, tsleil-waututh, squamish, and stó:lô. i thank these strong nations for allowing myself and others the daily privilege of enjoying these lands and their sacred teachings, and for their strength and resilience. i would like to thank my supervisor, dr. lisa smith (douglas college), for providing me with endless support and mentorship. i also thank dr. carla hotel and dr. karyn audet for their support and contributions to my learning experiences. and finally, i would like to thank steven bishop for providing me with the opportunity to write this paper and speak on a topic affecting indigenous peoples across canada. 19 mailto:serenitymichealfriskie@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019324 the strength of oral storytelling for indigenous nations dates back thousands of years, and the people who hold those stories have overcome many barriers, such as the assimilation tactics of colonization that sought to destroy them. first nations, métis, and inuit communities have utilized the power of storytelling to pass knowledge from one generation to the next. societies have counted on the transmission of oral histories, lessons, and traditions to preserve historical records and nourish shared identity (ward, branch, & fridkin, 2016). the concept of narrative identity theorizes that individuals form an identity by integrating their life experience into an internalised, evolving story of the self that provides them with a sense of unity and purpose in life (kirmayer, simpson, & cargo, 2003). this life narrative incorporates one’s reconstructed past, perceived present, and imagined future. for this reason, to continue this traditional practice with youth is in itself an act of reclamation and activism, as we reclaim this practice for generations to come. this paper describes the power of storytelling in the context of an indigenous youth collective, which gathers each week to share lived experiences and learn song, dance, and lessons through story. i share my own life narrative, followed by an exploration of how the intergenerational transmission of historical trauma has impacted indigenous youths’ connections to their culture. i then discuss research which reveals the importance of cultural continuity, self-determination, and engagement in the community to the healing journey of indigenous youth. next, i consider oral storytelling in the context of the indigenous youth collective, which has impacted the lives of over sixty indigenous youth. the teachings of the collective come from the stó:lō, haida, nisga’a, salish, and popkum coast salish nations surrounding the shores and rainforests of what is now british columbia. the work of the collective includes reconnecting with family, learning traditional cedar weaving, incorporating ceremony in our lives, and the creation of other groups throughout the lower mainland of british columbia. the conclusion of this paper reflects the need for bridging the divide between our public institutions of health and the gift of knowledge from elders, youth, and indigenous nations. recapturing my history through cultural connection stories, as we know them in western popular culture, tend to be linear, starting with a foundation of people, places, and things, but in reality our own stories are nonlinear in nature. they blend memories, reflections, and pieces of ourselves caught in time. here you will read a small fragment of my story. growing up, i always knew i was indigenous, with blood from various strong nations, including chehalis and cree. all my relations rest with the sts’ailes and stó:lō people, and i take strength from the memory and histories of my ancestors. i wish i could say that this was always the case. in the past, my family’s indigenous identity was more of a shameful distinction about us, rather than a place to gain strength from our ancestors. the canadian federal government established the indian act in 1876, which stripped my grandmother of her indigenous heritage when she married a non-indigenous man. my grandmother was a child of the residential school system, and was adopted into a white family, which caused deep identity strain. my own father was absent in my early childhood, and sadly died in my early teens. he could not teach me about our traditional customs and stories. this lost sense of identity, coupled with trauma, remained with me throughout my youth. i craved a piece of myself that i had not yet found. i came to understand that this missing piece was what our colonizers tried to take away: our voice and our history. i began to notice the same problems i was dealing with in the lives of other young people around me. after i graduated from high school, i became an indigenous youth counselor within my nation and local friendship center, where i joined in on activities every week and was supported physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. this passionate community, which aided in my personal healing, brought me hope and a mission to improve mental health services for indigenous communities. i share this so that readers can understand me, my intentions, and my craving for story, culture, a place, a home, and an 20 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019324 identity, which were pieces missing from my own upbringing. when i share my culture now, i feel pride. i feel the strength of my ancestors, i feel their resilience, and i give thanks to those elders who nourished me to utter the words “i am proud of where i came from.” historical trauma and oppression intergenerational trauma, or historical trauma, has been the focus of many dialogues in academic spaces, but little research has been applied to healing collective trauma within our communities. many mainstream health services also disregard holistic and traditional indigenous practices in their service models. supporting the need for fundamental change in the way health, wellbeing, healing, and culture are viewed, there has been a push to include unconventional or underused knowledge from indigenous leaders. intergenerational trauma can have a detrimental effect on indigenous youth and give way to a misplaced identity and disorientation from community. this lost sense of identity can be traced to the beginning of european contact and colonization, which violently eroded knowledge systems through the theft of land, suppressed languages, and severing of family and community relationships for the indigenous populations on turtle island. for over five centuries, first nations, métis, and inuit peoples of what is now canada have experienced disproportionate rates of violence and health disparities (homicide in canada, 2014). this collective experience of emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual harm has been passed intergenerationally through a phenomenon known as historical trauma (gone, 2013; wesley-esquimaux & smolewski, 2004). largely a consequence of the residential school system, among other colonizing efforts, historical trauma persists in individuals, families, and communities. the cultural loss, coupled with physical, sexual, and psychological abuse experienced by residential school survivors has embedded itself into the daily lives of not only those who have survived, but also their descendants, thereby touching all indigenous peoples (deborah, 2005). this socio-psychological legacy of trauma brings attention to the complex and cumulative nature of the ongoing impact of colonization (gone, 2013). the concept of historical oppression is important to understand in relation to the experiences of indigenous youth. related to historical trauma, historical oppression includes both bygone and modern forms of oppression (burnette & figley, 2017). the impacts of historical oppression are not solely represented within individuals, but manifest as social, health, and emotional disparities affecting indigenous identity (beltrán & begun, 2014). these disparities can be health inequalities such as disproportionate rates of diabetes, substance use, and low internal self-esteem in indigenous peoples (witt, 1998). historical oppression can further be seen in everyday micro-aggressions, poverty, marginalization, and discrimination, all of which have contributed to the outlook indigenous youth have had on themselves, their community, and their culture (burnette & figley, 2017). many indigenous youth experience devastating health and wellness burdens due to historical oppression, and this oppression manifests itself in self-destructive behaviour (o’keefe, tucker, cole, hollingsworth, & wingate, 2018). building academic research into community practice addressing and healing from historical trauma and oppression requires culturally informed practices to support health and wellbeing in indigenous communities. the past and present research i will discuss in this section affirms what many indigenous peoples know through lived experience: connecting to culture, identity, and community, and being able to make voluntary decisions about health and wellbeing, is beneficial to our healing process. for example, research from the aboriginal healing foundation, which was established in 1998 to promote reconciliation and healing practices that address the legacy of colonization, asserts that a set of factors contribute to healing from historical trauma and the renaissance of aboriginal traditional values (wesley-esquimaux & smolewski, 2004). these include “the restoration of 21 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019324 traditional systems of belief and practice; the resurgence and reclamation of languages; the growth of an aboriginal sense of national identity; and the reconstruction and deconstruction of indigenous people’s history” (wesley-esquimaux & smolewski, 2004, p. 1). findings by the aboriginal healing foundation are also reflected in academic research conducted within canada that seeks to answer questions of how to improve the health and well-being of indigenous peoples. these findings include the revelation that healing interventions should be placed within the larger context of the historical experience (chansonneuve, 2015). because of its ability to bridge social, generational, and cultural connections, oral storytelling has been highlighted as a key approach to building a healthy and balanced life (chansonneuve, 2005). data on deaths by suicide in british columbia’s 196 first nations bands between 1987 and 1992 show that nearly 90% of indigenous youth suicides occurred in approximately 10% of bands (chandler & lalonde, 1998). in some communities, death by suicide rates were 800 times the national average, while in others death by suicide was nonexistent (chandler & lalonde, 1998). while media coverage typically characterizes first nations bands as homogenous, researchers chandler and lalonde (1998) utilized six community-level markers of cultural continuity to explain such vast differences in youth deaths by suicide. they found that, in communities that lacked markers of cultural continuity, such as selfgovernance, culturally relevant education, control over health and public services, and cultural facilities, there was a death by a suicide rate of 137.5 per 100,000 peoples (chandler & lalonde, 1998). in contrast, communities with all six markers of cultural continuity reported zero suicides within the five-year study period (chandler & lalonde, 1998). the work pioneered by chandler and lalonde affirms that creating opportunities for young people to engage in cultural practices in a community setting is not simply a kind gesture, or a fun social activity, but a matter of life or death. research conducted by howell, auger, gomes, brown, and leon (2015) explored how traditional indigenous healing methods can be applied to improve health inequities of the urban indigenous community. they introduced health circles to indigenous participants. these health circles were gatherings of indigenous peoples who wanted to improve their health through community organization, teaching, and shared knowledge. the participants engaged in drum lessons, traditional food and medicine classes, and the practicing of ceremony. they came together “as one heart, one mind, by listening to the medicine and ancestors through the cultural teachings, to each other, and to all [their] relations” in order to “return to being of good mind, heart, good spirit, and good body” (howell et al., 2015, p. 117). the results of these circles indicated that these gatherings cultivated a healthy recognition of identity, and also bridged cultural oneness and community through story (howell et al., 2015). origins: how the youth storytelling circle came to be as a chehalis and cree youth, i bore witness to the breakdown of indigenous identity and connection in my own family and wondered how i could implement a change in direction of how we view our identity as indigenous. in my own case, two of my grandmothers attended residential school and one grew up within the canadian foster system. these integral facts about their lives were hidden by my grandmothers from the rest of the family and shrouded in shame. the discovery of this history fueled me with the passion to learn and rekindle our culture within my family. the premature death of my father, who was a prominent figure in stó:lō first nation, when i was three years old, also fueled my internal fire to explore my family identity and build a relationship posthumously. the support i was given during this process, and the lessons i learned during my time as a youth counselor, inspired me to implement the youth storytelling circle. while speaking with one of the elders in my community, marianne blackroe, i visualized a youth storytelling circle. storytelling was chosen because of its connection to the passage of knowledge, lessons, and cultural learning in a welcoming environment. my process of building the youth storytelling circle was guided by the techniques i learned through trauma informed training and peer support best-practices. 22 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019324 i also applied the tips i learned in my own healing while seeing an indigenous counselor, as well as the scholarly research conducted by indigenous academics i discussed above. because historical trauma and oppression have persisted in communities as a collective wound experienced by whole nations, i decided, with input from three stó:lō elders through the process of talking circles, that we should heal collectively as well. we believed that storytelling might provide a sense of hope and meaning for people in light of traumatic experiences (wexler, 2009). the youth storytelling circle would be a space where young people could come together, talk about their families, and create narratives as they felt comfortable. it was also designed to teach us about our own coast salish culture through storytelling, which included traditional stories and lessons told to us by an elder, typically with accompanying drumming and singing. in mi’kmaw poet and songwriter rita joe’s (1989) poem about the loss of her indigenous language at residential school, she writes, “i lost my talk / the talk you took away…let me find my talk / so i can teach you about me.” these particular lines describe the process of cultural destruction. her “talk” is her language, which is integral to cultural connection. when indigenous peoples find their talk, or their language, they can open up a dialogue to share the core pieces of themselves. indigenous peoples have been searching, re-kindling, and discovering their cultural practices since they were banned. although many nations held onto their cultural practices, traditions, and songs, which had to be kept underground, there were others who were separated or assimilated, and who resisted the remoulding tactics by the hands of eurocentric colonizers (waldram, 2008). although assimilation was violently forced upon indigenous nations, there was no lack of incredible resistance and resilience to survive and thrive. this resistance and resiliency continues today. keeping in mind this abuse of power by the canadian state, our organizing of the storytelling circle was centred on traditional wellness practices that are not often implemented in standard western forms of counselling and self-care. this included traditional songs, drumming, dancing, cedar work, medicine, and ways of seeing and knowing. this was purposefully done, as the model for the storytelling circle was built on research from howell et al. (2015) which suggested incorporating traditional practices into care-models. as a community group of indigenous youth, elders, and leaders, we sought to answer the question of how we can blend the wellness methods of indigenous knowledge framework and western forms of counselling in a way that is respectful and holistic and brings balance to the four realms of the medicine wheel. these four realms include spiritual strength, emotional equilibrium, physical health, and mental health. during our discussions, we came up with the youth storytelling format. this was informed by the practices we already had in place, including a youth gathering twice a week and speaking with youth. it was agreed upon that having a flexible, comfortable, respectful, and fun space was needed to share our stories. the process started with a photograph. we handed out disposable cameras to each member of the group and everyone came back the following week with a photo and a story to share. the stories did not just stop with the image. members went on to talk about their families, their everyday lives, how they are doing in school, and their personal struggles. the photos served as a sort of ice-breaker to get down to the real stories they wanted to share. by sharing the pictures with the group, while sitting in a circular fashion, and by telling the stories related to a series of images, the group members began to develop personal narratives on their own lives in the community, while building upon the relationships around them. each member of the group described their experiences the ways they knew how. this learning brought us all closer together, and not only did we see each other differently, but we also grew to know our culture differently, and with deeper meaning. some participants such as myself did not have indigenous oral history in our homes, so circle group was a way to learn about the lessons brought to us through stories. 23 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019324 decolonizing our healing practices: how story connects us each of us on this earth belongs to some sort of culture and relates to said culture to differing degrees. our individual understandings of our identities come from our ancestors and are shaped by our environment (iseke & moore, 2011). some people may only be loosely connected to their culture, or it may be so crucial to the structure of their identity that their culture is echoed by their everyday acts and customs. whatever the connection, our cultural identity can provide a sense of belonging (wesley-esquimaux & smolewski, 2004). when stories are shared through generations, communities come together. in swhaili, for example, there is a word “ushahidi,” meaning “testimony” (rotich, 2017). this word is used to describe an apparatus to capture the truth of a community being collectively affected by an event. using ushahidi involves a wide variety of mediums, including written story, oral story, images, or materials to give a voice to a group (rotich, 2017). the result is a beautiful entity large enough to inspire others to share their stories and even fight for change. community building is nourished by story across cultures, and brings attention to the issues of the people. during kenya’s 2008 disputed presidential election, ushahidi took place in an online storytelling format, which was used by citizens to map reports of violence and improve bottom-up forms of communication for marginalized groups (rotich, 2017). this particular case may be used as a case study to examine the immediate actions that can be taken from sharing one’s story. hulan and eigenbrod (2008) have proclaimed that story is “the means by which knowledge is reproduced, preserved and conveyed from generation to generation …oral traditions are the foundation of aboriginal societies, connecting speaker and listener in communal experience and uniting past and present in memory” (p. 86). in addition to being a way to connect with others, sharing stories can facilitate the healing process for us and those around us through a collective sharing of experience (stewart, 2008). storytelling can help us learn about the tragic and comedic nature of life and make us feel less alone, confused, and anxious. the stories we share impact our life choices, emotional state, and relationships. the practices of mutual communication and harmonious storytelling are comprised of activities that use our interpersonal skills and build upon our resilience in the face of adversity. these practices allow us to reclaim our stories and take control of our voice (mccabe, 2007). currently, indigenous youth activists are using story, online platforms, and digital media to move change for indigenous sovereignty. protests for wet’suwet’en at the british columbia legislature building are being led by indigenous youth activists, and these young people are leading the way for anti-pipeline protests and indigeous rights demonstrations across the country. we are here, and we are using the tools of modern society to continue to connect to our culture and elevate our voices. for many of us within the group, a sense of belonging to our nation and newfound friends came from our weekly meetings. group members described previous attempts at entering the spheres of traditional western methods of healing, and how those experiences did not provide a secure connection to their wellbeing and the individual delivering the service. for example, youth described accessing services at a local clinic that did not take into account the unique relationship indigenous peoples have with counseling services and the world at large. indigenous youth can be affected by news of injustices in our communities, or murdered and missing indigenous women and girls (mmiwg). clinicians should take historical context into account when working with indigenous youth as their wellbeing will be dependent on understanding. but within our small group, hearing the stories of others around us brought a newfound strength. learning of our past and the lessons our ancestors were taught through story showed us all that we are connected to everything and everyone on this sacred land, and that we can pull from that connection to access our collective vigour and resilience. in my own case, as well as for others within the group, narrative identity was used as a healing tool. we began to deeply relate to our own culture through narrative, and just as we learned about indigenous cultures, including stó:lō, cree, algonquin, and mi’kmaq, thus we shared stories from friends, including 24 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019324 those from latin america, india, egypt, and hawaii. we became connected to our local elders and healers, asking them questions and feeling comfortable gaining guidance. a community was formed through the weekly group meetings as we all shared a journey of gaining knowledge and strengthening our identities through story. the experience given from the youth storytelling circle indicates the need for treatment interventions that work to celebrate and recognize the importance of indigenous peoples and the broad historical context in which these communities live. recommendations from researchers, academics, elders, community leaders, and storytellers support the need to improve the healing and treatment for indigenous populations suffering from the effects of historical trauma and oppression, addictions, abuse, and other effects (kirmayer, brass, & trait, 2000). the findings also align with howell and yuille’s (2004) study, which confirmed the value of community and identity for indigenous peoples living in a modern urban environment and their passage to attaining safe traditional wellness care. conclusion story reflects the internal and environmental setting that an individual grows up in, and how they choose to incorporate the events of their lives into a narrative. each of us weaves multiple factors of the self together to add purpose, as one would with the smooth surface of cedar to create a basket. the complex nature of one’s personal narrative forms a lasting centre for identity and can take the form of a story, free to be expressed in whatever way one would like (mohammed, 2018). a life story expresses the importance of events, and how that event impacts the life of the person involved. this expression of an individual story and its importance was showcased in the storytelling process within the circle, as youth shared personal experiences in narrative form. the cornerstone of our healing within the circle was the connection to the community because in learning about our culture, we were able to find the belonging that supported us to move through our trauma safely. auger, howell, and gom (2016) tell us that when culturally meaningful procedures are implemented for indigenous peoples, their health will improve. from our experience within the circle, we know this to be true. there will always be a place for youth to gather and share their stories because of the compassionate work we all continue to do for local nations in the fraser valley. i hope the method of storytelling circles will one day be implemented for youth and adults alike in public institutions such as colleges, universities, community centres, and workplaces. storytelling as healing is no longer a holistic approach untouched by conventional healing methods; it can be incorporated in our daily lives through the knowledge of our indigenous ancestors. when communities listen to youth and give them the space to dream, lead, and act, the outcome is outstanding. identities are strengthened, communities are brought together, and lives are transformed by the simple act of sharing one’s story. 25 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on 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(1998). promoting self-esteem, defining culture. canadian journal of native education. 22(2), 260–273. 27 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.44.2.148 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.44.2.148 https://daily.jstor.org/how-storytelling-heals/ https://daily.jstor.org/how-storytelling-heals/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461518778937 https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461518778937 https://doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2008.10708129 http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/historic-trauma.pdf http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/historic-trauma.pdf https://doi.org/10.1353/hcy.0.0055 https://doi.org/10.1353/hcy.0.0055 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 the arbutus review is produced by the division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the university of victoria. the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009 as the undergraduate research scholarship program by the then vice-president academic and provost and current past president of the university, jamie cassels. it was designed to support and create truly formative research experiences for exceptional undergraduate students. the division of learning and teaching support and innovation administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submissions that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review also publishes other exceptional work from students in departments across campus. we acknowledge with respect the lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the songhees, esquimalt and wsáneć peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. letter from the managing editor it is my pleasure to introduce this issue of the arbutus review, marking 10 years of publication. including the six articles in this issue, we have published 94 scholarly articles and creative works by undergraduate authors since our inception in 2010. at the time of writing, authors had cited our students’ articles 162 times, with 142 of those citations occurring in the last five years. this year has been extraordinary due to the unexpected way that the pandemic has changed our lives. in spite of many changes at our university, we are pleased that we have been able to publish two issues this year—a special issue focusing on indigenous wellness and the second issue i have the pleasure of introducing here. demands on students this year were great as they transitioned to online learning; nonetheless we received many excellent submissions and the six published here showcase interesting and timely research from undergraduate students at the university of victoria. all of the articles start as thirdor fourth-year course writings, honours papers, or jamie cassells undergraduate research award (jcura) projects and are transformed into publishable articles with the help of supportive instructors, our graduate student peer reviewers, and editors at the arbutus review. i’d like to thank somayah abniki, a graduate student in engineering, for her help with latex for this issue. also, this issue would not have been possible without the dedication and keen editorial skills of dr. madeline walker (editor). i am grateful to work with madeline. 1 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by an academic mentor (usually a faculty member) at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper. dr. luis bettio, division of medical sciences author: james choi dr. michael bodden, pacific and asian studies author: julian ruszel dr. karen kobayashi, department of sociology author: melina cortina-castro dr. olav krigolson, school of exercise science, physical and health education author: jillian toppings dr. helen kurki , department of anthropology author: emma ronayne dr. margo matwychuk, department of anthropology author: ginny makovnyka as well, all submissions are reviewed blind by at least two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. stephanie arlt blythe bell angel chen kate fairley jay joshi georgia king mark shakespear ginger sullivan helen von bucholz kimberley shapkin david lark jessica robertson juan sanchez-arias raza sayer katayoun youssefi 2 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 the arbutus review would also like to thank others whose ideas, work and guidance have contributed to the journal. laurene sheilds, executive director of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, who provides guidance to the journal and oversees the online journal systems software that allows us to publish online madeline walker, arbutus review editor and typesetter, uvic centre for academic communication coordinator shailoo bedi, director (student academic success) of the uvic division of learning and teaching support and innovation; arbutus review managing editor the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions, or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors, the advisory board, and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: shailoo bedi, phd director (student academic success) division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria ltsidirsas@uvic.ca madeline walker, phd coordinator, centre for academic communication division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria cacpc@uvic.ca ————————————————————– 3 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 tearing the fabric: a critique of materialism passia pandora∗ university of victoria passiapandora@gmail.com abstract one of the long-standing questions in the field of philosophy of mind is called the mind-body problem. the problem is this: given that minds and mental properties appear to be vastly different than physical objects and physical properties, how can the mind and body relate to and interact with each other? materialism is the currently preferred response to philosophy’s classic mind-body problem. most contemporary philosophers of mind accept a materialist perspective with respect to the nature of reality. they believe that there is one reality and it is physical. one of the primary problems with materialism has to do with the issue of physical reduction, that is, if everything is physical, how does the mental reduce to the physical? i argue that the materialistic model is problematic because it cannot sufficiently explain the reduction problem. specifically, the materialist model does not account for our subjective experience, including qualia. i also consider the question of why the materialist stance is so entrenched, given all the problems with the reduction problem that have been raised. i argue that the paradigmatic influence of materialism explains the puzzling conclusions drawn by philosophers. in closing, i argue that the failure of materialist perspectives to explain reduction is our invitation to take a fresh look at the alternatives. keywords: mind-body problem; materialism; physical reduction; qualia; paradigm the dominant metaphysical commitment among philosophers in the 21st century is that ofmaterialism. materialism, also known as physicalism, is a theory which holds that everythingthat exists is physical (stoljar, 2017). physical objects have size, shape, location, solidity, and motion, and their interactions are determined by the laws of physics (calef, n.d.). materialists acknowledge that biological, psychological, social, or moral “items” may appear to be non-physical, but they argue that those items are either physical or they supervene1 on the physical (stoljar, 2017). materialism is the currently preferred response to philosophy’s classic mind-body problem (mandik, 2014). the mind-body problem is this: given that minds and mental properties (such as pain) appear to be vastly different from physical objects and physical properties, how can the mind and body relate to and interact with each other (mandik, 2014, p. 7)? more specifically, philosophers ask, if mental things are just physical things, how can that be explained? that is, how do mental things reduce to physical things (mandik, 2014, p. 7)? the materialist response to the mind-body problem is that, ultimately, everything is reduced to something physical. in spite of the popularity of materialism among philosophers in the field of philosophy of mind, there are many problems with the reduction stance. the problem of reduction is not an obscure ∗this research was supported by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, university of victoria. i extend my appreciation to prof. klaus jahn and dr. eric hochstein for their generous assistance and support in this project. i also wish to thank the editor of the arbutus review and the anonymous reviewers of my paper for their valuable feedback. 1a set of properties “a” supervenes upon another set of properties “b” if and only if no two things can differ with respect to a-properties without also differing with respect to their b-properties (mclaughlin & bennett, 2018). 52 mailto:passiapandora@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 question that is of interest only to philosophers; it has repercussions that extend far beyond the field of philosophy. materialism is a metaphysical commitment that can be considered as an entire package of views: it represents a “physicalist world picture” (stoljar, 2017, physicalism and the physicalist world picture, para. 1). materialism is the lens that we currently use to understand the world and our place in it; it forms the foundation of all our physical and social sciences. the disciplines of biology, cognitive science, physics, artificial intelligence, and psychology, to name a few, are all implicated in their commitment to materialism. if reduction cannot be established in the field of philosophy of mind, the materialist foundation of all science comes into question. therefore, the question of materialism is not simply a question for consideration; it is the first and primary question that must be considered in all sciences. in this paper, i will argue that the materialistic model is problematic because it cannot sufficiently explain the reduction problem. i believe that there is a credible alternative to materialism, but that discussion is beyond the scope of this paper. i will present this paper in four sections. in section one, i will provide a description of two of the currently accepted materialist theories in the field of philosophy of mind: functionalism and eliminativism. section one is offered primarily to provide some background, context and definitions of terms. in support of my thesis, the materialistic model is problematic because it cannot sufficiently explain the reduction problem, so i will consider the reduction problem in two additional sections. in section two, i will present some contemporary arguments put forth by jaegwon kim, ned block, thomas nagel, john searle, david chalmers, and frank jackson. these contemporary arguments address four different reduction problems. although the arguments presented by kim, block, searle, nagel, chalmers, and jackson are compelling, i will claim that their arguments have not succeeded in altering the mainstream materialist viewpoint. in this section, i will also present two arguments against eliminativism. in section three, i will address three of my concerns regarding the reduction problem: 1) concerns regarding unresolved issues with respect to the reduction problem, 2) concerns that materialism cannot account for common characteristics of our mental experience, and 3) concerns regarding the validity of the materialist stance in general. in section four, i will consider the question of why the materialist stance is so entrenched, given all the problems with the reduction problem that have been raised. i will argue that the paradigmatic influence of materialism explains the puzzling conclusions drawn by philosophers. in closing, i will argue that the failure of materialist perspectives to conclusively explain reduction is our invitation to take a fresh look at the alternatives. section one: functionalism and eliminativism in this section, i will provide a description of two of the currently accepted materialist theories in the field of philosophy of mind: functionalism and eliminativism. functionalism is the most widely accepted view in philosophy of mind today (levine, 1997). with functionalism, mental states, defined by yoo (n.d.) as beliefs, desires, feelings or perceptions, are not defined in terms of material substances (mandik, 2014). instead, mental states are defined by the causal relations they bear to input states (sensory states), output states (verbal and nonverbal behaviours) and other mental states (mandik, 2014). for example, the mental state of fear may be triggered by a perception of a potentially harmful thing such as a poisonous snake (the input state). a fearful situation may result in a protective or evasive action, an expressive verbal behaviour, or both (the output state). for example, when you see a snake, you shriek and run away from it. previously held beliefs (other mental states) about snakes may play a role in how you respond to the snake (mandik, 2014). two frequently cited objections to functionalism are the absent qualia problem and the inverted spectra problem. the term “qualia” refers to the subjective property of our experience (kind, n.d.). since it is possible to imagine the existence of an organism that satisfies the same functional states 53 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 as humans, but who has no qualitative experience associated with those functional states, one important objection is that functionalism fails to account for the subjective or qualitative aspect of mental states (bechtel, 1988). block (2007) coins this the “absent qualia argument” (p. 73). the inverted spectra problem is this: as jerry fodor (1981) explains, functionalism allows for the possibility that two mental states have the same causal relations yet differ in their qualitative content (p. 122). fodor offers this thought experiment that illustrates the inverted spectra problem: it seems possible to imagine two observers who are alike in all relevant psychological respects except that experiences having the qualitative content of red for one observer would have the qualitative content of green for the other. nothing about their behavior need reveal the difference because both of them see ripe tomatoes and flaming sunsets as being similar in color and both of them call that color “red.” moreover, the causal connection between their (qualitatively distinct) experiences and their other mental states could also be identical. (p. 122) fodor concludes that the functionalist view cannot account for the differences in the qualitative experience of each observer. because mental states are not defined in terms of material substances, functions are multiply realizable; that is, they can be realized in more than one way2. when a property is multiply realizable, there is no one physical property of which the experience of pain can be identified with (ney, n.d.). for example, the pain experienced by a human and a dog may be the same, but the human body and the dog body realize that pain differently. because functionalism is compatible with multiple-realizability, it allows for the possibility that mental states could be realized in non-physical ways. therefore, in theory, functionalism is consistent with non-physicalist theories. however, functionalism is primarily considered from a physicalist perspective (mandik, 2014). because a function must eventually be conceived in terms of a physical process (ney, n.d.), reduction remains a concern.3 therefore, from the physicalist perspective, multiple-realizability represents a reduction problem. eliminative materialism (em; also known as eliminativism) is an extreme form of physicalist monism. physical monism suggests that everything in reality, including mind and consciousness, is or can be reduced to something physical (kriegel, 2007). em theorists hold that our common-sense understanding of the mind is deeply flawed. they argue that some or all of the mental states posited by our common-sense understanding do not actually exist and have no role to play in the science of mind (ramsey, 2019). these mental states include propositional attitudes (defined by oppy (1998) as beliefs, hopes, desires, intentions, etc.) and phenomenal or qualitative states, such as the concept of pain (ramsey, 2019). there are two conceptions of em theory: strong and weak. strong em holds that there are no mental states, only brain states (ramsey, 2019). reduction is not a consideration for strong em theorists; they claim that mental states cannot be reduced to or identified with neuronal events or processes because they hold that mental states do not exist (ramsey, 2019). in the same way that demons are unreal and have no explanatory role for people who have mental health issues, strong em theorists argue that mental states are unreal and have no explanatory role in the brain sciences or philosophy (ramsey, 2019). strong em is generally 2generally, multiple-realizability exists when it is possible for “the tokens of a certain type to be realized by tokens of two or more distinct types.” for example, the function of pain can be realized in more than one way, for example, by c-fibres firing or q-fibres firing (jaworski, n.d., para.1). when a property is multiply realizable, there is no one physical property by which the experience of pain can be identified with (ney, n.d.). 3functional reduction requires two stages. first, the phenomena to be reduced is construed relationally. for example, the function “boiling” is construed as the property of a liquid where bubbles appear on the surface and vapor results. second, the observed property is identified as an outcome of a physically based science. for example, the existence of bubbles and vapor are identified as the outcome of a reduction of atmospheric pressure, which subsequently allows molecules to escape the surface of the liquid (ney, n.d.). 54 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 rejected because it makes a claim that is self-undermining: it recommends that we believe the claim that there are no beliefs (mandik, 2014). weak em holds that there are mental states, but they are just brain states (ramsey, 2019). weak em theorists argue that our common-sense understanding of mental states is flawed; there is no way to reduce or “map” our common-sense understanding of mental states onto a neurological model of the brain (ramsey, 2019). in the same way that our concept of “weeds” corresponds to something actual, but has no explanatory value in the science of botany, our concepts of mental states may refer to something actual, but have no explanatory value in brain science (ramsey, 2019). regardless of the form, strong or weak, eliminative materialists argue that the discussion of mental states falls into the realm of folk psychology (intrinsically held, common-sense beliefs) that are not supported by science (mandik, 2014). for this reason, eliminative materialists recommend the elimination of any talk of mental entities, such as minds, mental states, and mental properties (mandik, 2014). because em denies the existence of our common-sense understanding of mental states, some philosophers argue that em does not meet the necessary conditions required of a successful theory of mind. em theorists reject this idea, arguing that em liberates us from holding this restrictive perspective (ramsey, 2019). i will next consider some additional objections to em. section two: contemporary arguments against materialism in this section, i will present some contemporary arguments put forth by jaegwon kim, ned block, thomas nagel, john searle, david chalmers, and frank jackson. these contemporary arguments address four different reduction problems. although the arguments presented by these authors are compelling, i will claim that their arguments have not succeeded in altering the mainstream materialist viewpoint. in this section, i will also present two arguments against eliminativism. the foundation of the materialist argument is based upon a mechanistic worldview, which holds that there is an objective “outside” world that exists independently from us and that everything in this world is a physical thing or has a physical state. our world is considered to be objective because it is presumed to exist independently of a subject’s perception of it. that is, the objective world exists even if there is no subject to perceive it (mulder, n.d.). because our physical reality is a causally closed system, everything in this reality must ultimately have a physical explanation (kim, 2005). thus, the mental must be explained in terms of the physical; the mental must be reducible to the physical.4 (there is one exception: some philosophers commit to a stance called eliminative materialism (em), which denies the existence of the mental altogether. i will discuss em with respect to the reduction problem later in this paper.) however, reduction is problematic. there are four different reduction problems to consider. first, considering physical reduction, philosophers who dispute materialism have argued that mental states cannot be reduced to physical states (brain states). second, considering a functional approach where mental states are defined in terms of their causes and effects (fodor, 1981), philosophers have further argued that mental properties cannot be reduced to physical properties; mental properties such as pain cannot be defined in terms of physical processes. third, philosophers have argued that when reduction has occurred, there remains some aspect of the mental state that cannot be reduced, thereby rendering the reduction incomplete. fourth, some philosophers claim that reduction is not a problem; they reject the reality of mental states altogether. 4there is a philosophical stance called non-reductive physicalism (npr) that holds that 1) all substances are physical, and 2) mental properties are not reducible to physical properties. however, susan schneider (2013) argues that nrp is false because it conflicts with two of the leading views regarding the nature of substance (pp. 135–136). those views suggest that properties are considered to be metaphysical constituents of substances. therefore, mental properties cannot be purely physical substances. 55 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 kim (2005) responds to the first and second problems of reduction. regarding the first problem, the reduction of mental states to physical states, kim suggests that some materialist philosophers embrace the idea of mind-body supervenience, seeing it as an option that protects the autonomy of the mental without lapsing into dualism, the belief that there are two kinds of “stuff” in the world, mental and physical (mandik, 2014). that is, they believe that supervenience allows that the mental can be accommodated within the realm of the physical; the mental and the physical are not fundamentally different. however, when the problem of mental causation is considered, kim writes, “this seductive picture . . . turns out to be a piece of wishful thinking” (p. 15). kim explains that if we accept the principle that our physical system is causally closed, then mental state causation is not possible because all causal explanations are physical causal explanations. that is, it is impossible for mental states to have any physical affect. regarding the second problem, functional reduction, kim further argues that mental properties cannot be reduced to physical properties. to reduce mental properties, they must first be functionalized. kim explains that to functionalize a mental property such as pain, it must be shown that pain is definable as being in a state that is caused by certain inputs (e.g., tissue damage or trauma) and that those inputs bring about certain outputs (e.g., characteristic pain behaviours, a sense of distress, or a desire to be rid of it) (p. 24). however, materialism requires that functional states be realized physically (p. 29). therefore, kim concedes that because qualia are “mental residue” that cannot be accommodated in our physical world, they are not functionally definable and are therefore functionally irreducible (pp. 28–29). concluding that qualia resist functional reduction, kim writes that “global physicalism is untenable” (p. 170). ned block (2007) gives an argument that offers support for the failure of the second problem of functional reduction of mental properties to physical properties. block makes a significant contribution to the discussion regarding functionalism and the irreducibility of mental states by introducing a thought experiment that has come to be known as “the chinese nation” (cole, 2019). block proposes a thought experiment where the physical (neuronal) processes of the brain are represented functionally by creating a network of individual people making two-way radio calls to one another. the calls required no conversations; instead, the calls made are simply meant to mirror a neuronal pattern of interaction that occurs in the brain (cole, 2019). therefore, the cognitive process is being functionally represented external to the brain, expressed through the network interactions of a billion people. however, as block observes, “there is a prima facie doubt whether [the network] has any mental states at all” (p. 73). block’s thought experiment demonstrates that our subjective experience cannot be functionally reduced; it cannot account for qualia. john searle’s (1980) “chinese room” thought experiment also offers support for the failure of the second problem, the functional reduction of mental properties to physical properties. interestingly, searle’s original intention was to comment on a discussion in the area of artificial intelligence; he first introduced this thought experiment to show conclusively that it is impossible for computers to think or understand language (cole, 2019). he later developed a broader interpretation that refutes the functionalist approach to understanding mind (cole, 2019). his thought experiment goes like this: searle (1980) asks us to imagine a person alone in a room who follows specific instructions on how to respond to chinese characters that are slipped under the door. although the person in the room does not understand chinese, by following the instructions for manipulating symbols and numerals, that person is able to produce strings of chinese characters that fool the people outside the room into believing that there is a chinese speaker in the room (p. 418). searle’s original intent was to show that while computers are able to use syntactic rules to manipulate strings of symbols, they have no understanding of the meaning of those symbols. searle’s chinese room thought experiment refutes the computational theory of mind, a functionalist theory, because it denies that mental states can be defined by their causal roles (cole, 2019). searle (2010) writes, “computation is defined purely formally or syntactically, whereas minds have actual mental or semantic contents, 56 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 and we cannot get from syntactical to the semantic just by having the syntactical operations and nothing else” (p. 17). the most common objection to searle’s thought experiment is known as “the systems reply” (cole, 2019). while the objectors agree that the person in the room does not understand chinese, they argue that the person in the room is part of a greater system whole that does understand it. searle’s (1980) response to this objection is to say that, in principle, the person in the room could internalize the entire system, but even if they did, that person would still not understand chinese (p. 419). we still cannot get semantics from syntax. therefore, the thought experiments offered by both block and searle refute functional reduction of the mental to the physical. curiously, although block and searle both refute functional reduction, they do not refute materialism. searle (2010) argues that conscious states are caused by brain processes and are realized in the brain. block (2007) argues that although functionalism and physicalism are incompatible, functionalism (if it is true) does not show that physicalism is false. thomas nagel (1974) offers another argument that demonstrates the failure of the third reduction problem, the problem of incomplete reduction. in nagel’s (1974) essay “what is it like to be a bat,” he suggests that mental states cannot be completely reduced to physical states because the quality of “what it is like” to be a bat (or a human) is left out (p. 436). the quality of “what it is like” refers to the subjective aspect of our experiences in life (e.g., the taste of a sweet cinnamon bun, the smell of grass after a rain, a musical note that hangs in the air and then fades away). according to nagel, the physical system cannot account for the subjective point-of-view (p. 442). and, since every phenomenal experience is subjective, it cannot be accounted for by a physical state which is necessarily objective. thus, no amount of physical information can tell us what it is like to be a bat (jackson, 1982, p. 131). nagel (1974) writes, if physicalism is to be defended, the phenomenological features must themselves be given a physical account. but when we examine their subjective character it seems that such a result is impossible. the reason is that every subjective phenomenon is essentially connected with a single point of view, and it seems inevitable that an objective, physical theory will abandon that point of view. (p. 437) nagel’s argument is important, so i will unpack it in more detail. first, nagel observes that the phenomena of conscious experience is widespread, and that for any organism that has a conscious experience, “there is something it is like to be that organism” (p. 436). he calls this the “subjective character of experience” (p. 436). nagel claims that since functional states could be ascribed to robots or automata who behave like people, but have no subjective experience, the subjective character of experience cannot be analyzed according to these states. because this subjective character is not analyzable with respect to any system of functional states, nagel claims that the “recently devised reductive analyses of the mental” (p. 436) do not capture this subjective aspect of experience. in fact, nagel points out that these reductions are actually “logically compatible with [the subjective character of experience’s] absence” (p. 436). therefore, he argues that materialism cannot be defended using an analysis that fails to explicitly deal with the subjective character of experience (p. 437). in support of this conclusion, nagel makes a distinction between the subjective (first person) and objective (third person) character of experience. he argues that experience can never have an objective character, writing, “after all, what would be left of what it is like to be a bat if one removed the viewpoint of the bat?” (p. 443). nagel also observes that the process of reduction requires a shift toward greater objectivity and less upon any specific individual point of view. reduction works well when we are referring to concepts and ideas that we use to refer to things beyond ourselves (p. 444). however, when it comes to our subjective experience, nagel argues that reduction makes no logical sense. it is not possible to move toward greater objectivity 57 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 while maintaining our subjective experience. nagel writes, if the subjective character of experience is fully comprehensible from one point of view, then any shift to greater objectivity—that is, less attachment to a specific viewpoint—does not take us nearer to the real nature of the phenomenon: it takes us farther away from it. (pp. 444–445) this is especially apparent when it comes to species-specific viewpoints. nagel claims that the species-specific viewpoint must be excluded for reduction to succeed (p. 445). finally, nagel concludes that, if we accept that a physical theory of mind accounts for our subjective character of experience, then we currently have no conception about how it makes this account (p. 445). david chalmers (1995) offers another perspective regarding the third problem, incomplete reduction. because the physical is all there is, materialists must explain mental functions in terms of physical processes. while some mental functions can be explained as physical processes, others cannot. chalmers distinguishes between these, naming them the easy and hard problems of consciousness, respectively (p. 200). the easy problems are those that can be explained in terms of physical processes or neural mechanisms. the hard problems are those that cannot. some examples of the easy problems of consciousness identified by chalmers are the ability to discriminate, categorize, and react to environmental stimuli; the integration of information by a cognitive system; the reportability of mental states; the ability of a system to access its own internal states; the focus of attention; the deliberate control of behaviour; and the difference between wakefulness and sleep (p. 200). they are considered “easy” because each of these functions can be described by a physical process or mechanism. alternatively, chalmers considers subjective experience to be the “really hard problem of consciousness” (p. 201). in his discussion, chalmers also explains why the easy problems are easy and the hard problem is hard. the easy problems, ones that define cognitive processes and mechanisms, can be explained from an objective perspective. the hard problem, our subjective experience, cannot be described objectively. chalmers (1995) writes, the easy problems are easy precisely because they concern the explanation of cognitive abilities and functions. to explain a cognitive function, we need only specify a mechanism that can perform the function. the methods of cognitive science are well-suited for this sort of explanation, and so are well-suited to the easy problems of consciousness. by contrast, the hard problem is hard precisely because it is not a problem about the performance of functions. the problem persists even when the performance of all the relevant functions is explained. (p. 202) therefore, as with kim, chalmers argues that because subjective experience cannot be functionalized, subjective experience extends beyond functional performance; subjective experience cannot be reduced (p. 203). when applied to subjective experience, chalmers considers the reductive method to be “impotent” (p. 208). in spite of this conclusion, chalmers posits a materialist theory which he calls “naturalistic dualism,” where consciousness is considered to be fundamental and therefore irreducible, yet is somehow explained by physical laws (p. 210). frank jackson (1982) offers an argument that also demonstrates the failure of the third problem, the problem of incomplete reduction. jackson approaches the reduction problem from a different angle. his contribution has come to be known as “the knowledge argument” (nida-rümelin, 2015). jackson suggests that there are certain kinds of perceptual experiences that cannot be accounted for using purely physical information. there is something missing: our subjective, phenomenal experience. jackson (1982) explains, 58 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 tell me everything physical there is to tell about what is going on in a living brain, the kind of states, their functional role, their relation to what goes on at other times and in other brains, and so on and so forth and be i as clever as can be in fitting it all together, you won’t have told me about the hurtfulness of pains, the itchiness of itches, pangs of jealousy, about the characteristic experience of tasting a lemon, smelling a rose, hearing a loud noise or seeing the sky. (p. 127) jackson introduces two examples to explain his knowledge argument. in one of jackson’s examples, he introduces us to mary. mary is a brilliant neurophysiologist who, for whatever reason, is “forced to investigate the world from a black and white room via a black and white television monitor” (p. 130). as a specialist in vision, mary knows everything about the physical aspects of sight. next, jackson poses the question, “what will happen when mary is released from her black and white room or is given a color television monitor? will she learn anything or not?” (p. 130). jackson concludes that is seems “obvious” that she will learn something new (p. 130). therefore, even when mary had all the physical information, it must be that her previous knowledge was incomplete. therefore, once again, physicalism leaves something out. thus, in both cases, jackson argues that “qualia are left out of the physicalist story” (p. 130). there have been many objections to the knowledge argument. one common objection, known as the new knowledge/old fact view suggests that when mary learns what it is like to see red, she does not learn a new fact, but instead learns an old fact in a new way. therefore, a new piece of knowledge does not necessarily infer the existence of a new fact (kriegel, 2007). a similar version of this objection is called the “ability reply,” which suggests that the only knowledge mary gains is “know-how” or skill. mary gains no new knowledge of physical facts (van gulick, 1997, p. 560). van gulick (1997) explains, “[mary] gains only new practical abilities to recognize and imagine the relevant phenomenal properties” (p. 560). while van gulick accepts that mary gains know-how, he also suggests that know-how is not all that she gains. she also “apprehends” a fact about phenomenal red after her release (p. 560). in spite of his observation, van gulick nevertheless argues that mary’s knowledge can be reduced to the physical. following brian loar’s argument, van gulick suggests that mary acquires a concept “that enters her cognitive repertoire,” which she is able to use to realize the truth of new propositions (pp. 562–563). loar and gulick argue that this is not problematic for the physicalist because the property to which the new concept refers is one that exists within the realm of the physical sciences (pp. 562–563). in light of these objections, jackson’s knowledge argument remains controversial (nida-rümelin, 2015). the fourth problem to consider with respect to reduction is specific to eliminative materialism (em). recall that both forms of em, strong and weak, are physically monistic. thus, em theorists avoid the reduction problem by denying the reality of anything mental. strong em holds that there are no mental states, only brain states. the reduction problem is not a consideration for strong em theorists; they claim that mental states cannot be reduced to or identified with neuronal events or processes because they hold that mental states do not exist (ramsey, 2019). weak em holds that there may be mental states, but they are just brain states (ramsey, 2019). weak em theorists reject the reduction of mental states to neuronal states, claiming that the concept of mental states has no explanatory value in the brain sciences. in fact, kathleen wilkes (1984) suggests that consciousness is “not important at all” in the neurosciences and that philosophers of mind should not bother exploring the notion (p. 224). some em theorists have not only questioned the reality of particular states of consciousness, but also question the existence of consciousness itself (ramsey, 2019). they argue that consciousness is an illusion (ramsey, 2019). they contend that awareness and subjectivity are probably neuronal effects. for example, em theorists rick grush and patricia churchland (1995) argue that “consciousness is almost certainly a property of the physical brain” (p. 10). in response, i offer two objections. first, the stance that our conscious 59 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 experience is simply an illusion is extremely counter-intuitive. as joseph levine (1997) writes, “it is difficult to see how one can maintain that qualitative character isn’t a genuine property of my experience” (pp. 398–400). second, there is a logical error with this claim. even the experience of an illusion is an experience. a being that is not conscious can have no experience whatsoever, including an illusory experience. therefore, the fact that we seem to have a conscious experience guarantees that we are having a conscious experience (poole, 2016). as dennett & searle (1995) observe, “where consciousness is concerned, the existence of the appearance is the reality” (para. 10). the illusion assertion reveals a fundamental problem with physically monistic theories—they cannot account for subjectivity. according to nagel (1986), subjectivity is an irreducible feature of reality; without it, we could not “do physics or anything else” (p. 8) (including philosophy). i will further address the issue of subjectivity in section three. in this section i presented a survey of some of the current arguments that dispute the reduction problem (that the mental can be reduced to the physical), along with some of the objections to those arguments. although the arguments presented by kim, block, searle, nagel, chalmers, and jackson are compelling, they have not succeeded in altering the mainstream materialist view. in contemporary literature, philosophers continue to both defend and refute these iconic arguments. section three: additional concerns regarding the reduction issue in this section, i will consider three of my concerns regarding the reduction issue: 1) concerns regarding unresolved issues with respect to the reduction problem, 2) concerns that materialism cannot account for common characteristics of our mental experience and, 3) concerns regarding the validity of the materialist stance in general. there are three unresolved issues with respect to the reduction problem. first, functionalists and eliminativists are begging the question. functionalists argue that the mental reduces to the physical. em theorists argue that mental states just are brain states. although materialism is not yet proven, both theories presume that materialism is true. for example, daniel dennett (1991) writes, somehow the brain must be the mind, but unless we can come to see in some detail how this is possible, our materialism will not explain consciousness, but only promise to explain it, some sweet day. (p. 42, emphasis added) however, just because we want something to be true, does not make it so. as kim (2005) suggests, “our wish to save mental causation, however sincere and righteous, cannot by itself make reductionism true” (p. 148). dennett’s comment highlights a second issue. although philosophers have been unable to prove the reduction of the mental to the physical, they trust that the answers will come sometime in the future once more research is done. here, they are relying on some predictive power of the future; their arguments are not decisive here and now. as ramsey (2019) writes, “for eliminative materialism to get off the ground, we need to assume that scientific psychology is going to turn out a certain way. but why suppose that before scientific psychology gets there?” (concluding remarks, para. 2). philosophers have rushed to closure on materialism before closure is warranted. my second concern is that materialism cannot account for a number of common characteristics of our mental experience. in the first section i discussed qualia, one of those characteristics. in this section, i will discuss some of the other common characteristics that are unaccounted for. presently, materialism does not account for the subjective, first-person perspective. nagel (1986) argues that the objective, physical world contains no point of view. however, each of us has the experience of being a particular person in a particular place with a personal view of the world (“the view from 60 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 nowhere,” n.d.). that is, we experience reality from a particular point-of-view (pov). pov is a pre-condition for subjective experience and everything that relies upon it, including intentionality, agency (free will), personal narrative, and indexicality. i will briefly consider each of these aspects. pov allows for an experience of “otherness”; it allows for the separation of self and other or object. for this reason, mental processes have the capacity to be about something. this is brentano’s concept of intentionality (huemer, 2019). in fact, mental processes always represent something (e.g., a cup of tea, my cat, the clouds (mandik, 2014)). conversely, physical processes, having no point-of-view, are not about anything. as raymond tallis (1999) writes, “the plenum of the mechanistic world of unconscious matter and unconscious energy lacks ‘aboutness’” (p. 238). pov creates the possibility for agency (free will). according to schlosser (2015), an agent is a being with the capacity to act. therefore, agency is the manifestation of the capacity to act, and human agency or free will involves intentional action. we experience agency as an “experience of conscious will” (the sense of agency, para. 2). the concept of human agency is inconsistent with the physicalist, causal model of reality where all interactions are determined based upon the mechanical processing of inputs and outputs (tallis, 1999). tallis defends this premise by arguing that a mechanical process does not require the intervention of consciousness or deliberate intention because it occurs according to physical laws (e.g., cause and effect). mechanistic outcomes happen; they are not brought about through volition. contrary to volitional acts, the outcomes of mechanistic acts are guaranteed (tallis, 1999, p. 212). if every nerve impulse is determined by physical laws, how can there be any volition? (davies & brown, 1986). tallis (1999) asserts that the physical world makes no allowance for a point-of-view and therefore provides no basis for purpose, function or goals; the physical world provides no basis for agency (p. 227). tallis (1999) claims that, because it provides for the separation of self and other, pov creates the possibility of personal human narrative, the story of our lives (p. 256). each of us has our own unique story that includes our experiences, our relationships, our joys and sorrows, and our triumphs and failures. narrative requires that we separate our environment into a foreground and background of experience. there can be no story without this separation. tallis explains that consciousness is required to establish a distinction between foreground and background, between organism and environment. conversely, unconscious organisms have no environment. from a physical, third-person stance, there is no subject of the story; in fact, there is no story at all. as tallis writes, “we cannot pick a narrative thread . . . out of the universe viewed with a steady physicalist gaze” (p. 256). this is the case because, as tallis explains, “physicalism is egalitarian; all pieces of matter are equivalent” (p. 256). this equivalence denies the possibility of establishing a foreground and background (tallis, 1999, p. 256). mechanistic processes have no environments. points-of-view are necessary for indexical referencing. indexical references are ones that are context-specific (braun, 2017). examples of indexicals include “i,” “here,” “today,” “yesterday,” “he,” “she,” and “that” (braun, 2017). the use of indexicals involve treating oneself as a centre or “privileged coordinate” (mcginn, 1983, p. 16). that is, indexicals are agent-centered (rysiew, 2019). conversely, objective descriptions of reality are impartial and centreless. therefore, tallis (1999) asserts that a properly objective conception of the world must exclude indexicality; objective reality is viewpointless (p. 229). it allows for no here-or-now, no me-or-you, no particularity; that is, no uniqueness or individuality (“particularity,” n.d.), and no identity. regarding the objective mind, tallis (1999) writes, its world is an existentially unsaturated one of general operations and general possibilities: here-less, now-less, particular-less, this-less, me-less. it lacks conscious identity—it does not exist from its own point of view, for it has nothing to establish a point of view—to lay down the co-ordinates of here and now from which all the absolutes of actuality extend. (p. 230) 61 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 therefore, indexical cognition and perception requires an agent and a pov. for the reasons discussed above, the third-person perspective of physical reality cannot account for our first-person, subjective, human experiences of intentionality, agency, personal narrative, or indexicality. my third concern has to do with the validity of the materialist stance in general. i offer two points to consider. first, the materialist stance is based upon the analogy that past successes in the physical sciences of biology and chemistry lend support to the validity of the materialist theory (e. hochstein, personal communication, fall 2018). however, i argue that this analogy is weak. previous successes in science come from the objective physical processes of the physical sciences—defined by goff, seager, and allen-hermanson (2017) as extrinsic, relational, mathematical, or dispositional—processes that exclude the subjective, intrinsic aspects, which are the aspects under consideration here. there are other differences too. as i mentioned previously, mental processes have the capacity to be about something, whereas physical processes do not. the dissimilar nature of the subjective and objective and the differences of intentionality combine to invalidate any comparison. this weak analogy makes the inference uncogent. second, regarding the validity of the materialist stance, functionalists and eliminativists choose materialism because they see no other plausible options (kim, 2005, p. 71). for example, regarding functional reduction, kim (2005) concedes that qualia resist functional reduction and concludes that physicalism is untenable (p. 170). however, he concludes that because qualia are not causally efficacious, the irreducibility of qualia is a minor concern. kim presents his theory as “slightly defective physicalism,” accepting the limitations because he sees no other credible alternative to physicalism as a worldview (p. 174). kim argues that, by rejecting physicalism, we must embrace non-material substances with non-physical properties such as minds or souls. for kim, the immaterial is not credible. he writes, but what options are there if we set aside the physicalist picture? leaving physicalism behind is to abandon ontological physicalism, the view that bits of matter and their aggregates in space-time exhaust the contents of the world. this means that one would be embracing an ontology that posits entities other than material substances—that is, immaterial minds, or souls, outside physical space, with immaterial, non-physical properties. (p. 71) there are two points to make here. first, a belief that there are no known plausible alternatives is not a valid reason to accept a theory without reservation. as i mentioned in the introduction, i believe that there is a credible alternative to materialism. second, kim is begging the question when he argues that the immaterial is not credible. the immaterial may not be a credible option for a materialist, but may very well be a credible option for a non-materialist. section four: why the rush to closure? before offering my closing remarks, i would like to address an important question. in section two, i remarked that nagel, block, and chalmers accept materialism in spite of their arguments against reduction. recall that block and searle both refute functional reduction, yet they do not refute materialism. chalmers commits to non-reductive physicalism in spite of arguing that physical reduction methods are impotent. in section three, i shared conclusions by kim and dennett that seem to rush to closure on the question of materialism even when they concede that problems remain. specifically, kim commits to physicalism in spite of his arguments against physical reduction. dennett commits to physicalism in spite of the fact that physical reduction cannot be proven yet. my question is, with respect to materialism, why is there such a rush to closure? i argue that this outcome has to do with the nature of scientific paradigms. thomas kuhn (1996) defines a scientific paradigm as “a universally recognized scientific achievement that for a time provide(s) 62 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners” (p. x). materialism is such a paradigm. kuhn observes that paradigms become “firmly embedded” in our educational institutions and therefore exert a “deep hold” on the minds of scientists (p. 5). this paradigmatic influence is so strong that, when confronted with anomalies, instead of rejecting the paradigm, kuhn asserts that scientists will “devise numerous articulations and ad hoc modifications” to the existing theory in an attempt to eliminate or minimize any apparent conflict (p. 78). i argue that this paradigmatic influence provides an explanation for the puzzling conclusions drawn by kim, dennett, nagel, block, chalmers, and others. it is easy to see why the materialist paradigm maintains such a strong hold. a change of paradigm necessitates a monumental body of work. kuhn suggests that when a new paradigm is adopted, the affected field of study must be reconstructed, a process that requires changes to the most elementary and fundamental theoretical generalizations of the field (p. 85). kuhn asserts that no new paradigm will be considered until there is awareness of an anomaly and an alternative paradigm is available to take the place of the existing paradigm (p. 77). i argue that the reduction problem reveals an anomaly within the materialist paradigm. in conclusion, regarding the materialist stance, i argue that philosophers should not rush into a premature and unreserved conclusion. dennett (1991) suggests that our philosophical failures are failures of imagination, not insight (p. 17). of course, dennett is suggesting that we need to be more imaginative regarding a materialist perspective. however, i argue that we need imagination and insight to see that the unwavering and unreserved acceptance of the materialist perspective is the problem. the failure of materialist perspectives to explain reduction is our invitation to take a fresh look at the alternatives. as tallis (1999) suggests, by staying open, we create the possibility of remaining available to ask new questions and receive new answers (p. xv). 63 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918931 references bechtel, w. 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(n.d.). mental causation. in j. fieser & b. dowden (eds.) international encyclopedia of philosophy. retrieved august 19, 2019 from https://www.iep.utm.edu/mental-c/ 65 https://www.iep.utm.edu/red-ism/ https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/qualia-knowledge/ https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/qualia-knowledge/ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/particularity https://www.dictionary.com/browse/particularity https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/materialism-eliminative/ https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/materialism-eliminative/ https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2015/entries/agency/ https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/physicalism/ https://www.iep.utm.edu/mental-c/ the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 big daddy lives or don’t say the f word: intersectional feminist directing in theory and in practice lauren frost∗ university of victoria lkfrost@uvic.ca abstract as a theatre and gender studies double major at the university of victoria, i have been able to critically think about the ways each of my fields of study could benefit the other. in my experience, many courses in the uvic department of theatre generally focus on dramatic texts and theoretical literature written by white men. consequently, contributions to the theatre by women, people of colour, and/or non-western theatre practitioners are largely dismissed or ignored. my frustration with this pattern was what led me to create big daddy lives or don’t say the f word, a part scripted, part devised performance piece that staged scenes from classic and contemporary plays using directing theory written by feminists, for feminists. i curated the excerpts, wrote the transition-text, and directed the play using an intersectional feminist framework. the project was an experiment in applying intersectional feminism to theatre directing in order to critique the way the male-dominated canon of plays and theories shapes theatre education. through this project, i found that intersectional feminist directing techniques foster collaboration; encourage discussion and mutual education about identity, oppression, and representation; and can be applied to the production of both classics and contemporary feminist plays and to the creation of new work by an ensemble. keywords: theatre; applied theatre; feminism; intersectionality; gender studies territorial acknowledgement big daddy lives or don’t say the f word, a part scripted, part devised performance piece that is the subject of this paper, opened with the following monologue shared by two cast members: cast member 1: good afternoon. i am a métis woman from manitoba. i grew up on the land of the métis, anishihabiwaki peoples, and the cree and oji-cree speaking peoples. i grew up prideful in an aboriginal community that allowed me to grow and strive. cast member 2: and i am an immigrant that currently resides on the lands of the wsáneć, lekwungen, and songhees nations, and have grown up on the lands of the sencoten, malchosen, semiahmoo, and t’sou-ke speaking peoples as well. i am grateful ∗this project was funded by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award. completing it would not have been possible without the support of dr. laura parisi, chair of the uvic department of gender studies, and the uvic department of theatre, which graciously provided me with a performance space and technical support for big daddy lives. 4 mailto:lkfrost@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 that i was able to live in safety from my own homeland, currently unsafe and war-torn. i understand that it’s a privilege for me to live here and i hope to return the favour in consistently advocating for the safety of those who were here first. we also speak on behalf of our entire team, who would like to express gratitude to the okanagan peoples, the niitsitupi, the tsuu t’ina, the sto lo, the snuneymuxw, and the ts’uubaa-asatx peoples for the beautiful lands we had the privilege of growing up on. cast member 1: i have felt utter heartbreak and would like to acknowledge the pain that not only my grandfather endured, but the shared pain of all my peoples. as feminists we recognize that the feminist movement has not always been a movement that has offered safety and love to the indigenous peoples; rather, it has historically been a tool used to inflict harm on them. we are so grateful and privileged to be studying and to have created this show on the lekwungen-speaking peoples’ traditional territories, and would love to pay respects to the songhees, esquimalt and wsáneć people whose historical relationships still stand with this land today. introduction when i tell people that i am doing a double major in theatre and gender studies, i get a lot of comments on the unique nature of my chosen field of study. theatre and gender studies. what an odd combination, they remark. yes, i used to say. it is a bit odd, but i couldn’t choose between the two. theatre and gender studies were never related in my mind. they were simply two different disciplines that i enjoyed for different reasons. it wasn’t until the latter half of my degree that i started to realize how interconnected my two majors actually are. they are not only interconnected, but also interdependent. first, i began to see the power of using theatre as a medium for social change, for knowledge mobilization, and for starting conversations about oppression, power, and resistance. more recently, i have become interested in how this interdisciplinary relationship works in reverse. theatre can surely be a medium through which the ideals of gender studies can be presented, but can gender studies be a medium through which theatre can be presented, analyzed, and recreated? as an aspiring theatre director with strong feminist values, the thought of exploring this question piqued both my academic curiosity and my desire to create. the majority of my theatre education has certainly not incorporated the concepts that have become so important to my work in gender studies. having attended the uvic department of theatre for four years, i have noticed that the courses offered in directing have most often focused on theories and methods derived from the male-dominated canon; students like myself, who choose to study directing, therefore become well versed in plays and methodologies of a particular type—namely, those for which the intended audience was white and male. despite the fact that these texts are generally presented as universally relevant to all theatre practitioners, i have often struggled to accept them as the texts that define theatre. this has led to feelings of isolation within directing and other theatre classes. i always had questions about the plays we read and the theories we study, but, as it turned out, never the ones the professors wanted to hear. when i grew tired of feeling like applying traditional directing methods to my practice was like forcing a square into a circular opening, i went on a search for alternatives, and what i found was a body of literature written by feminist theatre practitioners and scholars critiquing the male traditions of making theatre and proposing alternative ways for feminist directors to hone their craft. these texts prompted within me a curiosity and fascination with the potential of feminist directing theories. what might happen if a feminist director used these texts as the foundation of 5 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 her practice, rather than the theories found in the canon? this was the question i sought to answer when i undertook the interdisciplinary research project that became big daddy lives or don’t say the f word. big daddy lives or don’t say the f word is a part scripted, part devised performance piece that stages scenes from classic and contemporary plays using directing theory written by feminists, for feminists. i curated the excerpts, wrote the transition-text, and directed the play, which was performed on february 27 and 28 and march 1, 2019 at the uvic phoenix theatre by an ensemble of five actors who were selected through an audition process. as a second part of the research process, a 60-minute focus group was held with the actors in order to gain insight into how they viewed the process in relation to their previous experiences. the project was an experiment in using feminist theories of directing to critique the way the male-dominated canon of plays and theories shapes theatre education in the uvic phoenix theatre and beyond1. because the topic had personal relevance to everyone involved, it also served as an opportunity for us, as theatre students, to reflect on our experiences on how power, oppression, and politics of representation had affected each of us uniquely at the intersections of our identities. the purpose of this essay is to offer a personal reflection on the process of creating big daddy lives or don’t say the f word and the strategies and methods used in the direction of the show. first, i provide an overview of the canon of theatre theory and illustrate how it continues to influence authors of contemporary directing texts and handbooks. i then discuss the creation of the scripted portion of the show and the process of bringing it from page to stage. finally, i reflect on the strengths and challenges of the specific feminist theories and strategies i used. i offer this project as an introductory exploration of how feminist theories of theatre work in practice. i argue that intersectional feminist directing techniques foster collaboration; encourage discussion and mutual education about identity, oppression, and representation; and can be applied to the production of both classics and contemporary feminist plays and to the creation of new work by an ensemble. literature review the dominant discourse surrounding western theatre directing has been largely dominated by male philosophers and theatre practitioners. the first section of theatre historian daniel gerould’s (2000) edited collection of theatre theory, theatre/theory/theatre: the major critical texts from aristotle and zeami to soyinka and havel, is aristotle’s the poetics (4th c. b.c.e.). the poetics is generally regarded by modern directors as the earliest literature on play analysis, and is therefore thought to be an essential text for directors. contemporary authors (see d. ball, 1984; w. ball, 1983; innes & shevtsova, 2013; kiely, 2016; mamet, 2010; mitchell, 2009) often ground their theories and methods, either directly or indirectly, in aristotelian ideals. aristotle defined theatre as the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in a dramatic, not in a narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.” (4th c. b.c.e., p. 49) although aristotle was speaking specifically about tragedy, as contemporary theatre theorist damon kiely (2016) states, “over time, his description has been applied to plays in general” (p. 5). however, using aristotle’s definition outside of its historical context raises a number of questions that are of interest to intersectional feminist 1while this project focused specifically on the experiences of myself and the participants in at uvic, “beyond” refers to a number of community, university, and professional theatres that the actors had worked in prior to this project, which they indicated were similar in practice to the phoenix theatre at uvic. 6 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 theatre practitioners: what counts as “serious?” for whom is the language meant to be pleasurable? whose pity and fear is meant to be aroused? additionally, the methods put forth by famed actor/director konstantin stanislavski in his books, especially an actor prepares(1936), my life in art(1948), and building a character(1950), continue to dominate western actor-training in the theatre, making these texts popular resources for contemporary directors. georg ii, duke of saxe meiningen, one of the first modern directors of theatre (see canning, 2005, p. 49), and bertrolt brecht (1964) are seen as other important early 20th century figures in the field of directing. this is the body of work that continues to be treated as the foundation of acting and directing theory on which recent authors have built their own methodologies. as theatre historian charlotte canning (2005) has pointed out, this historical narrative of the white male as director ignores the contributions of others to theatre scholarship. this exclusion of the voices of those who are non-white and/or non-male from the discourse of directing is still prevalent in contemporary theatre literature. contemporary popular handbooks for theatre directors generally derive their methods from the dominant historical discourse, and especially from aristotle and stanislavski. authors such as american directors david ball (1984), william ball (1983), damon kiely (2016), and katie mitchell (2009), for example, have developed relatively similar theories and methodologies for directing, all of which rely on the traditions of text analysis established by aristotle and stanislavski. given this foundation, it is not surprising to find ample evidence that the writers of contemporary directing theory are writing for the directors of the theatre they have come to know through their own experience with literature and practice: white men. for example, william ball uses exclusively male pronouns to describe directors and actors. additionally, he feminizes actors by representing them as weak, unintelligent, and inferior to the director. he claims, each actor who enters the profession carries with him from childhood a starvation for approbation. as he grows older, he finds that acting is a socially acceptable form of doing something in hope of getting the kind of approval that he missed in his childhood.” (p. 46) katie mitchell’s “twelve golden rules for working with actors” (pp. 119–121) also exhibits an inherent preference for masculine values (e.g., strength, control, separation of personal and work life) and discourages feminine values (e.g., emotion, care, integration of personal and work life)2. mitchell suggests that a director “keep clear the boundaries between actors’ private lives and the work” (p. 123), meaning that sharing too much about personal experiences should be discouraged unless the director deems that it is useful to the development of the character or scene. while mitchell’s intent is partially motivated by the need to keep the rehearsal room from becoming a therapy session (p. 123), there is a difference between keeping actors safe and comfortable and dismissing the learning and personal and professional growth that can come from the sharing of personal experience. a number of strategies for developing a feminist directing practice that rejects the canon of theatre theory have been put forth by theatre scholars such as donkin and clement (1993), shanahan (2011), and young (2012). all of these authors agree that in order to use these strategies, however, a feminist director must first be able to recognize and subvert the normalized strategies used by the playwrights of the classics to uphold male-dominated social norms. in the introduction to their book, upstaging big daddy: directing theater as if gender and race matter, donkin and clement (1993) discuss the notion of “big daddy,” a character from famous american playwright 2it is worth clarifying that by “masculine” and “feminine” values, i do not mean that such values are only or always held by all men or women. i mean only that they have been normalized as being socially appropriate values for men or women 7 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 tennessee williams’ cat on a hot tin roof (1955) whom they use as a symbol for the systemic and internalized sexism that affects the way female artists create. big daddy is the patriarch of a wealthy family, and is dying of cancer—a fact that the people in his family hide from him. he represents a phenomenon in which one would rather lie than face the consequences of living their truth. young (2012) cites donkin and clement’s idea of big daddy in her discussion of teaching and directing as a feminist, noting the overarching presence of big daddy in the student actor’s mind. shanahan (2011) has also reflected on her experience directing in a post-secondary context. specifically, she discusses her productions of hedda gabler (1891) by henrik ibsen and medea (431 bc) by euripides, suggesting that feminist theory on negotiating space can be used to find new ways of interpreting the canon at the site of the stage directions. the theoretical connections made between theatre and feminism build a strong foundation on which feminist directors can play, experiment, and develop their practice. influential feminist scholar jill dolan (1988) breaks these feminist approaches into three categories of feminist thought: liberal feminism, cultural feminism, and material feminism (p. 3). liberal feminist approaches to theatre focus on the similarities between men and women, making the argument for women to be involved in the theatre industry because they are the same as men, and therefore capable of doing the same jobs as men. this assumes that the solution to sexism in the theatre industry is solely the responsibility of women. they must prove themselves as worthy as men because they are equally as capable as men (see, for example, suzman, 2012). cultural feminism, on the other hand, relies on the differences between men and women to make the argument for women to create a counter-culture. many feminist and/or women’s theatre companies created in the 1970s formed their objectives based on cultural feminism (sullivan 1993, p. 15). as dolan points out, however, cultural feminism is inherently problematic because of its reliance on “absolute gender categories” (p. 5) which “elide the difference between sex and gender” (p. 6). a cultural feminist approach assumes that all women are the same because of their shared social and biological experience of being women. by necessity, it excludes anyone not seen as a “real” woman. it ignores the diverse struggles of women marginalized by race, ability, class, and/or sexuality. it completely excludes trans and non-binary people. the final form of feminism identified by dolan is material feminism. she defines it as follows: “material feminism deconstructs the mythic subject woman to look at women as a class oppressed by material conditions and social relations. . . . [it] considers [gender polarization] a social construct oppressive to both women and men” (p. 10). looking at feminism from a materialist standpoint means recognizing the ways in which a dominant class of people—in this case, men—gain a monopoly on cultural production; “the ideas of the ruling class come to be considered normative for the culture at large” (p. 15). material feminism, then, is useful for its ability to highlight the ways in which power is related to representation and cultural production. where it lacks as a theoretical framework is in its failure to conceptualize the nuances of power dynamics. for example, a straight white woman may be a part of an oppressed class of people because of her gender, but she is also capable of oppressing others by nature of the power she holds in other relationships. if she uses a material feminist approach to create an alternative method of making theatre, for example, she may unintentionally perpetuate the same oppressive practices by presenting her experience on stage as the experience of women, excluding and erasing women of colour, lesbians, trans women, indigenous women, women with disabilities, and anyone else who does not match her own identity. each type of feminism that dolan lists has its own shortcomings, leaving them all ultimately inadequate frameworks for a theory of theatre. i offer intersectional feminism as a hopeful alternative. intersectional feminism has yet to be explored in-depth as a theoretical framework for studying theatre and performance. intersectionality, a term coined by black feminist kimberle crenshaw (1989), is a mode of thought used to describe the interlocking systems of oppression present in a person’s life. because the majority of feminist scholars have adhered to one of the feminisms 8 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 listed above, with an increasing preference in the field for material feminism, directly applying an intersectional framework to the process of creating/directing a play poses a host of new challenges. these challenges, which i will discuss later in detail, have no easy solutions, and i am certainly unable to provide adequate ways to address them. i can say, however, that the way intersectionality altered my approach to directing resulted in an extremely rewarding experience. it is my hope that outlining my attempts at intersectional feminist directing will spark further exploration of the topic in theory and in practice. project objectives before beginning the process of creating the show or developing my theoretical framework and exact methodology, it was important to establish clear goals for what i hoped to accomplish by producing a play about feminism and theatre as a method of researching how feminism and theatre interact when combined in practice. the three objectives of the project were as follows: 1. put the spotlight on feminist directing theories which are not taught at the phoenix theatre at uvic. 2. comment on the oppressive nature of the directing handbooks and theories that are currently taught at the phoenix. 3. expose a team of student actors, designers, and stage management to feminist theatre practices and literature. because the primary audience of the show would be uvic theatre faculty, staff, and students, i felt it was important to keep the project specific to the current practices of the phoenix theatre. furthermore, my experiences studying at the phoenix are what both fuelled the project and facilitated a way for the project to be completed. the department of theatre was more than willing to provide technical resources and a studio space for the project to be performed in, which showed that the faculty and staff are open to the idea of a critical lens being placed on their practices. however, i did not wish for the show to be simply a method of scapegoating and finger-pointing. when asked by american author george brosi (2012) about the key to making the connections necessary for a group of people to make change, black feminist bell hooks replied, “love is. when i talk about love, i say that love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust” (as cited in brosi, p. 109). throughout my research process, i considered the phoenix theatre—staff, faculty, and students—as a community of artists who were interdependent. members of this community depend on one another for support, ideas, and creative energy. as well, i hoped to approach the work with the creative team and actors with a process-oriented mindset. if those who worked on the project came out of the experience with knowledge of feminist theatre practices and how they can be implemented, the project, in my mind, would be a success. theoretical framework and methodology despite the popularity of liberal, cultural, and material feminism as theoretical frameworks in the field of feminist theatre studies, i have chosen an intersectional feminist framework for this research project. this means taking into account the ways in which actors and characters are shaped by multiple, intersecting identities at sites of both oppression and privilege. using this theoretical framework, i undertook an approach to this project that aimed to make the process of a producing a play more collaborative. in traditional theories of directing, directors are at the top of a creative hierarchy and therefore have the authority to make all decisions related 9 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 to the show. they have the monopoly on giving feedback. william ball (1983) claims that he “never permit[s] an actor to tell another actor how to do something. never” (p. 66). he prefers to have actors bring an idea to him so he can pass it on: “i always pass it on, but i pass it on. . . as my own idea” (p. 66). while the intent behind this process is to prevent actors from feeling undermined by one another, it ultimately promotes the idea that the only one allowed to have ideas is the director. my approach sought to challenge these common practices and expose the actors to a way of working that takes into account the skills, ideas, and experiences of everyone in the rehearsal room. additionally, this approach is conducive to the intersectional feminist framework under which the project was designed. to view issues such as sexism, racism, misogyny, ableism, and colonialism in theatre schools and companies intersectionally is to acknowledge that, as a researcher and director, there is only so much that i can understand on a personal level. unlike some of the participants of the project, i do not have lived experience of racism, colonialism, xenophobia, or homoand trans-antagonism in the theatre or otherwise. valuing lived experience at the intersections of these identities means being grateful for ideas and creativity that stem from co-creators/co-researchers offering to share their experience and knowledge as a contribution to the project. the focus group i ran two weeks after the final performance served as a way to evaluate the objectives of the project. specifically, the merit of the third objective (expose a team of student actors, designers, and stage management to feminist theatre practices and literature) was explored in depth. the 60-minute focus group with the actors was very telling of the successes and challenges associated with the final product. the use of a focus group was necessary to evaluate the project in a way that adhered to the core values of intersectionality. if the actors are valued as co-creators with unique sets of skills and knowledge, it makes sense that they should be involved in every step of the research process, not just in the creation of the show. focus groups have the ability to facilitate productive discussion not just between director and actors but also among the actors. feminist scholar jennie munday (2014) has pointed out that focus groups are particularly advantageous when the participants form a pre-existing group (in this case, a group of actors that had spent weeks working on a show together prior to their involvement in the focus group) because “discussion can be prompted by reference to shared stories and experiences” (p. 240). the focus group illuminated not only what the actors had to say about the process and the final product, but also the relationships they had built with each other. in terms of creating the show, i chose to combine devised and scripted scenes in order to best achieve the project objectives. devised theatre refers to theatre that has no official script provided by a playwright. rather, it is developed collaboratively by a group of people through a democratic process (perry, 2011). devising with an ensemble involves every team member having equally weighted opinions. the end product of the devising process represents theatre that was collectively created from nothing. as theatre practitioner joan lipkin (2016) points out, devising is “inherently democratic; it removes us from fixed or static texts, which are most often credited to a single author, into new realms of possibilities for participation and representation” (p. 255). for this reason, it was important to me to include an element of devising in the process of creating the show. devising methods were used to create two major parts of the performance: the territorial acknowledgement and the concluding scene of the performance. the idea of writing a personalized territorial acknowledgement stemmed from a group discussion about how oppressed groups including lesbian and gay women, trans women, women of colour, and indigenous women have historically been excluded from, and often further oppressed by, feminist movements. one participant, who identifies as métis, spearheaded this discussion, noting how important it was to her to hear territorial acknowledgments at the beginning of performances and events. while i had initially intended to have the standard university of victoria territorial acknowledgement read out before the performance, devising methods allowed us the flexibility to create our own—one that explicitly incorporated 10 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 our own intersections of racial, indigenous, and/or settler identity as individuals and as feminists. the concluding scene of the play was also devised with the goal of allowing ensemble members to reflect on their own experiences at the site of their intersecting identities. the scene is not permanently documented in writing, but it can be summarized as a poem that weaved together personal stories of oppression and resistance from the ensemble. as we were creating the scene collectively, we consistently spoke of the fear we shared of aligning ourselves with feminist values in the context of many of our theatre courses—particularly courses in acting and directing, in which the male-dominated canon of plays and theory are used as the foundation of the classes. our fear of saying “the f word” in these contexts seemed to stem from the fear of being seen as confrontational, problematic, or difficult to work with—all of which could be detrimental to our future careers as theatre artists. as such, we decided to end with each member of the ensemble proclaiming, “i am a feminist,” as a way to fight against that fear and to normalize the presence of feminist values in the making of theatre. devising tends to work best when either the topic of the show is relatively general (e.g., women in theatre) or the ensemble is made up of people with specialized knowledge in the topic and/or the time and resources to do extensive research on the topic. because the desired effect of this project required a good deal of research, and because of the time restraints placed on the production, it seemed that an entirely devised show would cause unnecessary stress for the actors and creative team. therefore, i decided to create a script based on my preliminary research, with the intention of it being a living document once the rehearsal process began. lipkin (2016) suggests that directors or facilitators “choose a starting point for something important to [them]” (p. 258) before they approach devising with an ensemble. for this project, the starting point took the form of a script that organized my research in a specific way for the ensemble to engage with. the following section outlines the script that i created and the ways in which it was workshopped by the ensemble. big daddy lives or don’t say the f word: the script my primary inspiration for the scripted portion of the show was the work of donkin and clement. as previously mentioned, the editors coined their idea of big daddy as a symbol of sexism and misogyny in the theatre industry. this idea, i thought, was ripe with theatrical potential. the book it came from was also ripe with theories, case studies, and knowledge that theatre students, faculty, and staff could learn from. i decided to centre the script on the concept of big daddy. from this idea stemmed the first part of the title (big daddy lives), which i chose because it states that, even though donkin and clement published their book in 1993, the issues that big daddy represents are still alive and well in the theatre industry. the second part of the title came later, as i reflected on the experiences i have had at phoenix that fuelled my desire to work on this project. in my experience at the phoenix, declaring myself a feminist in the classroom has often labelled me as difficult to work with or an entitled youth. i have spent a great deal of time throughout the past few years trying not to “out” myself as a feminist to the wrong people. this project was my way of screaming the “f word” at the top of my lungs. it seemed fitting to add a second part to the title of the show in honour of that. the script started off with the following monologue, delivered by voiceover in the black3: excerpt. upstaging big daddy: directing theatre as if gender and race matter. edited by ellen donkin and susan clement. ann arbor, university of michigan press, 1993. “in an effort to understand how women are persuaded to abandon their truths, we, the editors, identified repeated incidences all through our work in directing, teaching, acting, 3“in the black” refers to a state where all of the lights are out on the stage 11 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 and playwriting that pointed toward a powerful desire to please, to be pleasing. please whom? we wondered. [. . . ] we instinctively felt that the need to please was connected to a presence that was complex and contradictory: at once protective, generous, jovial, and profoundly disabling. this was not big brother. this was big daddy.” (big daddy lives or don’t say the f word script, 2019, p. 1) i chose an accepted academic format for this excerpt to emphasize the importance of academia, particularly feminist scholarship, in developing theories of theatre. the script consisted of scenes from four different plays, interspersed with quotations from both feminist and traditional theorists, as well as small sections of my own writing. in staging what i call a theatrical bibliography, i hoped to address a barrier for incorporating feminist theory into mainstream directing practice. to articulate this issue, i turned to the infamous playwright and director david mamet (2010). in his own theatre handbook, he states, “impracticable theory is an impediment to both art and sustenance, and benefits no one save the intellectual to whom theatrical thought is an abstract and enjoyable exercise” (p. 10). there seems to be the perception that theory that goes beyond the nuts-and-bolts aspects of acting, directing, designing, stage managing, and playwriting, is too complex and impractical. i can only imagine that feminist scholarship would be unappealing to mamet and other professional practitioners. traditional directing handbooks are undoubtedly easier for most people (myself included) to read and understand than feminist performance theory books and articles. in order to mitigate this issue, i chose to stage excerpts from feminist authors in a way that was theatrical and engaging for an audience. among a number of excerpts from donkin and clement, i included a section from feminist director christine young’s (2012) article “feminist pedagogy at play in the university rehearsal room,” where she tells an anecdote about attending a class taught by a successful female director who took the liberty of offering an “essential piece of career advice: ‘if you want to succeed as a woman director, you’ve got to carry a machete!” (p. 137). to contrast these excerpts, the script also included excerpts from traditional directing handbooks that are widely used by faculty members in the uvic department of theatre, such as backwards and forwards by david ball (1983) and a sense of direction by william ball (1984). this was a strategy used to address the second objective of the project (comment on the sexism present in the directing handbooks and theories that are currently taught at the phoenix). for example, william ball comments, many actors have spent years learning what is becoming of them. it is helpful for directors and designers to discover these characteristics before the costume is designed. the actors, especially the women, always appreciate questions like, “is there some color that looks particularly good on you?” katharine hepburn has always requested high, tight collars. some will benefit from discreet padding. there are certain colors that women with red hair cannot wear; it is practical to listen to their preferences. i love women in the theatre to look beautiful. (w. ball, p. 126) and david ball (1984) discusses the concept of forwards in a script as follows: a forward is any of a myriad of devices, techniques, tricks, manoeuvres, manipulations, appetizers, tantalizers, teasers, that make an audience eager for what’s coming up. if you miss a script’s forwards you miss the playwright’s most distinctive, gripping tool. what stripper does not know that the promise of nudity more excites an audience than does nudity itself? (pp. 46–47) 12 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 i included each of these in the script as voiceovers to emphasize the way that books like these loom over theatre education in an eerie, depersonalized way. theatre students, at least in the phoenix, are not generally encouraged to think critically about popular directing theories or the authors who write them. the voices of prominent authors such as william and david ball are meant to be accepted as authoritative without question. they fill the space of the theatre, leaving little to no room for voices that seek to critique them or offer alternatives. i now focus my discussion on the scenes that i chose to explore in the script. although there were a number of feminist directing strategies used throughout the selection and rehearsal of all four scenes, there was one overarching strategy attached to each scene that served as my reason to include it. the four scenes, in the order in which they appear in the show, are as follows: 1) a monologue delivered by big daddy from tennessee williams’ cat on a hot tin roof ; 2) an excerpt from a scene entitled “on men, sex, and women, part 1” from how i learned to drive by paula vogel; 3) a section of act two of oleanna by david mamet; and 4) the opening scene from a doll’s house by henrik ibsen. cat on a hot tin roof: voiceovers as shaping interpretation in the monologue i chose to include in the script, big daddy talks about how tired of his wife he is and describes a fantasy about paying to have sex with a “choice one” (williams, 1955, p. 418). this monologue gave context to the play’s title, and, while vulgar, served to encourage the audience to view the character from a classic play in a new light. the monologue was sandwiched between the opening voiceover quotation by donkin and clement (see previous section) and the following additional quotation from donkin and clement (1993): big daddy was the image we had been looking for. like big daddy of tennessee williams’ cat on a hot tin roof, he carries with him a combination of paternal protection with ambient sexuality. directing, acting, or designing for big daddy means showing him what he wants to see instead of exposing the awkward contradictions and ambiguities of being female in a sexist, racist society. (pp. 3–4) the objective of presenting the monologue in combination with the quotations was to shape the audience’s interpretation of big daddy as a character by offering an alternative way of thinking about what he represents. canadian theatre director lezlie wade (2018) points out that “we are constantly doing plays about characters that are reprehensible” (as cited in “‘it’s terrifying’,” accusations, para. 11), and when those representations go unquestioned, it can foster a culture in which the sexism and violence in monologues like big daddy’s are normalized and even made light of. the particular monologue, with its ridiculous suggestions—“they say you got just so many [sexual encounters] and each one is numbered” (williams, p. 418)—and hypersexualization—“i’ll strip her naked and choke her with diamonds and smother her with minks and hump her from hell to breakfast!” (p. 418)—might be interpreted as comical. when it is accompanied by a voice pointing out its inherent misogyny, however, it becomes decidedly less humourous. how i learned to drive: parody & satire next in the play was a scene from how i learned to drive, by paula vogel, which sought to answer a question that one of the actors posed to the audience before the scene began: “how did we learn to put up with big daddy?” the scene shows a young woman, her mother, and her grandmother at the kitchen table, talking about men. the dialogue perpetuates the idea that men are the ones who “take” sex and women are the ones who “give” it. i chose to include this scene 13 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 because i wanted to include at least one excerpt from a feminist play. vogel’s play follows l’il bit, a young girl who is being sexually abused by her uncle peck, on a coming-of-age journey that shows the painful difficulty of breaking the cycle of abuse. vogel writes a clever satire of sexist ideas while also making women’s role in teaching and perpetuating patriarchal ideals visible. during the focus group, annie and tabatha, who played l’il bit and the female greek chorus, respectively, recalled rehearsing the scene as follows: annie: and, i remember, like, you said that, you know, women can be some of the greatest teachers of sexism. and, so, collectively, we had that objective— tabatha: we had to act that. annie: —as actors. and then, using our characters, and what they would say and maybe how their behaviours are, use their objectives for our own agenda. the agenda annie speaks of is one that is in line with the project objectives. rather than focusing on the realist ideas of character objectives, we interpreted the scene through the lens of parody and satire. dawning brightly coloured cardboard cut-out costumes designed by third year theatre student corina fischer, annie, tabatha, and alysha, who played the teenage greek chorus, used the over-the-top characters of vogel’s play to invite the audience to laugh at the ridiculous ideas about sex and gender that have been naturalized by the patriarchal western society. oleanna: staging social and political contexts of the four plays, i was perhaps most excited to work on oleanna, by david mamet. my fellow fourth-year students in the department and i were all assigned oleanna to read in our first year, making it a relevant play for me to revisit as a part of this project. besides its relevance to a large portion of the audience, oleanna was written by a wildly successful man who is infamous for spouting misogynist rhetoric. in his self-aggrandizing book theatre, mamet (2012) claims that political correctness is a tool of oppressive societies (p. 63) and mocks theatre that attempts to promote social change (p. 25). he also claims that feminists have failed because they did not know how to form “realizable and laudable” (p. 52) goals, and offers the following disturbing story about how his wife went with harold clurman, a famous theatre director, to a play one night as a way to illustrate how theatre should be made: halfway through the first act [my wife] felt [harold clurman’s] hand on her knee and gliding up her skirt. “harold, please,” she said. “what are you doing?” and he replied, “i come to the theatre to enjoy myself.” well, so do i, and so do we all: and that’s the only reason we come or should come. (pp. 4–5) it is clear that there is plenty of material to work with in building a feminist critique of mamet’s work. the evidence used in this project was an interview with mamet in which he discusses oleanna specifically. the primary strategy used in the presentation of the scene was inspired by one of the approaches laid out in feminist theatre director gay gibson cima’s (1993) article “strategies for subverting the canon.” cima suggests that a director might produce a double bill of two strategically chosen plays one after the other to shape the way the audience views each piece. instead of two plays, i chose to stage the interview directly before the scene from oleanna, in order to give the audience the social and political context of the play before showing them an excerpt of the play itself. at the end of the interview, mamet claims that the play’s final scene, in which carol is physically beaten by john, was the “logical conclusion” (as cited in lasalle, 2014, para. 34) of a play about a 14 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 young woman filing a sexual harassment claim. to emphasize how problematic it is for an industry to worship a man who promotes that kind of thought, i wrote the following line to be spoken by the actor who played carol after the scene closed: “if an affluent playwright says that the logical conclusion to a woman speaking against an affluent man is her getting the shit beaten out of her, and we’re here speaking out against the affluent playwright, should we be scared?” (big daddy lives or don’t say the f word script, 2019, p. 12). a dol l’s house: cross-gender casting finally, a scene from the quintessential canonical play a doll’s house, by henrik ibsen, was staged with one key difference: the main female character, nora, was played by a man and the main male character, torvald, was played by a woman. a doll’s house was celebrated by first wave feminists when it was first produced in 1879 for its provocative ending, which shows nora leaving torvald and their children to go and find herself. the play did not, however, withstand the test of time from a feminist perspective. today, its representations of traditional gender roles and painfully ditzy character of nora make the play seem far from the feminist triumph of its early days. the decision to include a scene from this play was twofold. first, it is an assigned text in several courses at the phoenix, making it a relevant piece to experiment with, as much of the audience would be intimately familiar with. second, i wanted to explore the often-invisibilized role that gender plays in the marital dynamic between nora and torvald. i chose to change the gender of each character to match the actor playing that character. nora became the husband and torvald became the wife. other than altering the gendered pronouns in the piece, i left the script the same. evaluation and findings in this section, i break my evaluation of the project and my findings down into three categories: 1) the feminist directing process, 2) successes of my process, and 3) challenges posed by my process. the feminist directing process directing with an intersectional feminist framework differed from the traditional directing process in a number of ways. first, the hierarchy was broken down; as the director, i was not seen as the only one capable of making creative decisions or coming up with ideas. during the focus group, this came up several times. darius describes his experience of being a part of the project as follows: darius: as opposed to traditional theatre [. . . ] i’ve definitely noticed that, in this project, i was asked a lot about what i’m comfortable with, am i ok doing this? [. . . ] it’s like what you were saying, tabatha, about, some directors or some, um, productions out there that will cut corners just to, you know, to meet the end dates and like, that is priority. but it seemed like, throughout this process, we were priority. by treating the actors as co-creators and co-researchers, the process became much more democratic. secondly, this approach required much more rehearsal time to be allotted for discussion than in a traditional approach. during the first rehearsal, for example, we spent three hours in discussion setting ground rules for how to work together in a productive and respectful way and examining the concept of intersectionality and spent time exploring the script reflexively and connecting the work to our own experience and identity. the third difference i have noted between my process and traditional processes is that the focus was taken off of achieving technical excellence. instead, we explored how best to achieve our goals 15 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 for the show and how we wanted to impact the audience. as lucien, who played actor 2, mick lasalle, and nora, put it, lucien: the way that i can think of the way we did it is, you weren’t working with just actors, you weren’t working with just characters, you were working with both of them in tandem. what lucien describes is a shift away from realism, from objectives, from given circumstances, and towards an intersectional approach, where the intersecting identities of both character and actor are taken into account throughout the process. strengths of intersectional feminist directing the greatest strength of the process used throughout this project was the way it allowed me, as the director, to work and connect with the actors as equals. the educational approach to directing that was undertaken in the third project objective (expose a team of student actors, designers, and stage management to feminist theatre practices and literature) resulted in the actors feeling like they were able to grow as artists and as people while working on the project: darius: and, with this sort of theme that we were working with, also . . . embracing feminism, i learned a lot of things and now can say that i feel so much more comfortable being me. from before to after this show [. . . ] annie: there was one moment where i was talking about compulsory heterosexuality and bisexuality and darius turned to me and went, “you’re like my role model.” (laughter) darius: i found. . . oh man. . . i found so much mentorship in this project. and guidance that i really needed in life. in terms of evaluating the first two objectives, i cannot speak for the audience, but the actors identified the effort we, as a company, put into making the show entertaining, as well as educational, as a strength of the final product. as annie explains it, annie: i’m glad, though, that part of us, like, approaching this kind of topic was that we did still think about what was fun to watch. and what would be interesting to watch [. . . ] there was music and there was still that element of, like, you’re watching a show and you’re meant to kinda—you’re meant to think and you’re meant to ask questions—but at the same time there were moments in which you were allowed to laugh. making a confrontational show critiquing the theatre in which it is being performed fun and humourous is not an easy task. the collaborative nature of this process allowed us all to work together to find ways to present the material that could best facilitate the audience’s reception and understanding of our message. for example, the group had the idea of devising comical silent scenes to perform during the voiceovers of david and william ball’s quotes. because the quotations are blatantly sexist and, quite frankly, a bit depressing, having the actors mimicking what the voiceover was saying kept the mood light, while simultaneously satirizing the absurd claims that have been made by prominent theatre practitioners. 16 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 challenges of intersectional feminist directing the largest challenge the company faced during the rehearsal process was the fear of failure. as donkin and clement (1993) suggest, a feminist director “has to be forewarned and forearmed against the jovial, generous, and disabling presence of big daddy, in her audience, in her script, in her cast and crew, but, most alarmingly, in her own head” (p. 8). early in the rehearsal process, the actors, the stage manager, and i struggled to let go of what was familiar to us. it took some trial and error to fine-tune our collective process, and to accept, collectively, that the process of creating together should be highly valued, regardless of the result. additionally, devising parts of the show posed a unique challenge for the company. making devised theatre is often a challenging process, but in this case, i did not so much as have the luxury of knowing how much devising we would be doing ahead of time because i wanted the group to decide what they wanted to create. because we worked with both scripted and devised content, the actors expressed a need for more guidance on how to collaborate appropriately when devising versus rehearsing the scripted scenes. for example, annie described the challenge of providing constructive feedback to fellow actors in a positive way: annie: [. . . ] when it came to like, writing things in the room [referring to devising exercises]. . . . sometimes, it’s hard to gauge with everyone exactly. . . darius: where you can be constructive? annie: yeah. or where you can be destructive to them. in hindsight, it may have benefitted the ensemble to have a discussion about giving and receiving feedback at the beginning of the rehearsal period, perhaps as a part of the development of the group agreement. regardless of the challenge devising posed, however, feedback was an extremely important part of the project. to borrow from lipkin’s (2016) definition of devising, utilizing devising methods allowed us to “collectively create original and specific performances that could never exist without the participation of the particular people involved in a certain period of time” (p. 255). conclusion as a student finishing my fourth year in an undergraduate theatre program, my mind has been plagued with questions about the problematic nature of the industry in which i hope to work. why am i constantly asked to study plays by dead white men? why haven’t i learned about women’s contributions to the history of theatre? why are courses that incorporate feminism taught as specialized electives and not made a part of the mandatory curriculum? will my marks suffer if i interpret a classic play with a feminist lens? big daddy lives or don’t say the f word was my humble attempt to explore those questions, to make those questions heard, and to encourage others to ask their own questions. the opening monologue of the show invites the audience to do just that: “we are both students and teachers in this room. all of us. we can learn together, and we can teach each other. consider our questions. consider our answers. then, please, for the love of god, come up with better ones” (big daddy lives or don’t say the f word script, p. 1). i hope that this project will provide a solid foundation on which other theatre practitioners, scholars, and artists can build, play, create, and explore the way big daddy has shaped their creative experience, disappointments, and triumphs. i hope that feminist directors can learn from my successes and mistakes in order to develop their own theories of directing that prioritize collaboration and mutual education, and that can be used to create wonderful pieces of theatre. 17 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 above all, i hope that practitioners and scholars of both gender studies and theatre will look to this project as an example of why the disciplines do not make an odd combination, but rather a productive one, a lively one, and a necessary one. 18 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918930 references aristotle. 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(2012). feminist pedagogy at play in the university rehearsal room. theatre topics, 22(2), 137–148. 20 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 let the land heal you charlene menacho* university of victoria charlene_03_@hotmail.com abstract colonization has affected indigenous communities and created a major shift in indigenous ways of being, knowing, and doing. this letter explores how colonization has caused trauma for indigenous communities, specifically dene men in the northwest territories. as a dene woman and current student in a social work program, i work to uphold my responsibility to learn and be a resource to my people. in this letter, i will discuss the impacts of colonization on dene men as a source of trauma, and the importance of returning to the land to heal oneself through dene practices. i begin by discussing dene people’s relationship to the land as conveyed through our creation story. next, i provide an overview of dene experiences of colonization and systemic oppression. i then reflect on healing our historical trauma by returning to the land and allowing the land to heal us through ceremony. keywords: historical trauma; land-based healing; ceremony; colonization; dene dear brothers, relatives, and those i have yet to meet, you are the reason i write this letter. as iwrite, i go between my mother’s kitchen, in my home community of tulita, and the university ofvictoria, where i am attending school. when i am home, i am surrounded by family and friends. the sun rises and sets over the trees, rivers, lakes, and mountains, our fourand two-legged relatives, and the sacred sites that our ancestors left for us. i am lucky to call tulita home. for those of you who are not familiar with my home community, tulita is located in denendeh, a name meaning “land of the people” in the dene language. denendeh is known in english as the northwest territories. tulita means “where the two waters meet” in the dene language because it is located where the mackenzie river and great bear river come together. it is a small remote community accessible by air and water in the summer and by the winter road in the winter. its current population of 500 people includes dene, métis, and a few settlers. tulita is my home, a place that i hold close to my heart. no matter where i go, my spirit is always drawn back. as a future social worker, it is my responsibility to learn and educate myself about dene ways of being and knowing, as well as our history, in order to be a resource for our community. in this letter, i will discuss the impacts of colonization on dene men as a source of trauma, and the importance of returning to the land to heal oneself through dene practices. life in tulita has not been easy. it has come with the challenges that many indigenous communities face as a result of colonization and continued oppression, including a lack of resources to address social issues and health disparities. people fall victim to this vicious cycle of addiction, abuse, poverty, and trauma. unfortunately, our community does not have adequate resources to address all of these issues, nor is there a safe outlet for community members to express what they are feeling or experiencing. *to kari, gillian, and reviewers, mahsi cho for your time, support, and expertise. this piece would not be possible without you all. mahsi cho to my mom, grandma, conrad, chloe, and relatives for their unconditional love, support, knowledge, and belief in me when i struggled to believe in myself. to my professor and mentor billie allan, mahsi cho for your encouragement to write this piece and teaching me how to be. mahsi cho to all of creation for guidance, love, and healing ways. 39 mailto:charlene_03_@hotmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 more than anyone, this letter is meant specifically for my brothers darryl, matt, and trev, who i will address directly here: brothers, i am going to share some information with you. it will be difficult to read, but i want you to know that i am walking alongside you every part of the journey. you are the reason i wrote this letter. you are the reason i know kindness, love, and strength exist despite all the terrible things that have happened in our lives. i see how each of you embodies these qualities. your laughter, hope, and resistance are woven into pain and anger. please know that the pain and anger are not yours to carry. our ancestors are here to guide us and help us, especially grandpa. he walks with us always and is a prayer away. remember the teachings that grandpa left us along with his hugs, smile, and jokes. he loved us, our culture, and the land. grandpa would want us to live our best lives and do the best we can. i love you and want nothing more than for you to see the gifts you carry and to know that i will always be here for you. though i write to you, i am a dene woman and can only speak to my own experiences within the context of tulita. i cannot fully understand what it means to be a dene man who has experienced traumas stemming from colonization. as a sister, friend, relative, and future social worker, i seek to understand the impacts of colonization not just from my perspective, but from yours as well, so that i can be a resource when you need me. my intention for this letter is that you and other indigenous men will understand that you are not alone in this struggle against colonization and systemic oppression. it is important to understand that systemic oppression was created by colonization (battiste, bell, & findlay, 2002). colonization means to dispossess and dominate a group of people in order to take land, resources, and people. colonization is heartless and endless. over the last 500 years, our people have experienced hardships including forced removal and relocation and continuing pressure to assimilate at the hands of the white settler-colonizers. daes, at the 1999 unesco conference on education, noted, “displacing systemic discrimination against indigenous peoples created and legitimized by the cognitive frameworks of imperialism and colonialism remains the single most crucial cultural challenge facing humanity.” indigenous peoples’ spirits, hearts, minds, and bodies suffered a devastating shock that gradually increased over time with the influx of european-settlers and their trickster ways. europeansettlers brought a different way of being in the world that was based on greed, power, and selfishness, in comparison to dene law that was based on sharing, love, respect, and humility. our ancestors want us to work together to fight colonialization by not allowing the tools of the oppressors to dismantle our lives. our grandma says of my brothers, i love them so much. i don’t know what the alcohol will do to them and want them to find the right place for their future. long time ago, people said we are going to run out of food from the land. go on the land, start thinking about what was wrong and they will find themselves. in the future, whatever we did before it is going to come back to us—net axe… have it ready. go on the right path, i always pray for the kids… to help the young people. everything is on the land, food, medicine, sleigh, axe… if something happens, you are going to go to it (the land). (personal communication, december 1, 2019) returning to the land is one way to care for ourselves as we fight our way through colonialism and, as my grandma stated, there will be a time when we will need the land and animals to live and survive. i used to believe that my experiences were isolated and that no one else felt the pain i did, but eventually i realized that we share the same pain in different ways. i hope by sharing what i have learned and experienced with you all, that it will provide some clarity in your lives surrounding some of the pain you carry and that you will know that you are never alone. i want to provide further context surrounding some of the issues dene men face with a clear understanding of the problems today. although a portion of this letter focuses on the evil spirit called colonization, i do not want you to believe that is all we are; as indigenous peoples we are not the pain we carry. we are hope, love, resistance, strength, and joy neatly sewn together, like the floral designs on our moccasins. like the moccasins, our spirits were made 40 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 with love and beautifully sewn with purpose: each bead tacked down signifies our experiences, and the thread is the journey we are all on—let us not lose sight of our grandmothers’ love as we walk this journey together in our smoked moose hide moccasins, decorated with colourful beads and beaver fur, as we allow the land to heal us. understanding ourselves as dene our lives were created with a purpose. through the telling of the dene creation story, our elders remind us of our original instructions to live on and with the land respectfully. in the story, mother earth and animals were created first, followed by humans soon after. dene people were one distinct group until a volcano divided them. when it erupted, “the people fled in terror in all directions, unable to understand one another because their languages had changed” (abel & ebrary, 1993, p. 39). this volcano eruption caused the dene people to separate and form distinct nations such as the tlicho (dogrib), dinjii zhuh (gwichin), k’ashot’ine (hareskin), denesoline (chipewayn), shúhtao’įine (mountain), k’alot’ine (willowlake), sahtúot’ine (great bear lake), and dehcho (south slavey). although i have only named the dene tribes still within denendeh, the ndee (apache) and diné (navajo) peoples also originated from our homelands, which is the reason our languages are similar. as dene people, we have always relied on mother earth and animals for survival. therefore, we must maintain a respectful and humble relationship with all (the department of education, culture and employment, 2004). our dene ancestors traveled with the seasons and animals for food, shelter, and survival, while always returning to their fishing, hunting, and trapping areas. although our ancestors faced starvation and conflicts with other tribes, they had everything they needed to live and survive. their way of life was based on balance and harmony with all of creation. our ancestors were independent and relied on the land for tools and livelihood without domination over another person. they were respectful and treated each other equally (helm, carterette, & lurie, 2001). understanding dene experiences of colonization colonization disregards the lives of indigenous peoples and works to disconnect us from the land by dismantling governing systems, teachings, and practices derived from the land so that the colonizers can establish their ways of life (baskin, 2016). the beginning of change—the beginning of colonization—for the dene people came when europeans travelled to denendeh. alexander mackenzie, a fur trader, was the first person to arrive in 1789. he came with a worldview, values, beliefs, and principles that were different from those of the dene people. once the fur traders established themselves among the dene, they relied heavily on the dene to survive and navigate the land. without our ancestors, the fur traders would have not survived. the fur traders introduced the dene to guns, tools, and european foods as trading commodities. this trade between the dene and europeans shifted reliance on the land to reliance on the fur traders for their tools and foods. further, these fur traders paved the way for the missionaries to enter the dene communities in the 1800s. they sought to replace dene spirituality with the catholic religion (helm et al., 2001). change continued to happen rapidly for the dene. canada was founded in 1867 and its racist and cultural genocide policies advanced what hooks (2004) describes as an “imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy” (p. 17). in 1870, canada acquired the northwest territories. in 1876, it passed the indian act—a piece of legislation designed to “kill the indian” through assimilatory policies designed to erase indigenous ways of being (menzies, 2010). amendments to the indian act established residential schools that divided and dismantled indigenous knowledge systems and relationships with each other, the land, and spirituality. many children were forced into the residential school system by the government, and parents were often fined or jailed if they did not obey the colonial law. reeves and stewart (2014) 41 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 reveal that, in the span of 165 years, over 100,000 indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and put into the residential school system. this ultimately resulted in alcoholism, child abuse, suicide, and domestic violence in indigenous communities (menzies, 2010). the residential school system caused devastating harm to the minds, hearts, spirits, and bodies of the children and inflicted trauma that continued over generations. in 1921, the dene tribes signed treaty 11. many dene people were reluctant to sign as they were suspicious of the europeans’ agenda. the dene sensed there was more to the treaty than what they were told. they suspected the treaty was a way to steal land or people. they knew there was no reason the europeans were going to give money away. priests and nuns worked on behalf of the crown to deceive the dene into surrendering land and way of life, and it became clear that they would not live together based on sharing and respect, as the dene people had originally thought (fumoleau, 1984). the europeancolonizers negatively impacted our way of life and destroyed the land, animals, plants, language, and ceremony, as well as our minds, hearts, spirits, and bodies, all in the name of greed and power. the dene did as they always had and cared for and treated others with respect, especially newcomers. fumoleau (1984) notes that our ancestors did not steal anything that was not theirs, and the “white man taught dishonesty by example” (p. 380). colonization imposed a european governing system and worldview that was based on greed, individualism, and patriarchy. the european governing system used violence and “psychological terrorism” on anyone who was not a white male (hooks, 2004, p. 18). patriarchy introduced a male-focused governing system that excluded women, divided kinship relations, changed our healing practices, taught men to dishonour themselves and community members, and made it so that women were no longer viewed as sacred, but as people to be disposed of and treated with no respect. if we forget who we are as indigenous peoples, we lose the value in our identity. if we look for acceptance within systems of patriarchy, colonialism, and white supremacy we will ultimately live a life that does not belong to us. reeves and stewart (2014) characterize colonization as the root cause of the issues that many indigenous peoples face today, and describe it as a spiritual wound that ultimately created chaos and, at times, a sense of helplessness amongst our ancestors due to the changing lifestyle. historical trauma, continued oppression, and lateral violence colonization is ongoing and not a thing of the past. our livelihoods and our relationships with self, community, mother earth, and spirit are negatively affected by the legacies of colonization. some dene men struggle to comprehend or recognize the implications of colonization, which has dominated and dismantled their relationships with self, others, land, and spirituality. if we do not deal with our pain, it will continue to control us in a harmful way. brothers, i want you to remember the pain you carry is not yours to carry as it was given to our ancestors and passed down because of the sickness that the newcomers inflicted on our people. colonization was meant to erase our ancestors, but our ancestors did not give up. they did their best to ensure we would have everything we needed. we come from strong ancestors who fought for us to be here and to live a good life. understanding the nature of colonization is the first step in breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma that does not belong to us. this intergenerational trauma is also called historical trauma. historical trauma is a stressful event that happens to a group of people in the past and continues into the next generation, and the residential school system is one example of historical trauma. trauma derives from an overwhelming and stressful incident causing an emotional reaction, often enacted through harmful behaviours such as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, which are passed from one generation to another and impact indigenous mental health (linklater, 2014). linklater asserts that “addictions, violence, suicide, ... schizophrenia, depression, bipolar, post-traumatic stress” are symptoms of the trauma inflicted on indigenous peoples (p. 21). menzies (2010) describes some of the signs of trauma within 42 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 individuals, families, and communities as low self-esteem, substance misuse, involvement with the criminal justice system, physical, sexual, emotional and verbal abuse, alcohol and drug misuse that crosses generations, lack of cultural support and opportunities, social policies that perpetuate colonialization, and lack of support for indigenous needs. it is important to note that behaviours such as physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse are transmitted from one generation to another. this is learned behavior that stems from interaction with institutional figures. colonization takes many forms that are often not readily visible. for this reason, one may not understand the struggles of today as stemming from the past. however, indigenous men who have experienced sexual trauma feel vulnerable and “often experience fear, anger, shame, and guilt in the aftermath of their traumatic experiences, and they are more likely to engage in self-destructive and suicidal behaviour” (reeves & stewart, 2014, p. 59), which is the reason many of them are unable to come forward about sexual abuse; it is linked with victim blaming and shame, and often there is no safe space or person to talk to about it. baskin (2016) explains that those who have experienced some form of pain tend to hurt others without the ability to see the pain they have caused others due to their experience of abuse. during these abusive experiences, they learn to shut down their feelings, and many indigenous men often find themselves in abusive or destructive relationships because of unhealed trauma or lack of acknowledgment of trauma. indigenous men are more likely to be involved in a vicious cycle of drug and alcohol addiction as a way to cope with historical trauma, and many often find themselves in the criminal justice system without any support or culturally relevant programs. clark (2016) asserts that criminalization is a colonial strategy that criminalizes and imprisons indigenous youth and men without tangible plans to address the core issue, which is state violence and policies. our experiences of trauma are intertwined with experiences of oppression. many of us have witnessed and experienced different forms of oppression in our communities. we have even perpetuated violence against ourselves. lateral violence is the violence we learned from settler-colonizers and enact against each other through the use of hurtful words and actions, and it is prevalent in our communities. one of my indigenous studies professors at camosun college explained lateral violence as crabs in a bucket. each crab tries to get out of the bucket by pulling the other crabs down. we are like the crabs when we project our pain by bringing other people down through gossip, hostility, and hurtful actions to make ourselves feel better. it is time that we stop lateral violence. no one chose this life and each of us is doing what we need to survive. lateral violence is not the way of our ancestors. it goes against our values of love, sharing, humility, and respect, and we must continually learn how to take care of ourselves and our relations while unlearning these harmful behaviours. a personal journey of healing i know that some of this information is hard to grasp and that you may be feeling anger or sadness, and that is okay. one of the elders i had the pleasure of knowing and being guided by is vic underwood, who taught me that “if you can cry, you can heal” (personal communication, 2017). tears are one way that our bodies heal themselves. expressing your tears, anger, and sadness is a way for you to care for yourself. i know that you were taught that showing your emotions is weak, but it is not. it is an act of self-love and how we honour our spirit. it can be easier to supress or avoid the pain than to deal with it. sometimes we may not understand why we feel certain things. taking the time to put our needs first will allow us to understand where the pain is coming from and to care for it appropriately. i can assure you that if we give ourselves the love and attention we deserve by being honest with ourselves and accountable, the outcome of no longer be tied down by our pain is worth it. i have been taught to honour our negative feelings as well as the good. to honour negative feelings means to acknowledge their purpose, be gentle and kind with yourself, and let go. we cannot undo the past, but we do have the opportunity to create a new beginning, starting with ourselves and honouring our spirit. healing is a lifelong journey that is not linear, but rather cyclical. i understand how complicated 43 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 and messy it can be, especially during times when i was confused and lost about what i was feeling. i understand that the absence of my dad left me with insecurity issues today; however, there are some things i recently discovered that link my problems of today to my past experiences. i did not understand where the anger, lack of boundaries, confusion, depression, and anxiety stemmed from—i was not able to link the past of my relatives to the present day. as dene people, all the hurt and pain we carry is not ours to carry—it is learned behaviour taught by the european-settlers. i do not blame those who hurt us because i understand that they did what they were taught; however, this does not mitigate the pain they caused. i know that hurt people hurt others. i found researching this topic i talk about in this letter to be therapeutic. there were parts of me that i struggled to understand, but i was able to find healing in the words of other authors. it is amazing and inspiring to read and feel the knowledge shared amongst so many indigenous peoples. i feel truly honoured to walk this path knowing who paved the way. although this topic is the starting point of broadening my understanding, i am grateful for what i have gathered and continue learning. let the land heal you when i think about healing, my first thought is the land. grandparents play an important role in our lives as indigenous peoples as they instill a love for all of creation, including the land. grandma often reminds me that we need to return to the land and our dene ways because that is our where our main education lies, and i agree. the land is healing and has helped me during a difficult time in my life. i was going through a wave of depression and was not sure how to deal with it because i was not at home. in september of 2018, i attended a cultural camp that was part of my indigenous studies program at camosun college in victoria, bc. my class and i went walking in the woods with each of us going our separate ways. i walked to an open area where leaves were falling. they stopped as soon as i sat down on a log. i planted my hands down onto the log and started praying. as i prayed, i started crying and felt a vibration between my hands. the log took my pain away and i left feeling light, happy, and content. it was a huge weight lifted from my spirit. it was a powerful and spiritual experience i will never forget. at that moment, i remembered that—regardless of where i am—the land will always be there to help when needed. radu, house, and pashagumskum (2014) emphasize the importance of the land and asking mother earth for help without being afraid to do so. i have stated previously that the land is the foundation of who we are as dene people. without it, who are we? richard nerysoo (as cited in berger, 1977) captures the very essence of being dene as an extraordinary gift. to live and understand this world in this way means living with the land, with the animals, with the birds and fish, as though they were your sisters and brothers. it means saying the land is an old friend and an old friend your father knew, your grandfather knew, indeed your people have always known […] we see our land as much, much more than the white man sees it. to the indian people our land really is our life. without our land we cannot—we could no longer exist as people. if our land is destroyed, we too are destroyed. (p. 94) the words of nerysoo remind us of the profound relationship we have with all of creation, dependent on respect and love. with the colonial shift in our indigenous ways, people tend to forget that or were not taught about upholding our kinship relations. creator, ancestors, and spirits of the land are waiting and wanting to help; all we need to do is ask for help and guidance. simpson (2014) states that “if we do not create a generation of people attached to the land and committed to living out our culturally inherent ways of coming to know, we risk losing what it means to be [indigenous] within our own thought systems” (p. 13). 44 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 corntassel and bryce (2012) examine the importance of resurgence and reclamation of indigenous practices by living and breathing it daily. one example that i can imagine is returning to the cultural teachings of the past, such as rites of passage for dene men. rites of passage were a sacred time as boys transition to adults during the stage of puberty. the rites of passage involved separation from girls, and being mentored and taught by other men to participate in ceremony such as dreams, or vision quests, which provided them with their medicine power, or purpose in life (department of education, culture and employment, 2004). another important aspect of the rites of passage was the first hunt, which included sharing the meat with the community, constructing and repairing tools that were made of bone, stone, and wood, and learning how to travel on the land by connecting and reading the land and weather for direction and time. this taught the boys how to live a good life by helping others, acquiring spiritual strength, and respecting the land and others (department of education, culture and employment, 2004). the reclamation of these dene practices is important because the rites of passage instill dene values, beliefs, and ceremony at a young age, and create a space of belonging, connection, strength, and identity that helps the younger generation in life. although resuming the rites of passage is one way to set the foundation of strength, love, and belonging, this practice is not something that is currently in place for you and other dene men. i hope this letter will start a conversation about what is needed in our community. i hope that what i have shared has given you some hope for your future, and that you now know that you are not alone in what you are feeling and what you have experienced, and that it is normal and okay to feel what you do. there are other men who are struggling to get the help they need, but do not know where to turn. trauma can cause fear, anxiety, and depression. in turn, it makes people turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as drinking and drugs that can make people do things they are not proud of. to move forward in a good way, accountability is important. i had to be accountable for my actions and take full responsibility to move forward. we all have a responsibility and purpose for walking on this earth, and i know that you are more than your mistakes, more than your addiction, more than your pain; you deserve a good life filled with love, laughter, and connection. returning to ceremony take care of the land so the land can take care of us. simpson (2014) beautifully states the importance of connecting with indigenous knowledge through dreams, visions, and ceremony as a starting point because that is where the ancestors and spiritual beings exist and a place where the spirits of plants, animals, and humans interact. like you, i am a learner and always will be. i do not carry all the answers, but i have learned to ask through ceremony, such as the sweat lodge, smudging, feeding of the fire, and praying. i ask for guidance from our ancestors and creator when i need help or clarity. i give thanks every day to them as well. i know that some people will say “it is not our way,” but i can assure that you that it was at one time, before the fur traders and missionaries. we had our own spirituality that we all relied on, which centred our spirit within all of creation. i understand that smudging and sweat lodge might not be accessible and that you may not understand the protocols to be in ceremony. there are other ways that you can care for yourself: pray; talk to someone you trust; write your feelings down and burn the paper afterward; go to the river or lake and cleanse yourself; walk along with the trees and let the branches brush the sadness away; sit on a log and give it your pain—creator gave us what we need to help ourselves; it is about asking for it and being open to it. the land is there to help us, just like our ancestors and creator. i have always connected with the land and with the education i have received through elders, knowledge carriers, and my ancestors, and i hope to create land-based programs that focus on healing our mind, heart, body, and spirit from trauma, depression, and oppression. i hope you know that i carry your heart in mine, and i will meet you wherever you are and remind you of the beautiful spirit you are. you on this earth for a reason. 45 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 conclusion i end this letter by acknowledging the healing that transpired through researching this topic. to love ourselves goes against the oppressor’s wishes. we are not meant to suffer, and so it is important to honour our spirit by working every day towards balance in our lives. as i peel away the layers of trauma from colonization—through prayer, ceremony, stories, and connection with the land—i feel sad and angry about the loss we have endured as indigenous peoples. at the same time, i am reminded of the beauty of our people and our indigenous ways of life. one by one, we are reclaiming our languages, ceremonies, kinship relations, and relationship with all of creation. the land is healing, if we believe and ask for help. i struggle with being far from home, not being able to help you, my relatives. i am constantly imagining different ways i can be a resource. in writing this letter, i was reminded of the strength, respect, and humility of my ancestors. often, living in the city is isolating and lonely; i try to remember why i am here at school and pursuing my social work degree. although i am not able to return to home permanently just yet, i can do the work by learning about different ways that colonization impacted our people and uncover dene ceremonies to heal and nurture the mind, heart, spirit, and body. with all of my love, i carry your heart in mine, charlene menacho summer 2020 46 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019461 references abel, k. m., & ebrary, i. (1993). drum songs: glimpses of dene history. montreal, qc: mcgill-queen’s university press. baskin, c. (2016). strong helpers’ teachings: the value of indigenous knowledges in the helping professions. toronto, on: canadian scholars’ press inc. battiste, m., bell, l., & findlay, l. m. (2002). decolonizing education in canadian universities: an interdisciplinary, international, indigenous research project. canadian journal of native education, 26(2), 82. berger, t. r. (1977). northern frontier, northern homeland: the report of the mackenzie valley pipeline inquiry. ottawa, on: supply and services canada. corntassel, j. & bryce, c. (2012). practicing sustainable self-determination: indigenous approaches to cultural restoration and revitalization. the brown journal of world affairs, 18(2), 151–162. clark, n. (2016). shock and awe: trauma as the new colonial frontier. humanities, 5(14), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/h5010014 daes, e. (1999). cultural challenges in the decade of indigenous peoples. unpublished paper presented at the unesco conference on education. paris, france, 1999 july. department of education, culture and employment. (2004). curriculum document grade 9: dene kede. https://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/sites/ece/files/resources/dene_kede_grade-9_curriculum.pdf flowers, r. (2015). refusal to forgive: indigenous women’s love and rage. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 4(2), 32–49. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/download/22829/19320/ fumoleau, r. (1984). denendeh: a dene celebration. yellowknife, nwt: dene nation. helm, j., carterette, t. s., & lurie, n. o. (2001). the people of denendeh: ethnohistory of the indians of canada’s northwest territories. iowa city, ia: university of iowa city. hooks, b. (2004). the will to change: men, masculinity and love. new york, ny: washington square press. linklater, r. (2014). decolonizing trauma work: indigenous stories and strategies. winnipeg, mb: fernwood publishing. menzies, p. (2010). intergenerational trauma from a mental health perspective. native social work journal, 7, 63–85. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/osul/tc-osul384.pdf radu, i., house, l.m., & pashagumskum, e. (2014). land, life and knowledge in chisasibi: intergenerational healing in the bush. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 3(3), 86–105. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/download/21219/18048/ reeves, a., & stewart, s. l. (2014). exploring the integration of indigenous healing and western psychotherapy for sexual trauma survivors who use mental health services at anishnawbe health toronto. canadian journal of counselling and psychotherapy, 49(1). https://cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/article/view/61008 simpson, l (2014). land as pedagogy: nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society 3(3), 1–25. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index. php/des/article/view/22170 47 https://doi.org/10.3390/h5010014 https://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/sites/ece/files/resources/dene_kede_grade-9_curriculum.pdf https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/download/22829/19320/ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/download/22829/19320/ https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/osul/tc-osul-384.pdf https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/osul/tc-osul-384.pdf https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/download/21219/18048/ https://cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/article/view/61008 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/22170 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/22170 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 swimming and diving in grandpa’s river: a promise of help with respect to water on halalt territory michael graeme∗ university of victoria mike_graeme@hotmail.com abstract drawing on media reports, court proceedings, and ethnographic literature, this paper explores contentions between the halalt first nation and the municipality of north cowichan regarding rights and access to the chemainus aquifer. using a well project proposed by the municipality as a focus, i describe colonial power dynamics and argue that a decolonizing shift is needed in law and society to reconcile indigenous and non-indigenous ways of using and regulating resources on unceded coast salish territory. keywords: halalt first nation; chemainus; indigenous law; decolonization; coast salish “if you take the protection—which is given to [the land] by spirituality—away from the land, there will be no guarantee that it will continue to produce and regenerate and be used for the next hundred, thousand, million years.” tsartlip chief tom sampson (as cited in kasten, 1987, p. 13) the halalt are an island hul’qumi’num community of the coast salish continuum, which iscomposed of “a large number of first nations and native american communities in andaround the waters of the strait of georgia, juan de fuca strait, puget sound and lower fraser river” (thom, 2005, p. 60). the land that the halalt, or xulelthw, bear the responsibility to protect includes willy island, both sides of the mouth of the chemainus river, and up into the lower chemainus valley (halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011 bcsc 945). the lower chemainus valley was one of the first areas of colonial settlement of hul’qumi’num territory by the british beginning in 1859, and disputes over access to the land have occurred ever since (egan, 2012). coast salish rights to the land and its given resources have long had their foundations in the principles of coast salish kin networks (thom, 2010). boxberger (2007) recounts the colonial process ∗i would like to thank dr. brian thom for his compelling classes and supportive mentorship that helped me grasp an understanding of colonial dynamics on coast salish territory. settler note: i would like to acknowledge my position as a settler descendent living on coast salish territory. as is set out in the truth and reconciliation commission and uvic’s indigenous plan, it is a responsibility of settlers and settler institutions to engage in the work that moves us towards decolonization, and this is my motive for writing this paper. as i strive in this paper to inspire an understanding of halalt law and stewardship, it is important to keep in mind that the halalt are the experts and knowledge keepers of this information, not me. in this paper i have related information found in published resources, which by no means represent the totality of halalt perspectives and ways of being: there exists an aquifer of private knowledge that is not shared publicly. moreover, there exists a diversity of perspectives within any community. i hope that this paper is seen as an offering from a settler to the ongoing work towards decolonization in canada. 80 mailto:mike_graeme@hotmail.com the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 whereby the european notion of common law usurped that of coast salish common law, serving to diminish the influence of these kin-based governing systems and transfer their regulatory power into a new matrix of the dominant western society’s political economy.1 it is in such a context of unequal power dynamics that the coast salish, such as the halalt first nation, struggle to “achieve some degree of control over aboriginal rights,” which occurs “sometimes successfully, sometimes not successfully” (boxberger, 2007, p. 57). in the case of the halalt first nation, achieving these rights is not an either-or distinction but rather occurs sometimes both successfully and not successfully. drawing on media reports, court proceedings, and ethnographic literature, this paper explores contentions between the halalt first nation and the municipality of north cowichan (mnc) regarding rights and access to the chemainus aquifer. using a well project proposed by the municipality as a focus, i describe how halalt ownership laws and ways of knowing collided with those of settler society and argue that a decolonizing shift is needed in law and society to reconcile indigenous and non-indigenous ways of using and regulating resources on unceded coast salish territory. i begin by describing the well project as detailed in the media, including the halalt first nation’s concerns over the project’s environmental soundness and the lack of consultation it received from the mnc. i then use ethnographic materials to discuss the history and law that tie the halalt first nation to the chemainus river. this is followed by a contextual discussion of how halalt and western legal traditions conflict and how, despite landmark decisions made in the western court system to honour indigenous rights, power imbalances persist and consultation guidelines remain ambiguous. an analysis of media reports ensues, where i pick out themes of intercultural conflicts, such as the aforementioned power imbalances; the absence of and misunderstandings about halalt connections to the chemainus water in the media; differing views of consultation; and differing views of sustainable resource management. this leads to an exploration of attempted strides towards pursuing compatibility of western and halalt legal traditions, such as honouring halalt oral tradition and ceremonial relationships in the courtroom. the theme of oral tradition and ceremonial relationships is again mobilized to illustrate water’s preciousness for the halalt. in culmination, i detail the result of the halalt first nation v. british columbia (environment) court case and discuss its implications. the well project the friction between halalt first nation and the mnc revolved around a well project proposed by the latter that would extract drinking water from the chemainus aquifer on the unceded territory of the former. in may, june, and july 2010, followed by an extension into november, representatives of the halalt first nation were present in vancouver’s courtroom opposing the establishment of the chemainus well project (siefken, 2010). local media sources closely chronicled the conflict over the mnc’s 5.7-million-dollar well project, which was proposed by the mnc in 2001 and then approved by the province in 2003 to provide the town of chemainus and surrounding area with potable drinking water extracted from this aquifer—especially in the months between september and june when the water quality of its surface reservoir tends to become turbid. this plan by the mnc to tap the aquifer lying beneath the halalt reserve went forward with the halalt first nation left largely out of the discussion (“halalt band claims,” 2005; kenneth, 2013; siefken, 2010; simpson, 2011; thomson, 2009). although an initial engineering report that the mnc released claimed the wells would not have any impact on the chemainus river, the halalt first nation expressed concern early 1however, it is important to note that despite this diminishment, “the kin-based principles that underwrite indigenous communities’ leadership, territories and property, political networking and the distribution of political power bases continue to profoundly influence choices in the ongoing formulation of indigenous self-determination” (thom, 2010, p. 34). 81 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 on that drawing from the aquifer would indeed affect the river. the chemainus river is known to the halalt first nation as “grandpa’s river,” and to which it has economic, social, ancestral and spiritual ties (“halalt band claims,” 2005; halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011 bcsc 945; “halalt lay claim,” 2005; “halalt takes its water,” 2007). while the halalt first nation’s concern about the aquifer affecting the chemainus river was central, the duty to consult was another core consideration raised by the halalt. indeed, the case brought by the halalt first nation before the bc supreme court revolved not merely around the environmental soundness of the project. more precisely, it claimed that there had been inadequate consultation during all levels of the well project development process and that proper accommodation had not been discussed relating to the project’s impact on their prima facie legal claim of aboriginal rights and title 2 (gage, 2011; halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011; “halalt seek to halt,” 2009). this case is a microcosm for the general experience of first nations in british columbia when it comes to consultative processes. according to booth and skelton (2011), “in reviewing the large collection of procedural failings embodied within canada’s and british columbia’s consultative processes [. . . ] one is struck by a disturbing larger picture” (p. 698). this larger picture is the flawed consultation process and the fact that despite recognition of this by the federal and provincial governments, little is being done to correct it (booth & skelton, 2011). media reports covering the well project dispute reveal the procedural failings posited by booth and skeleton. from the initial approval by the province in 2003, to later modifications of the well project’s scope based on an assessment by the environmental assessment office (eao), the media reported that the halalt first nation claimed it never engaged in “deep consultation,” while the mnc consistently maintained the opposite (“halalt lay claim,” 2005; kenneth, 2013; rusland, 2010; simpson, 2010; thomas, 2007). the example of the aquifer is an opportunity to examine the cultural differences, different interpretations of consultation, and colonial dynamics with which the halalt first nation continues to struggle. history and law of the halalt people the halalt have a long relationship with the chemainus river, which includes laws and obligations passed to them by their first ancestors. in ethnographic literature, halalt, or xulelthw, is described as meaning “marked houses” or “painted houses,” and was the name of the village at the mouth of the cowichan river before the village was moved to willy island (rozen, 1985, p. 124). beryl cryer adds that these “painted markings” refer more specifically to a large image of a man paddling his canoe along the water, “chasing a whale” (as cited in arnett, 2008, p. 290). this image was depicted on the big house in the xulelthw village on willy island, where three families resided, so that visitors could see it as a beacon from far away (arnett, 2008). in the early 20th century, the halalt people living in this village on willy island were displaced to the chemainus reserve in westholme on the banks of the chemainus river (rozen, 1985). rozen (1985) and thom (2005) also write that the first ancestor of the halalt was st’uts’un, who fell from the sky,3 landing on mount prevost—at the mouth of the chemainus river. thom (2005) writes that st’uts’un had a painted house from which the halalt community got its name. the design painted on st’uts’un’s house “was powerful, private family knowledge and should never be revealed” (thom, 2005, p. 92). rozen (1985) writes that st’éts’en (i.e., st’uts’un) together with siyóletse (i.e., syalutsa), ancestor of the 2as part of the hul’qumi’num treaty group, halalt first nation is in stage 4 (“agreement in principle”) of treaty negotiations encompassing freshwater resources, including groundwater, in the area of the project (government of british columbia, n.d.; halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011 bcsc 945). 3there are many variations on the spelling of this word; for example, thom’s spelling is “st’uts’un” while morales’ spelling is “stuts’un” and rozen’s dated spelling is “st’ets’en.” 82 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 cowichan people, were the originators of the first xulelthw village at the cowichan river mouth. these first ancestor stories reaffirm the deep ancestral connections between the halalt, this land, and the water (thom, 2005). they also create a framework for coming to understand and encounter the land (thom, 2005)—a framework that is not discussed in the media sources i analyzed. ethnographic material specific to the halalt is rare. this creates obstacles for a full understanding of halalt law and obligation, land use and tenure, and the ways of knowing that are at the basis of the conflict between halalt and settler governance of land and water. however, given the extensive consistencies among coast salish communities, it is possible to draw an accurate picture—especially around resource ownership and the importance of water among the halalt—by integrating the available ethnographic work on the coast salish more generally (thom, 2005). multiple variations and levels of resource ownership exist among coast salish people. for instance, ownership rights might be held by a household, an extended kin network, a village group, or sometimes by a single individual via his or her descent (deur & turner, 2005; thom, 2009). furthermore, the nature of ownership rights may range between a “general recognition of communal territory” to “authority over specific resource sites” (deur & turner, 2005, p. 165). it is important to acknowledge that for coast salish groups “authority” does not equate with “exclusionary control” (deur & turner, 2005, p. 165); rather, “normalized sharing has resulted in a dominant idiom of inclusion, influencing territorial relations with neighbours” (thom, 2009, p. 186). suttles (1960) further notes that the sharing of resources is not limited to sharing of the sites themselves but involves sharing the harvested resources as well, through reciprocal exchange and redistribution via potlatch, although this applies more to food and other items than water. to add yet another, exceedingly important, complexity to the relational nature of land and resource ownership, thom (2009) notes that these relationships extend to include spirits and ancestors. extended families come to connect to a specific area in the first place based on “historical and mythical privileges handed down by ancestors and learned by engaging in respectful spirit relations with the non-human persons in the land” (thom 2005, p. 30). thus, the words of tsartlip chief tom sampson from the epigraph of this paper, which explain that protection is given to the land by spirituality, ring more clearly. the importance of first ancestors as the bridge to the living legal tradition of coast salish law is recurrent in the ethnographic literature. morales (2018) writes of her personal relationship with the first ancestors: our snuw’ey’ulh or hul’qumi’num laws, dictate that we have an inalienable connection to one-hundred percent of our traditional territory. they lay the foundation for how hul’qumi’num people must continue our obligations in our relationship with the natural world, which is connected to us through the first ancestors. (p. 155) i look up towards swuq’us; i see the face of my first ancestor stuts’un and remember the teachings he gave me.[. . . ] i want [my community] to draw strength from the laws embedded in the lands [. . . ] to see that we have a living legal tradition that operates within our communities and guides our daily decision-making processes. (p. 151) as previously mentioned, the first ancestor st’uts’un’s house was the source of the halalt’s own name after he landed near the mouth of the chemainus river. later discussed in this paper, the halalt do as morales wishes and draw strength from the laws given by their first ancestors. there are certain methods for laws and teachings to be passed on to a coast salish recipient. water itself plays a vital role in this transmission. indeed, as morales (2018) continues, laws are received from hals (creator) after a purification period or a retreat of months or years of daily bathing in cold water—in streams or lakes—and living with nature during this period. [. . . ] 83 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 when one receives a law from hals (creator), he would further bathe and fast to give thanks for the law or vision he has received. he must show his thanks for what he has received for it should be for the survival of his family, the community, and the resources. once this law is in place, it is the responsibility of the parents and elders to uphold this law and pass it onto their children and their children’s children. (p. 164) water, then, is a sacred medium between the coast salish and the creator through which law is transmitted. it is within this context that the halalt have the obligation to uphold their responsibility to protect grandpa’s river, a river wherein perhaps the very laws being upheld were received through bathing visions. the fact that these relationships of law tied to kin, ceremony, the land, and spirit have been overlooked by settlers and the western legal system demonstrates cultural misunderstandings that have led to the conflict over the right to use the chemainus aquifer. a conflict of legal traditions since the beginnings of european colonization of coast salish territory, there have been deep misunderstandings, delegitimization, and domination over coast salish use and ownership laws by european colonizers and settlers (deur & turner, 2005). despite this, “indigenous legal traditions continue to exist and have an ongoing meaningful presence in many indigenous people’s lives and communities, including the coast salish people” (morales, 2018, p. 14). however, coast salish laws and their source in kinship relations have not been seen by canadian law as holding weight in the constitution, but rather as “a constitutional whisper” (morales, 2018, p. 146). it was in the landmark delgamuukw decision that “the gitxsan and witsuwit’en reaffirmed the continuing vitality of their laws in the supreme court of canada” (deur & turner, 2005, p. 171). “this decision,” writes chadwick (2013), “was at the forefront of shifting and shaping [canadian] law in this particular area as it was the first time that first nations were recognized to have a legitimate interest in the encroachment of development on their traditional territory” (pp. 13-14). furthermore, the delgamuukw v. british columbia case, along with haida v. british columbia and taku river tlingit first nation v. british columbia, which all drew on section 35 of the constitution act, 1982 on aboriginal and treaty rights, marked a turning point that gave priority to the “duty to consult” with first nations before a development project is carried out on a traditional territory (chadwick, 2013). given any possibility of a development project affecting a community and its corresponding land, this “duty to consult” bestows government (federal and provincial) with the legal responsibility to ensure consultation is met and that a community is accommodated where appropriate (chadwick, 2013). consultation, which “should be ‘meaningful’, have the intention of reasonably addressing aboriginal claims, and be carried out through a process that is timely, proactive, and transparent” (chadwick, 2013, p. 5), has become a required component of the environmental assessment process significant to this paper. despite these landmark decisions, cultural misunderstandings and power imbalances persist. the “duty to consult” has different meanings for different parties, as is demonstrated in this paper. moreover, the strategies used in consultation are not defined from a law and policy perspective, and in cases where a first nation has not settled a land claim, such as the halalt first nation, that nation does not have the authority to deny or approve a provincial land-use decision—in the eyes of the canadian law (chadwick, 2013). however, “the courts nevertheless stipulate that the consultation process must be engaged in, in good faith, by both first nations and industry” (chadwick, 2013, p. 5), although the implications of what “good faith” really means remain vague. to add to this, if a dispute has to be settled—such as the halalt’s perceived lack of meaningful consultation over the well project—the courtroom is the only authentic place to do it, from the perspective of canadian law. in speaking of land claims, wood (2010) puts it eloquently when he 84 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 says that the state’s claims to authority are validated by the mere fact that land claims issues are not heard anywhere other than within the courtroom. enshrining the court system as the center for decisions about resource use and sharing goes against the time-honoured practice of centering these decisions in the relational ideology of the coast salish. in this colonially rooted dominant system, jurisdiction is given to the environmental assessment process to deem a project feasible. if a first nation blows the whistle on inadequate consultation during this assessment process, the court system is appointed to settle the dispute. the favouring of western law over coast salish law on the latter’s unceded territory indicates that big structural renovations of these power dynamics are needed. as willow (2013) writes, the current system forces first nation communities to “fit their knowledge, beliefs, and ways of understanding the world into frameworks considered credible by a politically dominant settler society” (p. 881). as we will see in the chemainus water case, after the halalt fit their way of understanding the world into this framework, it was considered credible by the supreme court, but even this success did not last long. media reports on the well project the media releases chronicling the chemainus aquifer dispute describe the power struggle between the halalt first nation and the mnc. many of these reports were quick to illuminate the power dynamics with which the halalt first nation is faced and the ways in which its participation in the project was being prevented. the chemainus courier quoted halalt first nation’s project manager jack smith’s description of the situation as being “a david and goliath type struggle for us” (“halalt takes its water,” 2007, para. 8). the cowichan news leader pictorial recounted declarations that the well project was being carried out in a manner that withheld jurisdiction from the halalt first nation over the way the aquifer was to be used even though their territory would likely be affected by it (rusland, 2010). georgia dixon, a consultant for the halalt first nation interviewed in the ladysmith-chemainus, expressed her criticisms about the project’s engineering report because it was, in her opinion, incomprehensible to wider audiences due to its esoteric nature (“halalt lay claim,” 2005). moreover, she said, it lacked any input from halalt elders (“halalt lay claim,” 2005), who are, in chief samuel sam’s words, “always there to slow down the process and make sure that we understand what we are doing” (kasten, 1987, p. 13). the theme of spiritual connection to the water is one that is only ever subtly revealed, and the details of its implications were absent from media reports. the cowichan news leader did quote joe fortin bringing attention to the important place water has in halalt spiritual connections (rusland, 2010), but this was a rare occasion in statements throughout the media and was not elaborated upon. the dimensions of halalt spiritual connections to water become clearer in light of coast salish ethnographic material. as previously noted, for the coast salish, the land and the water are intimately wound up in kin relationships and relationships to the “spirit world” (thom, 2009, p. 12). for the halalt first nation there is no sharing of resources without addressing not only the human beings, but also the ancestors and other powerful non-human beings that are in a longstanding connection with a place and with its water (thom, 2009). the lack of consultation by the mnc, the eao, and the province as to if, and if yes, then how, the well project could proceed while honouring these connections appears to be at the heart of why the halalt first nation feels the well project proceeded unjustly. relationships of water and territory for the halalt first nation are inseparable from social, historical, and spiritual relationships (thom, 2009), yet the halalt are faced with a situation where the mnc seeking to use water connected to “grandpa’s river” has not recognized the importance of those relationships. assessing north cowichan past mayor tom walker’s view of the water, its critical place as a foundation for contemporary and ancestral relationships appears to be absent: 85 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 municipally, myself and my council, we’re just looking to provide cost-effective, good, clean, safe drinking water to about 6,000 folks in the chemainus area...i’m going to continue pushing as hard as i can for a solution to good, clean drinking water for chemainus. the constitutional issues, that’s basically between the province and the feds and halalt. (simpson, 2011) by “constitutional issues,” the mnc is referring to the responsibility of provincial and federal levels of government to reconcile ongoing historical colonial power relations. the responsibility of the mnc to settle this dispute indeed does not fall squarely on its shoulders. it is the legal duty of the provincial and federal governments to ensure the ea process is sound (chadwick, 2013). yet historical colonial power relations exist and are perpetuated not only from high levels of government but all the way down to individuals and family relationships (hunt & holmes, 2015). hunt and holmes (2015) point to the “everydayness of decolonization” (p. 158), where acts of decolonization are “active, interconnected, critical, and everyday practices that take place within and across diverse spaces and times” (p. 156). that is, the responsibility of decolonization is not only a constitutional one. while the dominant society’s legal duty is outside the realm of the mnc’s capacity, the engagement of mnc members in attempts to transform colonial relationships and to demonstrate recognition of the halalt’s longstanding connection to the water is entirely possible. not engaging with the halalt on the aquifer issue thwarts progress in this respect. differing views of consultation the mnc, albeit seeing the responsibility of participation in constitutional issues as lying in the hands of the federal and provincial governments, nonetheless still acknowledges the constitutional responsibility for consultation with the halalt. however, differing views of what meaningful consultation entails are held by the mnc and the halalt, and this lack of consensus has contributed to the conflict. while north cowichan mayor jon lefebure 4 claims to have engaged in consultation with the halalt first nation since 2003 when the project was started, recurrent in declarations by the latter party is the criticism of north cowichan’s “lax first nations consultation process” (“halalt lay claim,” 2005). tylor george, a halalt band council member, agreed that there had been meetings for years, but that all have been fruitless (rusland, 2010). to understand this perceived fruitlessness, it helps to note the previous mayor’s frequent statements in the media that his faith lies in the eao’s environmental assessment process to approve the project, indicating the view that the project’s feasibility has its foundations first and foremost in non-indigenous regulation and governance (“halalt lay claim,” 2005; “halalt raises water,” 2007; “halalt seek to halt,” 2009; thomas, 2007). in his publication in the ladysmith-chemainus chronicle, halalt chief james thomas described encounters by the mayor and other municipal council members of north cowichan with the halalt first nation as inevitably taking on an air of condescension towards the halalt. his impression of the discussions was that the mnc was only informing the halalt of its project plans without any bilateral dialogue, therefore withholding from the halalt any opportunity for jurisdiction (thomas, 2007). chief thomas said he had become aware of a chemainus town hall meeting—to which he was not invited to attend—where the north cowichan mayor claimed discussions were “proceeding in order that north cowichan can supply halalt with water from the wells” (thomas, 2007, para. 6, emphasis added). this appears to ignore the halalt vision for self-determination and is reminiscent of boxberger’s (2007) notion of imposing mechanisms that marginalize coast salish from their resources. chief thomas retorted that the halalt first nation “certainly doesn’t need to look to 4north cowichan has had multiple mayors throughout the course of the proposed project. 86 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 the municipality for its needs,” and expressed his opinion that the mnc should address its water issues by improving its own system rather than “take the water that is precious to halalt in so many ways”5 (thomas, 2007, para. 9). chadwick’s (2013) analysis of effective consultation in the ea process located the act of building trusting relationships at its foundation. in media reports, the halalt first nation claims it is being left out of the discussion and condescended to, demonstrating that this core tenet of consultation, the act of building trusting relationships, is being missed by the mnc. science and ceremony “our perspectives, which unite our understanding of the land with our social and community activities, differ fundamentally from the compartmentalized views of knowledge that come out of western science.” raymond cormier, secwepemc (as cited in mcilwraith & cormier, 2015, p. 39) many of the media reports are evidence that the mnc does not acknowledge the halalt first nation’s aspiration for self-determination and their own laws. furthermore, the mnc does not appear to understand the precious nature of water for the halalt. in 2009, the eao’s assessment confirmed the halalt first nation’s initial impression that there was indeed a physical connection between the chemainus aquifer and the chemainus river. even so, the mnc made no noticeable attempt in the media sources i analyzed to strengthen its grasp of cross-cultural understanding or to apologize for proceeding with the project before fully understanding the consequences. recalling the words of chief samuel sam, perhaps the input of halalt elders would have been important to begin with “to slow down the process and make sure that we understand what we are doing” (as cited in kasten, 1987, p. 13). although the full dimensions of water’s preciousness (i.e., relating to private spiritual knowledge) are not always openly shared by the coast salish due to apprehension of misuse (boxberger, 2007), there is no evidence in the media reports that the mnc sought to understand or empathize with the halalt’s connections to the water. such connections also include the concern of the halalt first nation that using the aquifer might affect the steelhead salmon runs in the chemainus river (gage, 2011), which are so key to halalt lifeways, and serve as “a symbol of the relationship of the coast salish to natural, cultural, and intellectual resources” (boxberger, 2007, p. 58). instead, the emphasis is placed by mnc on maintaining ecological integrity through the lens of science as it is interpreted by the eao, hence the mayor’s position that he “welcomes an environmental partnership with the [halalt] band to guard the aquifer, but hopes they will accept the given scientific data” (“halalt lay claim,” 2005, para. 13). this approach replaces coast salish systems of regulating resources with those governed by the state (boxberger, 2007). resources for the coast salish were, and are, believed to have been received, in chief tom sampson’s words, from “the creator himself” and the principles that coast salish individuals possess and are “obligated to carry out” were also received by the creator (as cited in kasten, 1987, p. 7). according to the hul’qumi’num treaty group, both the land and these associated principles for stewarding it were given to the original ancestors of the families who now hold them (morales, 2018). when the eao’s 2009 assessment confirmed the connection of the river and aquifer, it consequently requested that the project be substantially scaled down. instead of the three wells initially proposed, the request called for a limit of two wells with the condition that only one be operational at any given time. pumping, moreover, could only begin in mid-october as opposed to september. however, this scientific development, as well as the corresponding recommendation for 5here, chief thomas is pointing directly to the colonial process of turning to land or resources of another instead of taking responsibilities to care for one’s own. yet it is a paradoxical example, as the territory outside the halalt reserve is, too, unceded. 87 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 modification, were both made without the halalt first nation’s control or access to the discussion, when it is the halalt who hold the regulatory principles, passed down by the ancestors, to the water being investigated (gage, 2011; kasten, 1987; rusland, 2011). of these regulatory principles, two are underlined by chief sampson. the first, spirituality, refers to “a clear understanding of ourselves and the creator, which enables us to communicate with him through spiritual means” (kasten, 1987, p. 7). the second is conservation, which is based on using resources respectfully as defined by the creator. therefore, chief sampson emphasizes that knowing and understanding the “ceremonies that go with the use of the resources” is above all a necessity (kasten, 1987, p .8). receiving no attempt to address the ceremonies or the spiritual responsibilities associated with the water of the chemainus river, the halalt first nation felt a lack of “deep consultation,” and instead felt that its water, “precious to the halalt in so many ways,” was being expropriated (thomas, 2007, para. 6). water’s preciousness in the oral tradition although ethnographic material focusing specifically on the halalt first nation is scarce, historical and ethnographic material about other nations convey the preciousness and sacred quality of water present throughout coast salish territory, and how in other instances, too, this water has been subject to external plans imposed in a colonial manner. duff (1969), for instance, relates the story of q’ama’sarj, after which camossung gorge was named, in which a girl, helped by the transformer, decides the composition of the ecology of the area and is granted the responsibility of controlling it. eternalized in stone at the bottom of the river, q’ama’sarj, and the history she represents, become literally encapsulated in the water, and the power with which the water is imbued has the potential to be accessed by those diving, or bathing, within it (duff, 1969, p. 36). when james douglas mapped out the gorge, he could not see this power or the story beneath the surface, and his map he wrote the measurement 47,6 while envisioning the machinery that would be traveling through the gorge to develop what was to be fort victoria (duff, 1969). for the klallam on the south side of the colonial disseverance of coast salish territory known as the 49th parallel, the elwha river is similarly associated with story and spiritual power. in contrast to the issues faced by the halalt first nation, instead of extracting water via two pumps, two industrial dams were built on the elwha to extract hydroelectric energy without consultation or associated ceremonies. although recently removed due to being outdated, unneeded, and in conflict with modern environmental laws, the invasiveness of these dams for the klallam was in many ways unfathomable. indeed, the klallam believe that it was from the mud at the bottom of the elwha river, in between where the two dams were located, that the creator scooped the lump of dirt from which the first humans were formed (boyd & boyd, 2012). moreover, these dams prevented the elwha river from receiving the steelhead runs that have sustained the klallam for generations and, similar to the case of the halalt first nation, have been at “the foundation for klallam governance, economy, and social life” (boyd & boyd, 2012, p. 424). now, over a hundred years after elwa river dam construction began, the disassemblement of the two dams, namely the glines canyon dam, marked the largest dam removal in u.s. history, and the elwa river is now being restored with participation from the klallam (lower elwa klallam tribe, n.d.). opening the umbrella of science boyd and boyd (2012) note that the ancestral right of stewarding the environment and the principles that go along with resource control and access have been identified through oral tradition, 6the measurement type is not specified in duff’s article: "james douglas saw it with a different eye. on his 1842 map he did not write its name but the number 47, which was his estimate of its width" (p. 36). 88 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 long before the nation-state’s legal scripts allowed industry and governments to begin executing their own resource management plans. in this light, it is significant that another release by cowichan news leader pictorial reported a project was being set out to accomplish a literary recording of the halalt first nation’s oral history in order to provide an accessible reference of the halalt’s deep relationship to the chemainus water (“halalt historic connection,” 2006). the publication presented jack smith’s perception of this project as “part of the science in relation to the ongoing management of the aquifer” (“halalt historic connection,” 2006, para. 7), demonstrating a push for the umbrella of science to be opened to include coast salish intimate, contemporary, and historical observations and connections with their land and resources. to fully understand the significance of honouring halalt oral history of the chemainus river and its surroundings is to realize that these oral histories bring into the center of the discussion the “historical and mythical privileges handed down from the ancestors” (thom, 2009, p. 12) to the coast salish. recalling the 1997 delgamuukw v. british columbia case that established oral history as having comparative importance to written history and as being able to be used in court (boxberger, 2007), the halalt case then provides ripe conditions for a shift in western consciousness as to the “ancestral quality” of the water. this shift would encompass a view that the ultimate right to the water does not primarily involve accomplishing the western science portion of an environmental assessment, but rather is first about recognizing the order established through age-old social and hereditary relationships and their spiritual sources (kasten, 1987; thom, 2009). however, as carlson (2007) posits, there are shortcomings to the ostensible success of the delgamuukw v. british columbia case in terms of honouring oral history in the courtroom. much of the cause for disjuncture lies in the assumption found within the 1997 delgamuukw decision that native oral histories work in fundamentally the same way as western history, and that these bodies of indigenous knowledge will therefore necessarily supplement and enrich an existing historiography and jurisprudence derived from what are largely archival-based understandings of past happenings. (p. 47) carlson shows that oral histories are seen in the courtroom in a relative light to documentary sources. whether written or oral historical information will be seen as subordinate, and which as legitimate, if the two run counter to each other, is a question settled in the courtroom. this motions to the fact that the western legal system remains the entity in power with the final say, rather than coast salish systems of validation. “sometimes successfully, sometimes not successfully” in culmination of the halalt first nation v. british columbia (environment) court case regarding lack of consultation with the halalt first nation, the final judgment released in july of 2011 suggested that there was a shift towards decolonization in the vancouver courtroom in 2010. due to the nature of the case, it was not ruled whether or not the halalt actually hold aboriginal title to the aquifer in question (it remains prima facie as the treaty process proceeds). moreover, there was no explicit mention in the “reasons for judgment” of the hereditary kinship mechanisms in place that should be honoured as the determining factors for access to the aquifer. there was a brief mention of halalt elders, as the document stated, “halalt’s elders believe there is an intricate and important interaction between the river and the aquifer” (halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011 bcsc 945, para. 16). yet, there was no mention of the first ancestors who presented the halalt with their laws and obligations to the water. the judge did, however, allude to the ancestral quality of the chemainus river by noting the ceremonial use of the river via bathing. the judge concluded on the evidence she received that “the river is, and has been traditionally, 89 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 integral to the lives of halalt because of its fish and fish habitat, plants and bathing holes. it sustains the animals the halalt people hunt and the plants they gather” (halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011, para. 560). the judge’s allusion to ritual bathing is significant, as bathing is one of the most vital ongoing aspects of coast salish spiritual life (suttles, 1981; thom, 2005). for a decision in the western legal system to be established, in part, on ceremonial practice offers legitimacy to halalt law and spiritual obligation to the land. as previously examined, bathing is integral to interpreting coast salish law. bathing, or kw’aythut, is a spiritual cleansing that, through a process of “appropriate engagement with the land,” enables one to “become strong” (thom, 2005, p.152, p. 154). recalling chief tom sampson’s first principle of spirituality, performing kw’aythut is to participate in the relationship with the spirits and ancestors who imbue the landscape (kasten, 1987; thom, 2005). thom (2005, p. 7) argues that drawing on this experience in the courtroom is in fact drawing on the power that is created out of this relationship, legitimizing in this case halalt engagement with the chemainus river. by acknowledging the well project’s potential consequence on bathing holes, the judge was, if indirectly, honouring the longstanding halalt engagement with the land and the spirits inhabiting it, and thereby the ceremony and the ancestral relationships that determine access and control of the river’s water. the judge also concluded that the depth of consultation during the environmental assessment process was insufficient and the environmental assessment certificate would be shelved, prohibiting any pumping from the wells: halalt was owed deep consultation as a result of the prima facie strength of its claims respecting both aboriginal rights and title. even if the eao intended to engage in deep consultation with halalt, it did not do so in fact. the consultation process was inadequate.7 (halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011 bcsc 945, para. 710) this latter judgment is similarly significant, as it demonstrates the living legacy of the delgamuukw, haida, and taku river tlingit first nation v. british columbia cases, which set the legal precedent for development projects requiring consultation with affected first nations. although the courtroom became a temporary means for the halalt first nation to undermine the continuation of its hegemonic marginalization, the verdict was appealed in the bc court of appeal in 2012. in this latter case, it was held that consultation had in fact been legally adequate, and the halalt first nation’s attempt to overturn the ruling was this time “not successful” (boxberger, 2007, p. 57; hargraves, 2013). in the eao’s (2018) report, it writes, the bc court of appeal (bcca) set aside the bcsc [bc supreme court] order and found that the environmental assessment office (eao) had met the duty to consult, and that consultation was at the deep end. (p. 1) the project as proposed during the ea originally involved year-round pumping, and the record indicated multiple reports, meetings, and communications had occurred regarding the effects of year-round pumping. the project was subsequently modified to provide for winter pumping only so as to avoid any potential adverse effects of summer pumping. this modification was an accommodation of the halalt’s aboriginal interests. (pp. 1-3) 7the judge’s evidence as to the strength of halalt prima facie claims to aboriginal rights and title was based in a 55-page commentary given to the eao by the halalt, delineating “the history of halalt’s presence in the project area and its assertion of aboriginal title and rights,” as well as on a map drawn by franz boas and later re-illustrated by brian thom that demonstrated halalt territory as existing exclusively on “both sides of the mouth of the chemainus river and inland for an unknown distance” (halalt first nation v. british columbia [environment], 2011 bcsc 945, paras. 152, 466). 90 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 the shortcomings of both consultative and western legal processes here are highlighted by the fact that there is no reference to halalt law, spiritual obligation, or relationships that govern resource use in the discourse, which is at the very heart of why the halalt first nation strongly stated, from the beginning, that consultation was indeed not “at the deep end,” as the eao report claims above. the court of appeal assumed both adequate consultation and appropriate accommodation was given, and this legal judgement is the one that settler society sees as ultimately holding weight. moreover, following the court case, the mnc submitted an amendment application in request of pumping in the summer months, which disregards the core accomodation given to the halalt first nation prohibiting year-round pumping (environmental assessment office, 2018). in its own report, the eao notes that the halalt “stated their view that prohibiting summer pumping in the original certificate was an accommodation to their aboriginal interests and therefore the eao should not be considering an amendment that would allow the operation of the chemainus wells during the summer” (environmental assessment office, 2018, p. 12). yet, the report goes on to consider the amendment, proposing various conditions to appease the halalt’s concern. in crafting these conditions, the eao does seek input from the halalt, but the eao appears to overlay its beliefs of what the halalt want over the halalt’s input. for example, in speaking of one of the conditions of this amendment, the eao’s own report states, “the eao believes that the objective of this revised condition adequately addresses halalt’s concern with respect to requesting only a time-limited approval [to pumping in summer months], although the eao acknowledges that halalt does not share this view” (environmental assessment office, 2018, p. 14). the basic nature of the relationships of power appears to remain the same: the halalt voice remains secondary and rather than being honoured by the mnc and eao, it is treated as an obstacle that can be bypassed. the conclusion of the halalt first nation v. british columbia (environment) case did not result in the halalt first nation and the mnc seeing eye-to-eye, nor did either party concede its position. in the cowichan valley citizen, chief thomas was quoted as saying that, despite the loss, the halalt first nation’s position had not changed since the beginning of the project and their struggles would continue: “we take our role as stewards of the river very seriously” (simpson, 2013). what is more uncertain is whether or not the mnc’s conceptual position will be altered. statements in the media seem to indicate otherwise. for example, in the cowichan valley citizen, north cowichan municipal cao dave devana says, “hopefully we don’t make any of the mistakes we made last time and keep them well informed this time. hopefully this thing will go smoother than it went last time. but in the end it’s up to the minister and the eao to decide” (bainas, 2014, emphasis added). devana thus continued to disregard halalt first nation’s self-determination and its longstanding regulatory relationship of the water. conclusion the chemainus well project is a good vantage point for seeing the ongoing colonial dynamics faced by the coast salish today, yet this vantage point may be obscured by reading media reports and court decisions alone. the deep spiritual and ancestral connections between the halalt first nation and the water were not elaborately discussed in either the media or the court decisions. the majority of the emphasis in the media and the courtroom remained on the surface contention over the aquifer. by employing ethnographic resources, this paper attempted to shed light on and develop a cross-cultural understanding of the deep connections the halalt first nation has to the chemainus water. when the halalt’s initial victory in the courtroom was overturned by the bc court of appeal in 2012, it was demonstrated that even if a success is achieved via the legal construct of the dominant society, its permanence is not guaranteed. what appears to be more dependable is the continued legitimization of land and resource regulation by non-indigenous governments and 91 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 settlers (boxberger, 2007). this does not, however, mean that the work achieved by the halalt first nation in the courtroom was fruitless. thom (2005) points out that the coast salish struggle in the courtroom around land claims, which is carried out in responsibility to the land and the ancestors, is itself a form of spiritual engagement and being-in-the-world that emulates other practices of the coast salish world. barnett (1938) describes a coast salish bathing rite of passage discussed earlier as “swimming and diving, often to the point of exhaustion or unconsciousness, in which state [the initiate] received a vision, a song, a spirit cry, and promise of help according to the nature of his wishes” (p. 135). it is questionable whether the swimming and diving of the halalt in the realm of the dominant society’s legal system will also offer such promise of help, but if there is any vision that i have received from swimming and diving in the process of writing this paper, it would be how imperative and compelling it is for the colonial legal system to undergo a decolonizing shift in how resources and disputes surrounding them are dealt with in order to reflect the governing systems of all the parties involved. in this venture, those ancient systems of law and resource use belonging to the first inhabitants of this land should be put at the forefront. moreover, as booth and skelton (2011) noted, this is one case of many where a consultation failure occurred and this trend calls for a renovation of the consultative process. the impetus for the shift in both of these avenues seems to be based in relationship building and bridging the gap between different conceptions of resource regulation. there are countless opportunities to alter relationships of oppression outside of the legal system. this begins in contemporary life and stems from respectful attempts to understand and empathize with the cross-cultural differences and interpretations beneath the surface of disputes like that involving grandpa’s river. the mnc’s comments reflect the colonial logic that western legal institutions are above indigenous ones. the exaltation of science above indigenous ways of knowing and of the courtroom over indigenous legal traditions are two examples. carlson (2007) writes, “whereas the forces of globalism have long compelled indigenous people to try and see the world as the colonizers do, representatives of colonial society have only recently begun to recognize the value of inverting this paradigm, of appreciating the value of indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing” (p. 47). it is paramount that members of settler society make a conscious effort to appreciate the values of those on whose land they now reside, use, and extract resources. attempts to understand not only halalt conceptions of the land and water, but the laws that go to the source of those conceptions, while doing so on indigenous terms, can aid in a re-envisioning of the land and water and how to navigate such conflicts as that which arose between the halalt first nation and the mnc. for these attempts to be successful, settler society and settler institutions must refrain from turning only to their own systems of regulation, and learn to listen, more deeply, to the first nations whose time-honoured ties to the land and water have provided for their protection thus far. from this space, where all stories and relationships to the water can be fathomed, where true and meaningful dialogue can be undertaken, such rivers as grandpa’s river can “continue to produce and regenerate and be used for the next hundred, thousand, million years” (sampson as cited in kasten, 1987, p. 13). 92 the arbutus review • 2018 • vol. 9, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar91201818388 references arnett, c. 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(1960). affinal ties, subsistence, and prestige among the coast salish. american anthropologist 62 (2), 296-305. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/667902 suttles, w. (1981). the coast salish need for wilderness. in onat, a.r. & j.l. hollenbeck (eds.), inventory of native american religious use, practices, localities and resources: study area on the mt. baker-snoqualmie national forest washington state (pp. 698-716). seattle, wa: institute of cooperative research, inc. thom, b. (2005). coast salish senses of place: dwelling, meaning, power, property and territory in the coast salish world (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41615918_coast_salish_senses_of_place_dwelling_meaning_power_property_and_territory_in_the_coast_salish_world thom, b. (2009). the paradox of boundaries in coast salish territories. cultural geographies, 16 (2), 179-205. thom, b. (2010). the anathema of aggregation: toward 21st-century self-government in the coast salish world. canadian anthropology society, 52 (1), 33-48. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.uvic thomas, chief james r. (2007, may 22). halalt disturbed by poor consultation over north cowichan’s aquifer plans. the ladysmith-chemainus chronicle. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/docview/374440750?accountid=14846 thomson, s. (2009, march). well plan draws fire. ladysmith chronicle. retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ca195800843&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=cpi&sw=w&asid=2f749afe8605178d2e1755e3b042dd48 willow, a. (2013). doing sovereignty in native north america: anishinaabe counter-mapping and the struggle for land-based self-determination. human ecology 41, 871-884. retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24015746?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents wood, d. (2010). rethinking the power of maps. new york, ny: the guilford press. 95 http://www.jstor.org/stable/667902 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41615918_coast_salish_senses_of_place_dwelling_meaning_power_property_and_territory_in_the_coast_salish_world https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41615918_coast_salish_senses_of_place_dwelling_meaning_power_property_and_territory_in_the_coast_salish_world https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41615918_coast_salish_senses_of_place_dwelling_meaning_power_property_and_territory_in_the_coast_salish_world http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/stable/29545993 http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/stable/29545993 http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/docview/374440750?accountid=14846 http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/docview/374440750?accountid=14846 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ca195800843&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=cpi&sw=w&asid=2f749afe8605178d2e1755e3b042dd48 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ca195800843&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=cpi&sw=w&asid=2f749afe8605178d2e1755e3b042dd48 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=gale%7ca195800843&v=2.1&u=uvictoria&it=r&p=cpi&sw=w&asid=2f749afe8605178d2e1755e3b042dd48 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24015746?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents 403 forbidden<br> the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 reclaiming indigenous sexual being: sovereignty and decolonization through sexuality madeline burns* university of victoria maddi.burns1132@gmail.com abstract this paper illustrates indigenous sexual being on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) nations, through a narrative of resurgence and sovereignty. discussions regarding indigenous sexual being in vancouver within scholarship and media tend to share a single story which focuses narrowly on a theme of violence. this paper utilizes the indigenous concept of a sovereign erotic (driskill, 2004) to illustrate how sexuality can be used as a sovereignty practice. i exemplify this concept as an active practice of decolonization through erotics by exploring the works of virago nation, an all-indigenous burlesque group. this paper works to expose narratives of colonization and gendered violence in vancouver, in order to share a competing narrative of sovereignty through sexuality. this narrative of sovereignty provides a broader scope of indigenous sexuality in vancouver by including those who reflect resurgence, reclamation, and hope. keywords: sovereign erotic; indigenous; sexuality; resurgence; vancouver introduction the purpose of this paper is to exemplify practices of decolonization and sovereignty through sexu-ality, in order to provide a narrative of resurgence on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm(musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) nations, known as vancouver, british columbia. i use the word “vancouver” in this paper to refer to the city which resides on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) people, while recognizing that this city and the use of this title has been molded out of colonization. the concept of a sovereign erotic exemplifies the ways in which indigenous peoples can reclaim their sexual being from colonial sexual values and abuse (driskill, 2004). in this article, i utilize this concept as a basis to illustrate how reclaiming sexuality is a decolonial and sovereign practice. furthermore, i outline my self-location and interest in this topic of reclaiming indigenous sexual being as a métis woman, and provide a context of colonial narratives regarding sexuality and sexual violence, in order to demonstrate how indigenous women in the area known as vancouver are reclaiming their sexual being from those narratives as a practice of sovereignty and decolonization. *i would like to acknowledge waaseyaa’sin christine sy for their teachings regarding resurgence and indigenous sexuality. sy’s shared knowledge has helped shape my understandings of how indigenous sovereignty and indigenous sexuality can be understood as two sides of the same coin. 28 mailto:maddi.burns1132@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 in this context, “decolonization” is understood and utilized throughout this paper as an active practice which is “inherently connected to the lands, lives, histories, and futures of the indigenous peoples of turtle island” (hunt & holmes, 2015, p. 157). in this sense, decolonization is understood as a part of everyday relations, feelings, interactions, and practices that are ongoing (hunt & holmes, 2015). therefore, i illustrate the reclaiming of sexual being as an ongoing practice of decolonization, inspired by the concept of a sovereign erotic (driskill, 2004), by presenting the works of virago nation, an all-indigenous burlesque group. a sovereign erotic “sovereign erotic” is a term coined by qwo-li driskill (2004), a cherokee two-spirit author. driskill’s (2004) concept of a sovereign erotic describes and demonstrates two-spirit and queer peoples reclaiming sexuality from the dominant ideas and violence colonialism has enforced. according to driskill (2004), “two-spirit” is a word that resists colonial definitions of who we are. it is an expression of our sexual and gender identities as sovereign from those of white glbt movements. the coinage of the word was never meant to create a monolithic understanding of the array of native traditions regarding what dominant european and euroamerican traditions call “alternative” genders and sexualities. (p. 52) driskill (2004) shares poems and works by two-spirit and queer peoples that reflect sovereign erotic literatures, as these works showcase the complexities of indigenous sexuality and gender that homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and therefore abuse, attempt to erase. i employ this concept as a foundation in order to showcase the reclaiming of sexuality as an example of sovereignty. i utilize this theory to be able to explore the self-determination of indigenous bodies and sexualities through the breakdown and disruption of dominant colonial ideas as a healing practice by focusing on the collective works of the burlesque group virago nation. shane sable, a gitxsan two-spirit artist and a convening member of virago nation, says, “many of our group members identify along the queer spectrum and so not only are we able to bring conversations of sexuality, but with the added intersections of racialized, queer sexual identity” (as cited in piper, 2018, para. 13). my focus on indigenous women’s sexualities and representations, some who are two-spirit and queer and some who are not within virago nation, is not to glaze over the specifics of two-spirit teachings and critiques that this concept of a sovereign erotic bears; rather it is to illustrate these teachings as practices of decolonization. therefore, a sovereign erotic is a concept which inspired me to showcase how indigenous women in vancouver are actively cutting ties with dominant colonial ideas regarding indigenous sexual being in order to hold self-determination over sexualities, desires, and sexual representations, wholly as a sovereign practice. according to driskill (2004), through the invasion of colonialism, indigenous peoples are removed from their erotic self repeatedly through sexual assault and internalized colonial sexual values. driskill describes how “a colonized sexuality is one in which we have internalized the sexual values of dominant culture” (p. 54). driskill (2004) proposes that by exposing these intruders who have worked to violate one’s spirit and values, and by demanding they evacuate, one works to decolonize one’s own sexuality to practice a sovereign erotic. driskill articulates, “when i speak of a sovereign erotic i’m speaking of an erotic wholeness healed and/or healing from the historical trauma that first nations people continue to survive, rooted within the histories, traditions, and resistance struggles of our nations” (p. 51). therefore, driskill describes this as a healing process of reclaiming sexuality through the journey of reclaiming one’s “first homelands: the body” (p. 53). through the lens of sovereign erotics, it becomes evident how land and sexuality are tied together. this lens demonstrates a narrative and practice which recognizes how violence on lands and violence 29 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 on bodies have been linked under colonization. however, it works to take back the connection between body and land, through that healing journey of reclaiming sexuality. at the centre of this concept is the resurgence against colonial sexual values and violence, by claiming one’s sexuality and self through decolonization. consequently, the act of reclaiming sexuality can be understood as an act of reclaiming one’s sovereignty. i approach indigenous sovereignty and self-determination as an expansive concept that bears the collective and individual responsibility to community, clan, territory, nation, and self (monture-angus, 1999), including the self-determination of identity and representation (including sexuality and gender), culture, and practices. my understanding of sovereignty has been influenced by patricia monture-angus’ (1999) book journeying forward: dreaming first nations’ independence, shared with me by dr. waaseyaa’sin christine sy. monture-angus shares an indigenous-based understanding of sovereignty, describing kane and maracle’s definition of the mohawk word “tewatatha:wi,” meaning “we carry ourselves,” as a description of sovereignty (p. 36). this effectively illustrates how sovereignty and self-determination are “the responsibility to carry ourselves,” rather than an idea of “individual ownership” (p. 36). in turn, sovereignty can be recognized as the accountability to relations, community, nation, lands, self, and the collective wellbeing and healing of each of these bodies, as a responsibility to future generations as well. furthermore, onondowa’ga (seneca) haudenosaunee land defender from the turtle clan, iako’tsira:reh amanda lickers, shares, “self-determination and sovereignty is not about being on the terms of your colonizer and your occupier” (as cited in vlvb, 2016, p. 39). thus, self-determination and sovereignty are linked to the ongoing practice of decolonization by being and acting on indigenous terms. self-location self-location is significant when entering spaces in real life and in knowledge production because it grounds the perspective the writer or speaker is sharing from. i believe this practice is essential when writing, researching, and sharing, as, according to prominent indigenous scholars, “neutrality and objectivity do not exist in research, since all research is conducted and observed through human epistemological lenses” (absolon & willet, 2005, p. 97). identifying positionality is an important part of indigenous methodologies since it is a form of researcher accountability and responsibility for their perspective, and for the ways the researcher is adding to knowledge production (absolon & willet, 2005). as a result, i will outline my positionality, identifying the significance of vancouver in my life, my indigeneity in this place, and how i locate myself structurally in terms of the ways i experience privilege and oppression, both of which have been shaped by colonialism. vancouver is significant to me because i grew up in the area. it is where i learned to navigate the world and my position in it. however, i am an uninvited guest on these lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) nations. i enter these territories and this paper on reclaiming indigenous sexual being as a métis person from the red river settlement, born on the stolen lands of coast salish peoples, and due to this i consider myself an outsider-insider to the indigeneity-gender-land of this place. i often consider myself at risk when i am in vancouver because of my positionality as a métis woman; i am repeatedly reminded of the potential dangers due to my gender presentation, my attraction to peoples across gender identities, and the narratives that illustrate indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, and lgbtqqia+ peoples as facing a genocide in vancouver. this being said, since my appearance is white, i always hold the innate security that comes with white privilege. holding a white appearance is like having a security blanket that i always carry with me, shaping the way the world reacts to me and my place in it, granting me space and benefits that go unchallenged and unquestioned. in this way, i approach the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) nations and knowledge production from a lived experience of being urban mètis, a woman, identifying along the queer spectrum, and holding 30 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 privilege due to colonialism’s endorsement of my whiteness, my class, and my being cisgender. growing up, i very clearly remember my first experiences with the downtown eastside (dtes) area of vancouver. it is an area that is “one of the most marginalized and stigmatized neighbourhoods in canada” (longstaffe, 2017, p. 231). it is unfortunately labelled canada’s “poorest postal code” and is continually associated with “high incidences of mental illness, substance use, communicable diseases, and crime” (linden et al., 2012, p. 559). an area often known for the patterns of violence against indigenous bodies, the dtes is described as “an epicentre in the colonial gendered violence of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls” (leo, starr, & august, 2018, p. 4). around the impressionable age of five (and annually for years following), a non-indigenous relative drove me through the downtown eastside as a “learning opportunity” for me. as though we were tourists, he slowed down the car, rolled down the windows, and told me to look outside, explaining to me what the people residing here in poverty, using drugs, or engaging in street-based sex work must have done to “end up here” and how i should live my life so that i did not “end up the same way.” how unproductive, a white man full of privilege, from the comfort of his own car (another representation of his automatically assumed agency and mobility), dismissing the systems of oppression, capitalism, and colonization at play that work against people, analysing these systems through a lens of individual fault, and, ultimately, shaming lives and practices as though they were worth any less than others. reflecting on this experience always reminds me of how ideas about women’s bodies, violence, and who is deemed valuable when viewed through a lens of colonialism in vancouver, are passed on and perpetuated if they are not disrupted. this has influenced how i approach colonial narratives and my own positionality. specifically, it has made me want to contribute to disrupting these same narratives that were placed on me as an urban métis woman, in an effort to highlight resilient indigenous narratives for myself and the next seven generations to come. in turn, my identity and these experiences have shaped my university studies to focus on the overlaps between political science and gender studies, with a concentration on indigenous issues and teachings. therefore, when a university project required that i share gendered indigenous relations in an area i call home, i was disappointed with the narratives i found and even the ones that initially came to my mind surrounding the indigeneity of the area known as vancouver, narratives which i will explore in the following sections. consequently, i searched for an alternative narrative that held a vision of indigenous relations, sexuality, and sovereignty i wanted to reclaim internally for myself as well, and as a result i came across virago nation. xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) territories the city known as vancouver has been molded out of colonization, as the encroachment of the city on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) territories has been rapid and has deeply impacted indigenous spaces. for over 10,000 years, coast salish peoples have lived on and maintained the land upon which the city of vancouver has been fabricated (culhane, 2003). as stated by the late musqueam chief delbert guerin, “in the short space of a hundred years, the city of vancouver has grown to a huge monster which has almost swallowed our whole land” (as cited in wilson, 2016, p. 470). however, despite this colonial agenda to encroach and remove indigenous peoples from these lands, “coast salish peoples have kept a continuous presence in the city” (longstaffe, 2017, p. 235). due to the socioeconomic hierarchy imposed through colonization, though, indigenous peoples “are disproportionately located in the poorest neighborhoods of canadian cities” (culhane, 2003, p. 596). this can be confirmed as one-seventh of the population in the dtes consists of indigenous peoples, which is vastly disproportionate because indigenous peoples make up about four percent of canada’s population overall (bourgeois, 2018). consequently, the dtes has been called canada’s “largest urban reserve” (roe, as cited in bourgeois, 2018, p. 392). 31 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 the indigeneity-gender-land relations in the area currently called vancouver are largely seen within many urban indigenous communities, two-spirit and lgbtqqia+ spaces, and indigenous women’s movements. indigenous peoples have created visible, safe, and culturally celebratory spaces on their lands, such as drop-in centres, the mobilization of the february 14th annual women’s memorial march, and the building of totem poles (culhane, 2003). this is significant because women’s activism and engagement in urban indigenous populations is critical to forming community, largely “through their particular roles around the organization of family, social life, sustenance, shelter, and the maintenance of culture” (krouse & howard-bobiwash, 2003, p. 489). yet, as discussed next, disheartening narratives regarding the indigeneity-gender-lands of vancouver persist. they often focus singularly on a theme of violence and victimhood. this violence should not be overlooked; there are extremely alarming accounts of murdered and disappeared indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, and lgbtqqia+ peoples in the area, accurate rates of which cannot be found. however, accounts of violence have further damaging effects when they are told through colonial narratives as the sole representation of indigeneity and indigenous sexual being in the area. colonial narratives in relation to sexual and gendered violence many narratives that have explored and exposed violence against indigenous women, girls, and twospirit and lgbtqqia+ peoples in vancouver, specifically regarding the dtes, have also perpetuated and normalized that violence, resulting in devastating outcomes (longstaffe, 2017). these narratives can be seen within journalism and articles concerning xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) territories. according to longstaffe (2017), when gendered and sexual violence against indigenous bodies in vancouver finally gained attention, the language continually used by journalists held colonial and misogynistic stereotypes of indigenous women, thereby contributing to the very issue of violence being discussed. as tropes such as the “skid road girl”—a trope “which combined postwar discourses about ‘‘skid road’’ [or skid row] with stereotypes about indigenous women” (longstaffe, 2017, p. 239)—gained traction, infantilizing and generalizing narratives of indigenous women in the area were sensationalized (longstaffe, 2017). though some narratives were intended to evoke sympathy, longstaff (2017) notes, they constructed an image of indigenous women solely as vulnerable “victims devoid of agency” (p. 241), thereby perpetuating dehumanizing discourses regarding indigenous bodies and sexualities by spreading an idea of sexual and gendered violence against indigenous bodies as inevitable, and thus essentially reproducing and maintaining colonial violence. furthermore, dehumanizing colonial narratives surrounding indigenous women’s sexual being are also exemplified in the discourse of the “squaw.” this discourse generalizes indigenous women as naturally “sexually available,” carrying the notion that indigenous women are “inherently sexually violable” (bourgeois, 2018, p. 69). this is a colonial notion that removes individual agency, choice, and self-determination with regard to sex and one’s sexual representation, marking all indigenous women as objects to be violated. moreover, as described by métis scholar emma larocque, this discourse perpetuates gendered and sexual violence because it depicts indigenous women as “dehumanized sex objects” (as cited in bourgeois, 2018, p. 69). consequences of the discourse of the “squaw” are also described by kim anderson (2016). anderson (2016) suggests that this stereotype maintains and enables cycles of violence and abuse further by deeming indigenous women insignificant within the systems that are established to protect those facing said violence (i.e., courtrooms, police, and health care services). furthermore, it is integral to understand the colonial tool of sexual and gendered violence itself. driskill (2004) explains, “sexual abuse must be seen with an understanding of the history of colonization, which uses sexuality as a tool to gain power over others and to control women’s bodies” (p. 53). as illustrated by robyn bourgeois (2018) in the chapter “generations of genocide” within keetsahnak: our missing and murdered indigenous sisters, violence against indigenous gendered bodies (specifi32 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 cally women and girls) is ongoing because settler colonial hierarchy relies on it: the hierarchy requires this gendered violence to continually re-establish its power, in order to ensure dominance over indigenous peoples and lands. moreover, this theft of indigenous lands is enabled by sexual violence against indigenous bodies, as this violence “establishes the ideology that native bodies are inherently violable—and by extension, that native lands are also inherently violable” (smith, as cited in bourgeois, 2018, p. 69). the other side of this thinking is also illustrated by vanessa gray in her teaching that “the land is our mother, so when we lose value for the land … people lose value for the women” (as cited in vlvb report, 2016, p. 4). additionally, normative and therefore oppressive ideas regarding sexuality and gender have been imposed by colonization and genocide through transphobia, homophobia, sexism, and, therefore, sexual assault (driskill, 2004). enforcing normative ideas of shame around sex and the conviction of sexualities and genders that exist outside of binaries and dominant ideologies as sinful and inherently wrong is to attempt to deteriorate queerness and positive spiritual relations with sex, gender, and sexuality (driskill, 2004). colonial impositions, according to driskill (2004), are at work to erase and hide these expansive realities and ways of being in relation to gender and sexuality. consequently, driskill (2004) states, “as native people, our erotic lives and identities have been colonized along with our homelands” (p. 52). therefore, colonial values, stereotypes, and sexual and gendered violence against indigenous bodies must be understood as tools of colonization that are all in relation to one another, actively feeding each other in order to maintain a cycle of colonization that is ongoing. through these teachings, we can comprehend how colonialism’s encroachment on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) nations, is linked to how indigenous bodies are seen there. therefore, due to this colonizing link between violence on bodies and violence on lands, decolonization must work to reclaim these gendered relations beyond a violent narrative. since violence against indigenous gendered bodies is a sovereignty issue, and since this violence is fundamental to settler colonial superiority, “only decolonization and the regeneration of indigenous sovereignty” can work to terminate settler colonial domination and, therefore, gender violence (bourgeois, 2018, p. 80). and further, as leanne simpson (2018) argues, “it’s in all of our best interests to take on gender violence as a core resurgence project [and] a core decolonization project” (p. 219). thus, indigenous women are actively reclaiming sexuality from colonial ideas and violence in vancouver as a decolonization project and practice of sovereignty. one way they are doing this is through burlesque and performance art. virago nation this model of sovereignty and decolonization is exemplified by virago nation, which is an all-indigenous burlesque group whose mission is to reclaim indigenous sexuality “through humor, seduction, pop culture and politics” (virago nation, n.d., para. 2). the group showcases indigenous sexuality as expansive and multidimensional in order to dismantle the lethal “colonial virgin-whore dichotomy” and demonstrate the effects of colonization by exercising the ability to design and claim their “sexuality identity rooted in their own desires” (virago nation, n.d., para. 2). shane sable, a gitxsan two-spirit artist and convening member of virago nation, describes how her ideas of indigenous sexuality were characterised by the worst, most racist stereotypes that this settler-colonial culture has given us and that is exactly why we started the group, because those weren’t enough options for us. we didn’t want to be squaws […] and we didn’t want to be women who didn’t have a sexual identity. (as cited in lytwyn, 2019, 1:25) this is a significant narrative virago nation is disrupting because, as described previously, discourses and colonial narratives regarding indigenous women’s sexual being, such as the stereotype of the “squaw,” 33 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 perpetuate cycles of violence and abuse (anderson, 2016). virago nation rejects these colonial discourses and binaries by showcasing themselves and their sexualities as complex and therefore non-generalizable, by holding self-determination over their sexual representations through a physical display of sovereign erotics. this narrative is further portrayed in gamage’s (2019) interview with shane sable in megaphone magazine: sable explains that the group is combatting colonial casts of indigenous women as dehumanized and exploitable objects, by destabilizing the patriarchal system which is embedded within colonization. they do so by utilizing an art form that is fundamentally erotic whilst exercising and demonstrating indigenous free-will and self-determination over their own sexuality (as cited in gamage, 2019). therefore, this is a form of resurgence: virago nation is combatting discourses surrounding indigenous gendered bodies as “squaws” and “inherently violable.” sable describes how there were initially concerns about utilizing burlesque as an indigenous practice: “when your art form is taking your clothes off, the concern is that you are perpetuating that systemic violence against yourself and against your people” (as cited in gamage, 2019, para. 15). burlesque itself is a topic of debate in feminist circles; there are disagreements about whether this art form is empowering or further oppressive towards women, with the notion that it fosters the objectification of women, embedded with patriarchal ideas of female sexuality (siebler, 2015). however, cree/métis group member “sparkle plenty” resists this notion of oppression by means of burlesque through an indigenous lens as she describes how burlesque is a medium for her to display and represent her sexuality “on her own terms” (rieger, 2017, para. 6). she explains, we wanted to show a strength in indigenous women, especially creating a new narrative with indigenous sexuality, because we were used to hearing stories about the highway of tears and then the hyper-sexualized costumes like pocahontas. it’s breaking down that stereotype, showing that having a healthy relationship with your body transcends race. indigenous women can be proud of being sexual, of being sexy, of showing their body on their own terms. (as cited in rieger, 2017, para. 9) furthermore, sable rejects the debate over the medium altogether, stating, “to me, any discussion of burlesque and feminism ultimately hinges on the fundamental premise that you either respect a woman’s agency and body sovereignty or you don’t” (as cited in piper, 2018, para 10). therefore, although there were initial concerns about being misunderstood, the group quickly recognized that their goal and mission to reclaim their sexual being was being understood as they received support and validation from the indigenous community (gamage, 2019; piper, 2018). thus, virago nation is effectively “re-matriating” their own power and their own bodies in order to disrupt those very narratives that perpetuate violence against indigenous women (sable, as cited in gamage, 2019). therefore, as sable suggests, they return their bodies to themselves, and to all of the gendered indigenous bodies who came before them, by means of burlesque (as cited in gamage, 2019). as driskill might propose, they are taking back what was stolen. parallel to the description illustrated by qwo-li driskill (2004), this reclaiming of their bodies is articulated and exercised as a healing practice. virago nation dedicates an entire workshop to this healing journey, labelled “decolonial self love” (workshops, n.d.). this workshop is designed through a “decolonial lens” in order to address the lives of colonized peoples and groups, to inspire their confidence, and to provide a space to practice self-love (workshops, n.d). to do so, participants engage in a writing workshop and open conversation in order to be able to openly “articulate impacts of colonization on their ability to care for themselves [and] discuss the importance of self-love” (workshops, n.d). the ongoing purpose is for participants to take these tools of self-care outside of the workshop in order to practice them in all aspects of their personal, professional, and day-to-day lives (workshops, n.d). this practice of self-love is a healing journey, and can be seen as an act of resurgence within oneself. as suggested previously by driskill (2004), colonization has extended its reach and become internalized, entrenching ideas of colonial sexual values within indigenous peoples. by reclaiming sexuality in their own image, in 34 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 this self-healing, loving, and internally restorative manner, virago nation is practicing a decolonization of sexuality in order to dismantle colonialism’s internal invasion, in a pursuit of a sovereign erotic. in a radio interview on native american calling, tara gatewood interviewed shane sable, who described one of the burlesque acts in which each member of the group dresses up as a stereotype, embodying it and placing those discourses on their bodies (2018). one wears a pocahontas costume, another pretends to be drunk, the next wields a dream-catcher, and whilst a tribe called red’s song “burn your village to the ground” plays, they proceed to strip these stereotypes off, exposing them for what they are, and going further to destroy them by throwing them in a fire (gatewood, 2018). sable explains in the interview that they thought of the most stereotypical and harmful depictions of indigenous peoples and embodied them to illustrate what is being assigned to their bodies, and then showcased their response and the ability to refuse these labels by utilizing erotics. as sable suggests, this is “to say no this isn’t us […] we will present ourselves in the way we want you to receive us” (as cited in gatewood, 2018, 13:08). additionally, many group members identify along the queer spectrum. virago nation “bring[s] conversations of sexuality, but with the added intersections of racialized, queer sexual identity” (sable, as cited in piper, 2018, para. 13). therefore, through their burlesque acts, such as the one mentioned previously, and their ability to deconstruct and critique normative ideas through an open expression of queerness, their work can also be linked to “a decolonial queer politic” described by hunt and holmes (2015, p. 156). hunt and holmes (2015) demonstrate a practice of actively unsettling spaces of power relations by challenging normative and therefore colonial dominant ideas. through these concepts of sovereign erotics and a decolonial queer politic, virago nation figuratively and literally exposes stereotypes to dismantle the dominant and normative ideas that have been placed on them. these are colonial normative ideas and values which, as mentioned previously, have resulted in the abuse and degradation of women and peoples who do not fit into dominant gender, sexuality, and power structures. kristi alexandra (2019) reviewed virago nation’s performance at the talking stick festival, which is an indigenous arts festival held in the area known as vancouver. in this review, alexandra (2019) suggests that each of the members’ personalities shone through: she states, “in less than two hours, i laughed. i cried. i felt turned on” (para. 4). this portrays how indigenous sexuality within the group was exposed as non-homogenous and non-generalizable. from an audience perspective, it showcases how the group’s approach to sexual desirability went beyond colonial notions of heteronormativity, thereby demonstrating indigenous sexuality as complex and claimed by the individuals themselves. in achieving this, they accomplished what they had set out to do. i would propose that another way they have disrupted normative values is by holding performances for all-women identifying audiences as well as performing at forums such as the queer arts festival. by performing for all-women audiences in areas such as fort st. james and within the queer community (piper, 2018), they work to disrupt colonial systems of patriarchy, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia by reaching out to those who are also affected by these dominant ideas. “sparkle plenty” explains in a bbc news interview that the performers have been actively including their ancestry and land ties within this burlesque narrative (as cited in lytwyn, 2019). by doing so, they incorporate and showcase their own distinct lineage and cultures within their works (lytwyn, 2019). for example, group member “scarlet delirium,” who is of kwakiutl and irish/scottish heritage, “celebrates the orca as her family crest in one number and sable has an act entitled ‘mother of bilaa’ (the gitxsan word for abalone), inspired by both the language and the shellfish” (gamage, 2019, para. 20). thus, members of virago nation are reclaiming their gendered body-land relations that colonization has worked so hard to appropriate under a violent lens, as discussed previously. through erotic performance art, they are reclaiming their histories and cultures in a present context in order to restore and exercise sexual sovereignty over their own bodies and within their connections to kinship and lands. they have also made connections within less populated indigenous communities while performing locally (lytwyn , 2019). “scarlet delirium” explains that, when doing these shows, they often also include workshops such as body movement classes and nipple pasty workshops, in order to ensure communities 35 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 have fun with their sexualities and bodies safely and openly, “possibly in ways that they [community members] haven’t had access to before” (as cited in lytwyn, 2019, 2:43). by taking these steps, virago nation is presenting fellow indigenous peoples with the tools to combat colonization and reclaim their sexuality within their community and individual images, pursuing decolonization within all indigenous spaces, communities, and minds. overall, virago nation is combatting the violent narratives regarding indigenous sexuality that are present throughout vancouver by exercising sovereignty over their own sexualities. by spreading this act of resurgence and sharing these tools with fellow indigenous peoples, they are exposing a narrative and a space to express and explore indigenous sexuality internally and externally. therefore, virago nation is a prime example of decolonization through indigenous sexual being, by exemplifying a pursuit of a sovereign erotic. they have based an erotic art and practice around the reclamation of their sexuality in a healing way, reclaiming their relationships between lands and bodies and their sexual identities in their own image, ultimately, taking back their sovereignty. conclusion: strength, resurgence, and embodiment of sovereignty through erotics in this article, i have outlined indigeneity-gender-land relations on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) nations which vancouver resides on, by examining indigenous sexual being. i have exposed settler colonial narratives of violence in relation to indigenous sexuality by illustrating colonization’s reliance on that violent narrative. furthermore, i have demonstrated how indigenous peoples in vancouver are pursuing resurgence and sovereignty by rejecting that narrative, by means of illustrating the works of virago nation in relation to the concept of a sovereign erotic. this journey to explore indigenous gendered relations that reject colonial narratives of violence and values on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɂɬ (tsleil-waututh) peoples was necessary for me to go through as well. this pursuit of indigenous sexuality through a lens of sovereignty gave me hope for the future and as a métis woman, it made me reflect on the ways i can engage in the decolonization of my sexuality, what self-love through indigeneity means to me, and how claiming my sexuality in my own image is up to me and not restricted to normative colonial sexual values. moreover, i have come to better understand what it means to act and be on indigenous terms in relation with sexuality as virago nation and driskill (2004) have presented examples of claiming oneself outside of colonial terms, physically and internally. they have done so despite the dichotomies, stereotypes, and gendered and sexual violence colonialism has enforced, in order to heal from those wounds. furthermore, since the practice of sovereignty can be understood as a form of collective and individual responsibility (monture-angus, 1999), it is consequently a demonstration of responsibility these artists are exhibiting. to heal from the wounds colonialism has enforced by reclaiming sexuality is to uphold responsibility to the collective well-being and futures of indigenous peoples, cultures, clans, and nations. as stated by sable, “we will present ourselves in the way we want you to receive us” (as cited in gatewood, 2018, 13:08). in turn, indigenous sexual being is displayed as expansive, and therefore it is not a single idea or label i can name for another. rather, i have come to understand reclaiming indigenous sexual being as a practice that exists through an ongoing relationship with decolonization. this is the active practice of naming and imagining oneself by claiming one’s sexual being through what driskill (2004) describes as “a journey back to [one’s] first homeland: the body” (p. 54). by demonstrating this practice, virago nation displays how we, as indigenous peoples across sexualities and communities, are representing our sexualities in our own image and in relation with our communities, homelands, and cultural images, to decolonize and reclaim, in order to heal through the embodiment of sovereignty. 36 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 1 special issue on indigenous wellness • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar111202019427 references abolson, k., 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(2016). gathered together: listening to musqueam lived experiences. biography, 39(3), 469–494. https://doi.org/10.1353/bio.2016.0056 38 https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2013.861345 https://www.viragonation.ca/ https://www.viragonation.ca/workshops https://doi.org/10.1353/bio.2016.0056 the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 49 detecting fake users on social media with a graph database yichun zhao1 and jens weber yichunzhao@uvic.ca abstract social media has become a major part of people’s daily lives as it provides users with the convenience to connect with people, interact with friends, share personal content with others, and gather information. however, it also creates opportunities for fake users. fake users on social media may be perceived as popular and influential if not detected. they might spread false information or fake news by making it look real, manipulating real users into making certain decisions. in computer science, a social network can be treated as a graph, which is a data structure consisting of nodes being the social media users, and edges being the connections between users. graph data can be stored in a graph database for efficient data analysis. in this paper, we propose using a graph database to achieve an increased scalability to accommodate larger graphs. centrality measures as features were extracted for the random forest classifier to successfully detect fake users with high precision, recall, and accuracy. we have achieved promising results especially when compared with previous studies. keywords: fake users; graph database; machine learning; random forest; fake news 1 i thank dr. jens weber for his expertise and guidance, the peer reviewers and editors of the arbutus review for their suggestions and revisions, and the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards for their support. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 50 detecting fake users on social media with a graph database social media has become a major part of people’s daily lives as it provides users with the convenience to connect with people, interact with friends, share personal content with others, and gather information. however, it also creates opportunities for fake users. they might present unreliable information or fake news that is not fact-checked, or they might spam others with automated account interactions. fake users can manipulate people into false beliefs and cause negative societal impacts by posting harmful links repeatedly and abusing the reply and sharing functions to make topics appear trendier than they actually are (ersahin et al., 2017). the objective of this research project is to improve the accuracy of detecting fake users reported by a previous study (mehrotra et al., 2016). by using a graph database, the scalability of the approach is increased to billions of nodes compared to an in-memory approach (pokorný, 2015). different centrality measures supported by the neo4j graph database are used as features for the random forest classifier to train and test. this detection method should also be tested with more datasets. the rest of this paper is structured as follows: the next section introduces related work regarding the detection of fake users on social media. section 3 introduces the methods used in our study. section 4 summarizes our results and discusses them. section 5 concludes our study. related work mehrotra et al. (2016) have proposed a method that uses graph based centrality measures including betweenness centrality, eigenvector centrality, in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality, katz centrality, and load centrality to detect fake followers in a social graph network. three classifiers including artificial neural network, decision tree classifier, and random forest classifier have been compared. the random forest classifier yields the highest accuracy on fake follower detection. this method is generic and can be applied regardless of which social network is used. cresci et al. (2015) have used the random forest classifier and features including number of friends, number of tweets, content of tweets, and relation between number of friends and followers to detect fake users. high accuracy was obtained. narayanan et al. (2018) have devised a browser plugin to recognize fake accounts on twitter by also using the random forest classifier and features such as number of friends, followers, and statuses with a precision of 95%, recall of 94%, and accuracy of 94.1%. gupta et al. (2017) have applied 12 supervised machine learning classification algorithms on a facebook dataset and evaluated them to find the best performing classifiers which are mostly decision tree and decision rules classifiers. an accuracy around 79% is achieved by the random forest and jrip classifier. features are also evaluated, and comments-related and likes-related attributes show effectiveness in detecting fake accounts. zenonos et al. (2018) have compared the effectiveness of using centrality measures versus characterization measures (centralization, density, and reciprocity) to detect fake influencers on twitter. the results show that both types of measures are almost equivalently effective. kagan et al. (2018) have created a generic unsupervised learning algorithm to detect anomalous vertices. the algorithm creates a link predication classifier based on the graph’s topology in its first iteration to predict the possibility of existence of an edge with high accuracy. in the second iteration, metahttps://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 51 features based on features created by the link prediction classifier are generated and used to construct an anomaly detection classifier. the algorithm has been evaluated using 10 networks that are fully simulated, semi-simulated, or real world, showing good performance with high area under the curve (auc) measure. investigating the related area of rumour detection, zubiaga et al. (2018) have provided an overview of research into rumours on social media. they define rumours as circulating misinformation or disinformation whose accuracy is yet to be verified. rumour analysis can be categorized into detection, tracking, stance classification, and veracity classification. although recent research has focused more on the latter two categories and research in tracking has been limited, there are studies conducted in all four categories. this paper builds upon the study by mehrotra et al. (2016) by using a graph database for analysis, including more training features in the classifier, and including more datasets for external validation. methods and procedures data preparation three different datasets are used in this research project. all of them are labelled and found from previous studies on similar subject matter. the first dataset was collected by a study on detecting fake twitter users (cresci et al., 2015) and used in mehrotra et al.’s (2016) study. it consists of five different split datasets of twitter users: data from the fake project, which is all humans; data from elections 2013, which is all humans; data from intertwitter, which is all fake users; data from fastfollowerz, which is all fake users; and data from twittertechnology, which is also all fake users. the fake users were purchased from sellers on the internet. mehrotra et al. (2016) combined these five datasets and merged the followers and friends in their study. for the sake of simplicity, we call the combined dataset the “fake project.” figure 1 graphs of the fake project dataset (a) original (b) filtered circular arrangement https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 52 the same approach is carried out in our research study. first, a shell script was executed to combine the five datasets. then, the neo4j graph database was used to import the whole fake project dataset to create the twitter user nodes (5,301 nodes). relationships between the nodes were created from the merged data of followers and friends. however, as seen in figure 1a, only the center of the graph is clustered with nodes that have relationships between them. surrounding the cluster are the isolated nodes that do not have relationships. the graph was then filtered by removing these isolated nodes in the neo4j graph database to have a smaller dataset. figure 1b shows us the filtered graph with a different arrangement of the user nodes. there are 1,222 real users and 698 fake users in the final dataset. the second dataset is a friendship network of a school class from 1880/81 (kagan, 2017). it is likely the earliest known social media dataset and it is used in the study by kagan et al. (2018). we call it the “class” dataset. it was then imported into neo4j which constructed the graph seen in figure 2a. there are no isolated nodes. there are 40 real users and 7 fake users. figure 2b is another arrangement of the graph, which shows us the fake nodes coloured purple. figure 2 graphs of the class dataset (a) random arrangement (b) circular arrangement of nodes with purple fake nodes the third dataset contains data about twitter users obtained using an application programming interface (api) crawler (kagan, 2017), and it is also used in the study by kagan et al. (2018). the crawler capped the maximum number of friends and followers to 1,000 for each user because the number of friends and followers is unlimited. we call it the “twitter” dataset. however, the dataset was too large (5,384,162 nodes) for the neo4j database to calculate the centrality measures using its graph algorithms. random sampling of the dataset was performed using python to downsize it to 119,661 nodes. because there are isolated nodes without any relationships, the graph was filtered to remove these nodes. there are 22,912 real users and 9,694 fake users in the final sampled and filtered dataset. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 53 feature extraction these centrality measures were calculated and extracted for the three datasets using the graph algorithms library from neo4j version 3.5.6: • betweenness centrality is the number of shortest paths passing through a node, showing its influence over the flow of information in the network (needham & hodler, 2019). • closeness centrality is the number of shortest paths from a node to all other nodes, showing how efficient it is to spread information or how central the node is in the network (needham & hodler, 2019). • in-degree is the number of incoming relationships of a node. • out-degree is the number of outgoing relationships of a node. • page-rank calculates the number and quality of links to a node, showing its transitive influence (needham & hodler, 2019). • eigenvector also shows a node’s transitive influence (neo4j, 2019). classification since the random forest classifier was proven to yield the highest accuracy compared to other classifiers (mehrotra et al., 2016), the random forest classifier was performed with 10-fold crossvalidation for training and testing and with centrality measures as its features. the idea of 10-fold cross-validation is to divide the whole dataset into 10 pieces, taking 1 piece as the testing dataset and the other 9 as the training dataset. the classifier is trained and tested 10 times using a different piece as the testing set each time. after the learning with 10-fold cross-validation, the final classifier was then run on the whole dataset to achieve the final results. weka was used for this classification. feature evaluation for the fake project dataset, the features were evaluated using correlation-based feature selection, information-gain-based feature selection, and learner-based feature selection in weka to identify the most influential feature. results and discussion the most influential feature for the fake project dataset is the closeness centrality measure. compared to the results from the previous study by mehrotra et al. (2016) using the fake project dataset (precision = 89.0%; recall = 100%; accuracy = 95%), a significant increase in precision and accuracy is observed in table 1. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 54 table 1 results obtained using the random forest classifier on each dataset this might be due to the inclusion of the new feature, closeness centrality, which has the highest correlation with the output. the slight decrease in recall might be due to the exclusion of katz centrality, which was used in the previous study. katz centrality measures the relative influence of a node by calculating the number of immediate neighbours and other nodes that connect to the node through these immediate neighbours. since betweenness and load centrality measures have a high degree of correlation (zenonos et al., 2018), the exclusion of load centrality should not have an impact on the results because betweenness centrality is still included. the lower results achieved from using the class dataset might be due to its small size (47 nodes and 177 relationships). the twitter dataset originally has a maximum number of friends and followers capped for each user. hence, it might not accurately represent the actual twitter network. the random sample also might not represent the same state of the original graph and might not preserve certain graph properties. in addition, both the class and twitter datasets refer to their “fake” nodes as “anomalous,” meaning these users might not be fake. this fact might also explain the lower results. when we performed the graph algorithms, the need for sampling the twitter dataset even after proper indexing was surprising due to the expectation that neo4j should be able to scale to billions of nodes (pokorný, 2015). further investigation is needed. conclusion neo4j was successfully used to prepare the data and extract the centrality measures as features and to increase scalability due to its easy and quick calculations. the random forest classifier with features including betweenness centrality, in-degree, out-degree, closeness centrality, page-rank, and eigenvector detected fake users with reasonable results. compared to the study by mehrotra et al. (2016), the use of different centrality measures increased the precision and accuracy significantly and achieved 99.5% in precision, recall, and accuracy. centrality measures are node properties. in the future, we can include edge properties like link prediction measures supported by neo4j as new features to possibly achieve even better results. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 55 references cresci, s., di pietro, r., petrocchi, m., spognardi, a., & tesconi, m. (2015). fame for sale: efficient detection of fake twitter followers. decision support systems, 80, 56 –71. http://doi.org//10.1016/j.dss.2015.09.003 erşahin, b., aktaş, kılınç, d., & akyol, c. (2017). twitter fake account detection. 2017 international conference on computer science and engineering (ubmk), 388–392. gupta, a., & kaushal, r. (2017). towards detecting fake user accounts in facebook. 2017 isea asia security and privacy (iseasp), 1–6. kagan, d. (2017). anomalous-vertices-detection. github. (https://github.com/kagandi/anomalous-vertices-detection/tree/master/data) kagan, d., elovichi, y., & fire, m. (2018, apr 05). generic anomalous vertices detection utilizing a link prediction algorithm. social network analysis and mining, 8(1), 27. http://doi.org//10.1007/s13278-018-0503-4 mehrotra, a., sarreddy, m., & singh, s. (2016). detection of fake twitter followers using graph centrality measures. 2016 2nd international conference on contemporary computing and informatics (ic3i), 499–504. http://doi.org//10.1109/ic3i.2016.7918016 narayanan, a., garg, a., arora, i., sureka, t., sridhar, m., & prasad, h. b. (2018). ironsense: towards the identification of fake user-profiles on twitter using machine learning. 2018 fourteenth international conference on information processing (icinpro), 1–7. needham, m., & hodler, a. (2019). graph algorithms: practical examples in apache spark and neo4j. o’reilly media, incorporated. neo4j. (2019). the eigenvector centrality algorithm. (https://neo4j.com/docs/graphalgorithms/current/labs-algorithms/eigenvector-centrality/) pokorný, j. (2015, september). graph databases: their power and limitations. 14th computer information systems and industrial management (cisim), lncs-9339, 58–69. retrieved from https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01444505 (part 1: full keynote and invited papers). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24369-6_5 zenonos, s., tsirtsis, a., & tsapatsoulis, n. (2018). twitter influencers or cheated buyers? 2018 ieee 16th intl conf on dependable, autonomic and secure computing, 16th intl conf on pervasive intelligence and computing, 4th intl conf on big data intelligence and computing and cyberscience and technology congress (dasc/ picom/ datacom/ cyberscitech), 236–242. https://doi.org/ http://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2015.09.003 https://github.com/kagandi/anomalous-vertices-detection/tree/master/data http://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-018-0503-4 http://doi.org/10.1109/ic3i.2016.7918016 https://neo4j.com/docs/graph-algorithms/current/labs-algorithms/eigenvector-centrality/ https://neo4j.com/docs/graph-algorithms/current/labs-algorithms/eigenvector-centrality/ https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01444505 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24369-6_5 the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120027 56 zubiaga, a., aker, a., bontcheva, k., liakata, m., & procter, r. (2018, february). detection and resolution of rumours in social media: a survey. acm comput. surv., 51(2). https://doi.org/10.1145/3161603 https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.1145/3161603 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 diet-based interventions against cancer: potential adjuvants to standard cancer therapy james s.j. choi∗ university of victoria james.choi6@gmail.com abstract different diet-based approaches have been studied as potential adjuvants to standard cancer therapies in human clinical trials. however, these diets have been shown to have complications such as non-compliance and adverse side effects. this paper investigates four different types of diet-based approaches used in human clinical trials and compares their complications. the four diet-based approaches evaluated in this paper are ketogenic diet (kd), protein restriction, fasting and fasting mimicking diets (fmd), and combined interventions. research shows that kds have large reports of non-compliance from subjects, with subjects also experiencing significant weight loss, constipation, and fatigue. protein restriction diets have greater levels of adherence from subjects but may lead to harmful hematological toxicities. fasting and fmd showed greater adherence than subjects on kds, and lower toxicities than subjects on protein restriction diets, but had a greater number of complaints of headaches, hunger, and dizziness. finally, combined interventions have the fewest reports of side effects and non-compliance but suffer from a limited number of case studies. given these results, diet-based interventions require further research to minimize side effects and non-compliance before becoming an accepted adjuvant to standard cancer therapy. keywords: diet-based therapy; complications; adjuvant; fasting; cancer intervention ∗i would like to acknowledge dr. luis bettio for inspiring my interest in interventional diets and pauline song for being there throughout the process. 22 mailto:james.choi6@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 caloric restriction and fasting have previously been shown to increase life span, reduce oxidative damage, and enhance stress resistance in animal and human studies (de groot et al., 2015; safdie et al., 2009). they have even been shown to delay and possibly prevent aging and age-related diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases like parkinson’s and alzheimer’s in mice, rats, and non-human primates (de cabo & mattson, 2019). in the last 15 years, some researchers have focused on the anticarcinogenic effects of diet-based approaches in human clinical trials. diet-based therapies have been identified as a potential adjuvant to traditional cancer therapy—a treatment given in addition to traditional cancer therapies with the aim of increasing overall effectiveness and protecting against adverse side effects. however, there are clinical complications associated with diet-based therapies. the two main complications discussed here are non-compliance and adverse side effects. non-compliance results from diets being non-palatable, restrictive, and too difficult to adhere to. additionally, some of these diets result in adverse side effects including nausea, diarrhea, and hematological toxicities. researchers are studying different types of diets to observe potential anticarcinogenic effects while minimizing complications. there are four different types of diets that have been studied in human clinical trials: ketogenic diet (kd), protein restriction, fasting and fasting mimicking diet (fmd), and combined interventions. this paper investigates the four diets’ effectiveness as an adjuvant to cancer therapy and the resulting complications in order to make an appropriate recommendation. there are two reasons this paper focuses on the general relationship between diet-based interventions and cancer, rather than focusing on a specific tumor group: first, diet-based interventions utilize the metabolic pathway of cancer cells, making it an effective intervention across multiple cancer types; second, the current human clinical trials assess these interventions in a variety of patients with different cancer groups and types. ketogenic diets kds have come to light in recent years as a potential adjuvant therapy for cancer (cohen et al., 2018). the diet, which usually consists of a low-carbohydrate and high-fat profile, is effective in creating a metabolic disadvantage for cancer cells by shifting the body into a state of ketosis— a metabolic state where the primary fuel source is switched from glucose and carbohydrates to ketones and fat. many cancer cells are dependent on glucose for fuel acquisition and are unable to metabolize ketone bodies (shaw, 2006; tan-shalaby et al., 2016). zuccoli et al. (2010) presented a case report observing the regression of glioblastoma multiforme (gbm) in a 65-year-old woman who followed a kd while undergoing standard therapy (radiation with temozolomide chemotherapy). the observed level of regression of gbm within 2.5 months of the diet and standard therapy was not previously reported in patients using standard therapy alone. from the case report, the results suggest that a kd may potentially increase tumor cell vulnerability to standard radiation with chemotherapy, reduce inflammation, and reduce brain tumor growth by lowering overall circulating levels of glucose (zuccoli et al., 2010). in a randomized control trial examining kds in the context of cancer, researchers tracked levels of physical functioning and energy in female patients with ovarian or endometrial cancer while following a 12-week kd (cohen et al., 2018). when compared to non-kd control groups and relative baseline levels, women on the kd reported significantly higher physical functioning and improvements in energy levels (cohen et al., 2018). maintaining a kd while undergoing standard cancer therapy, however, presented several challenges across multiple studies. in another study observing the effectiveness of a kd in improving therapeutic outcomes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, most subjects were unable to follow the kd for the duration of clinical treatment due to the kd being too restrictive and unpalatable (zarah et al., 2017). other challenges of therapeutic kd’s for cancer include significant 23 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 weight loss (up to 20% of original body weight), constipation, nausea, fatigue, hyperuricemia, and poor accrual and adherence (anderson et al., 2016; bannerman et al., 2014; dardis et al., 2017; zuccoli et al., 2010). protein restriction another option is the protein restriction approach. several tumor cells are characterized by a high rate of growth and require specific proteins in order to proliferate and survive (thivat et al., 2007). the amino-acid methionine (met) has been identified as necessary for tumor cell growth as tumor cells lose their ability to proliferate in growth medium when met is replaced by its immediate precursor, homocysteine, even though normal cells would grow in this medium (thivat et al., 2007). tumor cells’ “met dependency” may be a result of met’s wide range of functionality as it protects against oxidative stress, contributes to protein synthesis, nuclear and cell division, and provides the methyl groups for dna methylation. (durando et al., 2008). in theory, a diet with low or no met would reduce mean plasma met concentrations in the blood, subsequently limiting the overall supply of met available to tumor cells and decreasing the tumor cells’ overall survivability and replication efficacy (durando et al., 2010). another option is the protein restriction approach. several tumor cells are characterized by a high rate of growth and require specific proteins in order to proliferate and survive (thivat et al., 2007). the amino-acid methionine (met) has been identified as necessary for tumor cell growth as tumor cells lose their ability to proliferate in growth medium when met is replaced by its immediate precursor, homocysteine, even though normal cells would grow in this medium (thivat et al., 2007). tumor cells’ “met dependency” may be a result of met’s wide range of functionality as it protects against oxidative stress, contributes to protein synthesis, nuclear and cell division, and provides the methyl groups for dna methylation. (durando et al., 2008). in theory, a diet with low or no met would reduce mean plasma met concentrations in the blood, subsequently limiting the overall supply of met available to tumor cells and decreasing the tumor cells’ overall survivability and replication efficacy (durando et al., 2010). a met-free diet in combination with standard cancer therapies has been studied in human clinical trials. durando et al (2008) and thivat et al (2009) presented a 2-phase clinical trial observing patients with recurrent glioma or metastatic melanoma treated with standard therapy (chloroethylnitrosoureas) and dietary met restriction. these studies observed short-term disease stabilization, a downward regulation of o6-methylguanine-methyltransferase (mgmt) activity (which is associated with increased tumor cell sensitivity to chloroethylnitrosoureas), improved therapeutic index of chloroethylnitrosoureas, and multiple cases of long-duration disease stabilization. (durando et al., 2008; thivat et al., 2007, 2009). these studies also reported successful reduction rates of blood met concentration in patients undergoing the diet, reporting reduction rates ranging from 40.7 to 53.1% (durando et al., 2008; thivat et al., 2007, 2009). durando et al. (2010) studied dietary met restriction in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer undergoing standard chemotherapy. when compared to baseline levels, the study observed a successful decrease in plasma met concentration and reported positive partial responses from several patients, one patient with long-term (13 months) disease stabilization, and one patient with complete remission after a 30-month follow-up (durando et al., 2010). other clinical trials observed increased levels of leptin receptors and increased phosphorylation of tyrosine residues on the insulin receptor signal transducer protein irs1, indicative of increased insulin sensitivity in prostate cancer patients following dietary protein restriction (eitan et al., 2017). increased sensitivity to leptin and insulin has been associated with inhibited tumor growth (eitan et al., 2017). these clinical trials all reported several challenges faced by patients undergoing the met-free 24 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 diet. while maintaining a protein restricted diet, several patients experienced hematological toxicity including world health organization (who) grade 3 thrombocytopenia, who grade 3 neutropenia, and who grade 3–4 leucopenia1 (durando et al., 2010; thivat et al., 2009). when compared to control patients without dietary met restriction, there were increased difficulties with constipation, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting, and this resulted in a low acceptability of the met-free diet by patients (durando et al., 2010). compliance was also an issue, with reports of diets not being palatable (durando et al., 2010). other side effects included catabolism of muscle proteins and undesired decreases in bmi as a result of the diet (durando et al., 2010). in addition to the numerous adverse side effects, significant anticarcinogenic results of the metfree diet in clinical trials are still inconclusive. reports of disease stabilization are limited and lack consistent evidence, with some studies even observing cases of disease progression (durando et al., 2008, 2010; thivat et al., 2009). fasting and caloric restriction fasting is another dietary approach that has been investigated for its anti-cancer therapeutic benefits. fasting may involve abstinence from all food, shifting an individual’s metabolism into a state of ketosis—an unfavorable growth environment for cancer cells that is similarly achieved by kds (cohen et al., 2018; nencioni et al., 2018). low glucose levels from fasting also results in the upregulation of certain stress resistance proteins, protecting normal cells against stress and toxic insults, including those derived from standard cancer treatments (nencioni et al., 2018). there are several studies investigating the effects of fasting and a fmd in combination with standard cancer therapies in human patients. safdie et al. (2009) presented a case series report of 10 patients with a variety of malignancies who fasted for various hours prior to and/or following chemotherapy. the study observed general and substantial reductions in chemotherapy-induced side effects including fatigue, weakness, vomiting, and diarrhea in patients who fasted during treatment (safdie et al., 2009). patients who completed the diet protocol also self-reported it as well-tolerated (safdie et al., 2009). de groot et al (2015) observed the protective effects of short-term fasting in female patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. patients who fasted for 24 hours before and after chemotherapy treatments showed good tolerance of the diet, significantly higher mean erythrocyte and thrombocyte counts 7 days after chemotherapy (possibly indicating a decreased breakdown of circulating normal cells from treatment) and no difference in toxicities from the diet (de groot et al., 2015). compared to fasting patients, non-fasting patients showed a significantly higher level of chemotherapy-induced dna damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells at 30 minutes and at 7 days after chemotherapy, suggesting fasting may protect cells from toxicities, chemotherapy-induced dna damage, and accelerate the recovery of damaged cells (de groot et al., 2015). similarly, dorff et al. (2016) observed reduced dna damage in leukocytes in patients undergoing platinum-based chemotherapy for urothelial, ovarian, or breast cancer while fasting for at least 48 hours when compared to patients who fasted for 24 hours or less. this study also observed no significant reduction in chemotherapy efficacy, suggesting fasting may be an effective adjuvant therapy to chemotherapy (dorff et al., 2016). bauerfeld et al. (2018) observed that short term fasting led to a better tolerance to chemotherapy, reduced fatigue, and a less compromised quality of life within 8 days after chemotherapy. these studies, however, reported several challenges faced by patients undergoing fasting or a fmd during chemotherapy. there were complaints of dizziness, hunger, headaches, pyrosis, recurrent febrile neutropenia, and other grade 1 and grade 2 toxicities that resulted from fasting, 1it is important to note that some of these toxicities are sometimes also observed in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who are not undergoing dietary met restriction. 25 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 with patients even withdrawing from the studies due to side effects of the diet (de groot et al., 2015; safdie et al., 2009). similar to the other metabolic approaches, patients who fasted reported significant weight loss and issues with compliance, sustainability, and palatability (de groot et al., 2015; safdie et al., 2009). furthermore, studies investigating the benefits of fasting during chemotherapy in human clinical trials involve smaller sample sizes and are limited. a lack of a large scale randomized human clinical study makes it difficult to draw significant conclusions on the efficacy of fasting as an adjuvant to chemotherapy. combined interventions there are also case reports of combined interventions—interventions that involve multiple dietary approaches and therapies in addition to standard cancer therapy. branca et al. (2015) presented a case report of a 66-year-old woman diagnosed with infiltrating adenocarcinoma of the breast. the patient’s preoperative biopsy showed significant positivity, amplification, and overexpression (>10%) for the oncoprotein her2—an important biomarker of breast cancer that is strongly associated with disease recurrence and poor prognosis — as well as low levels of progesterone receptor (pgr) expression (<1%), indicating a high level of tumor aggressiveness (branca et al., 2015). during the 3-week period between the diagnostic biopsy and the planned mastectomy, with no other planned treatment, the patient self-administered a strict kd supplemented with high doses of oral vitamin d3 and foods associated with high levels of glycosylated vitamin d-binding proteins (branca et al., 2015). after 3-weeks of the combined intervention and mastectomy, an analysis of the specimen revealed no invasion of blood or lymph vessels around the tumor, and the patient’s levels of her2 and pgr expression went from >10% and <1% preoperatively, to negativity and 20% post-treatment, respectively (branca et al., 2015). these results suggest that a combination of a kd with high-doses of vitamin d3 and glycosylated vitamin d-binding proteins may lead to significant changes in some of the biological markers of breast cancer. i̇yikesici et al. (2017) reported a case of a 29-year old woman with stage iv invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast who underwent a metabolically supported chemotherapy in combination with a kd and hyperthermia and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. prior to treatment, pet-ct scans revealed a primary tumor in the breast with widespread liver and lymph node masses, and an abdominal lesion (i̇yikesici et al., 2017). after 6 months of combination therapy, a mastectomy revealed that there was a complete clinical, radiological, and pathological response with no further evidence of disease found in the patient (i̇yikesici et al., 2017). similar to a kd, hyperthermia and hyperbaric oxygen therapy exploit the defective energy metabolism of tumor cells and may contribute to dna inhibition in cancer cells. the study found increased oxidative stress and oxygen radical production in tumor cells and tumor hypoxia—all factors leading to greater cancer cell death (i̇yikesici et al., 2017). both branca et al. (2015) and i̇yikesici et al. (2017) reported cases where the advantages of a combined therapy can be seen— particularly in using multiple approaches to target the metabolic weaknesses of cancer cells in order to increase the overall anti-carcinogenic effects of treatment. however, both these case reports observed single patients. there is no large scale randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of combined interventions on cancer therapy in the context of human clinical studies, making it difficult to draw any conclusions (fig.1). further research is required. 26 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 figure 1. schematic overview of the anticarcinogenic effects and complications of different diet-based approaches. abbreviations: gbm; glioblastoma multiforme, irs1; insulin receptor substrate 1, who; world health organization, qol; quality of life. conclusion each of the four aforementioned diet-based therapies approach cancer in their own way. although each of the therapies found instances of anticarcinogenic success in their clinical trials, complications and side effects were present in all studies. as previously stated, poor compliance, low palatability, weight loss, and poor sustainability were reported in each of the different diet approaches. the restrictiveness of kds further presents a challenge of adherence, as most subjects were unable to follow the kd for the duration of their clinical treatments. as a result, the therapeutic use of kd may not be realistic until the diet’s restrictiveness is addressed. second, met-free diets had greater levels of adherence from subjects, but low levels of protein consumption led to significant hematological toxicities such as who grade 3 neutropenia and leucopenia. the therapeutic use of low protein diets should be limited to avoid harmful hematological toxicities. next, 27 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 fasting and fmd subjects showed greater adherence than subjects on kds, and lower toxicities than subjects on met-free diets, but had a greater number of complaints of headaches, hunger, and dizziness than the other groups. strategies to minimize these side effects or even help to deal with them may make fasting and fmds an effective approach. lastly, combined interventions have the fewest reports of side-effects and non-compliance. however, clinical trials of combined interventions are limited to a few studies and are relatively new. nevertheless, the flexibility and range of combined interventions makes it the frontrunner as the most promising diet-based cancer therapy. although there are instances of significant benefits observed when metabolic interventions are combined with traditional cancer therapy, the lack of consistent, large-scale, and randomized trials in each of the four aforementioned approaches makes it difficult to form evidence-based conclusions on the anticarcinogenic effects of diet-based therapies. however, there are several clinical trials currently ongoing, which will lend valuable perspective and help to establish the effectiveness of diet-based therapies on cancers in the future. and although studies such as zuccoli et al. (2010), durando et al (2008), and thivat et al (2009) are relatively dated, they provide insight into the potential feasibility and efficacy of different diet-based therapies, and present valuable information on the direction that future research needs to take, namely, prioritizing issues of adherence, compliance, and adverse side effects. as a result, these studies need to be further discussed, in addition to current clinical human trials, in order to identify key areas for future research. researchers should continue to focus on randomized controlled clinical trials while developing strategies to minimize occurrences of non-compliance and adverse side effects. 28 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019612 references anderson, c. m., loth, e., opat, e., bodeker, k., ahmann, l., parkhurst, j., sun, w., furqan, m., laux, d., brown, h., vollstedt, s., follmer, k., ma, d., spitz, d., fath, m., buatti, j., & allen, b. g. 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https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-7-33 the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 1 produced by the division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the university of victoria, the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009 as the undergraduate research scholarship program by jamie cassels, then vice-president academic and provost and president from 2013–2020. the award program was designed to support and create truly formative research experiences for exceptional undergraduate students. the division of learning and teaching support and innovation administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submissions that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review also publishes other exceptional work from students in departments across campus. we acknowledge with respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the songhees, esquimalt and wsáneć peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. letter from the managing editor it is my pleasure to introduce this issue of the arbutus review. including the 10 articles in this issue, we have published 104 scholarly articles and creative works by undergraduate authors since our inception in 2010. at the time of writing, authors had cited our students’ articles 230 times, with 187 of those citations occurring in the last five years. although demands on students were great this year, with continual adjustments to changing health orders and online learning, we received many good submissions and the 10 published here showcase interesting and timely research from undergraduate students at the university of victoria. all of the articles start as thirdor fourth-year course writings, honours papers, or jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) projects and are transformed into publishable articles with the help of supportive instructors, our graduate student peer reviewers, and editors at the arbutus review. from 2017 to 2021, the arbutus review has been in the capable and steady hands of editor, dr. madeline walker. over the years, madeline has grown the journal and developed a robust group of peer reviewers. madeline has been an exceptional mentor and writing coach helping to develop our undergraduate contributors. i would like to extend my most heartfelt gratitude to madeline for dedication to this journal and for being an amazing colleague to me. madeline, may retirement bring many more opportunities for your creativity and expertise to shine. you will be missed. the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 2 acknowledgements each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by an academic mentor (usually a faculty member) at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we would like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper. dr. denae dyck, department of english author: autumn doucette dr. allyson hadwin, department of educational psychology author: kate shostak dr. lori harper, department of psychology, athabasca university author: jamie sulek dr. olav krigolson, school of exercise science author: juliet rowe dr. jamie lawson, department of political science author: paarth mittal dr. andrew marton, department of pacific and asian studies author: brooke mcnab dr. gregory rowe, department of greek and roman studies author: eleanor vannan dr. jens weber, department of computer science author: yichun zhao dr. christopher wilmore, department of economics author: samuel seshadri dr. min zhou, department of sociology author: yang yang the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 3 all submissions are reviewed blind by two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. azam alipour ahmed al-utaibi john buxcey akshaya chandani robbi davey kate fairley maryssa grayer erica greenup theo holland patti keenan david lark sonja pinto jessica pratezina jessica robertson juan c. sanchez-arias reza sayar helen von buchholz jinelle woodley anika zuhlke the arbutus review would also like to thank others whose ideas, work and guidance have contributed to the journal. laurene sheilds, director of the division of learning and teaching support and innovation, university of victoria. inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, who provides guidance on the journal and oversees the online journal systems. madeline walker, arbutus review editor and typesetter, university of victoria. shailoo bedi, director, student academic success at the division of learning and teaching support and innovation and libraries, university of victoria; current arbutus review managing editor. the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions, or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the editors and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion, or statement. for more information about the journal, you can contact: shailoo bedi, phd director, student academic success division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca madeline walker, phd editor, the arbutus review division of learning and teaching support and innovation university of victoria cacpc@uvic.ca mailto:ltcassocdirsas@uvic.ca mailto:cacpc@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120160 4 “heroic hearts”: masculinity and imperialism in “ulysses” and “the white man’s burden” autumn r. doucette1 doucetteautumn@gmail.com abstract this essay aims to uncover how victorian poetry aided in the construction of a hegemonic masculinity that is ruthless, adversarial, and deemed integral to the success of british imperial work. in promoting this new paradigm, victorian writers aimed to appeal to men’s egos and spirits, albeit in differing ways: alfred tennyson’s “ulysses” (1842) professes that embodying a masculine—and therefore colonial—role serves to support personal fulfilment, while rudyard kipling’s “the white man’s burden” (1899) claims that the purpose of adopting such a role lies in the prosperity it brings humanity as a whole. together, tennyson and kipling exemplify not only the fluidity and volatility of victorian gender roles but showcase the ways in which masculinity became bound to tenets of violence, individuality, and to british colonialism. keywords: victorian poetry; tennyson; kipling; imperialism; masculinity 1 i would like to extend a special thanks to dr. denae dyck for her generous guidance and support on this project, as well as my mother and father for their endless displays of love and encouragement towards my academic pursuits. the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120160 5 “heroic hearts”: masculinity and imperialism in “ulysses” and “the white man’s burden” british historian andrew s. thompson wrote in 1997 that in colonial britain, the terms “empire” and “imperialism” were “like empty boxes that were continuously being filled up and emptied of their meanings” (p.147). these meanings—doubtlessly influenced by changing cultural discourse and stiffening social roles—were anything but fixed, and in this paper, i will argue that two victorian poems suggest the inauguration of a new hegemonic masculinity that may have been significant with regards to the growth of imperialistic desire and the ruthlessness deemed necessary for colonial success. in selecting “ulysses” (a mythological dramatic monologue published in 1842) and “the white man’s burden” (a political poem grounded in material reality published in 1899) to support my analysis, i hope to explore the ways in which these constructions of masculinity pervade all aspects of victorian social life—from fantasy and entertainment to tangible and grounded foreign policy debate. both widely read and popular at the end of the nineteenth century, these two poems ground and typify the discourse surrounding gender roles and empire within the late victorian period. beginning by locating an individualistic masculine prototype (a “new man”) and a calm, feminized beta male within tennyson’s work, this essay will then situate these contrasting constructions of masculinity within kipling’s discussion of britain’s imperial obligation, and finally discuss the discrepancies in the morality and societal worth allocated to “masculine” individualism and aggression as suggested by the texts. in promoting an ideal of masculinity that is both restless and aggressive, alfred tennyson’s “ulysses” and rudyard kipling’s “the white man’s burden” manipulate manhood to equate masculinity with imperialist work, serving to secure men’s place in the public sphere while confining women—and feminine men—to the private one. this being said, these two poems differ in the societal value they allocate to this work and to the fulfilment of masculine gender roles: kipling believes that its importance lies in the (alleged) prosperity it brings humanity, while tennyson believes that it lies in personal fulfilment. in analyzing the ways in which definitions of conventional masculinity and imperialism sharpened and grew intertwined throughout the victorian era, we can historically and literarily ground the conventions of hegemonic masculinity and idealized femininity that continue to plague western society today. in “ulysses”—released in 1842 and chronicling the despondency and discontent that protagonist ulysses experiences upon his return to his hometown ithaca—tennyson’s speaker draws on his own life experiences to equate femininity with mundane and monotonous labour in the domestic sphere, simultaneously equating masculinity with work that is thrilling, dramatic, and performed in the spotlight for all to see (hughes, 1979). the poem begins as the speaker attempts to separate himself from any effeminate qualities, asserting that to possess them would be a detriment to his happiness and personal pleasure. the opening lines, it little profits that an idle king by this still hearth, among these barren crags match’d with an aged wife, i mete and dole unequal laws unto a savage race (tennyson 1842, lines 1–4) make this intent clear: searching for success and prestige on a more grand and glorious scale, ulysses finds homebound labour dull and unfulfilling for a “hungry [heart]” such as his (tennyson, the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120160 6 1842, line 12). this type of “idle” labour—labour that was often depicted as globally insignificant and small in scale—such as chores, child-rearing, and providing overall care for local communities—was often marketed towards women via conduct books such as sara stickney ellis’s the women of england and samuel beeton’s complete etiquette for ladies, and, though ulysses doesn’t necessarily diminish this work’s importance, he make it clear that for “souls that have toiled,” for men who have “moved heaven and earth,” it simply isn’t rewarding (tennyson, 1842, line 46, 67). literature scholar lynn o’brien writes that in “the patriarchal world of ithaca and victorian england, heroism was defined according to what one does, not based on who one is” (1994, p. 177), further confirming the understood importance of a dynamic, active lifestyle and aiding in explaining ulysses’s rejection of his wife’s assumed idleness. furthermore, ulysses reveals his aversion to domestic life by lamenting the routine he would adopt if he chose to remain in ithaca with his “aged” wife instead of spending his life travelling and conquering new lands (tennyson, 1842, line 3). in doing so, he reveals his most pressing fear: that he will grow old and become haunted by feelings of failure and disappointment after having left his greatest goals, passions, and yearnings unrealized. from the way he discusses domesticity, we can come to understand that ulysses’s attitude towards domestic work is not that it is useless, but rather that it is not suited for an impassioned and tempestuous man such as himself. the hungry, restless, and aggressive masculine ideal depicted in “ulysses” was, for victorians, a relatively new construction. victorian scholar bradley deane calls the archetype of late victorian masculinity the “new man,” referencing the cultural shift that replaced the “entrepreneur, the missionary, and the affectionate family man” as the idealized versions of manhood with the “untamed frontiersman, the impetuous boy, and the unapologetically violent soldier” (deane, 2017, p. 1). this is a clear shift between principles of community and philanthropy to rugged individualism and fierce competition. women, then, were left to embody the humanitarianism and selflessness that victorian men began to oppose: literary critic mary poovey notes that in the victorian era, so-called “female nature” was deemed to be intrinsically “noncompetitive, nonaggressive, and self-sacrificing” (1995, p. 77). deane further writes that while early victorian models of masculinity stressed narratives of personal development (“i am a better man than i was”), later (imperial) models of manliness stressed competition (“i am a better man than he is”) (2017, p. 32). though some readings of “ulysses” stress tennyson’s references towards camaraderie and kinship (citing lines such as “and drunk delight of battle with my peers” and “one equal temper of heroic hearts”), the poem’s male characters continue to separate themselves from larger society—namely, their families and friends in ithaca—and these “free hearts” continue to pride themselves on adventure and personal liberty above all else, noting in the poem’s final line that their primary intentions are “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”— not to comfort or coddle (tennyson, 1842, lines 16, 68, 49, 70). therefore, while there may be brotherhood among those pursuing similar goals, this friendship is contingent upon the whether these men have “toil’d, and wrought, and fought” with ulysses—he does not express the same kind of closeness with a homebound man like his son telemachus (tennyson, 1842, line 46). the imperial soldier fits this new mould faultlessly—athletic, ambitious, and blessed with competitive spirit in a time when the british empire was competing against other emerging empires for resources and prestige (deane, 2017). ulysses’s strong desire to “seek a newer world” and to “not … yield” indicates the second, more competitive version of victorian masculinity and illustrates ulysses’s desire to reclaim the glory days of his youth and to assert that, even in old age, he can still be heroic, courageous, and ultimately masculine (tennyson, 1842, lines 57, 70). the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120160 7 an interesting antithesis to ulysses arises in tennyson’s second stanza as his son telemachus is introduced. in this stanza, ulysses portrays telemachus as engaging in the local municipal labour he himself cannot, describing him as “centered in the sphere / of common duties” (tennyson, 1842, line 39). while ulysses does not denounce his son for choosing this work (and even calls him “blameless” for doing so), it is clear that ulysses views less adventurous work— and therefore his son—as effeminate (tennyson 1842, line 39). in noting that telemachus displays “tenderness” and induces influence through “soft degrees,” ulysses calls upon characteristics coded as feminine in order to solidify that, even though it is a man performing this labour, it remains “feminine” by nature (tennyson, 1842, lines 41, 37). some scholars have divided latenineteenth century ideals of masculinity into three categories: the “masculine achiever” (characterized by competitiveness and independence), the “masculine primitive” (characterized by strength and courage), and the “christian gentleman” (characterized by willpower, restraint, and discipline) (nagel, 1998, p. 245). per his father’s description, telemachus fits into the third category: by nobly choosing to stay at home and cultivate the prosperity of his community, he is practicing the restraint and discipline that men in the other two categories do not possess. by contrast, ulysses paints the opposite role (the independent, courageous man who travels the world) as the most personally pleasing, writing that the work of more masculine men results in “drunk delight,” employs “heroic hearts,” and “shine[s] in use” (tennyson l833, lines 16, 68, 23). by depicting telemachus’s work as work better suited for women and feminine men, ulysses solidifies the relationship between new masculinity, adventure, and imperialism while simultaneously strengthening the alleged bond between femininity and caregiving. rudyard kipling’s “the white man’s burden”—a political poem, released in 1899 and often read by scholars as a plea to americans, encouraging them to proceed with the colonization of the philippines during the philippine–american war no matter the challenges and dilemmas— showcases another reason for the burgeoning stratification of gender roles and the exclusion of women from colonial labour (brantlinger, 2007). this poem’s rhetoric—depicting imperialist work as intellectually and physically difficult, back-breaking labour—makes such work seem unattainable to women who have been socially conditioned to believe that these tasks are beyond their natural abilities. kipling depicts colonialism as both isolating and high-risk, writing that those who take on this work will be “[bound] … to exile” and will face “[threats] of terror” (kipling 1899, lines 3, 11). for women who have been trained to think of themselves as family-oriented and physically weak, this is a clear disinvitation from entering this line of work. it quickly becomes interesting to note the duality in how kipling chooses to portray colonial labour: although he paints it as treacherous and demanding, he also presents it as, in a way, inherently maternal. he mentions that imperialists will need to feed the mouths of starving people and cure them of disease (a job that, while undoubtedly well-suited for established male doctors, also suited women who were often held responsible for their children’s everyday physical care) but acknowledges that these acts—though fundamentally nurturing and tenderhearted—will still be part of a “savage war” (kipling, 1899, lines 18–20). so, to counter the notion that women, due to their supposed “natural” parental instincts, would be best suited for this job, kipling is careful to position it as physically dangerous to maintain its exclusivity to men. kipling desires to paint imperialism as a moral, motherly obligation and therefore appeal to the “angel in the house”—a quixotic, idyllic, and ultra-submissive image of victorian femininity popularized by courtney patmore’s poem of the same title—who believes that her worth is found in the ways in which her virtue and morality serve others. however, his depiction can also be read the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120160 8 as a response to the growing threat of women’s involvement in anti-imperialist movements. historical sociologist erin l. murphy writes in her analysis of anti-imperialism and the philippine– american war that those who opposed the war most heavily were working class white people, black men, and white and black women (2009). white women in particular represented a significant threat to imperialists, as many were able to make monetary contributions to antiimperialist causes due to their upper-middle-class status (murphy, 2009). these anti-imperialist groups often employed a feminized rhetoric to oppose the unethical and villainous nature of colonialism, stressing the importance of nonviolence and peacefulness (murphy, 2009). emerging in the midst of debates concerning the ethical reasoning behind america’s involvement in this war, “the white man’s burden'' attempts to appeal to women’s moral compasses by conceptualizing involvement in this war as the righteous and honourable thing to do. as kipling’s colonial rhetoric secured the association between masculinity and imperialism, it also attempted to link imperialism and benevolence—a conceivable attempt to appeal to morally-motivated women who were quickly pulling away from colonial ideas. in analyzing tennyson’s “ulysses” and kipling’s “the white man’s burden” together, we can begin to understand the speakers’ contrasting beliefs regarding the purpose of masculinity in society: while kipling believes that it benefits the world at large, tennyson believes that its purpose lies in personal fulfilment. kipling’s titular phrase—“the white man’s burden”—implies that britain’s men will receive the exact opposite of personal fulfilment by embarking on colonial journeys as they become bound to “seek another’s profit / and work another’s gain” instead of their own (1899, lines 15–16). he believes that the years men spend search[ing] [their] manhood” will be “thankless,” providing little of the instant gratification that ulysses acquires throughout his travels (kipling, 1899, lines 53–54). to kipling, the value of this labour is not individual accomplishment but the alleged moral benefit it provides to society. by contrast, in his depiction of ulysses, tennyson shows his belief that modest, municipal work is the most valuable to society, not to himself. ulysses cannot find any fault in the feminine, homebound way that his son telemachus chooses to live his life and sees this as the noble and selfless choice, describing in detail the way that telemachus’s labour benefits greater society (calling it “useful” and “good”) while abstaining from doing the same work himself (tennyson, 1842, line 38). in doing so, tennyson credits traditionally feminine work done at home instead of work done by ulysses for the prosperous development of society, placing it on par with his own hypermasculinized labour, which, as my analysis of “ulysses” suspects, tends to prioritize the individual. on this account, kipling and tennyson both argue for a similar type of violent and restless hegemonic masculinity but differ in how they believe that this concept exerts its influence over society at large. in attempting to fill the “empty boxes” of empire andrew s. thompson described in 1997, victorian writers often took contrasting approaches. on one hand, tennyson depicts imperialism as a way to assert a new kind of masculinity and fulfil personal desires, dramatizing his speaker’s thirst for adventure and equating this desire with an inherently masculine disposition. on the other, kipling paints imperialism as useful in how it “benefits” society as a moral obligation, and he attempts to appeal to both masculine and feminine identities. both authors facilitate the development of a new masculinity that is dauntless and determined, yet they differ in the way they claim that this “new man” asserts influence over his community. in analyzing these corresponding constructions of masculinity and their diverging purposes, we can better understand the fluidity of gender roles and how they were weaponized in victorian society (and its colonies) to serve political purposes. the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120160 9 references brantlinger, p. 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(1997). the language of imperialism and the meanings of empire: imperial discourse in british politics, 1895–1914. journal of british studies, 36(2), 147–177. https://doi.org/10.1086/386132 http://doi.org/10.1353/elt.2007.0017 http://www.jstor.org/stable/40002570 http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_burden.htm https://doi.org/10.1080/014198798330007 http://www.jstor.org/stable/40003035 https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poems/ulysses the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 opium poppy agriculture and consumption: contextualizing its functions as food, medicine, and narcotic ginny makovnyka∗ university of victoria ginnymakovnyka@gmail.com abstract as a crop, the opium poppy, papaver somniferum, has been part of multiple human cultures since at least 5000 bce. its role as both food and medicine has made this plant an important traditional agricultural product. however, today research on such functions has been largely eclipsed by a focus on the narcotic use of opium and its derivatives and the economies that stem from them. the historical uses of the poppy and related cultural conceptualizations of its nutritive and medicinal aspects contrast against practices and commodification introduced by european colonization. the commodification of the narcotic potential of the opium poppy has been used by multiple actors since the onset of globalized economic expansion as a means of attaining financial and political power. this paper draws on research compiled from academic, journalistic, and other sources to create a holistic framework for examining the complex health, social, and economic issues related to contemporary production and use of the opium poppy. this paper concludes that future research, specifically anthropological field research grounded in historical and sociopolitical contexts, can offer important insights into the lived experiences of individuals and cultures that produce, distribute, and consume the poppy as food and medicine. such future research may offer critical insight into the relationship between the cultural constructs of food and medicine and the effects of narcotic substance consumption. such research may also offer insight into the possible restructuring of cultural meanings and economies on a broader scale in order to mitigate the harmful effects of narcotic substances within foods. keywords: opium poppy; colonialism; narcotics; agriculture; ethnography the opium poppy, papaver somniferum, has been part of human agriculture since 5000 bcein sumerian mesopotamia (grey-wilson, 1993; lack, 2016), and the multiple histories ofthe relationships that various cultures have since had with this plant have tended to be complex. while this species of poppy has uses as both food and medicine, its medicinal power is so significant that the bulk of academic literature focuses on this aspect of the crop, and any writing on its use as food seems consistently to include at least some reference to the drugs the plant contains. the inextricability of the poppy’s function as food from its function as drug creates social challenges within contemporary economies that produce, distribute, and/or consume the poppy and its derivatives. as in the case of other commodified psychoactive and addictive goods such as tobacco or alcohol, an examination of the social and economic structures concerning the poppy can unveil the dysfunctions and injustices inherent in capitalist systems. the opium poppy’s properties also challenge basic dichotomized constructs, such as food/drug, beneficial/harmful, health/sickness, and as such, it seems appropriate to consider the poppy holistically. such a reframing may allow for ∗this paper was originally written for dr. margo matwychuk when i was a student in her anthropology of food 393 course during the winter term of 2020. i would like to thank her for the guidance, support and encouragement that she offered that enabled me to research and write on this fascinating and important subject. 91 mailto:ginnymakovnyka@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 complexities to unfold that can work as reflexive mechanisms to de-couple our modern imaginations from our accustomed objectification and commodification of foods with pharmacological properties. this paper will briefly explore the history of poppy agriculture and examine some issues that have emerged from it. examples of more holistic approaches to research on the poppy will be assessed, and a case for an expansion of this approach will be made. the observations and conclusions made are based on readings of academic literature, including historical, geographic, medical, economic, and ethnographic research published in journals and books, as well as on work done by journalists that has been published in online periodicals. databases, government records, and a documentary series were also used as research material. the research presented in this paper is important for understanding the historical, sociopolitical, and economic contexts that contemporary poppy agriculture and consumption practices are grounded in. this research also offers some insights into academic perspectives and research practices that provide rich and holistic conceptualizations of the production and use of foods and medicines, particularly those that have great potential for both benefit and harm in terms of physiological, psychological, social, and economic health, well-being, and prosperity. a crop deeply embedded in human histories and traditions ancient evidence of symbiotic human relationships with the opium poppy the origin of papaver somniferum is unclear, but as no wild populations exist today, its symbiotic development with human settlement and cultivation is presumed (chouvy, 2009). archaeological evidence indicates that the opium poppy likely emerged somewhere between the western mediterranean and asia minor (chouvy, 2009). evidence of neolithic poppy agriculture indicates that the plants initially grown in sumerian mesopotamia appear to have been grown for use as both food and medicine during that time (beyer, drummer, & maurer, 2009). the earliest written records of the medicinal use of poppies date to around 3000 bce in an assyrian herbal text (grey-wilson, 1993; lack, 2016; petrovska, 2012), and the ancient egyptians also used poppies for their medicinal and narcotic effects (grey-wilson, 1993). the ancient greeks are credited with developing the extraction technique of “milking” the alkaloid-rich latex for opium, while dissemination of this knowledge resulted from the expansion of the arab empire (chouvy, 2009; grey-wilson, 1993). by around 1000 ad, growing poppies for medicine as well as for food was widespread throughout europe and asia (canton-alvarez, 2019; grey-wilson, 1993). ancient depictions of poppies in artwork incorporate its imagery with symbols of spiritual and religious power and ritual (julyan & dircksen, 2011; lack, 2016), and writings from various ancient cultures indicate that the benefits as well as the dangers of using poppies were well understood (beyer, drummer, & maurer, 2009; lack, 2016). traditional practices and effects of colonialism: china and britain many traditional systems of medicine are regarded as holistic in their approach, in that personal well-being is not conceived of using binary constructs such as health/sickness, but instead is understood as depending on balancing the “elements” of one’s character, which in turn depends on a deep understanding of the balance of these same qualitative “elements” of the universe through a culture’s cosmology (ventegodt et al., 2007). traditional chinese medicine (tcm), for instance, attempts to restore balance between complementary elements, such as heat/cold, and the historic use of opium poppies in this medical system appears to be in keeping with this construct (barbasoschwartz, 2004; canton-alvarez, 2019). for example, several texts from the tang (618-907 ce) and song (960-1279 ce) dynasties reveal that poppies were used in treating disorders associated with an excess of heat (canton-alvarez, 2019). as instances of any substance addiction epidemics 92 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 were unknown prior to the start of eurocentric globalism, circa 1500 ce (westermeyer, 2016), the importance of understanding and stressing equilibrium may have been one component of traditional cultural systems that protected them against large-scale opium addiction. equilibrium in this sense merges physiology, philosophy, and spirituality, and allows for reverential and possibly safer relationships with ingestibles that have potentially beneficial and/or harmful effects on the human body and mind. merged conceptions of food and medicine, again as in the case of tcm (cantonalvarez, 2019), may have also offered protection against opium addiction. traditional methods of poppy administration during the tang and song dynasties relied on carefully incorporating the latex into ingestible recipes such as teas and porridges (canton-alvarez, 2019; westermeyer, 2016). the practice of smoking opium, which is far more addictive, only came to china after the post-columbian exchange1 introduction of smoking tobacco in the late 1600s (westermeyer, 2016). by 1729, opium addiction had become so problematic in china that the emperor instated laws prohibiting its non-medical use (lack, 2016). prior to this ban, competing european colonial interests had long been targeting south and southeast asia in order to dominate the region’s lucrative market potential (kreutzmann, 2007). the british had taken advantage of china’s growing addiction epidemic by pushing the opium trade so that demand increased its value to the point that opium could be used in place of silver to acquire chinese goods such as tea and silk (chouvy, 2009; kreutzmann, 2007; lack, 2016). with opium’s value so high, the chinese government was unable to restrict opium imports and enforce the prohibitions against its use (kreutzmann, 2007; lack, 2016). britain’s desire for profits seemed to completely undermine any protections within chinese cultural systems by thoroughly commodifying the dangerous potential of opium’s addictive power. in 1799, the emperor again tried to control the damage being done to chinese society by passing more laws banning the trade and cultivation of poppies (lack, 2016). the british government ignored this ban as well, and used its monopoly, the east india company, to continue to funnel indian-grown opium into china, where a cabal of merchants and corrupt officials eagerly participated in the lucrative trade (lack, 2016). since this entrenched economy could not be stopped, china’s efforts to undo it through legislation only further increased opium’s value, and a circular feedback loop of addiction, attempts at control, and increased profitability escalated tensions until the first opium war broke out in 1839 (lack, 2016). after two wars over opium between china and britain, which eventually included other nations such as france, russia and the united states joining british forces, china and its efforts to mitigate its opium crisis were defeated by 1858 (lack, 2016). britain’s subsequent annexation of hong kong secured its dominant trade position between asian and world markets (lack, 2016). china’s opium epidemic increased phenomenally, and it is estimated that in the 1880s one quarter of the population consumed between 12,000 to 15,000 tonnes of opium annually (this surpasses recent peaks in global production, which stood at around 10,500 tonnes in 2017) (lack, 2016; kreutzmann, 2007; united nations office on drugs and crime, 2019). by undermining china’s traditional approaches to poppy consumption, colonial interests capitalized on the poppy’s addictive potential and secured britain’s position as a global economic power. the trajectory from historical to contemporary contexts by capitalizing on opium’s addictive properties, britain was able to leverage its control over a robust informal economy into a position of global dominance. since the beginnings of global 1the columbian exchange is a collective term that refers to the two-way exchange of people, commodities, and diseases between the americas and africa/europe after the onset of early colonialism in the 15th and 16th centuries (“the columbian exchange,” n.d.). tobacco and the accompanying practice of smoking were introduced to european colonizers through contact with indigenous groups in the americas (“the columbian exchange,” n.d.; westermeyer, 2016). when europeans later brought tobacco smoking to china, this form of administration was applied to opium (westermeyer, 2016). 93 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 capitalism, the use of addictive substances to gain power through both formal and informal economies has been one of its hallmarks, and the actors who participate in these economies range from impoverished individuals and communities to elite leaders and nations (robbins, 2011). the elites who construct the global economy have always had the power to design far-reaching narratives that undermine smaller or competing players by obscuring the overarching economic forces at play and vilifying characters such as individual or organized illicit dealers and their consumers (berger, 2014; robbins, 2011). the obvious damaging effects of addiction on individuals and societies have made it easy to condemn the disenfranchised and less covert trade participants by conjuring abject imagery that operates on peoples’ sense of disgust, fear, and justice (berger, 2014; evered, 2011a, 2011c; robbins, 2011). meanwhile, actual concern for the well-being of individuals and communities is doubtful, as the motive for increasing profits and political power appears to be behind many drug production and trade policies (evered, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c; furst & willoughby nason, 2020; kreutzmann, 2007; robbins, 2011). modern globalization and conflict: afghanistan and the us since the wars between china and britain, production and trade of opium has been affected by global political dynamics, including the chinese revolution, the cold war, and ethnic insurgencies in south and southeast asia (kreutzmann, 2007). today, most of the world’s illicit supply of opium is produced in afghanistan, and the history that led to this situation similarly includes international struggles for global influence (lack, 2016; kreutzmann, 2007; parenti, 2015). prior to 1980, afghanistan’s production of opium was minimal, and the country was fighting to expel the ussr’s red army (kreutzmann, 2007; mccoy, 2018; parenti, 2015). the us was competing for global influence in the cold war against the ussr and secretly backed the mujahadeen guerillas by supplying billions of dollars in arms (mccoy, 2018; parenti, 2015). over the following years, the mujahadeen, followed by the taliban, coerced local farmers to grow poppies in order to fund their campaigns, first against the soviets, then against one another in the internal tribal conflict for political control (kreutzmann, 2007; mccoy, 2018). the us overlooked poppy production when it supported their agenda, and once the soviets pulled their forces out of afghanistan in 1992, the us left the afghanis in a state of lawless turmoil (mccoy, 2018). the civil conflict was largely reliant on the illicit opium trade for its funding, and the taliban was only defeated temporarily when it suddenly enforced a complete ban on its production in 2001 (kreutzmann, 2007; mccoy, 2018). after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the us launched an invasion against afghanistan with backing from britain and included poppy eradication as part of its military strategy (parenti, 2015). the war has cost the us roughly a trillion dollars since its onset, and the strategy to eradicate the poppy has been utterly unsuccessful (bbc reality check team, 2020; lack, 2016; mccoy, 2018; parenti, 2015). alternative approaches in economic policies and academic research: afghanistan vs. turkey the ineffectual us military presence in afghanistan persists, and poppy production, while tapering in 2018, continues to dominate afghani agriculture as its single most important cash crop (kreutzmann, 2007; mcmoy, 2018; parenti, 2015), making the nation “the world’s first true narco-state” (mccoy, 2018, para. 5). while poppy production is technically illegal, the legitimate government appears to lack the ability or the will to enforce this ban, and corruption is rampant with many officials making profits from the opium economy (evered, 2011a; mccoy, 2018; parenti, 2015). increasing periods of drought due to climate change along with wartime damage inflicted on irrigation systems complicate the issue further, as the poppy is one of the few crops that can be grown under such desiccated conditions (evered, 2011a; parenti, 2015). some researchers call for a 94 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 reverse in the eradication strategy to bring more social cohesion to afghanistan by embracing poppy agriculture (parenti, 2015), presumably by incorporating it into the licit international pharmaceutical trade. a strategy for the legal incorporation of poppy agriculture was adopted in turkey, where poppy production had been previously targeted for eradication due to pressure from the us (evered, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c). in the 1970s, richard nixon attempted to rally the american body politic using antinarcotic rhetoric and instigating the us’s first international “war on drugs” (evered, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c). turkey was a leading producer for the illicit trade of opium during this time, but its economy also relied heavily on us funding, and the turkish government was easily pressured to give in to nixon’s demands to instate a total ban on production (evered, 2011a, 2011c). local farmers were impoverished as a result, as for most, the poppy was the only marketable crop available to them (evered, 2011b, 2011c). the turkish government was able to develop a model for licit cultivation of medical morphine that appeased us interests while allowing local farmers to resume production with strict enforceable measures in place, creating an entirely state-run opium economy (evered, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c). in order to provide a platform for otherwise marginalized farmers, geographer kyle evered conducted ethnographic research with retired turkish poppy growers who lived prior to and through the ban, as well as after the institutionalized economy was established (2011a, 2011b, 2011c). evered’s holistic and humanistic approach reveals the meaning that poppy agriculture has had for local peasants and sheds light on the range of functions that the plant has had in this regional culture (2011a, 2011b, 2011c). according to the farmers’ reports, poppy cultivation had a long-standing tradition in local communities before the ban, and it is possible that poppy cultivation had never been completely interrupted in anatolia (evered, 2011b). the seeds are to this day an important food staple, primarily as a source of cooking oil, and since many communities in the region could not grow olive trees, it was traditionally the only source of oil other than butter (evered, 2011a, 2011b). in the past, the oil was also used externally for its curative properties for conditions such as rheumatism, wounds, and animal mange (evered, 2011b). the seeds are still eaten whole or are crushed into a paste that is consumed in a similar way to peanut butter and is added to local varieties of halvah (evered, 2011a, 2011b). traditionally, the leaves were used in salads, and the dried stalks were used in brick making, as roof thatching, and for stove fuel (after which its ashes were used in soap making), although not all of these practices are as common today (evered, 2011a, 2011b). importantly, the opiates had been used as a traditional medicine for pain relief, and it is worth noting that the informants reported few to no instances of addiction due to internal cultural sanctions against the misuse of narcotics (evered, 2011b). evered’s ethnographic research provides historical and contextual information drawn from the subjective experiences of marginalized actors in poppy agriculture. evered argues that these perspectives are causal factors in the effectiveness of various state and international policies regarding poppy eradication or incorporation (evered, 2011c). ethnographic research done in afghanistan would similarly provide insights regarding local cultural histories, practices, and attitudes towards poppy agricultural and consumption. such insights can be applied to create a deeper and more nuanced analysis of the effects of state and international policies on poppy production in afghanistan, which in turn may contribute to improved policy change. complexities within holistic cultural research in global economies: turkey and india many of the turkish farmers evered interviewed had not had any interactions with the state prior to the poppy ban, and looking back, they interpreted the sudden appearance of government officials in their villages to enforce a us directive as a breakdown in local democracy (2011a, 95 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 2011b, 2011c). evered proposed that the turkish solution to the problems inherent in poppy agriculture exemplifies “progressive” approaches that are sensitive to local cultural lifeways and allow for respectful international trade relationships (2011c, p.302). his ethnographic approach to understanding the lived experiences of the marginalized actors in the global production of opium is valuable, and similar studies conducted in afghanistan would be as well. however, since the trade of turkish opium is international, his conclusions stop short of being holistically derived in that they do not include factors pertaining to the poppy’s complete supply chain, including the processing, distribution and consumption of turkish opium products. global economics create chains of commerce that are so complex that holistic analysis of any one commodity necessarily involves research between multiple cultural actors. for example, turkey exports some of its surplus culinary seed to india, where poppies are also grown under strict regulations for both medical production and seed consumption (menon, 2019; simoes & hidalgo, 2011; vincent, 2014). poppy seeds are a traditional staple food in most regional indian cuisines (nandy, 2020), making it a valuable non-medical/non-narcotic market for local farmers. in 2013, indian poppy farmers complained that the value of their crop was being undermined by the working of a cartel illegally bringing seed in from afghanistan through turkish import channels (menon, 2019; vincent, 2014). since the profits on afghanistan poppies are created through the illicit opium trade, the seed surplus was dumped into the indian market at a fraction of the cost that local farmers could produce it (menon, 2019; vincent, 2014). aside from the cartel’s activity being common knowledge amongst farmers and distributers, evidence showed that turkey’s export tonnage vastly outweighed their production, minus local consumption, sowing stock, and waste factors (menon, 2019; vincent, 2014). a public interest litigation plea was brought to the allahabad high court in an effort to put a stop to the cartel’s activity (“ayurveda sewashram kalyan samiti vs. union of india,” 2014; menon, 2019; vincent, 2014). guidelines had recently been issued by india’s finance ministry to ensure that all poppy seed imports be attained by legal producers, and the court ruled that there should be no fault found against the importers since the guidelines had only been in place a short time (nair, 2014). while the court stated that future dealings should adhere to these guidelines, this statement seems to have done little to protect indian farmers, as their potential profits continue to be undermined by turkish imports to this day (menon, 2019). relationships between licit and illicit narcotics economies the licit and illicit narcotics economies are not necessarily discrete, nor does the licit trade of opium preclude corruption, and these factors combined have produced addiction epidemics such as the one that began in the us in the 1990s (national institute on drug abuse [nida], 2020; furst & willoughby nason, 2020). in this instance, unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies and medical doctors pushed opium-derived medications using the same techniques as illegal drug dealers, arguably from more dangerous positions as authorized institutional figures (nida, 2020; furst & willoughby nason, 2020). after more than two decades, during which time millions of americans of a range of socioeconomic statuses became dependant on opioids, law enforcement officials finally began targeting the companies and doctors implicated in this complex and layered scheme (nida, 2020; furst & willoughby nason, 2020). with the flow of opioid pharmaceuticals interrupted, many who became addicted to them began turning to the informal economy for their supply (nida, 2020; furst & willoughby nason, 2020). while the us claims that most of its illegal heroin comes from mexico and south america (rowlatt, 2019), it is no small irony that its long, expensive, and failed anti-opium campaign in afghanistan has overlapped with a domestic opioid crisis. the nature and scope of the problems associated with poppy-for-food agriculture stem from harnessing its addictive potential as a narcotic in order to secure political and economic power (chouvy, 2009). when global capitalist systems commodify the value of foods and medicine with 96 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 addictive properties, those who control these economies are able to steadily rely on the high profits that are made off of these commodities (robbins, 2011). regulation of foods and medicine that are potentially addictive through measures such as illegalization or trade restrictions only increase their value potential, inviting corruption within formalized economies and the creation of illegal informal economies (robbins, 2011). narratives around the inevitable social problems that arise from such circumstances can be manipulated by dominant political actors to condemn and criminalize more marginalized individuals, communities, and nations involved in the production, distribution, or consumption of addictive goods (robbins, 2011). most producers of illicit opium are trapped by economic pressures that make it otherwise difficult or even impossible to engage in other means of generating income (chouvy, 2009). much of the official and public discourse pertaining to opium production and consumption, however, characterizes producers as motivated by greed and consumers as a social nuisance (berger, 2014; chouvy, 2009, 2014). consumers of opium and opioids come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and personal experience that need to be appreciated to understand what motivates their use, and even whether or not such use ought to necessarily be considered problematic (berger, 2014; chouvy, 2014). meanwhile, globalized medical and narcotic economies and legal frameworks, which lead to the creation of black markets, inhibit full realization of the crop’s nutritional and other values, to the detriment of local farming opportunities. conclusion: field research and ethnography the oppressive realities of this situation, together with the fact that poppies have played a significant food and medicinal role in numerous cultures over thousands of years, make it an important subject for ethnographic research. although scholarly research on poppy agriculture has been prolific, anthropological ethnographic study of the lived experiences of producers and consumers has been lacking. contemporary cultural anthropology grounds its practice in respectful interrelational exchange between researchers and cultural subjects, using richly descriptive qualitative analysis that can bring to light experiences and perspectives of marginalized people (gruenbaum, 2009; campbell & lassiter, 2015). such research can provide insights that have the potential to inform effective policy making to enhance the overall wellbeing of individuals, cultural groups and nation states attempting to find solutions to complex social problems (archambault, 2011; gruenbaum, 2009). anthropologists can also offer important cross-cultural analysis that is of great value in understanding multilayered issues in an economically and socially globalized world. such analysis will enhance the important field research and ethnographic work on poppy agriculture and consumption being done by researchers such as evered who come from other disciplinary backgrounds. unveiling the intercultural dynamics that are affected by or contribute to global market forces that keep marginalized actors subjugated are necessary for challenging public and official discourses and for making effective policy change recommendations. a relevant aspect of capitalist agricultural profit-seeking is that it manifests in the form of biorefining, in which the processing of crops into refined products increases their potential market value (jensen, 2017). this increases the relational distance between consumers and crops and undermines the potential for holistic relationships between individuals and their food/medicine. future research should engage various disciplinary analyses with anthropological ethnographic fieldwork to identify ways in which cultural concepts of food/medicine and relationships with powerful plants, such as and including the poppy, offer protection against harmful consumption practices. combined historical and ethnographic research could examine if and how localized systems of trade support holistic understandings of uses for the poppy. as this paper is being written during the time of the coronavirus pandemic, the possibility of the failure of supply chains is being brought to the forefront of global concerns. the importance of ethnobotanical research becomes more relevant to all of us when traditional practices may offer insights into respectful and safe uses of foods and 97 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019609 medicines that can be locally produced and utilized. in the case of papaver somniferum, which has remarkable food and medicinal benefit as well as enormous capacity for harm, research into holistic relationships with this plant and approaches toward food/medicine is necessary for analyzing possibilities for incorporating it into localized economies. 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societal perspectives; healthcare decision making; health economics; quality adjusted life year 1 i would like to acknowledge the support of dr. chris willmore who generously mentored me during this project. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120153 42 a brief introduction to health as an economic good economists think of health as a tangible good that can be consumed and invested in. that is, the decisions that people make to improve their health (exercising, diet, etc.) are rational because the investment in health allows the individual to consume health by “feeling healthier” in the long run. healthcare is thought of as solely a consumption good–when an individual consumes it, there is some inherent value attached to the procedure, medication, or treatment. individuals always have some desire for health, and they must weigh the potential benefits against the potential costs of attaining health in every choice that they make. health behaviours have economic externalities associated with them. externalities in health are costs and benefits that are not incorporated into the underlying price of the action. for example, when someone decides to begin regularly exercising to increase their well-being, they may end up becoming more productive at work or recruiting a friend to exercise with them, therefore creating benefits not associated with the immediate decision to exercise. medical ailments too can have negative external effects where the loss in health can cause people to lose their jobs or social supports. one way to identify some health externalities is to look at the social determinants of health (see figure 1). the social determinants represent some areas of life that can be affected by the diagnosis and treatment of a health condition. the issue is that health and healthcare are expensive– both in monetary and non-monetary terms. health and healthcare are both considered “normal” economic goods: normal in the sense that the demand for them tends to increase with income. the positive relationship between increased income, increased health, and increased healthcare service demand has been well studied by health economists (deaton, 2002; ettner, 1996; papazoglou & galariotis, 2020). therefore, those with higher incomes are more able to access the tools to acquire health. as a social right, countries around the world (including canada) have created healthcare systems that increase accessibility to healthcare by spreading the cost of healthcare across the entire population. much like an individual investing in their health, the publicly funded healthcare payer must now decide between funding or not funding a health treatment or program. figure 1 quality adjusted life year (qaly) benefits, self-reported quality of life, and the canadian social determinants of health (canada). figure created by samuel seshadri https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120153 43 decisions of the publicly funded healthcare payer in the largely publicly funded canadian healthcare systems, it is typically the provincial govern ments who make the decision of whether or not to fund a particular health treatment. provinces are held accountable by the canada health act–a legal criterion that outlines the standard of health care and ensures coverage “for the purpose of maintaining health, preventing disease or diagnosing injury” (canada health act, 1985, s.2). this coverage is comprehensive, yet it does not include treatments that are not deemed “medically necessary.” governments must find a way to decide which additional programs they will fund. one way to evaluate health programs is the cost-effectiveness analysis (cea), which weighs the explicit costs (measured in dollars) of providing a health treatment against a measure of effec tiveness. the measurement of effectiveness always focuses on a clinical outcome–such as lives saved, success rate, or percentage improvement from baseline. the governing health authority can use a cea as a quantitative component of a policy decision. in trauma events or life-threatening conditions (such as a brain tumour or a car accident), a health professional does not need to conduct a cea– they simply know that the immediate benefit of treating the patient is worth the cost (orr & wolff, 2015). in less severe conditions, however, the choice may not always be so clear. at this point, jurisdictions may start to flip between different funding programs because they are unsure which ones are appropriate. i argue that this issue may be solved by measuring the effects of health programs in non-health aspects of society. understanding how a health program can also affect the well-being of people in other ways may prompt the funding decision to go in a more socially optimal direction. two additional components of the cost-effectiveness analysis are the perspective and the mod elling of benefits. first, the perspective of a cea governs which costs and benefits are to be cal culated. the traditional perspective of government assessments is the “publicly funded healthcare payer” which measures explicit treatment costs to the public system and benefits felt by the patient being treated (canadian agency for drugs and technology in health, 2017). when researchers need to compare two vastly different treatments or when other clinical effectiveness measures do not exist, quality adjusted life year (qaly) are used to model benefits. qaly are health utility values anchored between zero and one, where zero represents someone who is dead, and one represents someone of perfect health. the qaly measures the utility of a health condition as a proportion of full health utility.2 literature criticizing qaly benefits for inaccurately representing the true self-reported change in quality of life is not uncommon (erickson & winkelmayer, 2010; clayton & mackay, 2018). qaly weights are primarily calculated from survey data whose participants are precisely chosen. survey participants vary between those with the health condition, to health professionals, or to those who have not had the condition (whitehead & ali, 2010). the careful selection of survey participants results in qaly gained from treatment failing to be an exact measurement of how much “better” a patient feels post-treatment. however, qaly are the current standard for measuring health benefits. 2 the world health organization regularly publishes the global health estimates and the global burden of disease studies that estimate losses in qaly (called disability weights) of a specific health condition (who, 2017). minor health ailments (such as the flu or a temporary broken limb) have qaly values of about 0.8 whereas major ailments (terminal diseases) have qaly values closer to 0.4. https://doi.org/ file:///c:/users/samse/appdata/local/packages/microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe/localstate/files/s0/9/attachments/l%20%22_bookmark5%22 the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120153 44 when qaly are not enough the majority of western healthcare systems do not need qaly measurements for evaluation of all healthcare interventions. qaly is rightfully neglected in the case of medically necessary treat ments (such as surgery for a brain tumour or stitches for a deep wound). in canada, the canada health act requires that all medically necessary physician and hospital services are covered. the practice means that care is not given because it is cost-effective, but because it is care that ought to be given. the use of qaly only becomes important when deciding between a selection of treatments, or when the treatment is not clearly a medical necessity. at this point, cost-effectiveness analysis can be applied to investigate the appropriateness of an intervention based on its relative price per qaly gained. sometimes a cost-effectiveness ratio is inconclusive, and the health program in question is on the border between cost-effective and not cost-effective. in this case, health authorities may be left in a state of ambivalence toward the treatment. at this point, it is best to expand the view from health programs being a device for immediate health benefits to the view of health programs affecting social welfare. the idea of a social welfare perspective as a component of a health technology assessment is not new. organizations such as the canadian agency for drugs and technology in health (cadth) who release guidelines for health technology assessment ask that a societal perspective be taken as an additional viewpoint. common cea guidelines include social services, education, and productivity losses (cadth, 2017). kim et al. (2020), however, found that the majority of ceas from the global health cea registry did not include an appropriate perspective with the most common costs included being productivity (12%) and transportation costs (21%). the lack of information inclusion in ceas may be due to the inherent complexity in the most relevant societal treatment effects or due to researcher ambivalence. one possible solution to the issue of choosing suitable societal effects is to look at the social determinants of health. the determinants represent areas of society that directly impact the health of citizens. the overall effect of an individual treatment therefore depends on the combination of health services and other factors (see figure 1). the determinants of health are the first place for researchers to start when establishing potential societal components of an analysis. the difference between qaly benefit measurement and true health benefit (often measured as self-reported quality of life) can be significant. figure 1 can be used to make the distinction between qaly measured benefits and benefits that incorporate the broader perspective. column (1) represents a traditional method of measur ing clinical health benefits from successful treatment as qaly. column (2), however, represents the overall treatment effect on a patient’s life as a function of the social determinants of health. therefore, those health programs that fund treatments that have measurable effects on the social determinants of health have additional evidence beyond qaly benefits. by expanding analysis to look at the relationship between immediate patient benefits and their sociological determinants one can view a health program as an additional social program that ad dresses systemic social gaps. the following example of in vitro fertilization (ivf) funding in canada demonstrates the intersectionality between health programs and social programs. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120153 45 an example: in vitro fertilization in canada infertility is known to affect one in six canadian couples and has been growing in prevalence due to increases in maternal age (bushnik et al., 2012; government of canada, 2020). ivf is a treatment for infertility that costs roughly $10,000 per cycle with a 20-30% success rate depending on maternal age (canadian fertility and andrology society, 2019). public funding of ivf in canada is available at a limited capacity in québec, ontario, manitoba, and new brunswick (mahboob, 2020). québec has altered ivf public funding decisions twice since 2010, and in november 2020 introduced bill 73, another potential change to policy that offers one funded cycle of ivf for women between 18 and 40 (national assembly of québec, 2020). from the perspective of ivf as only a health program, qaly gained are the immediate benefits from successfully being treated for infertility. of course, a successful treatment does not just mean that infertility disappears; it means that a new child has been brought into the world. the child now affects parental quality of life in almost every dimension of the social determinants of health.3 some of the effects have been precisely measured. for example, lundborg et al. (2017) found that there is a 11–12% decrease in long-term maternal income as a result of having a child. therefore, the benefits from having a child through ivf programs are at the expense of lost incomes for those who otherwise would not have been able to conceive. ivf, however, may also work as a social program for minimizing lost income for an even larger portion of the population– those who are not (yet) infertile. that is, ivf could act as “insurance” of fertility for those who are struggling to decide when the right time for conception is due to competing interests in the workforce. should ivf be used in this way, potential parents may postpone their pregnancies further because they are covered with ivf in the future and therefore limit losses of income in the labour market. the above mentioned conclusion is a simple example of how health treatment programs can address the income, employment, and gender social determinants of health. ivf funding in effect may address gender wage gaps, decrease income losses from conception, and therefore alter em ployment patterns. all three of these issues are already important to governments. for example, in november 2020, the government of canada issued new pay equity regulations that update exist ing regulations for the gender wage gap (2020a). all three of the above issues are systemic in nature and are even greater topics of political discussion than infertility treatments. it therefore may be of government interest to fund ivf because of its dual effects as a contributor to both health and social benefits. discussion an appropriate counter-argument to cost-effectiveness from the societal perspective is that it is trivial to justify any health program by excessive inclusion of downstream benefits. this is true if looking at health treatment effects on all social determinants of health. for example, to measure every available cost and benefit of child-bearing, the evaluator will soon see that each metric is infinite. if it is costly for a parent to raise a child, then it is costly for the child to ride the school bus which in turn places costs on the bus driver and the children riding the bus, who pass the costs on 3 other than perhaps genetics from figure 1. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120153 46 and on. the same is true for benefits—if a drowning child is saved, there will be benefits from parents, grandparents, and siblings, which increases benefits for other relationships and so on (not to mention that a saved child will pay income tax in the future). measurement of every downstream cost and benefit on every social determinant is neither possi ble nor worthwhile. the effects that are already important to governments are the most useful, and these are the measurements that should be used. in this way, measurements will already have been studied by other government departments and both groups can benefit from learning about potential interdisciplinary effects of policy. the inclusion of the societal perspective may also disprove the benefits of some health or so cial policy. if perhaps a proposed policy offered treatment to only those at the bottom quartile of incomes, a u-shaped distribution of healthcare access may form, where the poorest get treatment funded and the wealthiest are covered with health insurance while the middle 50% of incomes are left to pay out of pocket. this example suggests that although more health coverage can seem ben eficial to health, it may also counteract another government policy that targets income inequalities. thinking of health programs as social programs also introduces new potential areas of research. the impact of treatment effects on racial, cultural, and gender disparities is as important as it has ever been. further research into treatment effects on the aging, mental health, and equality in access to care are increasingly relevant. at this level, health programs are not thought of as government payments to make an individual feel better; they are programs that can have far-reaching, mutually beneficial impacts on societal issues at large. conclusion overall, the inclusion of a societal perspective in the traditional cost-effectiveness analysis is a recognition that health programs do not exist to promote health within a vacuum. for those programs that do not have a clear yes or no answer, the societal perspective should include the analysis of other non-health issues that are currently important to social welfare. with this knowledge, health programs can potentially be used to promote fairness and address inequality in relation to the social determinants of health. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120153 47 references bushnik, t., cook, j., yuzpe, a., & tough, s. 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(2020). no national plan for fertility treatment remains challenge for canadians hoping to conceive. cbc radio. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen/insideinfertility-1.5411669/no-national-plan-for-fertility-treatment-remains-challenge-forcanadians-hoping-to-conceive-1.5411676 national assembly of quebéc. (2020). projet de loi no 73: an act to amend various provisions relating to assisted procreation. http://m.assnat.qc.ca/fr/travauxparlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-73-42-1.html orr, s., & wolff, j. (2015). reconciling cost-effectiveness with the rule of rescue: the institutional division of moral labour. theory and decision, 78(4). 525–538. papazoglou, m. & galariotis, i. (2020). revisiting the effect of income on health in europe: evidence from the 8th round of the european social survey. social indicators research, 148(1). 281– 296. whitehead, s. j. & ali, s. (2010). health outcomes in economic evaluation: the qaly and utilities. british medical bulletin, 96(1). 5–21 world health organization. (2017). who methods and data sources for global burden of disease estimates 2000-2015 https://doi.org/ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen/inside-infertility-1.5411669/no-national-plan-for-fertility-treatment-remains-challenge-for-canadians-hoping-to-conceive-1.5411676 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen/inside-infertility-1.5411669/no-national-plan-for-fertility-treatment-remains-challenge-for-canadians-hoping-to-conceive-1.5411676 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen/inside-infertility-1.5411669/no-national-plan-for-fertility-treatment-remains-challenge-for-canadians-hoping-to-conceive-1.5411676 http://m.assnat.qc.ca/fr/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-73-42-1.html http://m.assnat.qc.ca/fr/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-73-42-1.html a brief introduction to health as an economic good decisions of the publicly funded healthcare payer when qaly are not enough discussion conclusion references the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 the promise of intergenerational choir for improving psychosocial and cognitive health for those with dementia: the voices in motion project nicholas tamburri, michaella trites, debra j. sheets, andre p. smith, stuart w. s. macdonald∗ university of victoria cole.ct25@gmail.com & mtrites@uvic.ca abstract rates of dementia continue to increase along with life expectancy. as neither dementia’s cause nor its cure is well understood from the perspective of medical science, further investigations of complementary lifestyle and non-pharmaceutical interventions are imperative. although arts-based therapies have been explored selectively, the significance of these interventions for persons with dementia (pwd) remains undervalued in both the general population and scientific literature. this study aims to examine one promising lifestyle intervention, the effect of intergenerational choir participation, on psychosocial and cognitive function for pwd. participants (n = 32), in partnership with their family caregivers and local high school students, participated in an intergenerational choir for as many as three choir seasons spanning up to 18 months of follow-up. participants underwent an expansive assessment of psychosocial, physiological, and cognitive function every four to six weeks as part of an intensive repeated measures design. here, the potential benefits of choir for pwd were explored in relation to change for select cognitive (mini-mental state examination: mmse; trail making task a: tmt-a; word recall) and psychosocial (patient health questionnaire: phq-9) indicators. multilevel modelling was used to index initial levels (at baseline) and change (spanning up to eight follow-up assessments) in function for measures of global cognition, executive functioning, episodic memory, and depressive symptoms. notably, no significant declines were observed for mmse or tmt-a tasks. as expected, episodic memory function continued to decline, with a significant lessening of depressive symptoms and signs observed for the phq-9. these results suggest that despite the progressive nature of underlying neuropathology for dementia subtypes like alzheimer’s disease, preservation of select cognitive functions as well as mitigation of psychosocial comorbidities (depressive symptoms) is possible through participation in an intergenerational choir. keywords: dementia; psychosocial function; cognitive function; intergenerational choir; social engagement introduction aa prevailing societal belief is that cognitive and health-related declines are an inevitable partof the ageing process. although some decline is normal, it is important to emphasize thatchronological age itself is not a mechanism that can explain individual vitality or disease risk. ∗c. tamburri and m. trites contributed equally to this work, and would like to sincerely thank the amazing contributions of our choral conductor, erica phare-bergh, as well as the equally amazing voices in motion research participants. the voices in motion project was supported by grants from the alzheimer society of canada and the pacific alzheimer research foundation to d.j. sheets, s.w.s. macdonald, & a.p. smith. s. macdonald is also supported by the royal society of canada college of new scholars, artists and scientists. 66 mailto:cole.ct25@gmail.com & mtrites@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 notwithstanding, age remains a strong risk factor for several diseases, with dementia among the most notable examples. the incidence of dementia is on the rise, with recent estimates suggesting around 50 million individuals worldwide living with a form of dementia (who, 2019). this number is projected to increase to around 152 million cases globally by the year 2050. at present, 500,000 canadians are living with dementia, a number projected to increase to 1.1 million cases by 2031 (dudgeon, 2010). this rising prevalence of dementia is mainly attributable to the baby boomer population exceeding 65 years of age, as well as increases in average life expectancy. from a societal perspective, most would argue that there is a social responsibility to ensure proper care for older adults. it is vital to ensure not only that proper infrastructure is available, but also that we are actively pursuing and promoting healthy ageing. there is currently no cure for dementia; thus, alongside continuing biomedical research, lifestyle interventions aimed at promoting health for persons with dementia (pwd) are critical. in keeping with these objectives, this article overviews the voices in motion choir project, an arts-based intervention study focused on the promotion of health and wellbeing for persons with dementia and their caregivers. dementia: context for the study dementia is not a specific disease per se, but rather an umbrella term that encompasses a collection of symptoms (e.g., impaired memory function, mood changes, language difficulties) due to underlying changes in brain structure and function. there are varying forms and etiologies of dementia, but the most common subtype is alzheimer’s disease (ad) (baird & samson, 2015). diagnostic criteria for ad include impairment of memory as well as one other cognitive domain (e.g., language, executive function) that consequently impairs social or occupational functioning (american psychiatric association, 2013; baird & samson, 2015). a probabilistic classification of ad must also be characterized by an insidious onset as well as the gradual progression of impairment (american psychiatric association, 2013). this progression of ad typically advances in a series of distinct clinical stages. preliminary brain and behavioural changes occur during the preclinical stage of ad, putatively referred to as amnestic mild cognitive impairment (amci). the earliest brain changes occur in the entorhinal cortex, a neurological structure connected to the hippocampus that is known to be essential for the storage and retrieval of memories (braak & braak, 1991). these affected regions begin to atrophy and eventually cause memory impairment. neural atrophy moves outward to the cerebral cortex, impairing not simply memory but other cognitive functions (e.g., executive function, attention, processing speed, general cognition) as well. these additional cognitive changes, coupled with the advancing impairment of activities of daily living (adls), mark the transition from amci to mild ad (petersen, 2004). as the disease progresses, common (but not universal) symptoms alongside memory impairment include confusion, mood and personality changes, increased anxiety, language difficulties, difficulty recognizing friends and family, restlessness, repetitive behaviour, perceptual-motor problems, and agitation/irritation (cummings, 2012). each of these symptoms shares a close relationship with commensurate changes that are occurring in the brain. during the more severe stages of ad, when considerable neural tissue has been atrophied, individuals with ad become more dependent upon others for care and maintenance and lose a majority of their autonomy as a consequence. common observances during these more advanced stages include increasing depressive affect and social isolation, as well as diminished quality of life (blackburn & bradshaw 2014; cummings, 2012). 67 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 stigma and social isolation significant impairments in social functioning are a direct consequence of the neurological changes of ad. especially in the later stages of the disease, an individual’s capacity for social engagement may be severely truncated due to the ad-related changes in cognition and behavior; namely, pwd often withdraw from their social spaces and become socially isolated (hsiao, chang, & gean, 2018). positive social relationships are strongly linked and positively associated with beneficial outcomes, including improved mental health as well as reduced morbidity and all-cause mortality (holt-lunstad, smith, & layton, 2010). in fact, the recently released harvard study of adult development suggests that social relationships are critical to maintaining health and longevity and that sustaining quality social relationships throughout the lifespan is a significant contributor to late-life health (as cited in mineo, 2017). although the opportunity or capacity to engage socially may be affected by the disease, individuals with dementia benefit from and enjoy relationships and interactions with others. therefore, the social isolation associated with dementia may be explained better by the impacts of stigma (behuniak, 2011). older adults with dementia report that one of the biggest challenges of dementia is the stigma that comes with diagnosis. stigma perpetuates negative stereotypes about individuals with ad and leads to sensations of “otherness” and social exclusion (behuniak, 2011; harris & caporella, 2014). in a society where ageism is common, those with dementia experience double jeopardy resulting from the cumulative impact of ageism and dementia stigma (cohen, 2001; palmore, 1999). research being conducted in the field of arts-based (non-pharmacological) interventions is striving to break down barriers put in place by stigma and bring individuals with and without dementia together as a single community with shared interests. to be sure, numerous social-therapeutic interventions are being examined using a myriad of mediums to bring people together (painting, poetry, dance, etc.), and the present study (voices in motion) explores the prospective therapeutic benefits of music, particularly social singing (choir), for improving the psychosocial and cognitive health of those with dementia. music, indeed, is the shorthand of emotion, and people well into the latter stages of ad can still engage joyfully in its transcript. harnessing the power of music for those with dementia studies investigating the relationship between music and the brain are relatively nascent, especially when compared to other fields of scientific inquiry. indeed, music is a grand unifier for social relationships, provoking both our creativity and emotionality, while simultaneously stimulating socialization. this makes music particularly effective as a catalyst for facilitating social therapeutic interventions. many creativity-based therapeutic interventions yield anecdotal stories and observations of people experiencing joy and merriment who otherwise seemed apathetic, or individuals who have been sedentary for long periods of time finding the urge to tap feet or even stand and clap in response to musical stimuli (glazner & kaplan, 2018). the veracity of these claims has been substantiated in recent research studies demonstrating that various social-cognitive interventions can lead to significant improvements in mood, well-being, and quality of life, with modest gains even observed for cognitive function as the impact of various dementia-related comorbidities are mitigated (blackburn & bradshaw, 2014; chang et al., 2015). music-based interventions have shown promising findings in this respect. although dementias such as alzheimer’s disease are not reversible, and music cannot repair the structural damage caused by ad, some dementia-related symptoms (e.g., cognitive impairment) may be attenuated through improving affect, decreasing depressive symptoms and signs, and increasing engagement of neurological resources. to this end, it may be possible to protect remaining function in behavioural and cognitive domains through music. logically, one can assume that music should facilitate 68 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 socialization and potentially bolster mood and positive affect. indeed, the success of most social therapeutic interventions is in part contingent not so much on what creative muse the group delights in—only that they all enjoy and wish to engage in it (baird & samson, 2009). what is less intuitive, however, and what has been gradually accruing more research support, is the seeming ability for individuals with ad to remember old songs, to sing and engage with them more lucidly, and to retain such abilities late into the disease progression. to be sure, music is not an “island of preservation” in the brain, unaffected by the atrophy and implications of disease progression; however, areas of the brain associated with specific parts of musical memory (e.g., procedural memory, emotional memory) may atrophy much later in the disease process, leading to the relative sparing of musical memory within ad (clark & warren, 2015; jacobsen et al., 2015; peck et al., 2016). it is well established that memory function, as a broad term, can be categorized into simpler domains that are accomplished in part by differentially activated neural pathways (squire, 2009). for example, episodic memories—memories that consist of recalling personal details and life experiences—are specifically impaired in ad, leading one to the conclusion that the hippocampus and broader entorhinal cortex are predominantly responsible for the ability to recall such memories. and yet, the procedural memory system that contributes to the training and automaticity of learning skills, such as playing an instrument or riding a bike, is relatively spared throughout the progression of ad (jacobsen et al., 2015). not surprisingly, procedural memory is functionally contingent upon regions of the brain that undergo late or modest atrophy in ad. another memory system that aids in understanding music’s interaction with the brain is semantic memory: the ability to recall facts or general knowledge about the world that is accumulated over the lifespan. in the context of music, semantic memory refers to our factual understanding of musical structure and form, or to the associative or emotional concepts provoked by music that is not linked to the retrieval of specific personal experience (baird & samson, 2009). semantic musical-memory sparing in ad has been documented in several publications reporting that individuals with ad are still able to recognize familiar songs and even lyrics despite episodic recollection deficits (baird & samson, 2015; jacobsen et al., 2015). one potential explanation for this sparing relates to regions of the brain that serve to consolidate and store long-term memory for music. regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex (ofc), anterior cingulate (ac) gyrus, pre-supplementary and general motor areas (m1) may be involved in the encoding of long-known music and are later degenerating in the case of ad (jacobsen et al., 2015). these regions of the brain, and regions within close proximity, also play fundamental roles in music-evoked emotion, theory of mind and sociability, connecting music with memories and share connectivity with deeper limbic areas such as the basal ganglia; a structure that is responsible not only for coordination of movement but also working memory and environmental conditioning (hazy, frank, & o’reilly, 2006; mcnab & klingberg, 2008; jacobsen et al., 2015; wallmark, deblieck, & iacoboni, 2018). thus, like most stimuli, music has the ability to evoke recruitment of a vast array of neural regions; however, unlike many stimuli, music facilitates a multifunctional integration of regions spanning emotion, socialization, and in some instances for pwd, even remembering. the multimodal nature of music makes it a prime candidate for social interventions, as it allows people to engage in an emotionally and cognitively stimulating activity that facilitates both cognitive benefit as well as community engagement that serves to mitigate social stigma that accompanies dementia. indeed, some of the misperceptions surrounding dementia include the notion that disease progression and corresponding cognitive decline is intertwined with loss of affect, self, and personhood. music has the power to directly counter such misconceptions. through music-based interventions, for example, individuals with dementia are exhibiting improvements in affect and social connectedness, sharing moments of joy and familiarity, and in some cases even promoting cognitive sparing as a consequence of mitigating stressors and increasing cognitive engagement (blackburn & bradshaw, 69 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 2014; särkämö et al., 2016). jane austen’s protagonist “emma,” from the novel of the same name, remarks that “without music, life would be blank to me” (emma, 1815, p. 250), a sentiment that directly highlights how deeply personal, powerful, and life-affirming music can be. thus, through social interventions in general, and music-based interventions in particular, it is becoming apparent that a diagnosis of dementia need not necessarily deny the enjoyment of those things which make us human. the present study: voices in motion the present study focused on implementing a social-cognitive intervention for persons with alzheimer’s and dementia and their caregivers, utilizing the benefits of music-based interventions. an overarching aim of voices in motion was to assess what impact an intergenerational choir group would have on psychological and cognitive function for those with dementia. the choir’s structure was designed with particular attention to intergenerationality, music selection, and artistic direction in order to maximally engage all participants in the key social elements of the choir. the intergenerational component of the choir not only adds a youthfulness that our elderly demographic enjoys, but also offers an avenue for combating stigma through greater exposure and education of our high-school-aged adolescents. music selection was predominately based upon popular songs of the past, especially songs relevant to our older demographic with dementia, as these are the songs most likely to be preserved in musical memory. notably, our pwd were also tasked with remembering new songs, as previous findings have demonstrated that even those with dementia can learn new material given sufficient practice, expert direction, and compensatory mechanisms (e.g., relying upon procedural and emotional memory systems that are relatively spared; baird & samson, 2015; jacobsen et al., 2015). the musical repertoire was deliberately chosen to facilitate social connection as well as cognitive/physiological stimulation. in particular, we hypothesized that our choir would promote cognitive health, not through treating dementia itself, but rather by alleviating the common comorbidities of ad and dementia such as depression and social isolation. this hypothesis is consistent with the current literature, as it has been found that social isolation and depression are some of the most detrimental complications experienced by persons with dementia (cipriani, lucetti, carlesi, danti & nuti, 2015). by creating a supportive community environment which adds meaning and fosters the development of meaningful relationships, we expected depressive symptoms to decrease through 18 months of participation in this intergenerational choir. additionally, despite the progression of the underlying disease process, we anticipated that any observed psychosocial improvements due to engagement in the choir would also result in the stabilization of cognitive function due to the lessened influence of these comorbidities. method participants and recruitment participants were recruited through church choirs, doctors’ offices, and local community centres. a phone interview was conducted to screen participants for eligibility. all participants were required to have mild to moderate dementia, as diagnosed by a physician, be willing to participate in research assessments, and have a caregiver who was also willing to participate in both the choir and research assessments. recruitment was targeted at individuals with alzheimer’s disease; however, all types of dementia were accepted. two pwd had non-alzheimer’s dementia (frontal-temporal and vascular) and were included in analyses. the university of victoria’s institutional review board and the assisted-living facility director approved the study. informed consent was obtained at the start of data collection for all participants. 70 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 participants were given a brief oral description of the study and then given a consent form to read and sign, with ample opportunity for questions. choirs were composed of pwd, their caregivers, and high-school students recruited from two participating schools. students were awarded with community service hours. participants were assigned to one of two choir groups and attended weekly two-hour choir practices consisting of a warm-up period, rehearsal, and thirty minutes of socialization. song selection for each choir season was curated by a professional conductor based on the ages of the persons with dementia. while there were no official criteria for song selection, deliberate intent was focused on including well-known songs that evoked strong positive emotions (e.g., patriotism, collectiveness) and were famous during a critical period (i.e., from 13 to 30 years of age) in our elderly participants’ lives. choirs were active for three seasons, spanning 1.5 years. at the conclusion of each season, each choir performed a final concert that was open to the community. participants were recruited in two cohorts: cohort 1 (n = 26) participated in all three choir seasons, while cohort 2 (n = 28) participated in two seasons. baseline assessments occurred at different times for each cohort. the mean age for pwd was 77.4 years (sd = 10.5; 75% female), and 67.1 years (sd = 9.10) for caregivers (69% female), 98.6% of all participants were caucasian. the median mmse score for pwd at intake was 24.0, which denotes mild dementia. measures throughout choir seasons, participants underwent numerous assessments, including routine social network analysis (sna), focus groups, and a biopsychosocial (bps) assessment battery, which included a neuropsychological assessment, cognitive tests, physical assessments, gait mapping, and a quality of life survey. a small subset of data was selected for the subsequent analyses in order to address the specified research questions mentioned above. choir seasons two and three consisted of returning choir members (cohort 1) and newly recruited participants. the bps battery was administered before choir participation, and approximately every four to six weeks during the choir season, as part of an intensive repeated measures design (rast, macdonald, & hofer, 2012; stawski, macdonald, sliwinski, 2015). pwd and their caregivers underwent identical assessments individually, and were completed by trained student research assistants and physicians. both caregivers and pwd vary widely in their experiences; the benefit of using this design is that it allows participants to serve as their own control (i.e., a within-person comparison), and to specifically gauge whether each individual exhibits improvement in function relative to person-specific initial levels for key outcomes (e.g., cognition, depressive symptoms). such intensive micro longitudinal designs incorporate a baseline assessment (where pre-treatment levels of function are indexed) followed by numerous subsequent assessments that facilitate nuanced modelling of within-person change. although a control group would allow for the exploration of between-group differences, the purpose of this research is not to examine the effectiveness of treatment (as is typical of intervention research); such between-group effects for music have already been reported elsewhere (see, for example, särkämö et al., 2013). rather, the present focus is to examine how social singing improves a given individual’s symptomatic expression of dementia symptoms regardless of initial individual differences. overall, the intensive repeated measures design is more powerful for examining the nuanced shape of change during a longitudinal study. assessments entered a hiatus immediately following the season’s final performance and resumed at the same intervals at the beginning of the following choir season. the measures administered during the assessment battery spanned numerous functional domains, including physical health, global cognition, executive function, short-term memory, reaction time, emotional wellbeing, depression, mood, sleep, medications, socialization, spatial planning, quality of life, and activities of daily living, among others. as the data collected in this study span many facets and disciplines, analysis was limited to cognitive measures for pwd in order to focus on the 71 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 current research questions. cognitive measures. measures of cognition included the mini-mental state examination (mmse; folstein, folstein, & mchugh, 1975), trail making task a (tmta; lezak, 1995), and the word recall task (howard, 1980). the mmse is a well-validated tool and measure of global cognition for pwd. it consists of verbally asking the participant questions about the world (e.g., what day is it?), orientation (e.g., what street do you live on?), memory, and perceptual-motor skills, and is scored out of 30. a score of 20–24 indicates mild cognitive impairment, 12–20 is moderate, and less than 12 is severe cognitive impairment. the mmse was selected as it is a standard measure in multi model neuropsychological batteries. tmta is a timed task and a measure of perceptual processing speed. participants were asked to draw a single line to connect 25 consecutive numbers without lifting the pen from the paper. errors were corrected as needed, and error time was included in total task completion time. recall indicates episodic memory ability. (e.g., types of birds, modes of transportation). participants were given two minutes to memorize a list of 30 common english nouns. the nouns were categorizable into five distinct taxonomic categories (e.g., gemstones, modes of transportation, etc.). after two minutes, participants were asked to recall as many of the words as possible, regardless of order. score denotes total words remembered, with no penalty for false or repeated words. psychosocial function. the patient health questionnaire (phq-9) was used to index individual differences in the number of depressive symptoms and signs. the phq-9 was scored according to guidelines found in kroenke and spitzer (2002). higher scores denoted a greater number of depressive symptoms and signs on a continuum, with scores of (a) 5–9 indicating minimal depression, (b) 10–14 reflecting minor depression, (c) 15–19 indicating major depression (moderately severe), and (d) 20+ reflecting major depression (severe). statistical procedure linear mixed effect (multilevel) models were employed to index change for select indicators of cognitive and psychosocial function for persons with dementia (pwd). maximum likelihood estimation was used for all calculations, ensuring that all available data were analysed. time was parameterized in terms of assessments, with time = 0 reflecting initial baseline assessment. results to explore the primary research objective, we employed linear mixed effect (multilevel) models index initial levels of select cognitive and psychosocial function at the outset of the choir, as well as the change in these measures for up to eight follow-up assessments spanning an 18-month period. both level and change in function were modelled for global cognition (mmse scores), perceptual processing speed (tmt-a completion time), episodic memory (word recall), as well as depressive symptoms and signs (phq-9 scores). an initial model examined baseline level and long-term change in mmse performance (see figure 1). mmse scores less than 24 are indicative of cognitive impairment, with expectations of continued decline for those with dementia. as shown in figure 1, following the onset of the choir intervention at assessment 0, participants with dementia did not exhibit further significant decreases in mmse scores spanning the up to an 18-month period. although there was a wide range of mmse scores 72 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 (2–28) at baseline, the median score was 24. the population average slope for change in mmse scores was 0.14 units per additional time of assessment (p = .381, ci = -1.7 to 2.7). a second model explored change in completion time for the tmt-a task—a putative measure of perceptual processing speed. results demonstrated no significant change in performance for the tmt-a task during the course of choir participation (see figure 2). at baseline, pwd exhibited a slight impairment to complete tmt-a, with an intercept of 79.7 seconds; based upon normative data, functional impairment is defined as having a completion time greater than 78 seconds (gaudino, geisler, & squires, 1995). for each additional point of assessment, participants’ average tmt-a completion time slowed by an additional 5.79 seconds. this increase in completion time for tmt-a, however, was not significant (p = .39, ci = -7.2 17.7) for persons with dementia; there was no inferential difference between baseline performance and performance up to 18 months later at follow-up 7. a third multilevel model examined level of baseline function and post-choir-intervention change for the word recall task (see figure 3). persons with dementia were able to recall 5.55 words at baseline assessment (range = 0–22 words). further, a significant decline (p = .004, ci = -3.8 to -.76) of 0.33 words per additional point of assessment was observed. during the final assessment at follow-up 7, an average person with dementia recalled 3.25 of a possible 30 words. scores ranged from 0 to 5 for participants during their final assessment. a final multilevel model of change explored initial level and systematic change in depressive symptoms and signs over the course of the choir season as indexed by the phq-9. as demonstrated in figure 4, results from this multilevel model indicated a significant decrease in depressive signs and symptoms by .48 points per additional assessment, p = .039. discussion the goal of this study was to investigate the potential benefits of engaging in an intergenerational choir on cognitive and psychosocial function for persons with dementia. pwd have shown an increased risk of developing depression and becoming socially isolated as the disease advances, with corresponding impacts on health (see, for example, holt-lunstad, smith, baker, harris, & stephenson, 2015). these psychosocial health concerns, coupled with the ongoing neuropathological progression of ad, are proposed to have compounding symptomatic effects (e.g., accelerated cognitive decline). for the voices in motion study, it was hypothesized that the social-cognitive choral intervention would act as a protective factor for cognition by alleviating co-existing depression and facilitating social connection for pwd and their caregivers. the present findings demonstrated that pwd continued to show expected significant declines in episodic memory. as dementia is a progressive neurological disorder with no pharmacological treatment to slow disease course, the choir intervention was not expected to modulate episodic memory function that draws heavily upon damaged brain regions. notably, pwd did not exhibit any significant losses for measures of general cognition or perceptual speed—two domains that exhibit early deficits during the dementia prodrome (see, for example, backman, jones, berger, laukka, & small, 2005)—as well as continued decline through the subsequent stages of dementia. among the implications, the relative stability of the cognitive trends for mmse and tmt-a suggest that the intergenerational choir intervention may be effective at preserving cognitive function for persons with dementia. the stability of the tmt-a suggests that, while impaired, areas associated with speed and executive functioning are not becoming further damaged. the stability of the mmse score is particularly significant, as persons with dementia are known to have a mean decrease of 2.81 to 2.88 points per year (salmon, thal, butters, & heindel, 1990; roselli et al., 2009) and scores must decrease five points to be considered significant cognitive loss (schmand et al., 1995). in our study, 73 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 pwd did not show any losses on the mmse over the 18 months of choir participation. additionally, the reported number of depressive symptoms significantly decreased as a function of time spent in the choir. overall, these patterns suggest that the choir intervention confers a protective effect that can alleviate outcomes associated with underlying comorbidities and prolong cognitive health and patient independence, and could perhaps delay the transition into long term care. potential explanations for choir’s effectiveness include both the mitigation of depressive symptoms as well as the maintenance of social interactions, which are thought to promote positive affect, improved cortical functioning, better overall health, and reduced mortality risk (see, for example, holt-lunstad et al., 2015). plausible mechanisms underlying our observed findings are discussed further in the ensuing sections. why is choir effective? some plausible mechanisms mitigating depressive symptoms. depression is one of the most common comorbidities associated with dementia, with up to 63% of pwd affected (burns, jacoby, & levy, 1990). the effects of comorbid depression are well studied and detrimental to patient outcomes. depression alone significantly reduces quality of life, and when combined with dementia, has compounding effects. for example, dementia patients with depression will transition to care homes faster than those with no depressive symptoms (thomson et al., 2007). indeed, caregivers often cite mood and behaviour changes as being the causal factor for transitioning pwd into care homes, with research suggesting these changes are accelerated due to depression (kopez et al., 2000). higher mortality rates for persons with comorbid depression and dementia has been well documented (cuijers and smit, 2002; hoch et al., 1993; perna et al., 2019). the impact of depression on overall health, social connectedness, and cognitive function is well documented. in part, these negative effects reflect the deleterious impact that depression exerts on brain structures including the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (pfc) (lebedeva et al., 2018). depression is known to be associated with hypofrontality of the pfc, and, as a consequence of this, those with depression are shown to have poorer performance in tasks involving both episodic memory and executive functioning (dillon & pizzagalli, 2018). depression is also often related to chronic stress and heightened cortisol levels, the impacts of which can inhibit mesolimbic dopamine neurons, sensitize the amygdala’s response to negative information, and suppress hippocampal neurogenesis—in the most severe cases, even causing prefrontal and limbic atrophy (dillon & pizzagalli, 2018; lebedeva et al., 2018). depression and ad neurodegeneration exhibit damage to shared regions of the brain, and this overlap may explain why depression and ad produce compounded impairments on cognition (thomson at al., 2007; watkins and brown, 2002). by attempting to mitigate depressive symptomatology, it may be possible to improve cognitive functioning by limiting the impact of depression and other dementia-related comorbidities. reducing the number of comorbidities for pwd may lead to fewer demands on available cognitive resources—a benefit that may be more apparent for cognitive abilities that do not draw directly upon brain regions most affected by ad progression. in the present study, this explanation may account for why episodic memory scores showed progressive decline across assessments despite choir participation, whereas performance stabilized for measures of general cognition and executive functioning. social prescriptions (e.g., engaging in physical activity, arts-based programs) are now being employed in canada and the uk to treat depression (camic & chatterjee, 2013; stickley and hui, 2012); choir is an activity that may confer similar positive benefit. 74 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 avoiding social isolation. social isolation is another common complication for pwd, which, like depression, increases the likelihood of negative outcomes such as decreased survival rates and negative affect (friedler, crapser, and mccullough, 2015; mehta, yaffe, langa, sands, whooley, & covinsky, 2003). social isolation and loneliness are known to impair health by raising levels of stress hormones (e.g., cortisol) and inflammation, and such elevations, in turn, can increase the risk of heart disease, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and dementia (holt-lunstad et al., 2015). it is not uncommon for pwd to socially withdraw from their communities, thereby reducing their support network and increasing their risk of ailments associated with social isolation (van der wee et al., 2019). the cognitive impacts of social isolation in pwd are similar to those seen in depression, with participants often experiencing decreased cognitive functioning, executive functioning, and episodic memory (mehta et al., 2013). therefore, performance deficits for pwd would be more pronounced for those who have existing comorbidities, such as depression or social isolation. several hypotheses have attempted to explain the protective effects of social relationships on overall health. the buffering hypothesis, for example, posits that positive relationships provide resources (informational, emotional, or tangible) that promote adaptive behavioural and neurological responses to acute or chronic stressors (holt-lunstad et al., 2010). relational quality is determined predominantly by three contributing factors: the amount of integration in a social network, the intended support within a social network, and the perception or belief by the individual that they are supported within a social network (holt-lunstad et al., 2010). by facilitating an intergenerational choir of relational peers, youth, and thoughtful volunteers, the voices in motion study aims to foster a network that achieves these criteria. accordingly, in the present study, a potential explanation for the observed reductions in depressive symptoms and stability in cognitive functioning may reflect the buffering effect that social relationships have against psychosocial stressors. creating an intergenerational social milieu. relative to singing alone or isolated music therapy, social (choral) singing is thought to be more effective at mitigating depression and social isolation (chang et al., 2015). by creating a choral milieu that includes other pwd, caregivers, and high school students, the voices in motion study effectively engaged multiple generations and created a supportive community where all members worked towards a common goal: to participate in and enjoy music. music has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms in pwd (blackburn & bradshaw, 2014; change et al., 2015); by further combining a music program with an intergenerational component, voices in motion also fostered the development of meaningful social relationships. the goal was to directly counter the tendency for pwd to socially withdraw, as well as to buffer the effects of loneliness and the stigma of dementia. based upon qualitative reports from focus groups, the intergenerational component was said to add significant value to both the community and the experience, perhaps best summarized as a quote from one participant: “i just love seeing the kids here. we live in a senior complex with too many old people. all our friends are old, my husband is old. i’m just so . . . sick of old people.” music was the catalyst by which an intergenerational community was formed, and this community proved to mitigate depressive symptoms (significant reductions in depressive symptoms and signs were observed), social isolation (social network analysis indicated a richness to social interactions by the conclusion of the choir season), and stigma (the end of year intergenerational concert served to counter stereotypes regarding what pwd can achieve). 75 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 integrating multiple memory systems. the progression of neuropathology for those with alzheimer’s disease is well characterized, with cognitive-behavioural deficits (e.g., early changes in memory function) presenting themselves in a predictable manner (see, for example, aisen et al., 2017; braak & braak, 1991). biochemical protein changes in the entorhinal cortex are typical of the early stages of ad, with subsequent progression gradually degenerating tissue in the peripheral cortices. despite changes to specific brain structures for those with ad, many regions of the brain are spared until very late stages, particularly those regions implicated in musical memory (clark & warren, 2015; jacobsen et al., 2015; peck et al., 2016). the power of music for enhancing mood and wellbeing is well documented; social singing in a choir also elicits neurochemical brain changes that enhance “contact, coordination, and cooperation” with others (keeler et al., 2015). even those with advanced alzheimer’s disease benefit from singing overlearned songs from the past, as social singing relies less upon damaged brain regions linked to memory (e.g., the hippocampus), and more upon emotional (limbic) and procedural (striatal) brain systems. due to the later ad-related neurodegeneration of specific cortices, elements of music-evoked emotion, musical knowledge and competency, and even musical memory can show relative sparing. the specific cortices related to such abilities include the orbitofrontal cortex (ofc), anterior cingulate gyrus, and supplementary and general motor areas, all of which are share extensive connections to deeper limbic systems. regions of the brain associated with procedural memory (e.g., the striatum), which is responsible for the training and automaticity of certain tasks, are also well preserved despite the progression of ad. as music draws upon this system, pwd can still fluidly play musical instruments and sing overlearned songs despite severely impaired memory and cognition. persons with ad also show a spared ability of memory to recognize pieces of music based on melody or lyrics (clark & warren, 2015). this preserved ability reflects the involvement of another preserved system—semantic memory—linked to heightened sympathetic arousal in the presence of familiar songs or stimuli. this semantic system is also responsible, in part, for the ability of pwd to learn new songs over the course of vigorous practice (baird & samson, 2015). however, a key feature of this system is that the pwd cannot typically recall where they know the song from or when they heard it last, only that it is familiar and they can engage with it. overall, the potential compensatory strengths of music in general and choir, in particular, are seemingly obvious: music is truly a superstimulus that integrates multiple memory systems, permitting those with dementia to participate in choir to the same degree as any other chorister. limitations in terms of research design and assessment, this study is among the most ambitious investigations of the effects of an intergenerational choir on persons with dementia. however, several limitations of the present study should be noted. first, due to the size and scope of the battery, participants may have become fatigued during assessments, with a corresponding deleterious influence on performance. we attempted to mitigate this concern by block randomizing the order of task administration across assessments, and by assigning select tasks (e.g., health, sleep quality) as take-home assessments from the beginning of the second choir season. a second notable limitation concerns sample size. the advanced quantitative models of change and corresponding estimators (maximum likelihood) employed for this study necessitate sufficient sample size. although the total number of participants was modest for conducting such analyses of change, the intensive repeated measures research design served to offset this concern. a final limitation worthy of mention concerns practice effects. repeated exposure to the same testing instruments, particularly with short retest intervals, may serve to mask the true rate of change in performance for various outcome measures. in part, this issue 76 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 was addressed in the present study through the use of alternate forms for tasks susceptible to practice (e.g., numerous alternate forms of the episodic memory word lists) as well as the inclusion of measures known to be relatively impervious to practice effects (e.g., perceptual processing speed). implications and future directions the results of the current study suggest that an intergenerational, music-based intervention can be successful at preserving general cognition and executive functioning during dementia-related memory loss. this is not only obviously beneficial for pwd, but is also extremely valuable for their caregivers and the healthcare system in general. the advent of choral participation for pwd and their caregivers has been shown to facilitate stronger relationships between one another (grocke, 2012), to promote positive affect in the caregivers (han & radel, 2016), and to foster improved general health and well-being for both parties (grocke, 2012; holt-lunstad et al., 2010). benefits of such non-pharmacological interventions for the healthcare system include preserving the health of caregivers, improving the quality of life for pwd, and considerable healthcare savings by delaying the transition of pwd to subsequent levels of long-term care. federal spending on dementia care is currently $15 billion and is projected to increase substantially over the next several decades as the population ages and incidence of dementia increases. additionally, pharmaceutical non-compliance rates are high among the elderly, particularly in rural communities (grewal, et al., 2108). whereas medication adherence rates in pwd are not well documented, having a non-pharmaceutical option to mitigate dementia-related symptoms would serve to augment care options (arlt, linder, rosler, & von renteln-kruse, 2008; stewart, jameson, & curtin, 2015). it has also been suggested that self-stigma and perceived community standards are related to attitudes towards mental health and mental health treatment in older adults. developing a non-pharmacological treatment for depression in pwd can provide patients more agency in their care and reduce the negative outcomes associated with coexisting depression, including keeping adults in their homes longer and delaying the transition to long-term care. a choir intervention would be relatively simple and cost effective to place in a rural setting and may also serve to help reduce stigma in the community. further investigation is required to determine the full potential of choir as a socially-prescribed lifestyle intervention for those with dementia. this study collected hundreds of measures of physical, cognitive, psychological, and social health for all participants. only a small subset of that data was used to address global cognition, processing speed, episodic memory, and depression as a function of participation in the intervention. all collected data is intended for future use to fully analyse the biopsychosocial benefits of a community choir. in particular, a key focus of future research must also evaluate the potential benefit of intergenerational choirs on caregivers. caregivers for pwd can often experience burnout, negative affect and increased levels of distress and chronic illness (vitaliano, young, & zhang, 2004). these issues, compounded with the deteriorating health of the pwd, can cause a faster transition to long-term care for those with dementia. notably, it has been substantiated in previous choral studies that caregivers will show reductions in stress and depression, and increases in positive affect both in response to seeing their pwd engage joyfully in social activities and in forming new positive relationships with peers in similar circumstances (see, for example, han & radel, 2016). additionally, the choir aims to expand from solely community-based choirs into residential care facilities. participants in care facilities are expected to show similar results to those in the community-based program; however, as many of those living in residential care have a pre-established community, the benefits of choir in this context remain unknown. another potential line of research involves incorporating neuroimaging to assess the functional and structural changes that accompany the changes in behavioural and cognitive performance. for example, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fnirs) could be employed to assess the neural correlates of social 77 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918962 singing. novel insights provided through such fnirs investigations could identify the extent to which music-based interventions stimulate functional adaptations in the brain that directly promote 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university of victoria, the arbutus review was created to showcase the articles, projects, and installations that result from the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) program. jcura was instituted in 2009 as the undergraduate research scholarship program by jamie cassels, then vice-president academic and provost and president from 2013–2020. the award program was designed to support and create truly formative research experiences for exceptional undergraduate students. the division of learning and teaching support and innovation administers the award nomination process on behalf of the provost’s office. in addition to submissions that were the result of jcura research, the arbutus review also publishes other exceptional work from students in departments across campus. we acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands, and the songhees, esquimalt, and w̱sáneć peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. letter from the editor it is my pleasure to introduce this issue of the arbutus review, marking 12 years of publication. including the nine articles in this issue, we have published 113 scholarly articles and creative works by undergraduate authors since our inception in 2010. at the time of writing, authors had cited out students’ articles 321 times, with 256 of those citations occurring in the last five years. despite the ongoing impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on our lives and educational institutions, the arbutus review received an extraordinary number of student submissions this year. the nine exceptional submissions shortlisted to be published in this issue showcase both interesting and timely research from undergraduate students at the university of victoria. all of the articles start as thirdor fourth-year course writings, honours papers, or jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura) projects and are transformed into publishable articles with the mentorship of supportive instructors, our graduate peer reviewers, and editors at the arbutus review. i would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to shailoo bedi and nancy ami for the opportunity to join the arbutus review editorial board. moreover, i would to offer my thanks to madeline walker for her expert mentorship, encouragement, and guidance. additional words of thanks are dedicated to kaveh tagharobi and gillian saunders for their kind assistance and encouragement. i feel very blessed to work with nancy, madeline, kaveh, and gillian. finally, this issue would not have been possible without the care and expertise of inba kehoe and zahra premji, the keen editorial skills of our graduate peer reviewers, and the unwavering dedication of our student submitters. the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 2 acknowledgments each of the articles published in this journal is sponsored by an academic mentor (usually a faculty member) at the university of victoria. for the articles in this issue, we could like to thank the following instructors for their support of an undergraduate research paper. andrew buck faculty of law and department of history, university of victoria author: rachel de graaf valerie d’erman department of political science and european studies program, university of victoria author: kiegan barron gary kuchar department of english, university of victoria author: jocelyn diemer christine o’bonsawin department of history and indigenous studies program, university of victoria author: andrew ambers robert trska and olav krigolson school of exercise science, physical and health education, university of victoria alex henri-bhargava, island health author: hannah smith anelyse weiler department of sociology, university of victoria author: arista marthyman andrew wender department of political science, department of history, and religion, culture, and society program, university of victoria author: samantha olson janine wulz department of germanic and slavic studies, university of victoria author: sarah wald tomiko yoneda, scott m. hofer, and jonathan rush department of psychology, university of victoria author: tristen lozinski the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 3 as well, all submissions were reviewed blind by at least two readers. these readers are graduate students, researchers, instructors, and emeriti from the university of victoria. we thank them for their very valuable contributions to the arbutus review. brodie drake mckaila ferguson alisha gajjar-fleming elnur karimov lucie kotěšovská arvind kumar mary macleod sohrab mosahebi jonathan nash hannah palmejar ghislaine sinclair kaveh tagharobi esteban vallejo toledo / 'stɛbən və'dʒɛhɔ tɔ'lɛdɔ anika zuhlke the arbutus review would also like to thank others whose ideas, work, and guidance have contributed to the journal. nancy ami, manager of the centre for academic communication for the division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the university of victoria shailoo bedi, director of the division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the university of victoria inba kehoe, copyright officer and scholarly communication librarian, who provides guidance to the journal and oversees the online journal systems software that allows us to publish online viviana pitton, director of curriculum renewal and strategic initiatives for the division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the university of victoria zahra premji, health research librarian in the mearns centre for learning, mcpherson library, at the university of victoria, who provided guidance on proper apa citational practices madeline walker, former arbutus review editor and typesetter and eal specialist for the centre for academic communication at the university of victoria the opinions expressed in the arbutus review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors of the journal or the university of victoria. the arbutus review is a peer-reviewed journal. while every effort is made by the editorial board to ensure that the arbutus review contains no inaccurate or misleading citations, opinions, or statements, the information and opinions contained within are the sole responsibility of the authors. accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, the advisory board, and their respective employees and volunteers accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading information, opinion, or statement. for more information, please contact the managing editor by emailing cacpc@uvic.ca cacpc@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 the fall of the family-state and rise of the enterprise society: family as ideology and site of conservative power in modern japan julian brook ruszel∗ university of victoria julianbrook1@gmail.com abstract recent literature on the history of family in japan reveals that what is commonly understood as the “traditional” japanese family—called the ie family—is largely a political construct that was institutionalized in japan’s meiji period (1868–1912). while the ie model was effectively removed from the us-imposed postwar constitution and replaced with the western nuclear family as the new ideal, this historical analysis reveals that the neo-confucian principles and social structures of the ie model were reintegrated into japan’s company work culture, to the degree that the ie continued to shape japan’s collectivist social structures and identities well beyond the end of the war. this analysis highlights key ideologies employed by the ruling elite in modern japan as a means of social control and nation building. it demonstrates a continuation of the historically close relationship between family and the state in postwar japan that challenges deterministic notions of westernization applied to the japanese context; it highlights articulations of family that complicate culturally bound conceptions that see it as inherently separate from the state, and clarifies the modern history of collectivist society in japan. keywords: japan; family; ideology; collectivism; feminism introduction while the modern family’s connection to capitalist and patriarchal state power in westernnations is well established among feminist scholars (see, for example, eisenstein, 1999;mackinnon, 1989), in recent japanese history the family has been an especially overt target of political intervention, functioning as both an ideological and structural site of conservative, capitalist state power.1 two time periods—the meiji (1868–1912) and postwar (1945–1973) periods—represent key turning points when conservative politicians and ideologues strongly rearticulated family as a means of maintaining political and social control in the face of rising liberal and socialist influences in japan. more specifically, they rearticulated a traditional samurai family model in order ∗with special thanks to the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, dr. andrew marton, who acted as jcura supervisor, and dr. richard fox and dr. sujin lee for their support and guidance. 1“conservative” here includes a belief in the preservation of confucian values in modern japan and a negative stance towards social change and liberal values, including democracy and women’s rights and equality. 21 mailto:julianbrook1@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 to reproduce patriarchal and hierarchical collectivist social structures that would serve elite conservative interests and also support the emerging japanese capitalist system. this research analyses the distinct family structures, forms of family-centered social control, and patriarcho-capitalist social formations that emerged in these two periods, and is informed by a socialist feminist conception of the modern family as simultaneously a patriarchal and capitalist construct (see eisenstein, 1999). the term ideology, as it is employed in this discussion, refers pragmatically to an organized set of ideas connected to a particular class or group (see freeden, stears, & van dijk, 2013). however, inasmuch as the mark of an effectively mobilized ideology is its level of tacit acceptance as truth—as knowledge—across a large section of society, then ideology must also be understood as always containing a certain discursive potential to become so socially embedded as to organize action and thought, and ultimately shape individuals as particular subjects (see freeden, stears, & norval, 2013; freeden et al., 2013b; mouffe, 1979). this understanding of ideology is pertinent to the japanese historical context because politically driven ideological constructions of family and nation produced in the meiji period came to be tacitly accepted as reflecting a natural gendered and hierarchical order, and finally became embedded in beliefs and social practices that persist to this day (see kondo, 1990; ueno, 2009). the following discussion demonstrates the ideological means that japan’s ruling elite employed to manage social change in the meiji and postwar periods. they rearticulated family and nation within an ideological framework that effectively reoriented the public towards service of the conservative state, supported their political goal of building a strong nation and army, and ensured the continuation of their privileged positions as patriarchs and aristocrats. this politico-ideological strategy is encapsulated in the meiji family-state (kazoku kokka) ideology that merged a confucian family model with a shinto conception of the imperial state. at the heart of this ideology was a new family model, called the ie (pron. ee-eh), which was a rearticulation of the gendered and hierarchical confucian social structures that the tokugawa regime had used to maintain order from 1603 to 1868 (lebra, 2007). the ie represented a patrilineal family inheritance system and a household unit predicated on the confucian principles of patriarchal paternalism and filial piety. as a household operation, it was an inherently collectivist structure that strongly reflected the structurally mediated social relations of confucianism and its negation of personal emotions and impulses. within the meiji family-state ideology, the ie would also be tied to a jingoistic rearticulation of japan’s indigenous shinto religion that reimagined japan as a racially homogenous imperial nation-state, where the emperor ruled as the spiritual father of all japanese citizens (gluck, 1985; skya, 2009). additionally, a teaching known as the “good wife, wise mother” (ryōsai kenbo) ideology specifically interpellated women’s identities within the ie household (lebra, 2009). this gendered ideology’s evolution in the interwar period represents an important bridge between the meiji and postwar periods, and it would remain central to women’s roles and identities after the second world war. finally, despite ostensible liberal reforms in the postwar period—including the legally-sanctioned imposition of the western nuclear family model—the ruling elite successfully rearticulated family in a way that merged the modern nuclear family with the principles of the meiji era family model to advance a new “enterprise society” (garon, 2010, p. 332) supported by the gendered and hierarchical power relations institutionalized in the meiji period. in other words, both the meiji and postwar governments employed ideological constructions of family to perpetuate and exploit the feudal power structures and subservient collectivist subjectivities of feudal japan. whereas some scholars have suggested that modernization is antithetical to the values of japan’s “traditional” family system (see yamane & nonoyama, 1967), the values of that system were in fact central to modernization in japan and were a foundational aspect of japan’s postwar enterprise society; the neo-confucian principles and social structures of the ie were reconfigured to support japan’s company work culture in the postwar period, to the degree that the ie model and its 22 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 constituent gendered roles and identities continued to shape japan’s collectivist social structures and identities well beyond the end of the war. oligarchy and threats to conservative power in the meiji period in 1858, tokugawa shogunate officials gave in to western imperial pressure and opened nine ports for trade with the us and other western nations (gordon, 2014). prior to this, the tokugawa regime had forbidden trade and social relations with most foreigners since the first half of the 17th century. less than a decade later, in 1867, the tokugawa shogunate was overthrown by a relatively small group of disgruntled sub-elite samurai from two marginal domains located in the southwestern region of japan. after forming a new government, the leaders of these two samurai clans—the choshu and satsuma clans—would immediately commence dismantling the feudal domain and samurai status systems that had upheld tokugawa power for over 250 years. though worthy of being dubbed revolutionary reformers in that they overthrew the oligarchs of the old social order and set about “modernizing” japanese society, these new leaders of the nascent japanese nation-state were nonetheless highly conservative aristocrats who ultimately sought to establish themselves as japan’s new ruling oligarchs (beckmann, 1957; tabb, 1995). tellingly, just prior to enacting japan’s first constitution in 1889, the meiji political elite set up an extra-constitutional “privy council” from which they could continue to exercise executive power over the newly created bicameral legislature (called the diet), and subsequently created a number of other self-serving positions in the constitution (beckmann, 1957; gordon, 2014). as george beckmann (1957) writes, for all practical purposes . . . the influential leaders of choshu and satsuma controlled the government through their positions in the cabinet, the supreme command, the privy council, and the imperial household ministry, all of which constituted the actual repositories of executive power. thus the meiji constitution, from one point of view, established an oligarchical clan control in a modern political form. (pp. 89–90) from these protected seats of power, according to gordon (2014), the meiji political elite would go on to “pull the strings [of japanese politics] for the rest of their lives” (p. 92), and become known among their detractors as the “meiji oligarchs” (p. 92) and the “sat-cho dictatorship” (p. 81). despite the increasingly popular efforts of japanese activists to gain support for a democratic government in japan, japan’s new oligarchs proved to be extremely shrewd political operators who consolidated autocratic control while effectively steering social change in japan. instead of increasing public participation and implementing the democratic government many in the public were demanding, the meiji oligarchs delivered a constitution meant to “maximize the power of the state and minimize that of the people” (gordon, 2014, p. 92). additionally, on the eve of the promulgation of the constitution, the government issued a series of laws banning women from engaging in any form of political activity, a measure that would be strongly reinforced a decade later in a repressive public peace police law (chian keisatsu hō) (mackie, 2003). indeed, even as the meiji oligarchs embraced the logics of capitalism and industrialization, their words and actions revealed a deep enmity towards the political and social values of the west. near the peak of a popular rights movement that had been gaining momentum across japan throughout the 1870s, yamagata aritomo, who would go on to serve two terms as prime minister, corresponded with fellow ex-choshu samurai and japan’s first—and fifth, seventh, and tenth—prime minister, ito hirobumi, writing, “every day we wait, the evil poison [of popular rights agitation] will spread more and more over the provinces, penetrate into the minds of the young, and inevitably 23 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 produce unfathomable evils” (gordon, 2014, p. 84; see “prime ministers in history,” n.d.). hozumi yatsuka, a passionate imperial loyalist and key intellectual contributor to the notion of the japanese family-state ideology, firmly rejected all notions of individualism and popular rights in japan and insisted that sovereignty remain solely in the emperor (skya, 2009). responding to the founding of the eastern socialist party (tōyō shakai tō), hozumi wrote, if these fanatics are already steeped in socialism, wandering about in heresy, and beyond morality, then it is useless to dispute with them about right and wrong by appealing to the judgment of logic. yet if, now when people’s hearts are immoderate, there should be many who with fearfully clever arguments seek to give free reign to private desires, then it is to be expected that unhappy results will follow. (as cited in skya, 2009, p. 54) hozumi’s anti-individualist and anti-socialist thinking reflected popular conservative views throughout the meiji period and beyond. an article in the tokyo asahi newspaper in 1911 warned strongly of the dangers to japan’s national character posed by “the penetration of extreme individualism [and] the outbreak of socialism, which execrates those in power” (as cited in gluck, 1985, p. 188). yamagata would later collaborate with hozumi to implement official government policies aimed at suppressing individualism and socialism through national education initiatives operating with the explicit goal of “developing national thought and excluding individualism” by cultivating “‘healthy thought’ in teachers, pupils, and texts” (gluck, 1985, p. 177). in response to a barrage of perceived threats to their conservative vision of japanese society—and challenges to their positions as patriarchs and aristocrats—the meiji oligarchs turned to the confucian ideological heritage and power structures of their samurai background, which necessarily included the “rigid class relations modeled on that of master and servant” (howland, 2001, p. 367) that had characterized samurai power in the tokugawa period. importantly, the oligarchs turned to particular meanings of family that neatly embodied all of these elements, combining a neo-confucian samurai family model with a vision of japan as an imperial family-state. the resultant family-state ideology would become central to the reconsolidation of oligarchic power in the meiji period, and ultimately shape modern japan. confucianism and shinto rearticulated in the meiji family-state ideology after consolidating their control over the government with the meiji constitution of 1889, the meiji oligarchs collaborated with conservative intellectuals to consolidate their power within japanese society itself. they would implement a new vision of japanese society predicated on a notion of japan as a family-state, wherein the ie samurai family model became intrinsically connected to the emperor, who was elevated as the father of all japanese people and the essence of the japanese state (gluck, 1985; skya, 2009; ueno, 2009). the meiji family-state ideology would be articulated in such a way as to inform every level of society, from family and education, to business practices, the military, and policing (see garon, 2010; gluck, 1985; rohlen, 1974; ueno, 2009). this ideology represented a shrewd rearticulation of confucian and shinto ideologies; it reflected the oligarchs’ elite confucian, samurai background, and was largely their response to what they perceived as threats to their vision of japanese society (see gluck, 1985; gordon, 2014; howland, 2001; ueno, 2009). the family-state ideology and its constituent family model came about through a series of efforts—beginning almost immediately after the fall of the tokugawa shogunate—and represent a modern ideology predicated on historical power structures in japanese society. 24 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 one of the first official initiatives carried out by the meiji oligarchs following the revolution of 1867 was the implementation of a nationwide family registry system, called the koseki , that documented every individual as belonging to a registered household and placed authority over the family in the male head of each household (garon, 2010). the koseki emphasized the importance of the family as a collective entity and allocated certain rights to individuals based on their membership within a registered household (sugimoto, 2010). it would be refined over two decades later in the civil code of 1898 with the institutionalization of the ie, the samurai family model that the government decided would support its conservative vision of japanese society. interestingly, the koseki remains in use in japan to this day and continues to define the japanese family (see sugimoto, 2014). the koseki and its constituent family system represented one of many steps the government would take to extend its reach into the private sphere of japanese citizens’ lives. tellingly, a moral text from 1887 sponsored by the ministry of education called the meiji greater learning for women (meiji onna daigaku) explicitly stated, “the home is a public place where private feelings should be forgotten” (nolte & hastings, 1991, p. 156). it is important to clarify that this did not represent a novel form of political overreach but rather a reconfigured continuation of the power structures of feudal japan; as opposed to being separate and protected from the larger society, families in feudal japan often acted as agents of institutional power, even prioritizing state authority over family members (see sakuta, 1986). keiichi sakuta (1986) and chizuko ueno (2009) separately observe that this power dynamic carried over into modern japan. while ueno also clarifies that the sharp division between the public and private spheres in the west is itself a relatively recent result brought about by modernity, kaori hayashi (2006) asserts that the european sense of the concept of the “public” as belonging to private individuals still has not fully taken root in japan and still carries negative connotations there. in meiji japan, it seems the political elite had the benefit of being in a position to proactively manage the emergence of the private sphere. they did so in a way that perpetuated the close relationship between family and the state that existed in feudal japan, which had been largely predicated on limiting the power of individuals. this helps explain why the meiji oligarchs and conservative scholars like hozumi yatsuka were so adamantly opposed to individualism, as it represented a reversal of the feudal power dynamic that was still supporting oligarchic power in japan. this also helps explain why, after the koseki was established in 1872, family remained a central focus for many politicians and scholars. while many ideologues initially turned to romanticized visions of village life as an antidote to the perceived ills of modernization, this fascination with the “verities of the past” (gluck, 1985, p. 178) naturally led to a focus on the utility of the family as a cultural and political tool. two conservative ideologues in particular made significant contributions to the rise of japan’s family-state ideology and the ie family model as it was employed in the meiji period: motoda nagazane and the previously mentioned hozumi yatsuka. perhaps the most significant contribution came from motoda, a highly influential confucian scholar and privy council member who had been a first-grade lecturer (jiko) to the emperor since 1881 (“motoda nagazane,” n.d.). motoda’s strongly imperialist rearticulation of confucianism would ultimately form the basis for the institutionalization of confucianism (or rather, neo-confucianism) in the meiji period (ueno, 2009). in 1879, motoda published kyōgaku taiko (general principles of education), wherein he emphasized a confucian teaching that connects people’s loyalty to the emperor with the filial piety they display towards their parents (ueno, 2009). as ueno points out, the notions of filial piety (kō) and loyalty (chū) were ranked in accordance with their traditional confucian prioritization in kyōgaku taiko—that is, filial piety was placed before loyalty. however, in 1882 motoda published yōgaku kōyō (the elements of education for the young), in which he shrewdly reversed the order of 25 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 filial piety and loyalty and combined them in a single compound word, chūkō (loyalty-filial piety). this move represented a significant subversion of the relatively more traditional confucianism that had been institutionalized in the tokugawa period, wherein the concepts were separate and filial piety explicitly outweighed loyalty to any monarch. a year later the japanese government produced modern japan’s first moral textbook, based on motoda’s views, in which it was emphasized that japanese citizens should “serve the monarch just like they serve their parents” (ueno, 2009, p. 66). motoda would go on to draft the monumental kyōiku chokugo (imperial rescript on education), which would be published in 1890 and placed in every school until the end of the second world war in 1945 (“danshaku motoda nagazane,” n.d.; ueno, 2009). the kyōiku chokugo explicitly constructed japan as a family-state by elevating the emperor to the position of the father of all japanese people and institutionalizing chūkō as the basic core value that would be transmitted to all japanese citizens beginning in childhood. prior to this, the government had already begun establishing the infrastructure to ensure they could control the education of young japanese citizens. they had implemented a system of compulsory education in 1872—even extending it to women in order to train them as “good wives and wise mothers”—and enrollment numbers were skyrocketing towards the end of the century (mackie, 2003). in this way, motoda’s kyōiku chokugo would become a formative text for japan’s first generation of literate citizens. hozumi yatsuka was, like motoda, a strong imperial loyalist, and his theories connected individuals and families to the emperor and the japanese state in ways that echoed japan’s recent feudal past. hozumi served as a professor of law at tokyo university from 1889 to 1912 and as the chairman of tokyo imperial university’s faculty of law from 1897 to 1911; he also sat on an influential government committee charged with revising the state’s moral education textbooks, which, as mentioned above, had been strongly influenced by motoda (skya, 2009; ueno, 2009). indeed, as motoda died in 1891, it would seem hozumi picked up where he left off, advancing his family-state ideology to its next logical iteration, a racial and religious one. hozumi reinterpreted the family-state as a religious ethnic state rooted in a fundamentalist rearticulation of japan’s indigenous shinto religion. motoda’s notion of chūkō would remain central to hozumi’s theory, which combined aspects of motoda’s confucianism with shinto mythology to reimagine the japanese state as a singular ethnic family composed of “blood relatives of the same womb” (skya, 2009, p. 56). tying the ie directly to the state and the emperor, hozumi imagined the japanese state as “literally one gigantic extended family system composed of interlocking related families,” wherein “the [japanese] people were the emperor’s children” (pp. 64–65). like motoda, hozumi emphasized the role of the japanese family in society as an extension of the imperial state. however, he paid special attention to ancestral worship, and also went to great lengths to denounce individualism and assert the value of subservient, collectivist subjectivities. he was a strong advocate for the patriarchal authority of the emperor as well as that of the head of the japanese household, which he described as a “small state” (as cited in skya, 2009, p. 64). for hozumi, these institutions necessitated specific collectivist subjectivities; the ideal person was one who had the “desire for total assimilation into the society” and “the purpose of all ethics and morality in the society was to direct the individual to . . . acquire the desire to submerge the self totally into the social totality” (skya, 2009, p. 69). while hozumi’s more radical views were contested at the time, they would help shape the ultranationalist state shinto (kokka shintō) ideology that would be so consequential for japan in the 20th century. the birth of the “traditional” japanese family in modern japan importantly, hozumi would be one of a group of influential conservative scholars to debate which family model should be institutionalized in the civil code of 1898. as gluck (1985) explains, the 26 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 preliminary stage of major institutional reforms in the meiji period typically involved an “inquiry into japanese custom” (p. 181). however, such inquiries were strongly informed by ideological goals and, as such, represented fabrications of the past as much as they did objective historical research. in the debates leading up to the implementation of japan’s first civil code, many scholars sought to elevate the quaint customs found in the japanese countryside as antidotes for the perceived ills of modernization (gluck, 1985). however, hozumi and others argued that “the customs of farmers should not be considered customs” (gluck, 1985, p. 182), and the only true japanese customs were those of the samurai and the nobility. the government’s decision to adopt the ie family model in the civil code reflected the ultraconservative views of scholars like hozumi, as well as the oligarchs’ own samurai backgrounds. in this way, the ie was repackaged as japan’s one true “traditional” family, despite the fact that it previously only applied to the samurai families that employed it prior to the meiji period—who had never made up more than 10% of the total population (ueno, 2009). the ie and the “good wife, wise mother” ideology the term ie refers to individual households and also a formal family system because it involves a specifically organized network of patrilineal stem and branch households (collectively called a douzoku), while individual ie households constituted the fundamental documentary unit of the koseki (kitano, 1962; lebra, 2007). the koseki itself served as the legal framework with which the ie was enforced as a mandatory family model through the civil code of 1898 (sugimoto, 2014). the ie, as an individual household unit, consisted of two or three generations managed under the authority of a male head of the house. importantly, the ie household represented a strongly collectivist operation that encapsulated the confucian principles of patriarchy, filial piety, and rigid, hierarchical social roles, to the point that the ie became the basic vessel for confucianism in modern japan. as takie lebra (2007) comments, “confucianism became closely interlocked with the institution of ie so that one was inconceivable without the other” (p. 250). as such, the filial piety and also the paternal authority and reciprocity of confucianism—where children are expected to respect and obey parents (especially fathers) without question, while parents are expected to provide for, guide, and protect their children—were necessarily central to the ie. this reciprocal paternal relationship defined all relations in the ie, not merely actual parent-child ones, and was contingent on rigidly prescribed social roles rooted wholly in service to the ie and its head. indeed, individual needs were subordinate to the needs of the ie, which typically precluded conjugal relations; the husband’s duties were centered on his occupation and decisions regarding household management, the wife’s main duties were to serve her parents-in-law and support her husband’s occupation, and the union of husband and wife was typically the product of a statusmatched arranged marriage (garon, 2010; lebra, 2007; shizuko & sylvain, 1994). all members, including the husband, were to be devoted to “the perpetuation of the family as a corporate group through its name and occupation” (befu, 1965, p. 34). the corporate orientation of the ie is a key feature of the ie family, and it played a major role in the formation of modern japanese society. as sheldon garon (2010) writes, the civil code established the fundamental legal framework governing family relationships, and it powerfully normalized how japanese conceived of the family before 1945. the corporate unit of the household reigned above any one individual, constituted as a hierarchy based on gender and age. (p. 326) in this way, the institutionalization of the ie represented a form of governmentality that not only shaped the meaning and structure of the family, but also interpellated very particular gendered, collectivist subjectivities that supported the family and—as the family became the fundamental 27 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 unit of the family-state—the state itself. consistent with hozumi yastuka’s family-state ideology, wherein “the head of the state was really an extension of the father’s rights over the family” (skya, 2009, p. 65), the ie family would be a powerful tool in the materialization of the imperial family-state ideology and the ascension of the emperor in the public consciousness. soon after the institutionalization of the ie in the meiji civil code, educators and commentators began connecting the family to the state and loyalty to the emperor. for example, one school posted a notice to parents urging for proper discipline at home because “when children grow up they care for the parents and raise the fortunes of the family (ie) as well as exert themselves loyally for the ruler and the country” (as cited in gluck, 1985, p. 188). a magazine article in 1906 commented, “the home, the home (katei katei), everywhere in the country people are paying attention to it now. . . . whether one talks of state or society, the foundation is the home, where all social reform must originate” (as cited in gluck, 1985, p. 189). between the efforts of the meiji oligarchs, conservative ideologues like motoda and hozumi, and educators and commentators in the meiji period, the ie family—embedded in a widely promulgated family-state ideology and institutionalized through the legal framework of the koseki —represented a key ideological and structural component that shaped beliefs and social practices in early modern japan. in this way, the meiji oligarchs successfully combined the ie family model with family-state ideology to exploit the “semi-feudal consciousness” (matanle, 2003, p. 26) of japanese subjects in the meiji period, effectively maintaining the feudal power relations that had characterized the relationship between the state and family in the tokugawa period; the collectivist subjectivities that had supported the hierarchical power structures of japan’s premodern social order would remain central to modern japanese family, class, and gender power relations. this helps explain why the japanese family has been referred to as “a valuable agent in fostering conformity to the demands of outside society” (sakuta, 1986, p. 34) and why “a japanese patriarch behaves as though he is an agent for the external authority” (ueno, 2009, p. 67). after the adoption of the ie family model in the civil code, scholar yanagita kunio exposed a key theme of the meiji reforms, saying, “although we speak of the equality of classes (shimin byōdō), we have imitated the samurai in every way possible” (as cited in gluck, 1985, p. 182). indeed, despite the rise of voices calling for progressive reform in japan, the meiji oligarchs and imperial loyalists like motoda and hozumi ulimately steered much of the energy of social change into an ultraconservative vision of japanese society based on elite samurai principles and social structures. as ueno (2009) points out, the meiji oligarchs and ideologues were so effective in promoting the ie family as japan’s “traditional” family that contemporary scholars still commonly refer to it as just that, despite its relatively marginal application prior to the meiji period and the prominence of other family models. ueno also clarifies the depth of the influence of the ie family model on actual families, as it remains a strong ideal that continues to govern behaviours in japan’s modern nuclear families. even as the first world war and social and economic crises swept the nation in the 1920s and 1930s, conservative elites would continue to shape social change according to their principles and goals, efforts that led to a new articulation of the japanese housewife. a significant confucian-derived ideological component that arose alongside the promulgation of the family-state ideology and shaped women’s roles and identities within the ie household was known as the “good wife, wise mother” (ryōsai kenbo) ideology. importantly, this ideology became central to conservative rearticulations of the ie’s gendered roles and identities in the postwar period. originally articulated by professional educators and bureaucrats from the ministry of education in the wake of the 1894–95 sino-japanese war, the “good wife, wise mother” ideology had become the cornerstone of women’s education across japan by 1911 (uno, 1991). it clearly delineated the sexual division of labour in prewar japan, interpellating women as dutiful imperial subjects and limiting their roles to “the reproduction and 28 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 socialisation of children, and as passive supporters of a ‘wealthy country and strong army’” (mackie, 2003, p. 3). however, during the first world war, many intellectuals in japan noted the emerging roles women were playing overseas as labourers supporting war efforts. the resultant theories, combined with the growth of nuclear families in city centers that entailed more central roles for wives, gave rise to a new conception of the “good wife, wise mother” that emphasized the value of women contributing in the labour force, not for equality’s sake, but out of national economic and military necessity. and so, while the meiji oligarchs were able to rearticulate their own samurai family model that emphasized women’s natural place in the household, the interwar period saw the ascendance of new conceptions of women’s roles that elevated their utility as labourers outside the home. however, even among most progressive intellectuals, the underlying premise of the “good wife, wise mother” ideology that saw women’s natural place in the home as mother and wife remained unquestioned, and in fact remains influential in japan to this day (shizuko & sylvain, 1994). ironically, following the devastating defeat of the second world war and the consequent us-led occupation, the postwar period presented a new opportunity for japan’s ruling elite to respond creatively and comprehensively to what they perceived as continuing challenges to conservative control. while they would have to abandon their previous concerted efforts to preserve the ie as a formal institution, they responded reflexively to changes brought about by war and the growing prominence of the nuclear family in such a way as to preserve its gendered and hierarchical social roles and structures. they would once again invoke a strong ideological rearticulation of family that supported their conservative vision of the japanese nation-state. the fall of the family-state and rise of the enterprise society during the meiji period and well into the following taishō period (1912–1926), women were largely subjugated in the ie, while conservative politicians made concerted efforts to keep them disenfranchised from the political realm (garon, 2010; tabb, 1995). legislation prohibiting women from attending any politically related meeting was legislated in 1890 and reinforced in 1900, while the civil code itself effectively silenced a small but rising chorus of progressive activists pushing for greater gender equality and conjugal marriages (garon, 2010; shizuko & sylvain, 1994). while a growing number of intellectuals and politicians began to consider women as politically and economically important at this time, conservative politicians continued to adamantly defend the ie and fight against women’s equality into the 1930s. at a parliamentary meeting in 1931, for example, conservative ideologue ida iwakusa declared, “the day we grant women the right to vote, they will take their first steps away from the family system and out of the house” (as cited in garon, 2010, p. 328). concurring with this perspective, the executive branch of the diet would vote against allowing women suffrage that same year (garon, 2010). it would ultimately take the second world war to normalize new roles for japanese women and do away with the ie in the overt institutional sense (garon, 2010). however, even though the structure of the ie ostensibly gave way to that of the nuclear family, its gendered and hierarchical power relations persisted in important ways. more specifically, the ie family would be neatly supplanted by a “company as family” model that firmly placed the husband’s employer (his company) at the center of family life while essentially retaining the sexual division of labour at the heart of the “good wife, wise mother” ideology.2 indeed, despite the rise of a new central role for women in the home, the basic premise of the “good wife, wise mother” ideology would remain the foundation of japanese women’s roles and identities (shizuko & sylvain, 1994). 2for a history of the “company as family” and its relationship to the ie in prewar japan, and insight into its continuing influence in contemporary japan, see kondo (1990). 29 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 somewhat ironically, after japan’s hard turn towards imperialism in the 1930s effectively silenced feminist voices calling for greater participation in government and society, the military necessities of the second world war cemented a new division of labour that placed the husband in direct service of the state and elevated the wife to the role of head of the household (garon, 2010; mackie, 2003; molony, 2011). as garon (2010) explains, the conditions of total war further propelled women to the centre of the family. as men were mobilized as labourers and soldiers, millions of women throughout japan became de facto heads of households in charge of finances and parenting. by the end of the second world war, women found themselves in charge of local public life as well. (p. 330) out of wartime necessity, the state turned to “new measures to persuade mothers to produce healthy workers and soldiers for the nation” (garon, 2010, p. 330), which necessarily included elevating the wife to the roles of housewife and household manager. while these new roles were understandably welcomed by many japanese women, it is important to take note here that this “liberation” from the ie actually represented a significant deepening of state power over women and the family (garon, 2010). indeed, this particular shift would be yet another example of the japanese state’s persistent efforts to penetrate the japanese family and individuals’ lives. echoing the efforts of the meiji oligarchs with their institutionalization of the ie family, garon further explains that by the end of the war, “women had come into a direct relationship with the state, permitting the bureaucracy to intervene in daily life more intimately than when male household heads served as the government’s principal agents” (p. 330). and so, a new sexual division of labour, along with a new link between families and the state, was forged in the postwar period. far from representing a true break from the past, the “company as family” social model at the center of japan’s rising “enterprise society” in the postwar period contained striking parallels with the corporate and gendered structure of the ie household and the “good wife, wise mother” ideology, and indicates the ie’s basic continuation in a new form in the postwar period (garon, 2010; gordon, 1997) professional housewives and the company as family it is important to note at this point that, just as the meiji period saw a continuation of elite conservative rule “masked in the rhetoric of renewal” (tabb, 1995), japan’s defeat in the second world war and the subsequent american-led occupation also ultimately resulted in the continuation of japan’s conservative power structures, once again masked as progressive reform. while general macarthur and the supreme commander for the allies in the pacific (scap) initially worked to dismantle the conservative hold over power and implement strong democratic reforms, rising socialist sentiment, waves of aggressive union actions, and the emergence of the cold war led scap to reverse its course and hand control back to conservative japanese elites (lee, 2004; tabb, 1995). as tabb (1995) writes, “by the 1950s, the cold war had changed american priorities, and the former war criminals were allowed, indeed encouraged, to reassert their control, and the leftist unions were mostly smashed” (p. 80).3 renewed conservative social control quickly subverted what might have been japan’s first steps as a truly democratic nation. as such, while the ie was officially deinstitutionalized alongside state shinto in the reformed constitution of japan in 1947, it is no surprise that the japanese family would essentially remain 3one of those held as a suspected class-a war criminal was kishi nobusuke, who would later go on to become prime minister and is current prime minister abe shinzo’s grandfather. strikingly, abe has made it his mission to accomplish what his grandfather could not: overturning the article in the postwar constitution that restricts japan’s military to purely defensive purposes (dudden & mizoguchi, 2007; osaki, 2019; yoshida, 2006). 30 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 an extension of conservative state power. the rules had changed, however, and so the ruling elite necessarily had to reconfigure their social control strategy; exploiting the new division of labour produced by wartime mobilization, the state would collaborate with the corporate business sector to construct japan as an “enterprise society” driven by “the economic mobilization of men as producers and women as newly rational . . . consumers and household managers” (gordon, 1997, p. 259). in this new arrangement, the family would operate as a corporate unit in much the same way as the ie, though its purpose would be refocused on the husband’s workplace, and the wife would manage the entire household and raise her children. much as they did in the ie, japanese wives would continue to work almost exclusively to raise children and support the success of their husband’s occupation from within the home. however, husbands would be required to devote so much time to their work outside the home that—just as during their military service in the war—they would essentially be absent from the japanese household (garon, 2010). in these ways, the postwar japanese family contained striking parallels with the ie household: it would effectively remain free of conjugal relationships and remain predicated on the “natural” sexual division of labour and gendered identities implied by the “good wife, wise mother” ideology. just as the ie family and the family-state ideology had been constructed and promulgated by japan’s conservative elite during the meiji period, so too would this new model be promulgated by elite conservative agents. however, the corporate business sector would play a much more central role in the postwar period. just as the meiji state had shaped and penetrated the ie family, so too would the postwar political regime and business elites reach into the newly reconstituted household to guide and shape the ideal housewife, while articulating a new “company as family” model that placed the husband’s workplace at the center of the familial corporate unit. the housewife would become a renewed target of such social engineering, to the degree that the housewife-centered family ultimately served “the postwar state’s interests in so many realms as to constitute a comprehensive system of governance” (garon, 2010, p. 332). one of the key conservative ideologues to popularize these postwar family discourses was hatoyama ichirō. hatoyama had initially been purged from the government by scap. however, after scap’s policy reversal, he returned to serve for two years as prime minister from 1954 to 1956 and help found the liberal democratic party, which would go on to maintain almost uninterrupted political control to this day (bowen, 2003; lee, 2004). as prime minister, hatoyama adopted an influential corporate campaign called the “new life movement” (gordon, 1997). the new life movement sought to mobilize the family—and in particular housewives—to support a new “enterprise society” where “meeting the needs of the corporation is ‘naturally’ understood to be social common sense and to be congruent with meeting the needs of all society’s inhabitants” (gordon, 1997, p. 247). echoing the thinking of conservative meiji ideologues like hozumi yatsuka, at a meeting promoting the new life movement, hatoyama urged “industrialists and educators to help renovate both the material and spiritual aspects of peoples’ lives and sweep away the deplorable tendencies toward irresponsible liberties and ideologies” (as cited in gordon, 1997, p. 255). following prime minister hatoyama’s promotion of the new life movement, the state would continue to work closely with japanese business corporations to reinforce this new vision of japanese society and family, with a strong focus on community-based training programs aimed at “professionalizing the urban housewife’s role” (gordon, 1997, p. 259); reminiscent of meiji era educational initiatives and the “good wife, wise mother” ideology, new women’s associations and local clubs were organized that trained housewives to be frugal and efficient, while raising their children with “proper” values that supported both the state and enterprise. the emphasis on frugality as a core value ensured that families would not demand too much of the husband’s employer, thus indirectly—but very effectively—silencing truly representative unions 31 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 that sought to elevate workers’ wages and quality of life. as gordon (1997) writes, “the [new life movement] worked to preempt or prevent the possibility that home and family would support alternative values to those of enterprise” (p. 259) and ensured that they “would not support radical unions” (p. 261). as a result, the truly labour-based, leftist unions that had gained momentum in the immediate postwar period would be effectively neutered by corporate-friendly “enterprise unions,” a dynamic that would continue in japan to this day (jeong & aguilera, 2008). as such, the new life movement would very much fulfill the purposes indirectly set out for japan’s conservatives by macarthur and scap. while the new life movement represented a household-focused reassertion of conservative power that tied the family to the company and essentially articulated a new enterprise-based conception of the japanese family-state, companies themselves employed practices within the workplace that emphasized the confucian principles of the ie. the practices both reflected and reinforced the paternalistic power relations that had marked the relationship between state and family in both the meiji period and feudal japan (see tabb, 1997, p. 81). thomas rohlen’s (1974) field research on a large japanese bank in the late 1960s illustrates just how influential the ie family ideology was in postwar japanese companies. consistent with the new life movement, rohlen describes how the bank played an active role in family planning. importantly, rohlen describes how japan’s confucian heritage had been transformed into “an institutional rather than a familial morality” (p. 59) and describes a number of parallels between the bank and the ie. rohlen explains that the traditional japanese family was an important discourse employed as one of a number of images derived from daily japanese life used by management to connect with workers on an emotional level. rohlen writes, [the bank] is at times referred to as “one great family” (daizoku). the implications of this image are extensive. the bank, like the ideal japanese family, is an entity in which the interests of the members are secondary to the interests of the family as a whole. it is everyone’s interest to work for the well-being and reputation of the family, and in return the family exists for the benefit of all its members. the same relationship holds, by implication, between workers and the bank. (p. 45) rohlen goes on to describe the strong paternalism of this corporate family’s interpersonal relationships, where leaders take on the responsibility of father figures, while younger members, “out of gratitude and affection, obey and respect their seniors” (p. 46). furthermore, and also consistent with both the new life movement’s and scap’s anti-socialist goals, rohlen (1974) touches on how this system necessarily includes the disempowerment of the individual and the exoneration of the company from having to raise the quality of life for its workers. rohlen writes that in the company, as in japanese society in general, “satisfaction or unhappiness depends on the individual, particularly on his attitude, and not on outward causes such as low pay, long hours, boring work” (p. 55). indeed, just as the structure and ideal of the ie superseded the importance of its individual members, the survival of the company also had to be ensured, even at the expense of “social relations or individual satisfactions” (p. 51). while meiji conservative elites had rearticulated the ie alongside an imperial family-state ideology—reimagining japanese society as a singular extended family bound together by a common imperial purpose—postwar political and business elites collaborated to reconsolidate the gendered and hierarchical social roles and identities of the ie within japan’s postwar company culture. in doing so, they effectively placed the company at the center of a new collectivist family model that would support japan’s emerging enterprise society. though the ie’s legal foundation was officially removed from the postwar constitution, it ultimately remained a central ideological and discursive influence on japan’s collectivist subjectivities and social structures in the postwar period and beyond. 32 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 conclusion in the meiji and postwar periods, the conservative japanese state articulated specific ideas of family and nation in order to perpetuate and exploit the feudal power relations and gendered and collectivist subjectivities that had previously upheld oligarchic power in japan. in order to advance their own vision of japanese society, they institutionalized a samurai family model, called the ie family, and placed it at the center of a new family-state ideology that elevated the emperor as the father of all japanese people. they then limited women’s roles to the ie through a teaching known as the “good wife, wise mother” ideology. in the postwar period, after the us-led occupation decided to reinstate conservative control of the government in order to reposition japan as a bulwark against communism in east asia, an ultraconservative prime minister promoted a corporate social management campaign that interpellated japanese wives as professional housewives who would work for the sake of their husband and his occupation in much the same way as they had done in the ie. meanwhile, husbands themselves would be so dedicated to their work as to essentially disappear from their homes, while companies strongly employed the principles and power relations of the ie to manage employees. japan’s postwar nuclear family and the “company as family” model ultimately formed the foundation of a collectivist enterprise society, which itself essentially represented a new iteration of the previous imperial family-state. this analysis clarifies the modern history of collectivist society in japan; it highlights a close relationship between family and the state that has operated continually to support particular patriarchal power structures and collectivist subjectivities, while also revealing family to be a key site of power employed by japan’s conservative ruling elite in the meiji and postwar periods. this challenging history suggests the broader need to examine the specificity of modernization within different cultures. while modernization may imply deterministic processes of westernization or liberalization, indigenous forces can influence it in important ways; “modernization” is thus a concept that should always elicit substantial scrutiny within specific cultural contexts. 33 the arbutus review • 2019 • vol. 10, no. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar101201918937 references beckmann, g. m. 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(1991). women and changes in the household division of labor. in g. l. bernstein (ed.), recreating japanese women, 1600–1945 (pp. 17–41). berkeley, ca: university of california press. yamane, t., & nonoyama, h. (1967). isolation of the nuclear family and kinship organization in japan: a hypothetical approach to the relationships between the family and society. journal of marriage and family, 29(4), 783–796. yoshida, r. (2006, december 28). to fathom abe, just look at his grandfather: kishi pushed the agenda of today decades ago. the japan times. retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co. jp/news/2006/12/28/national/to-fathom-abe-just-look-at-his-grandfather/#.xtnwxcmrkiy 35 https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/202.html https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/22/national/politics-diplomacy/abe-vows-push-forward-constitutional-change-despite-failure-pro-revision-forces-win-upper-house-supermajority/#.xtnbwimrkiy https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/22/national/politics-diplomacy/abe-vows-push-forward-constitutional-change-despite-failure-pro-revision-forces-win-upper-house-supermajority/#.xtnbwimrkiy https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/22/national/politics-diplomacy/abe-vows-push-forward-constitutional-change-despite-failure-pro-revision-forces-win-upper-house-supermajority/#.xtnbwimrkiy https://japan.kantei.go.jp/cabinet/0001-30_e.html https://japan.kantei.go.jp/cabinet/0001-30_e.html https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/12/28/national/to-fathom-abe-just-look-at-his-grandfather/#.xtnwxcmrkiy https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/12/28/national/to-fathom-abe-just-look-at-his-grandfather/#.xtnwxcmrkiy the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 the missing coke bottle: arahmaiani and the neo-colonial shadow of capitalist globalization julian brook ruszel∗ university of victoria jruszel1980@gmail.com abstract indonesian artist activist arahmaiani uses art to call attention to the role of capitalist globalization as an exploitative neo-colonial force in developing nations. beginning in the 1990s, arahmaiani employed a coca-cola bottle in many of her installations and performances as a symbol of the commodification and americanization of lifestyles and identities occurring in indigenous and non-western cultures. arahmaiani’s work connects patriarchy, class exploitation, and environmental destruction to global political and economic structures in ways not typical of western liberal human rights discourses. in contrast, liberal constructions of human rights tend to focus ideologically on local, non-western institutions and practices as barriers to human rights. this gives rise to significant contradictions that complicate such conceptions of human rights and their proposed solutions, as will be demonstrated with a key work from feminist scholar lucinda peach. arahmaiani’s work thus challenges western liberal human rights discourse; it urges academics and activists to redirect their myopic gaze away from the cultural idiosyncrasies of non-western nations towards the global capitalist structures that support inequality and oppression across the globe. keywords: human rights; feminism; neo-colonialism; globalization; ideology the formal dissolution of colonial rule bred high hopes for the newly independent countries, but it wasn’t long before that they realized that the west hadn’t yet given up on them—they were still tied to the west, economically, politically, ideologically. a true post-colonial age never really came. (bakshi, sengupta, & paul, 2009, p. 3) from the 1990s to the early 2000s, indonesian activist artist arahmaiani produced art installa-tions and performances that call attention to the consequences of capitalist globalization, witha focus on the devaluation and stigmatization of local, non-western identities and cultures that accompany “modernization” and “development” in nations like indonesia (bodden, 2014; rath, 2011). a devout but critical muslim, her previous work focused on patriarchy and gender inequality imposed on women through indonesia’s muslim institutions. this feminist perspective strongly informed her later work focusing on capitalist globalization, resulting in a distinct postcolonial critique that highlights the convergence of the global and the local in the exploitation of indigenous peoples. importantly, arahmaiani’s art clarifies the centrality of this relationship to human rights issues in ways that western human rights scholars have often struggled to address, largely due to the ideological nature of the liberal conception of human rights. “ideological,” in this marxist sense, refers to forms of knowledge construction that operate to hide or distort facts (mannheim, 1936). ∗with special thanks to the staff at the arbutus review for their editorial guidance, and to dr. michael bodden, whose course “human rights and cultural expression in the asia-pacific region” informed and inspired this article. 31 mailto:jruszel1980@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 such a conception of human rights emphasizes individual rights as upheld by western-derived legal structures, but typically fails to acknowledge political and economic structures that implicate the global capitalist order itself in human rights violations. a number of scholars, including hadjor (1998), lewis (1998), mertus (2004), schick (2006), and wickens and sandlin (2007), have offered critiques of the liberal conception of human rights or highlighted western human rights discourse as an ethical front for economic exploitation and even illegal wars. such critical perspectives have informed and support the discussion in this article. others, like lucinda peach (2001), have provided effective critiques of the individual rights-based, legalistic focus of liberal human rights discourse but fail to acknowledge the central role of western capitalist structures in the production of “non-western” human rights violations. a detailed critique of one of peach’s articles forms the second half of this work. her article provides a valuable example of the operation of liberal ideology in western human rights discourses, and is particularly salient in what it reveals about liberal ideology’s persistence even among certain discourses that otherwise challenge conventional liberal notions of human rights. the contrast it provides when held up against arahmaiani’s art and message, a discussion of which forms the first half of this article, is striking. indeed, arahmaiani’s art provides an unusually nuanced representation of the neo-colonial nature of capitalist globalization, one that stands in stark contrast to liberal perspectives that focus narrowly on legalistic or non-western cultural barriers to human rights, as exemplified by peach’s article. given the fact that capitalist globalization emerged directly out of a long history of violent and exploitative western colonial practices (bakshi et al., 2009), a failure to consider its neo-colonial nature and examine it as an ongoing source of human rights violations can only be understood as an ideological omission. arahmaiani’s art reverses the direction of the gaze inherent in such perspectives to challenge conventional liberal human rights discourses in important ways. through an ingenious blending of western and non-western cultural elements that reveals the neo-colonial violence inherent in globalization’s cultural and environmental impacts, arahmaiani’s art urges scholars and activists to broaden their focus to include the political and economic structures of capitalist globalization, being the underlying structural support of so many human rights violations across the globe. arahmaiani and the sacred coke bottle a central motif in arahmaiani’s work beginning in the 1990s is a coca-cola bottle, which typically occupies a prominent position in her installations and performances, and which arahmaiani employs to represent capitalist globalization, commodification, and, more specifically, americanization (rath, 2011). in many of her installations, the coca-cola bottle is located at the center of a circular formation, while other cultural and gendered representations—including, in one installation, arahmaiani herself as performer—are located on the periphery. this arrangement suggests a neo-colonial hierarchy of value, with the symbol of capitalist american culture—the coke bottle— overshadowing and devaluing non-western and indigenous cultural practices and symbols, such as indigenous rituals and dress. the installations that employ this symbolism collectively present a coherent and nuanced artistic critique of the neo-colonial nature of capitalist globalization. in arahmaiani’s 1995 installation entitled sacred coke, as discussed by rath (2011), a coca-cola bottle sits at the center of a round table, encircled by white powder suggesting cocaine. a condom has been placed around the mouth and neck of the bottle. the arrangement of this installation works allegorically to subvert hindu linga (phallus) and yoni (vulva) symbolism, where the phallic linga is typically located at the center of a circular yoni receptacle, and which traditionally represents the balance maintained between cosmic feminine and masculine energies; the sacred symbology of hinduism has been infiltrated and supplanted by a new “religious order,” the addictive “cocaine of capitalism” (p. 299) and the materialistic worship of american commercial products. the condom 32 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 atop the bottle suggests the need for non-western peoples to protect themselves from the destructive influences of these oppressive masculine forces. indeed, arahmaiani invokes this hindu symbolism specifically because it emphasizes equality between the feminine and the masculine, as her “first concern is that the world is in a state of imbalance due to gender inequality. . . in which the energy of the feminine is ‘oppressed/repressed’ by the energy of the masculine” (p. 295). a year later, arahmaiani expanded on sacred coke’s concept with handle without care (qagoma, 2018a), a performance that accompanies her installation entitled nation for sale, which similarly displays the coca-cola bottle prominently at the center of a circular formation. in handle without care, arahmaiani places herself in the installation to highlight her body and identity as gendered cultural artifacts and objects of exploitation. she employs them alongside indigenous cultural dress and symbols, islamic and indigenous chants, and symbols of capitalism and militarism to highlight the intertwining relationship of global capitalist exploitation and local patriarchal oppression in a succinct and nuanced theatrical expression. the nation for sale installation that serves as the set for handle without care consists of a room divided into two main areas: on the left side of the room, items encircle a coca-cola bottle in front of a television showing footage of indonesian slums, and on the right side of the room, rows of lit up white wooden boxes display a variety of items (rath, 2011). a large “for sale” sign hangs on the wall behind the boxes, with the arabic script for “halal”—meaning “allowed” in regard to food, and in indonesia, moral muslim acts—displayed just below it. the boxes contain a range of thematically connected items: toy guns, fragmented images of women from cut up fashion magazines, jars of soil and water, and two mirrors. these items represent different aspects of patriarchy and neo-colonialism, from the glorification and use of militarism, to the objectification of women and exploitation of natural resources. the location of the “for sale” and “halal” signs above the boxes suggests that local islamic institutions collude with global capitalism in oppressing women and in carrying out the neo-colonial economic, environmental, and military violence upon which capitalist hegemony is predicated. at the beginning of the performance, arahmaiani, donning a white veil and gown, walks slowly into the room, suggesting a ceremonial procession. she then lies down and assumes a corpse-like pose on a large rectangular box at the front of the installation alongside the other boxes. this initial performance suggests a symbolic eulogy for cultural and environmental death caused by different forms of commodification and exploitation, as well as suggesting that arahmaiani, as an indigenous woman, is but one commodity among others. in the edited film of the performance (qagoma, 2018a), fragmented images of her naked body flash on the screen, highlighting the female body as a site of the male gaze, as well as the object of patriarchal power and control in both eastern and western societies. arahmaiani then gets up and walks over to the circle surrounding the coca-cola bottle and plays synchronous muslim and indigenous chants on separate tape players placed on the ground in the circle. she then discards the white veil to reveal a seeming mishmash of indigenous and modern garb, and picks up a traditional indonesian keris knife—a symbol of masculinity—and proceeds to dance slowly in the shadows around the circle, brandishing the knife as if defending from some foreign threat. this act points to the complicity of local patriarchal agents and structures in the protection of the neo-colonial capitalist social order. after putting the keris knife down, she pulls a toy space gun out of a holster and aims it outwards, again defending against some invisible enemy. however, towards the end of the performance she aims the gun directly at the coca-cola bottle and then at a mechanical toy soldier she set crawling on the ground earlier, emphasizing their status as enemies and suggesting the backlashes that colonialism’s blatant disregard for local cultures often provokes. she also dons a pair of sunglasses halfway through the performance, which, alongside the flashy space gun, suggests a confused indigenous identity caught between tradition and modernity and wooed by the prestige of hollywoodesque narratives, fashion, and movie star 33 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 personalities. handle without care is decidedly more complex than the compact sacred coke installation. like that installation, there is a stark contrast between the core and the periphery. however, in handle without care, a more varied inclusion of non-western and western cultural elements highlights hierarchies of value, which place non-western races, religions, and cultures outside the space of value constructed by western capitalist formulations of worth and success, and in doing so permits their subjugation, exploitation, and even complete destruction. arahmaiani’s caricatured indigenous character is confined to the shadows, to a devalued non-space defined only by its peripheral relationship to the glowing prestige of the coca-cola bottle. and indeed, for much of the performance, it seems arahmaiani is diligently protecting the bottle itself, indicating the internalization of capitalist consumer values and the tragic existential implications of these values becoming central to the identities and cultures of the very non-western people who are increasingly alienated and violated by the forces of capitalist globalization. in her statement (qagoma, 2018b) on handle without care, arahmaiani clarifies these points, saying, human identity has become lost within economic calculations. we have simply become yet another commodity for sale. . . . western nations have become the ideal model, and as a result whatever originates in the west is deemed to be high quality and thus worthy of imitation. . . . people smear themselves with skin lightening creams, undergo operations to make their nose and eyes appear more western, and wear leather jackets despite the tropical heat. in short, the styles of hollywood movie stars and pop stars are imitated. . . . and so too the lifestyles. . . including food and furnishings, body language, gestures and dialects, they are all imitated. without realizing it, people truly are living a contemporary nightmare. . . . the philosophy of life has become one of extreme materialism. . . . society has become a consuming and compromising herd of docile sheep, devoid of personal opinion and individuality, receiving its daily bombardment of the advertising, material goods, and images. . . . we are all obsessed with materialism and a taste for western goods that appear to us as “sacred objects” which must be protected with guns and defended to the death. (excerpts from 2:25-8:15) arahmaiani (qagoma, 2018b) does not merely present this dark cultural transformation as a result of the influence of apolitical cultural prestige, but locates its power precisely in global political and economic structures, stating, the general western attitude is present among those who are in the position of strength, and as such are in a position to create the system. . . . the global economy is a political instrument confirmed and agreed to by many of the world’s leaders in the name of “neo-imperialism” and “neo-colonialism.” through the disintegration of local indigenous cultures and transferring of the factories of developed nations to “underdeveloped” nations, which then go on to desecrate the environment by exploiting cheap labour and manipulating the mass media in attempt [sic] to stimulate lust and passion, and to direct public opinion. . . through the establishing of “authority and control over the independence of body, soul, and mind of the weak.” in the name of profit, all is justified, all is for sale. (excerpts from 4:30-6:33) arahmaiani clearly indicts the political agents and structures of capitalist globalization in the cultural subversion and environmental destruction inherent in “modernization” and “development.” she specifically refers to the industrial outsourcing practices that increasingly became a key feature of american-led capitalist globalization following the slowdown of the postwar economic boom beginning in the 1960s (eisenstein, 2005). 34 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 interestingly, arahmaiani’s statement on handle without care and her art in general contain strong parallels with a political strategy popularized by neo-marxist activist artist guy debord (2002) called détournement and with his notion of the commodity as spectacle, as described in his treatise the society of the spectacle. the political art philosophy known as “social sculpture” that was pioneered by one of arahmaiani’s key influences, joseph beuys, was itself influenced by détournement, and so the parallels are not without a historical connection (see moore, n.d.; putri, 2019). in the society of the spectacle (2014), debord contemporizes marx’s notion of the commodity as the fundamental unit of capitalist societies to reflect its evolution into “an immense accumulation of spectacles” and a society where “everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation” (para. 1). for debord, the only way to effectively intervene in this “pseudo-world” (para. 2) and reclaim “individual autonomy and creativity from the passive ‘spectacle”’ (holt & cameron, 2010, p. 252) is by using détournement, which entails modifying popular cultural representations in order to turn “the expressions of the capitalist system against itself” (holt & cameron, 2010, p. 252). in a style very much congruent with debord’s détournement, arahmaiani appropriates the “commodity” represented by the coca-cola bottle to reveal its true operation as an agent of cultural subversion and existential alienation. however, she further clarifies its distinct operation as an agent of neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism and as a symbol of the politico-economic order behind so much cultural and environmental devastation that is carried out in the name of “modernization” and “development.” the philosophical background of arahmaiani’s work can help clarify her approach to neo-colonial capitalist exploitation. however, regardless of whether arahmaiani was consciously invoking marx or debord, nuanced artistic approaches like hers also represent a common strategy for alternative voices in politically repressive nations like indonesia, a nation that has seen the massacring of hundreds of thousands of leftist thinkers and where even today “outspoken social-democratic or socialist public figures are nonexistent on the national political stage, even at the margins” (lane, 2018, para. 5). importantly, the massacres and political repression that shaped indonesia’s contemporary political environment came about with help from the international community, and most significantly from the united states (simpson, 2015). indeed, the united states’s role as the world’s leading superpower and the geopolitical strategies it has employed to maintain and expand that power continue to weigh heavily on the lives and identities of people in such nations. while arahmaiani’s work in the 1990s demonstrated a keen awareness of this reality, she would also be personally confronted with a new phase of american neo-imperialism when her identity as a muslim woman became the cause of a violation of her human rights in the immediate post-9/11 period. in june 2002, arahmaiani was detained at the los angeles airport for traveling without a visa, while en route to canada for a series of lectures at the university of victoria (bodden, 2014). after being interrogated for over three hours, she demanded she be allowed to sleep in the hotel room she had booked for her one night layover in los angeles. immigration officials granted her request but had an immigration officer accompany her and monitor her while she slept that night. the seeming profiling and sexism and resultant violation of privacy made arahmaiani the victim of a concrete manifestation of the neo-colonial power relations she calls attention to in her art. the experience further cemented her identity as a muslim woman, the stigmatization of which she highlighted alongside the coke bottle imagery in two works she produced soon after her detention experience, entitled “we love each other” and “arahmaiani / 11 june 2002” (bodden, 2014). the fact that arahmaiani was subjected to these violations in the country where the united nations’s main headquarters are located and in a nation that has a record of employing human rights rhetoric to justify neo-imperial aggression, including the devastating illegal invasion of iraq (ben-porath, 2007; schick, 2006), points to the problematic nature of western human rights laws and discourses. even prior to her experience in los angeles, arahmaiani’s art addressed issues of oppression and 35 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 exploitation in ways that expose the ideological qualities of such laws and discourses. from a conventional, legalistic human rights perspective, arahmaiani’s experience in los angeles represents a violation of her right to privacy, as stated in article 12 of the 1948 united nations universal declaration of human rights (udhr), and likely also her right to be free from discrimination, as stated in article 2, which stipulates no individual shall be subject to discrimination based on race, colour, gender, or nationality (united nations, n.d.) and yet, while conventional human rights discourses typically employ this formalized conception of human rights to focus on human rights violations as violations of individual rights, arahmaiani’s art is poignant precisely because it complicates such discourses by emphasizing global capitalist agents and structures as an ongoing source of human rights violations, while presenting the cultural subversion implied in capitalist modernization itself as a type of violation. this astute focus on capitalist structural sources of human rights violations is lacking from conventional human rights discourses, including many otherwise “progressive” discourses that critique certain liberal conceptions of human rights. the missing coke bottle western-led human rights discourses and legal frameworks have been subject to various criticisms, the most cogent being from feminists who problematize their individualistic, male-centric, and euroamerican ethnocentric theoretical and legal biases (peach, 2001). the “universality” of the udhr has been strongly criticized for reflecting a liberal, white, patriarchal conception of universality that fails to account for cultural diversity and ignores the distinct needs and interests of women, especially women in non-western nations (peach, 2001). indeed, feminist and cultural critiques of conventional liberal human rights discourses are necessary and help move human rights discourse forward towards more gender inclusivity and cultural sensitivity. however, such otherwise progressive critiques may still fall within the basic discursive boundaries set out by liberal ideology, that is, implicitly treating the capitalist free market and “economic opportunity” as synonymous with “progress” and the “good life” or not considering that its basic tenets—freedom and equality—have always operated to mask exploitative relationships between classes and between developed core nations and underdeveloped peripheral nations (bakshi et al., 2009; brown 2009; schick, 2006). furthermore, a narrow focus on patriarchy or other local barriers to human rights in non-western nations—alongside an implicit championing of economic opportunity—may itself obscure the pervasive role of capitalist structures and social relations in human rights violations in those places. at worst, such discourses may provide a cover for the advancement of neo-colonialist projects carried out by dominant western nations and actors (bakshi et al. 2009; brown, 2009; elachyar, 2002; schick, 2006). alternatively, given the near universality of capitalist social relations and economic structures to most contemporary human rights violations, the most important target for critique and reform may not be the “patriarchal” and “conservative” cultures of asia, africa, and the middle east, as conventional human rights discourses suggest, but rather the capitalist structures of western nations that represent the ideological and economic base for capitalist globalization. arahmaiani’s art is powerful and unsettling precisely because it reverses the direction of the neo-colonial gaze of conventional human rights discourses away from “underdeveloped” nations and back on the hegemonic heart of exploitative capitalist structures that cause or support human rights violations in nations across the globe. in contrast to arahmaiani’s work, lucinda peach’s (2001) article “are women human?: the promise and perils of women’s rights as human rights” provides a striking example of how liberal ideology operates in western human rights discourse. as tomalin (2017) describes, among peach’s contributions to academia and the human rights discussion more broadly is her perspective that in many cultural contexts religion must be considered as integral to the dynamics governing inequality and discrimination, as well as the conditions for positive social change. this perspective represents a significant shift from perspectives within the fields of gender studies, law, and ethics that see 36 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 religion either as irrelevant or only as an obstacle that must be overcome. peach asserts that by presenting human rights as already coherent with certain existing local religious tenets and cultural norms, human rights awareness can be advanced in ways that avoid the typical backlash from local conservative institutions—even as it operates to transform them. she asserts culturally sensitive awareness building as an alternative to externally imposed, rigid legal human rights frameworks that may not be compatible within certain cultural contexts. peach’s perspective is, in and of itself, well founded, and it helps move the human rights discussion away from the ethnocentric and patriarchal legalistic trappings of conventional liberal human rights discourses. her work raises necessary arguments against the effectiveness and appropriateness of individual rights-based international human rights laws within certain non-western contexts. and yet, like the feminist and cultural critiques mentioned above, her focus—how she constructs her argument—also operates ideologically to mask the overarching role of capitalism in the human rights violations she describes. peach’s (2001) article is salient to this discussion for this reason, because it exemplifies the pervasive ideological operation of liberal discourse in even progressive human rights critiques. a closer examination of peach’s article will help clarify this point and allow for an important contrast with arahmaiani’s work that urges western human rights scholars to be more self-reflexive as they emphasize non-western cultural features as barriers to human rights while seeking solutions in potentially exploitative western economic structures. the main focus of peach’s (2001) article is the thai sex industry. describing the conditions surrounding thai prostitution, she briefly acknowledges the role of “dismal alternative economic opportunities to sex work” (p. 171) amidst a range of obstacles to human rights that she locates within thai governmental and cultural institutions—including families and local buddhist institutions—as well as collectivist cultures more generally. the passing nature of this acknowledgment is indicative of how peach’s overall narrative fails to consider that the decisions being made by and for women in these types of situations largely reflect compromises made to navigate impoverished conditions perpetuated by capitalist globalization. tellingly, the modern thai prostitution industry is itself a reflection of the ways capitalist globalization reinforces the unequal conditions and social relations that see people doing whatever they can just to get by and feed their families. this industry also represents a blatant form of neo-colonial exploitation, given that it has traditionally been a “market” contingent on a flow of “sex tourists” from wealthy foreign nations (baffie, 2017). certainly, such practices also reflect a convergence of the patriarchal cultures of both eastern and western nations, but to construct them as separate from the global economic structures that have largely facilitated and—to the impoverished women and families involved—necessitated them, is to obscure the structural basis of their production. in contrast to arahmaiani’s presentation of commodification as a force that intersects with local patriarchal institutions, and which necessarily extends to the commodification of women as sex objects to be consumed on a global capitalist market, the important role of commodification is missing from peach’s analysis. ideological discourses, which knowingly or unwittingly distort or hide elements of truth, inevitably contain contradictions due to their incomplete correspondence with reality. coherent with this understanding of ideology, buried within peach’s (2001) predominantly “cultural” descriptions—as well as in the details of the feminist pragmatist approach she later proposes—are clues to the structural role of global capitalism in the practices she constructs as representing “local” barriers to human rights law. for example, describing the role of the buddhist “gendered system of merit making” (p. 168), peach writes, thai daughters, especially the youngest in a family, feel a strong burden of indebtedness to take care of their parents, which they can satisfy by sending money home. . . . family members may willfully neglect to inquire how the money was earned, especially as it can be used to make merit by giving lavish donations to the local temple. . . . many families 37 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 are so pleased to receive the money that they frequently are willing to remain “willfully ignorant” about how their daughters obtained it. (p. 168) this merit system is also what leads local buddhist institutions to turn a blind eye to prostitution, as it has become a major source of financial support. peach writes, the trafficking in women results in indirectly supporting buddhist institutions. it facilitates the ability of males in an impoverished economy to become monastics rather than wage earners. . . . supported by the goods of merit making earned by the sexual labor of their sisters. (p. 169) the “impoverished economy” of thailand is seemingly a secondary factor for peach, perhaps reflecting her liberal feminist perspective that chooses to focus on the sources of gendered exploitation in overtly conservative patriarchal institutions. rather than clarifying the predominant capitalist structural influence on the practices that support thailand’s prostitution industry, peach emphasizes local patriarchal attitudes and practices and problematizes the fact that “people in thailand, as in other asian countries, are less concerned with individual rights than with social duties” (p. 169). peach’s (2001) argument is that rigid law-based human rights strategies are not appropriate in certain cultural contexts, especially in places where no legal framework or cultural basis exists that acknowledges women’s rights and where the women themselves have little to no self-awareness as rights-bearing individuals. the local thai practices that she highlights support her argument. however, they also consistently point to the ways local patriarchal institutions have coalesced with capitalism to reproduce gendered forms of exploitation, a key point that she fails to emphasize. as an alternative human rights strategy, peach asserts a “feminist pragmatist approach to women’s human rights” (p. 171) for achieving rights awareness and social transformation. this approach contains important insights and certainly warrants serious consideration. however, it is problematic in the very same ways as her descriptions of the thai prostitution industry are, demonstrating an underlying ideological consistency that ultimately limits her argument. whereas arahmaiani’s emphasis on the inherently neo-colonial nature of capitalism in non-western nations implicates all levels of capitalist globalization, peach’s failure to adequately acknowledge the exploitative structures of capitalist globalization in her analysis ultimately sees her asserting an expansion of those same exploitative structures as means of “economic empowerment” (p. 180). peach’s (2001) feminist pragmatist approach is “centrally concerned with determining what approaches are likely to be practically effective for empowering women and ending women’s oppression” (p. 172). this includes paying closer attention to the dynamics of specific cultural contexts, as they may or may not be compatible with externally imposed legal rights frameworks. rather, they may be more receptive to awareness-building approaches that are at least somewhat compatible with existing norms and institutions. peach’s approach also includes practical strategies for increasing “economic independence,” some of which are problematic in ways coherent with liberal ideology more broadly, as will be discussed further below. peach’s feminist pragmatist approach certainly stands in contrast to rigidly legalistic individual rights-based constructions of human rights. however, even as peach seeks to correct aspects of conventional liberal human rights approaches, her alternative approach continues to reductively locate problems primarily within non-western cultures, while constructing potential solutions around ideological liberal conceptions of “economic opportunity” and “economic independence” as key markers of progress. interestingly, peach (2001) briefly mentions the “globalization of capitalist exploitation of labor” (p.174) early within her outline of feminist pragmatism. later, she asserts, “basic economic empowerment and alternative modes of economic survival for the sex trade workers and their families are vitally important to ending trafficking in thailand” (p.180). the question then arises, what sort of economic empowerment and alternative modes of “economic survival” would be free from 38 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 the global capitalist exploitation of labour? would it be similar to the “economic empowerment” exemplified by america’s biggest employer, wal-mart, whose predominantly female workforce is trapped in low wage, part-time jobs with little job security and no union protections (eisenstein, 2005)? indeed, the “practical strategies” (2001, p. 180) that peach goes on to highlight as means of economic empowerment are themselves deeply problematic, in particular her inclusion of literacy programs and micro-credit, two increasingly interconnected projects that have been associated with exploitative neo-colonial capitalist structures. on the surface, both literacy programs and micro-credit—very small loans given as financial aid to impoverished communities—present as benevolent initiatives. however, both programs have been strongly criticized for their connection to exploitative neo-colonial capitalist structures (wickens & sandlin, 2007). this connection is related to their funding structures and ties to western finance; the biggest source of funding for global literacy programs is the world bank, which also supports their second biggest funder, unesco. as described by wickens and sandlin (2007), while unesco’s global literacy programs have slowly been moving away from “neocolonialist models” (p. 287) that impose western ideological and economic structures on non-western nations, both unesco and the world bank nonetheless still “faithfully reflect interests of the major industrialized countries” (stromquist, 2002, as cited by wickens & sandlin, 2007, p. 287). jones (1998) writes, “we cannot understand world bank education policy independently of its position as a bank” (as cited by wickens & sandlin, 2007, p. 288). despite ideological constructions of literacy programs as inherently well intentioned and empowering, within the echelons of capital that fund those programs, “education is not viewed as a right, a joy, a tool for liberation and empowerment, but as an investment” (punchi, citing brock-utne, 2001, p. 365). most tellingly, the world bank has worked alongside the international monetary fund to impose “structural adjustment programs” on developing nations, including thailand, that offer financial loans in exchange for a range of state-level concessions, including opening markets up to foreign investment and control, and cutting “government spending on education, health care, the environment, and price subsidies for basic necessities such as food grains and cooking oils” (cavanagh & mander, 2003, p. 19). given the world bank’s key role in these coercive measures that have demonstrably negative impacts on local peoples and cultures, the integrity and functionality of the literacy programs funded by the world bank and unesco warrant ongoing scrutiny, and certainly not tacit endorsement. furthermore, the micro-credit programs that represent a key means of connecting “investors” with this newly “liberalized” market are even more questionable, further complicating the “practicality” of peach’s recommended economic strategies for empowering impoverished women. championed as a means of economic empowerment and embraced by many ngos working in non-western nations, micro-credit has primarily resulted in the “financialization of poverty” (mader, 2015), by which wealthy investors and banks have turned poverty into a means of profit accumulation through interest on very small loans to impoverished people and communities. it has ultimately gone hand in hand with the traditional trappings of debt bondage and seen corporations colluding with states to create a new means for exploiting, disciplining, and controlling impoverished peoples (eisenstein, 2005; elyachar, 2002; mader, 2015). paraphrasing elyachar, eisenstein describes this neo-liberal project as ultimately signaling “the abandonment of any notion of genuine economic development” (eisenstein, 2005, p. 508). despite their seeming potential for helping impoverished communities, micro-credit and literacy programs currently represent powerful ideological and economic tools for neo-colonial capitalist globalization. that literacy programs and micro-credit are among the practical economic strategies that peach (2001) suggests as means of fostering “economic independence” (p. 180) is symptomatic of the ideological liberal lens that limits her argument elsewhere in her article. it seems to be the same limiting factor that allows peach to narrowly locate the source of human rights violations 39 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 in non-western patriarchal institutions while minimizing the central role of poverty and personal “economic calculations”; it allows her to focus primarily on how local institutions in such nations turn a blind eye to the exploitation of women and have operated to preclude “the presence of ‘legal consciousness’ and or ‘rights consciousness’ within [the] culture and within women in particular” (p. 176). while peach correctly asserts that this means coercive external interventions will not be effective and may even be harmful, she fails to address the overarching external influence of the deeply exploitative and equally patriarchal global capitalist economic structures and social relations that pervade every religious and cultural context she describes. this ideological blind spot in peach’s discourse ultimately sees her endorsing economic strategies that have been effectively described as representing a deepening of the very “globalization of capitalist exploitation of labor” that she herself acknowledges as a repressive force. this kind of contradiction is symptomatic of discourses that take the basic tenets of liberal capitalist ideology for granted—discourses that fail to understand labour exploitation as the rule, not merely an exception, in capitalist structures and social relations. peach’s argument thus ultimately fails to address the capitalist structural conditions of human rights violations in non-western nations. in contrast, arahmaiani presents a clear indictment of neo-colonial capitalist globalization in the violation of indigenous and non-western communities, cultures, and identities. conclusion this article has compared two very different conceptions of human rights violations. as an indigenous indonesian artist activist, arahmaiani draws from her lived experience and knowledge of local history to depict exploitative and oppressive local patriarchal institutions and practices that are deeply interconnected with global capitalist structures to reveal the neo-colonial nature of capitalist globalization. in contrast, lucinda peach constructs human rights violations in thailand as primarily stemming from patriarchal institutions and practices, in a way that obfuscates the pervasive role of global capitalist structures in those institutions and practices. in arahmaiani’s art, the coca-cola bottle, the commodity, represents capitalist globalization and is clearly depicted as central and pervasive. the glowing prestige of the commodity casts a shadow outwards in all directions, overshadowing/devaluing local traditions and identities; arahmaiani’s estranged indigenous character dances in that shadow, existentially alienated from her own identity and culture, while at the same time feeling compelled to protect the commodity and the social order it represents, and also to defend her very life on the basis of its terms. the commodity—the capitalist order itself—is understood as a form of tragic violence, a human rights violation on simultaneously immense global and intimately personal levels that transcends national boundaries. capitalism, as a source of human rights violations, is front and center in arahmaiani’s work, and indeed the installations and performances that include the coca-cola bottle imagery function specifically to reveal the destructive neo-colonial nature of capitalist globalization. in contrast, the neo-colonial shadow of capitalist globalization is cast only lightly on the background of ideological liberal human rights discourses like the one demonstrated in peach’s article, discourses that may otherwise even be considered progressive. the pervasive influence of commodification and its profound structural and cultural implications that are so central in arahmaiani’s work are all but missing from peach’s discourse. rather, peach places the spotlight on “cultural” barriers to human rights in thailand and fails to clarify that the problems she locates within non-western institutions and practices are in fact deeply interwoven with western-imposed capitalist structural and cultural elements that have infiltrated and transformed the economic and cultural landscape of places like thailand. this kind of limited focus is symptomatic of ideological liberal discourses, and gives rise to a number of contradictions in peach’s argument. these include recommending problematic neo-colonial capitalist interventions as means of “economic empowerment” and referring 40 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 to factors like personal “debt bondage” to describe the conditions of thai prostitution without mentioning that poverty in nations like thailand also reflects national debt bondage enforced by wealthy western nations through exploitative neo-colonial economic arrangements (cavanagh & mander, 2003; eisenstein, 2005). arahmaiani’s art urges human rights scholars and activists to pay closer attention to the pervasive structures that produce and perpetuate the conditions that normalize or necessitate desperate work conditions like prostitution. it challenges them to shift their gaze from a myopic focus on non-western nations and redirect it towards the source of global capitalist hegemony, which lies in the west and was forged in the united states—a nation that has itself normalized the exploitation of women within its own borders as cheap “flexible” labour (eisenstein, 2005). furthermore, while certain conventional human rights discourses may highlight the importance of respecting cultural differences, arahmaiani’s work goes further to urge a broadening of the definition of human rights to include culture itself as something that can be subject to egregious human rights violations. the latter specifically implicates capitalist globalization and the transnational corporations that operate with impunity in nations like indonesia, even as they devastate local cultures and natural environments. arahmaiani’s bold artistic statements represent a deep yearning for the reawakening of nonwestern cultures and identities in the face of profit-based globalization that devalues and seeks to subvert all the “non-rational” and non-western elements that lie outside its economic calculations of value and success. her message is an urgent call to western scholars and activists to wake up from their liberal slumber. it represents a plea for them to shine a light on the neo-colonial underbelly of capitalist globalization, to lift it from the ideological shadows of their cultural analyses and place it at the sacred center of their prestigious circle of attention, where it belongs. 41 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019560 references baffie, j. 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(2007;). literacy for what? literacy for whom? the politics of literacy education and neocolonialism in unescoand world bank-sponsored literacy programs. adult education quarterly (american association for adult and continuing education), 57(4), 275-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713607302364 43 https://youtu.be/gdtsziznhb8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etq4ackxxue&t=361s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etq4ackxxue&t=361s https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/33489 https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117806066709 https://doi.org/10.14452/mr-067-07-2015-11_3 https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_296-1 https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_296-1 https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713607302364 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 immature pelvic growth and obesity: a biocultural analsysis of risks associated with adolescent pregnancy in the united states emma ronayne∗ emmaronayne305@gmail.com abstract adolescent pregnancy in youth aged 10-19 years is associated with higher rates of adverse outcomes for both the mother and infant than adult pregnancy. obesity and immature pelvic growth compound the associated risks of adolescent pregnancy. black and indigenous youth in the united states (u.s.) experience disproportionately high rates of adolescent pregnancy and obesity. this research project aimed to answer two questions: (1) what are the contributing risks of pelvic immaturity and obesity on adverse outcomes in adolescent pregnancy, especially in the u.s.?; and (2) why are black and indigenous youth at particular risk of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the u.s.? in this research project, i have conducted statistical analyses of the biological and social factors associated with adolescent pregnancy using the cdc wonder database, and i have used case studies and ethnographic accounts to gain insight on black and indigenous youth experiences with adolescent pregnancy. in this paper i examine the racial disparities in rates of adolescent pregnancy, obesity, and adverse outcomes in the u.s. my paper contributes research to a current public health issue by using an integrative biocultural approach. keywords: adolescent pregnancy; pelvic immaturity; obesity; obstetrical dilemma; health care disparities note this article is also archived as an unpublished honours thesis in the university of victoria’s research and learning repository, dspace: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca ∗with special thanks to the jamie cassels undergraduate research award, dr. helen kurki, who acted as jcura research advisor and honours faculty mentor, and dr. lisa mitchell for her support and guidance in the anthropology honours program. 44 mailto:emmaronayne305@gmail.com https://dspace.library.uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 high rates of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the united states (u.s.) are cause for concern. globally, the leading cause of death in adolescent girls aged 15–19 years is complications in pregnancy and childbirth (who, 2020c, key facts). the term adolescence is defined by the world health organization as the period between 10 and 19 years of age (2018). although rates in the u.s. have dropped in recent years (e.g., 7% decline in adolescents aged 15–19 years from 2016 to 2017), adolescent pregnancy is still more common in the u.s. than anywhere else in the global north, and racial disparities persist (cdc, 2019a). risk of adverse outcomes is increased when other health conditions, such as obesity, are present, and rates of adolescent and childhood obesity in the u.s. decrease with improved living conditions and increased level of education (cdc, 2019b). high rates of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the u.s. are particularly exacerbated in black and indigenous adolescents (who, 2020c; who, n.d.). although biological risks are involved, sociocultural factors compound those risks, resulting in higher rates of adolescent pregnancy, obesity, and adverse outcomes in pregnancy (stone, 2016). the main evolutionary hypothesis for human pelvic morphology, the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis, posits that bipedalism and increasing brain size in our evolutionary history led to increased risk of obstructed labour (i.e., infant cannot physically fit through the birth canal) (washburn, 1960). however, causes of maternal mortality are not only, or even predominantly, related to pelvic morphology (i.e., cephalopelvic disproportion, or misfit of the infant head and maternal birth canal, in labour) (stone, 2016). the role of female pelvic morphology in maternal morbidity continues to be challenged in emerging literature (dunsworth, 2018; stone, 2016). although the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis may explain some complications experienced in early adolescent pregnancy and childbirth, it does not explain all challenges. rather, there are multiple “obstetrical dilemmas” or factors that may cause complications in childbirth, many of which may be preventable (stone, 2016). this study examines whether pelvic size (the original obstetrical dilemma hypothesis) in part explains adverse outcomes in early adolescent pregnancy but also whether other biological and sociocultural factors contribute to challenging childbirth in both younger and older adolescents at different stages of pelvic immaturity at the time of pregnancy. this research aimed to answer two questions: (1) what are the contributing risks of pelvic immaturity and obesity on adverse outcomes in adolescent pregnancy, especially in the u.s.?; and (2) why are black and indigenous youth at particular risk of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the u.s.? the study data for the quantitative analysis are derived from the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) national vital statistics reports and cdc wonder births (natality) and infant death databases. using filters in the databases, data have been sorted by maternal single race (african american or black and american indian or alaska native only) and maternal age. in order to highlight increased risk in adolescent pregnancy, adult women (≥20 years) have been analyzed for comparative purposes. for numerical analyses, i have produced graphs in microsoft excel and performed one-way anova (analysis of variance) tests to highlight mean values that differ significantly (i.e., obstetrician estimated [oe] gestational age, birth weight, and pre-pregnancy body mass index [bmi]) between racialized identities. ethnographic accounts of black and indigenous experiences with adolescent pregnancy are reviewed qualitatively to examine risk in these groups, given their high maternal and infant mortality rates. while the cdc wonder databases use the terms black or african american and american indian or alaska native, i instead address these specific racialized groups using the terms black and indigenous to maintain consistency with the american anthropological association (antrosio & han, 2015) and the association of indigenous anthropologists (n.d.). this research is significant in that it contributes to the current public health issues of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the u.s. from a unique biocultural perspective and highlights racial disparities in the u.s. health care system and adolescent pregnancy. this study works to break 45 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 down racial barriers and is important for public health researchers and black and indigenous adolescent girls in the u.s. black women’s experiences with adolescent pregnancy, obesity, and maternal mortality in the u.s. have gained growing research interest and media attention in recent years, but there has been comparatively less focus on indigenous experiences. this essay aims to bring attention to both indigenous and black adolescent pregnancy and to highlight personal experiences with the u.s. health care system and adolescent pregnancy. background adolescent public health issues in the u.s. in the u.s., adolescent pregnancy is viewed as a public health, medical, social, and economic problem (barcelos, 2014). this originates from the notion that pregnancy is a “choice,” and therefore female individuals who make good choices are those who have “earned the right to exercise choice properly by having enough [social and economic capital] to be a legitimate and proper mother” (i.e., not adolescents) (solinger, 2005, as cited in barcelos, 2014, p. 479). this belief normalizes childbearing in financially stable, married, heterosexual women who are old enough to avoid being called “teen” mothers (barcelos, 2014), which is an example of stratified reproduction, where adolescents are devalued and stigmatized in reproduction (greil et al., 2011). those people who consider adolescent pregnancy a “problem” claim there are consequences of early childbearing including “poverty, child abuse, incarceration, and physical and mental health problems” (hoffman, 2008, as cited in barcelos, 2014, p. 479). however, some studies have found positive effects of early pregnancy, including improved self-esteem, pride in motherhood, and a “sense of direction and purpose” (wilson & huntington, 2006, as cited in barcelos, 2014, p. 479). problematizing adolescent pregnancy stigmatizes adolescent reproduction and “reinforces and reproduces existing health and social inequalities” (barcelos, 2014, p. 486). similar stigmas exist around adolescent obesity and obesity in general, where individuals are treated negatively as a socially acceptable form of discrimination (puhl & heuer, 2010). stigmatization of overweight and obese individuals can have serious physiological and psychological health risks, therefore making it an issue of social justice and, in the context of adolescent pregnancy, reproductive justice (puhl & heuer, 2010). weight stigma is defined as the “societal devaluation of a person because he or she [is overweight or obese]” and occurs in children as young as 3 years of age (pont et al., 2017, p. 2). weight stigma poses a serious threat to quality of health care, where preventative medical interventions are less common in overweight and obese individuals, and weight acts as a barrier to health care services (puhl & heuer, 2010). children and adolescents are vulnerable to weight stigma from peers at school, family members, teachers, health care practitioners and society (e.g., social media) (pont et al., 2017). weight stigma may contribute to behaviours such as binge eating, social isolation, avoidance of seeking health care, decreased physical activity, and increased weight gain (pont et al., 2017). these behaviours may worsen obesity and create further barriers to a healthy lifestyle (pont et al., 2017). rather than stigmatizing and devaluing overweight and obese youth, supporting them with positivity and inclusivity will boost both their mental and physical health (pont et al., 2017). the only way to positively support overweight and obese children and adolescents is to “recognize, address, and advocate against weight stigma” (pont et al., 2017, p. 2). multiple obstetrical dilemmas the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis posits that balancing bipedalism and increasing brain size across our evolutionary history has led to increased risk of obstructed labour as a by-product (i.e., cephalopelvic disproportion) (washburn, 1930). however, this hypothesis places blame on the 46 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 female body for not being equipped to birth safely while other researchers have pointed to societal and cultural factors that may shape obstetric risk (stone, 2016). one argument is that humans have created a “childbirth dilemma” where human lifestyles and birthing practices make childbirth more difficult and dangerous than it is in other species (dunsworth, 2018). this “dilemma” may include young age at pregnancy, where maternal pelvic bone growth is incomplete, and high instances of diabetes, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, all of which encourage macrosomia (i.e., very large fetal size), thereby increasing risk of adverse outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth (dunsworth, 2018). still, pelvic size may in part explain challenges in early adolescent pregnancy (≤15 years), where the pelvic bones have not finished growing (i.e., pelvic immaturity). previous studies have set the age of pelvic maturity at 16 years, where older adolescent mothers are 16–19 years of age and younger adolescents are 10–15 years (haeri & baker, 2012). although most girls’ pelves are fully developed by 16 years, this may not be the case in girls with a later age at menarche, the age at which a female first menstruates (who, 2004). earlier age at menarche is associated with both reduced pelvic dimensions relative to completed growth in adulthood and earlier age at first pregnancy (who, 2004). because the pelvic bones can continue to grow for 2 more years post-menarche, pregnancy at this time can have serious risks, including fetal growth restriction and a higher incidence of caesarean section (brosens et al., 2017; haeri & baker, 2012; wells, 2017; who, 2004). in the u.s., black adolescent girls have a significantly earlier average age of menarche (chumlea et al., 2003), while non-hispanic white girls tend to have the latest average age of menarche (anderson & must, 2005). earlier age at menarche in affluent countries is most common among impoverished girls (krieger, 2015), thereby supporting further racial disparities in the u.s. while pelvic immaturity may impact adolescent pregnancy outcomes, adolescent obesity also has a significant negative impact on birth outcomes (haeri & baker, 2012). obesity is a result of genetic, cultural, environmental, and evolutionary factors (heitmann et al., 2012). body weight is phenotypically plastic in response to genetic and environmental influences, meaning that it will fluctuate depending on living conditions and resource availability. high bmi and obesity in pregnancy are associated with challenging childbirth and postnatal complications such as lipid-poor breastmilk that contributes to the transgenerational perpetuation of obesity (heitmann et al., 2012). obesity is defined as a bmi over 30, where excess accumulated body fat has the potential to cause further health complications (who, 2020a). in their study on estimating the impact of pelvic immaturity and young maternal age on fetal malposition, haeri and baker (2012) conclude that pelvic immaturity alone does not explain adverse outcomes in adolescent pregnancy and that high bmi or obesity have a significant impact on pregnancy outcomes. though obesity is often associated with macrosomia, low birth weight and preterm birth are also common in adolescent pregnancy (haeri & baker, 2012). in the u.s., obesity prevalence among adolescents aged 12–19 years is 20.6% (cdc, 2019b). rates of childhood and adolescent obesity decrease with increased level of education of the household head (cdc, 2019b, obesity and socioeconomic status). wells (2017, p. 716) describes the “new” obstetrical dilemma as a result of the “double burden of malnutrition and the global obesity epidemic,” where obesity in pregnancy and short maternal stature increase risk of gestational diabetes, contributing to higher incidence of macrosomic offspring. the double burden of malnutrition is defined as undernutrition in childhood and overnutrition in adulthood as a result of rapid urbanization and globalization, leading to malnourished, underweight children and a significant proportion of the adult population being in the overweight or obese bmi categories (kolcic, 2012). the double burden of malnutrition is an issue in more than half of all malnourished households in the u.s. (bowers et al., 2018). there tends to be a close relationship between maternal body mass, specifically pre-pregnancy weight or bmi, and neonatal size: high bmi or obese women tend 47 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 to develop very large neonates despite skeletal size, increasing risk of cephalopelvic disproportion, obstructed labour, and other obstetric complications (papazian, 2017). socioeconomic circumstances not only compound biological risks in adolescent pregnancy but can also place black and indigenous youth at increased risk for adolescent pregnancy and obesity (who, 2020c; who, n.d.). these factors may include income inequality, poor living conditions, poverty, low levels of education, and limited access to health care services (vilda et al., 2019). however, socioeconomic conditions alone do not explain disproportionate rates of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in black and indigenous adolescents. the mistreatment of certain racialized identities places vulnerable individuals at increased risk without adequate support (castro & savage, 2019). although the cdc (2019c) has recently begun to acknowledge racial disparities in public health data, previous studies ignoring those disparities only reinforce their continuation in the u.s. the political, economic and social climate for black and indigenous adolescents in the u.s. “has been– and continues to be–a negative one” (oxley & weekes, 1997, p. 169). these sociocultural and political factors “compromise the pelvis and the birthing process” and must be further examined and improved (stone, 2016, p. 152). definitions of health, maternal mortality and sociocultural factors while assessing adolescent pregnancy risks and outcomes, it is important to understand what constitutes a “healthy” pregnancy from a medical perspective. the new york state department of health (2006) defines a healthy pregnancy as one that lasts 9 full months; a pregnancy that results in a healthy baby (or babies), with no severe birth defects, and who weigh at least 2500 grams; and a pregnancy in which the mother feels well throughout the entire gestation period, other than manageable discomforts (morning sickness, etc.). throughout pregnancy, expectant mothers are encouraged to take prenatal vitamins, stop tobacco, drug, and alcohol use, eat a balanced diet, gain the right amount of weight, take prenatal classes, exercise regularly, and attend prenatal appointments with a physician or midwife (new york state department of health, 2006). lists of behaviours that pregnant persons are encouraged to do throughout and prior to pregnancy are extensive and not only assume a certain lifestyle of pregnant individuals but incorrectly assume that all pregnant individuals have the same access to resources and services. adolescent pregnancies are more likely to occur among girls living in poverty with limited education and employment opportunities (who, 2020c). biological consequences of adolescent pregnancy include health risks to both mothers and infants while social consequences may vary enormously (who, 2020c). for example, in some parts of the world it is not only common but expected that first pregnancy will occur in adolescence (who, 2004). however, social consequences of adolescent pregnancy may include “stigma, rejection or violence by partners, parents and peers,” dropping out of school, and “[jeopardization of] girls’ future education and employment opportunities” (who, 2020c, para. 10). the world health organization defines maternal mortality as mothers dying as a result of “complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth” (who, 2019, para. 8). obstetric violence and obstetric racism are sociocultural concepts central to understanding pregnancy outcomes (perera et al., 2018). obstetric violence is defined as “the appropriation of [female bodies] and reproductive processes by health personnel resulting in a loss of autonomy and ability to decide freely about their bodies and sexuality, negatively impacting their quality of life” (república bolivariana de venezuela, 2007, as cited in castro & savage, 2019, p. 123). obstetric violence may be increased in lowor lower-income settings and toward mothers of particular racialized identities “exposed to institutional and professional power characterized by oppressive and domineering behaviours” (jardim & modina, 2018, p. 2). obstetric violence is used as a tool of reproductive governance: control of reproductive behaviours where health professionals produce “moral regimes”– 48 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 privileged standards of morality used to govern others–over those seeking reproductive health care (morgan & roberts, 2011, p. 242). individuals of low socioeconomic status often receive lowerquality health care where inequalities between public and private health care are greater and more damaging (castro & savage, 2019). obstetric racism is “an extension of racial stratification and is registered both from the historically constituted stigmatization of [visible minority females] and from the recollections of interactions with physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals during and after pregnancy” (davis, 2018, p. 561). the mistreatment of female individuals in maternal health care based on racialized identities is appallingly widespread and has serious health consequences. black and indigenous females are two to three times more likely to experience maternal mortality than are white females in the u.s. (rabin, 2019), which is an example of a health care disparity: “differences in the quality of health care that are not due to access-related factors or clinical needs, preferences or appropriateness of intervention” (dehlendorf et al., 2010, p. 212). most causes of maternal mortality are preventable or treatable complications, while others are preexisting and may worsen in pregnancy (who, 2019, para. 8). major complications that account for most cases of maternal mortality include haemorrhage, infections, preeclampsia or eclampsia, unsafe abortion, and complications in delivery (who, 2019). healthcare disparities in reproductive healthcare must be explored through a reproductive justice lens. reproductive justice is defined by sistersong (2020, para. 1) as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” legalising reproductive health care services and resources in the u.s. is not enough to protect reproductive rights as many individuals cannot access services due to physical and economic barriers (sistersong, 2020). lastly, stratified reproduction is the concept that “some categories of people are empowered to reproduce and nurture, while others are disempowered” (ginsburg & rapp, 1995, p. 3), which is relevant to black and indigenous adolescents in the u.s., who are stigmatized in reproduction. biological risks of adolescent pregnancy adolescent pregnancy is associated with higher risk of adverse outcomes for several reasons. while pregnancy involves biological risk at all maternal ages, adolescent pregnancies place mothers at increased risk for eclampsia, puerperal endometritis (i.e., uterine infections), and systemic infections (i.e., of the bloodstream), and infants at increased risk for low birth weight, preterm delivery, and severe neonatal conditions (who, 2020c, key facts). high pre-pregnancy bmi is associated with increased incidence of caesarean section in adolescent pregnancy specifically (haeri & baker, 2012), which may also be due in part to immature muscular development, as well as immature pelvic development. failure of an infant to progress through the birth canal is often due to insufficient muscular force rather than poor fit. pelvic floor muscles may be weakened in females with higher bmi or obesity, which can make childbirth more difficult (childbirth connections, 2020). similarly, researchers da costa et al. (2004), in their study of uterine volume in adolescents, found that higher rates of adverse outcomes for pregnancy and delivery in younger adolescents may be due to immaturity of the female genital tract (e.g., limited uterine volume). another example of a biological immaturity that may impact adolescent pregnancy outcomes is limited available energy in the maternal body, which must be allocated between maternal growth and fetal growth (i.e., reproduction) (hill, 1993). when an adolescent invests energy in pregnancy, fetal development takes away from energy which would otherwise be used to continue maternal development, thereby limiting both fetal and maternal growth. adverse outcomes in adolescent pregnancy may include caesarean section, maternal mortality or morbidity, infant mortality or morbidity, short gestational age (preterm birth), and low birth weight (brosens et al., 2017; haeri & baker, 2012). a high rate of surgical delivery and maternal mortality 49 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 in a young population is particularly concerning. it is important to understand that, to a certain extent, a bigger baby is a healthier baby. average birth weight in u.s. adolescent pregnancies is over 2500 grams (cdc wonder, 2019). however, occurrences of low birth weight and preterm birth may be due in part to adolescents having difficulty gaining enough weight in pregnancy. this is especially an issue if mothers are very young (≤15 years) and still growing, which would limit available energy for gestational weight gain (haeri & baker, 2012). comparatively, a baby that is too large, one that is macrosomic, may be dangerous to deliver. fetal head position also plays a role in adolescent childbirth outcomes, and malposition (i.e., abnormal position of the fetal head in relation to the maternal pelvis and birth canal) is often determined by maternal bmi, where a higher bmi indicates higher risk of fetal malposition and obstructed labour (haeri & baker, 2012; health education to villages, 2020). both high and low bmi can cause complications in adolescent pregnancy. low pre-pregnancy bmi and short maternal stature in pregnancy can cause growth restrictions and result in caesarean section, preterm birth, or low birth weight infants (zeteroglu et al., 2005). obesity is ultimately a result of globalization, where people in both affluent and developing nations increasingly have access to high-caloric, low-nutrient foods (lev-ran, 2001). obesity or high bmi in adolescence leads to increased associated medical conditions and complications in pregnancy, including gestational diabetes, macrosomia, and surgical delivery (haeri & baker, 2012). obesity and high bmi may result from biological factors, specifically genetic makeup; behaviour, including gestational weight gain, postpartum weight retention, and low levels of physical activity; and social determinants of health, including psychosocial stressors and socioeconomic position (agyemang & powell-wiley, 2013). it is important to note that bmi calculations do not consider healthy (lean) fat or muscle mass and can therefore categorize individuals with high levels of muscle mass as overweight or obese. the use of bmi can be particularly problematic as an indicator of obesity in children and adolescents as height, level of sexual maturity, and weight vary and fluctuate throughout development (cdc, n.d.). materials and methods quantitative analysis i used the u.s. cdc national vital statistics reports (2011–2018) and the cdc wonder births (natality) and infant death datasets to analyze adolescent pregnancy outcomes. the data have been sorted by maternal single race (african american or black and american indian or alaska native) and maternal age. maternal age groups were established as <15–19 years, 20–34 years, and 35–44 years to allow for comparisons among adolescents, young adults, and older adults. to maintain consistency with previous studies, age of pelvic maturity is set to 16 years (haeri & baker, 2012). pregnancy outcomes and risks are assessed through the examination of mean oe gestational age (weeks), mean birth weight (grams), and mean pre-pregnancy bmi. maternal racial groupings are used as reported in the databases, but these reflect self-reported racialized identities; races are not valid biological entities for grouping humans (goodman, 2017). the data were examined visually using graphs to look for patterns across groups and a one-way anova to test mean value differences between racial groups. qualitative analysis to contextualize the results of the quantitative data analysis, ethnographic accounts depicting black and indigenous adolescent experiences with pregnancy and childbirth in the u.s. were examined qualitatively. these include black adolescent experiences with pregnancy and health care (daley et al., 2017; dienes et al., 2004; oxley & weekes, 1997), and indigenous adolescent experi50 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 ences with pregnancy (liu et al., 2004). although health care disparities in adolescent pregnancies in the u.s. are not explained by socioeconomic status alone, living conditions, access to health care, poverty and lack of education can increase risk. a literature review of recent publications related to my research interests revealed the ethnographic accounts used in qualitative analysis. narrative analyses of ethnographic accounts were performed to focus this research on the stories and experiences of black and indigenous adolescent mothers. addressing research questions my research questions require an integrative, two-subfield approach to answer thoroughly: (1) what are the contributing risks of pelvic immaturity and obesity on adverse outcomes in adolescent pregnancy, especially in the u.s.?; and (2) why are black and indigenous youth at particular risk of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the u.s.? maternal and infant mortality and severe morbidity are prevalent concerns today that require a biocultural perspective to understand, as many causes are preventable conditions and complications. from a biological anthropology perspective, i am using an evolutionary approach to examine the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis, the evolution of obesity in the u.s., and the biological risks associated with adolescent pregnancy, such as pelvic immaturity and obesity. while the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis blames the female body for childbirth complications, maternal mortality and adverse outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth cannot be minimized without first acknowledging both the sociocultural factors and preventable biological factors contributing to difficult childbirth (dunsworth, 2018). the methods used address the research questions by examining adolescent pregnancy rates in the u.s. by maternal single race. contributing risk factors were assessed through both statistical and ethnographic analyses. pelvic immaturity was not an isolated variable in this study and was instead examined through previous literature (haeri & baker, 2012). maternal bmi was included in statistical analysis as an isolated variable in both adolescent and adult pregnancy. finally, the research question asking why black and indigenous youth are at increased risk of adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the u.s. is addressed through ethnographic data and sociocultural studies examining relevant risk factors. results quantitative results black and indigenous females experienced disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality, infant mortality, and adverse pregnancy outcomes from 2011–2016. these risks are heightened in adolescent pregnancies. black and indigenous females are 3.3 and 2.3 times more likely, respectively, to experience a pregnancyor childbirth-related death than are white females in the u.s. (table 1). table 1. 2011–2016 maternal mortality ratios per 100,000 live births by maternal single race. maternal single race deaths per 100,000 live births black non-hispanic 42.4 american indian/alaska native non-hispanic 30.4 white non-hispanic 13.0 table 2 shows racial disparities in infant mortality ratios by maternal race, where infant mortality is the death of an infant before completing its first year of age (who, 2020e). black mothers’ infants are 2.2 times more likely to die shortly after childbirth, and indigenous mothers’ infants are 1.8 51 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 times more likely to die than are white mothers’ infants. figure 1 breaks infant mortality down by maternal age group and single race in a visual manner. all three racial groups studied experience the highest rates of infant mortality in adolescence (<15–19 years). black adolescents are the highest risk group for infant mortality, and black mothers maintain the highest rates of infant mortality in all age groups. indigenous females experience the next highest rates of infant mortality, while white females have the lowest rates. table 2. 2017 infant mortality rate per 1000 live births by maternal single race. maternal single race deaths per 100,000 live births black non-hispanic 10.54 american indian/alaska native non-hispanic 8.63 white non-hispanic 4.83 figure 1. 2017 infant mortality rates per 1000 live births by maternal age and single race. the cdc datasets used define a full-term pregnancy to be one that lasts at least 39 weeks. figure 2 shows mean oe gestational age for adolescent and adult pregnancies by racial and age groups. adolescent pregnancies tend to have shorter gestational length, while females aged 20–34 years have the longest pregnancies. mean gestational age drops significantly in females aged 35–44 years. black females experience the shortest pregnancies while white females have the longest gestation, except for a brief cross–over with indigenous females in adolescence. it is important to note the minor scale increments of this figure. although the increments are small, a slightly longer or shorter gestation can have significant impacts on fetal development. it is also worth noting that none of the average gestational ages displayed in table 3 surpass 39 weeks. this does not mean that pregnancies in the u.s. are never full-term, but that the average pregnancy does not last a full 39 weeks. 52 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 figure 2. 2018 oe gestational age by maternal age and single race. table 3 summarizes mean oe gestational age, mean birth weight, and mean pre-pregnancy bmi in adolescent black, white, and indigenous mothers. a bmi 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, 25.0 to 29.9 is overweight, and over 30.0 is obese (who, 2020d). table 3. summary statistics for mean oe gestational age, mean birth weight and mean pre-pregnancy bmi in black, white, and indigenous adolescent mothers, aged <15 years and 15–19 years. maternal single rac american indian or black or african american white alaska native american maternal age (years) < 15 15–19 < 15 15–19 < 15 15–19 sample size (n) 30 3,299 600 41,524 995 124,443 mean oe gestational age (weeks) 38.30 38.56 38.02 38.20 38.17 38.51 standard deviation 2.31 2.07 2.83 2.61 2.51 2.15 mean birth weight (grams) 3211.67 3254.33 2980.76 2997.12 3090.72 3194.36 standard deviation 560.83 565.44 602.73 596.02 571.43 557.62 mean pre-pregnancy bmi 24.79 25.80 24.63 25.72 23.53 25.32 standard deviation 4.10 5.85 5.19 6.39 4.42 5.96 an anova demonstrates significant differences among adolescents < 15 years between racial groups for mean birth weight (f = 7.80, p =< 0.001, df = 2), and mean pre-pregnancy bmi (f = 10.7, p =< 0.000, df = 2), and among adolescents 15–19 years for mean oe gestational age (f = 295, p = 0.000, df = 2), mean birth weight (f = 1941, p =< 0.000, df = 2), and mean pre-pregnancy bmi (f = 74.0, p =< 0.000, df = 2). anova results demonstrate differences that are not statistically significant among adolescents < 15 years between racial groups for mean oe 53 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 gestational age (f = 0.683, p = 0.505, df = 2). the post-hoc analyses (table 4) show that for the < 15 years group, only black and white adolescents differ for oe gestational age, birth weight, and pre-pregnancy bmi. in the 15–19 years group, gestational age differs between all groups except indigenous and white adolescents. birth weight differs between all groups, and for pre-pregnancy weight, differences are found between all groups except indigenous and black adolescents. table 4. tukey hsd post-hoc test p-values and 95% confidence intervals (ci) for mean oe gestational age, mean birth weight, and mean pre-pregnancy bmi in adolescents by age and racial group. groups for comparison native american or native american or black or african alaska native vs. black alaska native vs. american vs. white or african american white maternal age (years) < 15 15–19 < 15 15–19 < 15 15–19 mean oe gestational age p-value 0.837 <0.000 0.962 0.425 0.512 <0.000 95% ci − 1.43 − 0.456 − 1.27 − 0.144 − 0.169 0.280 0.874 0.264 1.01 0.044 0.469 0.340 mean birth weight p-value 0.087 <0.000 0.502 <0.000 <0.001 <0.000 95% ci −487 − 281 − 374 − 83.4 39.3 190 24.9 − 233 132 − 36.5 181 205 mean prepregnancy bmi p-value 0.982 0.746 0.319 <0.000 <0.000 <0.000 95% ci − 2.23 − 0.337 − 3.31 − 0.731 − 1.67 − 0.481 1.91 0.177 0.788 − 0.229 − 0.529 − 0.320 black and indigenous adolescent experiences with pregnancy adolescent pregnancy in the u.s. is often associated with high levels of stress around acceptance and disclosure of pregnancy. emotion and stress can shape labour outcomes and thus put young girls at greater risk of morbidity and caesarean section (rutherford et al., 2019). understanding black and indigenous adolescents’ experiences with pregnancy and the health care system can contribute to our understanding of increased risk associated with early pregnancies. literature on adolescent pregnancies in the u.s. has tended to focus on black females, but recent research shows that indigenous females have similar experiences with early pregnancy. while most causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in adolescent populations are preventable (daley et al., 2017), rates of regular checkups and preventative health care visits in adolescents are below 50% in the u.s., with teens from low-income families and those who are uninsured being the least likely to have annual wellness visits or checkups (irwin et al., 2009, as cited in daley et al., 2017, p. 71). an ethnographic account of black teen experiences with health care in eastern north carolina emphasized the need to provide “culturally sensitive and competent care” (dienes et al., 2004, p. 346), especially in cases of teens seeking help with sexual health. oxley and weekes’ (1997) ethnographic accounts of black adolescent pregnancies in the u.s. reveal difficulties in disclosing pregnancy status to significant people in their lives and experiencing pregnancy in addition to everyday stressors and activities. confusion, worry, and fear of rejection by family and friends were all associated with the initial acceptance and disclosure of pregnancy (oxley & weekes, 1997). pregnant adolescents reported different experiences of pregnancy: for some, it was viewed as a step toward having a more mature role in life, which brought greater levels of satisfaction; for others, attempting to handle normal adolescent societal roles as well as a new 54 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 pregnant and maternal role caused feelings of distress (oxley & weekes, 1997). similarly, an ethnographic account in new mexico and arizona (liu et al., 1994) found that indigenous adolescents experienced uncertainty and fear of disclosure in pregnancy. pregnancies were generally unplanned and tended to cause distress for adolescents, as well as high rates of suicidal thoughts (liu et al., 1994). many indigenous adolescents experienced challenges accessing care due to various barriers, including transportation, family problems, missing school, and stress, resulting in inadequate or merely intermediate prenatal care (liu et al., 1994). although childbearing among southwestern american indigenous adolescents is fairly “common and generally accepted by adult family members,” reports of distress and suicidal thoughts are concerning, especially where suicidal thoughts may lead to dangerous behaviour (liu et al., 1994, p. 340). the associated stress of adolescent pregnancy compounds other sociocultural and biological risks, making childbearing a dangerous endeavour for youth in the u.s. receiving adequate health care and support tends to be difficult for pregnant individuals due to various physical and social barriers. pregnant adolescents are vulnerable and in need of adequate care, supporting the claim that appropriate health care is required to mitigate risks in pregnancy. discussion racial and age-based disparities in health care and pregnancy outcomes racial and age-based disparities in health care and pregnancy outcomes are related to reproductive justice: who is socially empowered vs. who is devalued and stigmatized in reproduction (sistersong, 2020). in the u.s., non-hispanic white adult women are valued in reproduction while black and indigenous women and adolescents are stigmatized (barcelos, 2014). social, political, economic, and environmental factors and conditions compound racial disparities in health care (vilda et al., 2019). for example, maternal mortality and morbidity are elevated among indigenous females in general, but the greatest health care disparities exist in rural areas (kozhimannil, 2020). obstetric racism may affect any racial group, but black and indigenous individuals are particularly targeted in the u.s., while obstetric violence targets adolescents, obese individuals and certain racialized identities (brunnersum, 2019; davis, 2018; jardim & modena, 2018; puhl & heuer, 2010). although maternal mortality ratios have decreased elsewhere in the world, rates in the u.s. have climbed in recent years, despite it being an affluent nation (cdc, 2019c). racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes persist even in states with the lowest maternal mortality rates and among individuals with higher levels of education (peterson et al., 2019). in one study, black women who had completed college-level education or higher still had a maternal mortality ratio 1.6 times that of white females with an education level below a high school diploma (peterson et al., 2019). according to mclemore (2019), “factors that typically protect people during pregnancy,” such as power, high levels of education, financial stability, public attention, high-quality health care, and access to services, “are not protective for black [or indigenous individuals]” (para. 1). adolescent pregnancy is a global issue affecting nearly 13 million girls each year (who, 2020c), with the u.s. being one of the seven leading countries in adolescent pregnancy rates (unfpa, 2015). education is an age-based disparity affecting adolescents in reproductive health care. while a lower level of education is associated with increased rates of adolescent pregnancy, education specifically related to contraception and reproduction is also very important. for example, in some parts of the u.s., abstinence-only sexual education is taught to adolescents, thereby leaving vulnerable individuals with no knowledge of keeping themselves safe in sex practices (stanger-hall & hall, 2011). practicing abstinence or proper use of contraceptive methods are the only ways to prevent adolescent pregnancy (unfpa, 2015). going forward, i emphasize the need for meeting adolescent 55 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 contraceptive needs in the u.s. and providing access to adequate education around safe sex practices and the use of contraception. adolescent pregnancy is a prevalent issue in the u.s. which requires further attention and resources. adverse outcomes in adolescent pregnancy are not reducible to pelvic immaturity alone this examination of the literature and data draws five points: (1) severe maternal morbidity and mortality in adolescent pregnancy are largely caused by preventable factors and complications other than obstructed labour; (2) young adolescents (< 15 years) face high risk of adverse outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth, which may be due in part to pelvic immaturity and associated complications; (3) adolescent obesity increases risk associated with pregnancy and childbirth; (4) in the u.s., black and indigenous adolescents experience disproportionate rates of pregnancy and obesity and thus are at a higher risk for adverse outcomes in pregnancy; and (5) sociocultural factors contributing to increased risk of adolescent pregnancy and obesity compound biological immaturities and health conditions that place adolescents at greater risk for adverse outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth. while biological immaturities, such as pelvic immaturity, contribute to adverse outcomes, adolescent pregnancy and the associated racial disparities in health care in the u.s. are “complex national [problems]” (cdc, 2019c, para. 3). to improve issues of adolescent pregnancy, obesity and racial disparities in health care and pregnancy outcomes, we must “stop blaming [females] for their own deaths [or adverse outcomes],” and instead acknowledge the underlying contributing factors (mclemore, 2019, para. 2). in other parts of the world, particularly the global south, pelvic immaturity may be a more prevalent concern in adolescent pregnancy, whereas obesity is more problematic in the global north (who, 2004). although a later age at menarche is common in the global south, if first pregnancy occurs shortly after menarche takes place, girls’ pelvic bones would likely be quite immature, and their risk of cephalopelvic disproportion or obstructed labour increased (who, 2004). this would result in young adolescents experiencing high rates of obstructed labour or cephalopelvic disproportion, but this hypothesis cannot be verified as existing reports on labour and childbirth outcomes do not include information on the timing of menarche (who, 2004). collecting data on age at menarche would be helpful in determining gynaecological age (i.e., “the interval between menarche and first pregnancy”) in order to address this question (who, 2004, p. 30). discrepancies and opportunities for further research this research has some discrepancies which require addressing. the quantitative data do not represent the ideal study variables (i.e., pelvic size, preterm delivery, obesity, other morbidities or specific pregnancy rates in black and indigenous adolescents), nor do the data demonstrate obesity, low birth weight infants or very early (preterm) deliveries. pelvic size, the primary research question, is not directly addressed in these data. instead i have used other studies to address the role of pelvic immaturity in adolescent pregnancy. additionally, the available data do not allow for the isolation of age 16 (i.e., the age of pelvic maturity). the qualitative data are also older than the quantitative data, due to limited availability of ethnographic accounts of black and indigenous adolescent pregnancies in the u.s. lastly, asking why black and indigenous youth are at increased risk for both pregnancy and obesity could be addressed in two separate studies. for the level of depth of this research, addressing both questions was feasible. however, future, more specific studies could examine these issues individually. i have used an integrative approach and a variety of data sources to overcome these challenges, but these discrepancies could be addressed and factored into future studies to strengthen this field of research. 56 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019591 although canada is often viewed as a prime example of social equality, with high-quality, accessible health care and low levels of health care disparities, this is not the case. because of its exterior image of multiculturalism, canada does not record racialized identities in public health as extensively as does the u.s., therefore masking racial disparities in health care (rodney & copeland, 2009). in contrast, the u.s. extensively records racialized identities on a national level, thus clearly highlighting health care disparities. minorities, such as black and indigenous canadians, likely suffer health care disparities comparable to those seen in the u.s., and further disaggregation by racial or ethnic categories is needed to understand racial disparities in canadian health care (rodney & copeland, 2009). life history theory explains the “variation in timing of fertility, growth, developmental rates, and death of living organisms” by focusing on how the body maximizes reproductive success through energetic trade-offs from birth to death (hill, 1993, p. 78). a life history approach would be beneficial in understanding maternal energy investments throughout life and in pregnancy, thereby explaining some health conditions and outcomes in childbirth (wells, 2017). studying life stages, such as puberty, can provide a better understanding of maternal health as life history theory involves both extrinsic (environmental) and intrinsic (energetic trade-offs) factors that impact the timing and duration of each stage, which evidently impact health outcomes throughout life (ellis & essex, 2007). this approach could explain earlier or later menarche in girls and occurrences of obesity and pregnancy outcomes in adolescents. lastly, an initiative that may help decrease rates of adolescent obesity in the u.s. is to start discussions of obesity early in life. the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists (2017) suggests that discussions and counselling about obesity begin in adolescence to provide “critical information about active lifestyles and healthy caloric intake” to adolescent patients and their parents (para. 4). this is an important initiative that could positively impact adolescent health care and pregnancy outcomes in the u.s. conclusion adolescent pregnancy is a complex issue in the u.s. high rates of complications in adolescent pregnancy are in part explained by pelvic capacity in immature individuals, but many other biological and sociocultural factors compound the associated risks of childbirth and pregnancy in adolescence. high rates of adolescent pregnancy and obesity compromise adolescent health and contribute to adverse outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth. racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes are the root of serious health consequences in childbirth, with black and indigenous individuals being two of the most affected racialized groups. reproductive justice calls for equality among reproducing females to reduce racial disparities in reproductive health care. a biocultural anthropological perspective can help recognize and improve racial disparities in adolescent pregnancy and obesity in the u.s. hopefully, this perspective has provided a clearer understanding of how racial and health care disparities are formed, as well as the compounding sociocultural and biological risks associated with adolescent pregnancy and obesity. further research on adolescent pregnancy and obesity in other countries and racialized groups is needed to provide a better understanding of racial disparities in reproductive health care and biocultural factors that contribute to adolescent pregnancy occurrences and adverse outcomes. 57 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • 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(2005). cesarean delivery rates in adolescent pregnancy. the european journal of contraception and reproductive health care, 10 (2), 119–122. 61 https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/girlhood_not_motherhood_final_web.pdf https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/girlhood_not_motherhood_final_web.pdf https//doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100477‎ https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42903/9241591455_eng.pdf?sequence=1 https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42903/9241591455_eng.pdf?sequence=1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescents-health-risks-and-solutions https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescents-health-risks-and-solutions https://www.who.int/news-‎room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality https://www.who.int/news-‎room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality https://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/‎ https://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/‎ https://www.who.int/news-‎room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy https://www.who.int/news-‎room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy https://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/bmi_text/en/‎ https://www.who.int/gho/child_health/mortality/neonatal_infant_text/en/‎ https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/obesity/en/‎ ‎https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/‎ ‎https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/‎ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 104 religion and attitudes toward intimate partner violence: a cross-national study yang yang1 yyyeehazel@gmail.com abstract in a world where violence against women remains pervasive and serious, intimate partner violence (ipv) is one of the most common and harmful forms of violence against women. since religion and religiosity have been found to be influential in shaping people’s attitudes toward ipv, this global-scale study investigates the net effects of religion and religiosity on attitudes toward ipv with country-specific influences controlled. using the data from the world values survey conducted between 2017 and 2020 that had 69,578 respondents with ordinary least square regression (ols) models, this study finds that being religious is related to less accepting attitudes toward ipv, while the frequency of attending religious activities does not have a statistically significant relationship with attitudes toward ipv. variations in attitudes are found among different religious denominations as well. people belonging to some religious denominations show more acceptance of ipv, so the nuanced differences among specific religions are crucial in creating discrepancies in attitudes across religious people. the results call for more future interdisciplinary and mix-method research to further our understanding of the religious impact on attitudes toward ipv and to promote gender equality globally. keywords: intimate partner violence (ipv); religion; religiosity; attitudes; gender equality 1 i would like to thank my supervisor dr. min zhou, my family, and my friends for their continuous help, support, motivation, and guidance along the way of finishing this research. i am also grateful to be a recipient of a jamie cassels undergraduate research award for this project. this research is the pinnacle of my undergraduate journey, and i will forever be grateful. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 105 religion and attitudes toward intimate partner violence: a cross-national study how we think of intimate partner violence (ipv) remains significant as ipv is harmful to the wellbeing of many women (wencheko & tadesse, 2020, world health organization [who], 2012); therefore, research can help to show what influences those attitudes to pave the way for better policy guidance. religion, with its established power, is considered to be one of the factors that influences people’s attitude toward gender (perales & bouma, 2019). extant sociology research on the relationship between religious people’s practices, beliefs, and community involvement (religiosity) (renzetti et al., 2017) and their attitudes toward gender has resulted in ambiguous findings. some findings show that religions uphold patriarchy while others find that religions uphold harmonious family relationships. (ellison et al., 1999; mikolajczak & pietrzak, 2014, perales & bouma, 2019, wencheko & tadesse, 2020). at the same time, specific connections among religion, religiosity, and attitudes toward ipv have not been thoroughly examined. with such ambiguity and inconclusiveness, this research aims at examining the nuanced and specific relationship among religion, religiosity, and people’s attitudes toward ipv beginning with this research question: what effects (positive or negative) do religion and religiosity have on people’s attitudes toward ipv on a global scale? with the intention to better understand the contemporary impact of religion on people’s attitudes toward a public health issue and its further societal influence, this research bears sociological significance and offers the foundation for more interdisciplinary research around this issue. background research on violence against women remains very relevant today. violence against women is defined as a type of gender-based violence that all women and girls around the world are subject to (united nations, 2015). different types of violence against women include various degrees of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, threats, and coercion, ranging from domestic violence, child marriage, and forced pregnancy that occurs in the family to femicide, honour killing, and female genital mutilation perpetrated by non-partners (united nations, 2015). among these different types of violence, ipv is “one of the most common forms of violence against women and includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling behaviour by an intimate partner” (who, 2012, p. 1). the high occurrence rate of ipv has been noted by sociological researchers and international institutions, both as a public health issue and a social determinant of health (sdoh) that directly impacts women (interiano et al., 2018). according to a study conducted by who on women’s health and domestic violence against women (2012), 1361% of more than 24,000 women in 10 countries reported ever having experienced physical violence by a partner; 4-49% reported the physical violence being severe; 6-59% reported sexual violence by a partner; and 20-75% reported experiencing some emotional abuses from a partner during lifetime. ipv is found to be traumatic and debilitating and should be considered a public health problem (ellison et al., 1999; wencheko & tadesse, 2020). not only can it affect women’s physical health directly, but it can also lead to chronic mental and physical problems due to constant stress (who, 2012). even after years of the occurrence of violence, women who were abused are twice likely to report poor health conditions as those who were not, and they also suffer from higher levels of depression and anxiety, which could further result in alcohol and drug abuse, self-harm behaviours, or even suicide (ellison et al., 1999; who, 2012). for women who reside https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 106 in societies where leaving their husbands is difficult, their help-seeking avenues are to some extent blocked as well (united nations, 2015). among various types of ipv, wife-beating is one of the most obvious signs of explicit physical violence, and it is often justified in many cultures (united nations, 2015; wencheko & tadesse, 2020). for instance, wife-beating in zimbabwe is accepted as a social norm and is practiced to settle marital disputes (wencheko & tadesse, 2020). such acceptance also creates societal barriers that prevent women from talking about their experiences and leads to an unfriendly environment for the victims (united nations, 2015). the pervasiveness of ipv and its severe consequences cause concern on the path to gender equality. since ipv in part stems from the patriarchal system that creates power imbalances between men and women, people’s attitude to ipv can be in line with their overall gender attitudes (perales & bouma, 2019). men who are loyal supporters of patriarchal society expect themselves to be the breadwinners and expect their wives to submit to them (perales & bouma, 2019). when these expectations are not fulfilled, they may be frustrated and become violent (perales & bouma, 2019). therefore, it can be predicted that people with more egalitarian gender attitudes would have lower acceptance of ipv (perales & bouma, 2019). also, researchers have found that people who are more likely to think ipv can be justified are also more likely to become the perpetrators than those who do not (united nations, 2015). therefore, to further promote gender equality and to reduce the occurrence of ipv, it is critical to find out what socio-demographic characteristics foster or prevent more egalitarian gender attitudes so that actions can be taken to lower people’s acceptance of ipv. religion and religiosity are found to be among the most influential socio-demographic characteristics that have strong impacts on people’s gender attitudes (perales & bouma, 2019; schnabel, 2015). a classic and succinct definition of religion is the “belief in spiritual beings” (tylor, 1970, as cited in de muckadell, 2014). religiosity, according to renzetti et al. (2017), can be divided into three dimensions: practice, the “outward, observable expressions of faith” (p.1977); belief, the “personal framings and meanings” of religion (p.1977); and communities, the “involvement and relationships grounded in a congregation or religious group” (p.1977). the potential connection of religion with attitudes toward ipv stems from the inseparable relationship between religions and gender-stereotypical tendencies (perales & bouma, 2019), and as the relationship between religion and gender-based violence has gained some attention, how religions and religiosity are related to specific attitudes toward ipv needs to be more closely examined (ellison et al., 1999; wencheko & tadesse, 2020). current research has found religion to be both directly and indirectly associated with sexism because stereotypical gender views and even broader patriarchal values are incorporated into religious authorities (mikolajczak & pietrzak, 2014). in mikolajczak and pietrzak’s findings, religion is a way for people to organize, understand, and employ their values, while religiosity is found to be linked with values that breed attachment to the status quo and traditions that eventually lead to sustaining the patriarchal social norms and presumed gender roles (2014). religious teachings from their holy books are understandably patriarchal: religions like christianity have male god figures with most of their scriptures more or less considered as patriarchal in contemporary society (perales & bouma, 2019). those who believe that these teachings are inerrant are more likely to fully embrace these values (ellison et al., 2019). on the other hand, there is also evidence that religion and religious practices have a preventing impact on the acceptance and perpetration of ipv (ellison et al., 1999). within some religious books, there are contents that promote devotion to families (ellison et al., 1999). it can be inferred that this commitment to families is embedded into religious activities and teachings, https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 107 from sermons to everyday social interactions through reading these books. religious congregations are also found to promote committed relationships and family life as a means to achieve personal and spiritual growth (ellison et al., 1999). under such influence, people are more likely to endorse their assigned family roles and take on their responsibilities in the families in order to show their devotedness and piousness, to the extent that they would be eager to resolve possible conflicts instead of resorting to violence for solutions (ellison et al., 1999). it is noteworthy that the relationship between such religious teaching and actual harmonious familial relationship is not causative, it just points out a possible correlation and demonstrates the possibility of influence of religious teachings on people’s implicit attitudes. given the two distinctly opposite roles religion and religiosity may play in relation to people’s attitudes toward ipv, it is necessary to conduct an empirical analysis of the effects of religion and religiosity on said attitudes. current research is mainly focused on single countries, and the ones that studied many countries were focused on gender attitudes instead of specific attitudes toward ipv (seguino, 2011). therefore, this research is intended to fill the gap and use data on 48 countries and regions to help produce a more global and thorough understanding of the subject matter. literature review and hypotheses many studies have found religious involvement to have a negative impact on gender equality and a strong association with patriarchal attitudes (ellison et al., 1999; jung & olson, 2017; mikołajczak & pietrzak, 2014; perales & bouma, 2019; schnabel, 2015; seguino, 2011). formal religious institutions were found to have a strong impact on cultural norms and individual behaviours, which include the rigidity of gender attitudes (inglehart & norris, 2003, as cited in seguino, 2011). although no religion explicitly sanctions violence against women on the surface, some people may be especially prone to violence against their spouses when they belong to a conservative religious denomination (religious denomination is used as synonymous with religious groups in the world values survey [wvs]) (ellison et al. 1999). researchers have found that the impact of religion and religiosity on gender attitudes could lead to macro-level gender inequality around the world, which also lines up with individual-level relationships between religion and gender attitudes (mikołajczak & pietrzak, 2014). seguino’s study (2011) using data from the wvs revealed that non-religious people have the least patriarchal attitudes and those who consider religion to be an important part of their lives and attend religious services more often indicate more discriminative attitudes toward women. despite the burgeoning evidence in support of the negative effect of religion on attitudes toward ipv, some studies have found that religious practices are related to positive marriage outcomes because religious teachings promote family values and self-sacrifice, support committed relationships, and provide solutions to marital conflicts through religious seminars and pastoral counselling (ellison et al. 1999; jung & olson, 2017). this attention to harmonious families means that religiosity may lead to less accepting attitudes toward ipv, as religious teachings often involve the sanctity of marriage and condemnation of ipv, which allow members with high religiosity to not accept ipv as much as those with low religiosity (jung & olson, 2017). how do people from different religious denominations differ in their gender attitudes and attitudes toward ipv? many scholars have conducted research to understand the potential differences across various religions (brooks & bolzendahl, 2004; perales & bouma, 2019; seguino, 2011; wencheko & tadesse, 2020). in these studies, although some differences across https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 108 religions were found (e.g., evangelical and black protestants reported more patriarchal gender attitudes than catholics; brooks & bolzendahl, 2004), more researchers found that there were no significant differences in patriarchal gender attitudes across major religions (seguino, 2011). since seguino’s research (2011) is also cross-national (given a fixed effect for countries), similar to this study, and also used wvs data (used different waves as dummy variables), it is speculated that the difference in attitudes toward ipv may not significantly differ across religious groups. since differences in attitude toward ipv in different religions are uncommonly found in current literature, it is necessary for researchers to consider the reason behind it and examine whether a different result can be found if more variables are controlled. many religions are global, meaning that there are people who believe in the same religion and belong to the same religious denominations across the world, but it is not a guarantee that they have the same attitudes when it comes to the level of ipv acceptance (minkov & hofstede, 2014). researchers have found that not all differences found across religious groups can be viewed as religious differences because environmental, geographical, and cultural differences also generate these differences (minkov & hofstede, 2014). what minkov and hofstede (2014) discovered is that nations have a “gravitational” effect on people’s cultural values, and global religions, on the contrary, do not have such an effect. this national effect reveals how people who belong to different religious denominations but live in the same nation are similar to one another, and they are distinguishable from other religions in other nations (minkov & hofstede, 2014). global religions, however, do not have control over their different branches in different nations, so people do not share the same values even if they belong to the same religious denominations (minkov & hofstede, 2014). what is salient here is that religious differences are hard to determine as other socioeconomic, sociodemographic, geographical, and cultural factors are often at play that can also influence people’s values. therefore, it is necessary for us to control for the country variable to explore whether findings in the current literature hold true. besides religion and religiosity, many other factors can influence people’s gender attitudes and attitudes toward ipv (seguino, 2011; wang, 2016). research has revealed that education is one of the most significant protective predictors of attitudes toward ipv as people with higher education manifest lower acceptance of ipv (gracis & tomás, 2014; seguino, 2011; wang, 2016). meanwhile, men are found to be holding significantly more unequal gender attitudes than women, so it is predicted that men will be more accepting of ipv (seguino, 2011). younger people and people with lower socioeconomic status are more accepting of ipv as well (wang, 2016; wencheko & tadesse, 2020). these factors are included as control variables because of their established confounding effects. given the ambiguity and inconclusiveness regarding the effect of religion and religiosity on attitudes toward ipv in the existing literature, it is necessary to further explore this subject matter through a cross-national analysis. therefore, my research question is, “what effects (positive or negative) do religion and religiosity have on people’s attitudes toward ipv on a global scale?” five hypotheses are proposed to guide the analysis. as described above, the existing literature is contested and suggests two opposite influences of religion on attitudes toward ipv. the first and the second hypotheses are competing hypotheses based on the contested literature. this research tries to adjudicate this debate in the existing literature. three variables are used to measure religion: being religious, the frequency of attending religious activities, and specific religious denominations. the third hypothesis is mainly to re-examine seguino’s finding (2011) https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 109 that there are no major differences across major religious denominations in their effects on attitudes toward ipv. hypothesis 1-1 (h1-1; being religious or not/religion as a whole): those who are religious are more likely to think ipv is justifiable. hypothesis 1-2 (h1-2; being religious or not/religion as a whole): those who are religious are less accepting of ipv. hypothesis 2-1 (h2-1; religiosity): as one attends religious activities more often, the attitudes toward ipv are more accepting. hypothesis 2-2 (h2-1; religiosity): as one attends religious activities more often, the attitudes toward ipv are less accepting. hypothesis 3 (h3; differences among specific religions): there are no significant differences in the acceptance of ipv across different religious denominations. data and method the dataset used in this research is wave 7 of the wvs conducted between 2017 and 2020. the dataset includes 69,578 individuals from 48 countries and regions and therefore offers large and recent data to generate meaningful results (inglehart et al., 2020). the wvs is a global research project carried out by social scientists exploring people’s values and beliefs, including their changes over time and their social and political impact on the societies (inglehart et al., 2020). the questionnaire has questions for all variables used in my analysis. the first round of sampling selected a national representative random sample, which is followed by a second-round simple probability sampling for people aged 18 and older (inglehart et al., 2020). despite nuances that exist for each country, requirements for high representativeness are the same for all countries, as the number of samples in each country is in proportion with their respective population (inglehart et al., 2020). multivariate regression analysis is used for the data analysis, specifically, ordinary least squares (ols) regression through the software package stata (version16) to analyze the data. ols regression is commonly used to analyze a continuous dependent variable through a linear regression model while controlling other key variables. it is suitable for this research as the dependent variable, the acceptance of ipv, is measured by this question “whether it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife” on a 10-point scale (1=never justifiable, 10= always justifiable), which can be treated as a continuous variable. the main independent variables of interest are being religious, religiosity, and specific religious denominations. being religious (or religion as a whole) for hypothesis 1 is measured by this question: “independently of whether you attend religious services or not, would you say you are: 1. a religious person, 2. not a religious person, 3. an atheist”? option 2 and 3 are combined as “non-religious” and make this variable binary (being religious as 1 and non-religious as 0). religiosity in hypothesis 2 is measured by the question “apart from weddings and funerals, about how often do you attend religious services these days?” on a 7-point scale (1= more than once a week, 7= never) and is treated as a continuous variable. the coding is reversed into 1= never, 7= more than once a week. this measurement of religiosity captures the practice dimension introduced by renzetti et al. (2017). different religious denominations in hypothesis 3 are measured by the question “do you belong to a religion or religious denomination? if yes, which one?” in this specific research, the scope of religions is restricted to the religious groups used in the questionnaire of the wvs wave 7. in addition, age (measured in years), gender (measured by https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 110 the respondent’s sex observed by the interviewer)2; educational levels (“the highest educational level the respondent has attained” on a 9-point scale); marital status, including the married, divorced and separated, widowed, and single (never married) categories; and household income (self-reported on a 10-point scale) are controlled. finally, since the current literature has revealed the necessity to control for country variables that have influences on people’s values to determine the net effect of religions (minkov & hofstede, 2014), countries are controlled by a set of dummy variables representing individual countries and regions. results descriptive statistics table 1 shows the descriptive information of the variables. the other tables present the regression models that examine the hypotheses. overall, the empirical evidence supports h1-2 and partly supports h2-1 but does not support h3. table 1 descriptive statistics (n=69578) frequency percentage gender women (reference) 36478 52.47 men 33049 47.53 religious or not religious 43809 64.58 not religious (reference) 24028 35.42 religion or religious denomination do not belong to a denomination (reference) 15186 22.08 roman catholic 13111 19.06 protestant 4090 5.95 orthodox (russian, greek, etc.) 5747 8.35 jew 132 0.19 muslim 21017 30.55 hindu 382 0.56 buddhist 4363 6.34 other christian (evangelical, pentecostal, free church, etc.) 2893 4.21 other 1866 2.71 marital status married (reference) 44742 64.62 divorced and separated 4295 6.2 widowed 3858 5.57 single 16348 23.61 2 please note that gender identity is not the same as sex. wvs uses observed sex to represent gender and it might not be fully accurate in recording perceived gender identities of the participants. it is a limitation of the survey worth noticing. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 111 mean sd religiosity religiosity on a 7-point scale 4.047 2.166 age age from 16 to 103 42.586 16.279 education education on a 9-point scale 3.414 2.028 household income income on a 10-point scale 4.763 2.080 being religious and attitudes toward ipv table 2 presents the first four models that discuss the relationship between a person being religious or not and their attitudes toward ipv. the first model only includes these two variables, and the result shows that people who are religious score slightly higher than those who are not religious (by 0.000582 points) in the acceptance of ipv. this difference is not statistically significant. after adding in gender, education, age, income, and marital status, the coefficient of being religious turns negative, which means that being religious shows a protective effect on people’s attitude toward ipv after adding these demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. furthermore, this effect becomes statistically significant when the country variable is controlled. table 2 being religious and attitudes toward ipv model 1 model 2 model 3 model 4 intercept 1.816** 2.347** 2.417** 1.631** religious 0.00058 -0.0191 -0.0261 -0.0506** women -0.183** -0.193** -0.175** education -0.062** -0.059** -0.056** age -0.007** -0.008** -0.004** income 0.016** 0.016** 0.017** marital status (married as reference) divorced/separated -0.080** 0.008 widowed 0.127** 0.068* single -0.069** -0.005 country and region controlled adjusted r² 0.0000 0.0092 0.0097 0.0788 note. *p<0.05, **p<0.01. countries and regions are only controlled in the last model. as expected, education serves as a protective factor in relation to attitudes toward ipv: as one’s education level increases by one level, they score around 0.06 points lower on the ipv acceptance scale. gender difference is as anticipated: women are less accepting of ipv than men by around 0.18 points. both these control variables remain significant throughout all the models, even when the country variables are controlled. it means that the protective effect of education and women’s lower acceptance hold around the globe. the incorporation of quadratic term of age is run in the software, and its effect is found to be not significant, so it is not included in the models https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 112 presented here. when only the variable age itself is used, the coefficient reveals that as one’s age increases, they would be less accepting of ipv. although this result contradicts the empirical analysis of seguino (2011), which shows that younger people are less likely to hold inequitable gender attitudes, it can be explained by the recklessness of young age (who, 2012). income shows a trend different from that suggested by the current literature. as one’s income level increases, they are more likely to think that ipv can be justified, which is contrary to current findings (seguino, 2011; wang, 2016), which conclude that higher income is an indicator for more equitable gender attitudes and thus leads to less acceptance of ipv. this finding probably indicates that people who are better off financially are more inclined to support the status quo and the patriarchal system embedded in society. from model 3, it is obvious that divorced and separated people and single people show less acceptance than married people (0.08 points and 0.068 points lower, respectively), while widowed people score 0.126 points higher on the scale than married people. this difference changes when the country variables are controlled, as now only widowed people score 0.068 points higher than married people while the difference among married people and the other two groups becomes insignificant. adjusted r² in a regression model is an indicator that measures how well the model fits the data. it represents the proportion of the variance in a dependent variable that can be explained by all independent variables in a regression model. in these regression models, one can see that the adjusted r² steadily increases from model 1 to model 4 (from 0 to 0.0788), which means that the model fits the data better with more control variables added. although the increase is small from model 1 to model 3 (from close to 0 to 0.0097), the increase from model 3 to model 4 is worth noting (from 0.0097 to 0.0788). this large increase indicates that the country variables greatly improve the fit of the regression model, so the variations among countries should be considered and controlled in the model. religiosity and attitudes toward ipv the results of the relationship between religiosity and attitudes toward ipv are shown in table 3. although religiosity is shown to be significantly related to one’s attitudes toward ipv from model 1 to model 3, this relationship ceases to be significant when the country variables are controlled. from model 1 to model 3, the coefficient of religiosity is positive, indicating that as one attends religious activities more often, they are more likely to think that ipv is justifiable. table 3 religiosity and attitudes toward ipv model 1 model 2 model 3 model 4 intercept 1.712** 2.252** 2.317** 1.600** religiosity 0.026** 0.015** 0.015** 0.004 women -0.183** -0.193** -0.180** education -0.059** -0.057** -0.004** age -0.007** -0.008** 0.0026** income 0.016** 0.015** 0.017** marital status (married as reference) divorced/separated -0.073* 0.011 https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 113 widowed 0.136** 0.081* single -0.006** 0.0004 country and region controlled adjusted r² 0.0010 0.0096 0.0100 0.0797 note. *p<0.05, **p<0.01. countries and regions are only controlled in the last model. however, the increase in the acceptance of ipv is not very noticeable, and as more control variables are added to the analysis, the increase gradually decreases. in model 1, as one’s religiosity increases by one level, their score on the justifiability scale would increase by 0.0262 points, but in model 3 this increase is only 0.0148 per level. in model 4 where the country variables are controlled, this small increase becomes insignificant, indicating that from a global perspective, religiosity does not significantly affect people’s attitudes toward ipv. gender and education as control variables remain significant throughout the four models. women always score lower on the scale than men, and education is always a protective factor: those with more education are less likely to justify ipv. as one’s age increases, they also show less acceptance toward ipv, which contradicts with seguino’s findings (2011) that older people are more likely to hold inequitable gender attitudes due to their higher exposure to more organized religions. however, it is in accordance with the empirical evidence for hypothesis 1. as religious people are less accepting of ipv, older people who are more likely to be religious are more prone to maintaining traditional and harmonious families that refrain from using violence. people with higher income, on the other hand, are more accepting of ipv, contrary to the current literature (seguino, 2011; wang, 2016). marital status remains a less significant demographic variable, as only widowed individuals significantly score higher than married individuals. similarly, the adjusted r² experiences a large increase from model 3 to model 4 (from 0.0100 to 0.0797), indicating the importance of controlling the country variables in the regression model. different religions and attitudes toward ipv table 4, table 5, and figure 1 explore the differences in attitudes toward ipv among people who are from different religious denominations. although in the current literature, no religious denomination is found to be associated with more inequitable gender attitudes, and only a few denominations are found to be significantly different from those who are not religious (seguino, 2011), the results presented in the tables and figure 1 show otherwise. therefore, hypothesis 3 is not supported by the empirical results here. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 114 table 4 different religions and the attitudes toward ipv model 1 model 2 model 3 model 4 intercept 1.742** 2.211** 2.255** 1.628** religion or religious denomination (do not belong as reference) roman catholic 0.013 0.002 -0.002 -0.059* protestant -0.150** -0.172** -0.172** -0.087* orthodox -0.018 -0.026 -0.037 -0.229** jew 0.266 0.164 0.162 0.252 muslim 0.269** 0.208** 0.199** 0.147** hindu 0.388** 0.343** 0.338** 0.274** buddhist 0.146** 0.112** 0.111** 0.004 other christian -0.079* -0.063 -0.061 -0.117** other -0.188** -0.182** -0.182** -0.061 women -0.184** -0.193** -0.179** education -0.053** -0.052** -0.055** age -0.006** -0.007** -0.004** income 0.014** 0.014** 0.017** marital status (married as reference) divorced/separated -0.018 0.011 widowed 0.142** 0.086** single -0.032 0.002 country and region controlled adjusted r² 0.0062 0.0136 0.0138 0.0807 note. *p<0.05, **p<0.01. countries and regions are only controlled in the last model. when there are no other control variables, people from six out of nine religious denominations score significantly differently from those who are not religious. these differences remain when all control variables are added, although there are some changes in regard to which denominations are significantly higher or lower than non-religious people. some denominations are not significantly different from non-religious people in the first model but are so in the last one, and some show the opposite trend. roman catholic and orthodox belong to the first type, which indicates that country differences confound the effects of these two religious denominations on the attitudes toward ipv. when the country variables are controlled, both denominations score lower on the scale, showing less accepting attitudes than the non-religious group. on the contrary, buddhists and people from other denominations initially score differently from non-religious people, with buddhists scoring higher and people from other denominations scoring lower than non-religious people in the first model, but both differences cease to be significant when the country variables are controlled. this indicates that although people from these denominations may have statistically significant different attitudes from non-religious people on the surface, this disparity in attitudes does not hold when countries are controlled, and the potential influence of countries is eliminated. from the significance levels and signs of the https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 115 coefficients in the last model, one can see that people in roman catholic, protestant, orthodox, and other christian denominations are less likely to justify ipv than non-religious people, while people who are muslim and hindu are more likely to justify ipv. jewish people and buddhists do not significantly differ from non-religious people in terms of attitudes toward ipv when all control variables are included. additional statistical tests are employed based on model 4 of table 4 to further explore the differences across different religious denominations, whose results are shown in table 5. contrary to the current literature, variations are found among many denominations with only a few exceptions: only 15 out of 36 comparisons across denominations remain insignificant in model 4, indicating that differences in attitudes toward ipv exist across the majority of denominations and that their specific religious teachings and practices could lead to different attitudes. figure 1 shows the average score people from different religious denominations have on the justifiability scale. on average, it seems that jewish, muslim, and hindu people score significantly higher on the scale than non-religious people, among which hindu people score the highest. but it is noteworthy that in model 4 of table 4, jewish people do not score significantly differently from non-religious people. it is possible that the small sample size of jewish people in the data (i.e., only 132 people in the data identify themselves as jewish) leads to the insignificant difference. the results for muslim and hindu people align with model 4. people who belong to orthodox religions, on the other hand, score the lowest on average, which is also in accordance with its coefficient in model 4 of table 4. table 5 differences across different religions religious denominations roman catholic protestant orthodox jew muslim hindu buddhist other christians other roman catholic protestant orthodox jew muslim hindu buddhist other christians other note. crossed-out cells indicate no significant differences. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 116 figure 1 average score on the ipv justifiability scale for different religious denominations in summary, hypothesis 1-2 and hypothesis 2-1 (partly) are supported. more specifically, religious people overall have less accepting attitudes toward ipv than non-religious people. when the country variables are not controlled, higher religiosity is associated with a higher score on the justifiability scale, indicating that more frequent attendance at religious activities leads to more acceptance toward ipv. however, this significance ceases to exist when the country variables are controlled, so religiosity does not significantly impact people’s attitudes toward ipv, strictly speaking. simply put, it is being religious that has an impact on people’s attitudes toward ipv, not their frequency of attending religious activities. hypothesis 3, on the other hand, is not supported by the empirical evidence: significant differences are found across most of the religious denominations, and most of the religious denominations are significantly different from nonreligious people. it is noteworthy that people from some religious denominations score higher than nonreligious people, which seems to contradict the result of hypothesis 1. however, it can be inferred that compared with the first set of models that examines only the individual’s overall identification with religion, the regression models in table 4 that involve specific religious denominations address more nuances across different denominations. the variable of being religious cannot give us a clear idea of what religious denomination one belongs to, and different religious denominations may operate differently and yield various patriarchal gender attitudes that cannot be revealed by this general variable of being religious in the first set of models. as for other variables, some are consistent with extant research, such as education and gender. since people with higher education always show less accepting attitudes toward ipv, education serves as a protective factor against ipv (wang, 2016). women are found to be less accepting of ipv as well, which is in accordance with current empirical findings that show women are much less likely to embrace unequal gender attitudes (gracis & tomás, 2014; seguino, 2011). 1.804 1.745 1.717 1.575 2.057 1.951 2.078 1.808 1.688 1.743 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 117 older people exemplify lower acceptance of ipv, which is contrary to the global trend of gender equality that is more evident among younger individuals who are less exposed to formalized religious conditioning and unequal gender stereotypes with more women engaged in paid work (2011). people with higher income display higher acceptance toward ipv, which contradicts the current literature that tells us higher socioeconomic status reduces the risk of accepting ipv (wang, 2016). since it is the country variables that cause a drastic change in the significance levels in all models, it can be inferred that different countries offer different social, cultural, and economic contexts under which religion has differing influences on people. the results presented here are generated after the elimination of the impact of different countries and regions, which increases the validity of the findings. in doing so, the results here are the net influence of different religions instead of being confounded by other national different characteristics. limitations and future research as mentioned before, the measurement of religiosity in this study is insufficient according to renzetti et al. (2017). out of the three dimensions renzetti et al. (2017) introduced, only practice, the “outward, observable expressions of faith” (p.1977), is captured and measured in the questionnaire. belief and communities, the other two dimensions that capture the more nuanced attachment people have to their religions, are missing from the data. such omission in the key definition of religiosity is therefore insufficient to explore the complete effect of religiosity on people’s attitudes toward ipv. also, same-sex ipv and transgender-specific ipv is not examined in this heterosexual-ipv analysis. specific reasons behind these types of ipv require further attention and study. meanwhile, as a quantitative study, this analysis lacks examination of personal interpretations of religious impact on their attitudes toward ipv, which calls for future mixedmethod approaches to analyze this subject matter more thoroughly. lastly, future research needs to explore the relationship between attitudes and behaviours to better promote gender equality in practice, as attitudes do not necessarily lead to future violent behaviour. discussion and conclusion this study investigates the influence of religion and religiosity on people’s attitudes toward ipv on a global scale. the current literature shows contradictory findings on the direction of this influence, and this study aims to adjudicate this debate using cross-national empirical data. it reveals that religious people are less likely than non-religious people to justify ipv when key socio-demographic characteristics and especially country-specific variables are controlled. meanwhile, the frequency of attending religious activities does not have a statistically significant relationship with people’s attitudes toward ipv, which means that it is the religious belief that creates the differences in acceptance, not the behaviours of attending religious activities. differences across religious denominations are also found. these results show that being religious has a protective effect against justifications of ipv in general, but the nuances across different religions require further and closer examination. it suggests that policies regarding uplifting women’s status among religious denominations need to be precise as not all denominations yield the same negative impact. as seguino (2011) points out, religions themselves are changing with the changing social climate. denominations that are more https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 118 accepting of ipv are predicted to shift their beliefs to embrace the future world. at the same time, as policy makers discuss the necessity of education, it is imperative to eradicate the obstacles that keep girls out of school. similarly, their access to jobs needs to be legally guaranteed. policy enforcement appears to be particularly crucial during the covid-19 pandemic where many people have undergone challenges. in addition to better protection against education and career losses for women, those who are experiencing ipv and are trapped with their abusers need support more than ever. policies regarding ipv need to be more responsive so that more people can be helped, especially during such a crisis. to conclude, this study offers important insights into how religion and religiosity influence people’s attitudes toward ipv using contemporary and large data with the intention to inform the public, religious leaders, and policy makers about the religious impact on people’s attitudes toward a serious health issue. a good understanding of the social factors underlying people’s attitudes toward ipv will help eliminate ipv and advance gender equality. more sociological research is needed to further improve the understanding of this topic. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120181 119 references brooks, c., & bolzendahl, c. 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(2020). world values survey: round seven country-pooled datafile. jd systems institute https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvsdocumentationwv7.jsp interiano, a., keltner, c., knoll, d., & sonnenshine, a. (2018). addressing intimate partner violence as a social determinant of health in clinical settings. california ipv & health policy leadership cohort. http://www.ochealthiertogether.org/content/sites/ochca/local_reports/ocwhp_policy_ brief_2018_addressing_ipv_as_an_sdoh_in_clinical_settings.pdf. jung, h. j., & olson, v. a, d. (2017). where does religion matter most? personal religiosity and the acceptability of wife-beating in cross-national perspective. sociological inquiry, 87(4). 608–633. https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12164 mikołajczak, m., & pietrzak, j. (2014). ambivalent sexism and religion: connected through values. sex roles, 70. 387–299. minkov, m., & hofstede, g. 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(2012). understanding and addressing violence against women: intimate partner violence (who/rhr/12.36). https://www.paho.org/hq/dmdocuments/2012/paho-violence-women-fs-ipv-2012.pdf https://doi.org/ https://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/downloads/worldswomen2015_report.pdf https://www.paho.org/hq/dmdocuments/2012/paho-violence-women-fs-ipv-2012.pdf background literature review and hypotheses data and method results descriptive statistics limitations and future research discussion and conclusion references the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 temporary workers, (im)permanent labour: exploring the lived experiences of mexican seasonal agricultural workers in british columbia melina e. cortina-castro∗ and dr. karen kobayashi m.cortinacastro@gmail.com abstract the canadian government co-manages the seasonal agricultural worker program (sawp) with the governments of mexico and 11 caribbean countries. the program brings in over 45,000 people at a time to work on farms and in greenhouses across canada on a temporary basis. according to a review of the literature, workers’ experiences under the sawp are mainly characterized by poor living and working conditions, discrimination, and abuse (binford, 2019; choudry & thomas, 2013; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). using the province of british columbia (bc) as a case example, this paper explores the lived experiences of mexican seasonal agricultural workers in bc. in-depth interview data were collected and analyzed from six workers who were recruited using quota and snowball sampling techniques. the findings indicate that workers’ experiences have complex and intersecting political and racialized dimensions. implications for policy and program changes are discussed. keywords: seasonal agricultural worker program (sawp); temporary foreign workers; migrant labour; immigration policy; precarity ∗i would like to thank dr. karen kobayashi for her continuous support and guidance, and the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards for their support. 4 mailto:m.cortinacastro@gmail.com the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 for well over a century, canada has benefited economically from migrant labour in specific occupational sectors, which, according to roberts (2019), has continuously shaped the country’s immigration policies. agriculture is one of the primary areas in which migrant workers are hired, a practice that began in the late nineteenth century with workers from south and east asia coming to work on farm fields and gardens in british columbia (bc) (see lim, 2015; preibisch & otero, 2014, p. 178). since the neoliberal turn of capitalism1 in the 1980s and the increasing globalization of the agri-food market,2 canada’s dependence on temporary labour migration has grown (choudry & thomas, 2013; preibisch, 2007; roberts, 2019). temporary labour migration is a growing phenomenon that arises from the dependence of “developed” countries on foreign workers as a “flexible workforce” to remain competitive in the global market (preibisch, 2007, p. 418), and from the changeable and precarious socio-economic and political conditions in “developing” countries (cundal & seaman, 2012; roberts, 2019). canada receives thousands of “lower-skilled” temporary foreign workers from the global south every year, managed by the temporary foreign worker program’s (tfwp) in-home caregiver and agricultural streams (government of canada, 2020d). there are four agricultural streams (government of canada, 2020c), of which the seasonal agricultural worker program (sawp) is the principal source (cohen, 2019, p. 137). the sawp began in 1966 and has continued to expand in terms of numbers of workers, employers, and sectors of agriculture (basok, bélanger, & rivas, 2014; binford, 2019; horgan & liinamaa, 2017). currently, over 45,000 workers from 11 caribbean countries and mexico are hired on farms and greenhouses across canada for up to eight months at a time, with the possibility of returning every year (binford, 2019; cohen & hjalmarson, 2020). mexico has become “the largest provider of sawp workers across canada” (gobierno de méxico, 2020b, para. 1). in british columbia (bc), mexicans3 make up the majority of sawp workers, with over 5,880 in 2017 (gobierno de méxico, 2020a). this program is co-managed between the sending and receiving countries and is “employer-driven” (strauss & mcgrath, 2017, p. 203). this means that employers in canada contact the recruiting authorities in the participant countries. in the case of mexico, this authority is the ministry of labour (gobierno de méxico, 2020b). once the workers arrive in canada, they are provided with assistance from consulate liaison officers. the sawp has been promoted in canada as an exemplary program, providing a “win-win” situation for the states involved, for the employers, and for the workers (binford, 2019; choudry & thomas, 2013; roberts, 2019). however, over the years, a number of researchers and migrant workers’ advocates have raised concerns about the structure and regulation of the sawp; specifically, evidence has emerged of different forms of inequalities, and there have even been cases of blatant oppression and abuse towards workers (see binford, 2019; cohen & hjalmarson, 2020). in addition, the precarity of workers’ labour and immigration statuses limit their access to-and protection of-their rights, limits their labour mobility, and prevents them from attaining permanent residence (pr) (cohen, 2019; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). although the canadian government recently launched the “agri-food immigration pilot,” which allows agricultural migrant workers to apply for pr (government of canada, 2020a), its eligibility requirements continue to disadvantage sawp workers in the application process. despite the numerous structural disadvantages that they experience in canada, these workers only have to compare how much worse the economic and employment situations are in their home countries to decide to continue to participate in the sawp (binford, 2019). the precarity of labour and status and the lack of opportunities in their 1neoliberalism is an economic and political system that favours the interests of the “free market”-private forprofit-and is “largely unregulated” by the state (malleson, 2016, p. 7). 2globalization of the agri-food market refers to the economic interdependence and competitiveness between several countries regarding agriculture (see preibisch, 2007). 3mexican-born people whose permanent or primary residence is in mexico, but who temporarily reside in canada during the length of their job contracts as part of the sawp. 5 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 home country continue to render sawp workers “very vulnerable to overexploitation” (basok et al., 2014, p. 1398). in order to explore the lived experiences of sawp workers in bc, this paper presents findings from the analysis of in-depth data from interviews conducted between february and march of 2020 with six mexican men who work on vancouver island and the mainland as part of the sawp. the findings expose important issues of inequity and discrimination perpetrated against migrant workers by employers and the state, which have been rendered more visible in the context of the recent covid-19 pandemic. literature review an analysis of the research literature highlights the salient issues regarding tfwps, particularly the sawp, and the related experiences of migrant workers in canada. for example, according to researchers, there have been a number of reports of abuse towards temporary migrant workers, including labour exploitation4 (binford, 2019; choudry & thomas, 2013; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). there are structural reasons for this exploitation. to maintain its image of being a model program, the sawp allows employers to demand higher productivity from seasonal agricultural workers than from citizen or resident workers (binford, 2019). employers have also been known to exercise great disciplinary control to ensure that workers are compliant (basok & bélanger, 2016; basok et al., 2014; cohen & hjalmarson, 2020). for example, employers and on-site supervisors may use heavy-handed disciplinary practices to ensure that workers meet the required levels of productivity and that they behave and do not complain. such practices include manipulating their working hours and “privileges” and threatening them with deportation and replacement (basok & bélanger, 2016). according to the literature, deportation is the main fear of sawp workers, and is sometimes reinforced, along with the fear of losing their place in the program, by the mexican authorities that co-manage the sawp (i.e., ministry of labour employees and consulate liaison officers) (basok et al., 2014; binford, 2019). workers’ responses to disciplinary practices vary as they try to “secure their well-being” and employment (basok & bélanger, 2016, p. 146). indeed, basok and bélanger’s (2016) findings indicated that it is common for migrant workers to engage in “self-exploitation” as well as “monitoring” co-workers and “reporting [those who are] slow and non-compliant” (pp. 150–151). in other instances, workers might be defiant and practice subtle acts of daily resistance (basok & bélanger, 2016; cohen & hjalmarson, 2020). in addition to having significant control over workers during their tenure in canada, employers also have power over a worker’s future in the program through performance and attitude evaluations and requests for specific (compliant) individuals for future hiring (basok et al., 2014; cohen, 2019; cohen & hjalmarson, 2020). further, migrant workers hired under temporary labour are subject to “racialized hierarchies” that separate them from citizen workers (cohen, 2019, p. 138), hierarchies that have existed historically in canada and in bc’s agricultural labour market, in particular (lim, 2015). cohen’s (2019) research on okanagan valley farms showed that there are cases of racial segregation and colourism,5 in which mexican and jamaican workers, principally, are not only segregated in the workplace and in living quarters, but are also treated differently. moreover, according to binford (2019) and cohen (2019), racism and colourism are also often present in sawp workers’ experiences and social interactions in the towns near their farms. these workers might also feel socially excluded 4in the context of this research, labour exploitation is the act of forcing migrant workers to work faster than citizen workers to meet high levels of productivity. according to binford (2019), sawp workers are expected by employers to produce twice or more than canadian workers (p. 355), while earning lower wages and having no freedom of mobility in the labour market (binford, 2019, pp. 356–357). 5according to the merriam-webster dictionary, colourism is defined as “prejudice or discrimination especially within a racial or ethnic group favoring people with lighter skin over those with darker skin.” 6 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 from canadian society due to language barriers, cultural differences, and geographical distance (hennebry, 2012). sawp workers are required to live in “employer-provided housing” (cohen, 2019, p. 137), which, in most cases, is located on the farms where they work, far away from towns and shops. in addition, researchers, workers’ advocates, and media have raised concerns about poor and unsanitary housing conditions, some of which include overcrowding, pest infestations (e.g., rats and snakes), lack of furniture or broken furniture, and gas and water leaks (mojtehedzadeh & renwick, 2019). furthermore, according to cohen and hjalmarson (2020), surveillance is conducted in employer-provided housing, and there have been reports of cameras inside and outside living quarters. in addition to racism and colourism, sexism6 is also present in the program and in the workplace. according to hennebry (2014), the sawp is oriented towards the recruitment of men with economic dependents, thereby lowering the percentage of women in the program (it is currently around 3%). the few women who enter the program are vulnerable to additional forms of oppression and control compared to their male co-workers (cohen & hjalmarson, 2020). some of them are sexually harassed or asked to perform tasks outside of their contract (e.g., cleaning their employer’s home) (basok & bélanger, 2016, p. 155). a “gendered culture of migration” is also present; that is, in the process of family decision-making, the husband/father is regarded as the one who needs to migrate, implying that the wife/mother needs to double her work at home for most of the year (hennebry, 2014, p. 43). mexican sawp participants are required to have economic dependents, who are often their family members; however, they are not allowed to bring them to canada. as cohen (2019) has argued, the program forces the separation of workers from their families to ensure that they are willing to return to their homes after their seasonal work has ended. although being away from home can be difficult for workers and their families (cohen, 2019; hennebry, 2014) and despite the precarity in their labour and legal status, the economic and labour situation in mexico is much worse (binford, 2019). the economic boost that sawp workers experience, along with the provision of rights, such as health care access, are highlighted by the program’s promoters. however, as scholars have argued, while the program appears attractive to potential applicants on paper, in practice it is highly restrictive and disadvantageous for workers (binford, 2019; horgan & liinamaa, 2017). in particular, their temporary status makes workers vulnerable to exploitation because they have unequal access to privileges, such as rights protection and fundamental freedoms, compared to resident and citizen workers (cohen, 2019, p. 137; roberts, 2019; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). moreover, the way that the program is designed renders workers ineligible for pr or citizenship (binford, 2019; cohen, 2019). they can be in canada for up to eight months each year, but even if they return every subsequent year, they do not accumulate “continuity of residence in canada,” which is a requirement for pr (horgan and liinamaa, 2017, p. 716). as previously mentioned, researchers have noted that there is a hierarchization of immigrants: those in “high-skilled” occupations have preferential access to pr, while agricultural workers are only eligible for temporary status (cohen, 2019; roberts, 2019; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). methods this study focuses on the lived experiences of mexican seasonal agricultural workers in bc. the main research question is “what are the racialized and politicized dimensions of mexican temporary workers’ experiences who come to bc as part of the seasonal agricultural worker program?” the research sub-question is “how do workers’ experiences vary according to gender, age, mexican province of origin, english proficiency, family and economic situation, and place of employment (i.e., whether they work on vancouver island or on the mainland)? 6the merriam-webster dictionary defines sexism as “prejudice or discrimination based on sex, especially: discrimination against women.” 7 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 in order to explore the lived experiences of migrant workers, this research uses phenomenology as a methodological framework. phenomenology is a method that focuses on emphasizing how people understand and give meaning to their lived experiences, to a particular idea, or to phenomena (ritchie, lewis, mcnaughton nicholls, & ormston, 2014). to this end, the data collection involved conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews focused on narratives, with a sample of six mexican citizens who are currently participating in the sawp in bc. following the university of victoria’s requirements for conducting research with human participants, the study received approval from the university’s human research ethics board (hreb) to ensure the safety and privacy of participants and their data. the recruitment of participants took place through contact with a gatekeeper, who helped to identify potential participants on vancouver island and eventually to recruit three workers. three more participants were recruited through snowball sampling, two of whom worked in the okanagan valley, and one in the fraser valley. all participants also consented to have their interviews recorded. the interviews consisted of three parts. first, each participant was asked for relevant demographic information (e.g., gender, age, marital status). second, they were asked how long they have been a part of the sawp, why they had joined the program, and where they worked in bc. finally, they were asked to share their story and experiences living and working in bc under the program. data collected from the interviews were analyzed thematically according to the coding methods of grounded theory. first, the interviews were transcribed, omitting the names of people and cities and using pseudonyms to ensure participants’ anonymity. then, a system of colour coding was used to highlight recurring words and topics, forming categories. an analysis of the interconnections between categories led to the construction of central themes, which then were grouped into the politicized dimensions, the racialized dimensions, and the positive aspects of participants’ experiences. subsequently, the themes and highlights of each interview were sent to participants as a validity check. the goal here was to validate the researcher’s interpretations of participants’ narratives. upon approval, the prominent themes were deemed to be valid or confirmed. findings table 1 presents profiles of the six participants. table 1. profiles of participants participant héctor leonel pedro santiago andrés miguel gender male male male male male male age 50 36 46 29 32 42 mexican state tabasco tlaxcala querétaro tlaxcala morelos mexico city english level “around 40%” “around 70–80%” “around 30%” low“basic” minimum“beginner” “almost nothing” family situation partner 2 children partner 2 children married 3 children & 1 grandchild partner 2 children married 2 children divorced 3 children & 2 grandchildren current economic situation “regular” “it’s getting better” “good-not excellent but stable” “good in canada, bad in mexico” “good for the moment” “a little hard” time in the sawp 10 years 5 years 7 years 2 years 5 years 3 years work in bc okanagan valley okanagan valley fraser valley vancouver island vancouver island vancouver island 8 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 when participants first arrived in canada, they did not know more than a few words or sentences in english—the sawp does not require workers to speak english. as a result, five workers continued to struggle to communicate with their employers and/or citizen workers. all participants commented on how bad the economic and employment situation is in mexico, noting that it was the main reason they joined the sawp, and, for five of them, the situation in mexico was also the reason why they stayed. politicized dimensions five of the participants felt that the sawp was “good” in general, but some found flaws in its design and regulation. they suggested different ways the program could be improved. according to leonel, one of the “many flaws in the [system]” had to do with the regulation of housing conditions for workers. he argued that “[program authorities] are supposed to verify that the houses are in good condition, but they do not seem to do it [or to do it properly].” the contracts that sawp workers sign state that housing, with all of the necessary commodities, will be provided by the employer. indeed, four of the participants reported that their current housing situation was acceptable. the three participants on vancouver island said that their accommodations were in excellent condition. however, when leonel first arrived in bc, he lived in an “extremely small basement, with only one tiny window for sunlight, and no kitchen utensils [even though the contract said there should be].” similarly, pedro’s housing situation was described as uncomfortable: we would like to have a bit more space, right? but that’s how the terms are in the contract that we signed—it says they must give us a place to sleep, a bathroom, [and all the necessary housing commodities]. [in] each room there are four people, and we have to share a bathroom between ten people [...]. the mattresses [are very old], but we find ways to adapt to them. we also suffer from a lack of privacy when we want to call our families. moreover, four of the participants felt isolated from nearby communities. given that they lived at the farms, most of them resided a long distance away from the towns and shops. their employer provided them with transportation when they needed to go grocery shopping. however, they found it difficult to leave the farm on their own, particularly given the lack of available public transportation, which one half of participants regarded as a limitation to their freedom. santiago explained that we are quite isolated because [our house] is far [from the town]. [...] sometimes the bus doesn’t arrive, and i have walked for over an hour and under the rain to arrive [there]. [...] sometimes we get bikes, but they are often broken [or occupied by someone else]. further, the program requires workers to have economic dependents (i.e., family members) but forbids workers from bringing their dependents to canada. this situation, along with having to adapt to a new culture and living environment, can cause unhappiness and loneliness among workers, as was the case for most participants. it was particularly hard for santiago and andrés, whose children were very young, to be separated from their families for several months. moreover, according to pedro, this separation may also lead to depression: we suffer or deal with the issue of loneliness in different ways. because we really are alone [in canada]—maybe you have more co-workers and housemates from your home country, but they are not your family. so you share and talk [with them], [...] but at the end of the day you are alone [for] eight months. [...] [there should be professional help available in cases of depression because] when a person is depressed, that can really complicate their working life. 9 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 two of the participants also complained about the fact that sawp workers receive lower wages than citizen workers and that exploitation in the workplace is not uncommon. in the words of leonel, i do find canadian laws to be very unjust in [the aspect of wages] because we go [to canada] with the minimum wage, and we see that canadians earn $18 or $19 per hour easily [doing the same job] and we are always going to be at the bottom. [...] also, canadians can access better services because they have better wages. according to leonel, the minimum wage forces workers to restrain their spending because they send most of their earnings to their dependents in mexico. additionally, pedro complained that sawp workers do not receive “overtime” pay: we do very hard work—[...] we really do the work that most of the time [canadians] don’t want to do. [...][and yet] we can work 12, 14, sometimes even 16 hours, but they will pay us exactly the same [minimum wage], because that’s the agreement between mexico and canada. according to miguel, employers in canada prefer to hire mexican seasonal workers over canadian workers “because mexicans only come to work [hard], and have to comply with the contract.” sawp workers are required to comply with the employer’s requested hours of work. however, since the sawp does not require workers to speak english, the majority of mexican workers arrive in canada without being able to speak or understand english. this language gap creates a communication barrier between workers and their employers and supervisors, limiting their understanding of job instructions and rules. leonel complained about the fact that workers do not receive any english lessons or work training upon arrival at a new farm, leaving them feeling unprepared for the type of labour they are expected to do. in addition to low wages, other policies and requirements of the sawp were also deemed discriminatory and unjust by participants. for leonel, “[it is] not fair” that they are obligated to have a clinical examination every year in mexico because if workers become ill, it is probably during their stay in canada, where they spend most of the year. however, regardless of where a worker gets ill, they will not be admitted back into canada “because they see [me] as an economic burden,” leonel said. moreover, he also felt that it was “unjust” that workers have to pay taxes for canadian pension plans and employment insurance (ei). he maintained that when they lose their jobs, they are sent back to mexico and do not have access to the money from ei: “that money goes to canadians [because] we don’t have the same benefits.” and regarding the pension plan, workers do not receive clear information on how to access it, he argued. one of the characteristics of the sawp that five of the participants complained about was the limited labour mobility they experienced due to their closed-work permits. such a permit only allows participants to work for one employer for the duration of their time in canada (around two to eight months). however, most workers will be re-hired by the same employers every year, and, according to participants, it is not easy to successfully request a change of employer. while some participants complained about the tediousness of being tied to one farm, for others, it meant having to endure an abusive workplace or poor housing conditions. “if i get [punished at work], i cannot do anything about it because i am there with a closed contract,” said leonel. pedro believed that having open-work permits would help work to ensure that there is no abuse, as [a closed-work permit] forces me to work at the farm where i am now, [and]– sometimes—that basically gives employers the opportunity to abuse, right? they can say, “you have to work here with me, in the conditions that i put because otherwise, i send you back to mexico.” 10 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 sawp workers also have little to no possibility of attaining pr. while not all participants were interested in becoming permanent residents, those who were interested were aware of the limitations and maintained that with the number of years sawp workers usually work in canada, migrants under other categories would actually get pr. “it’s like we were not even here, so it doesn’t count,” said leonel, referring to how they do not accumulate years of work, given that their job is “seasonal.” however, three of the participants mentioned that they knew of a new opportunity launched by the government of canada that could allow a number of sawp workers to attain pr, as long as they met specific requirements. leonel reported, though, that this “opportunity” looked more like “a joke” because it is open only for workers in specific areas of agriculture, and he said that most sawp workers do not work in these sectors, nor do they meet most of the requirements. racialized dimensions the racialized dimensions of sawp workers’ experiences are rendered visible through different forms of abuse of power from the program’s authorities. these are present in workers’ living and working conditions, as well as in the lack of information they have about their rights. four of the participants complained about the mexican authorities that co-manage the sawp (i.e., the ministry of labour and the consulate liaison officers), pointing out that their actions and motives could be deemed questionable and even corrupt. santiago indicated that he knew of several cases of people bribing authorities to gain access to the program: there are workers at the ministry that let you in the program without doing the required procedure—that we had to do—if you pay them. there are people that pay even $20,000–$30,000 pesos to enter... [even people with university degrees]. [...] i find it wrong that some use money for that, when there are people who really need [the economic opportunity that the program gives]. other complaints about mexican authorities related to mistreatment towards sawp applicants and workers, either overtly or covertly. according to three of the participants, these authorities were also corrupt in the sense of “siding” with employers, that is, by oppressing workers and ignoring their complaints. héctor and pedro reported that the ministry of labour sometimes pressured workers into not complaining about their employer and threatening their place in the program. in miguel’s experience, officials at the ministry of labour had been very rude and had once tried to punish him. andrés, however, said that his experience with the ministry had always been positive, in general, even though they could be a bit stubborn. participants’ perceptions of consulate liaison officers in bc varied. while miguel said that he had always received fair treatment from them, leonel and pedro had had negative experiences, and andrés mentioned that he had never even seen them. according to leonel, the majority of his peers had issues with the consulate: “they are supposed to support us, to have the workers’ best interests in mind, but their actions show otherwise.” regarding their living conditions in bc, one half of the participants had at least one complaint about their current housing situation. as previously mentioned, pedro indicated that some of the furniture in his house was old and uncomfortable, and that there was a lack of space and privacy due to overcrowding, which was also the case for héctor. leonel said that the house he lived in had issues with pests (mice) and the sewer system and that his employer had refused to get professional help to fix the house. moreover, since they all lived on their respective farms, sometimes workers felt surveilled coming in and out of their houses. for example, leonel said that his first accommodation was in the basement of his employer’s house, and he felt very uncomfortable sharing the main entrance to the home with his employer. he also said that he knew of other workers whose 11 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 employers prohibited them from going into neighbouring towns without their permission or without a chaperone and did not let them speak to anyone else. “[it’s] like if they were kidnapped,” he said. exploitative working conditions are not uncommon in farms and greenhouses that hire sawp workers. leonel and pedro indicated that their employer demanded that they put in many hours of work, pressuring them to meet high productivity levels, and sometimes that they would work for months without a day off. pedro complained that his labour situation was one of constant pressure and punishment for those who were not as productive, which often made workers feel “stressed all the time,” as well as exhausted or even sick. leonel added that [the employer] does demand a lot [of work] per hour, which is more than what is physically possible, and sometimes the weather makes it worse. but this is something [employers] don’t care about. [...] in this aspect, they never take care of us, because they don’t give us the [necessary tools] [or] additional breaks that the weather requires. leonel also indicated that safety in his workplace was “deficient.” he was not given adequate information nor personal protective equipment to use the chemicals that were required in his orchard work, making him feel “uncared-for.” however, in contrast, the three participants on vancouver island reported that their working conditions were safe and that they worked at a “calm” pace. also, these three also stated that they had canadian co-workers with whom they all got along very well. two of these workers, leonel and héctor, worked solely among mexicans, although héctor had previously worked with people from different countries, and he reflected that all workers were treated equally and worked as a team. pedro, however, noted that “there is a bit of racism” in his workplace, since his south asian co-workers, who were of the same ethnic origin as their employer and supervisors, received preferential treatment. “there are no equal conditions,” he said because mexican workers were expected to work faster and were punished for more things. further, he mentioned that his guatemalan co-workers were treated even worse. mexicans and guatemalans were actually placed side by side to compete. employers took advantage of the rivalry that they constructed between the two groups, creating a competitive environment to increase productivity, he stated. four of the participants also noted that having mexican supervisors or managers in their workplaces was not as beneficial as they had originally thought it would be. although they were able to understand each other better (in spanish), mexican supervisors tended to put extra pressure on them and avoided translating or passing on important messages from workers to employers. these participants expressed that other mexicans with positions of power actually treated them worse than employers or supervisors from canada, and they believed that they acted the way they did because they were trying to “look good with the employer.” one half of the participants complained about not being informed by their employers or mexican authorities about many of their rights. indeed, they said that they had to find out about their rights on their own. for example, leonel reported that he was not told from the beginning when he would be paid and expressed feeling “desperate” because he never knew when he could send money to his family. he also said that workers received very little information regarding how and when they would be able to benefit from the pension plan, so many did not even access it. further, according to all participants, many workers did not have clear or sufficient information regarding their right to access health care services, nor how their insurance worked: “there is no intention [from the employer] to tell us [about the medical services].” moreover, in situations where there were abuses of power perpetrated by employers, many sawp workers did not know how to defend themselves, nor whom to talk to or ask for help. “the majority [of workers] don’t know their rights,” said leonel. 12 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 participants in the study responded in different ways to experiences of abuse. the majority complied with overtime hours of labour without rest because they wanted to send as much money as possible to their families. as leonel said: “obviously not all of us want to have too much rest because [...] [we earn] the minimum wage [and] work hourly, so we try to do more hours to send a little more support to our homes.” nonetheless, he recognized that having a scheduled day off every two weeks would probably be beneficial to the health and well-being of workers. however, participants on vancouver island argued that they actually wanted to work more hours to earn more per week. according to pedro, some mexican workers tended to pressure each other, especially when competing with workers from other countries, to prove that mexicans were very hard-working. in addition to complying with long hours of hard labour, the majority of participants in the study noted that many of them tended to stay silent because they feared that if they complained or expressed their exhaustion, they would be sent back to mexico and probably would not be hired or admitted in the sawp again. as pedro commented, the fear that they might lose their jobs and “disappoint their families” forced them to “tolerate” different forms of abuse: the truth is that we don’t want to risk it [by complaining]. you know that if you bother an employer a few times he will not hire you again, and sometimes [the ministry of labour] blocks you, that means they give you a bad record because [...] unfortunately, we are exposed to the corruption of government authorities in mexico, [...] and of consulate liaison officers. [...] i would call this “suffering in silence,” as many of us don’t want to speak up because our economic situation restrains us. all of the participants were well informed about their rights, but four of them acquired the information from their friends, co-workers, or migrant workers’ advocates. andrés and héctor said that they were not afraid of demanding better living and working conditions because, as andrés noted, they are “working under a contract, not illegally.” andrés had asked previous supervisors for better housing conditions and had also requested that the ministry of labour relocate him to a different farm when he felt that he was working under abusive conditions. further, regarding pedro’s point about competition in the workplace, he was aware that his employer pit mexicans and guatemalans against each other in order to increase each group’s productivity on the farm. therefore, he had spoken with his guatemalan co-workers about the situation. they agreed that the rivalry between the two groups was negatively affecting their working and living relationships and thus had agreed to put their differences aside and instead help one another. positive aspects four of the participants mentioned that overall they had a positive experience in british columbia working under the sawp. neither héctor, andrés, miguel, or santiago had experienced any form of abuse or discrimination on their farms. the three participants on vancouver island, who worked at the same farm, were content with their housing and work situations. five of the participants had observed an improvement in their family’s economic situation since they joined the program, although for two of them, the improvement was not as significant as what they had expected. as previously stated, all of the participants experienced economic challenges in mexico before working under the program, which is what motivated them to participate. leonel said that although it was “exhausting” to work at a fast pace and under pressure, “everything has its reward because the [money] that i send to mexico–maybe 12,000, 15,000 pesos—would be impossible for me to earn [back there].” four of the participants also indicated that they had formed good relationships with canadians during their work tenure. the three participants working on vancouver island had become friends 13 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 with their canadian co-workers. santiago noted that he had taught them spanish, while the canadians had taught him english. they also did not experience discrimination at work. none had felt that they had been subject to discrimination or hostility from local people when they went grocery shopping or when they spent time in the communities near their farms. two also mentioned that they had canadian or resident friends outside of the farm, as well. discussion the findings from the study provide important insights into participants’ lived experiences in the sawp. in particular, they highlight the inequities and abuse that are reflected in the policies that make up the sawp and the way it is regulated. as shown in table 1, all of the participants are male. employers in canada and recruitment authorities in sending countries give preference to male candidates over females, which is why women make up less than 5% of agricultural migrant workers (hennebry, 2012, 2014; roberts, 2019). it could also be argued that the number of mexican women who seek to participate in the sawp is low because, culturally, the responsibilities of childrearing and for household labour fall disproportionately on them. since it was not possible to recruit women for this study as none came forward as candidates to participate, a comparison of experiences based on gender cannot be presented. nevertheless, sexism is notable in the sawp’s structure and practices. regarding the politicized dimensions of participants’ experiences, it is important to note that these dimensions manifest in various forms of precarity that are linked to the design of the program and its related contracts. for example, one of the program’s requirements is that employers provide housing for all sawp workers (government of canada, 2020b). this housing provision can be considered convenient for workers, as they do not have to look for housing on their own nor do they have to pay rent. however, not all housing is up to standard; those who live in sub-standard conditions have no other choice but to live precariously (cohen, 2019). the government of canada is supposed to ensure that an authorized inspector has deemed the housing adequate before employers are allowed to hire workers under the sawp (government of canada, 2020b); however, as participants have noted in this study, this assurance is certainly not true in all cases. given that the program also requires workers to have dependents but forbids them to bring family members to canada, many workers experience emotional distress due to forced separation from their loved ones. the separation also negatively affects the lives of the workers’ children, spouses, and partners. according to cohen (2019) and roberts (2019), the sawp is specifically designed to separate workers from their families to ensure that workers will want to stay in canada until the end of each season, to earn enough money to support their families, and then return home to them. therefore, the sawp’s design to keep workers as temporary has a negative impact on workers’ mental health and on their family relationships. further, the program not only ensures that workers remain temporary migrants but also a source of cheap labour as workers earn minimum wage with no overtime pay. that is, regardless of the number of hours they work a day, which is usually over 10 and sometimes over 14, they will get paid the same hourly rate and no more. this issue lays bare the unequal conditions of labour for sawp workers compared to canadian residents and citizens. it also contradicts the information presented on the government of mexico’s website, which states that mexican sawp workers will have the same conditions and rights as canadian workers (gobierno de méxico, n.d.). the government of canada’s (2019) website also indicates that employers “must” provide “the same wages and benefits as those provided to canadian and permanent residents.” in the spirit of transparency, there is a need to revise the content of these websites and the program’s policies to more accurately reflect the lived reality of the sawp. anything less than this is deception. according to strauss and mcgrath (2017), “migrant workers are subject to structural forms 14 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 of subordination that make them vulnerable to exploitation” (p. 200), which is visible in the different forms of abuse of power mentioned by participants. in addition to receiving no overtime pay, workers must work quickly and produce to the standards set by their employer. indeed, the program provides employers with great power over workers (binford, 2019). the scope of this power is extended as the majority of sawp workers have very little to no proficiency in the english language. this lack of proficiency negatively affects workers’ performance in the workplace and their daily interactions. support for language acquisition through lessons before and during the start of the work season would undoubtedly boost workers’ morale and elevate their voices on issues of inequity and inequality. the findings from this study suggest that the program’s authorities do not regard workers as people with rights, but rather as a medium for production and economic gain. this aspect of the program is evident in leonel’s comment about the “economic burden” workers feel they become when they fall ill while in the program and speaks to their replaceability. further, while employers can easily replace workers, it is not easy for workers to successfully request a change to a new farm if they are not happy. as cohen (2019) maintains, the workers are “essentially bonded laborers” (p. 137). the lack of freedom of labour mobility of temporary migrant workers in canada’s private economy is “systematically institutionalized by state immigration policies” (strauss & mcgrath, 2017, p. 205). the program is underpinned by discriminatory policies that disadvantage workers on the basis of race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. roberts (2019) notes that the sawp recruits workers who are economically disadvantaged in their home country and who find the wages in canada significantly better, thereby capitalizing on their economic need. although sawp workers may work in canada for over 20 years (binford, 2019, p. 349), their seasonal labour does not count toward “continuity of residence,” a criterion for attaining pr (binford, 2019; cohen, 2019; horgan & liinamaa, 2017, p. 716). as mentioned by one half of the participants, a new opportunity for pr has recently emerged for a number of agricultural migrant workers who meet specific requirements. the government of canada’s (2020a) website states that the “agri-food immigration pilot” is designed to help address the labour needs of the canadian agri-food sector particularly in year-round mushroom and greenhouse crop production, meat processing and livestock raising industries, and attract experienced, non-seasonal workers who can settle in canada. (modified on 2020-03-31) although seemingly a step in the right direction towards addressing some of the concerns around pr requirements, this pilot program does not apply to the vast majority of sawp workers, as some of its requirements–such as having at least one year of “non-seasonal, full-time work” (government of canada, 2020a)–are not feasible for them. this issue reflects what previous authors have called a “hierarchization” or “classification” of immigrants in global north countries, including canada, in which certain types of immigrants are given preferential access to pr and citizenship over others (binford, 2019; cohen, 2019; roberts, 2019; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). further, based on participants’ testimonies and supported by existing academic and grey literature, employers who use their authority to abuse seasonal migrant workers in one way or another are able to do so without any apparent legal consequences (see binford 2019, mojtehedzadeh & renwick, 2019; roberts, 2019). the different forms of abuse from program authorities (i.e., abuse of power) are categorized as “racialized dimensions” of participants’ experiences in the findings. this is because sawp workers are extremely vulnerable to abuse given their subordinate position, an identity that is created by their economic dependence on the labour provided by the program as well as by their racialized status (as an ethnic minority) in canada. the racialization of mexican seasonal agricultural workers is a significant factor that leads to abuse, as they have access to very few human rights protections. 15 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 the study’s findings also indicate that a large number of sawp workers do not trust mexican government authorities that co-manage the program. participants indicated that people in the ministry of labour and the consulates would usually protect the interests of employers and the economy over workers’ rights. a number of participants also accused the mexican consulate liaison officers in canada of disregarding workers’ complaints. according to binford (2019), it is not uncommon for liaison officers to side with employers rather than with workers because they are “expected to maintain and even expand their country’s stake in the program” (p. 352). therefore, if a consulate liaison officer continuously defends workers’ rights, employers might threaten to replace mexican workers with workers from another country, threatening the interests of mexican authorities (binford, 2019). pressure to protect the mexican state’s and employers’ interests has caused workers to be mistrustful of authorities. relationships between employers and sawp workers are also shaped by housing conditions and workplace dynamics. there are employers who abuse their power through exploitative working conditions. this was experienced by two participants who were pressured to work quickly and produce more in less time than their citizen worker counterparts. although participants on vancouver island had positive opinions of their employer, those who were on the mainland described situations of abuse and neglect from their employers. in addition to workplace issues, housing conditions were also the subject of discussion. previous research and media articles have exposed and documented employers’ abuse of power in relation to housing. mojtehedzadeh and renwick (2019) wrote in an article published in the hamilton spectator that there are thousands of concerns from workers who have formally reported poor and even dangerous housing conditions to the mexican ministry of labour, but these authorities “do not share the vast majority of these complaints with the canadian government” (para. 6). another issue that was highlighted by the participants was a lack of consideration from the program’s authorities (i.e., employers and the canadian and mexican states) towards migrant workers’ human rights. the consequences of authorities’ neglect, in particular, of workers being forced to live and work under unsanitary and unsafe conditions, have become increasingly evident during the covid-19 pandemic. outbreaks in farms across the country have resulted in the death of three migrant workers, prompting national media attention (see beaumont, 2020; mojtehedzadeh, 2020) and exposing overcrowded farms and a lack of or insufficient implementation of public health measures by employers (see larsen, 2020). not adhering to such guidelines among a vulnerable population is, arguably, a form of violence from employers. mexican agricultural workers are not the only migrant workers who have been severely affected by these conditions. other sawp participants from the caribbean as well as temporary agricultural workers from guatemala and caregivers from the philippines often experience similar living and working conditions (see callon, 2016; cohen, 2019; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). in the case of the live-in caregiver program, issues of labour exploitation in domestic settings and the feminization of this temporary labour force have been explored in the literature (callon, 2016; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). although workers in both of theses temporary foreign worker programs experience similar issues, there is one important difference: migrant caregivers have not had to live in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions during the pandemic. sawp workers can also be subject to direct forms of racial and ethnic discrimination in the workplace. one participant exposed the existing unfriendliness and rivalry between mexican and guatemalan workers, a historical divide that employers have been known to take advantage of. for example, this rivalry has, in the past, caused mexican workers to exert undue pressure on themselves to prove that they are harder workers than the guatemalans. pedro argued, however, that his guatemalan co-workers actually received worse treatment from employers and supervisors than workers in other groups, the main reason being that guatemalan agricultural workers are 16 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 not hired through the sawp but rather by private companies. this means that they have less official support from their government and are even more vulnerable to exploitation than mexicans (gabriel & macdonald, 2017). mexican sawp workers are also subject to neglect from mexican authorities and employers, who are responsible for ensuring that they understand the implications of their temporary work in canada and of their rights. as cundal and seaman (2012) argued, disclosing this important information to workers “[is] important in reducing vulnerability to abuse” (p. 203). in the face of various forms of abuse, workers may respond in different ways. while some focus on maintaining their precarious employment status at the cost of their mental and physical health (basok & bélanger, 2016, p. 146), others seek to advocate for themselves and others by challenging employers on key issues. those who endure exploitative working conditions are sometimes driven by “self-exploitation” (basok & bélanger, 2016); that is, they “self-exploit” to lessen their economic anxieties, working longer and harder to make more money. “self-exploitation” is also reflected in cases where there is competition between workers from different nations, as previously noted. many workers choose to remain silent as they are aware of the precarity inherent in their labour and immigration status and because they fear being fired or deported if they complain (basok & bélanger, 2016; basok et al., 2014; binford, 2019; cohen, 2019). as pedro mentioned, economic necessity forces them to be “prudent” when they speak to program authorities. yet, despite being aware of the possible repercussions to their jobs, legal status, and well-being, some workers still choose to engage in acts of defiance and resistance. as basok and bélanger (2016) maintain, there are significant acts of defiance, but there are also everyday acts of subtle resistance, such as lying or mobilizing resources with other workers. this is evidenced in pedro’s situation, as he recognized his employer’s strategy of pitting mexican and guatemalan workers against one another, and instead of playing into the situation, he chose to stop the rivalry and work together with his guatemalan peers. these forms of resistance may be subtle and not highly visible, but they are important to highlight, given how common the fear of speaking up is among workers. it is also important to note that not all participants had negative experiences; in fact, some had positive experiences. this is especially true in the cases of the three participants on vancouver island who described having comparatively better working and housing conditions. given these experiences, an important question to ask is, “how might the governments of canada and mexico work collectively to ensure that all workers under the sawp benefit from housing and work conditions that respect their basic labour and human rights?” there is already an understanding among workers of the economic benefits of working in canada compared to mexico. contrary to that perspective, however, is the observation that the program creates an economic dependence on precarious employment, which subjects workers to exploitation and abuse. in summary, the racialized and politicized dimensions of mexican seasonal agricultural workers under the sawp are interlocked. the findings from this study indicate that the sawp and the policies that influence it are designed according to a racialized and classist hierarchization of migrant workers, which continues to benefit the canadian government at the expense of the wellbeing of a precarious and exploited labour force. immigration and labour policies in canada are highly selective and segregating, and “lower-skilled” foreign workers are admitted into the country mainly to fill low-paying jobs, ones that have precarious legal and employment status (cohen, 2019; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). according to strauss and mcgrath (2017), these forms of precarity and the unfree labour relations that result from institutionalized racialization 7 (interlocked with gender, class, and nationality) of “lower-skilled” foreign workers make them particularly vulnerable to exploitation (pp. 200-205). in addition, the sawp grants an inordinate amount of power to 7the state and employers target migrant workers on the basis of race/ethnicity (among other characteristics) through immigration policy and recruitment (see strauss & mcgrath, 2017, pp. 200-205). 17 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 employers and mexican government officials, creating the conditions for the abuse of power. the analysis of participants’ experiences and perspectives in the context of policies and existing research demonstrates that workers may suffer from discrimination, exploitation, and abuse because the program provides unequal access to and very little in the way of protection of workers’ rights. limitations based on the small sample size, it was not possible to make generalizations about sawp workers’ experiences in bc. further, the absence of a female participant, due in large part to their low numbers in the sawp, meant that a female perspective could not be explored. conclusion the study’s findings contribute to a growing base of critical knowledge on the sawp in bc, providing essential and timely insights into the situation of workers through an in-depth analysis of mexican workers’ lived experiences and perspectives. evidence from this study and previous research supports the position that the sawp is not the model program that it is promoted as. structural exploitation and abuse towards seasonal migrant workers are evident in the program. in particular, employers exercise significant control over workers and regularly enforce self-serving rules that demand high levels of productivity from workers. this exercise of control is done through threats and punishments and under poor housing and work conditions. swap participants experience grossly unequal labour conditions and rights compared to citizen workers, including earning minimum wage with no overtime pay. their employment and legal status in canada are and will continue to be precarious because the policies that structure the sawp discriminate against workers on the basis of race and class, rendering them vulnerable to an abuse of power from the people and institutions that have control over them. although positive experiences have been reported by program participants and certainly not all workers are subject to abuse, these experiences do not make up for the structural inequalities inherent in the program. according to participants in the study, the main issue that requires attention in order to improve the sawp is the nature of the work permits. open work permits would give workers a voice, an important say in how the program is run. in addition, an increase in wages, including overtime pay, and a fair and accessible path toward permanent residence would begin to address some of the structural inequities. finally, program authorities should ensure adequate housing conditions (i.e., no overcrowding, proper ventilation, and well-maintained and safe spaces) for workers on all farms, as well as equity in the workplace and more humane working conditions. seasonal agricultural migrant workers are essential to canada’s food production and economy, as they provide cheap labour that is “permanently” available. their essentiality has been especially notable during the covid-19 pandemic. there is, therefore, a need for a targeted and thorough review of canada’s immigration policy as it pertains to programs like the sawp. such a review is necessary in order to respond appropriately to existing labour and migration injustices perpetrated by employers and government officials and to ensure that the program is fairly regulated. participants in the study are hopeful that this study raises social and academic awareness of the situation of seasonal agricultural workers in canada, leading to changes that benefit workers in the future. 18 the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 references basok, t., & bélanger, d. 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(2017). temporary migration, precarious employment and unfree labour relations: exploring the “continuum of exploitation” in canada’s temporary for20 https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural/seasonal-agricultural/requirements.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural/seasonal-agricultural/requirements.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural/seasonal-agricultural/requirements.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers.html https://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/research/diversity-immigration-and-integration/permanently-temporary/irpp-study-no26.pdf https://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/research/diversity-immigration-and-integration/permanently-temporary/irpp-study-no26.pdf https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/migrant-workers-claim-cramped-quarters-a-problem-at-covid-19-stricken-okanagan-farm-1.5653779 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/migrant-workers-claim-cramped-quarters-a-problem-at-covid-19-stricken-okanagan-farm-1.5653779 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/migrant-workers-claim-cramped-quarters-a-problem-at-covid-19-stricken-okanagan-farm-1.5653779 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colorism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sexism https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/08/27/slapping-down-farmers-objections-court-restores-public-health-order-protecting-exceptionally-vulnerable-migrant-workers.html https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/08/27/slapping-down-farmers-objections-court-restores-public-health-order-protecting-exceptionally-vulnerable-migrant-workers.html https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/08/27/slapping-down-farmers-objections-court-restores-public-health-order-protecting-exceptionally-vulnerable-migrant-workers.html https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2019/10/14/snakes-rats-bedbugs-abuse-migrant-worker-complaints-expose-underside-of-canada-s-seasonal-agriculture-program.html https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2019/10/14/snakes-rats-bedbugs-abuse-migrant-worker-complaints-expose-underside-of-canada-s-seasonal-agriculture-program.html https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2019/10/14/snakes-rats-bedbugs-abuse-migrant-worker-complaints-expose-underside-of-canada-s-seasonal-agriculture-program.html the arbutus review • 2020 •vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019604 eign worker program. geoforum, 78, 199–208. 21 abstract 30 the jolly-seber-tag-loss model with group heterogeneity selina gonzalez and dr. laura cowen abstract: mark-recapture experiments are performed to estimate population parameters such as survival probabilities. animals are captured, tagged, released, and recaptured at subsequent time periods in order to obtain parameter information. the jolly-seber-tag-loss (jstl) model (cowen & schwarz, 2006) requires some individuals to be double tagged in order to account for the possibility of animals losing their tags. the jolly-seber-tag-loss model does not, however, consider the possibility of parameters being different among different groups of individuals, that is, group heterogeneity (for example, males may have higher capture probabilities than females). our research extends the jolly-seber-tag-loss model to account for this possibility of group heterogeneity among parameters. we use a newton-raphson method to obtain maximum likelihood estimators and r software to create a program that estimates population parameters from tag histories. our simulation study concludes that when group heterogeneity exists, accounting for this group heterogeneity results in more accurate parameter estimates than the original jstl model. we present the group heterogeneous jstl (g-hjstl) for this purpose. key terms: capture-recapture, tag loss, jolly-seber, heterogeneity, double tagging introduction mark-recapture experiments are designed to study animal populations and, in particular, to estimate their parameters, such as survival rates. early tagging studies of waterfowl resulted in the development of the lincoln-peterson estimator used to estimate population size. limitations of the lincoln-peterson estimator led to the development of models that dealt with studies with multiple sample times, dealt with death and immigration, and allowed for flexibility in model parameters (e.g. survival varying over time or age) (cormack, 1964; jolly, 1965; seber 1965). in these studies, animals are marked with unique tags, released, and recaptured at discrete sampling times (williams, nichols, & conroy, 2002). if tags are lost during such experiments, bias may occur in parameter estimates. cowen and schwarz (2006) developed the jolly-seber-tag-loss (jstl) model to account for the possibility of tag loss, using double tagging experiments in open populations. one of the important assumptions of the jstl model is that there is a single population group; that is, all the population parameters are homogeneous across all individuals of the population. the limitations of the jstl model are thus particularly significant when different population groups (for example, males and females) are heterogeneous in terms of their parameters. otis, burnham, white, and anderson (1978) discuss statistical inference of biological hypotheses such as capture heterogeneity. here, they found that mice that had been caught one or more times were “trap happy,” thus the assumption of homogeneity among capture probabilities was violated, and so behaviour of the animals amounts to heterogeneity in population capture rates. the same is true for different groups of animals within a population, where, for example, females are more trap happy than males (for example, chinook salmon in cowen et al. (2007)). we extend the jstl model to allow for heterogeneity of 31 parameters across multiple population groups. the group-heterogeneous jstl (g-hjstl) model allows for more accurate parameter estimation when these parameters vary across groups. these model improvements will benefit researchers for whom high precision regarding population information is essential. for example, if a disease affects only one gender of a species, it would be very important to be able to observe that gender’s survival rates and other attributes vis-à-vis the other gender’s parallel attributes. experimental design the study design is comparable to that outlined by williams, nichols, and conroy (2002) and by lebreton, burnham, clobert, and anderson (1992). briefly, animals are captured at an initial sample time, marked (some with single tags and some with double tags), released, and recaptured at subsequent sampling times. untagged individuals may be captured, tagged, and released at any sampling time. the primary study area is chosen to cover most of the population’s range, and sampling times cover the whole period of interest. furthermore, the population group to which each observed animal belongs is identified and recorded. data are in the form of tag histories, a series of 1s and 0s, where a 1 indicates the tag was observed on a particular animal and a 0 indicates otherwise. for example, in a four-sample-time experiment, the tag history for a double-tagged individual with no tag loss, that is, captured only at the first and at the last sample times (but not in either the second or third sample time), is {11 00 00 11}. for a single-tagged individual with the same capture history and tag loss, the tag history would be {10 00 00 10}; the double identifier helps specify individual tags. an example of a double-tagged individual who loses a tag after the second sample time is {11 11 01 01}. different tag histories may correspond to the same capture history. the capture history of an animal records a 1 for those sample times when the animal was observed and a 0 otherwise. capture histories can be produced from the tag histories, but not vice versa. finally, the number of animals with the same tag history and their group membership is required. table 1 shows an example of data from a four-sample time experiment. table 1: sample input data: an example of data from a four-sample-time experiment including the tag and capture histories, the number of animals observed with each history (frequency), and an indicator variable for group membership when there are two possible groups. tag history capture history frequency group 11 11 11 11 1 1 1 1 12 1 10 00 10 00 1 0 1 0 107 2 00 00 01 01 0 0 1 1 119 2 11 01 00 01 1 1 0 1 28 1 11 11 00 10 1 1 0 1 82 1 11 01 00 00 1 1 0 0 97 2     32 model model design the model is based on the proposal made by schwarz and arnason (1996) to consider a superpopulation, which includes all individuals that enter the population of interest during the experiment. we extend this model to more than one group by assuming g independent super-populations, where the super-population of ng animals is assumed to enter the population through a multinomial distribution. model assumptions important assumptions of this model are similar to those described by mcdonald et al. (2003) but are modified to incorporate tag loss and heterogeneity of parameters across groups. they are outlined as follows: all animals in population group g enter the system between sample times j and j+1 with equal probability, but entry probabilities may vary across groups and/or across sample times. all animals in population group g are captured at sample time j with equal probability, but capture probabilities may vary across groups and/or sample times. all animals in population group g survive between sample times j and j+1 with equal probability, but survival probabilities may vary across groups and/or sample times. all animals in population group g that were first captured at sample time f retain their tag(s) between sample times j and j+1 with equal probability, but tag-retention probabilities may vary across groups and/or sample times. for double-tagged individuals, tag loss is independent between tags, and both tags have the same probability of being lost. individuals who lose all their tags and are recaptured are either recognized when recaptured, or there are so few of these that even if they are mistaken as new individuals, they will have a small effect on overall estimates. the survival probabilities of any animal are independent of whether or not that animal has been previously captured. there is independence across animals and across groups of animals. sampling occurs instantaneously. in practice, sampling occurs over a short period of time (a day for example) compared with the intervening sampling time (every month for example). this is a standard assumption for the jolly-seber type models as it discretizes the problem, simplifying the modelling process. notation statistics: k number of sample times for the experiment m number of unique tag histories 33 g number of population groups i index for a tag history; i = 0, 1, …, m; i = 0 represents tag history for animals never caught, {00 00 … 00} ntg,j number of tags on the individual i in group g at sample time j, j = 1, 2, …, k ng,j number of individuals in group g captured at time j total number of animals in group g observed during the experiment ωgi ★ capture history vector ωgi ★ = (ωgi1 ★ , ωgi2 ★ ,…, ωgik ★ ), where ωgij � = ωgi tag history vector ωgi = (ωg,i,1,1, ωg,i,1,2, ωg,i,2,1, ωg,i,2,2, …, ωg,i,k,2), i = 0, 1, …, m, where ωgijd = referring to table 1 for an example, we look at the fourth entry of the table. the individuals are from group g = 2, thus for each individual i which was observed with this tag history, we have the following capture history: ω2i ★ = (ω2i1 ★ =1, ω2i2 ★ =1, ω2i3 ★ =0, ω2i4 ★ =1), which is written in table 1 as {1 1 0 1}. the tag history {11 01 00 01} in table 1 is as follows: ω2i = (ω2,i,1,1=1, ω2,i,1,2=1, ω2,i,2,1=0, ω2,i,2,2=1, ω2,i,3,1=0, ω2,i,3,2=0, ω2,i,4,1=0, ω2,i,4,2=1). number of ωgi tag histories fgi first sample time where ωgij ★ = 1 lgi last sample time where ωgij ★ = 1 lgid last sample time where tag d was present 1 if individual i from group g was captured for the first time at sample time j = fi; 1 if individual i from group g was captured at sample time j > fi with at least one tag present; 0 if individual i from group g was not captured at sample time j. { 1 if individual i from group g was captured and tag d was present at time j; 0 if individual i from group g was captured at sample time j without tag d present; 0 if individual i from group g was not captured at sample time j. { 34 qgid first sample time where tag d was known to be missing for individual i in group g; for example, for history {11 00 00 01}, q111 = 4 because tag 1 is not known to be missing at sample time 2 or at sample time 3 parameters: pg,j the probability that an individual in group g is captured at sample time j, given the individual is alive at that time, j = 1, 2, …, k ϕg,j the probability that an individual in group g survives and remains in the population between sample times j and j+1, given that it was alive and in the population at time j, j = 2, 3, …, k-1 bg,j the probability that an individual in group g enters the system between sample times j and j+1, j = 0, 1, …, k-1. note that bg,0 is the expected fraction of animals in group g alive just prior to the first sample time and that the probability that an individual in group g first tagged at sample time fgi retains its tag between sample times j and j+1 given that it is alive ng super-population size for group g (all individuals in group g that ever enter the population of interest during the study) functions of parameters: the expected fraction of the population in group g remaining to enter the population that enters between sample times j and j+1, j = 0, 1, … , k-1. note that this function is defined as follows: 35 the probability that individual i in group g, first seen at fgi, is not seen after sample time lgi with nt tags. this function is a recursive function of ϕ, p, and λ. if fgi = 0, this indicates individual i in group g has not yet been captured but is alive at time lgi. 1 if j = k 1 if j = k 1 if j = k the probability that an individual enters the population, is alive and is not seen before time j; j = 1, 2, …, k. bg,j the number of individuals in group g who enter the population after sample time j and survive to sample time j+1; j = 0, 1, …, k-1. bg,0 is the number of individuals alive just before { { { 36 the first sample time. e[bg,j|ng] = ngbg,j . ng,j total population size for group g at time j. note that likelihood development using a similar approach to cowen and schwarz (2006), we partition the likelihood by group as follows. the first part of the likelihood models the number of observed tag histories in group g as where and . here, is the probability that a group g member is observed. the second part of the likelihood models the number of observed tag histories in each group conditional on being seen as where and 37 the complete likelihood for the model, therefore, is the product over all groups: note that in this model development, we have not included the possibility of loss on capture; this could also be developed following cowen and schwarz (2006) or schwarz and arnason (1996). parameter estimation we use a newton-raphson type estimator for estimating the model’s parameters. similar to lebreton et al. (1992), we use a logit-link function (because it constrains the probabilities between 0 and 1) to transform the unknown probabilities pg,j, ϕg,j, and to a reduced parameter set of βparameters, and design matrices are used with this reduced parameter set to implement different, flexible models (for example, one design could have all parameters constant across sample times but varied across groups; another design may have all parameters varying across sample times and across groups). the parameters are modeled as logistic regressions on appropriate covariates; for example, where x is the appropriate design matrix. the delta method is used to compute standard error estimates for the standard (p, ϕ, b★, and λ) parameters. note that the b★s are used in place of the b parameters because the former do not have the difficult constraint of the latter of adding up to 1 within a group. r 2.11.0 (r development core team, 2009) was used in developing a program to obtain these results and is available from the authors. we estimate the group g super-population size ng as . using this estimated superpopulation size, we are able to estimate ng,j – the size of group g population at sample time j – using the formulae described above when we defined ng,j and replacing parameters with their estimates. 38 goodness-of-fit in testing the goodness-of-fit for a particular model, we calculate the log-likelihood, conditional on being observed, where l * is the log-likelihood for the model of interest. for each group and each sample time, we calculate the probability that an individual is double tagged (versus single tagged) upon release, given that it is in a particular group (p(d|g,j)). we then adjust the probability of occurrence for each tag history for each group (p(g|j)). we then normalize the adjusted tag history probabilities by the probability of being observed at any time during the experiment (1 – p0g). thus we obtain the fitted model. we also calculate the log-likelihood for the saturated model, which has a multinomial distribution for each group. every tag history ωgi in the multinomial distribution has probability . the test statistic is the difference between the conditional log-likelihood and the saturated log-likelihood; it has a 2 distribution asymptotically. the degrees of freedom for this statistic are calculated as the difference in the number of parameters for each model. the saturated model has parameters. the number of parameters for the conditional log-likelihood includes catchability, survival, new entrants, and tag retention parameters plus (g x k) parameters for the double tagging probabilities (p(d|g,j)), plus k(g-1) parameters for the group membership (p(g|j)) probabilities. following burnham and anderson (2002), a variance expansion factor may be determined from the goodness-of-fit statistic if overdispersion is deemed present. model selection model design possibilities vary extensively for different sets of parameters. in accordance with the design specifications described by lebreton et al. (1992), tag retention parameters may vary across release groups, any parameter may vary across sample times, and any or all parameters may vary across population groups. these different sets of parameters allow for extensive variability of model designs. we follow burnham and anderson (2002) in applying the akaike information criterion for model selection. 39 simulation study in testing our g-hjstl model, we generated a number of different datasets of various different population sizes and different parameter sets. using notation akin to that of lebreton et al. (1992), the following are some of the different designs we generated and estimated using our g-hjstl model (and compared with the estimates of the jstl model). = entry varies over time, but capture, survival, and tag retention are constant over time; no group heterogeneity. = entry varies over time but not across groups; capture, survival, and tag retention vary across groups but are constant across time. = entry varies over time but not over groups; capture, survival, and tag retention vary across groups and over time. for the more complicated models, we must take care to deal with non-identifiability of certain parameters. for instance, only the products can be estimated. these parameters cannot be estimated individually. similarly, b0 p1 can be estimated only as a product. table 2 shows the results for one dataset using the g-hjstl model and also using the jstl model for the model . percent bias of the estimates is calculated as . table 2: simulation results to compare the jstl model with and without group heterogeneity (g-hjstl). actual parameter values, parameter estimates (estimated standard errors) from the two models, and percent bias of the estimates are provided. actual values g-hjstl model estimates jstl model estimates percent bias: g-hjstl model (%) percent bias: jstl model (%) p 0.75 0.90 0.72 (0.03) 0.91 (0.01) 0.84 (0.02) –4.00 1.11 12.00 –6.67 0.80 0.70 0.82 (0.04) 0.70 (0.01) 0.72 (0.02) 2.50 0.00 –10.00 2.86 0.70 0.90 0.69 (0.02) 0.91 (0.01) 0.83 (0.01) –1.42 1.11 18.57 – 0.08 b* 0.200 0.375 1.000 0.20 (0.005) 0.36 (0.007) 1.00 (0.000) 0.20 (0.005) 0.36 (0.006) 1.00 (0.000) 0.00 –2.93 0.00 0.00 –3.20 0.00 40 the simulation dataset used to produce the estimation results tabulated in table 2 included 10,000 individuals in the population, with 5,000 individuals in each of two groups in the population. table 3 shows each ˆ n gj , which estimates the number of group g individuals in the entire population (observed and unobserved) at sample time j. results show that these estimates are reasonably close to the actual total population numbers. table 4 shows results calculated using the standard jstl model. the super-population size is estimated ( ), and then the population size at each sample time j is calculated ( ˆ n j ). results show that percent bias is smaller for all population-size related estimates when using the g-hjstl model compared with the jstl model. table 3: the g-hjstl model estimates of number of group g individuals in population at sample time j, ˆ n gj . actual group g super-population size (ng), estimated group g population size ( ), and percent bias of estimates are shown. ˆ n gj sample time ng percent bias (%) j = 1 j = 2 j = 3 g = 1 1,014.86 2,334.30 4,542.92 5,137.05 5,000 2.74 g = 2 982.22 2,134.80 4,042.03 4,971.82 5,000 –0.56 total 1,997.08 4,469.10 8,566.94 10,108.87 10,000 1.09 table 4: the jstl model estimates of number of individuals in population and sample time j. actual super-population size (n), estimated population size ( ), and percent bias of estimates are shown. sample time n percent bias (%) j = 1 j = 2 j = 3 ˆ n j 1,815.33 4,034.71 7,679.94 9325.73 10,000 –6.74 discussion heterogeneity often causes over-dispersion in data. for example, males in a population behaving differently than females would cause more variability in the data than a model ignoring sex differences accounts for; this extra variability is termed over-dispersion. over-dispersion can be estimated, and estimated standard errors can be adjusted for over-dispersion; however, a more satisfactory approach would be to incorporate the source of over-dispersion directly in the model. one source of heterogeneity is the difference in behaviour of various groups. 41 by allowing parameters in the jstl model to vary by group, we have extended the jstl model to account for differences in group membership. accounting for group heterogeneity, when it exists, improves the accuracy of parameter estimates. as observed in table 2, percent bias is notably lower for the g-hjstl model compared with the jstl model. similarly, derived estimates of population size are more accurate. these findings were confirmed with multiple simulated datasets. future applied work will involve using our group-heterogeneous jstl model with real population data and estimating the population parameters using different model designs. model selection will be determined using the akaike information criterion. further, we could extend our model to account for loss on capture (due to a fishery harvest for example), similar to cowen and schwarz (2006) and schwarz and arnason (1996). we could also relax the assumption of independent tag loss; that is, we could take into consideration the possibility that one tag’s retention rate depends on the other tag’s retention rate for double-tagged animals. for instance, tag loss may be due to a particular aspect of the individual – such as higher mobility leading to higher probability of tag loss – in which case, loss of one tag may suggest a higher probability of loss of a second tag as is the case with southern elephant seals (pistorius, bester, kirkman, and boveng, 2000). finally, we could extend the model to work with more than two tags (for example, include a possibility of triple tagging certain individuals). 42 references burnham, k.p. & anderson, d.r. (2002). model selection and multi-model inference: a practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edition. new york: springer-verlag. cormack, r.m. (1964). estimates of survival from the sighting of marked animals. biometrics, 51, 429 438. cowen, l., & schwarz, c.j. (2006). the jolly-seber model with tag loss. biometrics, 62, 677-705. cowen, l., trouton, n., & bailey, r. e. (2007). effects of angling on chinook salmon for the nicola river, british columbia, 1996-2002. north american journal of fisheries management, 27, 256-267. jolly, g.m. (1965). explicit estimates from capture-recapture data with both death and immigration. biometrika, 52, 225-247. lebreton, j. d., burnham k.p., clobert j., & anderson d.r. (1992). modeling survival and testing biological hypotheses using marked animals. a unified approach with case studies. ecological monographs, 62, 67-118. otis, d.l., burnham, k.p., white, g.c., &anderson, d.r. (1978). statistical inference from capture data on closed animal populations. wildlife monographs, 62. pistorius, p.a., bester, m.n., kirkman, s.p., & boveng, p.l. (2000). evaluation of ageand sex-dependent rates of tag loss in southern elephant seals. journal of wildlife management 64, 373-380. r development core team (2010). r: a language and environment for statistical computing. r foundation for statistical computing, vienna, austria. isbn 3-900051-07-0, url http://www.rproject.org seber, g.a.f. (1965). a note on the multiple recapture census. biometrika 52: 249-259. schwarz, c.j., & arnason, a.n. (1996). a general methodology for the analysis of capture-recapture experiments in open populations. biometrics 52(3), 860-873. williams, b.k., nichols, j.d., & conroy, m.j. (2002). analysis and management of animal populations. san diego: academic press. contact information corresponding author: selina gonzalez, department of mathematics and statistics, university of victoria, victoria, british columbia, canada, v8w 3r4. email address: selinago@uvic.ca. dr. laura cowen can be contacted at lcowen@uvic.ca. mailto:selinago@uvic.ca 43 acknowledgements this research was supported by an undergraduate student research award from the natural sciences and engineering research council of canada and also by the university of victoria’s undergraduate research scholarship to sg. the university of victoria mathematics and statistics department is also gratefully acknowledged for its help and accommodations throughout this project. the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 44 marrying christ: bernard of clairvaux and the song of songs in aemilia lanyer’s salve deus rex judaeorum jocelyn diemer1 jocelyndiemer@uvic.ca abstract in 1611, an englishwoman named aemilia lanyer published a volume of poetry and prose titled salve deus rex judaeorum. throughout the volume, which centres on an 1800-line retelling of christ’s death and resurrection, lanyer draws from the song of songs as well as other biblical texts to produce an image of christ as a bridegroom. in so doing, lanyer inserts herself into a hermeneutical genealogy populated by both protestant and catholic writers. a key figure in this interpretive tradition is the twelfth-century abbot and mystic bernard of clairvaux, whose sermon cycle on the first part of the song of songs offers a detailed character study of the bridegroom. this article examines the cross-confessional nature of the bridal-mystical tradition epitomized by bernard before conducting a close reading of the images that lanyer associates with christ. ultimately, this article suggests that lanyer puts bridal theology to a new communal use by producing a devotional poetic space in which female readers can engage with each other through christ and with christ through each other. keywords: aemilia lanyer; bernard of clairvaux; song of songs; bridal theology; christology 1 this research was funded by the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards and would not have been possible without the generous support of my supervisor, dr. gary kuchar. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 jocelyndiemer@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 45 introduction communal female spirituality is a central tenet of seventeenth-century poet aemilia lanyer’s salve deus rex judaeorum.2 critical discussions of the work have often understood its construction of womanhood in terms of a shared experience of christ and have tended to consider the poem’s maternal christology in relation to a devotional female gaze (see mcgrath, 1997; molekamp, 2012; mueller, 1998). in these readings, christ becomes the feminized object of women’s contemplation as he nurtures them with his body and blood. yet equally important to salve deus rex judaeorum’s understanding of female spirituality are lanyer’s invocations of the song of songs and, to a lesser extent, the parable of the ten virgins (matthew 25:1–13), which together produce an image of christ as a lively, resurrected bridegroom who pursues and is pursued by his bride. while several critics have addressed different aspects of this nuptial christology (busfield, 2015; dipasquale, 2000; keohane, 1997; mcgrath, 1997), lanyer’s interpretation of the song of songs and its contribution to her socio-spiritual project has yet to be studied within the specific context of the biblical text’s broader interpretive history. this article explores how lanyer appropriates the existing hermeneutic tradition that surrounds the song of songs for her own radical, woman-focused project by examining salve deus rex judaeorum’s nuptial themes alongside the work of twelfth-century cistercian abbot and mystic bernard of clairvaux. bernard’s seminal sermon cycle on the first part of the song of songs outlines a detailed (if incomplete) allegorical interpretation of the song’s principal characters: the bride and the bridegroom. significantly, in both salve deus rex judaeorum and bernard’s sermons, the bride is alternately identified with the “holy church” and with the “constant soule” of an individual christian (s.d. lines 1294, 1343). moreover, as literary scholars femke molekamp (2013, p. 244) and joseph teller (2013, pp. 321–322) have shown, bernardine spiritual practices— particularly those that meditated on the crucifixion—pervaded early modern protestant devotional traditions. taking these factors into consideration, this article argues that bernard’s sermons provide key contexts for understanding lanyer’s portrayal of the overlap between personal and group spirituality. furthermore, the article shows that, by removing bernard’s ideas from their masculine monastic origins, salve deus rex judaeorum imagines a network of brides and bridesto-be whose relationships with each other facilitate and are facilitated by their union with the bridegroom. the bride and the bridegroom from bernard to lanyer lanyer’s hermeneutic is best understood in the context of both her immediate religious environment and the interpretive tradition that preceded her. salve deus rex judaeorum was published in 1611, the year that the authorized king james bible was completed and adopted as the church of england’s translation of choice. both texts were published six years after a group of english catholics attempted to assassinate james i in the gunpowder plot, and nearly eighty years after england’s ecclesiastical break with rome. in other words, lanyer’s writing is the product of an environment that offered a “richly interwoven diversity of religious perspectives” (molekamp, 2012, p. 313). the relationship between religious diversity and england’s ruling body had been uneasy since king henry viii installed the church of england in 1534. however, with the 1603 2 note that salve deus rex judaeorum is the title given to lanyer’s volume as well as to the passion poem. in parenthetical citations, s.d. denotes the main poem; prefatory material is cited by title and line number. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 46 death of elizabeth i and her “cautious” religious policy, as well as james i’s subsequent ascension to the throne, religious tensions in england rapidly escalated (dures & young, 2022, p. 9). despite james i’s early attempts to maintain a policy of tolerance towards english catholics (questier, 2019, p. 273), the 1605 gunpowder plot convinced the king that stricter religious legislation was necessary to preserve his life and rule (dures & young, 2022, pp. 79–81). in 1606, parliament decreed that english citizens could be required to swear an oath of allegiance to james i instead of to the pope. this legislation effectively denied that pope paul v and his successors had the right to depose rulers, and prominent catholic theologians throughout europe thus condemned the oath as being akin to heresy (p. 87). following a catholic zealot’s assassination of king henry iv of france, james i began to enforce the oath more widely. by 1610, english catholic archpriest george birkhead reported that england’s prisons were “filled againe” with catholic recusants (p. 88). despite growing hostility, catholic belief persisted in england (dures & young, 2022, p. 90), and the enduring heterogeneity of jacobean religiosity is visible in both the content and contexts of lanyer’s work. not only did lanyer meld catholic and protestant theology and iconography, but she also dedicated her work to a group of women who possessed a variety of religious beliefs—from the staunchly puritan countess of cumberland margaret clifford to anne of denmark, james i’s privately catholic wife (meikle & payne, 2008). although it is difficult to discern what lanyer herself believed,3 the possible influences of judaism, catholicism, and various forms of protestantism on the poet’s personal spiritual formation can be read as a microcosmic representation of the broader jacobean religious ecosystem, the diversity of which is further reflected in the nuptial iconography of salve deus rex judaeorum. this article focuses primarily on the section of salve deus rex judaeorum that immediately follows lanyer’s account of christ’s resurrection. this part of the poem draws heavily from the song of songs, a work of highly symbolic love poetry found in the old testament of the christian bible and attributed to king solomon in both christian and hebrew traditions (exum, 2011). also called the canticle of canticles and the song of solomon, the song of songs takes the form of a dialogue between a bride, bridegroom, and third party identified as the daughters of jerusalem. the open and extensive sexuality of the song of songs sets it apart from the rest of the christian canon and, as a result, until the nineteenth century, christian exegetes tended to read the book allegorically (exum, 2011). indeed, as literary historian george scheper (1974) has shown, commentators on either side of the christian reformation understood the song of songs to represent the nuptial relationship between christ and his followers. nevertheless, a multiplicity of perspectives existed within this interpretive tradition. according to scheper, preand post-reformation writers often differed in their interpretations of the tone of the nuptial relationship and the precise identity of the bride (p. 558). understanding this interpretive difference is crucial to grasping the crossconfessional nature of salve deus rex judaeorum. thus, the remainder of this section provides an overview of catholic and protestant perspectives on the song of songs to clarify how lanyer locates her work within a tradition of understanding jesus as a romantic and erotic figure. 3 while archival records suggest that lanyer was baptised into the church of england, her precise religious heritage remains uncertain (molekamp, 2012, p. 313). the poet’s father may have been of jewish descent, but it is also possible that lanyer’s parents were “radical protestant partisans” (woods, 1999, pp. 5–7). furthermore, evidence suggests that lanyer’s husband was raised in a roman catholic household (molekamp, 2012, p. 313). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 47 medieval and early modern catholics often described their spiritual union with christ in erotic terms. in his 31st sermon on the song of songs, bernard calls christ “the word, who penetrates without sound” and “a bashful bridegroom maneuvering for the hidden embraces of his holy lover, for the bliss of her kisses” (sermon 31.iii). hadewijch of brabant, a thirteenth-century flemish beguine (un-cloistered religious devotee) also describes the relationship between god and the christian soul using the language of interpenetration: “they abide in one another in fruition, mouth in mouth, heart in heart, body in body, soul in soul” (ca.1250/1980, p. 66). according to the sixteenth-century carmelite mystic teresa of avila, christ draws the soul of the contemplative christian “so closely to him that she is like one who swoons from excess of pleasure and joy and seems to be suspended in those divine arms and drawn near to that sacred side and to those divine breasts” (ca.1577/2002, p. 384). finally, in his “spiritual canticle,” the sixteenth-century priest and mystical poet john of the cross shows the soul giving itself over entirely to christ: there he gave me his breasts, there he taught me the science full of sweetness. and there i gave to him myself without reserve; there i promised to be his bride. (ca. 1622/2002, stanza xxvii) for each of these writers, the relationship between christ and the christian soul is intensely intimate and, although historical evidence has yet to confirm that lanyer was directly influenced by the writings of bernard of clairvaux, hadewijch of brabant, teresa of avila, or john of the cross, lanyer shared their interest in this deeply personal conception of christ. thus, as key figures in preand post-reformation catholic thought, these mystics are useful for contextualizing salve deus rex judaeorum within a broader, predominantly catholic, hermeneutic, and devotional tradition. according to this tradition, the relationship between the soul and christ is not corporeal; that is, the liaison does not take place in the “world of the creatures” (bernard, sermon 31.iii). although expressed in sensual, erotic language, the marriage of the bride and bridegroom is ultimately a spiritual rather than fleshly union. early modern protestants also understood the relationship between the bride and the bridegroom to be a metaphysical union. however, while catholic mystical exegesis of the song of songs tended to focus on the book’s eroticism, protestant hermeneutics often concentrated on “the moral qualities of the marriage contract” (scheper, 1974, p. 558). this school of thought is particularly evident in pioneering german reformer martin luther’s sixteenth-century description of the relationship between christ and the christian soul: [s]ins, death, and damnation are christ’s while grace, life, and salvation will be the soul’s. for if christ is a bridegroom he must take upon himself that which are his bride’s, and he in turn bestows on her all that is his. (2008, p. 62) in the words of lutheran theologian jack kilcrease (2014), this bridal theology entails an “exchange of realities” that results in the believer’s salvation (p. 274). in the same way that earthly marriage bestows a new legal status upon the bride, spiritual marriage bestows a new moral and existential status upon the believer. as the final section of this article shows, this existential https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 48 transformation of the faithful believer into a bride of christ was taken up by lanyer in order to describe the mutual relationship between christ and his community of female followers. while luther’s nuptial theology holds that the bride of christ is an individual christian soul, allegorical interpretations of the song of songs produced by jacobean protestants tended to view the bride in more collective terms. indeed, exegetes writing in the wake of the gunpowder plot used the idea of the english protestant church as the bride of christ to propagate anti-catholic sentiment (clarke, 2011). for example, in his 1609 prose paraphrase of the song of songs, future bishop of norwich joseph hall (1609) describes the bridegroom as praising the bride for winning the commendation of “all those forraine assemblyes, which might seeme to be rivalles with thee” (as cited in clarke, 2011, p. 24). in keeping with luther, hall understood the bridegroom to impart a new moral status and spiritual authority upon his bride; however, rather than configuring that status in terms of personal salvation, hall presented the bride’s status in terms of political superiority. of course, given the religious diversity of jacobean england, theological variation was to be expected. prior to lanyer, several english protestant writers eschewed the political angle taken by hall and construed their relationships with christ in personal, nuptial terms (busfield, 2015, p. 132–134). for example, calvinist writer john hayward’s widely circulated sanctuarie of a troubled soule (1601) precedes salve deus rex judaeorum in appropriating the language of the song of songs in order to describe christ as a bridegroom (as cited in busfield, 2015, p. 133). although lanyer’s poem draws on a collective bridal identity akin to hall’s political bride, lanyer’s bride also evokes a personal experience of the bridegroom in keeping with hayward’s sanctuarie. indeed, what sets salve deus rex judaeorum apart from its jacobean protestant contemporaries is lanyer’s approach to the bride’s gender: while hayward’s book presents a nongendered bridal soul (“it”) (busfield, 2015, p. 134), and while hall’s ecclesial bride encompasses all church of england members, no matter their gender, lanyer makes explicit the femininity of the bride through the textually produced union between lanyer’s female readers and christ the bridegroom. bernard, the song of songs, and salve deus rex judaeorum the remainder of this article discusses the manner in which lanyer built upon both protestant and catholic hermeneutic traditions to incorporate both church-as-bride and soul-asbride interpretations of the song of songs into her communal vision of female spirituality. this section therefore turns to bernard’s commentary on the song of songs to better understand the two writers’ hermeneutics as mutually revelatory. bernard and lanyer are congruous in their treatment of the relationship between christian virtue and christian community; each author connected this community with the mystical bride’s perfumed ointments. lanyer introduced these ointments in an account of the discovery of jesus’ resurrection by a group of female followers (see luke 23:55–24:9; mark 16; matthew 28:1–10): the maries doe with pretious balmes attend. but being come, they find it to no end. for he is rize from death t'eternall life, and now those pretious oyntments he desires are brought unto him, by his faithfull wife the holy church; who in those rich attires, https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 49 of patience, love, long suffring, voide of strife, humbly presents those oyntments he requires: the oyles of mercie, charitie, and faith, shee onely gives that which no other hath. (lanyer, s.d., lines 1289–1296) partway through this account of the miracle at the tomb, lanyer’s conception of the “oyntments” shifts from the balms and spices prepared by the “maries” to the sensual perfumes described in the song of songs. these one-and-a-half stanzas mark a transition point in the poem as the narrative moves from a retelling of christ’s passion into an interpretation of the song of songs. while the risen christ of the gospels no longer requires funeral ointments, the bridegroom of the song of songs makes his desire for the bride’s “pretious oyntments” clear: “how fair is thy love, my sister my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!” (authorized king james version, 2008, song of solomon 4:10). thus, lanyer’s identification of the bridegroom with christ is obvious. less clear, however, is the identity of the bride. in the above-quoted stanza, lanyer identifies the bride as “the holy church;” however, towards the beginning of salve deus rex judaeorum, lanyer tells her dedicatee margaret clifford, countess of cumberland, that christ is the “husband of your soule” (s.d., line 254). it seems, then, that lanyer has produced two distinct nuptial theologies—an ecclesial version more in keeping with hall, and a personal, spiritual version more in keeping with hayward and the catholic mystics. in order to understand how these two nuptial theologies are related, it is useful to consider bernard’s thoughts on the bride’s ointments. in his twelfth sermon, bernard argues that the bride, perfumed with the ointments of perfect virtue, must represent the church, “[f]or what she lacks in one member she possesses in another according to the measure of christ’s gift” (sermon 12.vii). in other words, while no single christian is virtuous enough to be worthy of the bridegroom, the church is worthy as a whole. bernard also clarifies that the ecclesial bride and mystical bride are not discrete entities, “for what all of us simultaneously possess in a full and perfect manner, [each] single one of us undoubtedly possesses by participation” (sermon 12.vii). similarly, lanyer’s ecclesial bride, who brings “oyntments” and “oyles” of virtue to the bridegroom, “gives that which no other hath” (s.d., lines 1294–1296). clearly, both bernard and lanyer understand the christian community to enable individual closeness with god. lanyer further develops the symbiosis between the bridal church and bridal soul in her most explicit reference to the song of songs, titled “a briefe description of his beautie upon the canticles.” immediately following the women’s discovery of the resurrection, this blazon adopts the language of the song of songs to describe the beauty of the risen christ: this is that bridegroome that appeares so faire, so sweet, so lovely in his spouses sight, that unto snowe we may his face compare, his cheekes like skarlet, and his eyes so bright as purest doves that in the rivers are, washed with milke, to give the more delight; his head is likened to the finest gold, his curled lockes so beauteous to behold; https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 50 blacke as a raven in her blackest hew; his lips like skarlet threeds, yet much more sweet than is the sweetest hony dropping dew, or hony combes, where all the bees do meet; yea, he is constant, and his words are true, his cheekes are beds of spices, flowers sweet; his lips like lillies, dropping downe pure mirrhe, whose love, before all worlds we doe preferre. (s.d., lines 1305–1320) throughout this section, lanyer uses first-person plural pronouns (“us” and “we”) to describe the bride’s reaction to her bridegroom. at first, these plural pronouns seem to indicate lanyer’s commitment to the trope of the church-as-bride. however, as the final portion of this article shows, when read within the broader interpretive landscape of the poem, the plural language of the “briefe description” contributes to a vision of margaret clifford’s personal union with christ as being enabled by communal spiritual support. in other words, the nuptial event engenders the participatory model of virtue outlined in bernard’s twelfth sermon. by observing the countess of cumberland’s spiritual marriage with christ, lanyer’s readers become onlookers to the bridegroom’s beauty, perfumed themselves with ointments of virtue. lanyer describes the union of bride and bridegroom in another extraordinarily allusive sequence following the “briefe description.” in this case, the bride is specifically identified as margaret clifford. akin to bernard and hadewijch, lanyer portrays the marriage as a mystical, interpenetrative, spiritual mingling of bride and bridegroom. lanyer begins by asking cumberland to take the image of christ’s beauty into the “holy shrine” of her heart (s.d. line 1327). she then entreats the countess to embrace the crucified christ. finally, lanyer praises the intensity and steadfastness of the countess’s love for christ: oft times hath he made triall of your love, and in your faith hath tooke no small delight, by crosses and afflictions he doth prove, yet still your heart remaineth firme and right; your love so strong, as nothing can remove, your thoughts beeing placed on him both day and night, your constant soule doth lodge betweene her brests, this sweet of sweets, in which all glory rests. (s.d., lines 1337–1344) the poet’s tact is evident in this stanza: by pairing the puritan countess’s love for christ with her faith in him, lanyer appeals to the protestant doctrine of sola fide—that is, justification by faith alone—while also incorporating the highly sensual language of catholic bridal mystics. furthermore, although lanyer does not explicitly link this stanza with the song of songs, as she does in the “briefe description,” canticle motifs remain evident throughout. for example, while lanyer’s reference to “crosses and afflictions” likely alludes to margaret clifford’s marital and https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 51 legal troubles,4 the stanza’s description of the countess’s steadfast longing for christ also associates cumberland with the bride of the song of songs. in the biblical canticle’s fifth chapter, the bride describes a dream in which she loses her bridegroom and remains “sick of love” as she searches for him in the nighttime city streets (authorized king james version, 2008, song of solomon 5:6–8). by praising the countess’s faithfulness, lanyer implicitly assures clifford that her feeling of being separated from christ is an illusion brought about by earthly hardships in the same way that the bride’s separation from her bridegroom is the product of a dream. moreover, just as the bride is joyfully reunited with her beloved in the sixth chapter of the song of songs, lanyer suggests that the countess will be joyfully united with her spiritual husband. beyond their shared hardships, margaret clifford and the bride of the song of songs are linked in the above stanza through the image of the “sweet of sweets” lodged between the breasts of the cumberland’s “constant soule.” indeed, with bernard providing useful hermeneutic context, it becomes clear that lanyer uses this turn of phrase to deepen the union between christ and the countess. the breasts of the bride are of particular interest to bernard, and he devotes a significant amount of space in his sermons to analyzing a line spoken by the bride in the song of songs’ first chapter: “a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts” (authorized king james version, 2008, song of solomon 1:13). it is almost certain that lanyer’s “sweet of sweets” alludes to this bundle of myrrh—a symbol that bernard interprets as a reminder that christ’s momentary agony “will become one future day an immense profusion of glory” (sermon 43.i). thus, beyond an association with the bride of the song of songs, the countess’s hardships also associate her directly with the bridegroom. in fact, towards the beginning of salve deus rex judaeorum, lanyer produces an image of the countess’s troubles that closely resembles bernard’s “immense profusion of glory:” he through afflictions, still thy minde prepares, and all thy glorious trialls will enroule: that when darke daies of terror shall appeare, thou as the sunne shalt shine; or much more cleare. (s.d., lines 53–56) in her study of salve deus rex judaeorum, catherine keohane (1997) has proposed that this description of cumberland’s suffering and eventual glory contributes to a portrait of the countess as “surpassing christ” (p. 384). while compelling, this reading overstates lanyer’s alignment of the countess with christ. in fact, elevating cumberland above christ would have been detrimental to the community of christian women for whom the poem was written. as literary scholar gary kuchar (2007) has shown in his discussion of salve deus’ mariology, lanyer was not interested in configuring a “disembodied ideal” of female authority but, rather, in producing “a physically real, emotionally expressive, and intellectually engaged exemplum of female spiritual power” (p. 73). thus, reading the countess’s relationship with christ in terms of a union produces a more fruitful vision of women’s spiritual power as rooted in a shared experience of suffering. by bringing christ into the inner shrine of her heart and lodging him between the breasts of her soul, 4 george clifford, third earl of cumberland, was notoriously unfaithful to margaret, and the couple separated in 1600. following the early deaths of the couple’s sons, george disinherited his daughter anne clifford and willed his estates and properties to his brother instead. until her death in 1616, margaret clifford dedicated herself to the fight for anne’s legal claim to her inheritance (spence, 2015). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 52 cumberland becomes spiritually one with christ. moreover, as the coda to this article demonstrates, this union is both beneficial for the countess and for lanyer’s wider community of female readers. like bernard’s meditative sermons on the song of songs, lanyer’s poetic account of the countess’s marriage is an event that is meant to be shared with others. coda: the wise virgins and the daughters of jerusalem having shown how lanyer engaged with diverse interpretations of the song of songs to develop an individually agentive vision of female spiritual power, this article concludes with an examination of the parable of the ten virgins (matthew 25:1–13) to explore how lanyer broadens this vision to include a wider community of women. in the parable, jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to ten female wedding guests. five are “wise” women who carry lamp oil, and five are “foolish” women who leave their lamp oil behind (authorized king james version, 2008, matthew 25:2). as the wedding procession approaches, the latter realize that they have run out of fuel and must leave the wedding to purchase more, thereby missing the arrival of the bridegroom. when they ask to be let back into the wedding, the bridegroom refuses because he does not know them. jesus concludes the parable with this warning: “watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh” (matthew 25:13). lanyer’s engagement with the parable of the ten virgins occurs outside of her volume’s titular passion poem and, thus, addresses a large group of educated female readers more directly than would have been possible in a poem with a specific dedicatee. in a prefatory poem titled “to all vertuous ladies in generall,” lanyer projects the parable onto “each blessed lady that in virtue spends / your pretious time to beautifie your soules” (lines 1–2, italics mine). by slipping from the third-person perspective of “each blessed lady” into the second-person (“your”), lanyer projects virtue directly onto readers and personalizes the experience of meeting christ as a bridegroom. when instructing readers to ready themselves for the wedding celebration, lanyer extrapolates a speech to the wise virgins from jesus’s parable to emphasize their virtue (in keeping with the “maries” at the empty tomb) and their faith (in keeping with the countess of cumberland): put on your wedding garments every one, the bridegroome stayes to entertaine you all; let virtue be your guide, for she alone can leade you to right that you can never fall; and make no stay for feare he should be gone: but fill your lamps with oyle of burning zeale. that to your faith he may his truth reveale. (“to all virtuous ladies,” lines 8–14) although the virgins depicted in matthew 25 are wedding guests, and the “wedding garments” described by lanyer are not necessarily bridal attire, this stanza recalls lanyer’s extensive description of christ as a bridegroom in salve deus rex judaeorum. indeed, reading these two sections in tandem affirms that the plurality of christ’s admirers in the “briefe description” implies both an ecclesial bride and a group of onlookers who are privy to the mystical union of christ with cumberland’s soul (s.d., lines 1305–1320). this subtle distinction between the onlookers and the bride herself enables lanyer to reach beyond margaret clifford and draw in a community https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 53 of virtuous women by associating female readers with the wise virgins, whose virtue and steadfastness grant them access to the bridegroom. clearly, the wise virgins are a key source for lanyer’s vision of women’s spirituality; however, they are not the only biblical group of women emphasized by lanyer as a model for a female, christ-oriented, spiritual community. to fully understand the significance of female community in salve deus rex judaeorum, the motif of the daughters of jerusalem must also be considered. the daughters of jerusalem appear twice in the christian bible: first, as the third speaking party in the song of songs alongside the bride and the bridegroom; and, second, in the gospel of luke as female mourners to whom christ instructs, “weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” (authorized king james version, 2008, luke 23:28). in her passion poem, lanyer dramatizes this moment to emphasize the affective nature of the daughters’ relationship with christ: these poore women, by their piteous cries did move their lord, their lover, and their king, to take compassion, turne about, and speake to them whose hearts were ready now to breake. (s.d., lines 981–984) in this moment of “mutual compassion,” the daughters engage in a reciprocal relationship with christ: their “piteous cries” move christ to pity them and accept the burden of their sorrow as they receive his grace (herrold, 2020, p. 380). in this way, each daughter of jerusalem becomes a bride in an exchange that resembles both the countess’s experience of shared suffering with christ and the lutheran nuptial theology outlined in the first section of this article. in the song of songs, however, the daughters of jerusalem are not brides but, instead, act as bridal companions. thus, in the context of cumberland’s marriage in salve deus rex judaeorum, the daughters can be understood as proxies for the poem’s readers, who witness the countess’s union with christ. in the song of songs, the bride enlists the daughters’ help in searching for the bridegroom after dreaming of his absence (5:8). in order to convince the daughters to assist her, the bride offers this description of the bridegroom’s beauty: my beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. his head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. his eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. his cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. his hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. his legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as lebanon, excellent as the cedars. his mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. this is my beloved, and this is my friend, o daughters of jerusalem. (authorized king james version, 2008, song of solomon 5:10–16) https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 54 this speech is mirrored in lanyer’s “briefe description” of the risen christ. when she describes jesus’s “cheekes [as] beds of spices,” his eyes as “purest doves,” and his hair as “a raven in her blackest hew,” lanyer signals that, for a brief moment, she, rather than cumberland, inhabits the persona of the bride (s.d. lines 1318, 1308–1309, 1313). furthermore, by parroting the bride’s words, lanyer further blurs the lines between herself as speaker, cumberland as subject, and the broader audience of female readers as onlookers. like the wise virgins, cumberland as well as lanyer and her female readers are united with each other through their steadfast desire for christ and, like the bride and the daughters of jerusalem, are each united with christ through each other’s assistance and encouragement. thus, any ecclesial vision of the bride that might be produced by this blazon (and by the volume as a whole) is inseparable from the reader’s personal relationship with christ. conclusion to conclude, it is important to remember that, in practical terms, lanyer’s writing offered a means of obtaining influence. indeed, a momentary return to bernard indicates how salve deus rex judaeorum’s vision of individual-yet-communal spirituality might have empowered lanyer’s personal quest for authority. bernard figures the bride as a mother and the daughters of jerusalem as maidens who “anticipate their own reward in that of their mother” (sermon 23.ii). when lanyer conceives of herself as the bride and her virtuous female readers as the daughters of jerusalem in the “briefe description” (s.d., lines 1305–1320), she elevates herself within a feminine, ecclesial bridal body. thus, in the same way that bernard’s sermons enable his monks to “feed on bread rather than milk” (sermon 1.i), lanyer’s poems enable her to become a mother-priest who nourishes her readers with the “wholesome feast” of christ’s passion and resurrection (“to the lady elizabeth’s grace,” line 9). ultimately, by providing female readers with an opportunity to “anticipate their own reward,” lanyer works across denominational divides to create a vision of the bride of christ that is simultaneously ecclesial and individual. using cumberland as an example, lanyer collapses interpretive differences regarding the precise nature of the marriage allegory and produces a vision of communal satisfaction wherein an individual soul’s marriage with christ brings spiritual pleasure to many. perhaps most importantly, lanyer’s vision of female community is radically self-sustaining: each spiritual wedding produces a new set of wise virgins and daughters of jerusalem who will one day become brides themselves. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 55 references bernard of clairvaux. 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(1999). lanyer in her world. in lanyer: a renaissance woman poet (pp. 3–41). oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220679 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6757.2007.00093.x https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.1992.9978917 https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1093/ref:odnb/559 https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1093/ref:odnb/559 https://doi.org/10.1353/sip.2012.0018 https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198826330.003.0005 https://doi.org/10.2307/461591 https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6757.12008 the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 84 decision making under chronic stress and anxiety: state and trait anxiety impact updating working memory but not feedback learning juliet m. rowe,1 thomas d. ferguson, and olave e. krigolson juliet.rowe4@gmail.com abstract stress may alter executive functioning by causing structural and functional changes to the brain. sub-optimal decisions made under high levels of stress and anxiety may act as a mediator for stress-related health effects. we examined the effect of three personality traits–chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety–on updating working memory and feedback learning across 330 participants, using electroencephalography (eeg). we hypothesized a decrease in p300 (updating working memory) and reward positivity (feedback learning) amplitudes with increasing chronic stress and anxiety scores. the three personality traits were not correlated with reward positivity amplitudes. additionally, chronic stress had no effect on p300 amplitudes. however, state and trait anxiety were negatively correlated with p300 amplitudes. anxiety appears to impact working memory processes, and this effect was amplified with decreasing anxiety score quantiles to reflect the tails of the distribution. our results are evidence of the beginnings of a correlation between anxiety and the neural correlates of decision-making, offering insight into anxiety-related adverse health outcomes. keywords: chronic stress; anxiety; decision-making; eeg; erps 1 juliet rowe would like to acknowledge support from a jamie cassels undergraduate research award, and all authors would like to acknowledge the support from the natural sciences and engineering research council of canada (rgpin 2016-0943). https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 85 decision making under chronic stress and anxiety: state and trait anxiety impact contextual updating but not feedback learning humans are frequently required to make decisions under stress. for example, during a global pandemic, stress levels increase (park et al., 2020) as the government mandates social distancing protocols, quarantines, and lockdowns. generally, stress can be defined as a threat to well-being (herman, 2013; lupien et al., 2007). these threats can be physical (unemployment) or mental (feeling, attitudes) and they disrupt homeostasis by altering our physiological, psychological, and emotional states (lupien et al., 2007). additionally, stress can be divided into acute stress and chronic stress. acute stress is our short-term response to stress, whereas chronic stress is a form of stress that occurs when our perception of a threat persists for a longer period of time (eggers, 2007). stress can drive individuals to seek immediate reward, with little concern for long-term consequences (starcke & brand, 2012). in fact, structural and functional changes to the brain that alter executive functioning may occur as a result of stress (mcewen & morrison, 2013). consequently, suboptimal decision-making may act as a mediator for health-related stress effects (starcke & brand, 2012). in the present work, we sought to determine the correlations between personality measures such as chronic stress and anxiety and common cognitive abilities implicated in decision making. chronic stress has profound impacts on our health and well-being. many detrimental health effects are linked to chronic stress: increased risk for psychosomatic, psychiatric, and cardiovascular diseases (jeong et al., 2006; rakshasa & tong, 2020); increased risk for tumor growth (rakshasa & tong, 2020; thaker et al., 2006); and acceleration of memory impairments (jeong et al., 2006; rakshasa & tong, 2020). structural and functional alterations to the prefrontal cortex (pfc) have been observed in chronically stressed rats, indicating altered executive function (dias-ferreira et al., 2009; rakshasa & tong, 2020). chronically stressed rats also displayed reduced pfc dopamine transmission (mizoguchi et al., 2000), impaired working memory (mika et al, 2012; mizoguchi et al., 2000), and impaired response inhibition (mika et al., 2012). these animal studies provide evidence for chronic stress effects on executive function; however, manipulating chronic stress in humans is difficult (i.e., ethics approval is near impossible). rather, human studies must rely on surveys and behavioural tests–for example, chronic stress can be measured using the trier inventory for chronic stress (tics) survey (schulz et al., 2004). human studies on chronic stress have observed decreased working memory capacity (evans & fullerrowell, 2013), and impaired working memory performance (korten et al., 2014). however, more research on the effects of chronic stress on human decision making are needed for a better understanding as these human studies lack concrete electrophysiological data and large diverse populations. anxiety, an emotion that individuals feel when the future is interpreted to contain dangers (craske & stein, 2016), is closely associated with the stress response. for example, during the pandemic, someone might feel anxious due to uncertainties about safety, long-term health effects, and resuming normal life. stress and emotion are interdependent: a stressful event can induce a heightened emotional response (however, not all emotions are related to stress). pertinently, as someone becomes more stressed out, their anxiety levels rise (lazarus, 2006). animal studies have linked anxiety to altered executive functioning, whereby anxious rats showed structural and functional changes to the pfc (fragale et al., 2016; park et al., 2016). similar to chronic stress https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 86 research, human studies rely heavily on surveys and behavioural tests–typically, anxiety is measured using the state-trait anxiety inventory (stai; spielberger, 2010). in human anxiety research, anxiety is usually conceptualized into two components: state anxiety and trait anxiety. state anxiety evaluates current anxiety states (tension, worry, nervousness), whereas trait anxiety evaluates anxiety proneness (security, confidence, calmness; spielberger & reheiser, 2009). state anxiety affects a human’s executive functioning by impairing cognitive control (yang et al., 2018) and attentional control (derakshan et al., 2009). trait anxiety impairs decision making during uncertainty (making decisions without knowing the outcome; zhang et al., 2015) and emotional decision making (xu et al., 2013). electroencephalography (eeg) is a neuroimaging technique that can be used to further investigate chronic stress and anxiety by exploring their effects on more specific aspects of decision making. specifically, this is done by examining event-related potentials (erps). erps make up features of eeg waveforms that are related to the activity of specific neuronal populations that are thought to represent certain psychological processes (luck, 2014). for example, eeg allows for the investigation of working memory (p3002 erp component) and feedback learning (reward positivity3 erp component). on one hand, the most current theory4 of the p300 functionality is updating working memory (luck, 2014; polich, 2007; san martin, 2012). as the brain processes incoming information, an evaluation between previous events and incoming events takes place in working memory. the p300 is elicited during the oddball task and provides valuable information about the process of working memory: the amplitude represents memory load (wang et al., 2015) and it changes based on stimulus frequency and task effort (luck, 2014), while the latency of the p300 represents speed of classification and is proportional to the time for detection and evaluation (polich, 2007). on the other hand, reward-related neural activity is indexed by reward positivity (proudfit, 2015), and its functionality is theorized to provide the neural basis for feedback learning (holroyd et al., 2011; proudfit, 2015; san martin, 2012; yaple et al., 2018). feedback learning uses either positive or negative feedback to compute a prediction error, integrating the difference between expected outcome and actual outcome. reward positivity is the difference between the neural response to the positive and negative/neutral feedback. reward positivity is elicited during the gambling task and provides valuable information about the process of feedback learning: the amplitude of the reward positivity difference waveform is theorized to represent the degree of unpredictability for reward-related events (holroyd et al., 2011). reward prediction error theory suggests that the size of the elicited reward positivity difference waves is directly correlated with events that are unpredicted. in other words, unexpected outcomes elicit larger reward positivity responses than expected outcomes (holroyd et al., 2011). erp research on chronic stress has explored a narrow range of topics in regard to decision making. it is suggested that chronic stress was associated with (1) weakened recognition memory and heightened attentional processing (wirkner et al., 2019), and (2) reduced cortical anticipatory activity (shi & wu, 2020) as indicated by changes to late positive potentials (lpps) and early contingent negative variations (cnvs), respectively. additionally, chronically stressed individuals 2 also referred to as p3 or p3b (luck, 2014) 3 reward positivity is sometimes referred to as feedback related negativity. these erp components represent the same construct: feedback learning (holroyd et al., 2011; polich, 2015). for the purpose of this paper, we will use solely reward positivity. 4 research has yet to identify one concrete definition of the cognitive processes that the p300 wave reflects. as of right now, this is just a theory. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 87 appeared to have altered initiation of working memory processing as indicated by increased p2 amplitudes (yuan et al., 2016). however, chronic stress erp research has yet to investigate changes to the p300 erp component. as for feedback learning, the focus of erp studies has been on acute stress, and no studies have examined the impacts of chronic stress on reward positivity. acute stress impairs feedback learning as evidenced by altered reward positivity waveforms, beta power, and theta power in stressed groups when compared to non-stress groups (banis et al., 2014; paul et al., 2016). thus, while acute stress appears to alter feedback learning, no research currently exists on the impact of chronic stress on feedback learning. currently, erp research has focussed more on the effects of trait anxiety on decision making impairments as opposed to the effects of state anxiety. existing erp research on decision making under state anxiety suggests that high state anxiety was associated with (1) appraising stimuli as threatening (luo et al., 2018; pederson & larson, 2016) and (2) increasing cortical anticipatory activity (duan et al., 2015), as indicated by changes to lpps and cnvs. individuals with high state anxiety tend towards longer p300 latencies (ignatova et al., 2018) and reduced p300 amplitudes (rossi & pourtois, 2017). currently no literature has explored the effect of state anxiety on feedback learning. on the other hand, research on using erps to investigate decision making impairments under trait anxiety has explored updating working memory and feedback learning. individuals with high trait anxiety were more susceptible to impulsive decisions as indicated by increased p300 amplitudes for immediate decisions and dampened amplitudes for delayed decisions (xia et al., 2017). additionally, individuals with high trait anxiety also biased attention towards negative stimuli, prolonging p300 latencies (wang et al., 2013), and decreasing p300 amplitudes (huang et al., 2009). changes to the reward positivity waveform suggests that individuals with high trait anxiety overestimated the value of reward for immediate choices (xia et al., 2017; zhang et al., 2018) and negatively evaluated ambiguous information (gu et al., 2010). researchers note changes to the p300 and reward positivity waveforms as a result of high trait anxiety, but the strength of these relationships has not been established. thus, further investigation across diverse populations is needed across both state and trait anxiety to solidify the impact that these personality measures have on decision making processes including updating working memory and feedback learning. the current literature on chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety fails to address critical components of decision making–updating working memory and feedback learning–and fails to explore the strength of these relationships. the national institute of mental health (nimh) has estimated that 31.1% of american adults will be affected by anxiety sometime in their lifetime (nimh, n.d., “prevalence of any anxiety disorder among adults,” para. 4). observing how these personality measures affect the neural correlates of decision-making aids in our understanding of the issues that can arise from stress and anxiety, such as stress-related adverse health conditions including psychosomatic, psychiatric, and cardiovascular diseases (jeong et al., 2006; rakshasa & tong, 2020). the purpose of this large-scale observational erp study was two-fold: (1) to assess correlations between chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety and (2) to assess the correlations between these personality measures and updating working memory and feedback learning. we hypothesized that as chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety increases–as measured by increases in negative affect scores on the tics (chronic stress) and stai (anxiety) surveys–the p300 and reward positivity amplitudes will decrease. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 88 methods participants participants consisted of 329 (215 females, 114 males) undergraduate university students (m age = 21.34, 95% ci = [20.87, 21.81]) and were recruited from the sona research pool at the university of victoria whereby students received extra credit in an undergraduate psychology course for their participation in the experiment. all participants had corrected-to-normal vision with no known neurological impairments and provided written informed consent prior to participation. exclusion criteria included participants with neuropsychological disease or chronic illness, as well as individuals taking medications. ethics were approved by the human research ethics board at the university of victoria following the ethical standards that are outlined in the 1964 declaration of helsinki. apparatus personality measurements the trier inventory for chronic stress, long version, english (tics-le; schulz et al., 2004) was used as a measurement of chronic stress. participants answered the standard 57-item questionnaire, selecting from a 5-point scale of never to very often. higher scores on select ticsle items–the chronic stress screening scale including items 09, 16, 18, 25, 31, 35, 36, 38, 44, 47, 54, 57–indicated higher levels of chronic stress. the stai (spielberger, 2010) was used as a measurement of current states of anxiety (state anxiety) and anxiety proneness (trait anxiety). participants answered two standard 20-item questionnaires (state and trait anxiety), selecting from a 4-point scale of not at all to very much so. higher negative affects scores indicated higher levels of anxiety. cognitive assessment four tasks were included in the cognitive assessment: the first task was focussing on a cross at the centre of the screen for a 30-second period; the second task was focussing on a cross at the centre of the screen while counting backwards from 1000 in steps of 7; the third and fourth task included an oddball task and gambling task that were randomized in order. all participants were run through all four tasks. we analyzed the third and fourth tasks for the purpose of this study as they pertain to working memory and feedback learning processes. we had no strong hypotheses for the first two tasks, as they had little relevance for our specific research question and as such the results of those tasks were not reported here. the visual oddball task presented a series of common and rare (oddball) circles (see figure 1). during the task, participants focussed their attention on a cross (5mm in diameter) fixated at the centre of a black screen. after a period of 300 to 500 ms, in which the cross was displayed, either a blue circle (common) or a green circle (rare) appeared on the screen. these circles (10 mm in diameter) appeared on the screen for a duration of 1000 to 1200 ms. the participants responded by actively pressing the “g” key when a green circle (rare) was presented. the rare circle was presented in 25% of infrequent trials and the common circle was presented in 75% of frequent trials. a total of 200 trials were completed, split into two blocks of 100 trials. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 89 figure 1 displays of the visual oddball task in which the green circle represents the oddball trial, and the blue circle represents the control trial. estimated times of each stimulus presentation is shown below each display image. the gambling task presented two coloured squares and the participants chose one of the squares by either pressing the “f” key or the “j” key (see figure 2). once the square was pressed, participants were notified whether their choice was a “win” or “lose.” one coloured square had a 10% probability of wins, and the other coloured square had a 60% probability of wins. these probabilities were randomized between different coloured squares for each block. the purpose of this task was to correctly identify which coloured square would result in the highest probability of wins. a total of 100 trials were completed across 5 blocks of 20 trials each. figure 2 display of the gambling task, which includes two boxes of varying colours and differing probabilities of wins. feedback was provided for whether the participant won or lost based on their selection. procedure and data collection prior to eeg set-up, participants gave written informed consent. participants were then capped with the eeg system and filled out three questionnaires: a demographic questionnaire, the stai, and the tics-le. once capping was complete, instructions about the cognitive assessment tasks were given. participants were then seated in front of a 19-inch lcd computer monitor to https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 90 perform tasks programmed using the psychophysics toolbox extension (brainard, 1997; pelli, 1997) in matlab (version 8.3, mathworks, natick, usa). all experiments were completed in a dark, quiet, and distraction-free room. the experiment took approximately 15 minutes to complete. using brain vision recorder (version 1.21.0004, brain products gmbh, munich, germany), a 32-electrode eeg system was used to record data. according to the international 1020 system, the eeg cap was fitted with 30 electrodes and the remaining two electrodes were placed behind the participant’s ears on the right and left mastoids. we should note that some participants were originally fitted with 64 channel electrode caps, and we later removed the 32 additional electrodes to ensure all participants had 32 total electrodes. to ensure that impedances were below 20kω, a conductive gel was applied to each electrode. the eeg data were online referenced to the afz electrode, sampled at 500hz, amplified (actichamp, brain products gmbh, munich, germany), and passed through a 245hz antialiasing low-pass filter. data pre-processing we used the standardized pipeline by the krigolson laboratory (available at https://www.krigolsonlab.com/data-analysis.html). briefly, dead electrodes (channels with no electrical activity) and excessively noisy electrodes (channels with un-patterned, repeated large spikes unlike any other channel) were removed from processing. the data were re-referenced to the average of the right and left mastoid electrodes (tp9, tp10). a fourth order, zero-phase-shift butterworth filter was applied with a low frequency cut-off of 0.1 hz, a high frequency cut-off of 30 hz, and a 60 hz notch. independent component analysis (ica; delorme & makeig, 2004; luck, 2005) was used to remove components indicative of blinks (large voltage changes concentrated at the front of the scalp); reverse ica was then used on the removed components. previously removed channels were added back using topographic interpolation (interpolation by spherical splines). from the 200 ms preceding the stimulus to the 800 ms after the stimulus, 1000 ms epochs of eeg data were constructed. these epochs were averaged for each channel and each participant to create the erp waveforms. a baseline correction, using a -200 to 0 ms baseline prior to event onset, was applied to all trials. trials were discarded if the voltage change exceeded 10 μv per sampling point or if the voltage was greater than 100 μv. on average 17.60%, 95% ci = [16.36, 18.84] of epochs were excluded from the oddball task, and 21.92%, 95% ci = [20.61, 23.23] of epochs from the gambling task. in order to analyze the erp components, we constructed a difference wave for both the p300 and reward positivity (luck, 2014). the p300 component included segments for common and rare (oddball) stimuli from the visual oddball task. the p300 difference wave was constructed by subtracting the common-stimuli segment from the rare-stimuli segment. the reward positivity component included segments for win and loss stimuli from the gambling task. the reward positivity difference wave was constructed by subtracting the loss-stimuli segment from the winstimuli segment. data analysis stai and tics-le chronic stress levels were measured by determining mean negative affect scores using the chronic stress screen scale (csss) from the tics-le questionnaire. higher scores indicate https://doi.org/ https://www.krigolsonlab.com/data-analysis.html the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 91 greater amounts of chronic stress. the range of scores for the csss is 0 to 48. state anxiety and trait anxiety were measured by determining the mean negative affects scores using the stai-s and stai-t, respectively. higher scores indicate higher levels of state and trait anxiety. the range of scores for the stai-s and the stai-t is 20 to 80. p300 and reward positivity components the p300 and reward positivity peak amplitudes and latencies were measured for each participant from averaged erp difference waveform data at electrode’s pz and fcz, respectively. to compute the amplitude of the p300, we found the peak of the grand average between 300 and 550 ms post-stimulus onset. we then used the peak of the grand average to compute each participant’s mean peak using a window size of 100 ms around the grand average peak. for the reward positivity, we found the peak of the grand average between 200 and 400 ms post-feedback. we then used the peak of the grand average to compute each participant’s mean peak using a window size of 96 ms. the existence of p300 and reward positivity were determined using singlesample t tests (krigolson, 2018). effect size was determined using cohen’s d using the following formula: 𝑑 = 𝑀𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓 𝑠𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓 where 𝑀𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓 is the mean of either the p300 or reward positivity scores and 𝑠𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓 is the standard deviation of the scores. correlations pearson correlation coefficients between each personality measure (chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety) and the p300 and reward positivity erp component amplitudes were measured. in order to assess the significance of the correlations, we used a one-sample t-test. for further exploration, we split the chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety scores into eight different quantiles (165, 150, 125, 100, 75, 50, 30, and 15). commonly researchers will only sample a subset of participants, using various methods to define groups with high and low personality traits. for example, zhang et al. (2015) defined trait anxiety scores based on being ± 1 sd of the mean, whereas xia et al. (2017) used a percentage of the upper and lower distribution. the current study had a larger sample, meaning we had a continuous measure of p300 and reward positivity. thus, splitting our data into quantiles allowed us to investigate different inclusion criteria and how the outcomes were affected as the quantiles start to represent the tail ends of the personality score distributions. similar approaches of breaking large sample data into smaller quantiles have been done before in personality trait research (jokela et al., 2013; jokela et al., 2014). as the bin sizes decrease, we see a larger effect. we started with a bin size of 165, representing the median, and we dropped the middle 30 scores to get our next bin size of 150. then we continued to drop the middle 50 scores to create bin sizes of 125, 100, 75, and 50. from there, we dropped the middle 40 scores, resulting in a bin size of 30, and finally, we dropped the last middle 30 scores to get a bin size of 15. for each quantile, representing the personality scores, we computed the mean differences, cohen’s d, pearson’s correlation coefficients with the p300 and reward positivity erp component amplitudes. additionally, we assessed the significance of the correlations for each bin size using a one-sample t-test. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 92 results p300 the participants had a mean p300 amplitude of 6.34 ± 3.69 μv, 95% ci [5.93, 6.74]. a one sample t-test was conducted to compare whether the mean amplitudes were different from zero, t(328) = 31.13, p = .00, d = 1.72. reward positivity the participants had a mean reward positivity amplitude of 3.14 ± 4.18 μv, 95% ci [2.68, 3.59]. a one sample t-test was conducted to compare whether the mean amplitudes were different from zero, t(328) = 13.62, p = .00, d =.75. chronic stress csss negative affect scores (m = 22.00, 95% ci = [21.08, 22.91]) and p300 amplitudes were found to be weakly negatively correlated, r(328) = -.05, but no significance was found, p = .38. csss negative affect scores and reward positivity amplitudes were found to be weakly positively correlated, r(328) = .04, but no significance was found, p > .05. anxiety state score stai-s negative affect scores (m = 34.10, 95% ci = [33.09, 35.11]) and p300 amplitudes were found to be moderately negatively correlated, r(328) = -.15, p = .01 (figure 3). stai-s negative affect scores and reward positivity amplitudes were found to be weakly negative correlated, r(328) = -.07, but no significance was found, p > .05. figure 3 negative correlation between stai-s negative affect scores and p300 amplitude https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 93 further, decreasing bin size of the anxiety state scores corresponded with increased mean differences, greater cohen’s d (figure 4), and stronger negative pearson correlation coefficients (figure 5) of the p300 amplitudes (table 1). across all bin sizes, these correlations were found to be statistically significant (table 1). table 1 cohens d, pearson’s r, mean difference, and significance values of p300 amplitude with decreasing state anxiety quantiles quantile mdiff d r p median -0.70 -0.19 -0.15 0.01 150 -0.78 -0.21 -0.16 0.00 125 -1.31 -0.35 -0.18 0.00 100 -1.44 -0.39 -0.21 0.00 75 -1.67 -0.45 -0.23 0.00 50 -1.73 -0.50 -0.26 0.01 30 -2.14 -0.54 -0.28 0.03 15 -3.02 -0.78 -0.39 0.03 figure 4 increasing effect size with smaller bin sizes of the anxiety state scores for the p300 amplitudes https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 94 figure 5 stronger negative correlations of the p300 amplitudes with decreasing anxiety state score bin sizes. anxiety trait score stai-t negative affect scores (m = 41.44, 95% ci = [40.29, 42.59]) and p300 amplitudes were found to be moderately negatively correlated, r(328) = -.12, p = .03 (figure 6). stai-t negative affect scores and reward positive amplitudes were found to be weakly positively correlated, r(328) = .06, but no significance was found, p > .05. figure 6 negative correlation between stai-t scores and p300 amplitudes https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 95 decreasing the bin sizes of the trait anxiety scores corresponded with trends of increased mean differences, greater cohen’s d (figure 7), and stronger negative pearson correlation coefficients (figure 8) of the p300 amplitudes (table 2). across all bin sizes, these correlations were found to be statistically significant (table 2). table 2 cohens d, pearson’s r, mean difference, and significance values of p300 amplitude with decreasing state anxiety quantiles figure 7 increasing effect size with smaller bin sizes of the anxiety trait scores for the p300 amplitudes quantile mdiff d r p median -0.40 -0.11 -0.12 0.03 150 -0.47 -0.12 -0.13 0.02 125 -0.63 -0.17 -0.15 0.02 100 -1.21 -0.32 -0.18 0.01 75 -1.15 -0.30 -0.20 0.02 50 -2.24 -0.62 -0.31 0.00 30 -2.57 -0.70 -0.36 0.00 15 -2.36 -0.70 -0.39 0.03 https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 96 figure 8 stronger negative correlations of the p300 amplitudes with decreasing anxiety trait score bin sizes discussion we found no significant effects of chronic stress, state anxiety, or trait anxiety on feedback learning. additionally, no significant trends were observed for the effects of chronic stress on updating working memory. however, exploratory analysis revealed negative correlations in both state anxiety scores and trait anxiety scores and p300 amplitude. these effects were amplified with decreasing state and trait anxiety quantiles, resulting in greater mean differences, increased effect size, and moderate negative correlations of p300 amplitudes. the findings of the current study support our hypothesis that as individuals experience greater levels of anxiety, there is a corresponding decrease in updating working memory processes. this relationship between anxiety and working memory processes has been supported in previous literature with smaller sample sizes. specifically, in regard to state anxiety, rossi and pourtois (2017) observed a reduction in p300 amplitudes with increasing levels of state anxiety across 26 participants, as measured by the stai-s. in regard to trait anxiety, huang et al. (2009) observed dampened p300 amplitudes in 14 individuals who reported having high trait anxiety relative to 14 individuals who reported having low trait anxiety, as measured by the stai-t. the results of the current study evaluated the relationship between varying levels of anxiety and changes in p300 amplitudes, demonstrating a similar trend of attenuated p300 amplitudes with increased anxiety scores. in addition, from a sample of 329 participants, we were also able to quantify this relationship between anxiety and updating working memory as moderately strong. one consideration regarding anxiety research and the investigation of the neural correlates of decision-making is the methodological implications of sampling procedures. anxiety research utilizing eeg methodology is commonly conducted using samples of undergraduate students https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 97 (rather than clinical populations with diagnosed anxiety disorders), and different methods are used to categorize anxiety levels within these students. consistent with the current study, previous research has used the stai to evaluate undergraduate participants’ level of anxiety (huang et al., 2009; luo et al. 2018; pederson & larson, 2016; rossi & pourtois, 2017; xia et al., 2017; zhang et al., 2015). often, within a cohort of participants, two groups are sampled for analysis: a high anxiety group and a low anxiety group. the methods used to distinguish these groups have differed across studies: zhang et al. (2015) established the high and low trait anxiety groups based on scores being ± 1 sd of the mean, whereas xia et al. (2017) used the upper and lower 25% of the distribution of anxiety scores. the varying definitions of high and low anxiety categories across studies raises concerns about whether populations are being consistently sampled and if these sampled groups are homogenous. regardless of whether or not high and low anxiety scores are consistent across studies, it is apparent that if the goal is to examine the clinical/personality effects in the brain, researchers are interested in upper/lower ends of the distribution of scores. our analysis revealed that the majority of our undergraduate student sample did not report high or low anxiety scores, but rather fell within the middle range of scores for state and trait anxiety. in order to observe the effects of anxiety on updating working memory processes, we decreased the bin sizes of the state and trait anxiety scores to represent the upper and lower ends of the anxiety score distribution. we showed in our study that as the bin sizes decreased there was a stronger negative correlation between anxiety scores and updating working memory. specifically, we saw that individuals who displayed greater levels of state and trait anxiety (upper end of the distribution) had lower p300 amplitudes indicating a reduced updating working memory process. the evidence from our study indicated that to understand how anxiety affects neural decision making in non-clinical populations, you must look at the extreme scores. our results are evidence of the beginnings of a correlation between anxiety and the neural correlates of decision making. anxiety affects executive functioning by impairing cognitive control (yang et al., 2018), attentional control (derakshan et al., 2009), and causing structural and functional changes to the pfc (fragale et al., 2016; park et al., 2016). we are adding to the anxiety literature by using erps to observe the effects of anxiety on the neural correlates of decisionmaking. p300 is an erp component that reflects the evaluation between current events with previous events in our working memory (luck, 2014; polich, 2007; san martin, 2012). the attenuation of this erp component is linked to higher susceptibility to impulsive decisions (xia et al., 2017), interpreting stimuli as threatening (luo et al., 2018; pederson & larson, 2016), and biasing attention towards negative stimuli (huang et al., 2009) in anxious individuals. our results showed that individuals with higher anxiety had decreased p300 amplitudes relative to individuals with lower anxiety. as such, greater anxiety levels were correlated with impaired working memory processes important for decision-making. the current study serves as a good stepping stone for future research to investigate the extent of alterations to executive functioning in clinical populations who exhibit higher levels of anxiety. conclusion in an attempt to address the gaps in chronic stress and anxiety research, the purpose of the current erp study was to explore the impact of chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety on neural decision-making processes including updating working memory and feedback learning. we hypothesized that we would see a reduction in p300 and reward positivity amplitudes with https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 98 increasing chronic stress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety scores. no correlations were observed for the three personality traits and reward positivity amplitudes, as well as for chronic stress and p300 amplitudes. however, our results demonstrated that state anxiety and trait anxiety were negatively correlated with p300 amplitudes, supporting our hypotheses. anxiety appears to have an impact on our updating working memory processes, and this effect was increased when anxiety scores were binned to reflect the tails of the distribution. due to the impact that chronic stress and anxiety can have on decision making, these personality traits have implications for many health conditions. understanding how chronic stress and anxiety interact with neural processes that guide our behaviour offers insight into the difficulties that can arise from stress and anxiety. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120178 99 references banis, s., gerrligs, l., lorist, m. m., & banis, h. 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focusing on tactical and strategic military failures; however, such explanations often neglected to investigate the religious literacy of american troops engaged in counterinsurgency operations in the middle east. by considering the treatment of religious literacy in general david petraeus’s landmark field manual, fm 3-24, a startling degree of religious illiteracy is revealed within counterinsurgency operational protocols. while a historically and culturally focused “civilizational approach” is often proposed by foreign policy analysts as a potential solution to the problem of religious illiteracy in counterinsurgency operations, this approach also falls short of addressing the complex realities that confront american “liberators,” whom locals often perceive to be foreign invaders. this article therefore addresses the disconnect between american military strategy, foreign policy, and the tactical realities encountered by military personnel stationed in the middle east. resultantly, this article argues that improved mandatory religious literacy training for american troops is critical not only for conducting successful operations in the middle east but also for ending, rather than reinvigorating, conflicts abroad. key terms: religious literacy; american military operations; civilizational thinking; middle east; afghanistan; iraq 1 i would like to acknowledge dr. andrew wender’s tireless support, feedback, and advice throughout this project. i would also like to thank my parents, greg and tracey, and my friends, emily and alex, for their love and their constant willingness to read my ramblings. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 mailto:samanthaolson@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 109 introduction the failure of american foreign policy in the middle east has generated discussion among foreign policy intellectuals and journalists alike. the isis victories in iraq and syria, and the rapid collapse of ashraf ghani’s government in afghanistan in august 2021, have spurred debate as americans try to understand what happened and why. foreign policy analysts (gilmour, 2021; barry, 2021) and counterinsurgency experts (kilcullen, 2021) have critiqued the long-term inefficacy of american intervention by attending to american failures in iraq and afghanistan. although their approaches have varied, the aforementioned scholars have all identified cultural and religious illiteracy as compromising american operations in the middle east. at first glance, it might be assumed that american military strategists have overlooked crucial local factors, such as religious customs and traditions. on the contrary, a wealth of strategic materials has been produced to promote greater cultural and religious literacy among american military personnel. notable titles have included william wunderle’s through the lens of cultural awareness (2006) and the u.s. marine corps’s report on the cultural intelligence seminar on afghan perceptions (2001). as will be discussed at greater length, general david petraeus’s undertaking of a comprehensive field manual for counterinsurgency (coin)2 proved to be an exceptionally difficult project from the outset. indeed, the task of writing one manual to competently advise american military strategists on all manifestations of insurgency was a difficult, if not impossible, endeavour. the marketing of petraeus’s coin manual, titled fm 3-24, as a comprehensive resource for coin was further complicated by petraeus’s generalized treatment of culture and religion in the middle east. while fm 3-24 does not downplay the importance of cultural literacy for coin operations, the same cannot be said for religion. examining petraeus’s treatment of religion in this landmark coin manual reveals a stark disconnect between american military strategies, tactical realities, and foreign policies in the middle east. moreover, an exploration of this disconnect reveals new possibilities for future american counterinsurgency field manuals to emphasize cultural and religious literacy for the purpose of preventing further conflict abroad. fm 3-24 has long been heralded as the preeminent counterinsurgency manual of the twenty-first century. written in 2006 for the u.s. army and marine corps, the manual updated coin strategies first developed in the 1980s by emphasizing operations in the middle east (petraeus, 2006, p. iii). the manual is therefore a rich primary source for evaluating american counterinsurgency and military strategies, including the integration of civilian and military activities, leadership ethics for counterinsurgency tactics, and linguistic support for american troops. in petraeus’s introduction to the manual, two points are made clear: conventional tactics fail against insurgents (p. x), and successful coin strategies rely on local support (p. xii). in terms of the latter, winning the trust of locals largely depends on the ability of foreign occupiers (or “liberators”) to become sufficiently conversant in regional cultures and customs. thus, fm 3-24 acknowledges the importance of cultural awareness; however, as this article establishes, petraeus’s manual too often treats religion as a mere subset of culture––an issue that has been criticized by military commentators (danan, 2007; hoffman, 2007). indeed, in fm 3-24, petraeus’s most extensive exploration of the impact of religion on coin operations in the middle east is found under the heading of “culture” (2006, pp. 3–6). 2 the term counterinsurgency (coin) refers to a military strategy designed to combat guerilla and non-state forces. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 110 a major criticism of u.s. coin strategy in the middle east is its perceived conflation of non-secular and secular insurgencies, in which non-secular insurgencies refer to the religious practices that prompt material and territorial militarized goals—as exemplified by the insurgencies led by al-qaeda and isis (para. 1–23). in contrast, secular insurgencies have been defined as military actions driven by non-religious ideologies and motives—as exemplified by the secular insurgencies that transpired in vietnam, the philippines, and malaysia (hoffman, 2007, p. 2). however, the criteria imposed by western military strategists to distinguish religious from secular insurgencies, and religiosity from secularity more generally, are often ill-suited to the operational realities on the ground. for example, in vietnam, the secular communism that emerged with the inauguration of ho chi minh’s government was combined with buddhism and confucianism to produce a geopolitical climate in which the public practice of buddhism was largely accepted (matthews, 1992, p. 68). given such complexities, religious scholar william cavanaugh (2009) has questioned whether secular and non-secular concepts might be further complicated by the introduction of secular religions. to this issue, cavanaugh has suggested that it can be exceedingly difficult to differentiate between secular and non-secular motivations. when discussing insurgencies that are in equal measure religious, cultural, and political, it is questionable as to whether these binaries are useful. still, coin strategists identify religious and secular insurgencies as fundamentally different. the main concern for military strategists is whether financial or material incentives (which might appeal to secular insurgents) would be effective with religious insurgents concerned with non-material objectives, such as enforcing religious orthodoxy or ritual (hoffman, 2007, p. 78). while petraeus’s fm 3-24 perceives “religion” and “culture” to be interrelated, religion is often erroneously viewed as a subcategory of culture. if religion is a subset of culture, as petraeus has argued, it becomes difficult to understand how religious movements can be countercultural. historically, religious movements often reckon with broader cultural trends, as evidenced by the islamic revolution in iran. situating religion as a mere subset of culture implies a false hierarchy in which the two are distinct. for instance, the 2003 american occupation of najaf in iraq exemplifies the prominence of religious leaders over secular institutions. in this instance, american security arrangements were made with the holy city’s religious leader, grand ayatollah ali al-sistani, rather than with the city’s mayor or chief of police (mcglinchey, 2022, p. 107). thus, as this example illustrates, the hierarchical privileging of religion as a subset of culture proposed by petraeus does not always cohere with reality. indeed, western strategists often prioritize elements of secular culture over religious affiliations in an attempt to explain foreign social and civil structures. for example, democracy might be used as a reference point for state governance, or western observers might deem secular political groups inherently “modern” and thereby privilege western worldviews. unfortunately, these rigid binaries often turn out to be more confounding than elucidating. this binary thinking is ineffective since the relationship between cultural/religious and secular/non-secular categories is porous and negotiable, as renowned anthropologist talal asad has affirmed in his scholarship, which positions religion as a transhistorical and transcultural phenomenon (1993, p. 28). to identify religion as a subset of culture, then, disregards complex circumstances in which religion may transcend, usurp, or lend additional meaning to cultural identity. while cultural identity may shift over time, religious identities are often firmly rooted in issues of mortality, divinity, salvation, and fate. therefore, the tendency of western foreign policy strategists to opt for binary categories to describe social phenomena obscures the manner in which secular culture and religious identities may overlap within a complex process of negotiation. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 111 religion as defined in fm 3-24 in fm 3-24, petraeus defines culture as “the muscle on the bones” of a society’s social structure (2006, para. 3–36). this metaphor situates religion as a sociocultural rather than political, economic, or militaristic force. despite petraeus’s reluctance to portray religion as a dominant force connected to yet distinct from culture, he concedes that culture is “a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artifacts that members of a society use to cope with their world and one another” (para. 3–37). petraeus’s definition is noteworthy because, at times, petraeus has used “culture” as an interchangeable synonym for “religion.” for example, petraeus has written that “culture influences how people make judgments about what is right and wrong,” and that “culture also includes under what circumstances the ‘rules’ shift and change” (para. 3–38). while such statements do not explicitly reference religion, the concept is circuitously evoked within these passages. furthermore, petraeus has recommended that american troops concern themselves with understanding the “culture of the society as a whole” only after mapping the social structure of each region (para. 3–36). asserting that societal structures can be understood by military personnel without preliminary knowledge of regional culture is indicative of petraeus’s hierarchical conception of religion and culture. why, for instance, should social structures not be viewed as emerging from culture? how can a culture be understood without a firm grasp of that region’s religious communities? in his since-deleted new york post op-ed on petraeus’s manual, retired lieutenant colonel ralph peters has suggested that fm 3-24 overlooks religious belief as the chief motivation for insurgency (2006). to peters, “the politically correct atmosphere in washington deems any discussion of religion as a strategic factor indelicate” (2006, para. 11). yet, peters’s claim is not substantiated by a more thorough reading of fm 3-24, in which religion is repeatedly cited as a possible motive for insurgency. indeed, to dispel such misinterpretations, this article examines how petraeus’s field manual situates religion in terms of insurgents and local populations, and the possible implications of that positioning for the tactical realities of american coin operations in the middle east. in the “culture” section of fm 3-24, petraeus has drawn generalized connections between religious identity and insurgency. more specifically, in a section on leadership, petraeus has suggested that identity-based insurgencies are often led by traditional authority figures, such as “tribal sheikhs, local warlords, or religious leaders” (2006, para. 1–73). according to petraeus, the authorities responsible for leading insurgencies often employ religious concepts to mobilize local support for political goals (para. 1–75). citing al-qaeda’s example, petraeus summarizes their aims as the desire to “reverse the decline of the ummah3 [to] bring about its inevitable triumph over western imperialism” (para. 1–76). given this definition, petraeus neglects to acknowledge the existence of numerous religious moderates unaffiliated with al-qaeda (danan & hunt, 2007, p. 6). although petraeus’s field manual emphasizes the role of religion in insurgencies, fm 3-24 fails to explore the significance of religion for moderate local populations in the middle east. in contrast, former u.s. department of state employee liora danan has argued that military strategies and tactical operations must pay serious attention to the influence and impact of religion (danan & hunt, 2007, p.1). to illustrate this point, danan cites the u.s. government’s reluctance to encourage negotiations between the islamic courts union and transitional federal government in somalia due to american concerns that union moderates might create an islamic 3 defined by the collins english dictionary (n.d.) as “the muslim community throughout the world” (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/ummah). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/ummah the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 112 state more closely aligned with al-qaeda (p. 6). crucially, petraeus’s association of moderate religious identities with insurgency, without adequate recognition of the broader significance of religious identity for local populations, has led to missed opportunities for greater social stability within various regions in the middle east (p. 6). when petraeus explicitly addresses religious identity in fm 3-24, the topic is handled concurrently with national and racial identities, which is dangerously reductive. throughout fm 3-24, petraeus deems religious affiliation to be a primary cultural identity (para. 3–7). in reality, sociocultural, political, economic, and religious identities might all be prioritized as primary for an individual. thus, religious identity is not just significant for evaluating insurgencies, as petraeus has suggested; it is also crucial for establishing relationships with local populations. indeed, petraeus’s manual urges u.s. forces to “show respect for local religions and traditions” by avoiding actions that might “undermine or change the local religion or traditions” (para. 6–60). strikingly, later in the same passage, petraeus contradicts this statement by adding that military personnel “have a mission to reduce the effects of dysfunctional social practices” (para. 6–60), which thus hints at a western “civilizing” mission couched within the pretext of america’s war on terror. petraeus’s manual thus examines the significance of religious identity within the context of insurgencies rather than in relation to the traditions and customs of local populations. that is, petraeus attributes the ability of insurgents to garner popular support to religious or cultural ideological appeals: “the most powerful ideologies tap latent, emotional concerns of the populace [including] religious objectives, desire for justice, [and] ethnic aspirations” (para. 1–75). in this sense, petraeus describes religious identity as a tool wielded exclusively by insurgents instead of as a potential point of connection to be leveraged by “liberating” forces. petraeus’s manual goes on to suggest that u.s. military personnel can reduce the efficacy of insurgent recruitment efforts through economic incentives, employment opportunities (i.e., public works projects), and the establishment of a civil defense corps (para. 5–48). yet, as foreign policy expert frank hoffman aptly remarked in his critique of fm 3-24, it is questionable whether coin operations can effectively counter identity-based insurgencies with economic incentives, since “economic inducements and material gains” are unlikely to “overcome someone’s faith or religious identity” (2007, p. 78). in short, fm 3-24 suggests that successful coin operations cultivate cooperative relationships with the local populace, which requires that military personnel understand how nationality, race, ethnicity, and religion might shape local identities. in addition to offering little specific advice on how to foster this understanding, petraeus’s emphasis on the relationship between insurgency and religion prioritizes the identities of insurgents over those of local religious moderates. ultimately, this positioning leaves troops well-informed about the significance of religion to insurgents yet largely unaware of how religion might function within the broader community. at best, this framing obfuscates the religious practices and cultural traditions of locals and, at worst, renders these practices and customs inherently radical, which may lead to encounters that erode the possibility for civil-military cooperation. the genealogy of fm 3-24 petraeus’s treatment of religion in fm 3-24 was likely influenced by such counterinsurgency texts as david galula’s counterinsurgency warfare (1964) and robert thompson’s defeating communist insurgency (1966). while petraeus’s manual provides a much-needed update to extant literature on counterinsurgency, he has drawn from materials developed during https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 113 previous eras of secular conflicts. indeed, petraeus dedicates no less than one-third of his bibliography to the classics of counterinsurgency. thus, while claiming to modernize previous coin strategies, fm 3-24 relies on tactics forged almost half-a-century prior. in response, hoffman’s critique of fm 3-24 has focused on its failure to adapt to a rapidly changing operational landscape. in particular, hoffman has declared the manual “relatively mute on the subject” of religion, which may indicate that the “classicists” have “won” (2007, p. 78). in his most compelling critique of the field manual, hoffman rejects the presumed transcendence of western ideals: the manual’s operational approach never deviates from galula or thompson’s guidance. it never acknowledges that these guidelines assume that the target population has a value system similar to america’s, or fundamental concepts regarding political order that are consistent with that of a representative democracy, universal individual rights, and free market economies. but if the population’s value system is not consistent with these basic elements of the us approach … we may need a dramatically revised counter-insurgency strategy. (2007, p. 78) to his credit, petraeus has noted in fm 3-24 that “american ideas of what is ‘normal’ or ‘rational’ are not universal” (2006, para. 1–80). while this admission might appear to undermine hoffman’s critique, in this instance petraeus has focused on certain superficial differences that might surprise american troops, such as local levels of religious devotion, behaviour, and gender norms. although petraeus has described certain behaviours and gender norms as varying across cultures, his manual does not adequately challenge the universal appeal of western ideals, such as the desirability of a representational democracy. hence petraeus’s manual does not dispute galula’s and thompson’s presumption that fundamental concepts can be applied to a range of regions yet still remain salient (hoffman, 2007). consequently, this article contends that basic western assumptions, such as the idealization of a secularized democratic state, cannot be imposed from without onto the middle east. while petraeus’s introduction to fm 3-24 indicates that “all insurgencies are different,” the manual subsequently suggests that insurgencies follow broad historical trends of motivation (2006, p. x). petraeus’s fundamental argument regarding the nature of insurgencies, therefore, seems to oscillate between recognizing geographic and cultural specificities and refusing to acknowledge that patterns among insurgencies might be the exception, rather than the rule. as foreign policy expert andrew skitt gilmour has suggested in “reenvisioning the middle east” (2021), many foreign policy intellectuals raised during the cold war remain “reluctant to revisit basic assumptions about how the united states acts toward the wider middle east” (2021, p. 22). hoffman and gilmour thus concur that the greatest flaw in fm 3-24 is petraeus’s tendency to cast a net so wide that it does little to prepare american military personnel for tactical realities in the middle east. in purporting to have produced a comprehensive manual of counterinsurgency, petraeus has assumed that insurgencies––across varied geographical, cultural, political, economic, and religious contexts––share fundamental qualities that a generalized manual can identify and thereby offer a framework for effective action. military strategy versus tactical reality the disconnect between military strategies and tactical realities is glaring in petraeus’s manual. most notably, petraeus has emphasized the importance of coordination with locals while offering no resources to improve cultural and religious literacy among american military https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 114 personnel. tellingly, the annotated bibliography of fm 3-24 contains nine specific resources on vietnam, 10 on iraq, and only four on afghanistan (2006, bib-1). furthermore, in the references of fm 3-24, only two sources deal with religion in the middle east: gilles kepel’s the war for muslim minds (2004) and bernard lewis’s the crisis of islam (2003). both texts advance dangerous generalizations about the nature of islam. tellingly, kepel’s book begins by citing ayman al-zawahiri’s december 2001 manifesto4 prior to declaring the middle east a “hotbed” of religious extremism (2004, p. 1). similarly, in lewis’s chapter, “defining islam,” the author inaccurately posits that there are only two islamic traditions: “one authoritarian and quietist, the other radical and activist” (2003, p. 11). it might be assumed that in 2006, petraeus lacked access to cultural surveys of the middle east deemed fit for use by the u.s. military; however, closer examination indicates otherwise. for example, in her 2014 “cross-cultural competence in the department of defense,” senior advisor to the united states department of the navy jessica gallus cites dozens of religious primers published prior to fm 3-24 that petraeus neglected to include. the u.s. marine corps’s 2001 report on the cultural intelligence seminar on afghan perceptions, for example, highlights not only the “mannerisms, attitudes, and proper etiquette” specific to afghanistan but also approaches to “nation building and negotiation methods” for coin operations (p. 50). moreover, a 2005 article by georgia chao and henry moon stresses the importance of educating american military personnel about intersectional cultural identities within their area of operations (p. 57). the omission of such primers from petraeus’s field manual has serious implications at a tactical level. as danan has recounted, when interviewing afghan civilians about the presence of american troops stationed in afghanistan, one civilian stated that american soldiers “come with their boots into our mosques. that is why everyone is fighting against them” (danan & hunt, 2007, p. 7).5 the previous statement thus attests to the urgent need for foreign military personnel to respect both local customs and religious traditions in the middle east. in a 2021 interview with mimi geerges for government matters, combat interpreter for the u.s. forces baktash ahadi has suggested that incidents of religious illiteracy were the main reason afghans perceived the taliban as the “lesser of two evils” when confronted with the choice of taliban or american occupation. indeed, ahadi sums up the failure of american troops in afghanistan concisely: “the united states did not take the time nor effort to understand the people they were trying to serve” (0:36). in what is, perhaps, the most egregious example of religious illiteracy, ahadi describes how american troops burnt the quran at the bagram airbase in 2012 to prevent taliban prisoners from sending messages to each other, which resulted in nationwide protests against american and nato forces (1:10). it is difficult to imagine american forces succeeding in their quest to win over the “hearts and minds” of afghan locals in light of such incidents. ahadi’s perspective therefore calls into question whether american failures in the middle east are primarily tactical and strategic, or systemic shortcomings seeded by the foreign policies that brought american troops to the region in the first place. fm 3-24’s tendency to neglect tactical realities also brings to the fore broader limitations within american coin and military strategies. in the ledger (2021), counterinsurgency expert david kilcullen and former advisor to nato forces greg mills attribute the failure of american troops to secure stability in afghanistan to the military strategies espoused in fm 3-24. kilcullen and mills have stated that, while coin theory views military strategies as secondary to “civilian, 4 zawahiri’s december 2001 manifesto claims responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks (kepel, 2003, p. 1). 5 shoes are considered impure and must be removed before entering muslim prayer halls (becker, 2018, p. 87). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 115 political governance, and development means,” the subordination of military forces to civilian agencies was not possible in afghanistan due to “a lack of civilian expertise” (p. 59). while petraeus has frequently emphasized that collaborative relationships with local populations are the most effective “weapon” against insurgents, fm 3-24 does not provide american military personnel with the resources needed to cultivate such relationships. that is, the manual operates on a level too far abstracted from tactical realities to be effective. for example, fm 3-24 identifies religious schools and mosques as potential sites of support for insurgents (para. 1–90) without deeming religious literacy a prerequisite for engaging in coin operations in religious settings. furthermore, such sites are also likely to attract the very locals that troops seek to forge trusting relationships with, and potential religious blunders would not be easily forgotten (danan & hunt, 2007, p. 7). kilcullen and mills go on to cite britain’s involvement in afghanistan in order to highlight the direct connection between strategic and tactical failures: there were strenuous––and, often, successful––attempts to improve the tactical performance of armies that were not, for the most part, designed, trained or equipped for the task they faced in afghanistan. for all the puffing up of the relevance of britain’s experience in northern ireland, the intervening coalition in afghanistan [was] mostly comprised [of] militaries focused on conventional warfare. (2021, p. 59) thus, while allied nato forces might have improved tactically, conventional warfare strategies remained largely unsuccessful in afghanistan. similarly, the failure of american troops to secure long-term stability in afghanistan was rooted in an unsatisfactory understanding of the region and a disconnect between american military strategies and tactical realities. in 2022, it does not seem that american military operations in the middle east have progressed much beyond the war on terror and the quashing of groups deemed to be hostile toward the west. ideals of american foreign policies and a way forward critical commentaries on american involvement in the middle east can be classified into the following groups: 1) critics who focus on the actions of u.s. forces “on the ground” to discuss the ideological aims of u.s. intervention and nebulous boundaries of the war on terror (ahadi, 2021; danan & hunt, 2007); 2) critics who focus on the overall operational framework of american intervention to explain its failures (hoffman, 2007; kilcullen & mills, 2021); and, 3) critics who highlight critical western misconceptions about the geographical features, cultures, and religions of the middle east (dadkhah, 2013; gilmour, 2021). in light of these strands of critical commentary, central intelligence agency veteran andrew skitt gilmour has offered compelling alternatives to the current strategies employed by u.s. foreign policy analysts. gilmour’s envisioning of a “civilizational approach” (2021) to foreign policy in the middle east has purported to enhance the cultural and religious literacy of american military personnel by promoting informed cooperation with local populations over time, rather than as a means to an end. as gilmour has explained, “civilizational thinking” appreciates the importance of history, tradition, and religion in military operations (p. 24). furthermore, the theoretical framework that guides a “civilizational” approach maintains an informed understanding of the nuanced relationship between religion and culture. this approach avoids projecting western liberal ideals of freedom and democracy onto the context of the middle east. instead, this approach allows local https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 116 actors to contextualize western ideals in light of longstanding regional customs and traditions (p. 24). for gilmour, american foreign policy strategists must decentre their worldviews, including western notions of secularity, statehood, liberalism, and religion, to create opportunities for local populations to engage with those concepts on their own terms. a coin manual composed to foreground gilmour’s civilizational approach would differ dramatically from petraeus’s fm 3-24. indeed, such a manual would not operate according to the rigid categories of secular/non-secular or religious/cultural; rather, a coin manual guided by a civilizational approach would recognize and preserve the overlap between such categories to acknowledge their complexity. in addition to advocating for a historically and culturally informed framework for american foreign policy in the middle east, gilmour has contended that american coin strategies must acknowledge “islam as an enduring socio-political force” (2021, p. 24). much like danan and hunt, gilmour has disputed the conflation of islam with religious extremism by citing algerian scholar mohammed arkoun’s support of a moderate islamic humanism purposed to “transcend both a consumerist, intellectually shallow west and islamic religious zealotry” (p. 24). in this respect, arkoun’s scholarship exemplifies how humanist ideals might be applied within the middle east. unfortunately, gilmour’s vision for improving american foreign policies remains disconnected from both american military strategies and tactical realities. how might the implementation of a civilizational approach change the tactical operations of “boots on the ground?” would the training of the american military personnel include studying the national histories and present-day theologies of each deployment location? it appears quite possible that, even if the u.s. military implemented formal pre-deployment civilizational training, such an approach would not suffice to facilitate the cultural and religious acumen necessary for u.s. personnel to overcome their perceived role as unwelcome foreign occupiers. if, as gilmour has suggested, cold war era analysts refuse to revisit basic assumptions about america’s foreign policy goals in the middle east (2021, p. 22), it is probable that american military strategists might be equally reluctant, if not vehemently opposed, to overhauling the basic tenets of current military training. given that a 2021 gallup poll revealed six out of 10 americans supported the withdrawal of us troops deployed to afghanistan (newport), efforts to reform military training during the twilight of american involvement in the middle east might prove ill-timed. still, gilmour’s civilizational approach should not be discounted entirely: revising fm 3-24 through a civilizational lens might produce an entirely different manual keyed to the cultural and religious complexities specific to each region. evaluating the treatment of religion and its implications in petraeus’s fm 3-24 brings to light previously unaddressed frictions and disconnections between american military strategies, tactical realities, and ideological visions for continued u.s. involvement in the middle east. while petraeus’s positioning of religion as a subset of culture gives rise to misperceptions about the religious identities of local populations, that issue is not the most serious failure of fm 3-24. urging troops to win local support through forming enduring regional alliances, without offering any specific insights as to how to do so, is both impractical and dangerous. furthermore, relegating the cultivation of religious literacy to individual military personnel leaves too much room for error. without a coherent curriculum of religious acumen training tailored to coin operatives, establishing civil-military cooperation will remain unachievable. furthermore, producing a general coin field manual on the premise that regionally diverse insurgencies share a common set of characteristics only obscures elements that are contextually contingent and thus unique. therefore, an amended civilizational approach that might help to bridge potential gaps between ideologies, strategies, and tactics. it is no stretch of the imagination to envision a revised fm 3-24 https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 117 manual that revisits culture and religion through a civilizational approach to reframe coin strategies in terms of regional customs and histories. the idea that this process might be guided by local actors themselves holds particular promise. in 2021, ahadi advised the pentagon to “talk to afghans” (geerges, 2021, 5:18). moreover, dan schueftan has stated that the “solution” to conflicts in the middle east “must be indigenous” (as cited in dadkhah, 2013). a civilizational approach to current counterinsurgency protocols may encourage the production of regionally specific, religiously literate, and culturally sound manuals for each conflict as required. while perhaps sacrificing the “simplicity” of fm 3-24, the creation of american coin manuals that emphasize the agency and breadth of local knowledge may help to narrow the gap between military strategies and applied tactics in order to end, rather than reinvigorate, conflicts abroad. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 118 references asad, t. 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(2021). the ledger: accounting for failure in afghanistan. hurst & company. lewis, b. (2004). the crisis of islam. random house. matthews, b. (1992). the place of religion in vietnam today. buddhist-christian studies, 12(1), 65–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/1389955 mcglinchey, s. (2022). foundations of international relations. bloomsbury academic. https://www.e-ir.info/publication/foundations-of-international-relations/ newport, f. (2021). us defense budget, afghanistan withdrawal not hot-button issues. gallup. https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/348857/defense-budget-afghanistanwithdrawal-not-hot-button-issues.aspx peters, r. (2006, october 18). politically correct war: us military leaders deny reality. new york post. https://web.archive.org/web/20061029042108/http://www.nypost.com/seven/10182006/p ostopinion/opedcolumnists/politically_correct_war_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm?pa ge=0 petraeus, d. h., & amos, j. f. 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(2006). through the lens of cultural awareness: a primer for us armed forces deploying to arab and middle eastern countries. combat studies institute press. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220756 https://doi.org/10.2307/1389955 https://www.e-ir.info/publication/foundations-of-international-relations/ https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/348857/defense-budget-afghanistan-withdrawal-not-hot-button-issues.aspx https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/348857/defense-budget-afghanistan-withdrawal-not-hot-button-issues.aspx https://web.archive.org/web/20061029042108/http:/www.nypost.com/seven/10182006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/politically_correct_war_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm?page=0 https://web.archive.org/web/20061029042108/http:/www.nypost.com/seven/10182006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/politically_correct_war_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm?page=0 https://web.archive.org/web/20061029042108/http:/www.nypost.com/seven/10182006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/politically_correct_war_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm?page=0 https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ada433453 introduction religion as defined in fm 3-24 the genealogy of fm 3-24 military strategy versus tactical reality ideals of american foreign policies and a way forward dadkhah, a. (2013, june 6). getting it wrong: american misperceptions of the middle east. wilson center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/getting-it-wrong-american-misperceptions-the-middle-east the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 120 the annexation of crimea and eu sanctions: an ineffective response kiegan barron1 kieganbarron@gmail.com abstract ongoing geopolitical developments regarding russia and ukraine have resulted in discussions about the utility of sanctions. this article analyzes european union (eu) sanctions on russia following the annexation of crimea by investigating whether eu-russia oil and gas trade relations compromised the efficacy of restrictions. it thus argues that the eu did not sanction russian oil and gas due to eu reliance on these resources. however, the absence of sanctions on these industries cannot be held responsible for russia’s refusal to leave crimea since restrictions that were put in place still notably impacted the russian economy. hence, other considerations, such as the general inefficacy of sanctions, unintended consequences of the eu restrictions, and deeper historical reasoning clarify why russia’s occupation of crimea persisted. key words: sanctions; oil; natural gas; crimea; annexation; russia; european union 1 i would like to thank dr. valerie d’erman for her encouragement and feedback on this article, as well as for her help throughout my entire undergraduate degree. i would also like to acknowledge dr. tom saunders and dr. andrew wender for their guidance throughout the previous four years. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 mailto:kieganbarron@gmail.com the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 121 introduction the russian annexation of crimea in 2014 prompted widespread sanctions, which can be understood as commercial or financial penalties placed on groups, individuals, or countries by other political entities to force behavioural changes. in short, sanctions are tools for political units to achieve their goals (barber, 1979). this topic has renewed significance due to the ongoing russian invasion of ukraine. therefore, the purpose of this article is to analyze the efficacy of european union (eu) sanctions placed on russia. these restrictions are important given close eu-russia trade relations, particularly regarding oil and natural gas. thus, my research takes up the following questions: how did eu-russia trade relations affect eu sanctions placed on russia, and did eu-russia trade relations impair the ability of the eu’s other sanctions to force russia out of crimea? in other words, did eu sanctions restrict imports of russian oil and gas? if not, did this omission render other eu sanctions toothless? the argument of this article is thus twofold: first, it posits that the eu failed to meaningfully sanction russian oil and gas since doing so would have devastated the european economy. second, this article goes on to suggest that the eu’s failure to place restrictions on these industries cannot be blamed for reducing the effectiveness of the sanctions that were put in place since they still had a major impact on the russian economy. this last point thus indicates that other factors, such as the inefficacy of sanctions in general, the unintended consequences of the specific eu sanctions, and the deeper historical motivations behind the annexation, need to be considered when assessing russia’s refusal to leave crimea. to articulate these arguments, i will first give a brief overview of russo-ukrainian relations as related to crimea, up to and including its annexation. this section will also explain russian reliance on eu oil and gas exports. thereafter, i will highlight the goals of eu sanctions and whether they were achieved. the following section will explore why no major sanctions were placed on russian oil and gas due to their potential to cripple the european economy. i will then demonstrate how, despite this absence, other sanctions still had a substantial impact on russia’s economic situation. however, since russia persisted in its occupation of crimea, the next section will present three possible reasons to explain why. finally, this article will conclude by discussing the potential implications of ineffective sanctions in light of the ongoing russo-ukrainian war. given that this section will address the “moving target” of current affairs, the cut-off point for events referenced will be july 20, 2022. historical context the crimean peninsula has been ruled and subjugated by numerous civilizations, empires, and states. before the common era, the region was inhabited by the ancient greeks and romans (hammond, 1963). in the first millennium ad, crimea was then occupied by the romans, goths, and khazars (magocsi, 1996). the first half of the next millennium saw further tumult, with incursions by the mongols, ottomans, and cossacks—ethnic slavs from the steppes of ukraine (halperin, 1983; magocsi, 1996). the peninsula was subsequently conquered by russia under catherine the great in the eighteenth century (rywkin, 2015). however, the region was transferred to ukrainian control under the soviet union per the decision of general secretary nikita khrushchev (rywkin, 2015). the end of the cold war prompted heated debate between the newly independent ukraine and the russian federation over who would control the peninsula. in 1997, an agreement was reached that allowed crimea to remain under ukrainian control while permitting russia to keep a key division of its navy (the “black sea fleet”) stationed in sevastopol, the largest https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 122 city in the region (sivis, 2019). tensions seemingly cooled until 2014, when domestic upheaval in ukraine allowed the kremlin to further pursue its geopolitical interests. since its independence, ukraine has alternated between governments that have favoured close ties with russia and those that have sought to establish ties with the eu. this oscillation has caused conflict between these two factions, and russia and ukraine more generally. for instance, in 1993, the ukrainian government declared european integration a main foreign policy objective (shyrokykh, 2018). this goal was reciprocated by the eu, which sought to expand its membership to ensure greater stability in europe and to encourage democratic developments in the eastern part of the continent (shyrokykh, 2018). however, in 2004, widespread protests erupted in response to accusations that the presidential election had been rigged for pro-russia candidate viktor yanukovych (sivis, 2019). this “orange revolution” was ultimately quelled with a run-off election, which led to an electoral victory for the pro-western candidate, viktor yushchenko (sivis, 2019). tensions once again boiled over in november 2013, when now president yanukovich, who won the 2010 election, announced that ukraine would pull out of an association agreement with the eu designed to lessen travel barriers (silva & selden, 2019). this announcement prompted further civil unrest, which resulted in yankovich fleeing to russia as his government collapsed (silva & selden, 2019). amidst this chaos, russia moved troops into crimea, and justified this military operation under the guise of protecting civilians and denazification (rywkin, 2015). a referendum was then organized in march 2014, which resulted in 97% voting in favour of crimea joining the russian federation (sivis, 2019). while widely seen as a violation of international law by the west, crimea has nonetheless since remained under de facto russian control (schmidt-felzmann 2019). moreover, pro-russia separatist movements supported by the russian government have also engaged in low-level conflict in the eastern ukrainian regions of donbas and luhansk since 2014 (sivis, 2019). to understand the relevance of the eu’s reaction to the annexation of crimea, additional context is needed. the druzhba pipeline, created to supply oil and gas to the eastern bloc, was built in 1964 (flade, 2017). a gas transportation system between the eastern and western blocs was then put in place in the 1970s—later complemented by the urengoy-pomaryuzhhorod pipeline in 1984 (blinken, 1987). much to the dismay of the united states (us), throughout the 1980s exports of russian natural gas and oil to western europe increased, which led to the creation of more soviet pipelines and the rise of russian state-run gas companies like gazprom (goldman, 2010). following the collapse of the soviet union, and the dramatic increase of trade between the two formerly isolated blocs, russia became overwhelmingly reliant on eu oil and gas imports. for instance, by 2014, russia was exporting 70% of its oil and 90% of its gas to the eu, which accounted for 11% of its gross domestic product (gdp) (khrushcheva & maltby, 2016). due to this reliance, the russian economy was vulnerable to potential oil and gas restrictions, which must be considered when assessing eu sanctions following the annexation. indeed, there was presumably an opportunity for the eu to inflict major trade-related consequences on the russian economy. eu reactions to the annexation of crimea on march 17, 2014, the day after the crimean referendum, the eu issued a sanctions package: travel restrictions and asset freezes were placed on 21 officials involved in the annexation and the separatist movements in eastern ukraine (gurvich & prilepskiy, 2015). in the month that followed, this list expanded to include 36 implicated officials (european parliament, 2017). in july https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 123 2014, 15 additional people were sanctioned, including former russian prime minister mikhail efimovich fradkov and head of the security council of russia nikolai platonovich patrushev (european parliament, 2014). by 2015, the list of sanctioned individuals had grown to 155, including crimean prime minister sergey valeryevich aksyonov and commander of the ukrainian navy denis valentinovich berezovskiy (sivis, 2019). travel restrictions were also announced on key officials involved in russian state enterprises, such as the kerch ferry used to connect crimea with russia as well as the sevastopol commercial seaport, which came under russian control in 2014 (european parliament, 2014). sanctions were not just levied at individuals; they were also placed on diplomatic and trade-related areas. in july 2014, bilateral talks between russia and the eu were suspended due to the annexation of crimea (luciani, 2015). however, the true nail in the diplomatic coffin had already occurred in march 2014, when russia was expelled from the group of eight (g8), which included germany, france, the united kingdom, and italy—four of the most powerful eu member-states at the time (podolian, 2015). meetings scheduled to be held in sochi later that year were relocated to brussels, with the now group of seven (g7)(sivis, 2019). in march 2014, the eu also placed embargos on russian arms, other military materials, and technologies, as well as on products for deep-water oil exploration and production (covington & burling llp, 2014). in july 2014, the european council’s committee of permanent representatives announced an extension to the previous arms embargo and also banned new investments in transportation, telecommunications, and energy in crimea (silva & selden, 2019). the european investment bank (eib) then annulled future financial operations in russia (2022). restrictions were also placed on russian companies’ access to “advanced oil and gas production technologies,” which limited new technologies intended to aid in oil and gas extraction (gurvich & prilepskiy, 2015, p. 359). these sanctions aimed to pressure russia to leave crimea, as evidenced by an eu press release from march 2014, which stated that “the eu [has] imposed … travel bans and asset freezes against russian and ukrainian officials … until russia reverses its decisions” (council of the european union, 2014). so, did these restrictions achieve their goal? given that, by 2018, russia still occupied crimea despite the renewal of eu sanctions for another four years, it is clear that little success was achieved in the short term (sivis, 2019). furthermore, in 2022, the full-scale russian invasion of ukraine has demonstrated that eu sanctions were insufficient in preventing escalating aggressions on the part of the kremlin (reuters, 2022). in short, eu sanctions have proven ineffective at substantively changing russia’s actions towards crimea specifically and ukraine more broadly. the lack of meaningful sanctions on oil and natural gas how might one understand this inefficacy? to begin, it is important to note the scope of the sanctions: many targeted individuals, diplomatic endeavours, and non-oil and gas trade relations. recall the 155 sanctioned individuals, removal of russia from the g8, and ban on imports of russian arms and other military equipment (covington & burling llp, 2014; podolian, 2015; sivis, 2019). the eu did enact some restrictions on oil and gas, as evidenced by the limits placed on russian oil and gas companies’ access to “advanced production technologies,” the embargo that targeted commodities used for deep-water oil exploration and production, and the halting of energy investments in crimea (gurvich & prilepskiy 2015, p. 359; silva & selden, 2019). yet, the eu failed to enact a full-scale ban on russian oil and gas imports or to place any https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 124 restrictions that might have significantly hindered the aforementioned industries. moreover, in response to these sanctions, russia turned to china for new oil and gas technologies and deepwater oil exploration products—actions attributable to a de facto alliance between the two countries since the soviet union’s dissolution in 1991 (sivis, 2019). admittedly, a correlation can be drawn between the implementation of eu sanctions and decreased eu-russia oil and gas trade relations. whereas in 2014 russia exported 70% of its oil and 90% of its gas to the eu, exports decreased to 50% and 70%, respectively, by 2021 (khrushcheva & maltby, 2016; u.s. energy information administration, n.d.).2 however, it is unlikely that the eu’s limited sanctions caused this decrease. indeed, reduced oil and gas exports to the eu is partly attributable to russia’s increased trade with other actors: as of 2022, russia exported 20% of its oil and gas to china—a 100% increase from 2012 (international energy agency, 2022). furthermore, in an effort to diversify away from its reliance on russian oil, the eu turned to oil and gas supplies from azerbaijan and iran in 2014 (bocse, 2018). while this shift was partly due to the perceived inappropriateness of western nations importing russian oil after the occupation of crimea, some have also forwarded the eu’s desire to establish greater resource security by reducing its reliance on one supplier (bocse, 2018; judge & maltby, 2017; khrushcheva, 2011). due to these variables, it is reasonable to argue that eu sanctions on russia had little impact on decreased oil and gas trade relations between the two political units. why then did the eu not meaningfully sanction russian oil and gas? indeed, if their goal was to pressure russia to leave crimea, why did the eu not halt all oil and gas imports since doing so would have presumably caused massive tumult in the russian economy that might have forced the kremlin to pull out of crimea? to answer this question simply, just as russia depends on the eu to buy its oil and gas, the eu depends on russia to sell these resources. for instance, in 2013, the druzhba pipeline, which flows from eastern european russia into the eu, accounted for 100% of slovakian oil, 94% of hungarian oil, and 65% of czech oil (tsakiris, 2015). finland, latvia, estonia, bulgaria, and croatia also received about two-thirds of their oil imports from russia during the same period (hernández, 2022). furthermore, russian natural gas accounted for more than two-thirds of supplies found in estonia, latvia, finland, the czech republic, slovakia, croatia, and bulgaria in 2020, whereas germany, austria, italy, poland, lithuania, hungary, slovenia, and greece received about 40% of their gas from russian suppliers (hernández, 2022; eurostat, n.d.). due to the eu’s reliance on russian oil and gas, it is reasonable to assume that, if truly consequential sanctions were placed on these industries, they would have devastated the eu’s economy. indeed, even without applying sanctions to these industries, eu restrictions still had a notable impact. for example, from 2012 to 2016, trade between russia and the eu decreased by 44% (european commission, 2022). some of the most powerful eu member states, such as germany and france, also experienced massive decreases in their exports to russia; france alone lost 1160 million euros in potential gdp gains over those four years (european parliament, 2017). moreover, retaliatory russian sanctions on eu meat, dairy, and other food exports contributed to italy’s loss of 850 million euros of projected gdp (sivis, 2019; uspit, 2018). while hardly devastating and difficult to directly link to eu sanctions, these possible consequences demonstrate why the eu refused to penalize russian oil and gas since doing so would have likely increased gas prices and utility bills, as well as possibly have prompted an economic recession in europe (uspit, 2018). 2 importantly, 50% and 70% of a countries’ exports going to one trading bloc is still notably high (u.s. energy information administration, n.d.). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 125 the broader inefficacy of sanctions despite the correlation between the eu’s lack of restrictions on oil and gas and russia’s refusal to leave crimea, it would be incorrect to suggest a causal relationship between the two phenomena since the russian economy nonetheless experienced a severe downturn following the annexation of crimea. from 2014 to 2016, the value of the ruble depreciated 40% against the euro and 50% against the american dollar (korhonen et al., 2018). furthermore, russian gdp only increased by 0.7% in 2014 and then contracted by 2.8% in 2015—a far cry from the over 4% gdp growth seen annually from 2010 to 2013 (european parliament, 2017). russian unemployment also increased slightly from 5.2% in 2014 to 5.6% in 2015 (the world bank, 2022). while it is difficult to establish a direct causal link between the economic downturn witnessed between 2014 and 2016 and eu sanctions enforced during this same period, it seems reasonable to posit that the latter had at least some impact on the former. the halting of future investments from the world’s largest supranational money lender (eib) alone likely had a significant effect on the russian economy (european investment bank, 2022). all of these consequences demonstrate that a lack of restrictions on oil and gas did not render eu sanctions meaningless since they seemingly still impacted the russian economy—yet, russia still refused to leave crimea. so how can the fact that eu sanctions failed to pressure russia to leave crimea, despite having “real teeth,” be reconciled? three hypotheses hold explanatory potential: first, the general nature of sanctions themselves may be ineffective; second, the eu’s restrictions likely had unintended consequences; and, third, deeper historical discourses may have motivated the annexation. as political scientist james barber points out, sanctions were historically intended to prevent conflict between countries (1979). this notion was popular in the interwar period (1918– 1939) and has regained prominence since the end of the cold war, with ideals of peaceful coexistence and cooperation dominating international relations (barber, 1979; booman, 2014). however, morgan et al. have found that, since world war one, sanctions have only achieved their stated goals 34% of the time (2009). furthermore, a study on sanctions directed at authoritarian regimes, which russia can reasonably be considered, found a mere 4% success rate (pape, 1998). the reason for this inefficacy is partially attributable to the impact of sanctions on ordinary citizens rather than those in power. for example, after iraq invaded kuwait in 1990, the us banned all trade and financial relations with sadeem hussein’s regime (booman, 2014). while the impact of these penalties has been disputed by scholars and political pundits, it is undeniable that these sanctions correlated with hundreds of thousands of iraqi citizens suffering from malnutrition, increased infant mortality, and a 23% unemployment rate (drezner, 2011). coeval with this mass suffering, hussein’s government consolidated power by becoming the sole means of food distribution and employment (drezner, 2011). although it is outside of the scope of this article to analyze if similar processes occurred after the annexation of crimea, the notion that sanctions would have been felt by russian citizens, rather than those in power, invites consideration. in short, what the aforementioned example illustrates is the inefficacy of sanctions in general, which may have hindered the eu’s inability to alter russia’s behaviour. second, it is necessary to note the unintended consequences of eu sanctions. in a december 2014 speech to the duma (the russian parliament), president vladimir putin argued that the west had used the annexation of crimea as an excuse to impose sanctions. furthermore, putin posited that, even without “the crimean spring,” the us and eu would have found another reason to enact punitive measures (2014). in other words, sanctions applied by the west after the annexation of crimea allowed russian leadership to claim victimhood, which resonated with https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 126 everyday russians. indeed, a 2015 pew research poll found that 73% of russians thought their economy was “bad,” with 33% blaming sanctions for their economic woes (simmons et al., 2015). according to the same poll, 12% of russians had a favourable view of the north atlantic treaty organization (nato), 15% had a favourable view of the us, and 31% had a favourable view of the eu (simmons et al., 2015). moreover, the favourability of all three political units decreased by at least 10% from 2013, with eu favourability falling by 32% (simmons et al., 2015). thus, sanctions may have deepened divisions between russia and the eu, rather than encouraging putin to pull out of crimea. third, taking into consideration the deeper historical roots of russia’s annexation may help to clarify why eu sanctions were unlikely to succeed in prompting russia to withdraw from crimea, regardless of their impact on the russian people. in a speech at the 2007 munich security conference, putin argued that his goal was to restore russia’s global power, which he felt was lost after the collapse of the soviet union (putin, 2015). putin also criticized “the west” for creating a unipolar world—a reference to american domination of the geopolitical sphere since the 1990s (putin, 2015). put simply, putin’s speech demonstrated his intention to upset the post-cold war geopolitical order (fried & volker, 2022). in his december 2014 address, putin asserted that orthodox christianity originated in “kievan russia,” and that ukraine was therefore “sacred” to the russian people (rywkin, 2015, p. 95). these appeals to russia’s past served as both motivations and justifications for the events of february 2014, in which the annexation of crimea was deemed to “restore” russian pre-eminence on the world stage, while also “re-unifying” a “sacred” region with its “rightful” owner (p. 95). ultimately, this reasoning must be considered when assessing the inefficacy of eu sanctions. romantic appeals to russia’s “great power” and to the roots of orthodox christianity indicate that a rational cost-benefit analysis of the pros and cons of the annexation was largely irrelevant to putin. hence, while eu sanctions might have negatively affected russia’s economic growth and reduced the quality of life for everyday russians, these sanctions did little to address the deeper historical and religious discourses that motivated the annexation of crimea. conclusion in conclusion, eu reliance on russian oil and natural gas impeded its ability to place meaningful sanctions on these industries. however, russia’s refusal to withdraw from crimea cannot be attributed to this failure since other sanctions still exerted a substantial impact on the russian economy. thus, while it is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the sanctions’ failure, some possible explanations include their general inefficacy, their unintended consequences, and the historical motivations behind the annexation. in light of russia’s full-scale invasion of ukraine since february 2022, i anticipate that additional sanctions will likely prove equally ineffective. as of writing this article, the eu has planned to cut russian gas imports by two-thirds by 2023 (smith, 2022). moreover, individual eu member states have taken stronger actions: lithuania has stopped importing russian gas, and germany has halted production of the nord stream ii pipeline (chambers & marsh, 2022; dapkus, 2022). to satisfy their energy requirements, the eu has turned to other suppliers—notably, west african countries, such as senegal and nigeria—with largely untapped oil and gas reserves (paquette & halper, 2022). while the perceived morality of continuing to import such resources from russia may suffice in justifying these decisions, european leaders should recognize that these measures are unlikely to alter russia’s behaviour. indeed, half a year into the war in ukraine, there appears to be no end in sight. furthermore, as https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 127 evidenced by historical precedent and the annexation of crimea, sanctions are often insufficient for fostering meaningful change. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 128 references barber, j. 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(2015, june 10). russian public opinion: putin praised, west panned. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/06/10/2russian-public-opinion-putin-praised-west-panned/ sivis, e. (2019). the crimean annexation crisis and its economic consequences: eu sanctions, u.s. sanctions and impacts on the russian economy. marmara üniversitesi, 27(1), 53– 79. https://doi.org/10.29228/mjes.24. smith, e. (2022, june 29). europe’s plans to replace russian gas are deemed ‘wildly optimistic’—and could hammer its economy. cnbc. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/29/europes-plans-to-replace-russian-gas-are-deemedwildly-optimistic-and-could-hammer-its-economy.html timeline: the events leading up to russia’s invasion of ukraine. (2022, march 1). reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/events-leading-up-russias-invasion-ukraine-202202-28/ tsakiris, t. (2015). τhe energy parameters of the russian-ukrainian-eu impasse: dependencies, sanctions and the rise of ‘turkish stream.’ southeast european and black sea studies, 15(2), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2015.1060020’ u.s. energy information administration. (n.d.). europe is a key destination for russia’s energy exports. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=51618 uspit, j. (2018). the impact of economic sanctions on the european union’s relations with the russian federation: the case of polish-russian trade exchange. transformacje 3/4(98/99), 118–127. https://search-ebscohostcom.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&an=138408170&site=eho st-live&scope=site. the world bank. (2022). unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ilo estimate) —russian federation. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sl.uem.totl.zs?locations=ru https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220760 https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/06/10/2-russian-public-opinion-putin-praised-west-panned/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/06/10/2-russian-public-opinion-putin-praised-west-panned/ https://doi.org/10.29228/mjes.24 https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/29/europes-plans-to-replace-russian-gas-are-deemed-wildly-optimistic-and-could-hammer-its-economy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/29/europes-plans-to-replace-russian-gas-are-deemed-wildly-optimistic-and-could-hammer-its-economy.html https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/events-leading-up-russias-invasion-ukraine-2022-02-28/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/events-leading-up-russias-invasion-ukraine-2022-02-28/ https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2015.1060020 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=51618 https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&an=138408170&site=ehost-live&scope=site https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&an=138408170&site=ehost-live&scope=site https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&an=138408170&site=ehost-live&scope=site https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sl.uem.totl.zs?locations=ru 81 the relationship between size and expression of nonmetric traits on the human skull chelsea wilson abstract: nonmetric traits are frequently analyzed in the field of anthropology to measure genetic relatedness, or biodistance, within or between populations. these studies are performed under the assumption that nonmetric traits are genetically inherited. however, much of the research on nonmetric traits has revealed that numerous factors can confound heritability. skull size is one of the factors that are shown in some samples to have an effect on the expression of nonmetric traits. there is evidence that nonmetric trait expression is population specific; therefore, the current study was performed to determine if size-trait correlations would occur within a single population. nonmetric traits in a sample of 20 skulls (south eastern asian origin) are analyzed to determine if there are correlations between skull size and expression of nonmetric traits. intertrait correlations are also examined. this type of study is important because if the expression of certain nonmetric traits is related to factors outside of genetics, then those traits would not be useful in biodistance studies. the results of this study indicate that there are no correlations between overall skull size and nonmetric traits. however, correlations were found between individual measurements and nonmetric traits, as well as between traits. key words: biological anthropology, archaeology, osteology, nonmetric traits, biodistance introduction nonmetric traits are morphological features that can occur in any anatomical tissue. they are labeled as nonmetric because they cannot be measured in incremental units. since bones and teeth are the two tissues that are most often preserved in the archaeological record, variations in nonmetric traits in these tissues are of most interest to biological anthropologists. nonmetric traits of the skeleton and teeth are therefore often used to assess genetic relatedness within and between past populations (saunders & rainey, 2008). according to saunders and rainey, nonmetric traits can be either asymptomatic (do not present symptoms and have no noticeable effect on the body) or pathological (do present symptoms of disease). the effect of a skeletal or dental trait on the body is inconsequential if that trait is being used to determine the degree of genetic relatedness (saunders & rainey). there are many different categories of nonmetric traits; however, the two categories cited most often in literature are hyperostotic and hypoostotic (ansorge, 2001; cheverud, 1982; hanihara & ishida, 2001a; turan-ozedimir & sendemir, 2006; whitehead, sacco & hochgraf, 2005;). hyperostotic traits are those that are marked by excess bone growth, while hypoostotic traits are those which are marked by bone deficiency (saunders & rainey, 2008). the nonmetric trait “auditory exostosis” (figure 1a) is a good example of a hyperostotic trait. an auditory exostosis is a lump of bone that grows within the ear canal. exostosis refers to excess bone growth (alt et al., 1997). other terms commonly used for different types of excess bone growth include torus (plural, tori) or bridge (mays, 1998). the trait “supraorbital foramen” is an example of a hypoostotic trait, or bone deficiency. a supraorbital foramen is a small hole through the bone above the eye socket. a bone deficiency feature is typically called a foramen (plural, 82 foramina), suture (a joint between bones of the skull), or sulcus (a groove in a bone), depending on the location and form of the deficiency (saunders & rainey, 2008). in order for nonmetric traits to be analyzed, they must be scored; different types of traits are scored in different ways. there are three main methods of scoring: qualitative, meristic, and degree of expression. qualitative traits are scored on the basis of presence or absence, and meristic traits are scored based on how many are present (i.e. they are counted). degree of expression refers to how much of the trait is present. the auditory exostosis is a good example of this. it can vary in degree from barely noticeable to very large (buikstra & ubelaker, 1994). some nonmetric traits exist in an “either/or” state, meaning that they are either present or absent; these traits are called qualitative, or mendelian, traits (grisel, 2000). the supraorbital foramen (figure 1e) is a good example of a qualitative trait; the supraorbital foramen is either there or not. other nonmetric traits are coded for by multiple genes; traits that are expressed by more than one gene are known as polygenic or quantitative traits (cheverud, 1982). quantitative traits can be expressed along a continuum (grisel, 2000; kohn, 1991; saunders & rainey, 2008). a specific example from this research would be the metopic suture (figure 1e); this particular suture can be absent, partially formed, or fully formed (buikstra & ubelaker, 1994). also, one set of genes can be responsible for the expression of more than one trait; genes that code for more than one trait are called pleiotropic (cheverud, 1982). the suite of nonmetric traits expressed on an individual’s skeleton and dentition has been assumed to be genetically inherited. in other words, it is assumed that the phenotype (observable characteristics) of an individual will provide direct information about his or her genotype (genetic constitution). this assumption has allowed many researchers to use nonmetric traits to assess genetic relatedness within and between populations in the archaeological record (matsumura, 2007). understanding these relationships in past populations (especially those without written histories) can provide information about migration patterns, residence patterns, population structures, and human origins and evolution (hanihara, ishida & dodo, 2003; hlusko, 2004; mclellan & finnegan, 1990; lane & sublett, 1972; turan-ozdemir & sendemir, 2006). the term “biodistance” is commonly used to describe genetic relatedness. saunders and rainey (2008) describe biodistance as a measure of the amount of divergence; less divergence is equal to a closer genetic relationship (saunders & rainey, 2008; sherwood, duren, demerath, czerwinski, siervogel, & towne 2008). it should be noted that research has shown nonmetric traits to be population specific and therefore only really useful for intrapopulation analyses (cheverud & buikstra, 1981; kohn, 1991). two examples of intrapopulation analyses are studies of migration and kinship. christensen (1998) used biodistance analyses to trace the spread of the zapotecan family of language throughout oaxaca, mexico. by analyzing both nonmetric traits and linguistic data, he determined that people migrating from a central area were able to establish themselves in other areas of oaxaca. these groups become distinct from the parent population both in genetics and in language dialect. alt et al. (2008) studied the nonmetric traits of the individuals in a triple burial in dolce vestonice. the data collected by this research team led them to conclude that the three were part of the same family. the heritability of nonmetric traits is studied in numerous fields such as biological anthropology, anatomy, zoology, genetics, and archaeology. much of the present understanding of nonmetric trait inheritance has been achieved through animal studies (ansorge, 2001) while much of the future research will take place within the field of genetics (hlusko, 2004). genetic studies will be required in order to untangle the complex relationship between multiple genes coding for each trait and the outside 83 factors that can affect each gene. as of yet, no one has been able to determine the exact gene or set of genes that leads to the expression of each nonmetric trait. it is necessary for this to be done in order to fully understand the heritability of nonmetric traits and to increase their usefulness as biodistance markers (saunders & rainey, 2008). there are also various researchers who discuss the numerous factors that confound the heritability of nonmetric traits (williams, belcher & armelagos, 2005). some factors that have been found to have a noticeable effect on the expression of these traits are geography, habitat, sexual dimorphism (differences in physical appearance between individuals of different sexes in the same species), age, nutrition, disease, size, and intertrait correlations (berry, 1975; cheverud, buikstra & twichell, 1979). it is known that certain traits can be produced in different ways. for example, the auditory exostosis can be expressed via genetics or produced by cold water repeatedly entering the ear canal during development (alt et al., 1997). in recent articles, hlusko (2004) and sherwood et al. (2008) claim that the numerous influences on, and multiple causes of, nonmetric traits are not commonly addressed by the researchers who study them. the main purpose of this research project is to gain some insight into the expression of nonmetric traits on the human skull. specifically, nonmetric traits were considered in relation to skull size in order to determine if size and the expression of nonmetric traits are correlated. the secondary purpose of this project is to assess correlations between these traits. correlations between nonmetric traits and skull size may provide more information about growth and development than genetic relatedness does. cheverud et al. (1979) look at the relationship between overall (general) skull size and size of specific (local) areas of the cranium (e.g. face or mandible) with respect to the expression of nonmetric traits. these researchers describe the human cranium as a “functional complex” that is highly affected by the soft tissue that surrounds it. they argue that general and local skull sizes, otherwise known as metric traits, are developed in a similar manner to nonmetric traits, and thus nonmetric trait expression will be affected by skull size. the data collected by the research team support this argument. i used this paper as a starting point for my research. cheverud et al. (1979) studied the crania of several native american populations. given that nonmetric traits have been found to be population specific, i was interested to see if i could come to a similar conclusion by studying a different group of people. intertrait correlations are a concern because they may potentially create redundancy in data analyses. correlated traits are likely to be expressed by a pleiotropic set of genes, one set of genes that give rise to more than one trait. this can cause an overestimation of genetic relatedness because analyzing inter-correlated traits will result in analyzing the same set of genes multiple times (cheverud & buikstra, 1981). kohn (1991) explains that nonmetric traits are often inherited in groups that are encoded for by the same set of genes. therefore, if multiple traits are expressed by the same set of genes, they are not genetically distinct. as mentioned above, the exact relationship between genes and nonmetric traits has yet to be determined (saunders & rainey 2008). it is because of this fact that leslea hlusko (2004) claims nonmetric traits are often used uncritically in the study of biodistance. this research is a critical examination of a sample of human skulls with the purpose of determining whether or not some of the most commonly studied cranial nonmetric traits are appropriate for studying biodistance. in order to be 84 useful for determining genetic relatedness within a population, nonmetric traits must be related to genetics alone and free from the effects of any confounding factors. the specific null hypotheses tested in this study are as follows: 1. nonmetric trait expression will not be correlated with measurements of overall skull size. 2. the expression of a nonmetric trait will not be correlated with the expression of any other nonmetric traits. materials and methods two samples of ten skulls each were measured and examined: one from the university of victoria and one from simon fraser university (total n=20). both samples are teaching collections of individuals from a similar population (south east asian origin). this common origin is important as nonmetric traits are known to be population specific (cheverud & buikstra, 1981). studies have shown that there are major differences in trait heritability between populations (hanihara and ishida, 2001a; kohn, 1991) because of influences from the different environments in which they live (cheverud and buikstra, 1981). the research discussed in this report is an example of an intrapopulation study. both the metric and nonmetric traits studied in this research project were chosen from standards established by buikstra and ubelaker (1994) (table 1, figure 1a-e, and figure 2a-d). nonmetric trait data were collected with left side preference unless the traits are located on the midline (refer to table 1). figure 3(a-c) illustrates examples of trait categories for three nonmetric traits. table 1 : a complete list of nonmetric traits analyzed and the methods used to score them (see also figure 1). trait scoring method metopic suture 1 absent, partial, complete supraorbital notch absent, present (<1/2, >1/2 occluded or degree of occlusion unknown), multiple supraorbital foramen absent, present, multiple infraorbital suture absent, partial, complete multiple infraorbital foramina internal division only, two distinct foramina, more than two distinct foramina zygomaticofacial foramina 1 large, 1 large plus smaller, 2 large, 2 large plus smaller, 1 small, multiple small parietal foramina 1 present (on parietal), present (sutural). absent epiteric bone present, absent coronal ossicle present, absent bregmatic bone 1 present, absent sagittal ossicle 1 present, absent apical bone 1 present, absent lambdoidal ossicle present, absent asterionic bone present, absent occipitomastoid ossicle present, absent parietal notch present, absent inca bone 1 complete (single bone), bipartite, tripartite, partial 85 condylar canal patent, not patent divided hypoglossal canal partial (internal surface), partial (within canal), complete (internal surface), complete (within canal) flexure of the sagittal sulcus 1 right, left, bifurcate incomplete foramen ovale absent, partial formation, no definition of foramen incomplete foramen spinosum absent, partial formation, no definition of foramen pterygospinous bridge absent, trace (spicule only), partial bridge, complete bridge pterygoalar bridge absent, trace (spicule only), partial bridge, complete bridge tympanic dihesence absent, foramen only, full defect auditory exostosis <1/3 canal occluded, 1/3-2/3 canal occluded, >2/3 canal occluded mastoid foramen location: temporal, sutural, occipital, sutural and temporal, occipital and temporal number: absent, 1, 2, more than 2 mental foramen absent, 1, 2, >2 mylohyoid bridge degree of expression: absent, trace, moderate, marked location: near mandibular foramen, center of groove, both bridges described with hiatus, both bridges describe with no hiatus 1. midline traits (all other traits are scored with left side preference). size variables for the skull were created by calculating the geometric mean of regional skull measurements (figure 2a-d). mandibular size (gm mandible) includes chin height and bicondylar breadth. orbit size (gm orbit) includes the height and width of the orbit. facial size (gm face) includes the height and width of the orbit as well as upper facial width and height. base size (gm base) includes biauricular breadth, basion to prosthion length, and maximum skull length. skull size (gm skull) includes all of the aforementioned measurements with the addition of the maximum cranial breadth and basion to bregma height. comparisons were made between overall size, individual measurements, and nonmetric traits in each region. cheverud and buikstra (1981) explain that “repeated sampling” of parts of the genome can occur if genetically correlated traits are used in nonmetric trait analyses. for this reason, intertrait correlations were also assessed. if traits from the same skull regions are found to be correlated, they should be investigated further in order to determine if there is any possible redundancy. the statistical software pasw was used in order to calculate spearman’s rank coefficients for both size and trait and intertrait correlations (statistical significance at p<0.05). 86 figure 1a: non-metric traits (images: modified from buikstra and ubelaker, 1994; p. 91) 87 figure 1b: non-metric traits (images: modified from buikstra and ubelaker, 1994, p. 89) 88 figure 1c: non-metric traits (images: modified from buikstra and ubelaker, 1994, p. 90) 89 figure 1d: non-metric traits (images: modified from buikstra and ubelaker, 1994, p. 88) 90 figure 1e: non-metric traits (images: modified from buikstra and ubelaker, 1994, p. 87) 91 figure 2: cranial measurements (images: modified from buikstra and ubelaker, 1994: a) page 78, b) page 74, c) page 75, d) page 74) a) cdl-cdl (bicondylar breadth), id-gn (chin height) b) g-op (maximum cranial length), ba-b (maximum cranial height), ba-pr (basion to prosthion length) c) au-au (biauricular breadth) d) eu-eu (maximum cranial breadth), fmt-fmt (upper facial breadth), d-ec (orbital breadth), orb-h (orbital height), n-pr (upper facial height) 92 figure 3: examples of differences in expression of nonmetric traits (photographs taken by the author) a) metopic suture present b) metopic suture absent c) supraorbital foramen versus supraorbital notch 93 results in light of space availability, only statistically significant results are presented (full results are available upon request). table 2 displays statistically significant trait-size correlations. no significant correlations were found between any of the nonmetric traits and the size variables calculated for each area of the skull (mandible size, orbit size, facial size, base size, and skull size). however, significant correlations were found between three nonmetric traits and individual skull measurements; the individual measurements are components of the calculated skull-size variables and represent measurements from one point to another on the skull (fig. 2). table 2: spearman’s correlation coefficients for statistically significant nonmetric trait correlations with individual size measurements. p<0.05, n=20. table 3 displays all of the statistically significant intertrait correlations. there are fourteen significant intertrait correlations overall. traits from the same region of the skull are indicated in italics. these traits warrant further investigation to avoid possible redundancy. table 3: statistically significant intertrait correlations for nonmetric traits (spearman’s correlation coefficient, p<0.05, n=20). basion to prosthion orbital height upper facial height condylar canal 0.460 metopic suture 0.523 infraorbital suture 0.567 correlation occipito-mastoid ossicle pterygospinous bridge (0.688) div. hypoglossal canal (0.488) asterionic bone 2 incomplete foramen spinosum (1.000) incomplete foramen ovale (1.000) apical bone (0.459) apical bone incomplete foramen spinosum (0.459) incomplete foramen ovale (0.459) mult. infraorb. foraminae (0.460) condylar canal flex. of saggital sulcus (0.628) 1 incomplete foramen ovale incomplete foramen spinosum (1.000) parietal notch sagittal ossicle (0.459) mental foramen (-0.456) parietal foramen supraorbital notch (-0.512) supraorbital foramen (-0.512) 94 2. italicized traits are from the same region of the skull (see figure 1). if certain nonmetric traits are correlated with specific skull measurements, analyzing them may only reveal information about skull development as opposed to genetics (table 2). also, if multiple traits are genetically correlated, analyzing them may only provide the same information multiple times (table 3). therefore, these results are particularly relevant in that they reveal correlations that should be investigated further before being used to assess genetic relationships. discussion and conclusions this research project was conducted in order to determine if cranial size has an effect on the expression of nonmetric traits within a specific population, and to determine if there were any correlations between nonmetric traits on individuals within the sample. fourteen intertrait correlations were found for this sample as well as three correlations between individual measurements and nonmetric traits. the first null hypothesis, that nonmetric traits will not be correlated with size, must be accepted since no correlations between general or regional skull size variables were found. the few individual measurements that are correlated with nonmetric traits are isolated events that warrant further investigation. the fact that there are only three individual measurements correlated with three different traits suggests that these could be spurious correlations that may not necessarily tell us about the biological relationship between skull size and trait expression. due to intertrait correlations, the second null hypothesis, the expression of a nonmetric trait will not be correlated with the expression of any other nonmetric traits, is rejected. while none of the nonmetric traits analyzed appears to be affected by the overall size (geometric mean) of the skull or skull regions, significant correlations were found between three of the nonmetric traits and three individual measurements. this suggests that overall skull size does not affect the development of nonmetric traits but the correlations between nonmetric traits and particular dimensions should be investigated further. cheverud et al. (1979) assessed individual skull measurements and their relationship to nonmetric trait expression. the skull is a complex system of multiple, interlocking parts that perform a variety of different functions (cheverud, 1982). this complexity and the developmental determination of both metric and nonmetric traits suggest that general and local size differences may not affect nonmetric trait expression in the same way (cheverud et al., 1979; cheverud, 1982). therefore, it is important to investigate correlations between individual size measurements and nonmetric traits in this population. while there were no correlations found between nonmetric trait expression and overall size of the cranium, it is still possible that any of these traits could be affected by the development of the particular area of the skull in which they are expressed. according to cheverud (1982), statistical correlations between traits will be larger if the traits are related developmentally. he states further that traits with high phenotypic correlations are more likely to be integrated in the genotype. the second null hypothesis is rejected because fourteen significant intertrait correlations were found. however, the correlation between incomplete foramen ovale and incomplete foramen spinosum (spearman’s correlation coefficient 1.000) may be due to the rarity of the trait. only one individual out of 20 expressed an incomplete foramen ovale and spinosum; all other individuals expressed complete foramen ovale and spinosum. it will be important to study any intertrait correlations further as it is possible that these traits are expressed by pleiotropic genes. analyzing multiple traits presented by the 95 same set of genes will lead to redundancy in the data; this redundancy will lead to an overestimation of biodistance. an important next step for this research would be to assess the nonmetric traits of more individuals from the same population; increasing the sample size will provide more statistical power. it will also be important to assess intertrait correlations to determine if the traits are redundant or if they provide a population specific trait combination. if the latter is found to be the case, then these traits may still be useful to determine genetic relatedness within the same south east asian population. it may also be useful to assess individuals of known sex and age in order to determine if any of the nonmetric traits are correlated with either (as sex and age may also affect the size of the skull). some potential limitations in this experiment may be due to sample size, sample type, and potential intraobserver error in data collection. intraobserver error can be assessed by retaking the measurements for one of the samples and determining if there is any significant difference between them. the sample size for this experiment is not large (20 individuals); a larger sample may elucidate more statistically significant correlations. both of the samples are teaching collections; the tops of the crania are detached for viewing inside the skull. this could add error to measurements such as skull height because the superior aspect of the vault is no longer tightly attached. 96 references alt, k. w., pichler, s., vach, w., klíma, b., vlcek, e., & sedlmeire, j. 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(2008). nonmetric trait varation in the skeleton: abnormalities, anomalies and atavisms. in m.a. katzenberg and s.r. saunders (eds). biological anthropology of the human skeleton (2nd ed., pp. 533-560). new jersey: john wiley and sons, inc. sherwood, r. j., duren, d. l., demerath, e. w., czerwinski, s. a., siervogel, r. m., & towne, b. (2008). quantitative genetics of modern human cranial variation. journal of human evolution, 54(6), 909-914. turan-ozdemir, s., & sendemir, e. (2006). incidence of mylohyoid bridging in 13th century byzantine mandibles. anatomical science international, 81(2), 126-129. whitehead p.f., sacco w.k. & hochgraf s.b.( 2005). a photographic atlas for physical anthropology. colorado: morton publishing company. williams, f. l., belcher, r. l., & armelagos, g. j. (2005). forensic misclassification of ancient nubian crania: implications for assumptions about human variation. current anthropology, 46(2), 340-346. contact information chelsea wilson can be reached at chelson@uvic.ca. acknowledgements this research was funded by the university of victoria; financial support was received from the learning and teaching centre (undergraduate research scholarship) and from funding granted to dr. helen kurki (department of anthropology). thanks to shannon wood and dr. mark skinner (simon fraser university) as well as dr. patricia kramer (university of washington) for the use of, and assistance with, skeletal collections. a special thanks to dr. helen kurki for all of her help throughout this experience (from research design to editing). also, thanks to dr. lisa mitchell for her advice throughout the writing process. mailto:chelson@uvic.ca the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 the effects of acute stress on the neural correlates of decision-making jillian l. toppings, thomas d. ferguson, and olave e. krigolson∗ university of victoria jill.toppings@sasktel.net abstract stress has been defined in many ways but is typically a response to a change in the body’s current state. stress affects decision-making, and the effects of stress on processes involved in decision-making can be indirectly measured through eeg. the purpose of this study was to investigate how acute stress affects sub-processes involved in decision-making. we hypothesized that acute stress would affect how individuals respond to rewards and pay attention to environmental changes. stress was physiologically present in the stress condition group, as seen in a mean increased heart rate compared to the control condition group. the stress condition group reported being more subjectively stressed than the control group, seen in stai and panas questionnaire decreased positive and increased negative affect scores compared to the control group. for neural responses, while insignificant, there was a trend towards being less sensitive to environmental changes (attentional sensitivity; p300 component activity) in the stress condition, but no significant changes for reward sensitivity. further research is needed to explore the implications for reward sensitivity that utilizes multiple tasks and includes cortisol measurement. stress is common to everyday life and has been implicated chronically in numerous health conditions. understanding how stress affects executive function, particularly decision-making, is therefore crucial in both the shortand long-term, as demonstrated by the initial findings of this study. keywords: stress; decision-making; erps; p300 component; reward positivity component the effects of acute stress on the neural correlates of decision-making stress occurs frequently in daily life at various levels both internally through expectations,attitudes, and feelings, and externally, through the environment. for example, choosing whatto eat for lunch may evoke minimal stress in some individuals but incur a great deal of stress for others. stress is difficult to define, but generally it occurs in situations that present a physical or mental challenge and is elicited when the demands of the situation threaten homeostasis or resources are perceived to be inadequate to meet the challenge (pabst, schoofs, pawlikowski, brand, & wolf, 2013; starcke & brand, 2012; tiferet-dweck et al., 2016; wemm & wulfert, 2017). while under stress, the body enters into what is commonly referred to as “fight or flight” mode, in which our perception of the environment, attention, neural responses, and judgement are adjusted to address the environmental changes (qi, gao, & liu, 2017; tiferet-dweck et al., 2016). this short-term response is facilitated by the sympathetic adrenomedullary system (sam-system), while long-term responses are facilitated by the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis (hpa-axis) system. stress modulates the biological systems through hormonal, neurophysiological, and behavioural adjustments (godoy, rossignoli, delfino-pereira, garcia-cairasco, & de lima umeoka, 2018; lenow, constantino, daw, & phelps, 2017). ∗this research was supported by a jamie cassels undergraduate research award, university of victoria. 62 mailto:jill.toppings@sasktel.net the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 effect of stress in humans stress can be useful in some situations, but detrimental in others. stress or traumatic events occurring early in life are linked to dysregulation of the hpa-axis and negative impact of glucocorticoids on the development of certain brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex (lupien, mcewen, gunnar, & heim, 2009). additionally, prolonged or chronic stress has many negative health implications. there is a wealth of literature surrounding the negative impact of acute and chronic stress on health that highlights the importance and impact of stress on people. stress increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, psychosomatic diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (juster, mcewen, & lupien, 2010). additionally, stress-related disorders have been linked with impaired feedback processing (banis & lorist, 2012), chronic hpa-axis dysregulation (putman, antypa, crysovergi, & van der does, 2010), prolonged cortisol activation (dickerson & kemeny, 2004), prolonged catecholamines (godoy et al., 2018), and blunted behaviour (banis & lorist, 2012). stress has also been implicated in unhealthy lifestyle behaviours such as substance abuse, unhealthy eating, and risk-taking behaviour such as pathological gambling (putman et al., 2010). therefore, stress throughout one’s life increases the risk of developing many of the listed conditions or impairments. acute stress the potentially detrimental effects of chronic stress have been well established, but the implications for short-term acute stress have not been as thoroughly investigated. acute stress can be either beneficial or detrimental depending on the situation and individual (dickerson & kemeny, 2004). acute stress can benefit individuals particularly in tasks that are simple and well-rehearsed or habitual with a low cognitive load as these tasks rely on processing that is more automatic, but stress can impair more complex or novel tasks (banis & lorist, 2012; qi et al., 2017; shields, sazma, & yonelinas, 2016). this concept can be illustrated in the yerkes-dodson curve (yerkes & dodson, 1908), which depicts the relationship between arousal and performance (see figure 1). there is an optimal level of arousal or stress to the system that results in optimal performance. individuals experience higher arousal for tasks that are more complex or novel. therefore, a high amount of stress would shift the curve to the right and decrease performance. figure 1: simplified version of the yerkes-dodson curve (1908) depicting the relationship between arousal and performance. (graph created by jillian toppings.) 63 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 physical and psychological response to stress physical and psychological stressors result in different neural and cellular responses (godoy et al., 2018). physical stressors are defined as stimuli that change physiological status, while psychological stressors are anticipated and affect the current state (godoy et al., 2018). physical stressors activate brain regions such as the nucleus of the solitary tract and locus coeruleus, while psychological stressors activate the limbic system and reward systems (godoy et al., 2018). however, the response to physical and psychological stressors are more similar than different; psychological stressors can evoke similar responses to physical stressors, such as the activation of the hpa axis. for example, the hippocampus is activated from both physical and psychological stressors, which is important for the hpa axis negative feedback system (godoy et al., 2018). when a stressor is perceived, brain structures and neuronal networks are recruited and work with the autonomic nervous system to restore homeostasis (mcewen, 2007). the autonomic system is responsible for adapting visceral functions such as heart rate, salivation, respiration, and perspiration (mcewen, 2007). once the stressor has been detected, the thalamus and frontal lobes integrate the sensory information and evaluate the environmental stimuli (lovallo, 1997). additionally, the orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex process emotional and social responses (hanson et al., 2010). with the neural networks and brain structures activated, two systems are triggered and work together: the fast-reacting sam-system and the slow-reacting hpa-axis (mcewen & sapolsky, 1995). the sam-system is mediated by catecholamines and is primarily responsible for the short-term and rapid “fight or flight” reaction by increasing alertness and vigilance, allowing for strategic decision-making (mcewen & sapolsky, 1995). the hpa-axis is a slower system activated and regulated by excitatory and inhibitory loops of limbic and prefrontal structures (mcewen & sapolsky, 1995). the system is activated by the release of corticotropin releasing hormone (crh) from the hypothalamus, which in a cascade triggers adrenocorticotropin hormone (acth) and then the adrenal cortex, which then releases cortisol that can bind to the limbic and prefrontal structures like the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex (herman et al., 2003). the role of cortisol includes helping to mobilize energy resources as well as being a natural anti-inflammatory for the body (sapolsky, romero, & munck, 2000; van oort et al., 2017). cortisol is elicited particularly when the stressors are a threat to self-preservation, when they are uncontrollable, or when they are social-evaluative stressors (dickerson & kemeny, 2004). stress and cognitive function there have been many studies that measure cortisol as an indication of increased stress. many studies have focused on executive function, which includes working memory, cognitive flexibility, attention, and inhibition, which rely on the prefrontal cortex, a brain structure particularly sensitive to stress. executive function is important in the ability to focus on or switch activities, make decisions about the present and future, resist temptations or impulses, and maintain and update working memory (dierolf, fechtner, bönke, wolf, & naumann, 2017). the current literature about acute stress largely surrounds working memory, attention, and response inhibition (dierolf et al., 2017) using tasks such as the digit span task or n-back task. a common theory to explain the impairments stress exhibits on executive function is that stress reallocates cognitive resources to inhibition to enhance attention on the stressor (banis & lorist, 2012; dierolf et al., 2017; qi et al., 2017; shields et al., 2016). shields et al. (2016) suggest that resources reallocated to inhibition come from working memory and cognitive flexibility. 64 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 stress and decision-making one crucial part of how stress can affect an individual’s health is reliant on their decisionmaking abilities. the relationship between decision-making and stress is bidirectional, as decisions are often made under varying levels of stress, and situations that require a decision often induce stress (kirschbaum, pirke, & hellhammer, 1993; starcke & brand, 2012; wemm & wulfert, 2017). additionally, brain regions that underlie decision-making can be affected by stress (ossewaarde et al., 2011). this influence is important because the way in which an individual responds to stress affects their appraisal of the environment or situation, which can lead to suboptimal choices (lenow et al., 2017) that can lead to unhealthy behaviours and/or negative health conditions over time. starcke and brand’s (2012) theory suggests decision-making is a complex process that involves selecting between competing options by comparing their relative values of consequences, while also accounting for highest benefit or social or moral factors. individuals are capable of calculating the risks and benefits associated with different choices when there are explicit rules for gains and losses by using executive functioning including working memory, planning, and categorization. however, there are situations in which individuals make decisions based on intuition, biases, or heuristics rather than strategic decisions involving risk and benefit calculation. the dual process theory encompasses various decision forms, stating that humans make strategic decisions through the rational-analytical system, and intuitive decisions through the intuitive-experiential system (pabst et al., 2013; starcke & brand, 2012). the rational-analytical system is slower and rule-governed, while the intuitive-experiential system relies on fast and emotional processing (pabst et al., 2013; starcke & brand, 2012). the dual process theory systems are also similar to the concepts of model-based behaviour and model-free control (otto, raio, chiang, phelps, & daw, 2013; radenbach et al., 2015). model-based behaviour is driven by an internally built mental model, and planned actions are future-oriented. model-free control is driven by past rewards and repeats actions that were previously awarded, neglecting a potentially advantageous model (otto et al., 2013; radenbach et al., 2015). radenbach et al. (2015) investigated the impact of acute stress, stress reactivity, and previous exposure to life events on the shift of model-free and model-based control systems during a two-step decision task. they did not find a significant shift in the sample towards model-free behaviour but found that individuals with higher chronic stress displayed a shift towards model-free behaviour. decisions often involve exploring new options (exploration) or sticking with a known reward (exploitation) (wilson, geana, white, ludvig, & cohen, 2014). stress can bias decision-making towards model-free or habitual decision-making, leading to exploitation rather than exploration, or lead to an increase in high-risk behaviour (lenow et al., 2017; putman et al., 2010; radenbach et al., 2015; van den bos, harteveld, & stoop, 2009; wilson et al., 2014). stress and erps a majority of the literature on stress has used cortisol and behavioural measures only, despite extensive literature on the neurophysiological mechanisms of inhibition (dierolf et al., 2017). there are only a few event-related potential (erp) studies that have looked at the effects of stress. eeg studies are an appropriate method to investigate stress as they show temporal changes. qi et al. (2017) used erps when examining the effects of acute stress on response inhibition and found that cognitive control processes were enhanced and early selective attention processes were reduced. dierolf et al. (2017) looked at the effects of stress on response inhibition and its neural correlates and found enhanced response inhibition, demonstrating support for the theory of cognitive resource reallocation. two studies were done using erps to examine the effects of acute noise stress. banis et al. (2012) studied the effects of stress on the feedback-related negativity (frn) component and 65 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 found impaired cognitive control functioning. banis et al. (2014) also examined the frn component, theta, and oscillatory power, and found that acute noise stress impairs both males and females. stress increases cortisol levels in a linear relationship for men, and an inverted u-shape for women. however, there are currently minimal studies looking at the effects of acute stress on erps and decision-making. decision-making involves processes such as attending to or adapting to context changes and learning from rewards. context sensitivity is thought to be related to the neuromodulator norepinephrine, while learning from rewards is thought to be related to the neuromodulator dopamine. therefore, the effect of stress on these underlying decision-making processes can be indirectly measured through the effects on noradrenergic and dopaminergic activity by using eeg. stress impacts the levels of norepinephrine (tanaka, 1999), which is reflected in the p300 component reduction. the p300 component peaks at approximately 300 ms post-stimulus (luck, 2005) and is thought to reflect context updating of a mental model (polich, 2007). this occurs when there is a change in stimulus in the current environment, and this component is reduced with stress (banis et al., 2014). the p300 is elicited in tasks where participants can continue to exploit an option or choose to explore new options. in addition, stress activates dopaminergic neurons and dopamine levels (deutch et al., 1991). the effect on dopamine affects reward sensitivity in explore/exploit tasks. dopamine is reflected in the reward positivity (rewp) component or the feedback related negativity (frn) component, which peaks at approximately 250-350 ms after feedback is presented (proudfit, 2015). the impact of stress on dopamine leads to a reduction in reward positivity (otto et al., 2013; sambrook & goslin, 2015). the reinforcement learning system underlying the rewp component has to do with evaluating the net value of the reward for the available action choices while also computing a reward prediction error (sambrook & goslin, 2015; walsh & anderson, 2012), which is crucial to decision-making. these two components will be evaluated in this study as they are both impacted by stress. present study while the wealth of literature on acute and chronic stress is highly informative, there are areas that can be critiqued. first, the type of stressor used in each study varied, which makes it difficult to compare the results. additionally, the timing, operationalization, intensity, degree of uncertainty, and type of task often differed between studies. the current literature on acute stress and cognitive processes has been limited to memory and relied mostly on behavioural measures. the current erp research is narrow and does not address the effects of acute stress on decision-making. the purpose of the current study is to address the gap in the literature by using erps as a tool to investigate the effects of acute stress both physiologically and psychologically on decision-making, reward processing, and their neural correlates. we hypothesized that acute stress would impact the sensitivity of reward and attentional processing, seen through both diminished p300 and reward positivity component activity. method participants participants in this experiment were 26 university-aged individuals (14 male, 12 female, four left-handed, one ambidextrous, mage = 20.38, age range: 18-35 years) with no known neurological impairments and with normal or corrected-to-normal vision. they were assigned too the control or stress condition such that 13 participants were in each group. the control condition group consisted of five males and eight females, and the stress condition group consisted of nine males and four females. 66 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 all participants volunteered for this study and received credit in an undergraduate psychology course for their participation. informed consent was approved by the human research ethics board at the university of victoria, and written consent was provided voluntarily by participants. participants were informed of specific exclusion criteria prior to sign-up and then asked a series of questions confirming their eligibility prior to the experiment start. the exclusion criteria were individuals with neuropsychological or chronic illnesses, individuals taking medications, individuals who regularly smoke, or individuals who are taking birth control pills. additionally, participants were instructed to avoid eating large meals, doing strenuous exercise, consuming acidic beverages, or smoking any substances two hours prior to the scheduled start of the experiment. materials trier social stress test (tsst) protocol (stress condition) the tsst protocol is modelled after kirschbaum et al.’s (1993) protocol (see appendix). at time 0 min, participants were taken from room a to room b, which had two persons sitting behind a table in white lab coats, as well as a video camera. the subject was instructed to behave as a job applicant at an interview with the panel. participants were informed that after a three-minute preparation period, they were to introduce themselves and convince the panel in five minutes of free speech that they were the best candidate for a job position of their choice. the participant was made aware that the panel had special training in monitoring nonverbal behavior, and that there would be both voice frequency and video analysis of the performance. participants had paper and pens to aid their preparation but were not permitted to use any preparatory materials for their speech. after the preparation period, the panel chair would welcome the participant and instruct them to deliver their speech for five minutes. if the speech concluded prior to five minutes, the panel would remain silent for 20 seconds before asking prepared questions until the five minutes were over. following the speech period, the panel asked the participant to serially subtract in steps of 17 from 2023 as fast and accurately as they could. if the subject made an error, the panel would intervene and ask them to restart at 2023. this task concluded after five minutes. placebo tsst (control condition) the placebo tsst protocol was adopted from het, rohleder, schoofs, kirschbaum, and wolf (2009) and designed to be as similar as possible to the tsst without the aspect of stress. the participant was taken into an empty room in the same seated position as in the tsst. the experimenter told the participant they would be given a three-minute preparation period and then asked to speak aloud for five minutes about a recent movie, novel, or holiday. they were informed that no one would be in the room recording or listening. the experimenter came in following the five-minute speech period to instruct the participant to add up the number 15 starting at 0 for five minutes. the placebo tsst was performed in the same room as the stress tsst, but the elements meant to induce stress (committee, video camera, tape recorder) were not present. this removed the social evaluative threat and uncontrollability elements present in the stress condition tsst protocol, as per dickerson and kemeny’s (2004) theory of stress. sam axis measurement and analysis heart rate (hr) was measured to evaluate the effectiveness of the tsst to activate the short-term response system, the sam axis. hr (in beats per minute, bpm) was measured continuously at 250 hz throughout the experiment using a zephyrt m heart rate monitor strapped to the chest underneath the sternum. 67 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 the average heart rate was calculated for the baseline period during questionnaires, during the tsst, and during cognitive assessment for each participant. then, the percent change from baseline for the tsst was computed using 95% confidence intervals for the control and stress conditions. subjective stress measurement (stai and panas) the state-trait anxiety inventory (stai) (spielberger, 1983) questionnaire was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the tsst to induce anxiety, which is indicative of the psychological perception of stress. we used the standard two, 20-item portions for state and trait anxiety. participants selected responses on a four-point scale from not at all to very much so. higher scores for negative affect indicated higher levels of anxiety. the positive and negative affect schedule (panas) (watson, clark, & tellegen, 1988) questionnaire was also used to evaluate the effectiveness of the tsst. we used the standard two, 20 item portions. participants selected responses on a five-point scale from very slightly or not at all to extremely. higher scores for negative affect and lower scores for positive affect indicated higher levels of stress. the stai and panas surveys’ mean positive and negative affect scores were calculated posttsst using 95% confidence intervals for the control and stress conditions. cognitive assessment cognitive assessment consisted of four tasks. the first task involved focusing on a cross in the centre of the screen for 30 seconds to gain a baseline. the second task consisted of focusing on the cross while mentally counting backwards in steps of 7 from 1000. the third and fourth task, described below, were randomized in order. these two tasks were examined for this study as they pertain to attentional and reward sensitivity, respectively. task 3 was the oddball task, in which participants viewed two blocks of 100 trials of either common or rare (oddball) circles flashing on a screen (see figure 2). the task was to actively respond with key presses to the oddball, meant to elicit the p300 component. figure 2: oddball paradigm the fourth task was a gambling task, in which participants chose between two coloured squares on a screen by pressing either “f” or “j” on the keyboard (see figure 3). each coloured square was assigned a probability of a “win,” which changed with each block. the task was to identify and correctly select the coloured block with the highest probability of a “win” over five blocks of 20 trials each. this task elicited the reward positivity component. 68 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 figure 3: gambling task paradigm. p300 and reward positivity components independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare the average peak amplitude and average latency for control and stress groups using 95% confidence intervals for the p300 and reward positivity components. procedure figure 4: experimental protocol timeline. the experimental sessions were carried out between 1 and 5 p.m. in order to account for the fluctuation of cortisol levels the morning and evening (dickerson & kemeny, 2004). all testing was conducted in quiet distraction-free rooms. overall, the experimental portion took approximately 80 minutes (see figure 4). upon their arrival, participants were assigned to the stress or control group such that there were approximately equal numbers of participants in each group. the experimenter was not blind to which group the participant was assigned to in order to prepare the appropriate tsst to match the condition. participants gave informed consent, then eeg setup occurred while participants filled out demographic and baseline stai and panas questionnaires in room a. during this period, participants were introduced to and fitted with the hr monitor. stress condition participants then engaged in the tsst protocol, while the control group engaged in the placebo tsst protocol. following the tsst, participants carried out the cognitive assessment task, which included the key oddball and gambling tasks. the panas and stai surveys were given at baseline, after the tsst and after cognitive assessment. 69 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 data collection thirty-two channels of eeg data, referenced to channel afz, were recorded using brain vision recorder (version 1.20, brain products gmbh, munich, germany). thirty electrodes were placed in a fitted cap according to the international 10-20 system, while an additional two electrodes were affixed to the left and right mastoids. conductive gel was applied to each electrode to ensure electrode impedances were below 20 kω prior to recording, and the eeg data were sampled at 500 hz and amplified (actichamp, brain products gmbh, munich, germany). statistical analysis prior to beginning the study, a power analysis was conducted. the “pwr” package in r (version 3.3.0, the r foundation, vienna, austria) was used to compute the sample size needed to determine an effect. to determine sample size, a power of 80% and a .05 significance level were assumed. based on data collected from a pilot sample, it was observed that there was a large effect (0.8; cohen, 1988) between conditions in the event-related potentials, and thus, a final sample size of 26 participants in each condition was determined. the experimenter was not blind to which group the participant was assigned to in order to prepare the appropriate tsst to match the condition and analyze the data. matlab (version 8.3, mathworks, natick, usa) and the psychophysics toolbox extension (brainard, 1997; pelli, 1997) were also used to pre-process the data using custom scripts (www .github.com/neuro-tools) that depended on eeglab (delorme & makeig, 2004). finally, r (r core team, version 3.6.2) and excel (microsoft excel, build 13127.20408) were utilized to complete the statistical analysis. it should be noted that given the small sample size, sex differences were not evaluated in this study. data pre-processing eeg data were processed using standard methods in the krigolson laboratory (http:// www.krigolsonlab.com/data-analysis.html). data from faulty electrodes or electrodes with excessive noise were removed. the average of the two mastoid channels were used for referencing. data were filtered through a (0.1 hz 30 hz pass band) phase shift-free butterworth filter (60 hz notch). independent component analysis (delorme & makeig, 2004; luck, 2005) was used to remove blinks, and then inverse ica was conducted on the removed components. we then used topographic interpolation and the method of spherical splines to add back in any removed channels. this was followed by the construction of 1000 ms epochs of eeg data from the 200 ms prior to the 800 ms following feedback onset. the erp waveforms were created by averaging the epochs of eeg data for each channel and participant. segments were common and rare (oddball) stimuli for the p300 component and win or loss feedback for the reward positivity component. difference waves were created by subtracting the average common stimuli from the average rare (oddball) stimuli and by subtracting the average loss feedback from the average win feedback. all trials were baseline corrected with a 200 ms pre-feedback window, with any trials with a voltage change exceeding 10 µv per sampling point or voltage greater than 100 µv discarded. results heart rate heart rate was calculated for the tsst as the mean percent (%) change from baseline for the control and stress conditions. the control group had a mean % change of −0.52 ± 8.02 %, and the stress group had a mean % change of 8.54 ± 6.16 % (see figure 5). an independent-samples t-test 70 (www.github.com/neuro-tools) (www.github.com/neuro-tools) (http://www.krigolsonlab.com/data-analysis.html) (http://www.krigolsonlab.com/data-analysis.html) the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 was conducted to compare the control and stress groups mean % change from baseline, t(21) = 3.07, p = 0.01, d = −1.24. figure 5: mean heart rate % change from baseline during the tsst comparing control (n = 13) and stress (n = 13) conditions. error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. stai mean positive and negative affect scores were computed post-tsst (see figure 6). the mean positive score was 2.92 ± 0.59 for the control group and 2.34 ± 0.76 for the stress group. an independent-sample t-test was conducted to compare the control and stress groups’ positive affect scores, t(23) = 2.10, p = 0.05, d = 0.86 and it showed a decrease in positive affect scores for the stress group. the mean negative score was 1.37 ± 0.29 for the control group and 2.08 ± 0.87 for the stress group. an independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the control and stress groups mean negative affect scores, t(23) = 2.51, p = 0.02, d = −1.10, and it showed an increase in negative affect scores for the stress group. 71 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 (a) positive (b) negative figure 6: mean stai score post-tsst for positive (a) and negative (b) affect scores for control (n = 13) and stress (n = 13) conditions. error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. panas mean positive and negative affect scores were computed post-tsst (see figure 7). the mean positive score was 3.11 ± 0.46 for the control group and 2.54 ± 0.66 for the stress group. an independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the control and stress groups mean positive affect scores, t(23) = 2.44, p = 0.02, d = 1.00, and it showed a decrease in positive affect scores for the stress group. the mean negative score was 1.52 ± 0.92 for the control group and 1.73 ± 0.58 for the stress group. an independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the control and stress groups mean negative affect scores, t(23) = 0.66, p = 0.51, d = −0.26 and did not show statistically significant changes. (a) positive (b) negative figure 7: mean panas score post-tsst for positive (a) and negative (b) affect scores for control (n = 13) and stress (n = 13) conditions. error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. 72 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 p300 the mean p300 component peak amplitude (µv) was calculated for the control condition as 9.62 ± 6.01 µv and for the stress condition as 6.29 ± 3.97 µv, t(22) = 1.67, p = 0.11, d = 0.65. the mean p300 component latency (ms) was calculated for the control condition as 379.67 ± 40.94 ms and 384.82 ± 37.10 ms for the stress condition, t(22) = 0.28, p = 0.78, d = −0.13. (a) (b) figure 8: erp components for the oddball task comparing the mean common and rare (oddball) trials for the control (n = 13) (a) and stress (n = 13) (b) conditions. (a) (b) figure 9: topoplots for the control (n = 13) (a) and stress (n = 13) (b) conditions for the oddball task. 73 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 figure 10: grand average of the p300 component showing the difference wave for the oddball task between rare and common stimuli. reward positivity (rewp) the mean rewp component peak amplitude (µv) was calculated for the control condition as 4.67 ± 4.81 µv, and for the stress condition as 3.82 ± 5.61 µv, t(22) = 0.53, p = 0.60, d = 0.16. the mean rewp component latency (ms) was calculated for the control condition as 311.33 ± 27.16 ms and 306.33 ± 42.88 ms for the stress condition, t(22) = 0.34, p = 0.74, d = 0.14. (a) (b) figure 11: erp components for the gambling task comparing the mean win and loss feedback for the control (n = 13) (a) and stress (n = 13) (b) conditions. 74 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 (a) (b) figure 12: topoplot for the control (n = 13) (a) and stress (n = 13) (b) conditions. figure 13: grand average of the reward positivity component showing the difference wave for the âăőgambling task between win and loss feedback. win percentage mean win percentages were calculated for the gambling task as 52.42 ± 7.35 % for the control condition and 48.75 ± 7.40 % for the stress condition, t(22) = 1.00, p = 0.33, d = 0.50. discussion the purpose of this study was to address the gap in the literature by using erps as a tool to investigate the effects of acute stress both physiologically and psychologically on decision-making, reward processing, and their neural correlates. we hypothesized that acute stress would impact the sensitivity to attentional and reward processing, seen through both diminished p300 and reward 75 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 positivity component activity. while the results were not statistically significant to support our hypothesis, there are trends that emerged. validation heart rate the induction of stress was successful as seen through the manipulation checks of heart rate and subjective measures of anxiety and affect. the hr % change from baseline comparing control and stress groups was significant for the stressor, providing physiological evidence that stress was induced. hr has been used as a manipulation check in several other tasks that utilized the tsst as the stressor, and those studies also found statistically significant higher heart rates in the stress groups (starcke, wiesen, trotzke, & brand, 2016; wemm & wulfert, 2017). stai and panas in addition to the statistically significant hr results, there were statistically significant results for the stai and panas questionnaires, providing evidence of subjective or psychological stress. the stai questionnaire was used to examine the induction of anxiety from the tsst. the stress group had decreased positive affect scores and increased negative affect scores. studies by wemm and wulfert (2017), villada et al., (2016), and starcke et al. (2016) also found statistically significant higher anxiety scores in the stress condition compared to the control condition post-tsst. the panas questionnaire was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the tsst to impact positive and/or negative affect scores for mood. the stress group had decreased positive affect scores for the panas questionnaire. the results for the panas negative afect scores were not statistically significant. other studies have shown statistically significant changes for increased negative affect in the stress condition post-tsst (capobianco, morrison, & wells, 2018; villada, hidalgo, almela, & salvador, 2016; wemm & wulfert, 2017). however, some literature suggests that the physiological measures of stress and subjective experience may not always be correlated with each other (campbell & ehlert, 2012). for example, the peak cortisol response occurs 20-40 minutes post-stressor, and the subjective anxiety and mood results typically return to baseline (pabst et al., 2013). it is also possible that a significant number of individuals in the stress condition were cortisol nonresponders, which would indicate they are less sensitive to the effects of the tsst (starcke & brand, 2012). this effect would be seen with an additional task post cognitive assessment. p300 component the p300 component is elicited during the oddball task when comparing the averaged trials for the common and rare (oddball) stimuli. the results were not statistically significant for the p300 component between the control and stress conditions (see figure 8). however, there was a slight decrease in mean peak amplitude for the stress condition. since the p300 is thought to be involved in context sensitivity or selective attention (shackman, maxwell, mcmenamin, greischar, & davidson, 2011), this decrease may suggest that stress, induced by the tsst, may decrease this context sensitivity which can result in a failure to attend fully to the environment (wemm & wulfert, 2017). the p300 component is thought to reflect the activity of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system, particularly sensitive to stress (shackman et al., 2011). the attenuation of the p300 component thus may result in alterations to selective attention, resulting in a disruption of top-down control 76 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 (shackman et al., 2011). stress can reallocate the resources that would typically be used in selective attention or bias the information most relevant to the stressor at that point in time (shields et al., 2016). this can have negative ramifications for decision-making, as the individual may not consider all available contextual and environmental information. reward positivity component the reward positivity component is elicited during the gambling task when comparing the averaged trials between win and loss feedback. the results show no significant differences between the control and stress groups (see figure 11). these results are not surprising, as cortisol levels peak 20-40 minutes post-stress onset (pabst et al., 2013), occurring after cognitive assessment, specifically the gambling task. therefore, significant results may be found for a second task occurring 20-40-minutes post-stressor. there are some expected results for that time frame based on other similar studies. wemm and wulfert (2017) found an inverted u relationship between stress and performance, which can be interpreted as stress enhancing performance, but only up to a certain point, consistent with the yerkes-dodson law. stress can affect sensitivity to reward through the modulation of the dopamine system, reflected in the reward positivity component. literature suggests that acute stress can enhance learning of positive feedback and inhibit learning of negative feedback (banis et al., 2014; lighthall, gorlick, schoeke, frank, & mather, 2013; mather & lighthall, 2012; petzold, plessow, goschke, & kirschbaum, 2010; wemm & wulfert, 2017). this enhancement and impairment of selective feedback due to stress can be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the situation. a similar study by banis et al. (2014) conducted a gambling task where participants were given feedback indicative of monetary gain or loss following their choice. probabilities were randomized instead of constant as in the current study, and the results were that even without constant probabilities, the participants’ behavioural data suggested that they were using the feedback from the previous trial to bias their decisions. the results of this study were the trend towards reduced reward positivity component activity for the stress group compared to the control group, which are the expected results for a second task in the current study. to further provide evidence that a second task was needed to potentially see a reward positivity difference, there was no significant difference in win percentage between control and stress conditions. this suggests that either stress did not significantly influence the choices made in the gambling task or that participants in both groups were not learning the tasks, as the win percentages were only 52.42 ± 7.35 % and 48.75 ± 7.40 % for the control and stress conditions, respectively. limitations and future directions there were several limitations in this study. the experimenters were aware of which condition each participant was assigned to in order to appropriately prepare for the tsst, which may have resulted in unintentional biasing towards each condition. with a small sample size, it was difficult to analyze gender or age differences. however, there is literature to suggest that males and females respond differently to stress (banis et al., 2014; kirschbaum, kudielka, gaab, schommer, & hellhammer, 1999; kudielka & kirschbaum, 2005; starcke & brand, 2012; van den bos, homberg, & de visser, 2013), and this could be a future research direction. also due to sample size, it was difficult to determine statistically significant results. there were also limitations with the tasks themselves, as they may not have been complex enough to reflect real-world stress. future studies should add further tasks to see the potential effects of stress on reward positivity component activity, along with the measurement of cortisol. utilizing eeg, researchers cannot examine subcortical regions. furthermore, eeg has poor 77 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 spatial resolution (luck, 2005). in addition, the size of scalp erps are small in comparison to the size of noise, and scalp erps only record when they meet particular conditions. this means that a particular mental or neural process may not be reflected in the recorded voltage patterns unless it meets all conditions, and that particular brain process has a distinct erp component (luck, 2005). therefore, future studies could utilize multiple methods in addition to eeg to achieve optimal spatial and temporal resolution. this study used standard eeg pre-processing (luck, 2005) for the analysis, but future studies could conduct single trial analysis or examine time-frequency wavelets or fast-fourier transformations. last, it is extremely difficult to use erps to measure brain activity for tasks that are longer than a few seconds, which limits testing tasks that reflect real-world stress. conclusions in summary, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute stress on decisionmaking and its neural correlates, as there is limited erp research regarding stress and its effects on decision-making. we hypothesized that acute stress would affect the underlying processes of decision-making of context sensitivity and learning from rewards. this would be seen through the reduction of p300 and reward positivity erp component activity. we found no statistically significant results for these components, but there was a trend of reduced p300 component activity for the stress condition. stress is quite common to everyday life and has been implicated chronically in numerous health conditions. understanding how stress affects executive function, particularly decision-making, is therefore crucial in both the shortand long-term. 78 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 references banis, s., geerligs, l., & lorist, m. m. 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(1908). the relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. journal of comparative neurology & psychology, 18, 459-482. https:// doi.org/10.1002/cne.920180503 82 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.05.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.05.008 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038199.humans https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.920180503 https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.920180503 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 appendix tsst protocol and script general protocol 1.1. pre-tsst: introduction the research participant is then led to room 4. this room is set up in the following way: two people are seated behind a table in front of the wall facing the door. the experimenter explains to the research participants their first task, which is to give an introductory talk in front of the panel present, in which he/she is to imagine having been invited to an interview to apply for a job. (experimenter introductions; see below) 1.2. tsst: preparation phase the experimenter than leaves and the participant stays in experiment room 4, where they have three minutes to prepare his/her talk. the participant is allowed to take notes but he/she must not use them during his/her speech in front of the audience. the panel is in the room with them. 1.3. tsst: task 1 (free speech) the camera is switched on and the research participant is asked to start the talk. all members of the audience remain quiet, as long as the research participant continues to speak fluently. only after a pause of more than twenty seconds prior to the end of the five-minute period are questions asked. 1.4. tsst: task 2 (arithmetic task) after the five-minute period the research participant is then informed by the chair about the second half of his/her task (instructions: see below). this part of the test should be concluded after a maximum of five minutes, insofar as the participant does not reach a count of "0" before that. it is recommended that prime numbers be used as subtractors for this task, since these make the task more difficult. 1.5. post-tsst: further assessment (saliva samples and questionnaires) the research participant then goes back to room 1, where the post-tsst assessment takes place. the tsst panel members instructions 1.6. neutral impression a crucial characteristic of the tsst is the impression that the panel should make. the principal aspect of the tsst is the role play, and for that it is important that everybody involved play their respective roles to the best of their abilities. as for the panel, which has to decide about the acceptance of an applicant for a specific position, the issue is therefore to make an impression that leaves no doubt about the seriousness of this endeavour. furthermore, the tsst is meant to be a psychological stress situation; for that, it is important to maintain a serious impression. in any case, talk about the situation as such should be avoided before the tsst. any role play loses its realism (and with that its stress-inducing effect) if the research participant is made aware 83 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 of it through discussion. it is clear that a real job interview would never take place like this in real life and that the tsst can only be a compromise however, that should only, if at all, be discussed at the time of the introduction or post-test assessments and debriefing, but not during the actual task. therefore, it is recommended that during the introduction by the exerimenter none of the panel members talk or smile; should the research participant address the panel, one should only return the greeting courteously. if necessary, it can be pointed out that any questions of the research participant should be directed to the experimenter, rather than to the panel. furthermore, all panel members should seek eye contact with the participant during the talk; the knowledge that all persons present give the research participant their undivided attention further reinforces the seriousness of the situation for the research participant. the point of these questions is not to embarrass the research participants or to be mean to him/her. this is neither the purpose nor the task of the tsst and would also distort the contents of this role play. the research participant’s task is to present him/herself before an audience. the questions should serve to deepen this presentation and to receive information about specific qualities of the applicant. 1.6.1 taking notes the actual task of the panel starts three minutes after the research participant has begun taking notes. furthermore, the panel can note the number of errors and the number that the research participant has eventually reached as a performance measure. 1.7. the tsst chairperson of the panel 1.7.1 opening of the session, starting of taping devices at this time, the chairperson of the panel should turn on the video camera by hand or remote control (making sure he/she knows the operating instructions beforehand). he/she opens up the session with the words “please begin your talk”. the chair will also have access to a clipboard, piece of paper, and timer. the clipboard and piece of paper are to be used to mark down errors during the interview and cognitive task, while the timer is to make sure the participant is not going over time. 1.7.2 addressing the research participant for task 1 only the chairperson should address the research participant directly, so that coordination problems between the panel members can be avoided. during the interview, the chair should take notes infrequently. they should be related to the behaviour of the participant (e.g., “participant stumbled when explain their talk”). we will not actually be analyzing these notes, but they are to enhance the realism of the task. try to avoid taking too many notes, as we do want to give the appearance that your attention is focused on the participant. the chair should let the research participant speak for the first three minutes. in most cases, the participant will come to the end of the talk even before three minutes have passed. the chair should then give him/her time to formulate additional elaborations. in any case, there should be a pause. after about a twenty-second pause, the chair can alert the research participant to the remaining time, as with the phrase “you still have time, please continue...”. should it appear after another ten seconds that the participant has nothing further to say, then the chair should ask questions until the end of the time period. the phrasing of these questions is left to the chair’s discretion; it may also be solely oriented towards the participants’ previous statements. only in rare instances, will the research participant be able to talk alone for the full five minutes. 84 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 in this case, it is left to the discretion of the chair whether he/she wants to intervene between the third and fifth minute to ask questions of the research participant or whether the participant is allowed to continue. this should also be dependent on what is being said by the participant. for instance, it is not appropriate for the applicant to speak in great detail about specific lessons he/she may have learned in the course of training at university or elsewhere. some research participants use their school-knowledge to distract from their own person. in this case, the chair should certainly intervene, for example by saying “we believe you that you know how to execute a market analysis, but we would be more interested to find out why you were so involved in or drawn to this area”’ 1.7.3 addressing the research participant for task 2 after the first five minutes, it is the chair’s duty to explain the second part of the stress protocol. to avoid the possibility of the research participant becoming annoyed, it is very important to make it clear that this is indeed a second task that has nothing to do with the application talk. in the past, some participants have refused to engage in mental arithmetic because they felt (rightly so) that it had nothing to do with their job application. the chair will mark down errors during the task on the paper provided. 1.7.4 end of the session at the end of the test period, the chair should thank the research participant for his/her participation and ask him/her to go to the neighbouring room for post-test assessments and debriefing. with that, the panel’s role in the tsst is concluded. 85 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 script before beginning make sure that the following is in the tsst room: 1. clipboard with script 2. pen (x2) 3. loose piece of paper for the participant 4. loose piece of paper to mark down errors 5. stopwatch the ‘pre-tsst experimenters’ introduction experimenter: “your task in this part of the experiment is the following: please imagine that you have applied for your ideal job and have been invited for an interview. you must now convince the panel members why you are the ideal candidate by giving a talk. you will have three minutes to prepare a talk to convince the panel, before having five minutes to present the talk. please note that you will be recorded by a camera for subsequent voice and behavioural analysis. this is the “selection panel” (introduce panel). this selection panel has been trained to monitor your behaviour and will take notes during your talk. you should try to leave the best possible impression and assume the role of the applicant for the duration of the talk as best as you can. the panel will reserve the right to ask follow-up questions in case of uncertainties to receive all necessary information from you. following your talk, you will be given a second task by the panel, which will only be explained to you by the panel. you may take some notes now, which you must not use during your talk. do you have any questions? you now have three minutes to prepare your speech. there is a pen and pencil on the table for your use.” 86 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 opening up the session chair begins video recording and hits start on the timer chair: “please begin your talk. you may not use the notes you have made.” (if participant stops before 5 minutes, wait for about 20 seconds and then say) chair: “you still have time left. please continue.” (if participant does not continue, start asking questions after 10 seconds) questions to ask the research participant during the “job interview” 1. what are your personal strengths? 2. what are your major weaknesses? 3. why do you think you are especially well-qualified for this task? 4. why do you think you are better qualified then the other applicants? 5. you just mentioned your qualities in respect to. . . , what do you in particular think about. . . ? 6. you just spoke about. .., what exactly do you then think about. ..? 7. what kind of leading qualities do you have? 8. what do you think about teamwork? 9. where do you see your position in a team? 10. what can you constructively add to a team? 11. what do your employees appreciate about you most? 12. would you be willing to work on the weekends if this be deemed necessary? 13. what kind of qualities to you expect from your co-workers? 14. under what circumstances would you be willing to compensate for the mistakes your co-wworkers make? 15. what do your family/friends especially appreciate about you? 16. please complete the following sentence: “i am the best at/in...” (when either the time is up or if the participant goes over the five minutes, let them finish their sentence, and then say) chair: “stop, the interview is now over” 87 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 cognitive task (5 minutes) chair: ”we now want you to solve a calculation task. this task is unrelated to the job interview. please count aloud backwards from 2023 in steps of 17. please calculate as quickly and correctly as possible. should you miscalculate, we will point out your mistake and you have to start over again. do you have any questions?” (chair should mark down errors on the paper. if the participant looks for whether they are correct or not, simply nod for correct answers. should the participant miscalculate say) chair: “stop mistake. start over at 2023 please.” 2023 1683 1343 1003 663 323 2006 1666 1326 986 646 306 1989 1649 1309 969 629 289 1972 1632 1292 952 612 272 1955 1615 1275 935 595 255 1938 1598 1258 918 578 238 1921 1581 1241 901 561 221 1904 1564 1224 884 544 204 1887 1547 1207 867 527 187 1870 1530 1190 850 510 170 1853 1513 1173 833 493 153 1836 1496 1156 816 476 136 1819 1479 1139 799 459 119 1802 1462 1122 782 442 102 1785 1445 1105 765 425 85 1768 1428 1088 748 408 68 1751 1411 1071 731 391 51 1734 1394 1054 714 374 34 1717 1377 1037 697 357 17 1700 1360 1020 680 340 0 88 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 end of session (5 minutes) chair: ”thank you for your time. please leave the room where the experimenters will be waiting. you will then complete the rest of the experimental session and will be given a full debrief at the end of the experiment.” 89 the arbutus review • 2020 • vol. 11, no. 2 • https://doi.org/10.18357/tar112202019597 placebo tsst instructions (het et al., 2009) (participant is led by the experimenter to an empty room where they are instructed) experimenter: “you are now going to have three minutes to think about a talk about a recent movie, novel, or holiday. after the three minutes is up, you will have to talk aloud for 5 minutes about the topic of interest. you will not be giving the talk to anyone and you will not be recorded. just take the time to think about what you would like to say about the topic of interest.” (the experimenter leaves the room) (after three minutes has elapsed) experimenter: “you will now have five minutes to start your talk. again, there is no recording, and no one is listening.” (the experimenter leaves the room) (after five minutes has elapsed) experimenter: “okay please start counting up in steps of 15, starting at 0. this will last for five minutes.” (experimenter then leaves the room) (after five minutes has elapsed) experimenter: “what number did you get to?” 90 pre-tsst: introduction tsst: preparation phase tsst: task 1 (free speech) tsst: task 2 (arithmetic task) post-tsst: further assessment (saliva samples and questionnaires) neutral impression taking notes the tsst chairperson of the panel opening of the session, starting of taping devices addressing the research participant for task 1 addressing the research participant for task 2 end of the session the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 24 the queen of propaganda: boudica’s representation in empire eleanor m. vannan1 eleanormvannan@gmail.com abstract boudica was an iceni queen c. 60 ce in roman-occupied britain who revolted against the roman empire. while there is a scarcity of primary sources that document her life, boudica has remained a dominant figure in conceptualisations of british national identity. this paper examines the works of the roman historians, the archaeological record, and the depictions of boudica in different periods and analyses the ability of historians to record events without being influenced by the ideology of their contemporary periods. through a comparative examination of sources, this paper argues that boudica should not be approached as a verifiable historical figure but as a tool to understand imperial propaganda. keywords: boudica; roman empire; british empire; imperial propaganda; classical reception 1i would like to thank my faculty mentor, dr. gregory rowe for his enthusiastic encouragement and guidance, and my parents-in-law, joe and jean mcdonald, for indulging my historical curiosity while i was in england and watching my son while i wrote this paper. https://doi.org/ mailto:eleanormvannan@gmail.com the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 25 the queen of propaganda: boudica’s representation in empire a first century ce celtic tribal queen who was defeated in battle seems an unlikely historical figure to be an icon of imperial power for two empires with more than a thousand years between them. yet this is how boudica, queen of the iceni, was imagined by those who told the stories of the roman and british empires. rome and britain, in their zeniths, dominated much of the known world. being victors, rome and britain controlled the historical narratives of their day, and boudica was used by both empires to promote a message that glorified both cultures. the roman historians cassius dio and tacitus centre boudica in their accounts of romano-britain in 61 ce. both writers have been given a principal place in the canon of romano-british history and the history of the british empire. in the 19th century ce, boudica re-emerged as an icon of nationalism in the british empire and flourished as an icon of british exceptionalism during queen victoria’s reign. the 19th century portrayals of boudica draw from roman sources and have persisted into the 21st century, as many fifty pence coins attest. the default approach to the study of boudica has been consumed by attempts to know her as a verifiable historical figure. these attempts are inherently troublesome. roman historical sources are the only primary sources that mention boudica, and archaeological evidence is scarce. the roman sources must not be read at face value, as they are products that promote the superiority of roman culture. they must be read with a great deal of circumspection. the same can be said for 19th century descriptions and depictions of boudica. scholars like martha vandrei (2018) and margaret steyn (2019) have worked to revise boudica’s historical narrative and explore her broader impact. these works are complicated by the current climate of historiography’s politicization and are often challenged on ideological grounds. boudica and her people are better understood through a comparative examination of the romano-british archeological record, legal texts, and representations in works of art. what emerges from this investigation is not only a more historically accurate account, but an altogether fascinating understanding of how two empires manipulated history to serve their programs of imperial propaganda. defining ideology and propaganda and the current climate of historiography to understand the treatment of boudica in the primary historical literature and the use of boudica as a nationalist symbol in subsequent periods, it is necessary to develop theories about how ideologies and propaganda function. currently, there is a movement to frame historical revision pejoratively. david abulaf (2021), a professor of mediterranean history at the university of cambridge, recently published “we can never surrender to the woke witchhunt against our island story” as an editorial for the daily mail. abulaf writes ardently against “today’s woke zealots” and charges them with exploiting “history as an instrument of propaganda” (para. 3). abulaf acknowledges that historical figures are often more complex than their popular representations; what he omits is the long connection between propaganda and how histories are told. this paper seeks to examine the telling of boudica’s story in the context of ideologies of nationalist history. in “on the ubiquity of ideology in modern societies,” masters (1979) describes the proliferation of ideology as a modern phenomenon spurred on by the rise of secularism. masters https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 26 claims ideology to be a re-centering of an individual’s world view around the political, which did not occur on a mass scale until after the second world war. masters is correct in stating that ideology did not rise to the level of conscious discussion until the 20th century. however, defining ideology’s foundational elements shows a longer presence in human history. seliger (2019) states that ideology has two facets—fundamental ideology and operative ideology. fundamental ideology is simply the foundational assumptions an individual makes. these foundational assumptions include beliefs about human nature, concepts of the self, and ethical principles. operative ideology is the translation of those foundational assumptions into policies and actions. an ideology is merely a system of ideas that provides an ordering principle (seliger, 2019). the idea that ideology is a modern phenomenon mistakes ideology’s expression in one period for ideology’s definition. however, this mistake clarifies that one’s ideology is intrinsically linked to the contemporary period in which one lives. thus, disinterested historians cannot escape creating work in the context of their ideological perspectives (mccullagh, 2000) the disinterested historian is a modern construct. before the modern period, historians were often quite open about their biases (breisach, 2007). historians’ ideological biases have, at times, moved towards propaganda. harrod lasswell (1927) defines propaganda as the “the management of collective attitudes by the manipulation of significant symbols” (p. 627). this process is never explicit. rather, the shared cultural connotations of symbols allow the individual to make inferences. extended exposure to propaganda moulds the ideology of the individual until it conforms to the ideology of the state. once it is made explicit, propaganda ceases to adhere to the individual’s self-image. propaganda reveals the identities and motivations of power (lasswell, 1927). lasswell (1927) takes a top-down approach to propaganda, in which those with authority instruct the masses. herman and chomsky (1988) approach propaganda by examining mechanisms. they claim propaganda to be a tool to create a consensus of public opinion that grants consent to those in power. the structure to manufacture this consent requires an infrastructure to disseminate propaganda, which will have economic interests separate from the interests of political elites. further, as this model of propaganda seeks to create a consensus of public opinion, the masses are manipulated to integrate themselves into a propagandistic narrative, and, having adjusted their ideologies, further perpetuate a propagandistic program (herman & chomsky, 1988). like ideology, propaganda was not explicitly studied until the 20th century, but the fundamental elements, as defined by lasswell and herman and chomsky, are present throughout history (taylor, 1995). the history of britain and boudica according to the written roman records roman historians were the first to write an historical account of boudica. no doubt her story was told by her people, but since written history is privileged, roman primary sources have been given legitimacy. the medium itself functions to support a propagandistic narrative. the roman authors use literary tropes to describe britain and its inhabitants as mysterious and harsh. in the apocolocyntosis, seneca (ca.54 c.e./2014) writes that britain is “beyond the sea-shores which one sees” (p. 473). horace (ca. 23 b.c.e./2003) writes of, “the earth’s far-off britons” (poem 35, line 33) and refers to them as the “fierce, inhospitable britons” (poem 4, line 30.) the romans are clear that britons are barbarians. the official roman history for britain begins with the first invasion of britain, in the winter of 55 bce (caesar, ca. 54–49 b.c.e./1917). caesar spent the year campaigning against the gauls in what is now france and belgium. caesar (ca. 54–49/ https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 27 1917) received reports that the gauls were receiving aid from the inhabitants of the british isles. in the gallic wars, caesar writes that the motivation for the first invasion was to gain a better understanding of the inhabitants and the extent of military aid they could provide to the gallic tribes. after the return of caius volusenus from a small scouting mission, caesar launched an invasion of britain with two legions. caesar writes that the barbarian inhabitants, not being used to the sight of large warships, rallied chariots and soldiers for battle. the roman forces underperformed but eventually overpowered the britons. having secured a peace, caesar returned to continental europe and planned another invasion for the summer of 54 bce. lacking geographical knowledge of britain was a significant disadvantage for caesar’s second invasion. however, the romans’ superior military skill lead caesar’s forces to overcome the britons. caesar was able to install a series of client kings who were loyal to rome. caesar ca. 54–49 b.c.e./1917) states that the population of the britons was large with agricultural practices similar to the gauls but sees little cultural development beyond this. while caesar describes a degree of variation between native tribes, according to him, all britons were barbarous. similarly, the romans found the native cultural customs to be barbaric. caesar describes the natives’ personal hygiene and grooming practices as primitive. further, caesar is disturbed by the sexual mores. he states that the native women are not sexually monogamous. the ideological importance of paternity to the romans cannot be overstated (gunderson, 2009). caesar states that the father of a native child is assumed to be whichever man took a woman’s virginity. caesar considers this practice to be a preeminent sign of barbarism (webster, 1980). britain’s distinct cultural practices fascinated ambitious romans as they saw the potential for the glory of conquest. cicero (ca. 50–43 b.c.e./2002) writes to his brother quintus, who was stationed with caesar in britain, “all you have to do is to give me britain to paint. i’ll use your colours with my brush” (p. 133). still, rome was satisfied with the status of britain as a series of client kingdoms. the remoteness of britain hindered their ability to administrate britain as a fully integrated roman province. in book iv of the geography, strabo (ca. 7 b.c.e–23 c.e./2014) states that the system of client kingdoms has “managed to make the whole of the island virtually roman property” (pp. 257–259). strabo continues with an explanation for rome being satisfied with the status of the client kingdoms: they submit so easily to heavy duties, both on the exports […] and on the imports […] that the expense of the army would offset the tribute-money […] and, […] dangers be encountered, if force is applied. (p. 259) in 43 ce, the emperor claudius annexed britain, officially making it a roman province. britain’s political climate became increasingly volatile with uprisings from british tribes. cassius dio (ca. 230–235 c.e./1925) writes, aulus plautius, […] made a campaign against britain; for a certain bericus, who had been driven out of the island as a result of an uprising, had persuaded claudius to send a force thither. thus, it came about that plautius undertook this campaign. (60.18) roman governors oversaw the newly annexed britain; their presence there created an immediate authority that outranked the client kings. this presence oppressively interfered with the native inhabitants’ affairs. during the governorship of gaius suetonius paulinus (suetonius paulinus) in 61 ce, a group of britons revolted (dio, ca. 230–235 c.e./1925). the central figure in the revolt of 61 ce was the iceni queen, boudica, who was catalyzed into action by the death of the iceni king, prasutagus (tacitus, ca. 56–120 c.e./2014). in book xiv of the annals, tacitus (ca. 56–120 c.e./2014) writes, https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 28 the icenian king prasutagus, celebrated for his long prosperity, had named the emperor his heir, together with his two daughters; an act of deference which he thought would place his kingdom and household beyond the risk of injury. the result was contrary — so much so that his kingdom was pillaged by centurions, his household by slaves; as though they had been prizes of war. as a beginning, his wife boudicca was subjected to the lash and his daughters violated: all the chief men of the icenians were stripped of their family estates, and the relatives of the king were treated as slaves. (14.31) the roman treatment of the nobles caused anxiety amongst the britons. tacitus (ca. 56–120 c.e./2014) writes, impelled by this outrage and the dread of worse to come—for they had now been reduced to the status of a province—they flew to arms, and incited to rebellion the trinobantes and others, who, not yet broken by servitude, had entered into a secret and treasonable compact to resume their independence. (14.31) suetonius paulinus was campaigning in wales when revolting britons destroyed camulodunum, londinium, and verulamium. boudica’s success was short-lived (tacitus, ca. 56– 12c.e./2014). suetonius gathered the remaining legions and met the britons in battle. the romans were victorious as tacitus (ca. 56–120 c.e./2014) writes, the glory won in the course of the day was remarkable, and equal to that of our older victories: for, by some accounts, little less than eighty thousand britons fell, at a cost of some four hundred romans killed and a not much greater number of wounded. boudicca ended her days by poison. (14.37) the revolt of 61 ce was only of moderate significance to the romans. boudica’s revolt was just one of many stories they romans told to show their power and authority (webster, 1999). imperial administration grew arduous as the empire’s territory expanded. yet, rome did not question their capacity for military power. their victory against the natives was always presumed; the key value in recounting these events to later citizens was as a cautionary tale about being caught unprepared (webster, 1999). impeaching the privileged written histories through the archeological record tacitus and dio present their accounts as historical fact, and in isolation they appear credible. one of the great virtues of rome’s written records is the ubiquity of teleological justifications for actions and events. depictions of conquered people frequently informed these explanations. however, authors in the empire were often faulty narrators. it seems unlikely that accounts of boudica’s revolt would have historicity if the britons as a culture were inaccurately represented. discrepancies exist between roman sources and the archeological record; examining non-written primary sources shows the romans misunderstood the british natives from first contact. comparing other forms of evidence impeaches the privileged written accounts and shows the need for a critical reading of the written word. caesar makes a connection between the continental gauls and coastal britons. other roman authors, most notably strabo (ca. 7 b.c.e.– 23 c.e./1917), claim that the britons had little external contact beyond that. claims of an isolated pre-roman britain are demonstrably false. parts of britain are rich in deposits of copper and tin– essential metals in bronze age technologies. from the bronze age on, the inhabitants of britain exploited the richness of their natural resources using sophisticated practices (williams & de https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 29 veslud, 2019). williams and de velsud (2019) analyzed the composition of copper from the great orme mine in wales and found this form of copper was extracted and distributed as far as the baltic region. they write that “[this distribution] suggests that there were active, long-distance exchange networks in place” (p. 1188). the archeological record contradicts the classical perception of britain’s isolation in the evidence for bronze age trade between the isles and the continent. exaggerating a people’s isolation and primitiveness in imperial histories is a propagandistic principle to justify colonial expansion (rohland et al., 2021). britain’s connection to continental europe continued into the iron age. artifacts of material culture are often examined for uniqueness. if material culture is stylistically distinct from surrounding cultures, it is termed to be an insular art style (joy, 2015). the lack of cultural exchange is thought to be an indication that there was limited or no contact between cultures. the insular art style of iron age briton is said to be proof that there was scarce contact with continental europe prior to roman contact. however, the acceptance of insular art as proof of cultural isolation is debated. in “connections and separation? narratives of iron age art in britain,” jody joy (2015) states that insular art styles also occur when a deliberate attempt is made to distinguish one culture from another. insular art occurs both in isolation and through deliberate attempts to resist cultural amalgamation. thus, the presence of insular art cannot indicate the degree of cross-cultural connections independent of other archeological proof. the archeological record for iron age britain contains mediterranean objects and art that fuses britain’s insular style with continental art (joy, 2015). joy suggests that these finds weaken the claim that iron age britain was insular. instead, joy argues the diversity of objects of material culture indicates a desire to preserve the native culture (joy, 2015). rome ideologically divided cultures between barbarians and citizens of the city. there was little propaganda value in emphasizing contact between distinct barbarian cultures. further, the dominant power was ideologically dubious towards a barbarian people valuing their cultural heritage. it was more manageable to assume the natives lacked the opportunity to be civilized as they were uncontacted (gonzalez & gugliemi, 2017). rome did claim that the britons staunchly defended their cultural identity. however, the romans claimed this as a justification for administrative difficulties in the region (webster, 1999). as is common in propaganda, there is more nuance to the briton’s cultural identity in this period; rome omitted the degree to which british inhabitants happily assimilated into roman culture. in an imperial possession, david mattingly (2006) cautions that most of the archeological artifacts discovered come from the curial class of romano-britons. nevertheless, the objects found show that “they used roman material culture as a means of enchaining their own prestige within british society” (p. 283). the britons did not just assimilate into the roman cultural identity. britons morphed their culture by incorporating roman principles (mattingly, 2006). dominic perring (2002) writes in the roman house in britain that an architectural shift in britain’s houses occurred rapidly, adapting to the changing social practices of the new romano-british identity. the cultural shift also occurs in the religious practices of romano-britain. in roman britain, david shotter (2005) writes that representations of celtic deities became stylistically roman. further, shotter states that the practice of interpretatio romana paired roman gods with their celtic equivalent, forming new romano-british gods. before annexation, the britons were romanizing. the cunobelin coin with latin inscription c.10-40 ad housed in the british museum is an example of british elites adopting latin words as a symbol of their authority. coins were used in britain by the mid-late secondcentury bce. the designs of coins were iconographic statements of power (creighton, 2002). https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 30 creighton (2002) states the imagery on british coins appropriated roman symbolism of imperial power. this borrowed imagery comes into use after contact with caesar (creighton, 2002). latin and roman imagery on coins was a statement directed to other britons as a means of communicating authority (creighton, 2002). client kings adopted the word rex to show the legitimacy of their kingship under rome (creighton, 2002). the contemporary context of the roman histories and imperial propaganda the flawed representation of the britons generally creates the understanding that written testimony from this period is not sacrosanct. applying the same treatment to boudica’s motivations raises similar issues in knowing her as a historical figure. in addition to tacitus’s (ca. 56–20 c.e./2014) emotional justification for boudica’s revolt, dio (ca. 230–235/1925) gives an alternative more pragmatic reason for boudica’s revolt in book lxii of the annals: an excuse for the war was found in the confiscation of sums of money that claudius had given to the foremost britons; for these sums, as decianus catus, the procurator of the island, maintained, were to be paid back (62.2). tacitus’s and dio’s accounts are problematic as neither author was truly a contemporary of the historical events. tacitus was only a child in 61 ce, and dio was born a hundred years later. neither produced a first-hand account, and it must be assumed that their motive for writing was not to provide an objective account. their work should be read as a reflection of roman attitudes and political agendas rather than presenting factual narratives. their writings are received information and not the firsthand experiences of caesar’s contemporaries. regardless, they underpin subsequent depictions of boudica. tacitus’s account is narratively more satisfying than dio’s version but not necessarily any more accurate. much of the mythology of boudica’s revolt, including themes of inheritance and identity, come from tacitus’s emotionally evocative account (ca. 56–120c.e./2014). the issue of inheritance in tacitus’s story of boudica seems radically opposed to the legal status of widows and the roman attitude toward wills. the roman widow was relatively privileged in the empire. any property a woman’s father gifted a couple upon marriage legally belonged to the wife. while a husband may be entrusted to care for this property during life, the woman retained ownership if she were the surviving spouse. a woman who outlived both her father and husband was legally autonomous (treggiari, 1991). the nuanced legal status of women after the death of male relatives mirrors the intricacies of inheritance law. roman obsession with wills was constant throughout the history of the empire (chapman, 1991). romans believed that it was a duty to fulfill the content of a will if the contents of the will were lawful. the romans accepted the legality of foreign wills, including those written in other languages (chapman, 1991). prasutagus making his daughters his heirs is not controversial in roman law. chapman (1991) states that while sons were favoured, it was custom to leave a share of one’s estate to one’s daughter. further, if a man had only daughters, the estate would be divided between them. the lex voconia restricted some women from inheriting, but those cases were the exception. per chapman (1991), the claim that the romans prohibited all women from property ownership is unsubstantiated and easily disproven. prasutagus’s choice to divide his estate between the emperor and his daughter was not unique either. the romans did occasionally name an extraneus (outsider) as coheir. chapman (1991) writes, https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 31 the emperor also appears as a coheir, but that was under exceptional circumstances, and even the conventional bad emperor would hesitate to accept where children survived. (p. 112) the emperor in 61 ce was nero claudius caesar augustus germanicus (nero). the historian suetonius tranquillus (ca. 69–122 c.e./1997) claims that nero was considering abandoning britain as the distance made governing the province tedious, and the inhabitants were troublesome. the emperor nero is not held in high regard, but it seems unlikely he would have ordered the governor suetonius paulinus to usurp the heirs of a client king if he were considering abandoning the province entirely (suetonius tranquillus, ca. 69–122 c.e./1997). tacitus’s works are well known to exaggerate the danger of female leaders and often draw upon the anxieties within the roman psyche to justify imperial atrocities (l’hoir 1994). the inconsistency between inheritance laws and tacitus’s account shows the degree to which ideology and propaganda hide in historical works. although he was born a hundred years after boudica’s revolt, dio’s account is more credible when compared to other sources of evidence. the claim that local officials would take advantage of an opportunity to collect outstanding debts seems plausible, especially in the context of nero’s hesitation to keep britain under roman authority (suetonius tranquillus, ca. 69–122 c.e./1997). legal texts provide a concrete testament of social structures in a particular period. the narratives surrounding boudica’s revolt are not consistent with the legal status of women and wills in the roman empire. the inconsistencies obscure the iceni queen as a historical figure, but illuminate how histories can reveal facts about their contemporary period. these historical texts show the collective ideology of a people rather than the singular bias of one author. comparing dio’s and tacitus’s works to one another and to other primary sources offers an example of how to control for the historian’s contemporary ideology. the power of propaganda on authorial intent and the reception of historical figures the rape of boudica’s daughters is the most poignant motivation tacitus gives for the revolt. within the roman empire, rape was both a physical act and a literary device. rape was treated with nuance. rome’s founding mythology includes two rape stories– the rape of the sabine women and the rape of rhea silva. nguyen (2006) states that the role of rape stories in the foundation myths of rome created an ideological connection between rape and political power. romans placed an emphasis on female sexual integrity. the social effects of rape were a secondary punishment. nguyen (2006) writes, “instead of being seen as victims, raped women were seen as sources of embarrassment to their husbands and fathers” (p. 83). forced sexual intercourse was only considered a crime when it was done to roman citizens. while soldiers faced penalties if they committed rape during peacetime, rape was the norm during war (nguyen, 2006). it is not possible to know the degree of sexual violence experienced by boudica’s daughters. what is known is that the romans used rape as a narrative tool to explain power. the romans used boudica’s gender as a propagandistic theme. rome had a habit of turning mythologized queens into villains (james & dillon, 2012); for example, both dido and cleopatra are central in stories of roman advancement. in the aeneid, virgil writes that dido’s guilt is found in her misrepresenting herself as being married to aeneas and in her inability to control her passions. this guilt makes her suicide just (james & dillon, 2012). cleopatra receives similar scorn in her relationships with caesar and marc anthony and is referred to as the meretrix regina– https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 32 whore queen (james & dillon, 2012). tacitus continues this treatment of prominent women with boudica, who is presented as the briton dux femina– female leader. dux femina is derisive as it implies that a woman has usurped the authority of a man (gillespie, 2018), and the presence of a dux femina implied male subjugation under a matriarchy (james & dillon, 2012). seen through roman ideology, this idea of male subjugation was a perversion and contrary to civilized society. the elevation of queens depicted a divided “us and them” that reinforced the ideology of roman supremacy (gillespie, 2018). this is particularly true in the depiction of boudica, as her identity as a barbarian reinforced the us/them division in propaganda (james & dillon, 2012). the propagandistic use of rape is present in the stories of rome’s foundation (nguyen, 2006). the romans considered themselves to be the perpetrators. the metaphorical implications of placing yourself as perpetrator offers an external and internal message (evans, 1985). foreigners received this as a declaration of authority in which rome’s might validated imperial dominance. citizens of rome received an internal message from rape allegories: power legitimizes all (evans, 1985). the defeat of boudica in the context of the rape metaphor shows the extent to which rome challenged would not result in rome defeated. ultimately, the tragedy of boudica illustrated the right of roman power to dominate. to modern sensibilities, the horrors of roman domination are abhorrent. to the romans they were proof of their superiority and right to subjugate conquered peoples. the ideological scaffolding of 19th century british nationalism was much more complicated and subtle. boudica became an intricately faceted historical figure in its service (vance, 2000). the amateur antiquarian methods of 18th-century investigations of the classical past gave way to a more systematic approach in the 19th century. the discipline of classics in universities revised methodological practices to use an empirical, scientific approach (rommel, 2001). these shifts in the study of classics and the zeitgeist of late 19th-century britain created fertile ground for boudica’s re-emergence (vandrei, 2018). the combination of romanticism, colonialism, and a female monarch created an appetite for a figure who was wild, noble, feminine, and duty-bound. nineteenth century british depictions of boudica were more openly artistic than the roman treatment of boudica (steyn, 2019). however, these works presented themselves as inspired depictions of britain’s true ancestry (vandrei, 2018). published in 1901, lord alfred tennyson’s poem boädicea draws from the roman accounts for boudica’s battle speech to her troops. tennyson (1901) writes, ‘hear icenian, catieuchlanian, hear coritanian, trinobant! while i roved about the forest, long and bitterly meditating, there i heard them in the darkness, at the mystical ceremony, loosely robed in flying raiment, sang the terrible prophetesses (lines 34–37) in using the historical names of celtic tribes and boudica’s latinized name as the title of the poem, tennyson is borrowing the accepted historicity of the roman sources and brings the reader back to the first century ce. going further to immerse the reader in the period, tennyson writes boädicea in a meter designed to emulate the roman poet catullus (steyn, 2019). tennyson’s meter shifts throughout the poem. boädicea starts and ends with a more structured meter that is familiar to his contemporary audience. by bookending the poem in this way, tennyson allows the frenzied meter in the middle of the poem to stand out as foreign and chaotic and allows the reader to experience the febrile anxiety of battle (lovelace, 2004). in addition to the allusion to catullus, tennyson’s use of meter imitates the interchange of narrative and dialogue common to roman historians. the combination of these literary devices presents the poem as if it https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 33 were a primary historical source. boädicea is a poem about britain’s place in the world. tennyson (1901) writes, thine the north and thine the south and thine the battle-thunder of god. so they chanted: how shall britain light upon auguries happier? so they chanted in the darkness, and there cometh a victory now. (lines 44–46) here, tennyson shows that the 19th-century british audience should identify with boudica rather than with the romans. the claim of ownership over cardinal directions reveals a key component of british imperial ideology (bell, 2006). nineteenth century british identity expanded beyond the concept of an insular island race. queen victoria’s contemporary depictions emphasised her position as empress. the conscious choice to link victoria and boudica was part of an imperial, propagandistic program. just as victoria took on the symbolic role as mother of the british, britain became the motherland of the wider empire (bell, 2006). the familial metaphor compelled the subjugated to be “good christian imperial subjects” (potter, 2019). thou shalt honour thy father and thy motherland. tennyson would have been aware that britons of the first century ce were pagans. his reference to god in the singular is intentional. the monotheistic evocation distances the reader/hearer from the pagan practices of the iceni. in conforming to dominant, 19th-century british religious belief, the christian reader more readily identifies with ancient britons. british exposure to polytheistic practices expanded through colonialism and reinforced the monotheistic/polytheistic divide (ganguly, 2017). maintaining the ideological position of colonization as a civilizing mission relied on historical anachronisms in imperial propaganda (leutzsch, 2019). if imperial propaganda was to function, the pagan barbarian would have to be obscured (bell, 2006). tennyson’s boädicea responds to a shift in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. the first cracks in the empire emerged at this time. political discourse of the period sensed that the golden age was waning (bell, 2006). the slogan “the sun never sets on the british empire” most obviously refers to the territorial expanse of the empire, but there is also a temporal statement. the division of day and night are fundamental in measuring time. the metaphor of the empire in perpetual day presents an eternal empire (potter, 2019). tennyson draws upon an existing cultural understanding of this imagery in his poem (lovelace, 2004). he declaims an ideological call to action by invoking imagery of sunrises and sunsets with descriptions of light, dark, and motion. this departs from depictions of the empire existing in an eternal day. tennyson makes an emotional connection with the fear of imperial decline by representing the britons in darkness. tennyson transitions this ideological fear into a propagandistic imperative in referencing a “coming victory.” this use of day and night imagery reflects the attitude that the british empire had toward the future (vance, 2000). a frequent theme in tennyson’s work is the propagandistic message that if the british remained true to their ancient heritage, then the empire could overcome all challenges (rosen, 2016). between 1853 and 1885, thomas thornycroft produced a bronze sculpture of boadicea and her daughters. in 1898, the statue was installed on westminster bridge and placed watching over the houses of parliament (vandrei, 2014). boadicea and her daughters is often considered an example of romantic historicism. the figures are idealised with equal parts feminine and virile. the clothing gives the impression of the classical world but is inaccurately stylised (vandrei, 2014). thornycroft’s sculpture attempts to distill the essence of the nation that boudica came from. the sculpture was received differently in victorian britain: boadicea and her daughters was boadicea and her daughters by thomas thornycroft, westminster bridge, london, 1853-1885 ce, image source: commons wikimedia marcus cyron. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:boudicca_statue _westminster_bridge,_london_(7269525940).jpg https://doi.org/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:boudicca_statue_westminster_bridge,_london_(7269525940).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:boudicca_statue_westminster_bridge,_london_(7269525940).jpg the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 34 interpreted to represent the balance between the power of the sovereign and the innate nurturing and feminine qualities of women (vandrei, 2014). other interpretations claimed the statue represented british exceptionalism and the willingness of britain to fight for its cultural identity (vandrei, 2014). as stated, propaganda is the implicit use of shared cultural symbolism to manipulate the ideology of the individual. through making the implicit meaning of propaganda explicit, the motivations and desires of the political elite become obvious (laswell, 1927). visual language plays a central role inconstructing national narratives (hebel & wagner, 2011), and the 19thcentury representation of boudica fits the definition of propaganda. so too do the accounts given by the romans. themes of gender, sexual violence, nationality, and authority are prominent in both the british and roman versions of boudica. the british adoption of boudica is partly a product of the symbolic link that britain felt with the roman empire (vance, 2000). it is a peculiar choice to iconize the legendary enemy of the empire with which you associate yourself. however, there were additional reasons for the british elevation of boudica. female monarchs have been an exception in the british monarchy. during queen victoria’s reign, her gender raised two issues in relation to the symbolic representation of her power. the first was the lack of suitable previous female monarchs from which to choose. a key tool of propaganda is the act of transfer, in which the attributes of a historical figure are adopted by the propagandist (lee & lee, 1995). for propaganda to be successful, this historical comparison must be controllable. the ability to control the historical figure requires distance between the said figure and the propogandist (leutzch, 2019). the historical documentation for previous british queens is extensive, and the historical distance too close. thus, previous british queens were not serviceable symbols for queen victoria’s reign. boudica was uniquely situated as a vaguely known but scarcely documented figure (vandrei, 2014). this ambiguity was ideal to allow the creation of nationalist iconography that linked the ancient past to the british empire (aldhouse-green, 2006). boudica was transformed into britannia—a victorious female warrior dressed in a vaguely classical style, carrying a trident and shield decorated with the union flag. she is often surrounded by clouds in a sort of apotheosis: the mother-goddess of the empire. queen victoria was caught between the societal expectations of women and the ultimate authority of the sovereign. boudica could be used to resolve this problem. tacitus (ca. 56–120 c.e./2014) presents boudica as an exceptional queen: it was customary, she knew, with britons to fight under female captaincy; but now she was avenging, not, as a queen of glorious ancestry, her ravished realm and power, but, as a woman of the people, her liberty lost, her body tortured by the lash, the tarnished honour of her daughters. (14.35) this account allows boudica to be represented as a dutiful british monarch, defender of her people, and a nurturing mother, concerned for the fate of her daughters. here boudica’s actions are not self-interested or ambitious. instead, boudica’s actions show her to be the ultimate mother– the mother of the nation (mikalachki, 1998). such a woman sacrifices herself for her people. sexual violence is an uncomfortably common presence in empire, both as metaphor and action and enforces the symbolic power of boudica’s womanhood. nineteenth century britain responded to the rape of boudica’s daughters as metaphorical. andrew goatly (2006) writes that metaphor is a tool of ideology, and sex and violence are symbolically linked through metaphorical language. the victim of the metaphorical rape has lost a struggle for power and thus their https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 35 autonomy. rape metaphors are common within colonialist structures, although they are normally used by the subjugated group to express this position (sharpe, 1993). at the height of empire in the 19th century, britain could hardly claim to be a subjugated nation. however, the appropriation of the colonial rape metaphor served a propagandistic aim. the rape of boudica’s daughters shows the lack of autonomy that britain once had (steyn, 2019). in relation to the romano-british, the british empire promotes the idea of a national exceptionalism and shows the dominance of the british empire to be the result of the uniqueness of the british character (sharpe, 1993). themes of nationalism and authority work together. the 19th-century british treatment of boudica imposed british values onto the story to create a wellspring of national identity. another prominent figure in the iconography of british nationalism is britannia (bhreathnach-lynch & cusack, 2017). dating to classical antiquity, britannia was depicted as the personification of britain (aldhouse-green, 2012). boudica and britannia are separate figures, but their histories as british icons have been woven together. these two foundational figures coalesced during the golden age of the british empire, conflating boudica’s and britannia’s attributes to create a new iconography to serve 19th-century objectives (steyn, 2019). the classical depiction of britannia presents her as a larger-than-life figure with allegorical references to classical divinities. she is distanced from individual britons and often appears elevated above them (bhreathnach-lynch & cusack, 2017). in contrast to britannia’s divine aloofness, boudica is depicted as a virtuous woman leading her people (steyn, 2019). examples of the boudica/britannia conflation occur as early as 1803. in a print by william nelson gardiner, a female figure in classical dress with plumed helmet, trident, and shield is seen behind and above a group of officers, soldiers, businessmen, a woman seated with a baby, and a small boy defiantly holding up his arms. to the right of this group there is a cannon facing the sea. across the sea is france. the print is titled “the freeman’s oath.” the figure in the freeman's oath is given as britannia but the iconographical influence of boudica is clear. while she is above the crowd, the figure is not separated from them. she does not take the position of divine guardian. rather, the figure is leading the crowd into battle as would a warrior queen. the presence of children also draws upon boudica’s role as a sacrificial mother. the freeman's oath responds to napoleonic expansion and british anxiety related to a possible invasion by the french. napoleonic iconography was rooted in classical roman imagery the freeman's oath from [loyal and patriotic handbills, songs, addresses, etc. on the threatened invasion of great britain by buonaparte.] by william nelson gardiner, published est. 1803 london, housed in the british library. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/thefreemans-oath-from-a-collection-of-material-relatingto-the-fear-of-a-french-invasion https://doi.org/ https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-freemans-oath-from-a-collection-of-material-relating-to-the-fear-of-a-french-invasion https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-freemans-oath-from-a-collection-of-material-relating-to-the-fear-of-a-french-invasion https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-freemans-oath-from-a-collection-of-material-relating-to-the-fear-of-a-french-invasion the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 36 (dandelet, 2014). boudica/britannia is an icon of a free, elevated, and exceptional nation, and an embodiment of sacrifice, rebellion, and resistance. this icon sent a powerful message. britons, as far back as boudica, had resisted oppression and earned their freedom. the message contained in the iconography of boudica/britannia changed throughout the 19th century (steyn, 2019). using this imagery to present the british as uniquely free amongst the peoples of the earth gave the imperial project a perceived moral duty to export this freedom throughout the empire (coutu, 2006). thus, the boudica/britannia conflation ideologically underpins the propaganda of the british colonial mandate. boudica in review and conclusions with polemical roman writings as the only primary evidence of boudica’s existence, it seems that the “true” boudica will never be known. at best, the writings of cassius dio and tacitus are historiographically reductive. archaeological advances will continue to teach us much about romano-british society, but archaeology usually presents a big picture and rarely offers detail about historical events and individuals. thus, archaeology is better suited to verifying claims rather than establishing a narrative history. the differing depictions of boudica shows the extent to which historians are impacted by the ideologies of their contemporary periods. explicitly acknowledging the limitations of scientific methodology in historiography is important in the current climate of ideological criticism of academic work. acknowledging the inseverable bond between an author and their period allows the work to be used as a lens into the zeitgeist of that period. what we are left with is an opportunity to see how two vast empires, separated by over a millennium, used boudica to promote their propagandistic program, and the ways in which ideology and propaganda have been ever present in the construction of history. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/ 10.18357/tar121202120187 37 references abulaf, d. 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(2019). boom and bust in bronze age britain: major copper production from the great orme mine and european trade, c. 1600–1400 bc. antiquity, 93(371), 1178–1196. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.130 https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.4102/lit.v40i1.1474 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-6599(01)00020-1 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x14000119 https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.130 misery loves company: but who is misery’s company the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 1 misery loves company: but who is misery’s company? an ethnographic study on community, belonging, and homelessness kelly b. cunningham abstract: homelessness is often romanticized. homeless people are frequently understood as being a collective group of individuals who, because of their shared unfortunate circumstances, relate and connect with one another. i argue that this perception of homelessness, which in essence follows the old adage “misery loves company,” incorrectly assumes that community exists among those who share similar pain and experiences, that mere physical presence of other homeless people consequently establishes feelings of belonging. through this research, i reveal that relationships manifest among the downtown homeless population in victoria, british columbia, canada in very unique ways. the relationships do not emerge as a result of proximity but rather as a function of the particular needs of the individuals. the purpose of this research is to encourage a deeper understanding of the diverse lived experiences of community and sense of belonging among those who are homeless. in order for this deeper understanding to occur, it is important that we suspend judgments and preconceived notions. instead, we must open ourselves up to the lives that are discussed in this research and read with boldness and courage to foster our own empathic capacity. key terms: belonging, community, homelessness in victoria, empathic capacity introduction homelessness is often romanticized, meaning homeless people are frequently understood as a collective group of individuals who can, despite their unfortunate circumstances, relate and connect with one another. i argue that this perception of homelessness, which in essence follows the old adage “misery loves company,” incorrectly assumes that community exists among those who share similar pain and that mere physical presence of other homeless people consequently establishes feelings of belonging. i seek to reveal the way relationships manifest themselves among the downtown homeless population in victoria, british columbia. this research describes the extent to which a homeless person can or cannot exert his or her individual will to forge specific relationships with others, thereby highlighting how homeless people are constrained by the physical space they live in. the purpose of this research is to encourage a deeper understanding of the diverse lived experiences of community and belonging among those who are homeless. it is my hope that the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 2 this research will foster empathic capacity within the minds of those who read these pages. matthew taylor, the chief executive of the royal society for the encouragement of the arts (rsa), asserts that empathic capacity is crucial to achieving a world full of people at peace with themselves and one another. therefore, we must always be open to hearing the narratives of others who have experienced great trials and suffering. one of the fathers of sociology max weber argued that the way to knowledge is through sympathetic understanding, or verstehen (snape & spencer, 2003). the concept of verstehen grounds qualitative research and is a technique i have relied on to complete this ethnographic study. ethnography involves interviewing participants and sharing in their daily lives in order to describe the meaningmaking process of their lived experiences (morse, 1998). this paper describes in depth the meaning-making processes of relationship building as experienced by my two participants. i have used the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism to guide my ethnographic study. symbolic interactionism seeks to uncover how we construct meaning, or reality, as a direct result of our position in society (ritchie, 2003). this theoretical framework guided my research to reveal answers to questions concerning human agency, specifically around notions of the human will and intentionality concerning relationship building. through the ethnographic approach, this research has uncovered the ways in which a sense of community, or feelings of belonging, is directly linked to broader social structures and power relations that exist within society in regard to homelessness. methodology my interest in homelessness began a year and a half ago. it was then when i joined a street outreach group called socks. socks is the name given to a group of university students who every thursday night for the past four years have walked the streets of downtown victoria to hand out socks to those in need. when i first heard about this group’s existence, i became instantly interested and have been an active member since september 2009. while socking the cold and wet feet of victoria’s homeless citizens is the act the group is named after, the socks themselves are used more or less as an icebreaker. as a group, we seek to establish meaningful relationships with homeless individuals in victoria, to reach out to those who may have no one in their life to talk to on a daily basis. it is our goal to listen to anyone who wants to speak. because of the incredible openness, honesty, and complete vulnerability of the many homeless people i have had the chance to meet, they have let me into their world. the homeless people i have met have given me the opportunity to get to know them, and true friendships have emerged as a result. my experience in the field places me in a unique position as an insideoutsider. i am not homeless; and because of this, i will always be understanding or interpreting homelessness from an outsider’s perspective. however, my consistent presence downtown and the relationships i have formed with people who do experience homelessness day to day has placed me in a position of familiarity with the culture. so in this sense, i am an insider. i the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 3 recognize and appreciate the way in which my positionality has led me to understand that the experience of community and belonging within this specific population occurs in extremely unique ways. participants to generate data, i used purposive sampling and conducted and recorded in-depth interviews with two participants, both of whom are male and over the age of 40. i met david and samuel while i was handing out socks on a thursday evening over a year ago. throughout this paper, i have used pseudonyms for my participants. prior to participating in this research project, they each signed informed consent forms and agreed to have their interviews recorded. i made sure to clarify with david and samuel that their narrative would be handled according to the university of victoria confidentiality protocol. the interviews i had with each of my participants sought to uncover their day-to-day experiences and interactions. my interview guide channelled my interviews toward unveiling the lived experience of homelessness, specifically in regard to feelings of belonging. i asked questions such as “tell me about a typical day for you. what does it involve?” and “who are people in your life that you spend a lot of time with?” these questions provided a firm general structure for my interviews while simultaneously allowing room for my participants to express their unique experiences. from these interviews, i was able to draw out overarching themes. the overarching themes that my research revealed are those which were most frequently discussed by both of my participants. each of my participants discussed issues concerning feelings of belonging, ways they choose to spend their time, and opinions of service providers, all of which relate to the notion of community and being around people on a day-to-day basis. wiseman’s study i have modelled my research methods after wiseman’s (1970) ethnographic study on the treatment of skid row alcoholics titled “stations of the lost: the treatment of skid row alcoholics” because my specific research topic is in a similar field. after ten years of extensive fieldwork, interviews, and observations, wiseman studied the “loop,” which refers to the journey many skid row alcoholics experience as the constant move from one rehabilitation institution to the next. she notes how the cyclical nature of this process has had a profound effect on how the service providers and the alcoholics perceive meaning in their interactions with one another (wiseman, 1970). her study reveals valuable information regarding how the forced lifestyle of skid row impacts the way a skid row alcoholic makes meaning out of his experiences and relationships. perhaps most importantly, wiseman’s study gives hope. her findings speak boldly of how resilient the human spirit can be in times of great trouble and despair. her findings also highlight the human capability to cope with the various situations and institutions they find themselves living within, the ability to design one’s will in such a way that the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 4 fits society’s expectations. the men in wiseman’s study speak about how they have learned to get by with their circumstances and make do with what they have. wiseman discusses how these men learned to make do with their lack of control and power over their circumstances by developing their own creative survival strategies. she depicts their experience as follows: the skid row alcoholic has little or no money, no steady job, little formal training and no recent job experience, poor health, and shabby clothes. he is in an environment that any outsider would label as bleak and comfortless, offering nothing but destitution, shame and despair. yet his strategies for survival indicate a remarkably indomitable and creative spirit, somewhat inconsistent with the visage of pathology presented in the literature. how does a person, without the usual resources available to an adult male, find a way to meet his minimum needs and thus survive? inventiveness, or creativity, is the talent with which survival tactics are most often associated. the essence of creativity is redefinition[;] that is the ability to mentally free an object from one meaning or mental framework and then convert it into raw material to serve another purpose in another context. (wiseman, 1970, p. 17-18) specifically in my research on community and belonging, i found the above statements by wiseman to be fully applicable. as i describe more in depth further on, my research has shown that this tactic of creative redefinition applies not only to, for example, turning a bus stop bench into a bed for a good night sleep, but also to the process of establishing and maintaining relationships. in a sense, my participants redefine notions of community and its meaning. my participants describe that the relationships they make and maintain have immense physical survival value. this points to the fact that certain relationships are not an end in themselves: there are crucial survival reasons for the initial existence of these relationships. my written observations of the interactions between people who are homeless and the participants in my study occurred on thursday evenings while i was with socks during the months of october and november 2010. while i was walking in downtown victoria, i recorded my observations, specifically of the interactions homeless people had with one another along with my own personal reflections and opinions. using both interviews and observations is a way to validate information collected during the research process. this is the technique of triangulation, which “involves the use of different methods and sources to check the integrity of, or extend, inferences drawn from the data” (ritchie, 2003, p. 43). understanding community: a matter of the human will as previously stated in this paper, it is my intent that this research will broaden understandings regarding the nature of community and how relationships manifest among victoria’s diverse homeless population. in order for community to be understood throughout this paper, i first engage in a discussion to establish a general definition. in the most basic sense, community can the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 5 refer to those who share a common experience or live in the same place. for example, those who share in life circumstances related to homelessness are often understood as belonging to the mental classification of a “homeless community” as perceived by outsiders. in a more complex understanding, the word “community” describes a context in which an individual desires, and eventually fulfills that desire, to be connected to another individual or group. a feeling of community can also be related to how much a person feels a sense of influence or control over his or her surroundings, whether or not he or she perceives meaning in his or her day-to-day activities and has achievable goals. many scholars of sociology have claimed that the concept of community is so ill defined that it is perhaps better if it were ignored altogether (etzioni, 1996). however, mcmillan and chavis (1986) attempt to narrow down this broad concept by identifying four elements of community: 1) membership, 2) influence (meaningfulness and achievable goals), 3) integration and fulfillment of needs, and 4) shared emotional connection. i interpret these four points as all being deeply connected with the notion of belonging. in many cases, the definition of community overlaps with the concept of belonging because one can choose to surround oneself with a specific group of people, or within a specific physical location where one feels he or she belongs. location determines to whom an individual will connect because it establishes physical boundaries and limitations. this is especially true in regard to homelessness. belonging involves the action of choosing to join a specific person or group outside of oneself and consequently feeling connected as human beings. my definition of community refers to either sharing a physical location or place of living with others—and to some degree shared experiences—or the process that occurs within an individual’s subjective experience when he or she feels connected to a group outside of himself or herself, which consequently goes hand in hand with the experience of belonging. more specifically, belonging can be defined as a connection to one’s surrounding systems and feeling like an important part of the environment one lives within (hagerty, lynch-sauer, patusky, bouwsema, & collier, 1992). when one feels like he or she belongs, it coincides with being respected, appreciated, and valued. a key concept i would like to address in regard to relationship building is the notion of “choice.” sociologist and philosopher ferdinand tönnies understood all human relationships and interactions to be a result of human will. he purported that relationships “exist only through the will of the individuals to associate” (tönnies, 2002, p. 5). tönnies calls special attention to the fact that the human will can be a result of specific situations. he explained that “a group or a relationship can be willed because those involved wish to attain through it a definite end and are willing to join hands for this purpose, even though indifference or even antipathy may exist on other levels” (tönnies, 2002, p. 5). this is defined as rational will. the other form of human will, as tönnies identifies, is that of the natural will. natural will occurs when the experience of the relationship is the goal in and of itself. i found these two distinctions of will to be applicable to my research of community and belonging among the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 6 victoria’s homeless population. the distinction applies to the homeless population because it points to the fact that community among the homeless population downtown is a more “forced” community because of the structure and constrained, shared physical space. as well, homeless individuals lack the monetary funds or means to be able to involve themselves in certain clubs or groups or move to another city where they feel they may be more comfortable and have more freedom. both of my participants lack the means to choose with whom they surround themselves. findings when i head downtown on thursday evenings with socks, i frequent the same area of victoria’s downtown core as well as the street because that is where a dense population of homeless people gather. as i walk up the street, the scene is always the same. people are squished together on the sidewalk along the sides of church buildings and against the walls of the homeless shelter, all scraping for a bit of shelter under every and any possible awning. i see people pushing shopping carts, others crouched down on the sidewalk alone, and women standing on street corners. i met my first participant, david, on the street. he was with a group of people drinking, far away from the section of the street where the intravenous drug users gather. i met my second participant, samuel, while he was panhandling by himself on the sidewalk. he was sitting far away from the space occupied by the alcoholics and the intravenous drug users. the environments where i first met each of my participants remain more or less constant in their lives and are the same physical spaces i have continued to meet with them throughout the year. the first man i interviewed was david. our interview took place in a homeless shelter he frequents for lunch during the week. i met david in september of 2009 while i was handing out socks on a thursday evening. since that day, i have continued to maintain weekly contact with him, and this interaction has proven to be a highlight of my week and his. in my interview with david, i asked him questions regarding his day-to-day life. i wanted to uncover specific details regarding how, and with whom, he spent his time. he told me that his day-to-day activities are filled with “panhandling, drinking, more panhandling. until [he] [passes] out at night. then the same thing all over again.” david is 50 years old and was born in saskatchewan. during his time there, he experienced the tragic loss of both his parents as well as his wife. years afterwards, david got involved in another relationship which ended badly. he explained to me that he ended up in victoria because he tried to escape the tangled mess his life had become. he told me that he was trying to start a new life for himself. after a good beginning at his new west coast life, quickly followed by a series of more unfortunate events, he found himself consumed by addiction. he told me: it was about six years ago when i turned into an alcoholic. i...i broke the crack habit, and ever since then my life started going downhill, downhill. i started losing places. i didn’t the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 7 care right? where was my next drink? i just wanted to...i dunno...forget about everything. it was my way of forgetting things. for david, alcohol was a solution the problem that his life had become. it became a way to numb and forget the pain he had endured. however, as the interview continued, it was made clear to me that his alcoholism served a purpose greater than being able to help him forget. being an alcoholic enabled david to make a basic connection with other people living on the street. his alcoholism equalled protection. the people he drank with were the people who kept him safe. david explained the situation to me of when he first became homeless: “i met all these people...well about eight years ago when i first moved to victoria. i met all these people, these street people. they took care of me. all they did was drink too, and that’s how i kept up the bad habit of drinking.” david had no other options of community, so he was forced to make do; he exerted his rational will (tönnies, 2002). technically speaking, david does “belong” in this group because they all share the same addiction and spend their days drinking together on the streets of victoria. but this is an example of what tönnies defines as rational will. essentially, david forged relationships which were available to him for the purpose of protection and safety, and because there was nowhere else, he felt he belonged. along with this group of people david technically belongs with, he also has a physical space he belongs in. this space consists of the various streets, homeless shelters, and services that are available to him. in our interview, david explained to me that he sleeps on the street in places he calls cubby holes. a cubby hole is any alley way or store doorway that provides minimum privacy and some form of protection from wind and rain. i asked david what wakes him up in the morning, to which he responded: “the liquor store (laughs) and the police. the police always wake me up at seven o’clock in the morning. then i’d have to occupy a couple hours, walk around the streets…mope around. but actually, i think it was about six months ago that the shelter got the funding to be open at seven in the morning.” he explained that when he goes there he is able to “sit and socialize with all the other people that have problems too.” he said the downside is that he feels like “dr. david sometimes though...people keep telling me their problems and stuff like that, so i just open my ears up and listen to them.” when i asked him if he ever talks to people and tells them his problems, he responded by saying that he does not. david explained why he holds it inside: “people don’t need to be depressed by my problems; they have their own problems, right? i like to keep private, but it’s hard sometimes.” david’s day-to-day life lacks a relationship, or interaction, with a person he feels comfortable enough to confide in. community for david refers to the people he is constantly surrounded by as a result of a shared physical space on the streets as well as within the buildings of service providers due to similar conditions of life. my second participant was samuel. samuel is 37 years old and was born in the north west territories. he moved down to victoria when he was about 15 or 16 years old. as samuel talked about his experience of homelessness, he referred to the homeless population with the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 8 words such as “them” and “they.” throughout the interview, it became clear that samuel did not feel connected to the people who surround him on a day-to-day basis and with whom he has been forced to share the same physical space. i asked samuel where he slept at night, and he told me that he sleeps downtown outside of a small church. he told me: “i usually find my own place, nice and quiet, away from those sorts of people, ‘cause i know what they’re like...you don’t always want to be around those people, but usually you’re around them every day.” samuel does not have an addiction to drugs or alcohol; therefore, unlike david, he does not have a group of people he can come together with automatically because of a shared experience. samuel has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (fasd), and, because of that, he expressed that he finds it very frustrating and difficult to connect with people: “i was born with fasd, so for me, society...i guess it’s hard for me to communicate to society, in a sense that they would even listen...i just need somebody to actually listen. finding that is the difficult part.” because of his fasd, samuel has great difficulty keeping track of the hours of operation of service providers. he is expected to be able to remember so he knows where to get food and where to find an emergency bed if he needs it; however, samuel just cannot keep track. he has learned to live with these expectations and tends to rely on other people, the “them” he referred to earlier, for information on where to get food or where to find a bed. in terms of relationships in samuel’s life, he told me about a man named greg. he feels that greg is the one person he can relate to. for samuel, greg is the one person in his life that he enjoys spending time with because, as samuel said, he is different from everyone else on the streets: sometimes he’ll sit with me, try to pan, and sometimes we’ll just sit and watch the world go by...’ooh, i’d like to be them, nice hat, ooh nice car, ya know? i mean, dreams are dreams you know, but for us...they just don’t come true. it’s like, ah, whatever. we tried, we fought, i’m tired. whatever, no more fighting. we just wanna...just wanna, i guess, be there. sometimes it’s almost like waiting to die. that’s a lot of times what it feels like. death seems more happier than being alive. this heartbreaking passage is very telling of samuel’s subjective experience of homelessness and points to an immense lack of community and feelings of belonging. together, greg and samuel experience the desire to belong, and the desire for things to be different from how they are. samuel chooses to distance himself from the rest of the homeless population while simultaneously feeling a forced distance between himself and the rest of society as a result of feeling like he is unable to communicate his needs, opinions, or feelings. for samuel, “community” and “belonging” are almost unattainable entities. similar to david’s lived experience, samuel has a physical space of belonging in the sense that he sleeps outside a church and has various institutions structuring his life. this space is a result of samuel choosing to make do, which is a result of the structure of homelessness. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 9 as described above, both of my participants conversed with me regarding how they conceive of belonging, how they spend their time, and how the people who surround them day to day is a result of their efforts to make do with having to share the same physical space. both participants experienced community in the sense of being in the physical presence of other people because of the structure of the service providers and the physical structure of the downtown environment. their lifestyles are constantly constrained, but they are each able to cope and make the necessary relationships for survival. underlying these three themes were comments relating to an overall lack of respect each one felt day to day. they felt like other homeless people did not respect them and that the broader public did not respect them; and this respect is a thing they each desperately desire to experience. wiseman (1970) quotes one of her participants as he discusses the community atmosphere he lives in: “there is very little permanent buddying up here. they are too afraid and suspicious of each other” (p. 8). both samuel and david expressed similar sentiments. throughout this research, i have learned that loneliness is a major component, or consequence, of living life on the street. and while specific relationships do form in different ways, my participants still articulated that they lack deep, honest relationships with others. in her discussion of skid row alcoholics, wiseman states that these men are “almost completely without the social anchorages–the personal ties–that most middle-class men take for granted” (p.9). if a person lacks these relationships, and as a result rarely feels loved, respected, or appreciated by the people he or she is surrounded by, how is that person expected to have a sense of community or feel as though he or she truly belongs? to describe a common experience discussed by all of my participants, samuel stated: “a lot of times it’s like, well, the faces you get when you’re on the street, you know? it’s not always ‘i’m sorry for you.’ sometimes it’s just kind of dirty looks; ‘if i can do it you can do it.’ but hey, i’ve tried, ya know?” my interviews revealed that diverse circumstances create multiple and varied experiences of community. my participants live very different lifestyles; however, the reality of homelessness forces them to share the same physical space whether they want to or not. despite the constant close quarters, each of them expressed the desire to have personal space, to create physical distance from the people they see every day (some being able to accomplish this more so than others). this is because they do not feel like they belong. in my own experience, the places where i feel like i belong are the physical spaces and people i choose for myself. the types of relationships i get from this form of belonging are a result of my natural will. david and samuel do not have this option to choose. they make do with a false structure of “community” and a forced place to “belong.” they essentially grin and bear it and make do with the position they find themselves in. this commonality connects their distinct narratives. their stories highlight the way in which they each design their personal will around society’s expectations regarding how they are supposed to live their lives. one’s own intentionality to build specific relationships or to create a certain lifestyle can only reach as far as the social the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 10 institutions will allow. this points to the extent to which my homeless participants’ experience of community and sense of belonging are structurally embedded. conclusion we all have a story to narrate, one which is unique. however, not all of us have the power or means to communicate this narrative. this research project has provided my participants with an avenue to express their own personal narrative of homelessness. i have found that the intentionality of my participants to build relationships and, in essence, create a community of their choosing is limited by proximity. in essence, the extent to which we are free to do what we please is directly correlated to the constraints of our physical location. the notions of community and belonging felt by these individuals are distinctly tailored by the physical and social conditions of the street. my research has revealed valuable information regarding different experiences with, and conceptualizations of, community and belonging among the homeless population in victoria. in particular, it has revealed that relationships manifest in unique ways according the specific needs of an individual, whether those needs be, like in david’s case, in regard to physical safety or, in the case of samuel, to finding that one person who could understand and relate to him. both david and samuel saw themselves in different positions in relation to other homeless people. neither one saw himself as belonging or being able to deeply connect to others who shared similar conditions of life. reading about and understanding the lived reality of homelessness within the constraints of this paper still does not do justice to the lived experiences of my participants. nonetheless, my study has shown that my participants have needs that run deeper than a roof over their heads or food in their bellies. they have emotional needs to connect to other human beings in deep and meaningful ways. their needs are unique and based upon their lived experiences as individuals. through the thoughtful discussions with my participants, i have found that proximity does not equal close, trustworthy, and respectful friendships of one’s own choosing. in conclusion, it is my hope that this research has broadened understandings of community and belonging as experienced by those who are homeless in victoria, british columbian while simultaneously fostering empathic capacity. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 11 references chavis, d., newbrough, j. (1986). the meaning of “community” in community psychology. journal of community psychology, 14(4). etzioni, a. (1996). the responsive community: a communitarian perspective. american sociological review, 61(1), 1-11. hagerty, b., lynch-sauer, j., patusky, k., bouwsema, m., & collier, p. (1992). archives of psychiatric nursing, 6(3), 172-177. morse, j. (1998). designing funded qualitative research. in n. denzin & y. lincon (eds.), from strategies of qualitative inquiry, (pp. 56-85). sage publications. ritchie, j. (2003). the applications of qualitative methods to social research. in j. lewis & j. ritchie (eds.), qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers, (pp. 24-46). california: sage publications. snape, d., & spencer, l. (2003). the foundations of qualitative research. in j. lewis & j. ritchie (eds.), qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers, (pp. 1-23). california: sage publications. tonnies, f. (2002). community and society. david & charles: united kingdom. (original work published in 1887). wiseman, j. (1970). stations of the lost: the treatment of skid row alcoholics. chicago: the university of chicago press. contact information kelly cunningham, from the department of sociology, can be reached at kellyc@uvic.ca. acknowledgments i would like to acknowledge and extend my gratitude to those who made the completion of this research possible. first of all, i would like to thank dr. andré smith for all of his support, direction, and encouragement throughout the research project. i would also like to thank those who live on the street in downtown victoria for letting me into their world. their strength, kindness, and compassion never went unnoticed and will never be forgotten. and finally, i would also like to thank my participants. not only are they collaborators in this research, they are my friends. i have treasured the time i have spent with them and could not be more thankful for their continued open minds and loving hearts. they have shared their lives with me and also with those who are fortunate enough to read their words. without them, this research would not have been possible. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 116 la musique de boris vian : la création de l’album l’écume des jours nichelle soetaert résumé : l'écume des jours de boris vian n'appartient à aucun mouvement littéraire, mélangeant deux formes d'art, la musique et la littérature, d'une manière unique. cette dissertation cherche à décoder le chef d'orchestre de vian comme un morceau musical. s'il est impossible d'encadrer ce roman dans un style spécifique, on peut néanmoins l'examiner d'une manière atypique. en analysant chaque personnage, on découvre l'importance de leur rôle dans la création vianesque. colin joue le rôle du musicien, nicolas représente le chef d'orchestre, chloé est la groupie, chick incarne le thème de l'obsession, alise personnifie l'amour malheureux et la souris sert de lien entre tous les personnages : le pouvoir incroyable de la création artistique. dans cette optique, vian a écrit non seulement une œuvre littéraire, mais un album musical, alors on doit l'analyser ainsi. cette dissertation déconstruit l'écume des jours en divers aspects musicaux en essayant de comprendre plus profondément ce roman afin d'illustrer le talent du célèbre boris vian. termes clés: musique/music, littérature française/french literature, boris vian, l'écume des jours, jazz, blues, duke ellington introduction quelques critiques considèrent l’écume des jours de boris vian comme un « roman ellingtonien » (pestureau, 1999, p. 15) grâce à son mélange de littérature et de musique de jazz, plus spécifiquement, celle de duke ellington. le roman n’appartient à aucun mouvement littéraire; « on n’a rien lu de tel avant *et+ on ne lira rien de semblable après » (julliard, 2007, p. 105). cependant, peut-être la raison pour laquelle il est si difficile de donner une étiquette à ce roman est qu’il mérite une analyse non seulement littéraire, mais aussi musicale. cet essai examinera ce chef d’œuvre littéraire comme s’il était un morceau musical complet. on attribuera des rôles musicaux aux six personnages principaux. colin, nicolas et cholé jouent les rôles spécifiques et concrets de musicien, de chef d’orchestre et d’une groupie – ceux qui font de la musique une réalité et qui la donnent sa forme. cependant, un morceau de musique n’est pas complet sans un sujet. cet essai dresse aussi des parallèles entre chick, alise et la souris et des thèmes abstraits souvent explorés par la musique : l’obsession, l’amour malheureux et l’introspection. ce sont les émotions derrière la musique qui la donnent son âme. bien que ces trois personnages ne soient pas liés directement à la musique, ils sont essentiels à la création du morceau musical complet. « [b]aigné dans la chaude et sensuelle musique de jazz » (lapprand the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 117 & roulmann, 2009, p. 38), le monde irréel de vian exige une critique irréel aussi, une critique à la fois littéraire et à la fois musicale. colin : le musicien comme une œuvre littéraire n’existe pas sans un personnage principal, la musique n’existe pas sans un musicien. il semble logique, alors, de nommer colin, le personnage principal du roman, musicien. dès le début du roman, on a l’impression que colin représente le stéréotype d’un musicien : mystérieux et attirant. à la première page du texte, vian décrit colin, qui « taill[e] en biseau les coins de ses paupières mates, pour donner du mystère à son regard » (p. 21). en analysant son style de vie, établi immédiatement, on voit qu’il ressemble à celui d’un musicien. colin « [est] presque toujours de bonne humeur, le reste du temps il dor[t] » (vian, p. 22). c’est une vie qui n’exige pas trop de responsabilité, qui est ponctuée par l’hédonisme et qui permet la recherche animée du plaisir et de la joie. de plus, c’est colin qui invente le « pianocktail » (vian, p. 32), une création qui mélange la musique et l’alcool pour créer une expression joyeuse d’individualité. c’est après cette invention qu’on voit la naissance de colin comme musicien. il cherche à amalgamer la musique et le plaisir sensoriel pour créer un monde où la musique règne sur le travail et où l’imagination détermine la réalité. si colin joue le rôle de musicien, quels sujets dominent ses chansons ? l’avant-propos du roman dévoile les désirs centraux de colin en prétendant qu’« il y a seulement deux choses : c’est l’amour *…+ et la musique de la nouvelle-orléans » (vian, 1947, p. 19). bien que cette phrase offre une vision en gros du monde de colin, pour vraiment le comprendre, il faut analyser les autres personnages, chacun d’entre eux représentant un aspect du monde musical vianesque. nicolas : le chef d’orchestre le deuxième personnage à examiner, nicolas, joue le rôle d’enseignant de colin. sans lui, colin ne saurait pas danser le « biglemoi » la danse qui gagnera le cœur de chloé. souvent dans la musique, on trouve une référence aux héros du musicien, à la source de sa passion. le musicien fait hommage à ses prédécesseurs musicaux, ceux qui ont ouvert la voie à l’infinité de la musique. dans le cas de colin, c’est nicolas qui représente ce héros. nicolas, mentor, conseiller et expert en tout, se charge du rôle de protecteur de colin et ne quitte jamais volontairement son poste. jusqu’à la fin, il demeure le « protecteur désespéré d’un paradis condamné : passions pour le jazz, pour les plaisirs, pour la littérature, pour l’amitié et l’amour » (pestureau, 1999, p. 14). en plus d’être le conseiller de colin, nicolas est expert dans la danse du « biglemoi » et l’objet de désir de toutes les femmes. nicolas incarne les deux qualités que colin considère essentielles à la vie : l’amour et la musique de la nouvelle-orléans. un aspect encore plus important du rôle joué par nicolas est le fait qu’il est le cuisinier de colin. à part la rencontre de the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 118 l’amour de la musique, « …nicolas, dont le nom n’est d’ailleurs pas étranger au monde du jazz, personnifie la rencontre de la haute cuisine et de l’expertise musicale » (pautrot, 1994, p. 90). comme celui qui donne de la nourriture au musicien, il est la source de son inspiration et, par extension, de sa vie. il est possible, donc, d’attribuer à nicolas le rôle musical de chef d’orchestre, le directeur du groupe. finalement, nicolas refuse de quitter la maison de colin, même après qu’il « vieilli[t] de dix ans [en] huit jours » (vian, 1947, p. 233), et colin est forcé de l’envoyer travailler pour la famille ponteauzanne. cette dernière épreuve de fidélité de la part de nicolas renforce sa position comme chef d’orchestre, car c’est la responsabilité du chef de rester fidèle au musicien, même dans les situations les plus éprouvantes. chloé : la groupie en continuant avec cette notion de personnages musicaux, on passe au personnage de cholé, l’amante de colin. cependant, peut-être n’est-ce pas correct de donner l’étiquette d’« amante » à chloé car au cours du récit on découvre que ce n’est pas chloé qu’il aime, mais le fait d’être aimé. dans les mots exacts de colin, « je voudrais être amoureux » (vian, 1947, p. 63). dès le début de leur relation, la musique domine l’amour. colin ne cherche pas une amante, mais un admirateur et donc, comme admiratrice qui adore colin, chloé remplit le rôle de groupie. en gros, « colin, qui pense aimer chloé, est, en fait, amoureux d’un air de jazz qui lui renvoie sa propre image » (pautrot, 1994, p. 82). même le nom de chloé « est né du morceau éponyme de duke ellington » (lapprand & roulmann, 2009, p. 39). elle doit son existence à la musique et alors cette musique est « à la base de l’intrigue amoureuse (car sans la musique de jazz, chloé n’existerait pas)… » (lapprand, 1993, p. 77). comme groupie, le rôle de chloé est d’admirer le musicien : colin. dès leur rencontre, colin pense plutôt à la musique qu’à l’amour. ses premiers mots sont « êtes-vous arrangée par duke ellington ? » (vian, 1947, p. 71). pendant toute la relation, c’est chloé qui « prend l’initiative des contacts physiques » (pautrot, 1994, p. 106). même dans les actes intimes entre les deux il y a une présence subtile de la musique. par exemple, quand chloé « applique sa tempe sur la joue de colin » (vian, p. 73), le mot « tempe » peut être remplacé par « tempo » et le sens du mot « joue » peut avoir une interprétation musicale. la musique domine le geste amoureux. de plus, à un moment, « …leurs cœurs batt*ent+ tous deux sur un rythme de boogie » (vian, p. 142). encore une fois, l’amour est ponctué par la musique. l’importance de la musique prévient la mort et la destruction de chloé. il faut noter que colin, en essayant de sauver la vie de chloé, dépense tout son argent et se pousse au bord de la destruction. on se demande, cependant, si colin fait tout cela pour sauver la vie de son « amante, » ou pour sauver la vie de son admiratrice. comme chaque musicien, colin a soif d’admiration. la mort de chloé sera aussi la mort de l’adoration inconditionnelle qu’elle représente. elle va toujours être une groupie, «…vouée dès sa conception à une existence provisoire et à une fin tragique…*c+’est ainsi qu’elle coïncide avec le blues qu’elle incarne » (pestureau, 1999, p. 14). the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 119 chick : l’obsession on passe maintenant à une analyse de chick, d’alise et de la souris. les autres trois personnages illustrent le morceau musical de vian d’une manière concrète, tandis que ces personnages le font d’une manière plus abstraite. ils représentent des thèmes et des sujets abstraits souvent explorés au cœur de la musique. par exemple, chick représente le thème de l’obsession, une force qui, comme le désir désespéré de colin d’admiration, peut mener à la ruine. la chose la plus importante chez chick n’est pas son amitié avec colin, ni sa relation avec alise, mais sa collection des œuvres de son idole, jean-sol partre. cette collection se transforme très vite en obsession incontrôlable. selon chick, il a « besoin du partre…il *lui+ faut tout ce que *partre+ a fait » (vian, 1947, p. 78). c’est une obsession qui détruit la vie de chick, qui le pousse à dépenser tout son argent, qui domine sa relation avec alise et qui, à la fin, provoque sa mort. chick représente le thème de l’obsession, un thème souvent abordé dans la musique, et le danger qu’elle pose. comme la musique domine la relation colin-chloé, jean-sol partre domine la relation chick-alise. par exemple, quand chick regarde une photo d’alise, « …sous ses yeux, en la regardant plus attentivement, elle ressembl*e+ à partre; peu à peu l’image de partre se form*e+ sur celle d’alise » (vian, p. 306). bien qu’il semble que le personnage de chick n’ait pas de relation directe avec la musique, car il est obsédé par un écrivain, après une analyse plus profonde, on voit que chick représente la destruction possible du musicien par une obsession trop forte. la vie de chick est la représentation du plus haut niveau d’obsession, du niveau d’obsession destructif que colin, le musicien, doit éviter. comme le personnage de chick illustre, « *vian+ a fait de sa vie une œuvre d’art et de son art une leçon de vie » (julliard, 2007, p. 9). alise : l’amour malheureux colin n’est pas le seul personnage affecté par l’obsession de chick, alise aussi est une victime. la souffrance d’alise existe dans l’amour malheureux, le thème qu’elle incarne. c’est un thème que l’on retrouve très fréquemment dans la musique, particulièrement dans le jazz et le blues. alise montre ce thème de deux manières différentes : dans sa relation avec colin et dans sa relation avec chick. en premier lieu, on sait qu’« alise est, sans doute, le véritable objet de l’amour de colin » (pautrot, 1994, p. 107). cependant, c’est un amour impossible car « alise appart[ient] à chick de plein droit » (vian, 1947, p. 50). les scènes d’intimité entre colin et chloé sont toujours passives, mais dans une scène d’intimité entre colin et alise, quand alise « se l*ève+…et sa robe tomb[e] par terre » (vian, p. 285), on a l’impression d’une vraie sensualité entre les deux. dans ce cas, alise représente le thème qui fascine tous les musiciens : l’amour inaccessible. en deuxième lieu, alise ne reçoit jamais l’amour réciproque de chick; il est trop distrait par son obsession avec partre. elle sait qu’elle est secondaire en disant « il a tous ses livres, mais il ne veut plus de moi » (vian, 1947, p. 284). alise, comme colin, a un désir si fort d’être aimée que, dans un état désespéré, elle met le feu à toutes les librairies pour éradiquer les œuvres de partre. c’est un acte final qui illustre le thème dominant de sa vie, l’amour malheureux, et qui the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 120 provoque sa mort. comme chloé est « l’incarnation d’un blues » (pestureau, 1999, p. 13), son caractère est dominé par la musique et elle ne peut qu’être une groupie. bien que le même mot, boogie, soit utilisé pour décrire chloé « …leurs cœurs batt*ent+ tous deux sur un rythme de boogie » (vian, p. 142) – et alise, qui est « née d’un boogie-woogie…hot et dynamique » (pestureau, 1999, p. 13), le « boogie » présente deux aspects différents entre les deux femmes. c’est le boogie, comme son admiration pour colin, qui fait battre le cœur de chloé. cependant, c’est alise elle-même qui incarne la définition hot et dynamique du boogie. la musique du boogie est inhérente dans l’existence des deux femmes et inhérente dans l’œuvre littéraire dans l’ensemble. la souris : le pouvoir de l’introspection finalement, il reste un dernier personnage à examiner : la souris. ce personnage représente la conscience de colin, elle écoute et fait des gestes, mais ne répond jamais. grâce a ce rôle en tant que conscience, on ressent la présence de la souris partout dans le roman; « elle est vraiment la vie et l’âme de l’appartement de colin, discrète et fidèle compagne de nicolas dans sa cuisine, de chloé sur son lit de peine, de colin dans son suicide » (pestureau, 2003, p. 534). elle est la manifestation physique des pensées intimes de colin. par exemple, ce n’est pas colin qui est frappé par le changement de l’atmosphère dans son appartement, mais la souris, « dont l’air profondément ennuyé frapp*e+ dès l’abord » (vian, 1947, p. 157). de plus, c’est la souris qui agit sur ses sentiments et qui « s’écorche les pattes à gratter les carreaux » (pestureau, p. 534). bien que colin n’éprouve pas beaucoup d’émotion explicitement, les actions de la souris démontrent les vrais sentiments de son maître et font qu’elle incarne le thème d’introspection, un thème que l’on trouve beaucoup comme sujet musical. la souris permet à colin de se voir et de s’analyser et elle dévoile un aspect de colin que lui-même ne montre pas. la musique permet l’exploration personnelle à travers une forme d’art, comme la souris permet l’exploration personnelle de colin à travers la représentation de sa conscience. le pouvoir de la musique, c’est qu’elle sert d’exutoire émotionnel du musicien, elle permet au musicien d’exprimer ses sentiments les plus intimes. comme une musique introspective, la souris possède le pouvoir de faciliter l’expression des sentiments personnels. conclusion en guise de conclusion, cette analyse musicale de l’écume des jours révèle une combinaison parfaite de la musique et de la littérature. au-delà des personnages littéraires, cette œuvre offre une vision personnifiée des thèmes de l’obsession, de l’amour malheureux et de l’introspection et aussi une vision textuelle d’un musicien, d’un chef d’orchestre et d’une groupie. cependant, il y a un dernier lien à établir entre les deux mondes, inextricablement liés, de la musique et de la littérature. puisque vian était en avance sur son temps, il n’a pas été apprécié comme écrivain à l’époque où il écrivait. n’est-ce pas souvent le cas avec les musiciens les plus célèbres ? la the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 121 littérature, comme la musique, a une qualité d’intemporalité qui fait que, malgré que l’auteur ne soit pas reconnu immédiatement, son œuvre crée un impact indéniablement fort sur la société. l’intemporalité et le mélange de voies artistiques trouvés dans l’écume des jours représentent le but de la musique et de la littérature : marquer sa place dans la mémoire de la culture sociale. vian « ne choisira jamais entre musique et littérature » (bertolt & roulmann, 2008, p. 122) et laisse ses lecteurs et ses auditeurs libres de créer leurs propres combinaisons artistiques. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 122 références bertolt, n., & roulmann, f. (2008). boris vian: le swing et le verbe. paris: les éditions textuel. julliard, c. (2007). boris vian. paris: gallimard. lapprand, m. (1993). boris vian, la vie contre : biographie critique. ottawa: presses de 'ottawa. lapprand, m., & roulmann, f. (2009). . paris: gallimard. pautrot, j-l. (1994). la musique oubliée: la nausée, l'écume herche du temps perdu, moderato cantabile. genève: librairie droz. pestureau, g. (1999). un chef d’œuvre ellingtonien. in g. pestureau, boris vian. œuvres complètes (vol. 2, pp. 9-17). paris: fayard. pestureau, g. (2003). la souris. in gilbert pestureau boris vian. œuvres complètes. (vol. 15, pp. 534-535). paris: fayard. vian, b. (1947). l’écume des jours. paris: gallimard. contact contactez nichelle soetaert du département de français par courriel à nichelle@uvic.ca. remerciements avant tout, j'aimerais remercier le dr. marc lapprand, qui m'a plongée dans le monde vianesque. j'admire sa passion et son dévouement. sans lui, ces recherches n'auraient jamais commencé. ses conseils et son soutien ont fait de cette dissertation et de ce projet de recherche une réalité. j'aimerais aussi remercier ceux et celles à l'université de victoria qui m'ont donné l'occasion de participer comme undergraduate research scholar grâce à la bourse jamie cassels. cette aide financière a ouvert plus de portes que je ne pourrais l’imaginer et l'expérience a été inoubliable. merci aussi au département de français, dont le personnel m'a toujours traité comme un membre de la famille. finalement, merci a ma propre famille, qui m'a toujours aimée inconditionnellement et qui a permis toutes ces possibilités. the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 57 stücke: graphic vignettes and the haptic response in lászló nemes’s saul fia sarah wald1 prasog@uvic.ca abstract this article examines lászló nemes’s film saul fia (2015) and its visual and sonic use of brutalized human bodies to induce a haptic response in its audience. presented out of focus and often at the periphery of the shot, the visual frame of human death causes viewers of the film to recoil into the centre of the frame—a space typically occupied by the film’s protagonist, saul auslӓnder. this article argues that these visually and sonically induced haptic triggers, and the claustrophobia that results, tether the audience to auslӓnder to re-centre the viewer’s gaze as that of a companion rather than perpetrator. drawing from extant literature on cinematic haptics and filmic representations of the holocaust, this article engages with contemporary discourses on graphic holocaust representations in contemporary feature-length films to examine the impact of graphic imagery and haptic cinematics on the perspective and ability of the viewer to subvert the perpetrator gaze. keywords: holocaust film; haptic cinema; sonderkommando; saul fia; postmemory 1 this paper was originally written for gmst 453: after-images of the holocaust in text and film. i would like to thank janine wulz for her invaluable guidance as an instructor for that course and for her insights that helped shape this article. i would also like to thank adam rollick for his seemingly boundless love and support. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 prasog@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 58 introduction how photographic and filmic representations of the holocaust are used has provoked longstanding debate that is central to holocaust studies (anderton, 2019, p. 500; margitházi, 2020, p. 83). at the core of this debate is the concern that the potential for a holocaust image to educate its viewer through historical veracity comes at the expense of desensitizing the viewer, and that the repeated use of that image may facilitate the creation of a historical metanarrative that discourages critical analyses. by the 1980s, discourses on the potential limitations of representability were further complicated by the advent of holocaust feature-length films that created and packaged images and narratives from the holocaust into an accessible cinematic format. since the precipitation of the holocaust feature film as a genre in the late 1990s, contemporary filmmakers, predominantly belonging to marianne hirsch’s (2001) “postmemory” generations (pp. 9–11), sought to challenge established cinematic and narrative conventions by incorporating experimental and extrageneric2 filmic techniques to alter the ways in which audiences engaged with, and derived meaning from, contemporary holocaust films (margitházi, 2020, pp. 83–84). while postmillennial holocaust films have challenged these generic constraints in many ways, the use of highly tactile images and sounds to induce physical responses in viewers is of specific interest to this article. how these tactile images and sounds, referred to as “haptic cinematics,” function within a holocaust film to guide the gaze of the audience in a manner that challenges spectator identity formation is examined through close analyses of several scenes in lászló nemes’s saul fia (2015). set in auschwitz during the autumn of 1944, saul fia follows the final 36 hours in the life of hungarian sonderkommando saul auslӓnder.3 against the backdrop of sonderkommando resistance efforts, including the sonderkommando revolt and creation of the sonderkommando photographs in late 1944, auslӓnder spends his final day winding through the camp in search of a rabbi to bury the body of a young boy said to be auslӓnder’s son. controversial for its visceral imagery and representation of extermination machinery, saul fia provides an intimate portrait of the daily life of a sonderkommando (ratner, 2016, p. 61). this article examines director lászló nemes’s visual and aural depictions of brutalized human remains in saul fia: mirroring the structure of a vignette, blurred and fragmented corpses often border the mise-en-scène to produce a frame of human death. as a result, viewers avert their gaze to the centre of the frame—a location that is typically occupied by protagonist saul auslӓnder. this article argues that the haptic triggers induced by the graphic exhibition of human remains, and the claustrophobia cultivated by the position of corpses within the frame, re-centre the viewer’s gaze as that of a companion to auslӓnder. before engaging with the film itself, this article reviews literature foundational to judith keilbach’s (2009) examination of the historical veracity of holocaust photographs. keilbach’s thorough analysis of how photographs establish and uphold historical narratives about the holocaust underpins a significant portion of this article’s analytic framework. in addition, keilbach’s analysis of holocaust photographs is cited to illuminate the pitfalls of relying on holocaust metanarratives that are rooted in symbolism as well as the need for ongoing critical engagement when working with visual materials related to the holocaust. having reflected on the role of the photograph in constructing historical narratives, this article shifts from photography to 2 the term “extrageneric” refers to cinematic attributes not commonly used within a given film genre. 3 “sonderkommando” refers to inmates forced to work in the gas chambers and crematoria of nazi extermination camps in exchange for improved accommodations. often, these prisoners were murdered after a few months of work (wallen, 2021, pp. 325–326, 330, 334). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 59 cinema to focus exclusively on holocaust feature films. after outlining the development of the holocaust film as a genre, this article explores how contemporary filmmakers have challenged generic conventions through incorporating haptic cinematics. concepts addressed in previous sections then converge in a close reading of the mise-en-scène of saul fia to categorize haptic elements, explain their organization within the frame, and highlight the predicted physiological responses induced. having established how haptic cinematics are used, this article evaluates how these techniques influence the viewer’s gaze and inhibits their ability to establish a sense of kinship with the protagonist, which subverts the spectator-victim identity endemic to the holocaust film. photography and historical narrative in her analysis of the value of holocaust photographs for representing historical truth, keilbach (2009) has provided a succinct overview of the main arguments for and against their use (pp. 54–76). markedly, keilbach examined the claims of walter benjamin and bertolt brecht, who concur that it is not possible to accurately ascertain what is depicted in an image, nor the events that surround it, without the viewer constructing that context (p. 56). further, literary theorist roland barthes (1991) has suggested that captions guide the viewer to “the right level of perception” and present a fixed account from myriad interpretations within the dynamic process of image-making (pp. 28–29). barthes’s argument was derived in part from benjamin’s view of the camera as a transformative intermediary between the human eye and subject, which manipulates reality through enlarging, slowing down, or halting the subject in a process that unearths elements unfamiliar to the naked eye (1968, p. 236). according to benjamin, the camera’s capacity for mechanical reproduction renders it the most serviceable method of exhibition (p. 225) due to mass spectatorship of the cinema (pp. 234–235). contributing to the argument against the historical veracity of the photograph, essayist susan sontag has claimed that repeated exposure to images of atrocity may numb viewers into passivity (2003, p. 108) or may produce fractured or untethered views of historical events decontextualized from the narrative flow of the world to which images are tied (2013, p. 544). furthering sontag’s claim, cultural theorist barbie zelizer (1998) has argued that repeated exposure may reduce graphic images to “familiar visual cues” or to symbols (p. 158). similarly, literary theorist viktor shklovsky (2015) has referred to the reduction of images to symbols as “algebraizing [or] automatizing a thing” so that it is neither fully spoken of nor perceived and, thus, “becomes nothing and disappears,” regardless of whether it exists as a tangible object or unconscious experience (p. 162). questioning the value of context, political philosopher hannah arendt (1962) has discussed the risk of misattribution in her critique of the concentration camp images taken by liberating forces (pp. 445–446). often used to depict daily life within the camps, arendt has suggested that these images are inaccurate since they depict the result of life within the camps and what remained after liberation (p. 446). as keilbach has outlined, the improper contextualization of holocaust images is especially troubling given the prominence of photographs taken by perpetrators affiliated with the third reich for official and personal use (2009, pp. 62– 64). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 60 for better or worse, holocaust images play an important role in symbol-making and establishing collective memory.4 in support of zelizer’s claims, keilbach has examined three popular holocaust images to unveil how symbolism may encourage viewers to uncritically construct inaccurate contexts (2009, pp. 68–74). in addition, keilbach has drawn attention to media scholar nicole wiedenmann’s reading of clément chéroux (2004), who has suggested that repeated use may reduce an image to a symbolic husk (cited by keilbach, 2009, p. 68). however, keilbach’s analysis attests to the existence of a metanarrative within the collective memory of the holocaust that enables viewers of holocaust images to recognize and connect with familiar symbols and motifs. rather than depreciating with repeated use, popular images may call both new and stored information to the forefront the viewer’s attention to shape their collective understanding of the holocaust (keilbach, 2009, p. 69). as inferred by the memory framework of aleida and jan assmann (2002), moments of reflection generated by viewers’ engagement with established holocaust symbols may facilitate a renegotiation of the relationship between individual postmemory and collective historical metanarratives (assmann, 1995, pp. 56, 130). in her exploration of photography’s ability to aid in the construction of the past, literary scholar astrid erll (2011) has employed marianne hirsche’s concept of “postmemory” (as a form of crossgenerational historical transmission) to argue that a family photograph may have value to historians capable of extracting data from the subjects’ clothing, facial features, or setting; however, for secondor third-generation family members, a photograph rich in historical value may be legible only to those well-versed in “family stories” (pp. 135–136). as those who witnessed the holocaust perish, younger generations of memory-bearers must rely on photographs to retain “postmemories” of the events experienced by family members (p. 136). alongside engaging with collective memory and postmemory, keilbach (2009) has examined how images confirm the validity of memory. in the weeks that followed liberation, allied armies forced civilians to visit the concentration camps; often these civilians disclosed that viewing photographs depicting the aftermath of the camps confirmed the reality of their own surreal tour (p. 66). for civilians who did not enter the camps, and who may have initially attributed their reported brutality to exaggeration or hysteria, such images may have educated those who doubted the camps’ exterminatory function (p. 67). the confirmatory feature of the photograph is thus attributed by barthes (2000) to its physicality, which enables the viewer to touch the image as a proxy for the photographed subject (pp. 87–89). it is precisely the tactile nature of the imageviewing experience that may convince the unconverted. in barthes’s review of the photographic process (2000), the physicality of the photograph is said to require a tangible subject to emanate light, which is subsequently captured and displayed in the resulting image. this process of transmission not only offers the viewer proof that the photographed subject once existed; it also links the subject and the spectator as if by an umbilical cord of light (pp. 80–81). as noted by sontag in her description of photographs, this phenomenon touched her “like the delayed rays of a star” (as cited in barthes, 2000, p. 80). as established within the reviewed literature, the confirmatory value of the photograph is consistently linked to its tangibility as an object. however, confirmation of historical veracity is not the only attribute affiliated with the physicality of the photograph. in camera lucida (2000), barthes has suggested that the photograph may inflict physical damage upon its viewer. referring to this experience as punctum, barthes has described this process as the physical wounding, stinging, or bruising inflicted by a 4 “collective memory” refers to the “creation of shared versions of the past … through interaction, communication, media, and institutions within small social groups as well as large cultural communities” (erll, 2011 p. 15). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 61 captivating element of an image (p. 27). unlike the tangibility of the photograph or the physicality of the umbilical cord, the role of punctum is not to confirm the exactitude nor certainty of the photograph’s subject but, rather, to expand the photograph beyond its frame to create a “blind field” (p. 57). typically reserved for the moving images of cinema, barthes has defined this blind field as a state that unfastens previously fixed elements so that subjects and objects may flow in and out of a photographic frame (p. 59). hence, the fluidity of the blind field compels viewers to contemplate components of the image beyond the visible mise-en-scène—a process that may redress sontag’s concern (2013) that fractured or compartmentalized historical narratives may be generated via photographic analyses (pp. 22–23). significantly, barthes’s scholarship (2000) illuminates a point of convergence between photography and cinema. by expounding on the infliction of a physical wound, the generation of a blind field, and the subsequent contemplation of the wounding element, barthes outlines the sequence of events frequently experienced by moviegoers when subjected to haptic cinematics: “i see, i feel, hence i notice, i observe, and i think” (2000, p. 21). the holocaust on film as the world enters a “postmemory era” (margitházi, 2020, p. 83), arguments surrounding the use of holocaust images have produced increasingly complex discourses that include the use of created images to represent the holocaust (feigelson & portuges, 2017, pp. 28–29). the advent of holocaust feature films, in particular, sparked significant controversy regarding the ethical representation and boundaries of cinematic representability. at the centre of scholarly literature on filmic representations of the holocaust are three productions: marvin chomsky’s holocaust (1978) television miniseries, steven spielberg’s schindler’s list (1993), and claude lanzmann’s shoah (1985). the adaptation of the holocaust film to fit the generic constraints of a typical hollywood film—in combination with filmmakers’ adherence to a long-standing agreement that the mechanics of death within the gas chambers should not be visually depicted on film—has led to the production of the holocaust film as a structured genre with recurring tropes reminiscent of the american melodrama (langford, 1999, p. 24). in particular, schindler’s list and holocaust are credited with having established these conventions and are often criticized for their perceived roles in commodifying the holocaust as a formulaic and accessible form of family entertainment (p. 24). as scholar barry langford (1999) has explained, the accessibility of commercial films is begotten through the pursuit of popularity, which relies on “referential and performative conventions whose verisimilitude is measured in circular fashion, not against their relevance or applicability to the ‘real world’” (p. 26). in the case of the holocaust film, this pursuit has led to simplifications perpetuating historical inaccuracies that erase the specificity of jewish experiences of the holocaust. one inaccuracy propagated by the holocaust film is the myth of the “passive jewish victim” and sentimental “good nazi” (margitházi, 2020, p. 83). both schindler’s list and the pianist (2002) centre on slight and effeminate jewish men employed in white-collar occupations, who maintain a soft-spoken level-headedness that contrasts with the disposition of other minor characters. the resistance efforts of these protagonists are usually non-violent and rely on the goodwill of a charismatic national socialist with chiseled features and a recently recalibrated moral compass. this dynamic is perhaps most visible in the relationship between władysław szpilman and wilm hosenfeld in the pianist (2002) and itzahk stern and oskar schindler in schindler’s list. consequently, the repeated use of this formulaic approach reduces the complex personal histories of jewish men to easily accessible symbolic motifs (langford, 1999, p. 26), https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 62 which zelizer (1998) and keilbach (2009) fear may propagate both critical disengagement and historical inaccuracies (p. 158; p. 68). in her critique of holocaust, literary scholar susanne knittel (2010) has drawn attention to the normalization of the “jewish other” in holocaust films (p. 84). this process of normalization often occurs in feature films that centre on assimilated, bourgeois, jewish families (p. 84). initially, this characterization may facilitate audience identification with jewish protagonists, such as the weiss family in holocaust (p. 84). however, repeated emphasis on culturally assimilated families may also work to establish a holocaust metanarrative that neglects to address the experiences of observant jews or jewish families with lower socioeconomic status. crucially, the holocaust film’s reliance on theatrically successful yet historically inaccurate motifs has cultivated a metanarrative that invites non-jewish spectators to uncritically appropriate the perspectives of jewish victims. in direct opposition to these conventions, scholars have praised shoah as an ideal approach to representing the holocaust due to the film’s absence of archival footage, 9 hour running time, emphasis on survivor and perpetrator interviews, and perceived lack of aestheticization (langford, 1999, pp. 28–29). however, langford’s (1999) analysis of shoah has challenged such praise by highlighting the film’s reliance on the direction of filmmaker claude lanzmann, who was extensively involved in the staging of witness interviews (pp. 23–40). under lanzmann’s guidance, witnesses were encouraged to re-enact their concentration camp duties, which included cutting hair or singing for camp guards, as they provided their testimonies. langford has argued that shoah’s re-enactment of witness persecution, alongside detailed verbal accounts and intimate shots of reconstructed crematoria, casts doubt on lanzmann’s claim that shoah is a nonrepresentational film devoid of aestheticization (pp. 28, 31). similarly, langford has questioned the feasibility of creating a 9 hour film without addressing the issue of form and, thereby, the issue of aesthetic. indeed, langford has postulated that, in rejecting the aesthetic strategies of genre films, shoah not only subverts the generic constraints of hollywood films but also stipulates the appropriate aesthetic framework for representing that which lanzmann has asserted is unrepresentable (p. 28). having outlined how the holocaust has been cinematically packaged to fit the generic constraints of the melodrama feature film, this section considers the impact of this packaging on the viewer’s capacity for critical engagement. in addition to the ethical issues that attend the commodification of the holocaust, the reduction of complex events to a predictable framework may prompt cursory engagements with and potential misunderstandings of the holocaust. simplistic, generic representations of the holocaust may resemble the later stages of the repeatedly copied image: even when closely examined, minute details are no longer made available to those in pursuit of deeper understandings. to combat the loss of nuanced representations of the holocaust, film studies scholar beja margitházi (2020) has argued that postmemory filmmakers centre “new ‘frames of memory transmission’” to compensate for the growing lack of connection with living holocaust survivors (p. 84). to bridge this gap, filmmakers have explored unique topics within holocaust studies using advanced technologies to emphasize subjective, corporeal experiences over the presentation of narrative stories (pp. 84–85).5 as such, postmillennial holocaust cinema boasts a unique capacity for engaging with the traumatic legacy of the holocaust (p. 82). uniting bennet’s sense memory, hirsch’s postmemory, and assmann’s empathetic mode of memory transmission, margitházi (2020) has argued that this shift in cinematic focus has 5 this cinematic shift was accomplished in part by examining neglected or controversial facets of holocaust studies or by subverting holocaust myths. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 63 resulted in films that bypass viewer cognition by transmitting a “seeing truth” rather than a “thinking truth” (p. 85). reminiscent of the literary theories of shklovsky (2015), postmillennial filmmakers have challenged the automatizing symbolism of precursory holocaust films by attempting to “create the sensation of seeing, and not merely recognizing” (p. 162). ultimately, the postmillennial pursuit to increase the viewer’s “complexity of perception” (p. 162) is realized through haptic cinematics. in his analysis of early german war films, scholar jaimey fisher (2014) has revealed that audience members may experience expansive and constrictive bodily sensations when presented with highly tactile images and sounds (pp. 60, 65). positive haptic stimuli, such as watching soldiers cup warm drinks in their hands, may cause viewers’ bodies to expand and relax (p. 61). conversely, negative haptic stimuli, such as watching a soldier grimace in pain or hearing the rattle of a machine gun, may cause viewers to unconsciously constrict their bodies as if shrinking from a perceived threat (p. 62). fisher’s description of these expansive and constrictive motions is further enriched by the inclusion of two additional forms of involuntary movement discussed by julian hanich (2010) and carl plantinga (2009): somatic empathy and motor mimicry. the first concept (somatic empathy) encompasses a viewer’s sudden awareness of their body, whereas the second concept (motor mimicry) refers to the movement of an audience member’s body to mimic the movement of the affected body part onscreen (pp. 59–60). through this lens, film spectatorship has the potential to be a multisensory experience reminiscent of the viewers’ physical engagement with keilbach’s photographs and barthes’s punctum—particularly in instances that incorporate “sensual details, bodily sensations, and inner points of view” (margitházi, 2020, p. 86). haptic visuals and sounds bypass cognitive forms of communication by imprinting information on the body to facilitate a somatic connection between the viewer and the film (fisher, 2014, p. 51). thus, this body-to-film connection is unique because it does not require the audience to connect with the film’s characters (fisher, 2014, p. 66; vincze, 2016, p. 109). rather, effective communication through haptic cinematography is accomplished by relating physical sensations familiar to audiences (even if only obliquely)6 through visually or aurally tactile elements within the scene, such as textures, weights, and temperatures. through this process, filmmakers can generate a somatic relationship between viewers and potentially unrecognizable characters, such as victims persecuted during the holocaust. traits endemic to postmillennial holocaust cinema include an emphasis on subjective, personal holocaust experiences, the rejection of the generic conventions that define the holocaust film, the integration of experimental and extrageneric cinematics, and the use of haptic cinematography to bypass cognitive engagement. all of these postmillennial holocaust cinematic traits converge in lászló nemes’s saul fia. unlike the traditional holocaust film, saul fia utilizes filmic techniques common to the horror film genre, including close-up shots, chaotic and disorienting soundscapes, scant dialogue, offscreen sounds to expand the cinematic frame, and graphic depictions of human remains (fisher, 2014, p. 56; vincze, 2016, p. 120). although fundamental to the horror genre, the incorporation of these cinematic techniques into mainstream cinematic genres is culturally subversive due to the prevalence of discourses that question the boundaries of the cinematic representability of the holocaust (vincze, 2016, p. 120). 6 fisher (2014) has suggested that viewers relate more easily to the sensation of drowning than being shot since being submerged in water and/or unable to catch one’s breath is a more common experience (p. 62). although viewers are unlikely to have been in close proximity to piled corpses, discomfort from a lack of personal space provides another avenue of connection (p. 64). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 64 despite its overwhelming critical acclaim, some reviewers found nemes’s integration of postmillennial cinematic techniques gratuitously violent and distastefully voyeuristic (wollaston, 2021, p. 139). filmed entirely on a hand-held camera using 35 mm film—a nod to the physicality of the archival footage and images utilized by the auteur—saul fia features countless extended tracking shots tightly focused on auslӓnder’s expressionless face (margitházi, 2020, p. 88; ratner, 2016, p. 62). nemes’s use of short focus camerawork emphasizes the protagonist and relegates the brutal mechanics of auschwitz to the edges of the frame like a sadistic vignette. in addition to challenging the generic framework of the holocaust film, these attributes produce a “post memory trauma sensescape” (margitházi, 2020, p. 83) that facilitates haptic engagement with the audience (auerhahn, 2021, p. 425). indeed, the mise-en-scène of saul fia consists of a cinescape that bombards the viewer with sensory information to establish a body-to-film connection that enables the transmission of holocaust postmemory. since the film’s release, scholars beja margitházi (2020) and teréz vincze (2016) have examined how nemes renegotiates the boundaries of acceptable holocaust representation by pushing collective memories toward the unrepresentable experiences of “true witnesses” through haptic visuals and sound (auerhahn, 2021, p. 453). however, such scholarship tends to centre on the filmic connection between the audience and characters while overlooking the presence of corpses within the film. perhaps due to an unconscious need to maintain “the zone of privacy” (wollaston, 2021, p. 132), nemes’s graphic and ubiquitous use of human remains is not remarked on, save as a means to reflect upon the film’s transgressive nature or auslӓnder’s emotional detachment (vincze, 2016, p. 114; wollaston, 2021, p. 139).7 in contrast, this article argues that examining the depersonalized corpses and the mechanisms of their extermination illuminates the pivotal role these bodies play in the mise-enscène by inducing a haptic response in the audience that tethers the viewer’s gaze to auslӓnder. haptic cinematics in saul fia although most of the bodies within saul fia are blurred and relegated to the edges of the screen where they exist predominantly outside of the frame, there is one instance in which the audience is exposed to the full extent of nazi medical terror (nemes, 2015, 00:11:58–00:12:50). as auslӓnder enters an examination room, he is confronted by an unblurred, mutilated body on an examination table. depersonalized and objectified by the corpse’s obscured face and use as a corporeal playground for nazi medical doctors, the body lacks any indication of personhood. the shot-reaction-shot that follows accosts the audience with auslӓnder’s lack of emotional response to the body. as the camera cuts back to the examination room, the body is now blurred and, aside from a fleeting glance as auslӓnder walks past, the scene continues as if the body had never existed. building from the framework established by fisher, the viewer’s confrontation with this scene results in a constrictive bodily response. the absence of limbs on the corpse is likely to stimulate a haptic response in the audience by drawing greater awareness to their own hands and feet. yet, during the reaction shot and the responding tracking shot that closes in on auslӓnder’s face, auslӓnder’s lack of emotion becomes the dominant element in the frame. thus, after the audience experiences shock from sighting the corpse, and reflexively recoils from the implicit threat of bodily harm, auslӓnder’s expressionless presence in this scene provides a haven from the discomfort of continuous negative haptic stimulation. although auslӓnder’s stoic presence within 7 szidonia haragos (2021) has addressed the objectifying process of extermination in saul fia to emphasize the production of corpses rather than the deaths of people (p. 103). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 65 the mise-en-scène functions as a refuge from constant haptic stimuli, this respite does not prevent auslӓnder’s expressionlessness from unsettling and provoking cognitive engagement in the audience. in fact, auslӓnder’s incongruous demeanor is repeatedly addressed in interviews and film analyses as a deeply disturbing element of the film that prompts viewers to reflect on the experiences of the sonderkommandos. yet, in the context of haptic stimuli, auslӓnder’s expression lacks both the tactility intrinsic to haptic cinematics and the offensive element associated with negative haptic stimuli. in essence, auslӓnder’s presence does not transmit sensory information to the audience to establish a body-to-film connection; instead, auslӓnder’s incongruence transmits cognitive information to the viewer. in contrast to barthes’s punctum, auslӓnder’s presence does not assail the viewer to induce a wounding that facilitates reflection (2000, pp. 26, 53). rather, auslӓnder’s distressing response to his surroundings exists inwardly as a form of negative space that attracts the viewer. in contrast to the corpse on the examination table, the majority of the bodies within saul fia are cinematically amputated by the edges of the screen and typically function to border the frame while simultaneously expanding it outward to visually indicate to the audience that more exists beyond their tight proximity to auslӓnder. saul fia utilizes blurred bodies to generate a haptic response through a combination of delay of density and flesh tones.8 similar to the amputated body discussed earlier, blurred bodies are deprived of their personhood through their lack of identifying features. shown as segmented portions, the camera amputates and mutilates the bodies of corpses, which are referred to only as stücke (“pieces”). furthermore, when blurred and fragmented bodies are tightly packed into the mise-en-scène (nemes, 2015, 00:16:10), the result is a visually dense frame that requires close examination to decipher. the realization that the frame is comprised of corpses causes the viewer to recoil; thus, delay of density draws the viewer toward the bodies before the negative haptic response repels the viewer. moreover, in contrast to the murky brown and gray tones that comprise most frames, the pale flesh of bodies gleam against the interior of the gas chamber. although blurred, these corporeal tones are immediately recognizable; however, such colours do not necessarily produce a negative haptic response in viewers, particularly during densely packed scenes. in these instances, location and shape also play a pivotal role in transmitting negative haptic stimuli to viewers. flesh tones seen twisted and stationary on the ground (nemes, 2015, 00:08:03) or stacked to impossible heights (00:08:28) are unnatural bodily behaviours linked to portrayals of death. through the tripartite relationship between flesh tone, location, and shape, saul fia utilizes fragmented and blurred bodies to create somatic empathy in the viewer. the proximity of the protagonist to the dead, and the proximity of the dead to other corpses, may elicit a claustrophobic response in the viewer. to explain this response, fisher (2014) has drawn from carl plantinga’s concept of “proxemic patterns” to denote filmic transgressions of acceptable social proximity between people (p. 64). fisher and plantinga have similarly asserted that, in transgressing social norms, films may elicit intimacy and kinship or disgust and revulsion. in the case of saul fia, these “proxemic patterns” may provoke claustrophobia in viewers (auerhahn, 2021, p. 424; vincze, 2016, p. 115). thus far, corpses’ fragmentation, flesh tone, and proxemic patterns have been evaluated for their capacity to transmit negative haptic information to viewers to establish body-to-film connections. yet, haptic information is also transferred to viewers once bodies are placed in 8 first mentioned by barthes (1997, p. 73), the concept of “delay of density” is revisited and expanded upon by keilbach (2009, pp. 74–75). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 66 motion. when the stücke are transported from the gas chambers to the crematoria, they are depersonalized by their pliability and “dead weight,” which signals to the audience that a bodily threat looms in close proximity. when these bodies are placed in motion, they are dragged along the floor or are carried by the sonderkommandos. in the case of the latter, the unnatural shape of blurred flesh tones in motion catches the viewer’s attention. the ragdoll arc of a swinging arm or the indiscernible features of a head bent too far back on its neck function in the same way as the sight of immobile flesh tones on the floor or in a pile. furthermore, when dragged, the motion adds an aural haptic element to the features observed. within the film’s chaotic soundscape, images of sonderkommandos hauling bodies are accompanied by the thick dragging of flesh across the hard floor of the gas chamber. already a physical experience in its own right (vincze, 2016, p. 110), hearing has the capacity to prompt additional haptic stimulation and cause reflexive bodily responses in viewers (coulthard, 2012, p. 18; margitházi, 2020, p. 91; vincze, 2016, p. 110). together with seeing a slumped body, the viewer can hear its weight being pulled along the ground, which provides new information about the effort required to move the body as well as the condition of the wet concrete surfaces with which the body is in contact. additionally, when bodies are pulled outside of the frame of the film, off-camera sounds continue to provide viewers with haptic stimulation long after the image has disappeared (vincze, 2016, p. 112). subverting identity formation understanding how haptic visuals and sounds generate somatic responses in the audience may also provide insight into the perplexing stoicism of the film’s protagonist. as director lászló nemes confirmed when interviewed, auslӓnder’s expressionlessness is intentional, and actor géza röhrig was directed to play auslӓnder as though he, like the audience, was merely responding to the stimuli that surrounded him (ratner, 2016, p. 59). thus, as a sonderkommando, auslӓnder’s life had become so detached and unthinking that he relied on reflex rather than cognition to navigate the camp (p. 62). similarly, the cinematography of saul fia forces the viewer to move through the film in a way that mirrors auslӓnder’s chaotic final hours. nevertheless, these noted similarities between the somatic engagement of auslӓnder and the viewer does not facilitate viewer identity formation with auslӓnder. rather, auslӓnder’s enigmatic stoicism drives a wedge between himself and the viewer, and it is this disconnect that prevents the audience from recognizing themselves in auslӓnder, which in turn prevents viewers from using auslӓnder’s reverse gaze to establish their own identity as auslӓnder or as a fellow sonderkommando (auerhahn, 2021, p. 439; ratner, 2016, p. 58).9 unlike precursory holocaust films that utilized archival footage shot from the perspective of perpetrators, or melodramas that encouraged audience identification as a fellow victim, saul fia is constructed to keep the audience in an identity-limbo that simultaneously distances viewers from characters while evoking a sense of disorientation and de-identification that mirrors the characters’ own experiences (ratner, 2016, p. 63). strikingly, by subverting the audience’s ability to identify as characters, saul fia forces viewers to undergo a somatic experience that touches on the selfidentity of the characters by transmitting emotional rather than factual information. the viewer’s disorientation and lack of identification with auslӓnder is further exacerbated by the film’s lack of a cohesive narrative, which intentionally renders relationships between characters ambiguous, 9 for a more in-depth explanation of the reciprocal relationship between the gaze and reverse gaze on viewer identityformation, see daniel reynolds’s (2016) work on holocaust tourism (pp. 339–340). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 67 violates the established tropes of the holocaust film genre, and creates space for vastly different interpretations of auslӓnder’s actions (p. 58). although nemes has suggested that auslӓnder’s actions are intended to confirm the nobility of humanity in the face of oppression, literary scholar jeffrey wallen (2021) has convincingly argued that auslӓnder’s actions are self-indulgent and, if enacted historically, might have threatened the success of sonderkommando resistance plots, such as the sonderkommando revolt of october 1944 and the sonderkommando photographs of august 1944 (p. 331). given the off-putting behaviours previously noted, auslӓnder is constructed to be so unrelatable that the viewer remains cognitively estranged from, and cannot foster a sense of kinship with, the film’s protagonist. nevertheless, the experiences of auslӓnder and the viewer converge in their shared sense of disorientation and receptivity to somatic information. in addition to this point of experiential convergence, nemes employs cinematography that collapses the physical distance between auslӓnder and the viewer. this collapse is accomplished by placing the viewer in close proximity to auslӓnder through close-up shots, intimate camera angles, and auslӓnder’s presence in nearly every frame of the film. even within frames intended to highlight different components, auslӓnder is included, often at odds with what would be aesthetically pleasing within the mise-en-scène. this staging becomes especially conspicuous in graphic scenes in which auslӓnder is the only onscreen presence not exhibiting negative haptic visuals or sounds. as a result, auslӓnder’s expressionlessness may provide a reprieve from the otherwise relentless haptic bombardment experienced by the audience. through identity subversion and intimate cinematography, viewers are likely to rely on auslӓnder as a point of safety and guide within the hellscape of the film. conclusion as the world gradually transitions into the postmemory era (margitházi, 2020, p. 83), our global collective memory of the holocaust continues to outgrow the containers built to house those memories.10 sometimes memory expands beyond the boundaries of the container, demanding new forms of engagement and transmission as technological advances allow. in other cases, scholars may open the lid to discover its contents have changed shape or, perhaps, had been incorrectly stored this whole time. in all likelihood, the degree to which a container is appropriately shaped or disastrously malformed will continue to fuel debate. as thirdand fourth-generation survivors, scholars, and artists engage with the legacy of the holocaust, our collective understanding of the holocaust will continue to change as well. the willingness of third-generation survivors, such as director lászló nemes, to use critical examination and technological advances to challenge the generic conventions of representability in holocaust films enables viewers to address issues of the gaze, identity formation, and representation at the heart of holocaust discourses. nemes’s incorporation of haptic audiovisual techniques more commonly associated with the horror film genre facilitates the transmission of somatic experiences that transcend mere factual information. this shift in emphasis, from the cognitive to the somatic and from the objective to the subjective, renegotiates the relationship between the film’s audience and its subject to subvert both the victimperpetrator and victim-saviour cinematic trope. as seen in saul fia, the postmemory generation transgresses filmic conventions to explore contentious facets of holocaust metanarratives that, ultimately, generate greater viewer engagement with the after-images of the holocaust. 10 for an in-depth analysis of how the holocaust is contained within and outgrows its representational containment, see the scholarship of oren baruch stier (2020). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 68 references anderton, a. 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(2016). the phenomenology of trauma: sound and haptic sensuality in son of saul. acta univ. sapientiae; film and media studies, 13(1), 107–126. https://doi.org/10.1515/ausfm-2016-0017 wallen, j. (2021). facing the sonderkommando: son of saul and the dynamics of witnessing. holocaust studies, 27(2), 325–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2019.1637502 wiedenmann, nicole. (2004). so ist das, was das bild dokumentiert, das gegenteil dessen, was es symbolisiert: holocaustfotografie im spannungsfeld zwischen geschichtswissenschaft und kulturellem gedächtnis [so it is that the picture documents the opposite of what it symbolizes: holocaust photography in the crossroads between history and cultural memory]. in f. crivellari, k. kirchmann, m. sandl & r. schlögl (eds.), die medien der geschichte. historizität und medialität in interdisziplinärer perspektive (pp. 317–349). uvk verlagsgesellschaft mbh. wollaston, i. (2021). (re-)visualizing the ‘heart of hell’? representation of the auschwitz sonderkommando in the art of david olère and son of saul (lászló nemes, 2015). holocaust studies, 27(1), 131–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2019.1625119 zelizer, barbie. (1998). remembering to forget: holocaust memory through the camera’s eye. university of chicago press. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220764 https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540516635396 https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-3160709 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33428-4_36 https://doi.org/10.1515/ausfm-2016-0017 https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2019.1637502 https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2019.1625119 15 a simply transformative view of the single-transferable vote: looking through a gendered lens at electoral reform in british columbia annabel rixen abstract: in 2009, british columbians voted for the second time on the adoption of a new electoral system, the single-transferable vote (stv), as proposed by the province's own citizens' assembly on electoral reform. the failure of the bc-stv to pass in this referendum generated much discussion on electoral reform, yet little research attention has been devoted to the role of gender in this process. this paper highlights the connections that can be drawn between the bc-stv and feminist studies, analyzing how electoral reform may influence gender parity in the province's legislative assembly and how gender, in turn, influenced bc's electoral reform deliberations. the first section argues that electoral reform would have significantly improved gender parity in bc's legislative assembly. this conclusion is based upon an analysis of bc’s political culture in connection with three theoretical advantages of the stv system: its use of multi-member districts, its compatibility with affirmative action initiatives, and its susceptibility to the so-called “contagion effect.” the second section of this paper explores how gender dynamics influenced the ability of various “gendered actors” to influence the bc citizens’ assembly (bcca). female participants, feminist activists, and male staff members each enjoyed differing levels of influence that can be traced back to pre-existing gender inequalities. this work thereby demonstrates that an application of feminist theory can significantly enrich the study of electoral reform movements, both in british columbia and elsewhere. key terms: gender; patriarchy; single-transferable vote; single member plurality definitions: gender: the attributes of "maleness" or "femaleness" as they are ascribed by society to individuals of the male or female sex, respectively. patriarchy: a hierarchical system of social organization in which males and masculine qualities tend to be favored and in which males enjoy greater opportunities for social and economic advancement than females. single-transferable vote: an electoral system currently used to differing degrees in countries like scotland, malta, and australia, under which voters rank several candidates in each riding in order of preference. once selected candidates have obtained enough votes to reach a pre-set threshold, any excess votes are “transferred” to the voter's next preference. single member plurality: an electoral system, currently in use in british columbia, under which each electoral district elects a single candidate to sit in the legislature. this candidate must win more votes than any other candidate in the same riding in order to be elected. 16 introduction in 2003, the liberal government of british columbia (bc) appointed a british columbia citizens’ assembly (bcca) on electoral reform, charged with the mandate of proposing a new electoral system for the province 1 . after a year-long process of learning and deliberation, the bcca decided to propose a proportional representation (pr) system, which it christened the “bc-stv.” to the consternation of many bcca members, voters rejected the bc-stv in two province-wide referenda, held in 2004 and 2009 2 . scholars have since been fascinated firstly by the role of the citizens' assembly as a democratic actor and secondly by the disappointingly low level of public support for electoral reform in bc (seidle, 2007; tanguay, 2007; warren & pearse, 2008). the connection between the bc-stv and gender, however, has received surprisingly little attention in scholarly research (a. lang, personal communication, november 9, 2009). this paper will stimulate discussion on the connection between the bc-stv and gender by exploring two main questions. first, would the bc-stv have had a positive effect on the gender balance in bc's legislature? second, how did “gendered actors” influence the citizen assembly's treatment of women's representation as a democratic value? the impact analysis of gender conducted in this paper is based upon karen beckwith’s (2005) definition of “gender as process” (p. 132). according to beckwith, gender as process operates in two main ways. first, it is “manifested as the differential effects of apparently gender-neutral structures and policies upon women and men” (p.132). in other words, societal institutions are often “gendered” in the sense that they provide different privileges and opportunities to men and women, for example by limiting women’s access to traditionally “male” professions. part a of this paper will illustrate this aspect of “gender as process” by assessing the electoral system in bc as a gendered institution. i will argue that female candidates in british columbia would fare much better under bc-stv than they currently do under bc's single-member plurality (smp) system. for beckwith (2005), gender also operates as process in a second way. various “gendered actors,” whose identity is defined in part by the gender roles commonly ascribed to their members, seek to “regender state power, policymaking, and state legal constructions and their interpretations” (p. 133). part b of this paper will illustrate this second aspect of “gender as process” by highlighting the contrasting levels of influence enjoyed by female bcca members, organized feminist groups, and male staff members over the bcca's work. male staff members enjoyed much greater influence over the bcca's work than either individual female members or organized feminist groups. as a result, a concern for women's representation was essentially “written out” of the assembly's agenda. 1 the assembly, consisting of 161 randomly selected citizens from across the province, met over the course of a year to learn about different electoral systems, identify the values that a new system should reflect, and propose what it deemed to be the best system for bc in a final report. in order to make an informed decision, assembly members attended 50 public hearings, considered 1,603 written statements from the public, and deliberated extensively about democratic reform in small group meetings (british columbia citizens' assembly on electoral reform [bcca], 2004, p. 1; seidle, 2007, pp. 308-309). 2 voter support for this new system failed to pass the 60% super-majority threshold set by the government for its adoption, both in the first referendum of 2004 and in a second referendum held in may 2009 (hall, 2009; lang, 2007, p. 36; seidle, 2007, pp. 308-312). 17 part a: the electoral system as a gendered institution in this section, i will examine the electoral system as a key example of beckwith's (2005) first definition of gender as process, by which “apparently gender-neutral structures and policies” (p.132) have a differential impact upon men and women. that electoral rules frequently discriminate against female candidates is a reality well-documented in scholarly research (newman & white, 2006, pp. 123125; rule & zimmerman, 1994). in fact, one key study of 23 democracies has found that, among a wide variety of factors including socio-economic aspects, district magnitude, and religion, the electoral system is the best predictor of female representation in legislatures around the world (kaminsky & white, 2007, p. 186). yet what precise implications would a new electoral system have for female candidates in bc? to answer this question, i will begin with a brief description of bc's current single-member plurality system and its effects on women's representation. next, i describe the bc-stv and highlight several theoretical arguments which should lead us to conclude that female electoral candidates enjoy greater success under this particular system. as i will note, however, some empirical evidence seems to contradict these theoretical arguments. therefore, in order to more fully assess the potential impacts of the stv on women's representation in bc, i will conclude with an assessment of bc's situation in the light of three mediating variables that commonly influence electoral outcomes: political culture, district magnitudes, and the internal culture of political parties. differences between the single-member plurality and single-transferable voting systems british columbia currently uses a single-member plurality (smp) electoral system, one that has been frequently critiqued for its negative impact on women's representation. the main reason for this negative impact is that under smp, each party only nominates one candidate, who must then win a plurality of votes in order to be elected. as a result, the practice of ticket balancing (nominating females or members of minority groups) is a risky move for parties to undertake. electoral committee members feel pressured to choose a representative who will appeal to the majority of voters, and this candidate typically happens to be a professional white male (young, 1994, pp. 10-11). furthermore, third parties (including women's parties and leftist parties that are more sympathetic to female candidates) are generally disadvantaged under smp, a system designed to generate majority governments (british columbia citizens’ assembly on electoral reform *bcca+ p. 3; newman & white, 2006, pp. 123-124; young, 1994, pp. 6-9). the smp system is clearly no boon to female representation in politics. not surprisingly, smp countries across the world 3 elect fewer female representatives than those using proportional representation (kaminsky & white, 2007, p. 186). canada, for example, ranked 44 th in the world in 2006 regarding the percentage of females in its legislature (20.8%), whereas pr-countries such as sweden, norway, and finland made the top of the list, with women making up 37% to 45% of their legislatures (tremblay, 2008, 56). 3 in canada, the disadvantage for women under smp is especially pronounced in rural constituencies (bashevkin, 2009, p. 12). 18 in 2004, the bc citizens’ assembly proposed that british columbia should do away with the smp system and introduce a form of proportional representation 4 known as the single-transferable vote (stv). under stv, voters rank multiple candidates from various parties in their constituency, placing a number beside each candidate in the order of their preference. all candidates who gain a sufficient number of votes to meet a pre-set threshold are automatically elected. should a preferred candidate’s share of the vote exceed this threshold, all excess votes will be transferred to other candidates who were also ranked favorably by voters. a fairly complex process of transferring votes continues until all vacant legislative seats are filled (bcca, 2004, pp. 4-5). although this process has been disparaged by critics as one that is simply too complex and confusing for voters, it does hold significant advantages for females seeking seats in the legislature. three of the most relevant theoretical advantages the stv will be discussed here: the use of multimember districts, increased opportunities for affirmative action, and the increased potential for a positive “contagion effect.” theoretical arguments for the stv’s ability to produce gender parity in the legislative assembly the first theoretical advantage of the stv system rests upon its use of multi-member districts (mmds). multi-member districts allow political parties to run a greater number and, therefore, also a greater diversity of candidates, expanding their nomination choices beyond that of the prototypical white male (bcca, 2004, p. 6; young, 1994, p. 18). furthermore, because voters choose more than one candidate per district, the threshold for representation is usually quite low, so that female candidates stand a better chance of being elected (kaminsky & white, 2007, p. 187). data from state legislatures in the u.s. strongly confirms the mmd advantage. according to rule (1994), women occupied only 12.4% in states that used single-member districts but held an average 21.8% of legislative seats in states that used mmds. moreover, those states that switched from multi-member to single-member districts saw women's representation in their legislatures fall by 20% over an eleven-year period, even while the country's national average rose by 68% (p. 691). if multi-member districts were introduced in bc, we should therefore expect a noticeable improvement in women's representation. a second theoretical advantage of stv is that it creates increased opportunities for parties to enforce affirmative action practices. young (1994) has argued that in proportional representation systems employing party lists, political parties can easily practice affirmative action, either by setting quotas for the number of female candidates in their party list or by alternating male and female candidate names on the list. because party lists are fully open to public scrutiny, it is strategically dangerous for parties to nominate few female candidates, as this practice may quickly inspire public criticism (pp. 18-19). single-transferable voting does not rely on such party lists. nevertheless, it resembles traditional list-based systems in two respects: parties under this system still have to propose several candidates in 4 under a proportional representation system, the proportion of seats a party holds roughly reflects the proportion of the popular vote it received. the single-transferable vote and list-based systems are the two main types of proportional representation (young, 1994, pp. 14-17). as a group, proportional representation systems tend to produce more coalition governments and bring more third parties (including women's parties) into the legislature (newman & white, 2006, pp. 124125; young, pp. 15-17). 19 each riding, and the public is equally free to scrutinize each party's choice of nominees as shown on the ballot (bcca, 2004, p. 4). under such circumstances, no political party would want to cause public outrage by excluding female candidates from its ballot lists. we can therefore predict that the bc-stv would give parties a similar opportunity to impose gender quotas and similar incentives for gender parity on ballot lists. the so-called “contagion theory” provides a third theoretical reason for the stv advantage. it proposes that, in a multi-party system, the choices of one party can easily trigger changes to the policy stances of another. for example, when a third party (often a leftist party) actively promotes female representation, the dominant party will follow suit, primarily because it fears a potential loss of voter support. contagion theory predicts that this effect will be stronger under proportional representation (pr) systems than under smp 5 , for a very simple reason: third parties under pr can more easily gain seats in the legislature and thus pose a greater threat to the dominant party, which will henceforth adapt its policy stances to suit public sensibilities (kaminsky & white, 2007, p. 189). like list-based pr systems, stv is known to create a momentous advantage for third parties (bcca, 2004, p. 7). thus, we can predict that the contagion effect under stv will be very pronounced, putting pressure on major parties to practice affirmative action. from a purely theoretical perspective then, we should expect women in bc to fare extremely well under an stv system. the combined effects of multi-member districts, increased opportunities for affirmative action, and the contagion effect would presumably bring more women into the legislature. unfortunately, not all empirical findings support the claim that stv helps more women get elected 6 . on the one hand, australia, which elects its senators through an stv system, has a remarkably high number of female senators (mackerras & maley, 1998, pp. 238-247). yet on the other hand, in malta and ireland, women's representation under the stv is remarkably low. since 2000, women have comprised only about 13.2% of the irish national legislature and a mere 9.3% of malta's house of representatives 7 (pilon, 2007, p. 130). these findings leave us with an obvious problem: if some empirical findings contradict the theoretical advantages of stv, how can we possibly predict whether the stv would have a positive or negative effect on female representation in british columbia? in order to assess the precise impact of stv on the province, we will need to consider three key variables that typically mediate between a particular electoral system and representational outcomes: culture, district magnitude, and party support. 5 a study by matland and studlar (1996) offers support for this view. the researchers found a micro-contagion effect under norway's pr system but not under canada's smp system. 6 adding further support to the studies already discussed above, one researcher has found that when it comes to providing better opportunities for female candidates, list-based pr systems place first among electoral systems and stv systems place second (young, 1994, p. 27). similarly, in a statistical analysis based on data from the australian senate and house of commons, kaminsky and white predicted that if the senate replaced its current stv system with smd, it would experience an average 76% decline in the number of female representatives (p. 193). 7 examples like these have been commonly cited as empirical evidence that stv is, in fact, bad for women's representation, both in scholarly research and in british columbia's anti-stv campaign “know stv” (hirczy, 1995, pp. 711-712; no stv, 2009). 20 mediating variables between the electoral system and its effects upon female representation culture constitutes the first mediating variable between an electoral system and electoral outcomes. a consideration of culture, in fact, will help us disentangle the puzzling discrepancy in women's representation that we find between malta, ireland, and australia. as hirczy (1995) explains, an stv system by itself neither hurts nor helps women. rather, it simply “maximizes the input of the average citizens” (p.712), so that stv countries with conservative cultures elect few women and those with liberal cultures elect a generous number of women (p.712). this trend is precisely what we find at work in the three countries mentioned above. ireland and malta share a very conservative culture based in catholicism which offers little support for female leaders. australia, by contrast, has a much more liberal culture with a vocal feminist movement (mackerras & maley, 1998, pp. 231-232, 237, 246; hirczy, 712). with respect to such cultural considerations, what can we conclude about bc? we have good reason to believe that bc, like australia, enjoys a relatively “woman-friendly” culture. in canada, 61% of women work for pay, compared to 53% in ireland and 34% in malta. in the 2007 gender development index, canada ranked fourth while ireland placed 15th and malta placed 33rd (seager, 2009, 116-121) 8 . further indicative of bc's “woman-friendly” culture is the fact that both the proponents and the opponents of the bc-stv felt the need to address the issue of women's representation in their campaign messages (power up your vote [puyv], 2009; no stv, 2009). they probably would not have done this if women’s representation were not a valued concern among the public. in the midst of a highly supportive political culture, therefore, the bc-stv would most likely help rather than hurt female candidates. a second mediating variable that influences electoral outcomes is district magnitude. as stated earlier, multi-member districts tend to improve women's representation, but the extent of this positive effect grows with the number of members nominated in a given district (tremblay, 2009, pp. 53-54) 9 . the reason for this trend is not hard to discern. the larger the number of candidates each party proposes, the more obvious it becomes when a party fails to nominate a proportionally appropriate number of female candidates. in order to evade public criticism, parties will feel motivated to maintain a gender balance on the voting ballot (young, 1994, p. 28). empirical research confirms the importance of district magnitude. as one study of twenty-two countries has demonstrated, there is a linear relationship between district magnitude and the percentage of women elected to parliaments (matland & studler, 1996, pp. 477-478). moreover, a larger district magnitude has been associated with higher turnover in parliaments (matland & studlar, 1996, pp. 477-478), a condition that tends to benefit female candidates (kaminsky & white, 2007, p. 188). 8 both sides hired public polling companies in order to assess which types of campaign messages would resonate best with the public (macleod, 2009a, 2009b). 9 theoretically, as the number of seats to be filled rises, so too does the opportunity for women to get elected (tremblay, 2009, pp. 53-54). 21 would the stv in british columbia operate under district magnitudes of sufficient sizes to benefit female candidates? according to the 2008 electoral boundaries commission, district magnitudes under the bc-stv would vary between two and seven members, depending on the district (electoral reform referendum information office, 2009). young (1994) estimates that for a multi-party system in which three main parties compete with one another (as is the case in bc), the ideal minimum district magnitude is six members (young, 1994, p. 37). therefore, under the bc-stv, the district magnitude may be too low in some districts to produce a strong positive effect. still, we could expect a positive effect for women's representation in those bc districts that elect six to seven members. female candidates in the larger centres would enjoy a great advantage under the stv. a third mediating variable that strongly influences electoral outcomes is the willingness of political parties to run female candidates in competitive ridings. the central importance of party support for women’s electoral success has been widely articulated by scholars, who have pointed to the pivotal role of party leaders (newman & white, 2006, p. 126) and “male gatekeepers” (hawkesworth, 2005, p. 150) in controlling the nomination of female candidates 10 . how high would party support for women be in british columbia? if developments in the province at all resemble those at the federal level, then we have reason to be optimistic. as newman and white observe, canadian parties are now increasingly willing to run female candidates, and the “sacrificial lamb” phenomenon (parties running female candidates in ridings where the party is likely to lose) is on the decline in canada (pp. 117-121). british columbia's three major parties are probably no exception to this trend. for example, the bc greens have openly supported the bc-stv on the grounds that it would improve the representation of women (green party of bc, 2009). the ndp has recently imposed quotas on the number of female candidates in its own party (vancouver sun, 2009), and although the bc liberals officially oppose what they call “anti-democratic, affirmative action policies” (bc liberals, 2009), they have at least made a normative commitment to creating a more attractive environment for female politicians. in fact, the bc liberals ran more female candidates in the 2005 election than the ndp (bc liberals). we have strong reason to believe that political parties in bc would take advantage of the increased opportunities for affirmative action afforded by a single-transferable voting system. in light of the theoretical arguments and mediating variables discussed above, we can now reach a final verdict: a shift to the bc-stv system would trigger a substantial rise in the number of women elected to the bc legislature. the single-transferable vote would bring with it all the benefits of multi-member districts, greater affirmative action opportunities, and the potential for a strong contagion effect. that bc would elect a very low number of female representatives under stv, as malta and ireland do, is highly unlikely. the province's wider political culture and the internal culture of its parties both appear supportive of increased female representation in the legislature. moreover, under the bc-stv, at least some of bc's constituencies would feature district magnitudes of six to seven members, a favorable circumstance for female candidates. the bc citizens' assembly evidently has proposed a system that would improve women's representation. yet was gender equality a key concern for the assembly when it proposed this evidently beneficial system? as the next section will reveal, this was probably not the case. in fact, women’s 10 tremblay has noted that the degree of support for women among political parties can play a larger role in determining female success in politics than the electoral system itself (p. 63). 22 representation never made it onto the assembly’s official agenda, a circumstance that may be traced back to a gender-based power imbalance between the various “gendered actors” seeking to influence the bcca. part b: re-gendering the electoral system: how gendered actors influenced the bcca we are now left to explore the second aspect of beckwith's (2005) definition of “gender as process,” which she describes as the activity of political actors who “instate practices and rules that recast the nature of the political” (p.133) and who seek to “regender state power, policymaking, and state legal constructions and their interpretations” (p. 133). in this section, i will discuss three gendered actors 11 who attempted to influence the final decision of the bc citizens' assembly: female members of the bcca, feminist groups advocating for women's representation, and male bcca leadership staff. as the discussion will show, socially constructed gender dynamics, embedded in our patriarchal culture, served either to help or to hinder each actor in its ability to influence the bcca. female bcca members as gendered actors the first group we may analyze as a “gendered actor” is the female members of the bcca. the government of bc made a decided effort to create gender balance in the bcca, insisting that one male and one female member be selected from each constituency (seidle, 2007, p. 308). gender balance in the assembly, however, did not immediately translate into successful advocacy for women's interests. for example, the assembly was asked to debate the types of interests that should be used as criteria for selecting a new electoral system. several rural citizens spoke up for rural representation, and several women spoke up for women's political representation (lang, 2008, pp. 98-100). yet while the assembly soon came to a consensus that proper rural representation constituted a legitimate criterion for evaluating an electoral system, it failed to reach the same kind of consensus on women's representation and consequently excluded this concern from its list of formal evaluation criteria (pp. 95-99). why was female representation side-lined as a critical issue? can feminist theory shed light on this development? the assembly's failure to accept women's representation as a legitimate political claim can only be fully understood in the context of our patriarchal culture and its influences on the bcca's group interactions. patriarchy, according to johnson (2005), is a system of male privilege that operates at all levels, from the institutional level to the organizational level and even to the level of individual interactions (p. 18). johnson points out that our patriarchal culture not only contains male privilege but also maintains it by discouraging any critical discussion of the subject. thus, both men and women under patriarchy are typically unwilling to articulate the fact that male privilege exists, and even less willing to openly challenge it (pp.22-26). in johnson's words, “patriarchy encourages men to accept male privilege...if only through silence. and it encourages women to accept and adapt that oppressed position even to the extent of undermining movements to bring about change” (p. 15). precisely these tendencies became apparent early on in the bcca meetings. as lang (2008) recalls from one small group discussion on the issue of women's representation: 11 a group may be analyzed as “gendered” either by virtue of the male or female identities ascribed to its members, or by virtue of the masculinized or feminized strategies employed by this group in an effort to achieve its goals. in this section, the term “gendered actor” will restrict itself to the first definition for the sake of brevity. 23 one woman in the group tentatively said she thought it was a good idea. the idea was supported by a couple of men. other men spoke against singling women out, saying they thought things had progressed very far and would continue to progress. at the prompting of the facilitator for some women to start speaking, the other women started to weigh in, arguing against “being singled out.” *...+ it seemed that several women on the assembly felt that they were not suffering because there were few women in the legislature and *that+ women didn’t need active help to enter the legislature. (p.98) even a woman who identified herself as a strong, educated feminist explained in a later interview that she found it very difficult to raise the “taboo subject” of women's representation among her group members. as the assembly's deliberation phase progressed, no one dared to take on the task of advocating for women's representation in the way others had spoken up for rural interests (p. 100). patriarchal culture thus operated at the micro-level of group interactions, preventing women's representation from becoming a central topic of discussion. feminist groups as gendered actors feminist groups 12 comprise a second group of “gendered actors” whose endeavors to influence the bcca were constrained by pre-existing gender dynamics. one such group was equal voice, whose chair appeared before the citizens' assembly to argue that “any change in the voting system should encourage the election of more women” (speirs & anderson, 2005). to the consternation of this group, the bcca did not react with much enthusiasm to their proposal (2005). the west coast legal education and action fund (leaf) had a similar experience. its written submission to the bcca urged the assembly to propose a modified form of the mixed-member proportional system, which west coast leaf deemed to be an optimal system for electing more women. whether this system would indeed have been better for women than the stv is a complex question that will not be addressed here for the sake of brevity. what we must remark, however, is that the assembly evidently chose not to follow west coast leaf's recommendation. in fact, it initially overlooked the organization's submission altogether (lang, 2008, p. 99). can feminist theory help us explain this evident lack of responsiveness to women's organized interests? one possible explanation 13 for the general lack of responsiveness is that feminist groups have generally enjoyed a low level of legitimacy under the (male dominated) neo-liberal state in canada. alexandra dobrowolsky (2009) has documented the close connection between the rise of the neo-liberal state and the weakening of the women’s movement in canada. at the federal level, the canadian neoliberal state has not only cut funding to various feminist groups, including leaf (dobrowolsky, 2009, p. 12 it must be noted here that feminist groups did not agree on what type of electoral system would best benefit women’s representation. some feminists, in fact, failed to see the advantages of stv and openly spoke out against it. for example, some organized women’s groups in canada opposed the stv system because it includes few electoral districts with a high district magnitude (pilon, 2007, 122). national activist doris anderson dismissed the system as “plain dumb,” citing the classic “malta and ireland” argument discussed earlier in this paper (globe and mail, 2005). a point of agreement, however, seems to have been that women’s representation is a crucial criterion that must be considered in any discussion of electoral reform. 13 another possible reason not discussed here is that canadian politics has traditionally been strongly defined by a focus on regional identity. other social identities such race, age, and gender consequently tend to be side-lined as less legitimate grounds for political demands (lang, 2007, 58). furthermore, bc's (male dominated) governing party had created an official mandate for the citizens’ assembly that made no mention of women's representation (bcca, 2004, p. 14). as a result, members did not feel it was their responsibility to consider the issue at length (speirs & anderson, 2005). 24 15) but has also shifted dominant political discourses away from a focus on equality (which is central to the feminist movement) towards a focus on discourses of social cohesion and inclusion. as alison brewer, executive director of west coast leaf, confirms, “there are few feminist groups still in existence in bc and canada, fewer still that aren’t focused almost entirely on direct service provision to women... [this results from the] idea of individual responsibility and the need to establish the innocent victim before public resources will be assigned to that group” (a. brewer, personal communication, november 18, 2009). in the midst of this neo-liberal political culture, bcca members likely viewed feminist groups as illegitimate “special interests” that should not unduly influence the process of deliberation. bcca leadership staff as gendered actors a third “gendered actor” that played an active role in the deliberation process was the bcca leadership staff, whom we may consider “gendered” simply in the sense that staff members holding the most powerful leadership positions of the bcca were all male 14 . jack blaney from simon fraser university acted as chair, while dr. ken carty and dr. campbell sharman from the university of british columbia designed and taught the curriculum for the assembly's learning phase on electoral systems (lang, 2007, p. 39; bcca, 2004, p. 15). this male-dominated authority structure set the bcca's formal agenda and thus had a substantial effect on how the bcca deliberation process proceeded, as i will illustrate with two key examples. first, staff consolidated the assembly's neglect of women's interests in favor of geographicallybased interests. when the issue of northern representation was brought to the table, bcca staff readily organized a guest speaker for a presentation on bc's demographics and planned an early-morning meeting specifically designed for members from rural constituencies. these concerted efforts helped ensure that northern interests remained on the bcca’s agenda (lang, 2008, p. 98). in stark contrast, staff members were reluctant to support women's representation, making no efforts to encourage special meetings on the issue and bringing in a speaker on the subject only after considerable hesitation. the speaker, lisa young, interestingly argued that increases in the number of female legislators depended primarily upon the priorities of political parties, not upon the electoral system. as a result, many bcca members came to conclude that a discussion of women’s representation as a key criterion for electoral reform simply did not lie within the assembly’s mandate (pp. 100-102). secondly, the leadership staff prevented the assembly from adopting a focus on “social and cultural representation,” an umbrella term that encompassed women’s representation. for example, during the assembly's deliberation phase, members worked in small groups to identify the top three values that should later inform the assembly's decision on electoral systems. fair election results, local representation, and greater voter choice emerged as the top three values in this process (lang, 2008, p. 99; bcca, 2004, p. 2). however, social and cultural representation also emerged as a key concern among many small groups, who expressed interest in exploring this value further. the bcca staff, however, insisted that the deliberation process move along and discouraged further discussion of the topic (lang, pp. 101-102). we cannot, of course, infer from this that male staff intentionally tried to subvert women's interests, but it does appear that staff members were generally insensitive to the importance of the issue. 14 it is also worth noting that it was a male, gordon gibson, who was hired by the bc government to draw up the basic structure and outline the responsibilities of the citizens’ assembly (seidle, 2007, pp. 308-309; bcca, 2004, p. 15). 25 undoubtedly, the male-dominated leadership structure of the bcca played a pivotal role in shaping the direction of the assembly's decision-making process, effectively side-lining the achievement of gender parity in favor of other interests 15 . the failure of female assembly members and feminist groups to bring women's representation onto the bcca agenda can thus be attributed to three factors: the norms of patriarchal culture that influenced the assembly's micro-level interactions; the lack of legitimacy enjoyed by feminist groups under the neo-liberal state; and, most importantly, the overarching influence of male authority figures in the process of deliberation. in essence, the masculine “gendered actor” in this case enjoyed greater power to influence the bcca than either of the two feminine gendered actors. we can conclude, therefore, that the ability of various political actors to “regender” the electoral system heavily depends upon their particular masculine or feminine identities. conclusion it has become evident through this paper that if we wish to fully understand the implications of electoral reform for british columbia, feminist theory provides us with an absolutely indispensable angle of analysis. as we consider the potential effects of the bc-stv and the work of the citizens’ assembly that proposed it, we ought to pay attention to the ways that gender presently operates as “process” in electoral politics. first, “gender as process” is evident in the differential effects of stv and smp systems on women's representation; second, it is evident in the differential impacts that masculine and feminine actors have upon the deliberations around electoral reform itself. as a gendered institution, the current smp electoral system poses immense barriers to the election of women. had bc instigated the proposed bc-stv system, it would likely have reaped the benefits of multi-member districts, affirmative action opportunities, and the contagion effect on women's representation. many of the province's constituencies would have employed large district magnitudes, which tend to help female candidates. moreover, bc's relatively woman-friendly culture and supportive political parties would have ensured that women benefited rather than suffered under stv. that the bcca chose stv out of a concern for women's representation, however, is unlikely 16 . a focus on women's representation never made it into the bcca's official list of criteria for judging electoral systems, due in part to the power imbalance that existed between feminine and masculine actors seeking to influence the bcca. female assembly members found that their comments were unwelcome in a patriarchal culture that was both blind to male privilege and resistant to change. feminist groups were not taken seriously, as is typical under the male-dominated neoliberal state. male staff of the bcca, in contrast, occupied positions of authority that allowed them to exert greater influence on the citizens' assembly than either of the two “feminine” actors. 15 interestingly, the staff of the ontario citizens’ assembly on electoral reform later took a very different approach to women's representation, actively encouraging the establishment of a working group on the issue. lang attributes this development to the persistence of certain advocates and the fact that little real opposition to the idea existed among the ontario assembly members (a. lang, personal communication, november 9, 2009). 16 the great irony of this analysis, of course, lies in the fact that although the bc citizens’ assembly side-lined the issue of women's representation, it still proposed an electoral system that would substantially improve women's representation. why this is was the case and whether other electoral systems such as mmp might have been even better options for women's representation in bc are two interesting questions for further research. 26 this paper has demonstrated that feminist theory is an extremely useful tool for the study of electoral reform movements. should the issue of electoral reform once again surface in bc or other canadian provinces in the future, then an assessment of “gender as process” must be more closely incorporated into scholarly debates. bringing feminist theory into the discussion will not only deepen political discourses around reform but may also prevent future decision-makers from side-lining women's representation as a “non-issue” that must give way to other, more established bases of political representation. 27 references anderson, d. 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(2009). women in the quebec national assembly: why so many? in s. bashevkin (ed.), opening doors wider: women's political engagement in canada (pp. 51-69). vancouver sun (2007, november 18). b.c. ndp to choose candidates through affirmative action. retrieved november 9, 2009, from www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/ story.html?id=49b1bca8-9ae2-4cf8-9a02-84881b7a2bd5&k=68506 warren, m. e., & pearse, h. (2008). designing deliberative democracy: the british columbia citizens' assembly. new york: cambridge university press. west coast legal education and action fund (2004). submission of the west coast legal education and action fund to the citizens' assembly on electoral reform. retrieved november 12, 2009, from http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/resources/submissions/csharman-10_0408151316-782.pdf young, l. (1994). electoral systems and representative legislatures: consideration of alternative electoral systems. ottawa: canadian advisory council on the status of women. contact information annabel rixen can be reached at annabelr@uvic.ca. acknowledgements annabel rixen would like to thank dr. janni aragon and dr. dennis pilon from the university of victoria political science department for their guidance during the research phase for this paper. special thanks to dr. amy lang and alison brewer for sharing their insights on the bcca and the political climate in british columbia. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/ http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/resources/submissions/csharman-10_0408151316-782.pdf mailto:annabelr@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 28 motherhood and suffrage in early twentieth-century canadian women’s journals rachel de graaf1 racheldegraaf@uvic.ca abstract maternal feminists of canada’s early women’s movements used their publications to define who should be a canadian citizen and who deserved the vote. to this end, maternal feminists created an exclusionary concept of motherhood that reached from the domestic to the national sphere in order to justify their own enfranchisement and sense of belonging at the expense of marginalized groups—namely women who did not or could not bear sons, women who could not meet popular child-rearing standards, indigenous women, and immigrants who were not perceived to be white. the exclusionary rhetoric and ideologies put forward by early twentieth-century canadian women’s journals not only cut off marginalized groups from enfranchisement and national belonging but also further entrenched the social, racial, and gender divides that alienated these groups in the first place. . keywords: enfranchisement; colonialism; imperialism; maternal feminism; motherhood 1 i would like to thank professor andrew buck for his guidance and support during the research and writing process. i would also like to acknowledge with gratitude the meticulous work of dr. emily arvay and the arbutus review editorial board. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 file:///c:/users/rache/downloads/racheldegraaf@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 29 introduction we read in history of the vestal virgins. they had the power, by raising a hand, to save a life—and even nero obeyed! women! why are we not recognizing this power to-day? have the vestal virgins let the fire die down in the temple of their hearts—in the “secret place of the most high?” is the unsullied, snow-white banner of love, emblem of a woman’s purity, floating out over a sin-sick world from the pinnacle of that temple—honour holding it aloft, truth supporting it? motherhood! the world is sick with longing to be mothered. (campbell-maciver, 1917, p. 9) writing in the early twentieth-century canadian women’s journal woman’s century, j. campbell-maciver invoked a concept of motherhood characterized by strength, purity, and love. while aggrandized and dramatic, this notion of motherhood draws on an ideological understanding of women’s domestic and political functions discussed in terms of citizenship and enfranchisement in the publications of canada’s early women’s movements. this article argues that the maternal feminists of canada’s early women’s movements crafted an exclusionary notion of motherhood in their publications to justify their own enfranchisement and sense of belonging at the expense of marginalized groups, which included women who did not bear sons, women who could not meet popular child-rearing standards, indigenous women, and immigrants who were not perceived to be white. in her recent book, ours by every law of right and justice (2020), historian and indigenous studies scholar dr. sarah carter has described the obstacle-ridden path traversed by suffragists in the prairie provinces to obtain the vote. however, carter has also critiqued canadian suffragists who strove to secure suffrage for women while remaining complacent when foreigners and indigenous peoples were denied the vote (2020). this article contributes to this discourse by casting a critical eye on the insidious tactics and ideologies employed by members of canada’s early women’s suffrage movement. additionally, this article engages directly with the primary source materials produced by maternal feminists in the early twentieth century to substantiate arguments regarding the ideologies of twentieth-century canadian suffragists. by clearly articulating those who were separated from and overlooked by maternal feminist rhetoric, this article encourages a more inclusive approach to current social and political reform by calling on the reader to be cognizant of the philosophies and principles that underlie purported social progress. part one of this article, “maternal feminism, women’s suffrage, and women’s publications,” introduces the concept of maternal feminism—an ideology adopted by certain women’s movements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. in canada, these movements sponsored journals that gave maternal feminists a platform to define themselves as citizens, justify their claims for enfranchisement, and negotiate the concepts of motherhood, nationalism, and citizenship. part two, “the domestic strain of motherhood,” focuses on domestic aspects of motherhood, which doctors and specialists defined in terms of biology, social convention, and early twentieth-century child-rearing standards. part three of this article, “the imperial strain of motherhood,” argues that the maternal feminist notions of motherhood propagated through women’s journals related not only to domestic motherhood but also to a nationalist motherhood rooted in colonialist ideologies that excluded indigenous women and nonwhite-presenting immigrants. early twentieth-century women’s journals conspicuously omitted https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 30 indigenous women, just as white settler populations across canada attempted to eradicate indigenous peoples. by dividing canadian immigrants into socially acceptable and unacceptable groups, women’s journals frequently discussed white-presenting immigrants with approval while disregarding visible minority immigrants. part four, “maternal feminism in perspective,” explores modern and contemporary critiques of maternal feminist ideologies to suggest that the exclusionary rhetoric explored in parts two and three not only precluded marginalized groups from enfranchisement and national belonging but further entrenched the social, racial, and gender divides that alienated these groups in the first place. maternal feminism, women’s suffrage, and women’s publications in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, maternal feminists began to articulate their beliefs about the roles of women in the home and in politics. historian heather green (2017) has examined the rise of maternal feminism and the concept of motherhood in the canadian prairies during the early twentieth century to provide a nuanced analysis of the ideologies that underpinned maternal feminism. maternal feminism was defined by domesticity and motherhood, which supported the traditional role of women as keepers of the household and as political participants, though restricted by patriarchal norms (green, 2017). this branch of feminism viewed mothers as ethical teachers for their children and the nation. in this regard, maternal feminists pursued “suffrage, temperance, and moral reform” (p. 49). in these pursuits, maternal feminists perceived motherhood to be an immutable ideological foundation, which they used to exclusionary effect. the onset of the first world war enabled maternal feminists to put their ideologies into action. in the home, women cared for children and ran the household while their husbands waged war. mothers provided moral guidance for their children in order to raise model citizens and leaders. in public life, women joined the workforce and ran volunteer organizations, which enabled them to employ their “maternal qualities” in the war effort (arnup, 2013, p. 251). for example, the imperial order daughters of the empire raised funds to purchase a hospital ship and called on women to express their maternal qualities by nurturing and mending wounded soldiers (glassford, 2021). additionally, women’s organizations enlisted women to knit socks and roll bandages for soldiers overseas by framing these tasks as maternal work (glassford, 2021). the contributions women made to the war effort, both in private and in public life, contributed to their enfranchisement. in this way, women’s citizenship was based on their maternal role, which extended from the home to the national arena (arnup, 2013). maternal feminism was also intricately linked with british-canadian colonial nationalism. according to maternal feminist ideology, women’s maternal attributes contributed to nationbuilding and national purification (vickers, 2000). in the public sphere, mothers exemplified purity and temperance to encourage national loyalty and restraint. as will be demonstrated, maternal feminist values excluded from the definition of ideal citizenry marginalized groups who did not adhere to colonialist conceptions of national loyalty, such as indigenous populations and nonanglo-european immigrants. accordingly, maternal feminists found a firm foothold in the women’s movements of the early twentieth century, whose publications closely linked maternal feminism, colonial nationalism, and suffrage (arnup, 2013). specifically, the woman’s christian temperance union, national council of women of canada, imperial order daughters of the empire, and fédération nationale saint-jean-baptiste published journals that provided a platform for contributors to negotiate the role of women in private and public life as well as grapple with key issues, such as citizenship, enfranchisement, and motherhood. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 31 formed in 1874, the primary goal of the woman’s christian temperance union (wctu) was to combat the effects of alcohol in domestic life (arnup, 2013; strong-boag, 2016). the wctu published the woman’s journal, which ran until 1903, and canadian white ribbon tidings, which was launched in 1904 (ontario ministry of government and consumer services, 2015). the national council of women of canada (ncwc) was formed in 1893 and focused on motherhood, childcare, and family-related welfare (arnup, 2013; kinahan, 2008). the ncwc supported women’s suffrage because its members believed that women should be active as mothers and nation-builders (vickers, 2000). white contributors to the ncwc argued for their enfranchisement as “mothers of the race” in order to maintain social, racial, and gender norms (“another convert to suffrage,” 1916; kinahan, 2008, p. 13). the ncwc published woman’s century from 1913 until 1921.2 the fédération nationale saint-jean-baptiste (fnsjb) formed in 1902 and was closely associated with the ncwc (strong-boag, 2016). like the ncwc, the fnsjb had roots in a maternalism that fought for suffrage as well as the protection of mothers and families (cohen, 2017). the fnsjb published la bonne parole monthly, beginning in 1913 (dumont, 2007). the imperial order daughters of the empire (iode) formed in 1900, adhered to maternalistic ideologies, and worked defensively during world war one. as their name suggests, iode also held imperial, colonial, and nationalist outlooks (pickles, 2002). the iode published the magazine echoes, beginning in 1901, and occasionally ran a column in the ncwc’s woman’s century. in short, these publications provided a way for sponsor organizations, largely comprised of maternal feminists, to negotiate the role of women in domestic and public spheres. early twentiethcentury women’s journals created spaces for maternal feminists to define themselves as citizens and articulate why they deserved enfranchisement. by engaging with journals sponsored by maternal feminists, this article contends that minority women struggled to gain recognition and autonomy as canadian citizens due to the rhetoric employed by maternal feminists. the sections that follow explore the extent to which these publications used the concept of motherhood as an exclusionary force to justify the place of white women in society at the expense of certain marginalized groups, including childless women, indigenous women, and visible minority immigrants. the domestic strain of motherhood maternal feminists’ definition of motherhood was bounded by biological and social norms, which were often expressed through newspapers and popular magazines. for example, newspapers published in the western provinces featured mothering advice columns, such as “mother’s number” and “mother’s experiences” (green, 2017). specifically, albertan newspaper prairie farmer (july 1, 1909) published “before the baby comes”—an article that exhorted women to exercise as well as eat fresh fruits and vegetables. working, pregnant women likely lacked time to engage in the former, whereas women with limited financial income could not always afford the latter. the social mothering norms conveyed in these journals and newspapers thus implicitly excluded mothers who lacked the financial means to live up to the maternal standards of the day. furthermore, childcare experts frequently endorsed familial gender norms and prescribed childcare rules orientated to middle-class, anglo-european families (arnup, 2013). however, many families 2 woman’s century also featured the work of other woman’s organizations, such as the iode and the wctu (“w.c.t.u. and suffrage,” 1915, n.p.). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 32 could not meet the financial threshold set by childcare experts, whose standards were often difficult to fulfill (arnup, 2013). consequently, maternal feminists informed by child-rearing norms often deemed “[p]oor women, single mothers, [and] working women” to be “defective” (p. 266). the canadian women’s journals of the early twentieth century painted a traditional picture of motherhood. even after white women were enfranchised, maternal feminist columnists claimed that “the home is quite as much a woman’s sphere as ever; that, in fact, it is the sacred centre of that sphere, just as it always was and will be” (bowker, 1918b, p. 30). however, also integral to this domestic picture was a nationalism concerned with preserving a declining anglo-european population.3 since 1881, the anglo-european birthrate had decreased due to tuberculosis, venereal disease, and war (szreter & schürer, 2019). the british marked these factors as the beginning of imperial decline. in canada, pro-eugenicists also lamented the decline of the white population. for example, canadian author and women’s rights activist emily murphy (1910) articulated the racial superiority felt by many white women: “the best peoples of the world have come out of the north, and the longer they are away from the boreal regions in such proportion do they degenerate” (n.p.). according to traditionalists, those who believed that women should first and foremost be homemakers and mothers, “new womanhood” liberal feminists accelerated this decline by choosing independence over childrearing and household management (devereux, 1999, p. 176). additionally, the arrival of immigrants from asia and other regions in the 1880s fuelled british and anglo-canadian fears of the decline of the anglo-european “race” in canada (kalbach et al., 2022; kinahan, 2008). resultantly, children became an “asset” that mothers had to produce and protect as a national duty (arnup, 2013, p. 249). therefore, this period saw womanhood and motherhood inextricably linked to bearing children. a woman’s duty as a mother was twofold: to raise healthy children and to raise loyal canadian citizens. women’s publications provided ample advice on how to raise healthy children, in accordance with the high standards set by doctors and child-rearing experts. ultimately, the traditional role of mothers to bear and raise model citizens made compliant mothers valuable assets to canada’s nation-building efforts. maternal feminists did not question the assumption that women’s responsibilities were to their homes and families (carter, 2020). in this way, maternal feminists confirmed society’s views on gender differences by portraying women as sensitive, selfless, and loving (legates, 2001). using this portrayal, maternal feminists highlighted the sanctity of motherhood and, by the early 1900s, produced a national rhetoric that called on anglo-european women to do their part by bearing children (green, 2017). this calling was clearly articulated in the early twentieth-century journals of maternal feminists. for instance, a recurring column in woman’s century called “the cradle and the nation” expounded the duty of motherhood. various short articles comprised the column including “the children are our hope” (1916), which emphasized that canadian society must invest in children to create productive, patriotic adults: to the children of this generation we owe everything. it is our duty to see to it that they have a better chance in the future than they have had in the past. thousands of children in all our large cities have and are being shamefully neglected. is it any 3 ethnic data was not collected until 1901, though there were noticeable immigration losses in the last half of the nineteenth century, and many people left canada for the united states between 1873 and 1896. beginning in 1880, canada received immigrants from both europe and asia. anglo-europeans in canada likely noticed the slowed immigration rates from britain and the arrival of a new asian demographic, which bolstered their “fear” that the anglo-european population was dwindling (kalbach et al., 2022; kinahan, 2008; statistics canada, 2015). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 33 wonder that many of these same children now grown to manhood, feel they owe no duty or allegiance to a nation, which has cruelly neglected them? children, who, if given a chance, would have become an asset, which any nation could glorify in … builders and protectors of noble ideals and a great nation. (p. 20) this forward-looking exhortation emphasized the collective nature of raising child. furthermore, patriotic canadians of anglo-european heritage prized sons above all in canada’s nation-building efforts. consequently, mothers were charged with cultivating sons who answered to the call-to-arms and performed as worthy rulers. in return, mothers used their sons as social currency, which reinforced the importance of their maternal role to gain social standing sufficient to obtain the vote. mothers sent their sons to war and, in return, white, male society recognized their contribution to the war effort by granting certain women enfranchisement (“we will give our boys,” 1915). as historian dr. sarah glassford has noted in her discussion of the red cross propaganda poster titled “the greatest mother in the world,” canadian women used the mother figure in recruitment campaigns to translate their voluntary work and maternal sacrifice into “greater roles for themselves within the public sphere” (2008, p. 219). these images granted mothers social prominence and recognition not previously experienced. however, rhetoric extolling mothers who bore sons necessarily excluded mothers who bore daughters. due to the fact that the negotiation for national citizenship and enfranchisement involved the currency of sons, mothers of daughters had less social clout. similarly, the glorification of sons by maternal feminists excluded those who did not bear any children. maternal feminists supported the traditional, nuclear family consisting of a father, mother, and offspring (vickers, 2000). hence, couples who could not conceive, and women who eschewed heteronormative societal expectations, were excluded from this family model (vickers, 2000). explicit rhetoric lauding motherhood was also reinforced with less overt rhetoric that encouraged women to engage in nation-building. women’s periodicals supported national rhetoric calling on women to fulfill their motherly duty in subtle ways.4 for example, articles supporting women’s enfranchisement were often nestled among columns that dictated household management as well as advertisements for soap and baby products (“the canadian housewife,” 1916; “home economics,” 1916). fictional pieces also emphasized the divinity of motherhood. for instance, over the course of multiple issues, woman’s century released consecutive chapters of the motherhood of nyria—a novel by gertrude richardson (1916), who founded the roaring river suffrage association. later chapters of the motherhood of nyria hailed the historical strength and virtue of christian women living in the first century c.e., when rome was purportedly afflicted with degradation and excess. richardson’s final chapter “eulogised nyria’s beliefs” by stating that “every child was sacred to [nyria] because of her own [children]" (richardson, 1916, p. 17; roberts, 1996, p. 189). the valorization of loving mothers by maternal feminists in texts such as the motherhood of nyria reinforced canadian national rhetoric that required women to procreate and raise children. such rhetoric was not limited to fictional stories published in woman’s century during the early twentieth century; this rhetoric also underlaid advertisements in women’s journals for “the baby welfare weeks”—a national series of events that consisted of speakers and films expounding doctor-approved, up-to-date, child-rearing standards. a 1918 issue of woman’s century described “the baby welfare weeks” as a time dedicated to raising awareness on best practices for child-rearing. this series employed the slogan “better babies” to encourage mothers’ 4 early twentieth-century women’s publications were not uniform in their views: while maternal feminism tended to dominate, liberal strains were also evident (see perry, 1918). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 34 participation. proponents of “baby welfare weeks” claimed that the maintenance of “better babies” was predicated on “[a] sense of justice, a sense of fitness, a sense of responsibility, a sense of patriotism, a sense of national agrandisement [sic], common sense—and just a sheer love of children” (bowker, 1918a, p. 11). these mothering ideals were highly publicized and entwined with the perceived national worth of women. such advertisements also depended on a deeply engrained sense of motherhood and national duty. the domestic picture painted by canadian women’s journals of the early twentieth century excluded specific groups of women in its maternal rhetoric. frequently, journal contributors called on white women to bear children to address a declining white population, primarily of angloeuropean descent. for example, one contributor to woman’s century challenged the government to “lend a hand” to this imperialist mission by increasing the number of anglo-europeans living in canada (“the woman and the nation,” 1917, p. 7). this contributor noted that “women have been urged to do their part for the race…as a sacred national duty;” yet, she found that the canadian government was failing in its supportive duty when she wrote that she “dream[ed] of a government that really wished to increase its population and who really believed that good citizens were as necessary a thing for the empire as good roads” (p. 7). in sum, the domestic strain of motherhood was beset with the high standards implemented by society and child-rearing experts. this notion of motherhood excluded childless women (due to occupation, biology, or sexual preference), as well as those who did not have the socio-economic standing to raise children in a manner deemed socially acceptable. additionally, due to the perceived importance of bearing sons as future leaders and soldiers, maternal feminists minimized the status of mothers who bore daughters. by excluding these groups, these journals suggested that such women were not valuable assets to canada as a nation and, therefore, underserving of national citizenship and enfranchisement. the imperial strain of motherhood the ideal of motherhood that maternal feminists cultivated in women’s journals extended from the domestic to national domain. that is, motherhood was defined by colonial ideologies in a manner that excluded indigenous women and non-white-presenting immigrants. indeed, the former were conspicuously absent from early twentieth-century women’s journals, which echoed the eradication of indigenous communities by white settlers. also absent from early twentiethcentury women’s journals were visible minorities: white settlers generally accepted whitepresenting immigrants based on the colour of their skin, yet they tended to exclude visible minorities based on a belief in racial hierarchy. while maternal feminists had a traditional view of women’s roles in their homes, they supported reforms that would see women assume more prominent roles outside of their households. namely, they wanted women to be able to “apply their special maternal and nurturing qualities to public life” (carter, 2020, p. 32). in this way, maternal feminists did not limit motherhood to a biological concept; motherhood was also social and political. that is, women were thought to contribute to canadian society an indispensable maternal knowledge capable of counteracting male aggression (legates, 2001). according to woman’s century contributor agnes maule maohar, a mother’s role as a citizen was to consider the well-being of others: “a mothers’ self-sacrificing devotion to the infancy and development of the future citizen lies at the very foundation of the commonweal[th]” (1916, p. 9). maohar’s articulation acknowledged that women played a role in the maintenance of society, yet she explicitly linked this role to motherhood. during the war, maternal feminists firmly believed that a maternal force could counteract male severity, and that women ought to marshal “the latent forces https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 35 of motherhood … to construct the new social order upon the only secure basis, that of love, peace, brotherhood, and justice for all nations” (“cradle and the nation,” 1916, p. 20). furthermore, the role of women would be essential in reconstructing society after the war, both inside and outside of the home. reconstruction would not only require labour to help improve canada economically but would also require hope and love to enable the country to heal spiritually (“the cradle and the nation,” 1916). ultimately, traditional maternal qualities lent themselves to the rhetoric that surrounded post-war nation-building and, in turn, to arguments employed in the fight for women’s enfranchisement. as maternal feminists joined the struggle for women’s enfranchisement, they insisted that women’s maternal nature made them indispensable to the governance of the nation: “women would be the nation’s housekeepers, sweeping government of corruption and the streets and offices of the nation of immorality” (arnup, 2013, p. 250). in this sense, maternal feminists viewed the nation as a macrocosm of the home, which both reinforced and replicated traditional domestic hierarchies (devereux, 1999; pickles, 2002). when speaking in favour of women’s enfranchisement, former canadian prime minister sir wilfrid laurier noted that women would likely vote for the same ballet options as their husbands: “generally, the opinion of one member of the family is the opinion of all” (“another convert to suffrage,” 1916, p. 5). so while maternal feminists envisioned an expanded role for women in the public sphere, that vision was still constrained by contemporary gender norms. the exaltation of maternal virtues by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century maternal feminists was also coloured by imperialism. maternal feminists’ political ideal of motherhood envisioned white, anglo-european, and middleto upperclass women as the mothers of canadian political leaders and citizens (arnup, 2013; green, 2017). drawing on a growing eugenics movement, some maternal feminists believed that enfranchising white women would protect canada against “race degeneration.” pro-eugenic feminists, such as emily murphy, advocated for eliminating the “feeble-minded” and for sterilizing non-british immigrants (carter, 2020, p. 33). pro-eugenic maternal feminists who desired the vote were generally middle-class and christian; correspondingly, they defined motherhood according to social, racial, religious, and cultural divisions to maintain the status quo (green, 2017). both feminism and imperialism flourished amid concerns that the white race would diminish. the suffragist movement was deeply worried about preserving their “race,” and these fears were fed by anglo-european population decline and non-white immigration (devereux, 1999). canadian suffragist and maternal feminist nellie mcclung articulated this relationship in her 1915 treatise, in times like these: “the woman movement … is a spiritual revival of the best instincts of womanhood—the instinct to serve and save the race. … the world needs the work and help of the women, and women must work, if the race will survive.” (pp. 100– 101) here, mcclung’s description of an imperial “mother of the race” recalls the use of a similar trope throughout woman’s century (“is it just,” 1915). for example, the january 1916 column, “the cradle and the nation,” sought to put mothers throughout the british empire in contact with each other, to band them “together for mutual protection, enlightenment, and national welfare” (p. 10). in this way, the figure of the imperial mother promised to increase the anglo-european population and raise healthy anglo-european children to render canada “morally hygienic” (devereux, 1999, p. 178). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 36 anglo-european-canadian maternal feminists argued that their social purity and victorian maternal nature, which made them effective agents in the “british civilizing mission,” qualified them for active canadian citizenship (devereux, 1999, p. 178). indeed, as evidenced by its frequent use in woman’s century, imperialism was not viewed as problematic (see lang, 1916). canada assured white women that they were morally superior to indigenous women and charged the former with civilizing the empire “as they did their own children” (devereux, 1999, p. 180). similarly, woman’s century challenged mothers to preserve “the ethical standards and spiritual welfare of the race” (“national council,” 1916, p. 5). one contributor, bessie mclean reynolds, stated that “it is the foundation of a suffrage mother’s teaching to her child to become a citizen,” which, thus, indicates the imbricated nature of motherhood, suffrage, and citizenship (1916, p. 10). in recognition of this interconnected relationship, at their 1917 annual meeting, the national council of women of canada sought to educate their members on how best to exercise citizenship. in a keynote speech on “nation building,” and in subsequent discussions on the “selection and assimilation of new citizens” and “women as citizens,” imperial sentiments invoked a politics of exclusion (cummings, 1917, p. 4). the imperialist underpinnings of this feminist narrative were particularly hostile to indigenous women. in early twentieth-century journals, maternal feminists excluded any mention of indigenous peoples from conversations about motherhood, enfranchisement, and citizenship. rarely did affluent, white women express their care for indigenous women despite purporting to be caring mothers of the nation (carter, 2020). indigenous people were excluded from maternal feminist discourses regarding who qualified for enfranchisement because anglo-europeans viewed indigenous cultures and ways of life as regressive and degraded (carter, 2020). in addition to aspiring to create a white nation, maternal feminists also sought to purify canada both morally and socially. when suffragists wrote about indigenous communities, they drew stark contrasts between indigenous women and themselves. for instance, many canadianenglish settlers believed that indigenous women neither understood nor desired women’s rights; instead, indigenous women were thought to be without culture and content in their subjugation (carter, 2020). according to many twentieth-century anglo-european feminists, indigenous women did not fit into the nation-building agenda; they were not “ideal mothers” and far less “ideal citizens.” as such, leading anglo-european suffragists did not fight for indigenous suffrage but, rather, supported the colonial goals of erasure and replacement (carter, 2020). although woman’s century supported the enfranchisement of canadian immigrants internationally, and printed a recurring international column detailing feminist progress toward enfranchisement, suffragists (such as emily murphy, henrietta muir edwards, francis marion beynon, and lillian beynon thomas) excluded indigenous people from their campaigns (carter, 2020). indeed, little mention was made of indigenous peoples in the fight for enfranchisement, and this absence of discourse indicates a preference to preclude indigenous peoples from the political agency that came with social inclusion and enfranchisement. in the early twentieth century, canadians of british descent attempted to assimilate whiteappearing europeans who had immigrated to canada while, at the same time, excluding from paths to citizenship immigrants perceived to be non-white (vickers, 2000). women-led publications, such as those launched by the ncwc and iode, served as avenues for elite, white women to disseminate their views and gain more active public roles (vickers, 2000). in this way, “majorityculture women” used these publications as vehicles for defining their cultural identity while further enshrining a politics of exclusion throughout canada. some contributors to women’s journals were https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 37 blatant in their exclusionary efforts. indeed, in an article praising the effects of nationalism, one contributor asserted that harmony cannot be obtained through the pursuit of unity: the facts are these: nationalism has arisen once more with all its amazing vitality and we stand humbled before its magnificent enthusiasm, which proudly courts annihilation rather than surrender the right of the weak to exist as well as the strong. … only by realizing the unquenchable fire of patriotism, the right of each existent nation to work out its own salvation through its own idealism, can we hope to reach the ever-retreating goal of a peaceful world. it is not by unity, but by recognizing fundamental dissimilarity, that we may hope to attain harmony in our struggle towards the light. canadian nationalism is subservient to a more splendid heritage which has been victorious over time and space. british imperialism, in which today canada is one of the dominating factors, has been growing, slowly and painfully, through the centuries, and to-day has matured in a splendour of united thought and purpose, which transcends imagination. to canadians, nationalism and imperialism are synonymous. (“our imperial obligations,” 1915, p. 26) at the outset, this excerpt appears to support an inclusive, diverse definition of nationalism since the author has purported to protect the “right of the weak.” however, any commitment to this vague goal is belied in the author’s discussion of nationalism in relation to imperialism. linking canadian nationalism to british imperialism, the author has denied agency not only to indigenous communities but also to immigrants who do not appear to be british. relatedly, contributors to woman’s century often portrayed immigrants as “parasites” (“the immigration problem,” 1916) or as an economic drain on society as “non-participants” in nation-building efforts. when contributors to woman’s century defended “foreign women,” they were careful to use a narrow definition of “foreign.” for example, in an article recounting a speech by american settlement activist jane addams, foreign women of irish and italian descent were said to be “just like american women” (“those ‘foreign women,’” 1915). similarly, contributors to woman’s century celebrated the virtues of women with european heritage, whom contemporaries would have seen as white (see “belgian women to the rescue,” 1915; “economy of the russians,” 1915; “russian women,” 1915; “usefulness of austrian women,” 1915). in short, journal content revealed a marked preference for white-presenting immigrants. although non-white minorities had neither a place nor a voice in publications such as woman’s century, one notable exception was a set of recurring articles titled “british army” dedicated to indian sikhs. the appearance of this series might be explained by the deeply embedded colonial relationship between britain and india. indeed, most references to sikhs related to their role in the army (“british army,” 1915, p. 18). in this way, contributors viewed sikhs as participating in nation-building efforts while serving alongside british troops. in sum, excepting indian sikhs, the absence of visible minorities from these publications mirrored the absence of indigenous women from enfranchisement campaigns and the desired erasure of indigenous populations in canada. the lack of content concerned with indigenous women and visible minorities echoed the broader attempts of white settler populations to erase marginalized groups nationwide. indeed, the rhetoric used by white maternal feminists to secure their enfranchisement and place in public life was effective because of the racial biases that characterised canada at that time. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 38 maternal feminism in perspective contemporary scholarship has varied in its appraisal of the paths chosen by maternal feminists. since the 1970s, second-wave and radical feminists have criticized maternal feminists for reinforcing patriarchal gender norms, such as strictly delineated gender roles, marriage, and child-rearing responsibilities (green, 2017). rather than accepting agency and enfranchisement at the cost of conceding to patriarchal norms, maternal feminists might have contested the premise of needing to supply a rationale to claim the franchise (green, 2017; legates, 2001). in contrast, some scholars have lauded maternal feminists for achieving limited progress within a repressive society. historian dr. marlene legates (2001) has argued that the sociopolitical realities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries cannot be disregarded, and that maternal feminists should be praised for their skillful adaptation of political and intellectual traditions previously monopolized by men. in proposing an alternative to a male-dominated society, maternal feminists created categories that eroded the foundations of patriarchal structures. in short, scholars (such as legates) have viewed maternal feminism as a necessary and incremental step within a broader feminist movement. however, such praise fails to acknowledge the exclusivity of maternal feminist ideologies related to nationalism and imperialism. the rhetoric used by maternal feminists deepened the gender, racial, and social divides that precluded marginalized group from actively participating in social and political life. in particular, indigenous feminists have critiqued the exclusivity of maternal feminism as an offshoot of white feminism, more generally. as indigenous canadian author and poet lee maracle (1996a) has contended, the racist ideology held by white colonial society threatened to push indigenous woman into obsolescence. maracle has articulated her frustration with contemporary feminism’s exclusivity as follows: that the white women of north america are racist and that they define the [woman’s] movement in accordance with their own narrow perspective should not surprise us. white people define everything in terms of their own people, and then very magnanimously open the door to a select number of others. (1996b, p. 137) indeed, for many indigenous women, “feminism as an ideology remains colonial” (lawrence, 2003, p. 5). the feminist movement was crafted to address issues of concern to white, female, and middle-class members, which therefore marginalized issues pertaining to indigenous women (huhndorf & suszack, 2010). unlike maternal feminism, indigenous feminism envisions a movement that recognizes and celebrates diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and beliefs. indigenous feminism also fights for physical and cultural survival. distinguished scholar lisa j. udel (2001) has employed the concept of “motherwork” to give agency and autonomy to twenty-first-century indigenous feminism (p. 47). “motherwork” valorizes women’s ability to bear and raise children, as well as their ability to nurture human communities and the earth. at first blush, the concept of “motherwork” seems to mirror the rhetoric of motherhood employed by maternal feminists in their fight for suffrage. however, here the term “mother” is not used in a literal or biological sense but is used symbolically to distinguish the indigenous feminist movement from the white colonial feminist movement. critics might also point to the gender biases connoted by the term “motherwork,” yet the use of the term “mother” by the indigenous feminist movement is effective since it is used to contrast indigenous and white movements by bringing to mind the gendered ideologies of maternal feminism. while it is admittedly easier to https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 39 judge a movement in retrospect, the failings of maternal feminism are nonetheless impactful. maternal feminists did not simply work within the patriarchal, racial, and social constraints of the time; they reinforced an exclusionary rhetoric that entrenched gendered, racial, economic, and ethnic divides and, thus, made it more difficult for marginalized groups to overcome obstacles to citizenship and social belonging (udel, 2001). conclusion in their sponsored journals, maternal feminists used the rhetoric of motherhood to justify their social position and enfranchisement, but their definition of motherhood was restrictive. according to maternal feminists, “mothers” did not include women unable to have children, nor women who lacked the resources to adhere to the mothering advice published by doctors and other child-raising experts. also excluded from their definition of “mothers” were indigenous women and non-white-presenting immigrants. the definition of motherhood crafted by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century women’s organizations impacted both domestic and national domains. domestic motherhood was defined by biological factors, social conventions, and child-raising standards. women who could not live up to these ideals were excluded from the benefits of motherhood rhetoric used to justify enfranchisement. the national dimensions of motherhood were defined by colonialism and nationalism, which left little room for the participation of indigenous women and visible minority immigrants. women’s struggle for suffrage was an important milestone in the evolution of the women’s movement; however, the fight for women’s suffrage was also rooted in imperializing efforts to establish canada as a white settler nation (kinahan, 2008). ultimately, it behooves contemporary readers to acknowledge that white women’s enfranchisement was a crucial prerequisite for their recognition as legal players and citizens, but this form of recognition was only possible because of the gender, race, and class prejudices that dominated late nineteenthand early twentieth-century canada. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 40 references anderson perry, a. 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(1917). the national council of women of canada: nation building. woman’s century, 5(1), 4. the woman and the nation: is motherhood a national duty? how the government might lend a hand. (1917). woman’s century, 5(6), 7. women in line. (1915). woman’s century, 2(10). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220757 https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.35.2.128 maternal feminism, women’s suffrage, and women’s publications the domestic strain of motherhood the imperial strain of motherhood maternal feminism in perspective conclusion references the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 49 “our cherished political system”: secularism and the muslim brotherhood through the lens of canadian media sarah moselle abstract: the resignation of egyptian president hosni mubarak in february, 2011 in the face of massive political protests and demonstrations prompted a flurry of media attention in canada. popular media outlets were rife with speculation regarding the political future of egypt’s foremost islamist party, the muslim brotherhood. this article reports findings of an analysis of three news articles published in each of canada’s two leading national english-language newspapers, the globe and mail and the national post, in february 2011, using the key terms “muslim brotherhood” and “egyptian revolution.” this analysis revealed a deep ambivalence regarding the place of secularism within democracy. in order to promote their respective ideological agendas of “open” and “closed” secularism respectively, the globe and mail and the national post suppressed the historical and political complexities that facilitated the growth of the muslim brotherhood and differentiate it from other islamist parties. this article highlights those complexities by examining the socio-political context that gave birth to the muslim brotherhood, the ways in which the brotherhood differs from other islamist parties, its response to autocratic control, and its relationship to democracy. in doing so, this investigation underscores the foundations of canada’s ambivalence toward secularism at home and abroad. key terms: canadian news media, islamism, egyptian revolution, secularism, muslim brotherhood, liberal democracy, israel introduction the opening months of 2011 saw dramatic developments in the middle east. although opinions vary over the impetus for these events, it is clear that a wave of protests against authoritarian regimes has swept through north africa and the gulf, and change at political and social levels is inevitable. these events have been the topic of much debate in the canadian media. the roles of islamic religious groups have been under special scrutiny during the course of these protests. the popular uprising in egypt has received the most media attention, due to the size, speed, and impact of the revolution. at the same time, many journalists have expressed concern that the “victory” of the liberal democratic protesters could be undermined by political interference by the muslim brotherhood. after reviewing the coverage given to the egyptian revolution by the mainstream canadian media, in conjunction with the analyses offered at various academic the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 50 forums and events, i observe that an underlying fear that the muslim brotherhood will stifle any fledgling democratic movement in egypt is quite pervasive. i would argue that such concerns are founded on an assumption that islam as a religion is antithetical to democracy, which has resulted from a western ideal that constructs democracy as necessarily secular. mass media, including national news organizations, perpetuate ideological agendas, and their dissemination of global and national news is filtered through an ideological lens (littlejohn & foss, 2008). in this article, i investigate how canada’s two national english-language newspapers—the globe and mail and the national post—have depicted the muslim brotherhood and its place in egyptian politics, what values of democracy and secularism these depictions represent, and whether these values have any theoretical or practical basis in egypt. my research concludes that the national post and, to a lesser degree, the globe and mail gloss over the complexities that differentiate the egyptian muslim brotherhood from other islamist parties in a way that is misleading and may be seen as instrumental in promotion of their respective ideological agendas of “closed” and “open” secularism. methodology the findings presented here are based on a content analysis of three articles published in february 2011 in the globe and mail and the national post, respectively. articles were retrieved from the news organizations’ homepages, using the keywords “muslim brotherhood” and “egyptian revolution,” with the additional criteria that all articles be of a comparable length (roughly one thousand words). in total, six articles were analyzed for statements linking the muslim brotherhood with current and prospective political developments in egypt and the following key words: terrorism, democracy, secular, and israel. these criteria were selected in order to identify what assumptions were implicit in news reporting of this topic, regardless of journalistic claims of objectivity and fact-based reporting. through the analysis of the content of six ostensibly “fact-based” articles, basic claims regarding the relationship between secularism and democracy became apparent, as did a systemic misrepresentation of the egyptian muslim brotherhood. the egyptian revolution through the lens of canadian print media debates about the proper place of the muslim brotherhood in egypt’s future are generally divided into two camps: those that support the muslim brotherhood as a valid political party with a right to participate in elections, and those that are opposed to it. the globe and mail— canada’s longest running and most widely read national newspaper (encylopedia britannica, 2011)—is firmly located in the first camp. the globe and mail’s staff columnist jeffrey simpson wrote an article on february 11, 2011 addressing “fears [within the harper government] that democracy will unleash egypt’s muslim brotherhood, with some of its extremist islam” (simpson, 2011). in the article, simpson challenges these fears, conceding that the brotherhood the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 51 “will play a role in what unfolds in egypt” but will not be “taking over, like some kind of egyptian bolsheviks” (simpson, 2011). a subsequent article by patrick martin, the globe and mail’s middle east correspondent, offers an in-depth analysis on the role islamists will likely play in some post-revolution middle eastern states, including egypt. martin (2001) asserts that egypt is “not going to be some western-style democracy” and notes that “in countries where islamic movements have been allowed to run for office, the process tends to moderate them” (martin, 2011). not only do martin and simpson refuse to explicitly extol the virtues of canadian democracy, but both suggest that egypt look to turkey for inspiration, with its “blend of moderate islam and democracy [that] has brought political stability and economic recovery” (simpson, 2011). the national post, canada’s other national english-language newspaper, takes a very dim view of the muslim brotherhood. content analysis of three articles from the national post revealed vehement opposition to the muslim brotherhood and islamists in general, whom the paper repeatedly equates with “jihadists” (jonas, 2011; goodspeed, 2011), often using the terms interchangeably. the post’s foreign affairs correspondent peter goodspeed’s article, “what comes after the revolution,” validates “fear *that+ islamist movements may emerge at the head of the current revolts or at least lie waiting in ambush to seize power” (goodspeed, 2011). with such hostile diction, including words such as “ambush” and “seize power,” goodspeed overtly rejects the notion that the muslim brotherhood can or should garner legitimate authority in a democratic election. goodspeed’s fellow contributor george jonas goes further with such article titles as “opening a backdoor to theocracy” and “goodbye hosni, hello hamas!” jonas (2001) begins his article, headlined “opening a backdoor to theocracy,” by condemning u.s. president barack obama for allowing the egyptians to determine their own fate through popular protests and goes on to chastise the president for encouraging mubarak to acquiesce to the demands of the egyptian people. jonas argues that “obama didn’t explain why such abdication wouldn’t risk handing egypt to the outlawed muslim brotherhood on a platter” (jonas, 2011)—an outcome jonas clearly deems to be a downgrade from the dictatorial control exercised by mubarak. jonas, like many other journalists and commentators, erroneously depicts the egyptian muslim brotherhood as “islamist militants, forerunners of hamas and hezbollah, kissing cousins of gama islamiyya” (jonas, 2011). a similar conflation of islamist groups was inadvertently made in patrick martin’s article for the globe and mail, which predicts “how the arab spring will reshape the middle east.” the article gives a uniform treatment to the various islamist parties in states across the entire middle east, as if the situation in these heterogeneous societies could be characterized in singular terms. one does not need to be versed in islamic history to recognize that there is a plurality of beliefs within islam; similarly, there is a plurality of islamisms (zahid, 2010). the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 52 history of the muslim brotherhood in egypt to set the context for the following discussion, i will give a brief overview of the history of the muslim brotherhood in egypt, which will hopefully make clear its relation (or lack thereof) to hamas, hezbollah, and other islamic political movements, some but not all of which are understood in the west as terrorist groups. in 1928, a young schoolteacher named hassan albanna founded the society of muslim brothers in egypt. al-banna was raised a sufi in britishoccupied egypt. although egypt achieved nominal sovereignty in 1922, al-banna remained frustrated with the continuing inequality between the egyptian people and foreign employees of colonial companies that still controlled much of the economy. thus, in 1928 al-banna established a nationalist movement that “fuse*d+ religious revival with anti-imperialism” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 108). he propagated his movement through existing social networks, notably around mosques and islamic welfare associations (zahid, 2010). the movement became increasingly popular, which prompted the government to dissolve the brotherhood in 1948. when the muslim brothers were falsely implicated in the murder of the prime minister later that year, hassan al-banna was assassinated. the death of al-banna triggered strife and fragmentation within the movement, with certain factions turning toward violence—a practice al-banna explicitly condemned. it was during this period that sayyid qutb emerged as the brotherhood’s most influential theorist. qutb famously condemned those muslims who turned their back on the brotherhood after attaining power. this criticism was directed specifically at gamel abdel nasser, leader of the free officers movement, who had allied himself with the muslim brotherhood and then turned his back on the party as soon as he took control of the country in 1952. nasser’s betrayal enraged qutb, who embarked on a new path known as “vanguard islamism.” this branch of islamism— which provided inspiration for such noted terrorists as osama bin laden and ayman al-zawahiri—is often mistakenly conflated with the ideology of the muslim brotherhood. qutb advocated jihad against both the non-believer and the kafireen (“apostate”), as the means to achieve a universal islamic polity. the new official leader of the muslim brothers, hasan alhudaybi, rejected qutb’s violent factions, and his attitude of tolerance prevailed within the organization, thereby “cementing the group’s moderate vocation” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 110). this has not stopped many western critics from confusing the muslim brotherhood with its offshoot organizations, especially many political parties or terrorist organizations that derive their ideology from sayyid qutb, including al-qaeda, islamic jihad, and al-gama’a al-islamiyya. such confusion ignores fundamental differences between organizations—not only their divergent attitudes toward violence, but also their radically opposed views on democracy. the muslim brotherhood has “repeatedly justified democracy on islamic grounds” and “finds democracy compatible with its notion of slow islamization” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 110). meanwhile, qutb’s vanguard islamism is vehemently opposed to democracy, which is why many of his followers, including ayman al-zawahiri, condemn the muslim brotherhood for the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 53 “luring thousands of young muslim men into lines for elections… instead of into the lines of jihad” (as cited in leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 107). challenging a universal representation of islamism by tracing the thread of islamism through the evolution and fragmentation of the muslim brotherhood, it has hopefully become clear that the term “islamism” is one of contention and is used to refer to a diversity of often conflicting movements. consequently, invoking the term almost invariably excites controversy. its definition varies both between muslims and nonmuslims and among islamist groups. it is variously understood as a political movement, a statement of identity politics, or simply an expression of religious belief. among scholars, “islamism” is often understood to be the political branch of salafism (hegghammer, 2009). this equation further complicates the issue, as understandings of salafism vary within the muslim world. very loosely, the label salafi denotes a “school of thought that takes the pious ancestors (al-salaf al-salih) of the patristic period of early islam as exemplary models” (moosa, 2005, p. 21). its retrospective idealism is often confused with fundamentalism. in fact, the name salafi is sometimes used as a blanket term to refer to followers of “wahhabism,”a particular brand of salafism propagated by muhammed bin ‘abd al-wahhab, an 18th century islamic scholar. this is problematic because the muslim brotherhood is also frequently identified as salafi, and yet the brotherhood’s political ideology is vastly distinct from wahhabism. wahhabis reject what they call “da’wa hizbiyya, literally the call to participate in local politics” (hasan, 2009, p. 171) on salafi ideological grounds, claiming that it encourages undue innovation amongst political leaders and fanatical loyalty to a non-faith based organization among group members. this is the brand of salafism popularized (and financed) by the house of saud. the muslim brotherhood eschews the wahhabist stance on politics, instead insisting that islam is, by nature, political. there is little love lost between the muslim brotherhood in egypt and the saudi religious establishment, which rejects the brotherhood’s participation in politics, calling them the “bankrupt brotherhood” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 112). some members of the muslim brotherhood fear an association with wahhabism and reject the identification with salafism altogether, but a significant portion identify as enlightened salafis, members of a renaissance school of islam founded by modernist scholars jamal ad-din al-afghani and muhammad abduh (haykel, 2009). al-afghani and abduh were two early 20th century reformers who had a profound influence on hassan al-banna. unlike alwahhab, who advocated a literalist approach to the qur’an and hadith, abduh argued that early generations of muslims had produced a successful cosmopolitan civilization because they were unafraid to creatively interpret the qur’an in order to answer pressing social and political needs. abduh suggested that the qur’an and the hadith could be reinterpreted to allow for a fusion between anti-colonial egyptian nationalist movements and orthodox islam. his work provided the blueprint for al-banna, who advocated “resistance to foreign domination through the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 54 the exaltation of islam” (leiken & brooke, p. 108). while the party has evolved since its nascent-days’ quest to oust the british colonial powers, its ongoing commitment to egyptian sovereignty and political reform was evident in the party’s active participation in the recent egyptian revolution. given the frequency with which islamist groups differ over ideological identification, it is unsurprising that western discourse on the subject is riddled with misunderstandings and misrepresentations. depictions of the muslim brotherhood in the media are further complicated by the globalization of the movement. the principles of what began as an egyptian nationalist movement have spread throughout the muslim world, each faction claiming to have its roots in the egyptian muslim brotherhood. but it would be a mistake to perceive all groups that call themselves or associate with the muslim brotherhood as a “monolith”; rather, it is “a collection of national groups with differing outlooks” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 108). to conflate the egyptian muslim brotherhood with its spin-off organizations, such as hamas, or unrelated organizations such as hezbollah, is not only illogical but has “thwarted strategic thinking” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 112), by propagating a caricature in western discourse of islam as a religion that breeds violence and eschews democratic practices. the muslim brotherhood and democracy the question of the compatibility of islam with democracy is the nexus around which the media has discussed the muslim brotherhood’s role in the egyptian revolution. in doing so, many journalists have found scholars or specialists to lend academic authority to proor anti-islamist bias, including most of the journalists surveyed for this paper. the globe and mail’s patrick martin sought the input of alastair crooke, the director of beirut’s conflict forum and author of resistance: essence of islamist revolution. crooke cites the brotherhood’s recent establishment of more moderate adjunct parties as evidence of “a new kind of openness” (as cited in martin, 2011) that will allow the brotherhood’s message to resonate with a wider demographic in the electoral process. in contrast, the national post offers a very different picture, contrasting olivier roy, a professor at the european university institute, to give credit to the assertion that this is a “post-islamist generation” (as cited in goodspeed, 2011) that will embark on a western secular path to democracy. the feasibility of an islamic democracy has been the subject of much debate in western scholarship. arguments hinge on the premise that secularism is a necessary precondition for democracy, and this is certainly the assumption at work in all three of the national post articles surveyed. a correlation between secularism and democracy was famously posited in 1651 with the publication of hobbes’ leviathan, in which hobbes attempts to resolve the tension between obeying the will of god and the rule of law (hashemi, 2009). in subsequent years, this tension received attention by numerous philosophers and politicians and eventually resulted in the 1791 “establishment clause,” the first amendment to the u.s. constitution establishing the sothe arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 55 called “wall of separation” between church and state. for better or worse, the u.s. has become the barometer by which measurements of liberal democracy are set. bernard lewis—perhaps the most vocal critic of the concept of islamic democracy— argues that secularization is unlikely in the muslim world because in islam, unlike christianity, there is “no moral basis or historical precedent for the separation of politics and religion” (hashemi, 2009, p. 19). i would argue that lewis’ theory is based on two questionable assumptions. first, lewis argues that christendom has nurtured a separation between church and state. such a retrospective analysis fails to account for the “mutual interdependence and sometimes union of church and state, not only in…eastern orthodox christianity but in latin christendom as well” (hashemi, 2009, p. 19). the second assumption lewis makes is more problematic: he proposes a parallel between the past and the future by arguing that, since islamic societies were never secular in the past, they could never be secular in the future. this deterministic view of history fails to account for unprecedented events that bring change, such as the 17th century’s european wars of religion, which prompted political theorists to “find a stable basis of legitimacy beyond confessional differences” (taylor, 2007, p. 214). “open” and “closed” secularism i would suggest that the more pertinent question to be asking is not whether islamic societies could mirror the western model of secularism, but whether they need to. western scholars and figures in popular media who argue that democracy will flounder in the middle east because of undue religious influence by parties such as the muslim brotherhood are rooting their arguments in an illusion of secularism that, arguably, does not really exist. secularism in canada has been, in reality, a recent experiment, and already the “assumptions *lewis+ makes of an enduring dualism between church and state in the west” (hashemi, 2009, p. 19) is beginning to fade as the “closed” secularism of the 1960’s-1970’s gives way under pressure to a more “open” secularism—one which allows for the inclusion of religion in the public sphere. canadian secularism, which began as a project to encourage multiculturalism and solve canada’s overt christian privilege, was soon revealed to be “the legacy of a shadow establishment” (bramadat & seljak, 2011, p. 7), a veiled extension of christian influence. canada, like other western states including france, germany, and great britain, has now entered an “ideological interregnum period” (bramadat & seljak, 2011, p. 13), as it tries to determine a new method for handling religious diversity. unfortunately, many journalists have not yet recognized the emergent flaws of secularism, and in reporting on the egyptian revolution, they lament what they perceive to be the muslim brotherhood’s intention to corrupt “our cherished political system” of secularism (jonas, 2011). beyond the flaws inherent in current conceptualizations of western secularism, there are other challenges to secularization in egypt. the first barrier, and the one that has received the most scholarly attention, is the negative association with secularism in the muslim world the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 56 (hashemi, 2009; mcdonald, 2008). historically, in western societies, secularism has been associated with pluralism and religious diversity. however, throughout the muslim world, from indonesia to iraq, “secularism has been associated with repressive regimes, failed development strategies, and foreign intervention” (hashemi, 2009, p. 169). a pew research centre “global attitude project” reported in 2010 that 95% of surveyed egyptian muslims want islam to play a large role in politics, with 80% saying that the role it plays at present is insufficiently small (pew global attitudes report, 2010). for a country in which 93% of the population is sunni muslim, this represents a stunning majority. secularism never developed organically in the muslim world, and indeed in many states secularization never occurred at all. the political ideology of secularism was imported to egypt and other predominately muslim states by western imperialists, and ongoing political secularism after achieving independence is understood by many to be a negative postcolonial legacy (hashemi, 2009; zahid, 2010). thus, it seems both unnecessary and unlikely that the model of secularism popularized in western civic societies could be implemented in egypt. furthermore, there is no indication that the removal of religion from the political sphere would, as hobbes presumed, be necessary to preclude undemocratic practices on the part of religious parties such as the muslim brotherhood. contrary to the understanding promoted in the three articles for the national post, democracy is not necessarily a secular institution; it is simply a system of governance in which citizens are allowed to participate in the legislative process, usually in the form of elected representatives. rights and freedoms are often enshrined in a constitution, which can also provide protection against abuses of power by limiting terms of office and establishing regular elections (etzioni, 2007). the muslim brotherhood has not given any indication that they would act in opposition to these basic tenets of democracy. widely heralded as the most coherent opposition group in egypt, despite being outlawed in 1953, the brotherhood announced in february that it would not “field a presidential candidate or seek a majority in parliament” in the interest of allowing other political parties to organize (fam, 2011). one senior member of the party explained that “it would be unjust if the brotherhood were to come to power before a majority of the society is prepared to support them” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 111). the brotherhood, like other protestors in the egyptian revolution, is interested in individual liberties and opposed to autocracies. if one were to examine the rhetoric espoused by the egyptian muslim brotherhood and clearly delineate their ideology and actions from other islamist groups such as al-gama’a al-islamiyya or islamic jihad, one would be hard-pressed to find reasons to believe that the brotherhood would not act in accordance with baseline democratic constitutional provisions of limited terms and regular elections within a polyarchic system. one of the leaders of the party is quoted as saying that “if the brotherhood should rule unwisely then face electoral defeat we will have failed the people and the new party will have the right to come to power. we will not take away anyone’s rights” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 111). the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 57 unlike the national post, the globe and mail explicitly rejects received doctrines of closed secularism and suggests that egypt could be the next state to join a nascent trend of predominately muslim countries succeeding with a localized version of open secularism. jeffrey simpson notes that turkey, with its “blend of moderate islam and democracy, has brought political stability and economic recovery” (simpson, 2011). until 2007, turkey was in an ongoing state of military-enforced secularism, modelled after france’s laicité. however, in a landslide victory in 2007, islamist abdullah gul was nominated as president, ushering in “a new era in turkish politics” (hashemi, 2009, p. 156) which has allowed “muslim intellectuals, muslim-based parties, and muslim civil society groups to make an important and unique contribution to a process of democratic consolidation” (hashemi, 2009, p. 158). looking further afield, one could easily find other examples of predominately muslim democratic states that have rejected the western model of closed secularism in favour of a localized system crafted to meet the needs of the population. indonesia’s pancasila and malaysia’s dual legal system are two examples of “successful” democracies that have managed to incorporate the communal needs of the muslim population without compromising the liberties of the non-muslim minorities (hashemi, 2009). israel in light of the foregoing examples, one wonders why the national post insists that the muslim brotherhood’s participation in egyptian politics would result in a theocratic tyranny. in answer to this, it is necessary to move beyond surface-level concerns over democracy and address the underlying concern evident in articles from the post: israel. concerns over israel appeared in two of the three articles i sampled from each media outlet, although the term appears earlier and more frequently in the two articles from the national post. the two news organizations display different attitudes toward israel, which helps account for their different levels of support for the muslim brotherhood. the globe and mail, which has been a bastion of liberal sentiment since confederation, acknowledges that the removal of mubarak from the presidency leaves a vacuum of authority that could likely be filled by the muslim brotherhood. jeffrey simpson’s article answering “why did ottawa drag its feet on mubarak?” claims the harper government was “on the wrong side of history” because it continued to see “the middle east through the exclusive prism of israel’s interest” (simpson, 2011). patrick martin goes further in suggesting that many israelis and pro-israel members of the harper government “wanted the revolt to fail” (martin, 2011). both of these articles demonstrate a critical attitude toward israel, and the overt pro-israel policies of the harper government. while it would be false to extrapolate that the globe and mail is in any way antiisrael, both of the articles mentioned demonstrate an awareness that egypt’s cosy relationship with israel was mandated by mubarak and incurred feelings of guilt in many egyptian muslims, who felt that mubarak’s treaty with israel was a betrayal of their palestinian compatriots. as the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 58 opposition leader mohamed elbaradei said in a globe and mail article, “*the israelis+ have a peace treaty with mubarak, but not one with the egyptian people” (jonas, 2011). this type of unilateral policy-making is precisely the type of tyranny of the majority that liberalism is opposed to, and thus the globe and mail’s critical treatment of israel and tolerance of the muslim brotherhood is unsurprising. on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, the national post makes no pretence of its actively pro-israel agenda. media magnate conrad black created the post in 1998 as a conservative alternative to perceived liberal establishment newspapers—most notably, the globe and mail. black later sold the paper to israel asper, under whose auspices the paper gained a reputation for being staunchly pro-israel, a reputation that continued after asper’s death in 2003 (cbc news, 2003). given the frequency and vitriol with which writers for the post relate the muslim brotherhood to the safety of israel, it is clear that recurring prejudicial attitudes toward the muslim brotherhood are motivated by pro-israel sentiment within the post’s corporate structure. writers for the newspaper couch their bias in secularist sentiment. ironically, the pro-israel bias that motivates this sentiment is largely the product of religious zeal that is actually in direct contradiction to the strict secularism they advocate in their articles. the post survives by catering to “theocons” who support stephen harper—many of whom are, like harper, christian evangelists, for whom the safety of the people of israel is not only a matter of human rights, but also a spiritual matter of supreme importance (mcdonald, 2010). certain sects of christianity are as devoted to the dream of a return of the jews to israel as some zionists, perhaps even more so, but for different reasons. some evangelist christians believe that the jews’ “presence *in israel+ is required for the unfolding of the final messianic drama” (paldiel, 2006, p. 8). by peopling his cabinet with such noted christian zionists as stockwell day and james lunney, harper has ensured that his “pro-israel tilt” will translate into pro-israel policy (mcdonald, 2010, p. 333). thus, by affirming “israel’s support of mubarak in egypt” and endorsing harper’s “theocon” political ideology, the post is rejecting the very model of strict secularism they insist must be installed in egypt. according to this double standard, secularism is only necessary when the political elite is non-christian, and democracy should only be encouraged in states that will exercise unconditional support of israel. the national post may be self-contradicting, but they are not entirely unjustified in suggesting that the inclusion of the muslim brotherhood in egyptian politics could fray relations with israel. while the brotherhood renounced violence in 1970, they supported the formation of hamas during the first intifada. more recently, a senior party member acknowledged that “the enmity between *the brotherhood+ and the jews is for the sake of the land only” (leiken & brooke, 2007, p. 11). thus, it is true that while the muslim brotherhood is not opposed to israel’s mere existence, it is opposed to israeli expansionist policies. this still remains a far cry from the rabidly anti-semitic sentiment expressed by ayman al-zawahiri, whom the post invokes in connection to the muslim brotherhood in jonas’ article by insinuating that the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 59 brotherhood was responsible for the assassination of anwar sadat in 1981. leiken and brooke (2007) quote al-zawahiri as saying, “god, glory to him, made the religion the cause of enmity and the cause of our fight” (p. 116). this is yet another instance in which “members of the western media… have pointed to the most extreme of muslim political tracts and suggested that these are what islamism, or even islam, is really about” (tripp, 2009). conclusion the media serves both to shape and represent public discourse. the ways these two national newspapers have reported on the muslim brotherhood and the egyptian revolution are premised on divergent values around secularism and democracy, and different understandings of islamism. consequently, informed representations of the muslim brotherhood are compromised in favour of promoting institutional ideological agendas. to promote their various visions of the brotherhood, both the globe and mail and the national post present a static portrayal of what is, in reality, a dynamic and evolving organization. furthermore, images of democracy and secularism around the globe are changing to accommodate shifting demographics and global economic developments. closed secularism is waning as open secularism takes its place. the strict sovereignty of the westphalian state system has evolved to allow for regional supranational alliances. mohammad abduh’s brand of salafism, which provided the foundation for al-banna’s movement, allows for such accommodation. consequently, popular media outlets that disseminate caricatures of the muslim brotherhood as a reactionary bulwark of a by-gone era are establishing themselves in that very position by clinging to antique ideals of democracy and secularism. both national newspapers are attempting to shape nation-wide understandings of islamism, but what is revealed in a comparison is a conflict over what democracy and secularism should look like, not only in egypt but also in canada and around the globe. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 60 references bramadat, p., & seljak, d. (in press). between secularism and post-secularism: a canadian interregnum. in a. laliberté, b. berman, & r. bhargava (eds.), the secular state and religious diversity: secularism, tolerance, and accommodation. vancouver: university of british columbia press. etzioni, a. (2007). security first: for a muscular, moral foreign policy. new haven, ct: yale university press. fam, m. (2011, march 20). egypt backs constitutional changes that may aid brotherhood, mubarak party. bloomberg. goodspeed, p. (2011, february 26). what comes after the revolution. the national post. hashemi, n. (2009). islam, secularism, and liberal democracy: toward a democratic theory for muslim societies. new york, ny: oxford university press, inc. hassan, n. (2009). ambivalent doctrines and conflicts in the salafi movement in indonesia. in meijer, r. (ed), global salafism: islam’s new religious movement (169-188). new york, ny: columbia university press. haykel, b. (2009). on the nature of salafi thought and action. in meijer r. (ed), global salafism: islam’s new religious movement (33-51). new york, ny: columbia university press. hegghammer, t. (2009). jihadi-salafis or revolutionaries? on religion and politics in the study of militant islamism. in r. meijer(ed), global salafism: islam’s new religious movement (pp. 244-266). new york, ny: columbia university press. “indepth: israel asper”. (2003, october 7). cbc news. jonas, g. (2011, february 8). opening a backdoor to theocracy. the national post. leiken, r. s. & brooke s. (2007). the moderate muslim brotherhood. foreign affairs, 86(2), 107121. littlejohn, s. w. & foss, k. a. (2008). theories of human communication. 9 th ed. belmont, ca: thomson wadsworth. martin, p. (2011, february 25). how will the arab spring reshape the middle east? the globe and mail. mcdonald, k. (2008). globalization, civil imagination and islamic movements. in sajoo, a. b. (ed.), muslim modernities: expressions of the civil imagination (183-205). london: i.b. tauris & co. mcdonald, m. (2010). the armageddon factor: the rise of christian nationalism in canada. toronto: random house canada. moosa, e. (2005). ghazali and the poetics of imagination. chapel hill, nc: university of north carolina press. paldiel, m. (2006). churches and the holocaust: unholy teachings, good samaritans, and reconciliation. jersey city, nj: ktav publishing house. simpson, j. (2011, february 11). why did ottawa drag its feet on mubarak? the globe and mail. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 61 taylor, c. (2007). a secular age. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. the globe and mail. (2011). in encyclopedia britannica. tripp, c. (2009). all (muslim) politics is local: how context shapes islam in power. foreign affairs, 88(5), 124-130. retrieved from: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65229/charles-tripp/all-muslim-politics-is-local urban, g. (2008). the circulation of secularism. international journal of politics, culture, and society, 21(1), 17-37. worthington, p. (2011, february 25). some of jimmy carter’s best friends aren’t terrorists. the national post. youssef, m. (2011, february 19). egypt recognizes moderate islamic party, promises to release political prisoners. the globe and mail. zahid, m. (2010). the muslim brotherhood and egypt’s succession crisis: the politics of liberalisation and reform in the middle east. london: tauris academic studies. contact information sarah moselle, religious studies, can be reached at smoselle@uvic.ca. acknowledgements the author would like to express her gratitude to dr. paul bramadat and the community of scholars at the centre for studies in religion and society at the university of victoria for helping to deepen her insight into this subject matter. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 62 what can teachers do to improve reading comprehension?: an examination of second language reading research and implications for english language teaching practices carrie hill abstract: this paper looks at english-as-an-additional-language (eal) reading research and the implications it has for teachers. in particular, research focusing on second language (l2) reading comprehension is reviewed, deficiencies noted, and teaching methods reviewed. key terms: eal, l2 reading comprehension, teaching methods, second language research introduction for citizens of the western world, the ability to read is crucial in everyday life. canada is a culturally diverse country, and, as a result, increasing numbers of students are learning english as an additional language (eal). this paper examines the literature in second language (l2) reading comprehension, the research surrounding l2 reading comprehension, and the critical need to reflect on and/or review teaching practices in l2 reading classrooms. the focus will be on defining comprehension in relation to l2 reading; significant research breakthroughs in understanding how comprehension in l2 reading is achieved; and some commonly used methods in l2 reading pedagogy. what is to be demonstrated throughout this paper is that while great advancements have been made in language research to better understand the needs of l2 english learners, there is a need to assess whether or not research can be further incorporated into a teacher’s decision making in order to enrich and improve the learners’ reading abilities. comprehension comprehension is recognized as an acquired skill that is focused on the understanding of input. oxford english dictionary (2010) defines comprehension as “the action or fact of comprehending with the mind; understanding; … grasping with the mind, power of receiving and containing ideas.” brown (2007) identifies comprehension as “the process of receiving language; listening or reading; input” (p. 379). comprehension is the ability to take in information, analyze it in its respective segments, and come up with an understanding of the input in a cohesive and accurate manner. well-developed comprehension abilities involve interactive strategy use to come up with a meaningful understanding of the input (lin, 2010). therefore, comprehension may not be exclusively devoted to input alone; it may also affect the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 63 fluency of a learner’s output. fluency–the amalgamation of competence (one’s underlying knowledge) and performance (one’s overt, external actions or behaviours)–can be identified as an aspect of comprehension, as it can transfer comprehensible information to other aspects of language proficiency such as writing and speaking with little attentional effort (brown, 2007; grabe, 2010). above all, comprehension can be identified as an interactive, strategic process which, when fully developed, results in reading fluency. types of comprehension several different views have sought to accurately define l2 reading comprehension. a thorough literature review reveals that it is clear that there is no one kind of comprehension when it comes to reading. brantmeier (2003) claims that there “is not one true comprehension, but a range of comprehension” (p. 4). day and park (2005), on the other hand, discuss reading comprehension in terms of several different types. in their research, they classify reading comprehension into six different modes of comprehension that can work together in parallel and/or in a linear fashion:  literal comprehension is described as the “understanding of the straightforward meaning of the text” (day & park, 2005, p. 62). this means that any answers to questions coming from a text would be explicitly outlined in the reading. an example of this would be discovering specific vocabulary items and/or their meanings within a text;  reorganization occurs when readers must find various pieces of information from a reading and combine them for additional understanding. in this way, readers still use literal comprehension, but it is applied to several areas of text in order to answer more specific questions related to the text (day & park, 2005);  inference requires learners to go a step beyond literal understanding and to combine and use their own knowledge in order to come up with answers to implicitly stated information (day & park, 2005);  prediction combines a reader’s prior knowledge with his or her understanding of a passage in order to guess as to what happens next; each answer, however, must be supported by the text in order to be valid (day & park, 2005);  evaluation requires a learner to have a general knowledge of the topic under examination and an understanding of the reading material in order to give judgment or opinion about the text (day & park, 2005);  personal response is an open-ended type of comprehension used by readers in order to provide their feelings about the topic. in order to have a valid answer, they need to have reasoned their feelings in relation to the text (day & park, 2005). when used in parallel with each other, these types of comprehension work very well as an overall approach to many different aspects of reading. however, each classification has its own weaknesses: literal comprehension cannot account for abstract information such as tone and irony—reorganization is simply an extension of this, being literal in its own right; and the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 64 evaluation, prediction, personal experience, and inference are not possible without an adequate knowledge of the subject matter, in both parsing word for word and in depth contextually as a whole. to add to this, none of these types of comprehension accounts for cultural factors, which can be problematic when attempting to look at l2 reading patterns across various cultures. for instance, how can different cultures read the same passage and gain different interpretations of the text? this is an important question that must be taken seriously when trying to identify the weaknesses of contemporary language teaching in culturally diverse classrooms. factors that affect l2 comprehension there has been extensive research in l2 reading comprehension, and over the last twenty years, there have been enormous breakthroughs in understanding significant factors including, but not restricted to, lexical processing (how the brain makes meaning out of input), eye movements, cultural familiarity, and first language (l1) effects. such factors play enormous roles in reading comprehension for many different reasons and are discussed further in the following four subsections. lexical processing lexical processing is a sequence of processes that are consciously utilized in order for an l2 learner to recognize and access the meanings of word-forms in a text (tily, fedorenko, & gibson, 2010). many of the reading skills required for fluency are gained through implicit learning and reading practice rather than from explicit language instruction (grabe, 2010). in order to gain automatic access to words and their meanings, processing has to be practiced to a point that the lexical information contained in words takes less cognitive attention because it is easily recognized at surface value. in fact, many studies support the notion that extensive reading practice is the key contributor to reading comprehension improvement, as word recognition alone is often insufficient (grabe, 1991; grabe, 2010; grabe & stoller, 2001; nassaji, 2003). many studies advocate training learners to become automatic in word recognition for increased fluency (chang, 2010), as automatic word recognition is crucial to fluent l2 reading comprehension (grabe, 2010). what has been found, though, is by no means insignificant. in terms of word frequency, high-frequency verbs are recognized and comprehended faster than low-frequency verbs because of ease of lexical access (i.e., how quickly one can access the meanings of these verbs in the brain) (tily et al., 2010). according to laufer and ravenhorst-kalovski (2010), higher levels of l2 reading comprehension are demonstrable through more fluent reading of frequent words, and through a higher proficiency of lexical decoding that lower-level readers do not possess because of a more limited vocabulary repertoire. they also stated that “the relationship between coverage (i.e., the amount that is read) and vocabulary implies that even a small increase in lexical coverage may be just as beneficial to reading as a larger increase in the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 65 coverage” (p. 24), which indicates that any minor improvement to vocabulary accounts for significant advancements toward increasingly fluent reading comprehension. chun (2001) supports this, claiming that l2 learners with low proficiency in their second language rely more on vocabulary knowledge than learners with high proficiency. in addition, there have been important morphological discoveries. rayner (1998) and nassaji (2003) found that the more morphologically complex a word is—that is, the more units of meaning a word has contained within the word-form—the longer it will take to analyze. l2 reading is more heavily reliant on lexical-semantic processing, (i.e., what words mean in context) than on syntactic processing (i.e., where words fits in the sentence. this indicates if word automaticity is reached, then sentence order (syntax) will be needed less during parsing than the content within the sentence itself in order to find contextual meaning. this is a significant realization in the quest for effective l2 reading strategies, as it clearly states that automaticity paves the way to l2 comprehension and overall fluency. eye-tracking eye-tracking has become arguably one of the most fascinating topics to date in learning how the eyes contribute to information processing at a surface level before taking comprehension into account. over the last twenty years, eye-tracking has discovered how different kinds of saccadic movements—rapid eye movements which encode visual information—relate to reading (dussias, 2010; rayner, 1998); how two languages are stored inside a human brain (dussias, 2010); how these languages interact with one another (dussias, 2010); and how perceptual span length—the visual field or region a reader has when fixating on text (rayner, 1998)—has been consistently found across languages in relation to saccadic movement (dussias, 2010; rayner, 1998). in any language, words are not read in a fluid manner: they are seen through saccadic movement and fixations which occur “halfway between the beginning and the middle of the word” (dussias, 2010, p. 151). between these saccadic movements, readers tend to pause on words in fixation periods between 200-250 ms/average (dussias, 2010; rayner, 1998; rayner & clifton, 2009). saccades can be broken down into several types (rayner, 1998; dussias, 2010): rightward saccades are used to perpetually move through the text, whereas the other four types are used to correct inefficient text processing (rayner, 1998). regressions occur when eyes go back a length of a few letters in order to reprocess a word that may not have been recognized properly during the fixation. according to rayner (1998), this can be due to excessively long fixation periods through which the text is not correctly processed. typically, if regressions move beyond a few letters, the indication is that the reader misunderstood the content. return sweeps occur when a reader returns his or her eyes to an exact fixation point that caused trouble with processing. higher-proficiency readers typically use this, as they can determine where in the text they ran into trouble. this is different from lower-proficiency readers, who backtrack through text they have already read until they discover where they ran the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 66 into comprehension trouble and then proceed to re-read the entire section all over again because of contextual knowledge loss (rayner, 1998). corrective saccades tend to occur after return sweeps, which are movements that correctly re-identify text (rayner, 1998). one point of significance to note that eye-tracking has discovered is that text must be recognized quickly during eye movement, or else the eyes continue to the next piece of text without fully processing the word left behind (dussias, 2010; rayner & clifton, 2009). this has great implications for contextual understanding in lower-proficiency l2 readers of english, as content words are more likely to be fixated on than function words (rayner, 1998) and lowfrequency words tend to cause more difficulty and longer fixations than high-frequency words (rayner & clifton, 2009; tily et al., 2010). without the knowledge and meaning of content words, important pieces of the text will be “lost in translation”; that is, significant information will be lost because the lack of lexical proficiency in reading prohibits immediate word recognition. even minor delays in recognizing word meaning will have repercussions because the eyes will have already moved on to other word-forms in the text (rayner & clifton, 2009), and the end result is poor comprehension (chang, 2010). another discovery in eye-tracking has been the identification of perceptual span. this grants access to field recognition several letters ahead of the word being fixated, which allows readers to preemptively prepare for oncoming information by freeing attention resources (nassaji, 2003; rayner, 1998). when reading in left-to-right orthographic systems such as english or dutch, readers’ perceptual span stretches from three to four letters at the point of saccadic fixation to fourteen to fifteen letters to the right of the fixation (dussias, 2010; rayner, 1998; rayner & clifton, 2009). this is found similarly in right-to-left languages such as hebrew. chinese, on the other hand, has a perceptual span of approximately one character to the left and three to four to the right, a stark contrast to either of the above writing systems. rayner (1998) argues that because chinese has more information encoded into each character, the perceptual span is going to be more constricted. even without directly fixating upon future content, readers still process words in such a way as to create lexical priming for future word recognition. the benefits that have resulted from studying eye-tracking are note worthy. however, all of the knowledge demonstrated by eye-tracking lacks the internal process—the aforementioned information is found simply by observing the outward responses of the body to stimulus. although every step taken with eye-tracking is serial (rayner & clifton, 2009), the question remains: is l2 reading comprehension itself entirely serial? it would be counterintuitive to assume that reading is a series of linear steps and processes when comprehension itself requires many different strategies working simultaneously in order for a reader to process information in a text (miller & perkins, 1990). cultural familiarity the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 67 another significant factor to examine is how cultural factors shape reading comprehension. numerous studies have shown a positive correlation between cultural familiarity and reading comprehension (brantmeier, 2003; erten & razi, 2009; keshavarz, atai, & ahmadi, 2007). this literature has shown that the more culturally familiar a text is to a reader, the more likely an l2 reader is going to be able to comprehend it. it is useful to be aware of various cultural materials for implementing innovative approaches to reading comprehension instruction. furthermore, it has been suggested that perhaps l2 comprehension development varies from culture to culture because of a varying combination of information organization preferences between groups (grabe, 1991). with ever-increasing numbers of multi-cultural learners in eal classrooms, teachers are faced with a growing problem: how can all of these learners be accommodated equally? brantmeier (2003) discusses in her literature that l2 learners tend to make different judgments on the level of a text’s reading difficulty depending on how familiar the cultural content is to the reader. certain reading strategies may be common among certain cultures, but it is important to remember that individuals are more than the stereotypes and generalizations of their cultures and may not necessarily use the same approaches as the dominant culture in order to improve reading proficiency in the l2. this is important to consider when choosing reading texts, also, as the interpretation of a text will vary from culture to culture (brantmeier, 2003; parry, 1996). when reading texts with unfamiliar cultural patterns, l2 readers will often revert to their own cultural norms in an attempt to interpret the text, which may result in unsuccessful comprehension (erten & razi, 2009). erten and razi conducted a study in order to determine whether or not the “nativization”—using culture-specific information in order to make text meaningful and thus comprehensible—of a text provided enough cultural familiarity to better comprehend a text. the result of their research indicates that cultural nativization plays a role in increased text understanding, decreases the cognitive load needed for comprehension, and increases the motivation to learn. the effect of l1 on l2 reading it is evident through different studies that l1 does play a role in l2 reading comprehension and that the use of l1 “is beneficial at all levels of esl” (seng & hashim, 2006, p. 30). furthermore, l1 mental translation has been shown to be “an important part of the l2 reading comprehension process” (seng & hashim, 2006, p. 30). while l2 reading acquisition is taught at an earlier stage than in the l1, the l1 contributes significant background information, cultural worldviews, and linguistic knowledge (fecteau, 1999). l1 plays a role in both lowerlevel comprehension and advanced comprehension, but in very different ways. for instance, as a lower-level l2 reader of english, one might use his or her l1 to convey his or her understanding of the text that was just read on account of having insufficient knowledge of the language to demonstrate understanding in the l2 (fecteau, 1999). as an upper-level l2 reader the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 68 of english, however, one might employ his or her l1 reading strategies in l2 tasks. to be able to do this may require a higher measure of reading proficiency. many studies have indicated that both l1 reading skills and l2 linguistic knowledge contribute to l2 reading comprehension (fecteau, 1999). for example, many l2 reading errors are the result of lexical knowledge gaps which can be supplemented by l1 lexical inference, depending on the reader’s proficiency level (fecteau, 1999). another factor to consider when examining the effects of l1 on l2 reading comprehension is the contribution of language transfer and interference. brown (2007) defines transfer as “the carryover of previous performance or knowledge to subsequent learning” (p. 102). interference, on the other hand, is defined as “a previous item that is incorrectly transferred or incorrectly associated with an item to be learned” (brown, 2007, p.102). transfer can be facilitative, especially in cases where the l1 and the l2 structures are similar and share cognates (i.e., similar word-forms with identical meanings); however, interference can play a negative role to varying degrees during the reading process. examples of interference include incorrect associations of false cognates (i.e., similar looking word-forms with different meanings) and the use of l1 syntax in l2 production. overcoming such interference may require extensive lexical training with regard to word recognition. for example, through extensive reading practice (i.e., reading as much as possible), one way of improving comprehension and increasing reading fluidity can be achieved (nassaji, 2003). the emergence of electronic reading electronic reading (e-reading) has exploded as a medium for reading materials over the last several years and has even gone so far as to challenge traditional reading methods (e.g., books). there are definite advantages to e-reading, such as having accessible material to a large number of people at any given time, being able to access thousands of books and articles very quickly by pressing a few buttons, and the ability to store many articles into a storage space of minimal size. furthermore, the capability of networking to thousands of information sources with millions of books, articles, and periodicals provides limitless possibilities for sharing information that was not previously available. kang, wang, and lin’s (2008) study has provided evidence that learners involved in the e-reading process can be just as accurate in their comprehension abilities as they are while using traditional reading methods, if not more accurate. kang et al. found that learners would often require more time than learners using traditional media in order to break down and analyze digital text; however, their accuracy in locating specific information was superior to learners using paper versions containing the same information. in this case, they argue that online reading comprehension is superior to traditional reading comprehension. on the other hand, e-reading has certain physiological disadvantages such as increased susceptibility to eye fatigue (kang et al., 2008). this can decrease word-recognition accuracy and, subsequently, the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 69 comprehension. as well, e-reading is reliant on a power source to function, whereas traditional reading media are not. huang, chern, and lin (2009) claim that l2 reading has been redefined by the onset of this reading medium and that l2 learners require new comprehension strategies in order to cope. they argue that learners need special skills when reading text online, as the internet provides new features to readers in processing that are not used in traditional reading media, such as pop-ups and news sidebars (huang et al., 2009). however, these features are not necessarily a hindrance: chun’s study (2001) found that incorporating features into online reading such as internal glosses for new or unknown vocabulary led to an increased understanding of the text. she suggests that if vocabulary meanings are immediately accessible, the reading process may improve in speed and in accuracy (chun, 2001). however, it is uncertain if these improvements exist across an entire group of learners or only from individual to individual, which results in weakening the study’s validity. e-reading has not existed long enough for extensive research to be available regarding its long-term uses and its efficacy in comparison to traditional reading methods in terms of comprehension processing, strategy use, and recall. in many ways, e-reading is still in its infancy; therefore, l2 readers’ strategy use will need to be critically examined if l2 reading researchers want to gain a fuller understanding of the implications of e-reading in l2 reading comprehension. such examinations would include whether or not new reading strategies are necessary, what these strategies would be, and how to apply them to language teaching in order for l2 learners to benefit from them. issues with the current research although much has been learned in the realm of l2 reading research, there are still knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. the first to consider is how comprehension can negatively affect fluency. nassaji (2003) found that “linguistic deficiency constrains the reading comprehension process, and limited language proficiency leads to inefficient processing of text” (p. 263). this means that depending on the proficiency level of the learner, more time and cognitive attention will be spent on decoding the message rather than lessening the cognitive workload, which has been shown to be a preliminary stage of fluency development and effective comprehension. the instructor may need to allocate more time to reading tasks for lower-level readers, not only for comprehension, but also for creating more opportunities to build automaticity in word recognition. this is not something that can be neglected when trying to help a l2 learner become proficient in reading the target language. the second issue is the assumption that learners with seemingly proficient eal abilities who have completed advanced-level language courses will have similar reading proficiency skills in the l2 (guo & roehrig, 2011). this assumption has not been supported empirically. as a result, l2 reading instructors face the challenge of having learners with various ranges of the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 70 reading levels in their class as opposed to the advanced proficiency that the instructor was expecting (fecteau, 1999). the gap in learners’ reading abilities must first be addressed before advanced instruction can begin. the question is where a language instructor starts. this expectation of parallel proficiencies is problematic, as oral and reading skills greatly differ in the processes that are active and working (yang, s., 2010), so to assume that an eal learner with strong l1 reading proficiency will have equally strong reading proficiency in his or her l2 is questionable. oral and reading processes may overlap in some instances, but they are by no means identical. as such, to what extent can oral proficiency truly reflect a learner’s reading proficiency? the third concern to note is that most research in eal and reading comprehension is based on the findings of l1 reading which, while valuable, cannot be equivocated to the possibilities of l2 learning. the processes of l1 reading and l2 reading require further examination. these l2 reading strategies are not necessarily the same for eal as they are for l1 reading acquisition. as a result of the need to bridge this gap, our knowledge of eal reading comprehension can be greatly enriched by incorporating e-reading factors into l2 reading research and by conducting empirical studies to determine if e-reading truly does utilize comprehension strategies that traditional reading media do not. the final point to note is the ramifications of online reading on l2 comprehension. more research is needed in order to understand the implications of e-reading on eal readers and whether or not their comprehension abilities are consistent with traditional reading comprehension abilities when their attention is devoted to reading tasks on a computer screen. limited studies have examined the correlations among efficiency, accuracy, strategy use, and comprehension with regard to eal and e-reading methods. furthermore, few studies exist that empirically substantiate the use of e-reading strategies and whether these strategies are necessarily the same as the strategies in use during conventional l2 reading (huang et al., 2009). factors related to efficiency, accuracy, and strategy use are going to become increasingly critical to uncover as the popularity of e-reading grows. teaching methods the importance of teaching methods that cater to every l2 reader in a way that both draws on a learner’s prior knowledge and continually challenges the learner in a meaningful and relevant way cannot be stressed enough. one can imagine how eal reading instruction is shaped, considering that “most of our current views of [second language] reading are shaped by research on first language learners” (grabe, 1991, p. 378). while there are many approaches to teaching reading comprehension, most if not all of these approaches have drawbacks which only indicate that there is no one true path for teaching comprehension successfully to all l2 readers (brantmeier, 2003). this is elaborated on below as the pros and the cons of more the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 71 commonly acknowledged teaching methods used for reading comprehension instruction are discussed: (1) comprehension monitoring: “the ability to know what has been done right or wrong, and to integrate new information with prior existing knowledge” (yang, y., 2002, p. 19). while this approach is excellent for detecting errors in reading through activities such as notetaking and retelling, it is more useful for more proficient readers than it is for novice readers, as higher-level learners will be able to detect inconsistencies in their reading, whereas lower-level learners may not. the effectiveness of readers’ comprehension monitoring “*lies+ in their reading proficiency, rather than their language background” (yang, y., 2002, p. 22). however, comprehension monitoring is not without its limitations. this approach may not necessarily be cross-culturally feasible to incorporate across contexts. for example, native-speaking english instructors teaching abroad will find that comprehension monitoring is rarely implemented in efl (english-as-a-foreign language) contexts (yang, y., 2002). as a result, in eal contexts, using comprehension monitoring with learners who are not familiar with using this approach may not benefit in the reading activity as effectively, as they may be unsure of what is expected of them. furthermore, comprehension monitoring may be problematic for less proficient l2 readers, as they are less likely to notice problems in their comprehension despite having the strategic tools to face their challenges (yang, y., 2002). (2) bottom-up approach: individual units or pieces of language that contribute to the overall interpretation of text (celce-murcia, 2001). this approach systematically breaks words down into individual units in order to comprehend the word meaning before reintegrating it into the learner’s lexicon (the part of the brain where words and their meanings are stored). while this approach is useful for determining the word’s meaning through decoding sounds and reintegrating the combined meanings of each word, it does not automatically contribute to the improvement of contextual awareness in a given text, which makes any sort of non-literal text interpretation all the more challenging to an eal learner (nassaji, 2003). this can result in cognitive overload, which, more or less, will cause comprehension breakdown during the reading process. (3) top-down approach: understanding the text’s overall theme or purpose in order to grasp isolated words and sounds (celce-murcia, 2001). the top-down approach is emphasized more in classrooms today but is not necessarily the most effective approach for each and every reading situation. the use of bottom-up and topdown processing is context-dependent. in some cases, individual words need attention (bottom-up) whereas in other cases, the entire context requires focus (top-down). to add to this, there will likely be individual learner variables such as culture for one approach preference or the other, with the less-used method working along the periphery of the preferred reading strategies in use in order to aid with filling in knowledge gaps where the primary approach fails to glean understanding. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 72 conclusion to conclude, there have been numerous discoveries in the understanding of l2 reading comprehension through a variety of research. there are now a number of approaches to teaching l2 reading as a result, which aid in the development of lexical automaticity in comprehension and the progression of reading fluency. however, there are some challenges that need to be addressed. with the increasing use of e-reading, the implications for l2 reading respective to e-reading research remain scant. more efforts need to be made in the research community to bridge the gap between research and pedagogy by integrating empirically substantiated research into classroom teaching methods and by understanding the reading needs of the students. eal instructors need to explicitly teach their students skills in independent strategy use while actively engaging in reading tasks. by doing this, students will be better able to take control of their own learning, and language teachers will be able to make well-informed pedagogical decisions in their classrooms. 1 1 i am aware of the importance of critical reading skills in l2; however, this topic is beyond the scope of this paper. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 73 references brantmeier, c. (2003). does gender make a difference? passage content and comprehension in second language reading. reading in a foreign language, 15(1), 1-27. brown, h. d. (2007). principles of language learning and teaching. new york: pearson education. chang, a. c. s. (2010). the effect of a timed reading activity on efl learners: speed, comprehension, and perceptions. reading in a foreign language, 22(2), 284-303. chun, d. m. (2001). l2 reading on the web: strategies for accessing information in hypermedia. computer assisted language learning, 14(5), 367-403. day, r. r., & park, j. s. (2005). developing reading comprehension questions. reading in a foreign language, 17(1), 60-73. dussias, p. e. (2010). uses of eye-tracking data in second language sentence processing research. annual review of applied linguistics, 30, 149-166. erten, h. e., & razi, s. (2009). the effects of cultural familiarity on reading comprehension. reading in a foreign language, 21(1), 60-77. fecteau, m. l. 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(2009). usability evaluation of e-books. displays, 30, 49-52. keshavarz, m. h., atai, m. r., & ahmadi, h. (2007). content schemata, linguistic simplification, and efl readers’ comprehension and recall. reading in a foreign language, 19(1), 1933. laufer, b., & ravenhorst-kalovski, g. c. (2010). lexical threshold revisited: lexical text coverage, learners’ vocabulary size and reading comprehension. reading in a foreign language, 22(1), 15-30. lin, l. (2010). the impact of the retelling technique on chinese students’ english reading comprehension. asian efl journal, 12(2), 163-191. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 74 miller, l. d., & perkins, k. (1990). esl reading comprehension instruction. relc journal, 79-94. nassaji, h. (2003). higher-level and lower-level text processing skills in advanced esl reading comprehension. the modern language journal, 87(2), 261-276. oxford english dictionary (2 nd ed.). (2010). oxford, uk: oxford up. parry, k. (1996). culture, literacy, and l2 reading. tesol quarterly, 30(4), 665-692. rayner, k. (1998). eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research. psychological bulletin, 124(3), 372-422. rayner, k., & clifton jr., c. (2009). language processing in reading and speech perception is fast and incremental: implications for event-related potential research. biological psychology, 80, 4-9. seng, g. h., & hashim, f. (2006). use of l1 in l2 reading comprehension among tertiary esl learners. reading in a foreign language, 18(1), 29-54. tily, h., fedorenko, e., & gibson, e. (2010). the time-course of lexical and structural processes in sentence comprehension. the quarterly journal of experimental psychology, 63(5), 910-927. yang, s. (2010). the influence of schema and cultural difference on l1 and l2 reading. english language teaching, 3(4), 175-180. yang, y. (2002). reassessing readers’ comprehension monitoring. reading in a foreign language, 14(1), 18-42. contact information carrie hill, from the department of applied linguistics, can be contacted at hillcj@uvic.ca or justanotherlinguist@gmail.com. acknowledgements this paper was previously presented in linguistics 373 in november 2010. i wish to thank dr. lishih huang for her endless support and guidance and my peers for their helpful critical feedback. all errors are my own. the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 91 allied interpreters: exploring the role perception and ethics of uncertified interpreters supporting migrant agricultural workers in british columbia arista marthyman1 arista@uvic.ca abstract uncertified interpreters enable migrant agricultural workers in canada’s seasonal agricultural worker program to access key resources and connect with community. through providing a range of services, including support work and advocacy, interpreters assist migrant workers at risk of exploitation and injury in canada. this article explores how uncertified interpreters navigate the power dynamics between migrant workers, interpreters, and other actors. moreover, this article investigates how uncertified interpreters perceive their role and the ethical values that guide their communicative methods. this study’s research findings show that interpreters may adopt a proworker role perception as they gain knowledge of the disempowerment experienced by migrant workers. arising from this role perception, interpreters may also adopt pro-worker ethical values that renounce interpreter neutrality in favour of accessibility and an explanatory communication style. ultimately, this article contends that uncertified interpreters may reject some traditional interpretation guidelines to adopt a role perception, ethical framework, and communicative style perceived to be more well-suited to supporting migrant farm workers in british columbia. keywords: seasonal agricultural worker program; migrant workers; british columbia; ethics; interpretation 1 my most sincere gratitude goes towards dr. anelyse weiler for her kindness, encouragement, patience, and expertise in the supervision of this project. thank you to my family, mentors, friends, and incredible research participants for teaching me, joining me on my research journey, and shaping my passion for labour rights. i would also like to thank the jamie cassels undergraduate research awards for funding this research. doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 file:///c:/users/arist/appdata/local/packages/microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe/localstate/files/s0/3/attachments/arista@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 92 introduction in july 2021, residents of the pacific northwest faced an unprecedented heat dome in addition to forest fires, smoke pollution, and outbreaks of covid-19. under such extreme conditions, migrant farm workers continued to perform the physically taxing and low-wage work that is unattractive to most canadians (“heat wave,” 2021). local journalist madison erhardt (2021) wrote that migrant worker housing in the interior of british columbia was often unequipped for the extreme weather, and, in some cases, workers were unable to access clean drinking water. in response, migrant justice advocacy organization radical action with migrants in agriculture (rama) raised awareness, provided community support to workers, and distributed food and water. even in such extreme environmental conditions, local news sources reported that some migrant workers feared that receiving support from rama could cost them their jobs due to their precarious immigration status (“heat wave,” 2021). this situation points to the pervasive vulnerability of migrant farm workers within canada’s seasonal agricultural worker program (sawp). migrant workers, also known as temporary foreign workers, are recruited from lower-income countries through transnational employment programs to work in canada on a temporary basis (lee et al., 2022; polanco & zell, 2017). hired through a low-wage stream of the temporary foreign worker program (tfwp), migrant agricultural workers often perform strenuous, tedious, and poorly compensated work (andré, 1990). while employed in these roles, migrant workers also face a disproportionate risk of workplace abuse due to the considerable power that employers have over migrant employees (strauss & mcgrath, 2017). indeed, speaking out against employers can jeopardize the livelihood of workers, who often live in employer-provided housing and are vulnerable to deportation (2017). as bhuyan et al. demonstrate in their 2018 article on canada’s tfwp, certain practices within canada’s sawp constitute a form of “structural violence” that places migrant workers at a disproportionate risk for physical and psychological harm (p. 614). the power that the sawp gives to the employers of migrant workers, the inaccessibility of migrant worker support systems, and the inadequacy of regulatory workplace protections all contribute to the structural violence perpetuated by the program (bhuyan et al., 2018; lee et al., 2022; robillard et al., 2018). to combat the disempowerment of migrant workers, many non-profit and community organizations in canada provide workers with resources and wide-ranging forms of support. within these sectors, uncertified interpreters connect non-fluent workers to community and social services. these interpreters therefore hold positions of trust and must manage complex ethical considerations in their work. thus, this study investigates how role perception, ethical values, and communicative methods influence how uncertified interpreters support migrant workers. the research findings of this study suggest that uncertified interpreters for migrant workers may develop a pro-worker role perception and reject traditional ethical values in favour of contextually relevant values and communicative methods. the structural violence of the seasonal agricultural worker program historically, canada’s seasonal agricultural worker program (sawp) was a transnational employment program established in 1966 in response to employer reports of a shortage of lowwage agricultural laborers in canada (andré, 1990; horgan & liinamaa, 2015; mysyk et al., 2009; polanco & zell, 2017). the reported decrease in and continuing demand for agricultural workers doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 93 in canada led canadian farmers to recruit workers from low-income countries as a stopgap measure (andré, 1990; polanco & zell, 2017). since then, the sawp has expanded dramatically despite allegations of rampant workplace exploitation and abuse of migrant workers (basok, 2009; caxaj, 2021; cortina-castro & kobayashi, 2020; horgan & liinamaa, 2017; polanco & zell, 2017; prokopenko & hou, 2018). several structural factors exacerbate the risk of workplace abuse in the sawp (bhuyan et al., 2018; robillard et al., 2018). first, the sawp allows employers to dismiss and deport migrant workers without sufficient avenues for workers to appeal this process (cole et al., 2019; cortinacastro & kobayashi, 2020; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). since sawp workers are assigned temporary work visas linked to specific employers, workplace dismissal can jeopardize the immigration status of migrant labourers (binford, 2019; edmiston, 2020; preibisch, 2004; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). some employers exploit this vulnerability to keep workers trapped in harmful employment situations; moreover, if a sawp employer suspects an employee of reporting an injury or workplace violation, the employer may retaliate by threatening workers with deportation (bhuyan et al., 2018; mysyk et al., 2009; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). second, the sawp requires that employers provide housing to migrant workers, which gives employers unchecked power over the employees who live on their properties (caxaj & cohen, 2019). academics and reporters in the field of labour rights have shown that the housing provided to migrant agricultural workers is often overcrowded, unsafe, in close proximity to pollutants (such as agrochemicals), and lacking in adequate hygiene facilities (bhuyan et al., 2018; caxaj & cohen, 2019; edmiston, 2020). these inhumane conditions also contributed to covid19 infections and the covid-related deaths of migrant workers during the pandemic (lee et al., 2022). moreover, some employers have used their positions as landlords to surveil and prevent workers from accessing community resources, securing reliable transportation, shopping for groceries, or partaking of life beyond the bounds of their employer’s property (caxaj & cohen, 2019; preibisch, 2004). thirdly, government regulation of the sawp is inadequate and demonstratively biased towards employers (caxaj & cohen, 2019; cole et al., 2019;). through complaint-driven systems, government regulatory bodies require migrant workers to identify and report workplace violations committed by their employers (caxaj & cohen, 2019; edmiston, 2020; strauss & mcgrath, 2019). however, formal regulatory processes often fail to prevent workplace abuse since workers often lack the legal knowledge required to identify the illegality of employer actions, are generally nonfluent speakers of english and/or french, and remain vulnerable to employer retaliation (caxaj & cohen, 2019). as caxaj and cohen (2019) have reported, sawp inspectors may pre-schedule and complete workplace inspections virtually, which may enable unethical employers to hide illegal workplace conditions from inspectors. cumulatively, these structural components act together to jeopardize the well-being and safety of migrant workers employed on farms throughout canada. uncertified interpreters, role perception, and ethical values current research has identified that language barriers often compound the pre-existing structural harms of the sawp, which highlights the importance of interpretation services (basok, 2009; caxaj & cohen, 2019; cole et al., 2019; mysyk et al., 2009). in the context of the sawp, the inaccessibility of government-provided interpretation services, and the associated cost of private interpretation, have prompted pro-worker groups to rely on the support of uncertified interpreters (cole et al., 2019; mysyk et al., 2009). uncertified interpreters are typically bilingual doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 94 community members who are not certified by an official licensing body. while migrant workers and community groups may utilize the services provided by uncertified interpreters, certain ethical concerns may cast doubt on their suitability (drugan, 2017; international medical interpreters association, 2007; mysyk et al., 2009). the ethical complexities that surround uncertified interpreters may be linked to the way that their role is exercised (álvaro aranda et al., 2021; hsieh, 2006). dr. elaine hsieh (2006), a respected academic in the field of interpretation, has drawn attention to the influence of role perception in interpreter practice. hsieh has explained that, “when interpreters (re)define their roles, they justify their communicative behaviors [sic]” (p. 728). what hsieh’s scholarship posits is that interpreters typically see their role on a spectrum between a traditional “conduit” for information and a controversial “advocate” for disempowered populations. the perception of an interpreter as a neutral conduit is upheld by most traditional views (bravo, 2019; hsieh, 2008). for instance, the new york state psychiatric institute center of excellence for cultural competence has outlined that “the interpreter renders all messages accurately and completely, without adding, omitting, or substituting. the interpreter limits his or her professional activity to interpreting within an encounter” (as cited in álvaro aranda et al., 2021, p. 3). as conduits, traditional interpreters provide word-for-word interpretation and do not explain concepts, clarify information, or provide advice (bravo, 2019; hsieh, 2008). furthermore, a traditional perspective considers neutrality an ethical requirement, which dissuades interpreters from expressions of loyalty to any party (hsieh, 2008; prunč & setton, 2015). in contrast to this conduit role, advocate interpreters reject neutrality by challenging power hierarchies to allow minorities greater access to social capital (bravo, 2019; hsieh, 2008). dr. elena aguirre fernández bravo (2019), a scholar of translation, interpretation, and intercultural communication, has written that advocate interpreters “are aware that their performance may be crucial to the power dynamic between the actors. consequently, interpreters must make conscious decisions regarding the type of power relation they wish to favour” (p. 66). this performance may include taking a more active approach to communication by providing explanations, offering advice, and conducting advocacy work—practices generally discouraged by the international medical interpreters association (2007). while certified interpreters are trained to adhere to a conduit role perception, as this study shows, uncertified interpreters are more likely to transgress these standards in favour of an advocate role (mysyk et al., 2009). since uncertified interpreters are generally untrained, important questions surround their competency, sense of ethics, and accountability to clients. the international medical interpreters association (2007) has stated that interpreters must have linguistic, social, and cultural knowledge beyond bilingualism to perform their work competently. that said, recipients of interpretation services generally lack the linguistic skills needed to accurately assess the quality of the interpretation services received. consequently, both the quality of interpretation and competency of interpreters are critical since omissions, mistakes, additions, and other distortions to originally communicated content are difficult to detect and regulate. the absence of a rigorous certification process, and the perception that uncertified interpreters may lack the skills necessary to support clients, have prompted several scholars to challenge the ethics of utilizing uncertified interpreters (see basok, 2009; drugan, 2017; international medical interpreters association, 2007; mysyk et al., 2009). in consideration of interpretation as a profession, dr. joanna drugan (2017) has noted that interpreters are subjected to less regulation than other professions, despite working in highly sensitive settings. drugan has argued that interpreters should therefore receive professional training through formal education to manage precarious contexts. given these concerns, it is doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 95 important for all of the actors who provide or receive uncertified interpretation to better understand the perceptions and values that inform the practices of uncertified interpreters. while both interpreter ethics and the experiences of migrant workers in canada’s sawp have garnered the attention of researchers (see basok, 2009; bhuyan et al., 2018; drugan, 2017; international medical interpreters association, 2007; mysyk et al., 2009; strauss & mcgrath, 2017), far less attention has been devoted to understanding the intersection of interpreter ethics within the context of canada’s sawp. indeed, few scholarly articles have adequately analyzed how uncertified interpreters navigate their role and the relational power dynamics inherent to the sawp. hence, this article seeks to address this gap in scholarship by undertaking qualitative interviews to determine the perceptions and experiences of uncertified interpreters, as well as the challenges interpreters have encountered while working in this sector. statement of purpose this article explores the experiences, challenges, and perceptions of uncertified interpreters who offer their services to migrant agricultural labourers in british columbia. to that end, this research is guided by the following research question: how do interpreters navigate power dynamics and manage ethical challenges when interpreting for migrant workers in canada’s seasonal agricultural worker program (sawp)? this study examines how uncertified interpreters perceive their role, manage their ethical values, and select communicative patterns when interpreting for migrant workers. additionally, this study sheds light on the challenges interpreters face when navigating complex power dynamics. the primary purpose of this article is to inform actors involved in canada’s sawp about the perceptions, challenges, methods, and ethical values of the uncertified interpreters who support migrant agricultural workers. consequently, this study seeks to promote a contextually relevant understanding of interpretation and its associated challenges as well as to bring greater transparency to the work of uncertified interpreters. furthermore, this research calls attention to the structural barriers uncertified interpreters face when supporting migrant agricultural workers in british columbia, and the potential benefits these interpreters offer to disempowered populations. lastly, this research highlights the benefits and risks uncertified interpreters may experience when adopting pro-worker goals, ethical values, and communicative methods. methodology this study conducted qualitative interviews to examine how uncertified interpreters perceive their role as well as how their perceptions and experiences shape their work with migrant agricultural workers in british columbia. the research sample included three participants who had each worked in british columbia as uncertified interpreters for migrant agricultural workers registered in the sawp. each met the requirements for minimal-risk research and provided informed consent through forms approved by the human research ethics board at the university of victoria (hreb: 21-0528). furthermore, participant data were securely stored in a locked personal computer, and all data related to this study will be destroyed within 5 years of completing this research. to recruit eligible participants, both professional and volunteer interpreters employed by or associated with non-profit services for migrant workers in british columbia were contacted. recruitment emails were also sent to uncertified interpreters affiliated with the research doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 96 networks of researcher and sociologist dr. anelyse weiler. participation in this research study was voluntary and no remuneration was provided to participants. to answer the aforementioned research question, three remote, qualitative interviews were conducted that ranged from 45 to 75 minutes in length. two interview sessions took place through zoom video-conferencing, and the third and final interview session was conducted over the phone. all interviews were recorded with participant consent on a separate digital recorder. each interview was comprised of both open and closed questions within a semi-structured framework that allowed for flexibility within a predetermined schedule (bryman & bell, 2019, p. 241). afterwards, participant data were anonymized through the removal or modification of participant identifiers and identity markers (such as gender pronouns). then, interview data were thematically analyzed to identify the themes that answered this article’s research question (ritchie et al., 2014, p. 271). in keeping with the thematic analysis guidelines developed by braun and clarke (2006), interview data were transcribed and reviewed to generate initial codes, then grouped into potential categories and themes. initiatory themes were subsequently reviewed, named, and refined according to noted similarities, recurrences, and references to the central research question that undergirds this study. findings through exploring the perceptions and experiences of three uncertified interpreters who work to support migrant agricultural workers registered in canada’s sawp, what emerged were the following three themes: first, participants described navigating disempowering social contexts that prevented migrant workers from accessing community supports; second, participants reported maintaining a pro-worker role perception based on their knowledge of the vulnerability of migrant agricultural workers to workplace harm and abuse; and, third, participants discussed embracing pro-worker ethical values and communicative methods to help migrant agricultural workers in british columbia overcome the barriers that stemmed from damaging social structures and practices. cumulatively, these findings highlight insights into uncertified interpreter role perceptions, ethical values, and communicative methods in the context of supporting migrant agricultural workers employed through canada’s sawp. uncertified interpretive support for disempowered agricultural workers the three uncertified interpreters who took part in this study, hereafter referred to as stella, mateo, and ina, provided a breadth of support services to migrant agricultural workers. conducting outreach at grocery stores, advocating for greater workplace protections, navigating complex governmental processes, providing transportation to healthcare and legal services, facilitating educational workshops on canadian labour laws, and building trusting relationships with migrant agricultural workers all fell within the work undertaken by these participants. moreover, each individual who took part in this study had years of experience providing interpretive support to migrants in british columbia while witnessing the multifaceted harms suffered by sawp workers. navigating the power imbalances between sawp employers and migrant workers has underlain much of the work undertaken by the uncertified interpreters interviewed in this study. all of the participants mentioned employers who had leveraged their power over migrant labourers to control doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 97 significant aspects of their employees’ daily lives, including workers’ housing arrangements, immigration status, means of transportation, and access to community resources. two participants in this study, mateo and ina, commented that employers often used their power to hinder workers from disclosing illegal or unethical working conditions to government bodies or community members. when reflecting on how employers leverage employees’ fears to isolate workers, ina asserted that “workers are always afraid of speaking up … the employer has the power to do whatever they want, so they are always afraid [to even] speak with other people in the community.” according to several participants, many workers relied on their employers for transportation since the workers lived on employer-provided housing close to rural farms. these participants went on to report that some sawp employers appeared to intentionally prevent workers from travelling off-site, accessing healthcare, consulting with legal professionals, or meeting with uncertified interpreters. for example, ina shared how a sawp employer became aggressive and prevented them from speaking to the migrant women whom ina had witnessed working extreme hours. according to ina, after attempting to approach these workers, the employer told ina that the workers were his “property” and “slaves.” while not all employers hold such views, the sawp occasions the opportunity for some employers to abuse their power. in addition to the potential for unrestrained abuse, all of the participants interviewed found that harmful systems of power permeated the governmental systems meant to help migrant workers in british columbia. within the context of governmental supports, stella and mateo argued that inaccessible bureaucratic structures often exacerbated the disempowerment of migrant agricultural workers. as mateo explained, most sawp workers obtained elementary levels of education and struggled with significant language barriers. according to mateo, this combination made navigating governmental or bureaucratic systems challenging for many migrant workers. often mateo witnessed workers struggling to impart accurate information to government officials, such as the details of their preferred mailing address. moreover, the participants interviewed commented on how the governmental systems created to receive reports of abuse frequently failed to provide accessible support to workers lacking the computer literacy skills or foundational knowledge needed to complete canadian paperwork. further, inaccessible bureaucratic systems were also seen to prohibit uncertified interpreters from supporting migrant workers. stella, for instance, recounted how a service canada official prevented her from supporting the online identity confirmation process of a migrant worker. in this illustrative case, limited language fluency compounded by educational barriers prevented the worker from completing their identity confirmation with the consequence of halting that worker’s access to a crucial monetary allowance. in short, the inflexibility and inaccessibility of government systems were identified as contributing to the disempowerment of migrant workers, despite the provision of formal interpretation services intended to reduce language barriers. the professional interpretation services designed to support migrant workers were also said to exacerbate the hierarchical power relationships seen to disempower migrant agricultural workers. theoretically, certified interpreters are available free of charge to workers who experience language barriers when attempting to access governmental, legal, or medical services. however, as all of the participants in this study have explained, many migrant workers are either unaware of or do not know how to request free interpretation services. moreover, service providers (such as doctors or government officials) often request interpretation services on behalf of migrant workers. consequently, professional interpretation tends to place the balance of power in the hands of service providers who, as mateo recounted, rarely make use of interpretation services even when doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 98 needed. instead, mateo shared that service providers often “talk to [workers] using signs or speaking really slowly in english, which is just really not adequate.” even in instances in which professional interpretation has been accessed, mateo stated that service providers often emphasized their power over migrant workers through inappropriate conduct. this conduct included service providers addressing their remarks to the interpreter (rather than to the worker), holding conversations with the interpreter while excluding the worker, and discouraging the worker from asking relevant follow-up questions. after witnessing the aforementioned power dynamics in their work, most of the participants interviewed for this study expressed their dissatisfaction with the perceived inadequacies of professional interpretation and chose, instead, to ally themselves with migrant workers as uncertified interpreters. uncertified interpreters and pro-worker role perceptions as witnesses to worker abuse, exploitation, disempowerment, and risk, the uncertified interpreters interviewed reported adopting a pro-worker role perception when providing informed and allied support. rather than perceiving themselves as neutral third parties, participants encouraged migrant labourers to report workplace concerns to regulators, access healthcare services, understand important verbal and written communications, as well as advocate for their needs. mateo characterized their role perception as follows: i feel very strongly that you have to be allied and affiliated with the migrant worker … and there’s a lot of reasons why [—] because the population of people that i interpret for have a major lack of institutionalized power. they’re vulnerable in so many ways; they don’t have allies. so, part of that relationship building and part of me demonstrating “hey i’m here for you” is being 100% on their side and 100% allied with them. this pro-worker role perception helped some participants build trusting relationships with workers, as explained by ina: over the years we’ve gotten to know a lot of people personally in the migrant community, and so you build the relationship by going to visit them, by hanging out, by, you know, supporting them as they need it, right, by following through. these relationships also provided all of the participants interviewed with opportunities to learn about the cultural backgrounds and day-to-day needs of migrant workers, such as buying groceries, meeting with others, and accessing transportation. according to participants, spending time and building rapport with migrant workers cultivated a sense of safety that enabled workers to disclose risky, illegal, or abusive workplace situations. furthermore, several participants felt that the quality of their interpretation skills improved because they had a greater understanding of the experiences of migrant workers, who trusted these participants to accurately interpret disclosed information. due to the development of their pro-worker role perception, none of the participants adopted a neutral or unallied stance. instead, participants explicitly stated their desire to be firmly allied with workers. as mateo explained, maintaining a neutral stance in the context of blatant exploitation would be unethical: “i think it would be, from my perspective, unethical if you are like, ‘oh i’m totally neutral.’ … [to] be neutral is, to me, just adding to [worker] vulnerability.” doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 99 for mateo, remaining neutral as an uncertified interpreter would be both morally wrong and emotionally cold. similarly, stella explained her perspective on neutrality as follows: it’s been very few times when i felt the necessity of being neutral because [abuse is] always very evident. it’s so evident that there’s no room to give anybody the benefit of the doubt. the evidence is so clear, like people being underpaid … people being threatened of deportation, things that are just very real … when you speak to somebody that is going through a situation of abuse you can tell immediately. when presented with clear evidence of the abuse, disempowerment, and harm experienced by migrant workers, some participants believed that neutrality might reduce a worker’s trust in an interpreter. further, they believed that neutrality might make migrant workers feel unsupported, which might, in turn, discourage workers from accessing interpretive services or reporting abuse to regulatory bodies. consequently, the participants interviewed adopted a pro-worker role perception in response to the perceived disempowerment of migrant workers to avoid causing further harm. although all of the participants perceived themselves as allied with migrant workers, some did not consider themselves to be advocates. even so, all reported leveraging their position and skills to benefit the interests of, and demonstrate allied support for, migrant agricultural workers employed in british columbia. pro-worker ethical values and communicative methods when asked about their ethical values, the participants interviewed described the guidelines that informed their interpretation practices, which aligned with their pro-worker role perception. more specifically, participants aimed to uphold the values of accessibility, accuracy, and transparency. additionally, participants identified confidentiality and informed practice as crucial to interpreting for migrant workers. these values were developed in step with the specific communicative methods believed to be accessible to migrant agricultural workers. for each participant, the ethical value of accessibility referred to the importance of making communication accurately understood. for example, ina explained accessible interpretation in this way: [it] just means using the most understandable, simple terms possible, and if there is no accurate translation, then trying to explain a concept or a thing in a way that is the simplest and the most understandable and checking in often with the person to make sure that they understand … and also giving them space to say it if they don’t. in order to make communication more accessible, all of the participants rejected the ethical necessity of word-for-word interpretation in favour of active and explanatory communicative methods. as stella asserted, “people think that interpreting word-for-word exactly is, like, the best thing you can do, and i don’t believe that at all. i think it has to be understood.” through explaining concepts, conversing with migrant workers, and simplifying the language used, participants sought to ensure that the information communicated to workers remained understandable and accessible. furthermore, ina was firm in her belief that patience was a foundational quality for facilitating interpretive comprehension: “i can [interpret] it as many times as they want, because i just want them to feel good when they’re communicating.” both ina and stella believed that it was important doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 100 for interpreters to encourage workers to ask questions, express confusion, and request further explanation. these active and explanatory communication methods were seen to stem from the ethical value of accessibility that participants perceived as relevant to the needs of workers. even as participants in this study laboured to make communication accessible to workers by rejecting a word-for-word interpretative approach in favour of active interpretation, all upheld accuracy and transparency as key ethical values. these values compelled participants to strive to accurately relay both positive and discouraging information to ensure that communication remained transparent during interpreter-mediated interactions, including disclosing inadvertent interpreter mistakes. as stella explained, migrant workers often relied on their employers to provide interpretation, though employer’s self-interests often impacted the integrity of that type of interpretive assistance. at times, employers distorted relayed information when interpreting for workers who were often unable to assess if their employer had imparted information accurately. for example, stella recounted how an employer told a migrant worker that their doctor had deemed them fit for work when, in reality, their doctor had recommended that the worker refrain from physical labour. in this case, the values of accuracy and transparency were seen to lead to a high standard of conduct that was cognizant of the potential damage that could result from inaccurate interpretation. with respect to transparency, ina confessed, “i do think that sometimes we act out of compassion, or we want to minimize the impact that [information] is going to have on that person.” however, ina went on to explain how crucial transparency was to preventing additional harm to migrant workers, particularly in terms of mitigating misleading or false expectations. given these reasons, all of the participants in this study found that transparency and accuracy were foundational ethical values for garnering the trust of migrant agricultural workers. in addition to accessibility, accuracy, and transparency, confidentiality was identified by both stella and mateo as a necessary value for protecting the safety of migrant workers. stella asserted that she would not share private information about a migrant worker unless by worker request—especially information that might put workers at risk of employer retribution. relatedly, mateo highlighted how easily employers can instigate the deportation of a migrant worker on the grounds that illness or injury has rendered a worker “unfit for work.” consequently, mateo stated that they had seen “workers [who were] really uncertain or fearful that their private medical information will be shared with people without their consent … so unethical interpretation would also be sharing any information without [their] consent.” some participants confirmed that certain employers retaliated after a worker had received support from an uncertified interpreter. due to this type of retribution, the uncertified interpreters interviewed all sought to protect the confidentiality of personal information disclosed by migrant workers. finally, the last key ethical value identified by some of the participants within this study was knowledgeability. to explain the importance of context-specific knowledge for interpretation, stella commented that “you cannot assume that because you can provide that interpretation that you will do the job correctly and you’re not going to do any harm, because you could do a lot of harm without knowing.” stella went on to deem context-specific knowledge gained through relational experiences more important for ensuring adequate worker support than training attained through professional certification. unfortunately, each participant found that professional interpreters tended to be uninformed about canada’s sawp, and this lack of information drove incorrect and potentially harmful assumptions and behaviours towards migrant agricultural workers. ina, for instance, expressed frustration that some government officials appeared to be unaware of the precarity of worker immigration status and how that precarity might impact migrant workers. as a result, government officials often harboured unrealistic expectations about the doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 101 ability of workers to navigate bureaucratic canadian systems as self-advocates. echoing ina, stella explained how this lack of knowledge often caused well-intentioned government officials to provide insufficient support to workers: when you have … a certified interpreter from service canada [or] from worksafe bc, yes, they might be able to try to provide that support, but i oftentimes see that they’re not as patient with the workers, and they make a lot of assumptions about what the workers know and don’t know … and their knowledge on the program, the sawp program specifically, is very limited. so that makes challenges for the workers because they feel like they’re not being understood or they’re not explaining themselves. most participants believed that uninformed certified interpreters were not only ill-equipped to meet the needs of migrant agricultural workers but also caused harm to workers. for example, participants reported that certified interpreters were often unaware that migrant workers could not receive mailed correspondence from worksafe bc since workers tended to share their employer’s street address, which might permit employers to view (and potentially withhold) mailed documents addressed to workers. further, showing up to the wrong location, sharing personal information, or contacting workers indiscreetly might exacerbate employer abuse. ultimately, the practices of proworker uncertified interpreters—premised on the ethical values of accessibility, accuracy, transparency, confidentiality, and knowledgeability—were intended to reduce these potential harms to migrant workers. discussion in this research, uncertified interpreters shared their perspective regarding their role in supporting migrant agricultural workers registered in canada’s sawp. in response to the disempowering systems seen to cause structural violence to workers, participants allied themselves with migrant workers, rather than maintaining a traditional stance of neutrality, amid oppressive conditions. as previously mentioned, their practices stemmed from the values of accessibility, accuracy, transparency, confidentiality, and knowledgeability. these values often led uncertified interpreters to transgress traditional interpretive standards by integrating additional communicative strategies, building relationships, and undertaking political advocacy to improve the well-being of workers. in light of extant literature on the sawp and the present-day conditions impacting migrant agricultural labourers in canada, the findings of this study confirm themes found in the reviewed literature. that is, this study affirms extensive research on how exploitative employer-worker dynamics often enable abusive and harmful workplaces for migrant agricultural labourers (see basok, 2010; bhuyan et al., 2018; binford, 2019; caxaj & cohen, 2019; cortinacastro & kobayashi, 2020; mysyk et al., 2009; preibisch, 2004; strauss & mcgrath, 2017). more broadly, research on structural violence within the sawp confirms such multifaceted issues as power hierarchies, workplace abuse, and barriers to governmental and community supports (bhuyan et al., 2018; lee et al., 2022; mysyk et al., 2009; strauss & mcgrath, 2017)—issues similarly highlighted by the participants in this study. structural violence, or systems and practices that place select groups at heightened physical, social, or psychological risk, underlies the physical, social, psychological, and spiritual harms experienced by migrant workers in british columbia (bhuyan et al., 2018; robillard, 2019). doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 102 however, the sawp policies that enable dangerous working conditions, unhygienic housing, precarious immigration status, and inadequate access to interpretation services are not the only forms of structural violence to permeate migrant worker experiences. participants in this study echoed previous research on the inadequacies of professional interpretation services (basok, 2010; mysyk et al., 2009). in fact, participants pointed to systemic issues observed in professional interpretation services, workplace regulations, and governmental services believed to contribute to worker vulnerability. further, participants believed that ethical guidelines requiring interpreters to act neutrally and refrain from active support of workers could hinder accessibility and cause additional harm to workers. therefore, widespread expectations concerning interpreter practices are another facet of embedded structural violence. participants in this study, therefore, rationalized their rejection of traditional interpreter expectations as necessitated by their pro-worker role perception. participants observed the unmet needs of migrant workers and, in response, used their skills to help when circumstances permitted. as uncertified interpreters, the participants interviewed made context-specific decisions on what ethical values to maintain when supporting migrant workers. although these uncertified interpreters generally accepted ethical values aligned with those of traditional certified interpreters, certain values differed with significant implications for their practice. in general, the participants upheld the ethical values of transparency, accuracy, confidentiality, and knowledgeability as vital for interpretation, in keeping with the guidelines provided by the international medical interpreters association (2007). so crucial were these values to maintaining workers’ trust that few interpreters would dispute these core principles. additionally, providing informed support through cultural acumen training was also identified as an ethical value shared by participants in this study and certified professional interpreters. more broadly, this finding aligns with drugan’s (2017) assertion that bilingualism alone is not sufficient: that interpreters must be able to contextualize communication within different sociolinguistic frameworks. while each participant acknowledged their lack of training, they also contended that many professional service providers did not have the context-specific skills that uncertified interpreters had acquired through their role. while participants in this study shared some common perceptions with certified interpreters, their proworker role perception was responsible for key differences within their respective practices. in keeping with the interpreter advocates discussed by hsieh (2008) and bravo (2019), participants in this study rejected neutrality while allying themselves with migrant workers to reduce perceived power imbalances between employers and migrant workers. consequently, participants chose methods believed to be necessary to uphold the ethical value of accessibility and promote worker well-being. such communicative methods included building relationships with, explaining concepts to, and deviating from word-for-word interpretations for workers— methods typically discouraged within traditional guidelines for certified interpreters. this deviation showed the significant impact of training on interpreter role perceptions and ethics. since these uncertified interpreters were not socialized into traditional practices through institutionalized training, they utilized their skills in a more flexible and context-specific manner to support migrant agricultural workers. despite the benefits of pro-worker role perceptions, ethical values, and communicative methods in empowering vulnerable communities, active and explanatory communication methods have garnered scholarly criticism. drugan (2017) and mysyk et al. (2009) contend that interpreters can unduly influence communication or distort information to benefit personal agendas. although limited and potentially unsupportive, the conduit role remains the ethical standard for many certified interpreters because that positioning reduces the power of interpreters to skew doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 103 information imparted by others. even so, replacing the conduit role with a more active approach to interpretation has the potential to significantly benefit vulnerable populations, such as migrant workers. at the same time, an arbitrary, uninformed, or inconsistent attempt at allyship may harm the integrity of an interpreter and their mediated communications. such risks underscore the importance of holding interpreters accountable for their ethical standards and practices. unless interpreters hold tightly to such ethical values as accuracy and transparency, their explanatory communication styles can come to rely too heavily on the beliefs and perceptions of each interpreter. this overreliance may, in turn, compromise the integrity of the interpretation services provided by introducing such risks as miscommunication, deception, and abuse of power. in contrast, allies of migrant workers who are equipped with the skills required to provide accessible, accurate, and transparent interpretation can reduce harm to migrant agricultural workers in canada. since uncertified interpreters can perform roles that are outside of the scope of a professional interpreter, their work may be categorized more broadly as “language support.” redefining uncertified interpretation in this way can help to differentiate community allies from traditional certified interpreters. thus, rather than discrediting uncertified interpreters for transgressing traditional ethical standards, this distinction may reframe the former as valuable allies capable of exposing structural violence, providing holistic support, and bridging language barriers for disempowered populations. conclusion this study has sought to understand the role perceptions, ethical values, and communicative methods of the uncertified interpreters who support migrant workers in canada’s sawp. these interpreters identified how intersecting forms of structural violence, language barriers, harmful workplace conditions, and obstacles to social support silence migrant workers and hinder interpreters’ efforts to provide adequate support. in response to the systemic disempowerment of migrant workers, uncertified interpreters adopted pro-worker role perceptions, ethical values, and communicative methods to reduce the exploitation of migrant farm workers in british columbia. while maintaining the traditional ethical values of accuracy, transparency, and confidentiality, participants spurned the traditional conduit role, which required the provision of neutral, unallied, word-for-word interpretation. instead, participants adopted context-specific values and practices that affirmed the empowerment and agency of sawp workers. this research is applicable to many of the actors who provide services for marginalized populations in canada since this study sheds light on the potential obstacles interpreters may encounter when providing services to populations at disproportionate risk of experiencing trauma, abuse, educational and language barriers, as well as precarious immigration status. this article thereby calls attention to the systems of structural violence and oppression inherent to the sawp, as well as to inadequacies within official interpretation services and social supports for migrant workers. moreover, this study highlights some potential improvements service providers, government officials, certified interpreters, advocacy groups, health professionals, and sawp employers might undertake to bolster community support for migrant workers in british columbia. perhaps most importantly, these findings may assist uncertified interpreters with the process of refining their role according to contextand population-specific ethical values and communicative methods. consequently, future scholarship in this field might augment the research undertaken in this study by recruiting a greater number of uncertified interpreters from diverse backgrounds to further analyze the pro-worker methods deployed by uncertified interpreters to support migrant doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 104 agricultural workers in canada. developing this research further may not only bring greater transparency to the role of uncertified interpreters in canada but may also help to refine the ethical guidelines specific to the sawp. doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – doi 10.18357/tar131202220789 105 references álvaro aranda, c., gutiérrez, r. l., & li, s. 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(2017). temporary migration, precarious employment, and unfree labour relations: exploring the ‘continuum of exploitation’ in canada’s temporary foreign worker program. geoforum, 78, 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.01.008 doi%2010.18357/tar131202220789 https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.68.3.6g012756050r04h8 http://nyculturalcompetence.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/dosanddonts_v5_4-22-14.pdf http://nyculturalcompetence.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/dosanddonts_v5_4-22-14.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-016-0478-9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-016-0478-9 https://doi.org/10.1080/08263663.2004.10816857 https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12138 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-018-0563-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.01.008 abstract introduction the structural violence of the seasonal agricultural worker program uncertified interpreters, role perception, and ethical values statement of purpose methodology findings uncertified interpretive support for disempowered agricultural workers uncertified interpreters and pro-worker role perceptions pro-worker ethical values and communicative methods discussion conclusion references the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 121 extraction, indigenous dispossession, and state power: lessons from standing rock and wet’suwet’en resistance paarth mittal1 paarth_mittal@yahoo.ca abstract when indigenous-led resistance to landand water-killing projects threatens extraction, settlercolonial state and corporate institutions use security mechanisms to eliminate such “threats.” using as case studies the pipeline conflicts of the wet’suwet’en nation’s (especially unist’ot’en camp’s) resistance to coastal gaslink (cgl) in british columbia (bc), canada, and the standing rock sioux tribe’s resistance to the dakota access pipeline (dapl) in north dakota, united states (us), this paper explores how fossil-fuel extraction interacts with critical infrastructure (ci) securitization to further indigenous land dispossession. i argue that although the wet’suwet’en and standing rock cases both involved the state and corporations criminalizing indigenous resistance to extraction—to uphold fossil-fuel capital interests—the wet’suwet’en case is unique because canadian actors attempted to pacify resistance through symbolic appeals to indigenous rights. indigenous communities across the world are violently oppressed for peacefully defending their water, land, and communities. however, the motives and strategies of violence are unique for every colonial jurisdiction exercising violence, and for every indigenous community impacted. i compare and contrast the rationales and strategies of both cases through an in-depth content analysis of passages from tigerswan surveillance and bc supreme court injunction documents. i discuss my findings within theoretical debates on dispossession and securitization. keywords: wet’suwet’en first nations; standing rock sioux tribe; pipelines; dispossession; securitization 1i would like to acknowledge with gratitude, as a settler, that this research was conducted on the traditional and unceded territories of the wsáneć, lək̓ʷəŋən, and wyomilth peoples of the coast salish first nations. i would also like to thank dr. james (jamie) lawson for his thoughtful supervision of my research and writing process. further, i would like to thank dr. marlea clarke and all the students of the 2021 uvic political science honours class for their feedback. this research was supported by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award (jcura), provided by the university of victoria learning and teaching support and innovation (ltsi). https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 122 extraction, indigenous dispossession, and state power: lessons from standing rock and wet’suwet’en resistance first nations in present-day “north america”—known by many nations as “turtle island” and other names with unique place-based meanings—have endured and resisted the european settler-colonial legacies of indigenous land dispossession, destruction, displacement, and cultural and political genocide for over 500 years. this paper focuses on one aspect of colonialism, and aims to answer the following question: how do resource extraction and securitization interact to further the dispossession of indigenous lands? to answer this question, i analyzed two recent case studies of indigenous communities resisting fossil-fuel pipeline projects from either side of the canada/us border: wet’suwet’en vs. coastal gaslink (cgl) and standing rock vs. dakota access pipeline (dapl). this article argues that while security actions in both the wet’suwet’en and standing rock cases were guided by a common rationale of criminalizing indigenous resistance to extraction, to the benefit of fossil-fuel capital interests, the wet’suwet’en case is unique because settler state and corporate actors attempted to pacify resistance through “benevolent” appeals to indigenous rights. why is a comparison of two recent pipeline conflicts significant for understanding how extraction and securitization interact to further indigenous land dispossession? indigenous peoples across the world are struggling to protect their lands and waters from industrial extraction and are subjected to violence in the process (temper, 2019, p. 96). nevertheless, the rationales and strategies of the settler state and corporate world (inflicting the violence) vary across jurisdictional boundaries and for the indigenous communities affected. as a settler of colour, i undertook this research in order to investigate the systemic workings and motives of settler-colonial institutions and to better understand the complex ways through which they justify the suppression of indigenous landdefence movements. my aim is to provide students—especially those interested in questions of environmental sustainability, indigenous rights, social justice, politics, law, and activism—an insight on some material (or economic), racialized, and political power-related dimensions interlinked with contemporary environmental issues. furthermore, this research is significant because it provides an analysis of settler-colonial security narratives central to the “wet’suwet’en versus cgl” dispute, an area under-studied by previous academic scholarship due to the recency of this conflict. i achieve my purposes through a four-step process. first, in the following two sections, i provide a brief historical context of dispossession and securitization for the wet’suwet’en and standing rock peoples. second, i introduce the methods and theoretical approaches that underly my research. third, i introduce my findings on the rationales of securitization in both cases, followed by a discussion comparing the cases and linking evidence from security and court injunction documents to previous decolonial and marxist scholarship on dispossession and securitization. fourth, i introduce my findings on the specific strategies of securitization in both cases, followed by a discussion highlighting comparisons and linking the evidence to theoretical scholarship. finally, i conclude my essay by outlining potential directions for future research. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 123 historical context of dispossession this paper’s understanding of dispossession is grounded in the concept of “accumulation by dispossession” (abd), which david harvey refers to as the continuation and proliferation of accumulation practices… ‘primitive’ or ‘original’ during the rise of capitalism…includ[ing]…commodification and privatization of land…[, and] colonial, neocolonial, and imperial processes of appropriation of assets (including natural resources). (harvey, 2005, p.159) connected to abd is the enclosure of the commons, which karl marx (1867/1976), in chapter 27 of his text capital, defines as a process whereby the ownership/stewardship of commonly held resources (i.e., land) are violently transferred to the private ownership of the capitalist class or bourgeoisie, the ruling elite. this paper uses a revised conception of enclosure, which scholars such as glen coulthard (2014) and dorothy kidd (2020) extend from original marxist references to european peasants, to phenomena wherein indigenous peoples are colonially dispossessed of their commonly stewarded resources (in this case, lands and rivers). such enclosure later opens space for capitalist modes of production and, consequently, the privatized ownership of resource wealth by elites. indeed, the standing rock sioux, and other tribes of the oceti sakowin (lakota for “seven council fires”) or “great sioux nation,” were subjected to such processes of dispossession and enclosure of lands. this began with the 1803 missouri river “acquisition,” when the us sent two white explorers, lewis and clark, to map and claim territory near the river; the us illegally “purchased” 827 million acres of oceti sakowin territory from the french crown of louisiana without the consent of indigenous nations (estes, 2017, p.116). over the two decades following the oceti sakowin’s rejection of the missouri river “acquisition” claim, dispossession took the form of violent us-led military operations against the tribes (estes, 2017, p.116); abolition of treaty-making and the nullification of the 1850 and 1868 fort laramie treaties (signed between the us and sioux tribes) (estes, 2017, p.116; fort laramie treaty, 1851; fort laramie treaty 1868); and the encroachment and exploitation of oceti sakowin lands for the development of industries such as fur, cattle, and gold (kidd, 2020, p. 238). like the oceti sakowin, the wet’suwet’en and other first nations in northwest bc have also experienced violent colonial dispossession. since the 1850s, wet’suwet’en and gitxsan subsistence economies and land relationships came under increased pressures from industries such as gold, logging, and road and rail construction (daly, 2005, pp.129–131). how do these practices connect to dispossession? in the contexts of both the oceti sakowin and wet’suwet’en peoples, such economic transformations, pursued by the state and corporations for accumulating resource wealth, have disrupted indigenous peoples’ physical and spiritual connections to their land and natural environment, while also subjugating indigenous ways of economic organization to those favoured by the settler-colonial state (estes, 2017, p. 116; kidd, 2020, p. 238; office of the wet’suwet’en [oow], 2014, p. 105). in the present day, as the motives of dispossession have shifted towards the development of the fossil-fuel industry, the standing rock and wet’suwet’en peoples resist the forceful construction of oil and gas infrastructure on their lands. for the settler-colonial state, this has necessitated the development of strategies to “weed out” indigenous “obstacles” to fossil-fuel infrastructure, which is further elaborated upon in the next section. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 124 context of securitization and surveillance how did the settler state and corporations facilitate the dispossession of indigenous lands? a key mechanism they have utilized (and continue to utilize) is the securitization of critical infrastructure (ci). this process is carried out through constructing indigenous land-defence movements as “threats” to the settler state order, through surveilling the actions of such movements, and through using the coercive power of the state. the history of this application of securitization, leading up to settler state security responses to wet’suwet’en resistance, can be traced to the origins of the modern canadian settler state. in the 1880s, canadian federal government agencies—such as the department of indian affairs (dia) and the north west mounted police (nwmp)—created surveillance programs aimed at eliminating all threats to the expansion of the settler-colonial state in northwest canada (monaghan, 2013, p. 496). jeffrey monaghan’s analysis of the dia’s correspondence on leaders of the pan-indigenous movement, led by dia agent peter ballendine, finds that the nwmp employed “othering” practices that justified the surveillance and arrest of groups of people opposed to colonization. security agencies discriminated between “good indians”—native people who adopted colonially imposed practices of european liberalism—and “bad indians”—native people who resisted european settler colonialism (monaghan, 2013, pp. 488, 492). indeed, monaghan’s research highlights that the authorities undertook this project as part of a broader effort to eliminate “dangers” and “threats” to the settler-colonial acquisition of indigenous territory (pp. 503–504). such logics manifested themselves in the royal canadian mounted police’s (rcmp’s) 2014–15 surveillance project sitka, which was initiated to control, collect information on, and analyze the risk of groups and/or individuals associated with indigenous protests related to many issues, such as resource extraction (howe & monaghan, 2018, p. 333; rcmp, 2015, p. 4). specifically, the rcmp aimed to collect information on “individuals and/or groups (aboriginal and non-aboriginal)…willing and capable of utilizing unlawful tactics…[associated] with aboriginal public order events in canada” (howe & monaghan, 2018, p. 333; rcmp, 2015, p. ii); the unist’ot’en camp was one group under the surveillance of project sitka. project sitka surveilled indigenous land-defenders in a variety of ways, using specific strategies, including aggregating protestors’ personal information from police data banks and analyzing a variety of events (i.e., ceremonial dances, direct action training camps) and protest participants deemed to have potential “criminality risk” (howe & monaghan, 2018, pp. 333–334; rcmp, 2015, pp. iixviii, pp. 10, 13, 24). because such information was collected before the “crime” (of disrupting ci) was committed, it is clear that project sitka was intended for creating a “pre-crime” wealth of intelligence that enables effective response to anticipated disruptions/threats (howe & monaghan, 2018, p. 342). similar to the context of securitization leading up to wet’suwet’en resistance to cgl, the securitization of dapl was also preceded by a context where the us criminalized indigenous and environmentalist resistance to fossil-fuel development as “national security threats.” of particular importance is the security context in the aftermath of the september 11, 2001 attacks (also known as “post-9/11”), when the us and canada were guided by a sense that the western way of life was under attack and measures to curtail such supposed threats needed to be kept secret. the post-9/11 security context was marked by developments such as corporations and us security agencies labelling indigenous and environmentalist activists as “eco-terrorists,” and the passage of the 2001 https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 125 patriot act in the us, which increased security budgets and allowed surveillance methods such as wiretapping (plotnikoff, 2020, pp. 14–16). similar to rcmp surveillance efforts in canada, the us patriot act is guided by a working definition of ci—infrastructure vital for the security, health, and safety of the us—that has expanded over time to include a broad range of sectors (i.e., energy), which are 85% owned by the private sector (plotnikoff, 2020, pp. 17–18). as i illustrate in later sections, such post-9/11 rationales and strategies of intelligence-sharing were integral to tigerswan’s security operations to protect dapl. methods to answer my research question, i conducted a content analysis of the following publicly available primary sources: cgl’s notice of application for injunction (cgl v. huson, 2018); the 2019 injunction granted to cgl by the supreme court of british columbia (or “bc supreme court”) (cgl v. huson, 2019); seven internal situation reports (sitreps) on dapl-related surveillance by us private security firm tigerswan; dapl security operations overview (dapl security team, 2016); and an email thread from dapl’s intelligence group (intel group, 2016). i was guided by bowen’s (2009) and triad 3’s (2016) approaches to document analysis, which involves reading and re-reading texts, searching for words and passages relevant to my research problem(s), and analyzing these words/passages to elicit meaning for the problem, specifically of how settler state and fossil-fuel corporate institutions rationalize and practice dispossession of indigenous lands. i read texts against theories of securitization and dispossession to elicit meaning. when reading, i searched for and observed the following three themes or rationales that were common to both wet’suwet’en-unist’ot’en and standing rock (albeit in different ways): illegality, “disruptions” to critical infrastructure and economy, and threats to private property. a rationale observed in the wet’suwet’en-unist’ot’en case (missing from standing rock) was divides between indigenous governments and gaps in indigenous title. related to illegality, the standing rock case had a unique element of eliminating religiously motivated insurgency threats to the us state order. following analyses of rationales in each case, i outline and analyze the security actions/strategies used by state and corporate institutions. i corroborate my analyses with sources such as advocacy organization reports, news articles, videos, and injunction analyses by indigenous-led research institutes. to provide a broader account of the phenomenon beyond my analysis and theoretical perspective, i also supplement with opposing sources such as reports and briefings by multiple state agencies (i.e., the rcmp). my document analysis is grounded in a combination of marxist, decolonial, and comparative approaches. first, my research design is marxist because i aim to understand how the surveillance and criminalization of indigenous anti-pipeline resistance is rooted in processes relevant to accumulation by dispossession, wherein commonly held or stewarded resources are violently transferred to private ownership and capital accumulation by elite classes. second, it is “decolonial” because i focus on how colonial, capitalist processes of dispossession impact indigenous relations to lands, waters, and non-human nature, and i aim to increase awareness around this issue. specifically, i analyze the colonial construct of ci, defined as a range of collectively assembled systems, networks, technologies, assets, facilities, and services necessary for the reproduction of human life, that if disrupted, can cause a loss of life and hinder the functioning of the economy and government (mazer et al., 2019, p. 354; spice, 2018, p. 40). related to ci securitization is pacification, which tia dafnos (2013) defines as the “production of https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 126 social relations and institutions in place of existing forms of social organization” (p. 59; emphasis in original). what is the relation between ci and pacification? indigenous protest policing is rooted in logics/technologies of managing all life in terms of the “capacity to enable, filter, and obstruct mobilities and access to necessities, making some lives live and letting others die” (dafnos, 2020, p. 116). settler state and corporate actors have attempted to “pacify” indigenous resistance through masking coercive power relations between the state/corporations and indigenous peoples and through “covert” repression (i.e., language of “engagement” with indigenous rights) to appear progressive. my analysis involves tracing the extent to which the documents in both cases conform to marxist and decolonial theories of dispossession, ci, and pacification. i connect my findings to such theories in order to illuminate the material, racial, and political implications of the security actions. last, i used a comparative approach to draw out similarities and differences in the security institutional contexts in which the dapl and cgl disputes are occurring. findings: rationales of securitization to briefly provide context, in 2019, cgl won an injunction from the supreme court of british columbia, ordering the unist’ot’en camp — established by members of the unist’ot’en clan of the wet’suwet’en first nations to block the pipeline — to dismantle their blockade (cgl v. huson, 2019). the unist’ot’en camp’s goals include protecting community health, land, water, and sovereignty from the impacts of the 670-kilometer-long cgl pipeline (owned by tc energy), carrying liquefied natural gas or “lng” from dawson creek, bc, to an export terminal in kitimat, bc (mccreary & turner, 2019/2018; unist’ot’en camp, 2017). another key actor is the rcmp, the core policing agency responsible for enforcing the injunction, which raided unist’ot’en camp for failing to comply with the injunction (brown & bracken, 2020). south of the border, the standing rock sioux tribe (and collectively, the “no dakota access pipeline” or #nodapl movement) has been, for five years, resisting the 1,886-kilometer-long, crude oil-carrying dakota access pipeline (dapl), owned by energy transfer partners (etp), llc. dapl moves half a million barrels of crude oil a day from the bakken oil deposits in north dakota, through south dakota and iowa, to a terminal in patoka, illinois (estes, 2017). key concerns mobilizing standing rock and #nodapl include protecting treaty rights; protecting drinking water from potential oil spills; and opposing the violation, by the united states army corps of engineers and ex-president donald trump, of 2016 orders by the obama administration to halt and review (for environmental impacts) pipeline construction (estes, 2017). a key security actor to consider for the standing rock case is tigerswan, a us private security firm, reputed for its involvement in the post-9/11 “war on terror,” that etp hired for achieving the two-fold objective of protecting dapl and surveilling and incapacitating #nodapl, in collaboration with various law enforcement and security agencies. in this section, i illustrate the rationales used by state and corporate security actors in the wet’suwet’en and standing rock cases. i do this by introducing quotations from documents such as the bc supreme court injunction granted to cgl, tigerswan internal situation reports (sitreps), and other dapl-related surveillance reports. https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 127 i. wet’suwet’en versus coastal gaslink in passages from the injunction documents, “plaintiffs” refers to cgl, and “defendants” refers to unist’ot’en camp leader freda huson and tsaiyex (sun house) hereditary chief smogelgem (warner naziel). theme i: illegality of indigenous-led direct action the first rationale is that indigenous land-defenders are acting “illegally” and disrupting the colonial legal order. throughout the injunction document, it is evident that cgl is pushing for indigenous-led direct actions to be managed and criminalized as “illegal activities.” two relevant passages from justice church’s injunction illustrate this point: the plaintiff submits that the defendants have chosen to engage in illegal activities to voice their opposition to the pipeline project, rather than to challenge the pipeline project by legal means. (cgl v. huson, 2019, section 122, p. 28) the plaintiff argues that an overriding principle that should guide the court’s decision…is that the use of self-help remedies is contrary to the rule of law and is an abuse of process. the plaintiffs submit that where the defendant is obstructing lawfully permitted activity, recourse to self-help remedies cannot and should not be condoned by the court. (cgl v. huson, 2019, section 123, p. 28) theme ii: “disruptions” to ci and the economy a second rationale of securitization was the protection of ci and the prevention of “threatening” economic and financial implications to cgl as a result of blockades. figure 1 cgl’s “irreparable harm” rationale: history of cases note. retrieved from section 9 of cgl’s notice of application for injunction (cgl v. huson, 2018, p. 8) https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 128 figure 2 examples of blockade “harms” cited by cgl note. retrieved from section 24 of cgl’s notice of application for injunction (cgl v. huson, 2018, p. 5) in the above passages, cgl outlines some specific material interests that it perceives to be threatened if the rcmp does not enforce an injunction and forcibly remove unist’ot’en landdefenders from the pipeline construction path. in section 9 (figure 1), cgl supported its argument with past court cases involving what some have described as indigenous and environmentalist movements crippling the economic and infrastructure development plans of companies in the oil and gas, forestry, and mining sectors. theme iii: threats to private property a third rationale central to the injunction is that cgl’s private property rights are supposedly “threatened” or “infringed” upon by the unist’ot’en camp. in the 2019 injunction, cgl supported its claim of private property rights “violations” on the following grounds: private nuisance is the interference with an occupier’s use and enjoyment of land or property that is both substantial and unreasonable. the occupier need not hold title to the land or have exclusive possession in order to advance a claim for nuisance. the plaintiff has authorizations related to work on the pipeline…arguably an interest sufficient to ground a claim in nuisance. (cgl v. huson, 2019, section 167, p. 37) theme iv: divides between indigenous governments and indigenous title gaps the fourth rationale prevalent in the injunction is that the unist’ot’en camp blockade, if left un-dismantled, will hinder first nations’ ability to receive economic benefits from cgl. to strengthen its argument for enforcing an injunction, cgl highlighted that 20 elected first nation band councils (whose authority is derived from the colonial-era 1876 indian act) signed agreements for pipeline benefits. benefits emphasized by cgl include “approximately 2,500 jobs https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 129 during peak construction [of cgl],” (section 13 in cgl v. huson, 2019, p. 4), over $338 million in cumulative revenue to 20 first nation bands over the life of cgl, over $1 billion in contract work and other opportunities for indigenous and local businesses, and skills training and education. meanwhile, the office of the wet’suwet’en (consisting of hereditary chiefs representing 12 of the 13 wet’suwet’en houses) and dark house2 oppose the project and refused to meet with cgl and grant cgl an environmental assessment certificate, despite “repeated attempts” by cgl to consult and negotiate agreements (cgl v. huson, 2019, sections 60– 61, p. 14). in addition to exploiting divided opinion between different wet’suwet’en governments, cgl aimed to build legitimacy by highlighting how the legal recognition of wet’suwet’en law (by the colonial state) remains unrealized. as stated in the injunction, there has been no process by which wet’suwet’en customary laws have been recognized in this manner. the aboriginal title claims of the wet’suwet’en people have yet to be resolved either by negotiation or litigation. while wet’suwet’en customary laws clearly exist on their own independent footing, they are not recognized as being an effectual part of canadian law. (cgl v. huson, 2019, section 128, p. 29) there is no evidence before me of any wet’suwet’en law or legal tradition that would allow blockades of bridges and roads or permit violations of provincial forestry regulations or other legislation. there is also no evidence that blockades of this kind are a recognized mechanism of dealing with breaches of wet’suwet’en law. (cgl v. huson, 2019, section 155, p. 35) ii. standing rock sioux tribe versus dakota access pipeline similar to state and corporate reactions to wet’suwet’en resistance to cgl, state and corporate actors also rationalized their security efforts to curtail resistance to resource extraction. in this section, i introduce passages from tigerswan sitreps and other sources (i.e., dapl security team, 2016). theme i: illegality—religiously motivated insurgency threats the first rationale observed in the standing rock case is that #nodapl movement is an insurgent movement that threatens the american state and requires curtailment. as argued in tigerswan’s february 27, 2017 sitrep, what the anti-dapl protesters have called an “[i]ndigenous decolonization movement” was…an externally supported, ideologically driven insurgency with a strong religious component. and, as it generally followed the jihadist insurgency model while active, we can expect the individuals who fought for and supported it to follow a post-insurgency model after its collapse. (para. 1 in porter, 2017, p. 4) 2 unist’ot’en house” or “dark house” is one of the three “house groups” or matrilineages of the gil_seyhu (bull frog) clan of the hereditary governance structure belonging to the wet’suwet’en first nations people (oow, n.d.). https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 130 the archetype of a jihadist post-insurgency is the aftermath of the anti-soviet afghanistan jihad. while many insurgents went back to their pre-war lives, many, especially the external supporters (foreign fighters), went back out into the world looking to start or join new jihadist insurgencies. (para. 2 in porter, 2017, p. 4) in addition to comparing standing rock and #nodapl to “jihadist” insurgency of the past, tigerswan did not hesitate to rule out the “possibility” of the movement having links to jihadist groups. as emphasized in the “summary” section of tigerswan’s september 22, 2016 sitrep, the presence of additional palestinians in the [red warrior camp, alongside palestinian activist haithem el-zabri], and the movement’s involvement with islamic individuals is a dynamic that requires further examination. currently, there is no information to suggest terrorist type tactics or operations; however, with the current limitation on information flow out of the camp, it cannot be ruled out. (porter, 2016c, pp. 2–3) comparisons to post-soviet afghanistan and presumptions that involvement from middle eastern protestors opens a possibility of terrorism both illustrate that tigerswan views #nodapl as a threat to the order, security, and cultural foundations of american settler society. theme ii: “disruptions” to ci and the economy the second rationale evident in the standing rock case is the protection of the ci and economic interests of the fossil-fuel industry. according to the mission statement of the dapl security team (2016), there are four main goals relevant to the surveillance of #nodapl: “[p]rotect the contractors of dapl, protect the machinery of dapl, protect the material of dapl, protect the reputation of dapl and [their] individual sub-contractor companies” (p.1). additionally, some tigerswan sitreps contain references to ci and equipment being monitored by regular patrols and protected from “threats” by #nodapl activists. 1. “more protestors cuffing themselves to construction equipment.” (“significant events – last 12 hours” in porter, 2016b, p. 1) 2. “30–40 protestors on horseback attempted to ride toward the ramberg terminal…le [law enforcement] reacted quickly and blocked access to the site.” (“past 24 hours” in porter, 2016e, p. 2) 3. “continue to support worksites along row [right-of-way] and static dapl sites off the row.” (“next 24 hours” in porter, 2016e, p. 2) theme iii: threats to private property the third rationale evident in the standing rock case was the “need” to protect the private property of dapl from “trespass.” according to tigerswan’s october 10, 2016 sitrep, https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 131 another large convoy involving nearly 100 vehicles and 200 people unfolded later in the day…where the protestors broke through security wire onto private property and immediately set about constructing a tipi on the row [pipeline right-of-way]. (porter, 2016e, p. 1) similarly, the private property rationale was at play in tigerswan’s social media strategy. however, it took the form of tigerswan denying any significant implications of dapl upon territory with indigenous jurisdiction. according to tigerswan’s september 13, 2016 sitrep, dapl “sponsored” and promoted the following narratives: “pipeline is not being built on native american land/reservation,” and “99.98% of pipe is located on private land [and] 1094 feet [is] located under [federal property] at lake oahe. #dapl.” (“social media updates” in porter, 2016a, p. 3) discussion: rationales of securitization the wet’suwet’en and standing rock cases shared three major similarities in rationale. first, settler state and corporate actors in both cases were motivated by the rationale that indigenous resistance movements acted outside norms of legality and need to be managed to uphold state order. in the injunction granted to cgl, cgl grounds its argument on the basis that unist’ot’en landdefenders chose to not challenge the project through “legal means,” and that their peaceful assertions of title through direct action in construction pathways are illegal “self-help remedies.” to connect to monaghan’s (2013) “good vs. bad indians” concept, these arguments by cgl reflect rationales of instilling conformity to settler-colonial law and order, and of characterizing indigenous groups who do not conform to settler-colonial legality norms as “threats.” this is also observed in the standing rock case, but in a unique and more intense form. tigerswan and various public law enforcement and security agencies (part of the intel group) attempted to link standing rock water protectors (and #nodapl in general) with “jihadist” terrorism, a group which the us has historically targeted in its “war on terror” policies. (recall the discussion on how palestinian activists in solidarity with #nodapl were ethnically profiled and monitored by tigerswan, in theme i of standing rock sioux tribe vs. dapl.) although the rationale of protecting settler-colonial order and norms of legality was important in both cases, and both american and canadian security actors viewed such activists as “aboriginal extremists” (brake, 2018, para. 2), the rcmp did not associate unist’ot’en with the same level of violent threat (from a particular religiously motivated terror organization) as tigerswan did to standing rock. second, in both cases, settler-state and corporate institutions were motivated by the “need” to protect the ci of big oil. the cgl-requested injunction and multiple tigerswan sitreps prioritized protecting and patrolling construction sites, equipment, and facilities to prevent damage to and eliminate impediments to the technological networks that enable the export of oil and gas. in both cases, corporations sought legitimacy by highlighting the “catastrophic” impacts of pipelineshutdowns to workers and jobs. the way in which equipment and other pipeline infrastructures are portrayed in a neutral tone as benign, fixed, physical, and technical objects under threat, in both cases, obscures the hierarchical relations—between the state and indigenous peoples, and between corporations and the environment—that produce (and are produced by) pipeline construction. for example, in section 24 (figure 2) of cgl v. huson (2019), cgl covertly implied—through masking https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 132 with language of “harm” suffered—that indigenous resistance impedes activities that make politicaleconomic relations of capital accumulation possible and unmake indigenous land relations. this reflects dafnos’s concept of pacification because cgl refers to infrastructure construction in a simplified manner as normal building activities, thus masking the contestations (between capital accumulation and indigenous land relations) central to the pipeline. a third similarity is that state and corporate actors were motivated by the need to protect private corporate property from being “trespassed” or removing obstacles to the enjoyment of such property. although the overarching argument of protecting private property is manifested in both cases, we see an interesting contrast in how private property ownership was structured and rhetorically used to criminalize indigenous resistance. in section 167 (theme iii of wet’suwet’en vs. coastal gaslink) of cgl v. huson (2019), cgl argued that unist’ot’en blockades were interfering with its rightful enjoyment of private property, while also stating that it does not need exclusive title to wet’suwet’en land: under the canadian land tenure system, the crown “rents” out land to private companies (in this case, cgl) for resource extraction activities with rules and conditions (bc oil and gas commission, 2013; nelles, 2005). this reflects an interesting process of enclosure because cgl, while not “owning” the land, pushed the court to criminalize indigenous-led direct action on lands colonized by the state. similarly, if we look at the indigenous research think-tank yellowhead institute’s analysis of 100 injunctions from 1970 to 2019 involving indigenous peoples in canada, we see that 81% of the injunctions filed by private corporations against indigenous peoples were granted, while similar portions of injunctions filed by indigenous peoples (against corporations and the government) were denied (yellowhead institute, 2019). one could therefore argue that the policing of unist’ot’en is part of a decades-long history of corporations using private property and other material interests to suppress indigenous sovereignty through the court system. meanwhile, tigerswan, in grounding their claim that dapl does not affect indigenous land because over 99% is on private lands (porter, 2016a, p.3), ignored the indigenous history of 99% of the lands of the pipeline route (where private property exists today). regardless of how cgl and tigerswan framed it, the private property argument works to criminalize indigenous people for asserting sovereignty and resisting fossil-fuel extraction on their own territories. this is because the land title/rights of indigenous peoples are erased or obscured in the corporations’ rationales/framing and, as a result, normalizes what coulthard and kidd would call the enclosure (and ultimately, dispossession) of lands and waters for capital accumulation by big oil. despite the similarities, the cases also differed in rationale in one critical way. the wet’suwet’en case was unique because settler state and corporate actors, in rationalizing security actions against land-defenders, appeared to “respect” indigenous rights and jurisdiction. one way this was done was through exploiting divided opinion among the wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs (opposed to the pipeline) and elected band council chiefs (supporting the pipeline). additionally, in sections 128 and 155 (theme iv of wet’suwet’en vs. cgl) of cgl v. huson (2019), cgl argued to the court that indigenous title is not a valid defense because title is unresolved and “customary” and attempted to discredit unist’ot’en by saying that there is no part of wet’suwet’en law permitting infrastructural blockades (pp. 29, 35). similarly, the rcmp’s report on project sitka—a surveillance project on indigenous “public order events” of resistance to resource extraction—recognized that indigenous protests stem from unique, historical, and ongoing issues related to indigenous land rights/claims, resource development, hunting rights, and more (rcmp, 2015, pp. iv–v). with that, we see the state employing dafnos’s concept of pacification because it presented itself as recognizing/respecting indigenous rights, while masking the contestations and unequal power relations (between the state/corporations and indigenous peoples) that are embedded in pipeline construction. in contrast, security documents related to standing rock indicate minimal to no engagement with indigenous jurisdiction or sovereignty. connecting these findings to prior literature from plotnikoff (2020), this https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 133 distinction between the use of pacification by canadian security/corporations and the lack thereof in the us is noteworthy. such a distinction potentially stems from the canadian state’s unique political position of balancing support for extraction with being an “indigenous ally”; meanwhile, the us does not need to pursue this balance as it does not strive for a reconciliation image (plotnikoff, 2020, p. 3). findings: strategies of securitization moving from a discussion on rationales, this section illustrates the security strategies that state and corporate actors utilized on the ground. considering there is a dearth of publicly available security intelligence documents specific to the cgl case, i use evidence from sources such as briefing notes, civil society organization reports, and journalistic articles. i. wet’suwet’en versus coastal gaslink according to a secondary analysis of rcmp documents by dhillon and parrish (2019), the rcmp argued that lethal force is required and that arrests are necessary to “[sterilize] the site,” and instructed their officers to “use as much violence toward the gate [blockade] as they want” (para. 3– 5). documents and social media videos also reveal that the rcmp and private security agencies tracked the movements of activists through techniques such as helicopter and airplane surveillance and descended upon wet’suwet’en territories with attack dogs and assault rifles (dhillon & parrish, 2019; unist’ot’en camp, 2020; wet’suwet’en access point on gidimt’en territory, 2020). furthermore, a note from a briefing document from the house of commons standing committee on public safety and national security (secu) reveals that the rcmp established an access control checkpoint 27 kilometres away from the cgl construction zone to prevent protest camps from “blocking access” to construction sites. the rcmp also monitored and sought to “manage” various other “impediments” to the ci networks of the canadian capitalist state, such as solidarity protests at shipping ports and railway tracks in bc, manitoba, and ontario (secu, 2020, tab 4-d, background, paras. 4, 9). the rcmp was instructed to respond to questions (on their surveillance activities) by saying that they are doing this to prevent “escalations” of violence, maintain “public safety,” and protect canadian jobs, wellbeing, and the economy, among others (secu, 2020, tab 4-d, proposed response). however, a january 2020 policy complaint to the rcmp by the bc civil liberties association (bccla)—containing attached statements on the first-hand experiences of indigenous land-defenders and journalists with the rcmp—exposes a dimension that rcmp public statements obscure. at the checkpoint, the rcmp prevented wet’suwet’en supporters from delivering food and medicine supplies to activists, stopped drivers and passengers leaving and/or entering the checkpoint for identification checks, detained people for exiting the rcmp exclusion zone, and periodically denied (and later, allowed) access to bc journalists and legal observers (bccla, 2020, pp. 4–8). ii. standing rock sioux tribe versus dakota access pipeline throughout its security operations, tigerswan exchanged information on protestors with various law enforcement agencies such as state and local police departments and county police sheriffs (brown et al., 2019). the following discussion reviews the surveillance strategies they used. first, tigerswan and other security agencies undertook “find, fix and eliminate” strategies that involved monitoring and “eliminating” #nodapl as a potential “terrorist” threat. to recall “findings: rationales” (theme i under standing rock sioux tribe vs. dakota access pipeline), tigerswan https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 134 painted water protectors as undertaking strategies similar to a religiously and ideologically motivated “jihadist” insurgency model and did not rule out the potential that #nodapl has ties to “islamistmotivated” individuals (brown et al., 2019, p. 198; porter, 2016c). as detailed in a 24-page email thread from the intelligence (“intel”) group—which had seven members from fbi, bureau of indian affairs, us justice, and state and local intelligence center—security officials used live video feeds from tigerswan helicopter cameras to track the movements of activists. the four quotations below are emails in the intel group’s email thread, sent by bismarck, nd police officer lynn wanner on nov 20, 2016 (intel group, 2016). 1. “calling for 8 humvees. lit flairs are being launched from weapons.” (intel group, 2016, p. 9) 2. “officers are asking to retreat.” (intel group, 2016, p. 10) 3. “protestors firing flairs in the sky…attempting to get over the wire using plywood.” (intel group, 2016, p. 11) 4. “fbi inside source reporting propane tanks inside the camp rigged to explode.” (intel group, 2016, p. 11) although it is possible that #nodapl water protectors had flare guns and propane tanks, such devices were possibly used for peaceful purposes like safety and cooking, and we cannot claim with certainty that possessing such equipment signals a coordinated indigenous-led attempt to destabilize security that warrants surveillance. the use of battlefield-like language, in this case phrases such as “retreat” and “rigged to explode,” could potentially expose a sense of fear among security and police agencies that #nodapl is a dangerous and violent “national security threat” (brown et al., 2019, p. 205). brown et al. also categorize such language use as “military language [verging] on parody” (p. 205), since the agencies are characterizing non-violent activists with military and tactical language better suited for counterterrorism operations in armed conflict zones. other avenues through which tigerswan undertook “find, fix and eliminate” strategies included infiltrating activist circles and exploiting divides among the movement. for instance, tigerswan officials used fake names/identities and engaged in “friendly” conversations to win over water protectors’ trust, while others such as silverton personnel played an “observational” role in iowa protests (brown et al., 2019, pp. 204–205; porter, 2016a). tigerswan argued that “[exploiting] … ongoing native versus non-native rifts, and tribal rifts between peaceful and violent elements is critical in … [efforts] to delegitimize the anti-dapl movement” (porter, 2016d, pp. 2–3). tigerswan’s exploitation of divides was racially charged, and this is evident when they incorrectly portrayed indigenous activists, such as kelly hayes from the menominee tribe, as being part of a “black panther party delegation” that supposedly engaged in violent “hand-to-hand combat training” (juhasz, 2017; tigerswan, 2016, p. 1). second, tigerswan employed a social media engagement plan to influence the public narrative in favour of dapl. this is evident in tigerswan’s september 22, 2016, report, which explicitly stated that its goals included “seeking out pro-dapl propaganda and media” (porter, 2016c, p. 4). this goal is evidenced by a tigerswan employee’s sharing of posts from facebook pages “netizens for progress and justice” and “defend iowa”—two pages critical of #nodap—which were deleted after the news outlet the intercept contacted tigerswan (brown et al., 2019, pp. 207–208). other techniques that tigerswan used for social media narrative-shifting included creating counter hashtags such as “#dapl” (porter, 2016a), and spreading partial truths such as “99.98% of [dapl] is located on private land” in an attempt to discredit the #nodapl water protectors (as alluded to in the discussion: rationales of securitization). https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 135 discussion: strategies of securitization moving to a discussion of strategies, public and private security agencies in both cases utilized similar surveillance technologies. those include aerial surveillance, monitoring activists’ social media, and on-land surveillance such as through road checkpoints monitoring and/or blocking vehicles (especially those providing food and medical aid) entering and exiting indigenous territories (bccla, 2020; brown et al., 2019; dhillon & parrish, 2019; king & munger, 2016). additionally, the wet’suwet’en and standing rock cases both highlight that the securitization of ci and the security tactics to suppress indigenous resistance to fossil-fuel ci depend on collaboration and cooperation between state and corporate actors. in the context of standing rock, tigerswan (surveillance corporation hired by dapl) exchanged information with an “intel group” of numerous state institutions such as the fbi, bureau of indian affairs, and local and state police departments. while tigerswan was responsible for the intelligence gathering, police departments were responsible for arresting water protectors, and etp-hired security guards used force, notably through the use of attack dogs. similarly, in the context of wet’suwet’en, we see the rcmp and cgl coordinating with one another to enforce an “anti-protest” checkpoint, and unnamed private security companies collaborating with the rcmp to surveil (through aerial means) wet’suwet’en-unist’ot’en land-defenders (dhillon & parrish, 2019). however, three notable differences in strategy, and some limitations even in finding comparisons, must be considered. one strategy seemingly absent from wet’suwet’en, but present in standing rock, is the known use of infiltration tactics. while tigerswan security agents befriended water protectors and activist circles and used fake names/identities to build trust, gather intelligence, and incapacitate #nodapl, there is no evidence available on whether or how rcmp or any cglhired private security firms infiltrated unist’ot’en camp or allied activist circles. a second strategy seemingly absent from wet’suwet’en, but present in standing rock, is fossil-fuel companies and/or state security agencies using a deliberate and structured social media campaign to sway the public narrative in favour of pipelines. third, standing rock is unique because tigerswan exploited rifts between activists to support their security operations. tigerswan utilized divides along the lines of race and difference in opinion among protestors, as highlighted in evidence of how standing rock water protectors were compared to islamists/jihadists and the black panthers. another relevant and interesting aspect was that tigerswan-hired infiltrators used information on divides among standing rock sioux tribe members (e.g., tensions between red warrior camp leader tempeh and the tribal council) to attempt to discredit #nodapl (tigerswan, humint, 2016). meanwhile, there is no publicly available evidence on public or private security agencies exploiting divides among wet’suwet’en pipeline opponents and their allies, in the cgl case. notwithstanding the research constraints involved with obtaining information about complex strategies in the recent and under-studied cgl case, such strategic distinctions could potentially stem from differences in the security and political contexts of canada and the us. for example, if we connect the findings to plotnikoff’s (2020) research, the varying degrees of surveillance between the two cases and the battlefield-like tactics of tigerswan could be influenced by us agencies’ history of broadly categorizing environmental activists as “ecoterrorists,” which is lacking in canada (p. 34). furthermore, tigerswan’s targeted surveillance of black and muslim palestinian activists supporting #nodapl, and its use of racial imageries https://doi.org/ the arbutus review – 2021 – vol. 12, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar121202120191 136 describing them as potential violent threats, potentially stems from the us’s history of targeting these specific groups both preand post-9/11 (plotnikoff, 2020, p. 34). last, through analyzing the strategic distinctions in light of dafnos’s concept of pacification, one could argue that perhaps cgl and canadian security actors had no need to extensively target wet’suwet’en-unist’ot’en land-defenders as terrorists, nor use social media narrative-shifting, because the “pro-pipeline” forces were able to secure legitimacy for extraction through approval from band councils. from a security state standpoint, one could say that in the wet’suwet’en context, the trust was “already won” from one indigenous governing body (who supported due to economic reasons) and that the police did not need to earn their “opponents’” trust to incapacitate them. conclusion the aim of this study was to investigate how fossil-fuel extraction and the securitization of ci interact to further indigenous land dispossession. this involved a combination of comparative and multiple theoretical analyses of documents related to wet’suwet’en resistance to the cgl pipeline and standing rock resistance to the dakota access pipeline (dapl). despite the nuances arising due to diverse contexts of experiences with colonialism, the wet’suwet’en and standing rock cases involved shared rationales of securitization (by state/private actors) such as illegality, ci, and private property. however, the wet’suwet’en case diverges in one critical way that relates to rationale: fossil-fuel companies and security agencies made symbolic appeals to “honouring” indigenous governance in order to secure legitimacy for both extraction and the policing of landdefenders. although both cases involved similar surveillance methods and collaboration between the state and private sector, key strategic differences exist. those include the presence of infiltration, social media narrative-shifting, and the exploitation of racial divides among activists, in the standing rock case. considering that recent wet’suwet’en resistance to cgl is an under-studied research topic, and other shortcomings such as the time and privacy constraints of receiving information protected under the access to information act (atia), publicly available information on all the security dynamics specific to this case is limited. first, further research is required on whether or how strategies of infiltration, narrative-shifting and/or racial divide-exploitation were at play in the wet’suwet’en versus cgl case. second, further research is needed on whether and how cgl and the rcmp (similar to dapl, tigerswan, and state agencies) exchanged surveillance-based intelligence 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(2019). a review of over 100 injunction cases involving first nations across canada. https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/11/injunctioninfographics.pdf?fbclid=iwar2jbzxts8ma1oauxgwhcya54cecyzgnnot4wrwk7cno5a9fvd3jcsev4q https://doi.org/ https://unistoten.camp/no-pipelines/background-of-the-campaign/ https://fb.watch/8k6jzkftpn/ https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/injunction-infographics.pdf?fbclid=iwar2jbzxts8ma1oauxgwhcya54cec-yzgnnot4wrwk7cno5a9fvd3jcsev4q https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/injunction-infographics.pdf?fbclid=iwar2jbzxts8ma1oauxgwhcya54cec-yzgnnot4wrwk7cno5a9fvd3jcsev4q https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/injunction-infographics.pdf?fbclid=iwar2jbzxts8ma1oauxgwhcya54cec-yzgnnot4wrwk7cno5a9fvd3jcsev4q https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/injunction-infographics.pdf?fbclid=iwar2jbzxts8ma1oauxgwhcya54cec-yzgnnot4wrwk7cno5a9fvd3jcsev4q 1 she’s fast for her age! older women and running culture bridget j. mcgowan and dr. andré p. smith abstract: in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, running was the exclusionary sport of younger men. women, particularly older women, were discouraged from participating in competitive running up until the 1970s. in seeking to understand the reasons for this interdiction, this study employs foucault’s concept of discourse to explore the ways in which medicalized notions about the female body have mitigated women’s involvement in running from the early 1900s until present day. the paper begins with a targeted literature review that identifies relevant biomedical and moral discourses. findings are then presented from in-depth interviews with four elite women runners over the age of fifty. the analysis of these participants’ accounts of their running histories reveal that while women runners have gained new freedoms, a discriminatory discourse remains, one that sexualizes and commodifies the female athletic body. key terms: running, older women, discourse, aging, sexualization introduction in western society, running culture has historically been regarded as the province of young men; women and older adults were discouraged and even prevented from participating in competitive running events for most of the early part of the 20 th century. given this history, current increased participation of older women in the sport of running is of particular interest, given that they tend not to conjure up images of athleticism. this study takes a closer look at the phenomenon of the older woman runner and provides an experiential account of running culture from the perspective of four women runners over the age of fifty. the analysis reveals that while new freedoms have undeniably been gained, the discourses that mediated these women’s participation in running reflect past and current gender stereotypes. as running culture is largely informed by broader sociocultural contexts, analyzing the intersection of discourses concerning age, gender, the body, and sport contributes to our understanding of how the sporting practices of aging women are “historically produced, socially constructed, and culturally defined” (vertinsky, 2000, p. 390). theoretical framework discourse analysis is the framework that guides this study. foucault (1977) defines discourse as “assemblages of statements arising out of ongoing conversations, mediated by texts, among speakers and hearers” (cited in wearing, 1995, p. 264). normalized and embedded in culture, discourses shape individual subjectivities and coordinate social practices by influencing people’s perceptions and understandings of the social world. within discourse exist power relations that “construct, regulate and control knowledge, social relations and institutions” while also enabling and delimiting “fields of knowledge and inquiry, and...govern*ing+ what can be said, thought and done within those fields” (luke, 2001, poststructuralist and postmodern discourse theory, para. 2-3). however, power relations and their associated discursive practices can be challenged and resisted. the history of women’s running bears witness to women constructing their own athletic subjectivities by subverting the patriarchal and 2 medical discourses of their times and challenging the limitations imposed upon them by experts and institutions supposedly concerned with their welfare. their efforts constituted a series of counterdiscourses that successfully justified their involvement in the sport. this ultimately paved the way for the phenomenon of the older woman runner, which in itself challenges ageist medicalized discourses. in its first section, this paper briefly summarizes the history of women’s involvement in the sport of running, highlighting the manner in which female runners and activists challenge patriarchal and medical discourses. the following section reports on the findings derived from the in-depth interviews conducted with the women who participated in this study. the findings illustrate how discourses are enacted in the everyday lives of older female runners. literature review understanding the discourses informing the historical exclusion of women from the sport of running is an important prerequisite for understanding women’s current position within running culture. although women have made significant advancements in creating a space for themselves in what has historically been a male sport, traditional discourses concerning gender, the female body, and age continue to exert an influence. as the historical participation of women in sport cannot be understood apart from the behaviours and attitudes of broader sociocultural contexts (vertinsky, 1994, p. 9), this study investigates the practices of women in sport as “historically produced, socially constructed, and culturally defined” (vertinsky, 2000, p. 390). early biomedical discourse in late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, medicine was particularly concerned with “the very nature of woman and her physical and mental capacities” (mccrone, 1984, p.113). notions about the “fragile” biology of women justified their exclusion from activities involving strenuous physical exertion (vertinsky, 1994, p. 18). more specifically, physicians argued that women, unlike men, possessed a limited amount of energy that needed to be conserved for the development of reproductive organs during puberty (mccrone, 1984, p. 114). this idea evolved alongside biological theories conceptualizing menstruation as a pathological condition (vertinsky, 1987, p. 7) and the general view that women were chronically weak, nervous, and high strung (mewett, 2003, p. 335). as a result, physicians and educators, as well as men in general, justified their opposition to women’s involvement in sports, on the grounds that limited female energy should be devoted to more natural roles, such as reproduction and raising children. female reproductive roles and functions were idealized by physicians beginning in the 19 th century, who were instrumental in promoting the notion that the primary responsibility of a woman was to care for her children, particularly during pregnancy (vertinsky, 1994). mostly directed towards younger middle class women, this idea was associated with fears that improper care of the unborn child could affect the health of an entire nation (mewett, 2003), as exemplified by w. g. anderson’s (1890) statement, “can we expect a poor tree to bear good fruit? can vigour come from weakness?” (p. 266). physicians argued that as vigorous physical activity supposedly “strained” women’s reproductive organs, only moderate exercise was suitable for enhancing health and childbearing capabilities (hargreaves, 1985, p. 45). while physicians acknowledged that some level of fitness would help make better mothers, they felt that too much physical activity would cause a host of mothering problems (mewett, 2003, p. 336). as a result, physicians recommended restricting women’s involvement in sports and physical activity (hargreaves, 1985, p. 45), perpetuating gendered and ageist inequalities in 19 th century society. this medicalized discourse also extended to older woman, 3 whose social status was greatly diminished with the loss of their reproductive capacities. physicians portrayed menopause as marked by disease and obsolescence, and, as vertinsky (2000) notes, “in a medical sense...any notion of a healthy and vigorous active old age for women was a contradiction in terms” (p. 393). challenges to the biomedical discourse on women in sport emerged out of the north american’s educational system. towards the end of the 19 th century, as demands for women’s educational rights increased, physicians and educators continued to argue that the developing minds and bodies of girls were incapable of sustaining the strain of strenuous physical effort. the argument is that strain would deplete a woman’s energy levels, which could, in the long term, jeopardize her ability to bear healthy offspring (mccrone, 1984, p. 113). in response, advocates for women’s educational rights argued that such ideas were without foundation in science but instead reflected oppressive cultural norms (mccrone, p. 115). they argued that the qualities of humility, self-control, rationality, a sense of honour, respect for others, and an improved work ethic could all be acquired through rigorous and disciplined physical training (herrick, 1902, p. 716-721). sports and games were seen as instrumental to the healthy development of young women and in need of being integrated into “a systematic program of physical training and medical inspection intended to make students fitter for academic toil” (mccrone, p. 127). however, sports advocates at girls’ schools nonetheless continued to subscribe to the values of moderation and respectable femininity. according to mccrone (1984), avoiding the conflation of vigorous physical activity with masculinity was paramount, which meant that certain sports remained off limit for women, particularly those requiring “physical contact, awkward positions, endurance, and great strength” (p. 131). furthermore, the involvement of women in sports continued to be restricted by dress codes, rules, and time limits, which were designed to minimize the possibility that sports activity would result in “repulsive” muscularity (hamilton-fletcher, 1897, p. 534), “mannish lesbianism” (parratt, 1989, p. 153), and a deleterious effect on a woman’s “essential femaleness” (hargreaves, 1994, p. 131). of particular concern was the development of “masculine” traits such as aggression, boisterousness, and “the stigma of overt masculinity” (mccrone, 1984, p. 131) which could result in athletic women being labeled “hoydens” (mccrone, p. 132) or “brazen doxies” (rhodes, 1978, p. 242). also of concern were the detrimental effects of overexertion that would bring about pelvic disturbances and detrimental hormonal changes (hill, 1903, p. 4; mccrone, 1984, p. 114). these concerns meant that school-based physical education programs for girls continued to emphasize low-intensity physical activities (mewett, 2003, p. 335) and women’s involvement in sports remained subjected to mandatory medical inspections (hill, 1903). breaking down gender barriers it was not until the 1920s that women started to participate in more arduous sports. while still characterized by an ethos of “restrained physicality” (mewett, 2003, p. 337), the concept of competition in women’s athletics began gaining acceptance. female sports emerged from the secluded realm of all girls’ schools and gained a foothold in amateur competitions. in 1921, the feminine sportive federation international (fsfi) became the first international governing body for women's athletics (kuscik, 1977, p. 863) and sponsored the first women’s world championships the following year. despite the success of several other international meets, the fsfi’s request to the international amateur athletic federation (iaaf) to have women’s athletics included in the 1924 olympics was denied. permission was not granted until the 1928 summer olympics in amsterdam when five track and field events were sanctioned, the longest of which was 800 meters (two laps). as kuscsik (1977) argues, although inclusion of these events was initially considered as a victory for the sport of running, “the results of that historic occasion set 4 women's distance running back 50 years” (p. 864). she describes how, due to lack of training, many of the women failed to pace themselves properly and collapsed during the 800-meter run. although the top three finishers broke the existing world record, the race was labeled a frightful event and taken by the media and track establishment as proof that women were not fit for distance running. the iaaf cancelled the 800-meter run and only reinstated it in the 1960 summer olympics. despite women’s inclusion in the olympics, there remained stringent restrictions governing the number and types of events in which women could participate. echoing 19 th century medical discourse, sophie eliott-lynn (1925), vice-president of the women’s amateur athletic association, stated that “women are primarily designated as mother, and the opportunities must never be given for harm to happen’” (as cited in mewett, 2003, p. 338). in 1929, the american national amateur athletic federation went further and opposed female participation in olympic running events to protect them from the strain of preparing for competition (mewett, 1983, p. 338). in the distances in which women were allowed to compete, a prudent approach was adopted by conducting careful medical examinations throughout training and competition in order to prevent injuries (kuscsik, 1977, p. 864). despite the fact that records were being broken as fast as they were being set, women’s athletics in the 1920s was largely seen as a “semi-serious” activity (mewett, 2003, p. 339). this lack of formal recognition persisted throughout the 1940s and 1950s, during which time little progress was made in women’s athletics. it was not until the 1960s that the barriers that had long prevented women’s full involvement in sports began to crumble. in the 1960s cultural context of protest and change, second wave feminism exerted an enormous influence on galvanizing women’s involvement in running. as women began questioning the biological assumptions underlying traditional gender roles, the myth of women’s athletic frailty came under siege. a growing awareness of the empowering potential of running emerged, and women athletes began to challenge the patriarchal norms that had restricted their involvement in sports (besson, 1978). in particular, the sport of running was perceived as an opportunity for women to determine individually their own limits of strength, distance, speed, and endurance (oglesby, 1981, p. 163). in the late 1960s, women also increasingly challenged restrictions governing their involvement in sports. for example, women at the time were still deemed too fragile to endure the strain of long distance running and were denied official entry into marathon events (vertinsky, 2000). the watershed moment in women’s battle for inclusion in the marathon came when katherine switzer ran the 1967 boston marathon. because she registered under the name of k.v. switzer, race officials did not realize she was a woman until she was en route. the photograph of race official jock semple attempting to physically oust katherine from the race made international headlines. many women were inspired and followed katherine’s example; by the 1970s, women were increasingly being allowed to run in marathon races. in the 1971 new york city marathon, nina kuscsik and beth bonner became the first women marathoners to break the 3-hour mark (kuscsik, 1977). in 1972, the boston marathon allowed women to compete while the women’s marathon was officially sanctioned in the 1984 summer olympics in los angeles. as hargreaves (1984) remarks, the inclusion of the women’s marathon in the olympics was a great symbolic victory for women who had waged “a long and bitter battle against mythical past accounts of female inferiority” (p. 20). at the same time, new scientific findings demonstrated that the female musculoskeletal system was no more susceptible to injury than in men, which led the new york academy of sciences in 1977 to acknowledge that women equally benefited from long-distance running (vertinsky, 2000). exercise was also shown to reduce the pain and lethargy associated with 5 menstruation and complications during childbirth (hargreaves, 1994). in fact, evidence was growing that women were potentially better suited than men for endurance events due to their greater resistance to fatigue. growing public enthusiasm for personal achievement and better health in the 1970s created grassroots support for the sport of running (tulle, 2008). in addition, the masters’ athletics movement of the late 1960s provided a structure in which age-based attritions in performance were normalized, and older adults previously considered past their athletic prime (35 for women, 45 for men) were able to maintain their athletic identities (tulle, 2008). the powerful, vital, and active image these athletes projected helped dispel the image of older adults as being passive, disabled, and dependent (dionigi, 2006) while challenging concepts of “normal aging” and “appropriate physical activity” (vertinsky, 2000, p. 400). athletic prowess was no longer solely the province of the youth. another factor that encouraged the participation of women was the rise of corporate involvement in running culture. in 1972, crazylegs shaving cream sponsored the crazylegs mini marathon – the first ever women’s road race in central park, new york. inspired by the race’s success, bonne bell cosmetics launched a series of women’s 10km road races throughout north america. avon followed suit in 1978 by sponsoring several international women’s marathons to set a precedent to the international olympic committee for the inclusion of the women’s marathon. by providing an environment less intimidating than male dominated events, these races became extremely popular and led to the rise of races for women, family fun runs, clinics, and articles on running in women’s magazines. also influential was the fitness boom of the 1980s, during which the increased commodification of women's physical activity expanded. although running was promoted to women as a means of staying fit and healthy, this was overshadowed by an overemphasis on beauty and the presentation of the body (vertinsky, 2000, p. 399). compared to the knee length pantaloons and long sleeved shirts of the early 1900s, the skimpy outfits epitomized by aerobics instructors uncovered the athletic female body as never before. the emerging images of “feminine” athleticism frequently sexualized style and appearance. as a result, the discourses restricting women’s initial involvement in physical activity were reinforced, and the female athlete became objectified for the sexual desire of men. in summary, the various discourses that mediated women’s involvement in the sport of running evolved significantly over time. in the 1920s up to the 1960s, women had had to confront restrictive medical and moral discourses to negotiate the terms of their participation in running events. although these older biomedical discourses have been disproved by modern scientific evidence, new discourses continue to shape women’s running. while the involvement of women in the sport of running has been well documented historically, there is a lack of information on the manner in which such involvement was and continues to be experienced in the context of the everyday lives of the women who pioneered the sport and are now considered older female runners. this study addresses this gap in knowledge with findings from in-depth interviews with four older women who had extensive involvement in the sport of running. methods volunteering for this study were four older women with long-term and current histories of participating in the sport of running. the running histories of these participants are described in detail at the beginning of the findings section. sampling was purposive and snowballed with selection based on age (≥50), gender (female), and level of involvement in the sport of running (extensive). upon completion of the interview, the first participant put us in contact with three other women sharing the 6 same extensive level of involvement with running culture. as these were women who had trained and competed for numerous years at the national and international level, we surmised that they would possess greater knowledge and experience concerning the social changes affecting women’s running when compared to recreational runners of the same age. the interviews were approximately one hour in length, and questions primarily focused on life events of “personal and social significance” (jaffe & miller, 1994, p. 143). interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed to determine reoccurring themes and concepts within the data. connections between themes and categories were identified and triangulated to map out the social phenomena of older women runners from the perspective of the participants. the findings illustrate the manner in which dominant socio-medical discourses shaped the lives of these older sportswomen. findings the participants, katherine, abby, joan, and paula (pseudonyms), spoke of the varied social reactions to their involvement in the sport of running which they encountered throughout their lives. katherine discovered her love of running when she was seven years old and joined a track club at the age of twelve. when she entered university in 1955, there were no women’s track opportunities and her running career came to an end. after a long hiatus during her childbearing years, katherine started running again as a way to lose the weight after her fourth pregnancy. unfortunately, back problems waylaid her plans. in 1975, she started marathon running again and eventually broke numerous canadian and world records. currently in her early seventies, she continues to run and volunteer within her local running community. in her youth, abby played basketball and hockey and skied. in high school, she discovered her love of tennis, which she played avidly. moving to bc following graduation, she met her husband, himself an avid skier and tennis player, and they had four children. while raising her family, abby began running. her first forays into running coincided with the fitness boom of the eighties, when running was becoming increasingly popular. over time, abby's performances have garnered her widespread recognition as an elite runner. as her eighty-fourth birthday approaches, abby admits she is starting to consider slowing down. although she has cut back on her road millage and increased her cross training in order to help preserve her body, her race times have begun to slow down. she reflects: “you sort of have to suck it up and realize you’re older...you’re going to slow down. but sometimes that’s a bit difficult to accept. you just think, ‘i’m getting awfully slow here. maybe i should quit.’” yet, despite her slower times, abby states that it’s her love of running that keeps her going: “it’s amazing for your spirit just to go out and get that adrenalin rush.” at 58, joan is the epitome of feisty. animated and energetic, she describes herself as “a pretty hyper person and a pretty a type plus personality.” playing every sport she could as a child, her natural athletic talent rapidly became evident at an early age. encouraged by her mother, she joined a track club in high school. with her accomplishments in high school track and field, she earned an athletic scholarship to university where she was able to pursue her running at the varsity level. like katherine and abby, joan had four children. she describes the challenges of fitting her running in: “all the years my kids were playing sports i would run while they were warming up...and i’d be watching them play all wet and smelly and i’d go to the grocery store with my hair all whatever.” while joan still runs, she reflects that her reasons for running have changed. rather than the competitive running of her youth, joan states, “i totally do it for just a release of my tensions and also because i can...i might not be able to ten years from now.” joan also feels that running is integral in helping her manage stress: “it’s like all the file folders and all the papers that are in my brain all get put back in their place.” joan remains involved in 7 the running community by coaching young and upcoming athletes. she concludes by saying, “i don’t do it for me anymore.” paula describes her lifelong involvement with running as “an incredible vehicle for success.” although she was involved with a variety of different sports throughout her childhood, she notes that she “recognized quite quickly that running suited *her+ quite well.” joining a track club in grade nine, she reflects that running rapidly “became sort of the main passion of [her] sport life.” like joan, paula earned an athletic scholarship to university with her track and field performances in high school. an injury changed the trajectory of paula’s running career. “i was priming to make the olympic team and tore both my achilles tendons….that was the end of my competitive career.” following an eight-year hiatus, paula returned to running at the age of 34. realizing she “couldn’t take the abuse on the track,” she became involved with road racing. she reflects: “that’s where i started to see this incredible involvement of women road racing. i could see more and more women, and i wasn’t a master’s athlete yet.” throughout her competitive career, paula feels she has received much support from her family, husband, and friends. she wonders: “if part of that could be the fact that i was able to be quite successful...if i hadn’t been as successful would people have still been willing to accept my putting all this time into this?” although she notices slower race results as she approaches her mid fifties, paula’s love of running hasn’t diminished. she now coaches a local track club and looks forward to the increased training opportunities retirement will afford. in considering how long she thinks she will keep running for, paula concludes i would hopefully love it if i’m running almost until the day i die. being able to go out and shuffle along through the forest. that would be fantastic. so i know it’s possible unless something major gets in my way. these women’s comments illustrate the everyday experiences of the gendered and medicalized discourses that have framed the sport of running over the past several decades. cultural pressures katherine reflected that during her youth, her running often conflicted with cultural pressures to be feminine. early in her athletic life, her vigorous running attracted criticism from her mother and grandmother, who were “appalled” and would often ask, “why doesn’t katherine play tennis? that’s a much nicer sport for girls to play than to be running around and jumping in pits.” although running in the mid 1970s became increasingly acceptable for women, katherine recalled that when she announced her decision to start running again in middle age, her mother thought she was out of her mind and said that it could not be good for her. katherine’s comment illustrates how her mother and grandmother internalized the medical discourse about women and sport prevalent during that era. joan also encountered similar reactions when she began to run seriously in the early 1970s. “it would get people honking,” she said. she recounted an incident with the mailman: he used to see me the same time every morning. he said, ‘what are you doing? training for the olympics or something?’ that’s sort of the way he said it, like, ‘you’re crazy lady! what do you think you’re doing?’ and i remember looking at him and saying, ‘yeah. actually i am.’ and that was kind of cool for me. although abby did not start running until the mid 1980s, she recalled a similar incident: “i had a neighbor. he used to say, ‘there she goes, wasting all her energy.’ and i’d go, ‘i’m not wasting all my 8 energy! you should try this.’ he said it in jest, but deep within i think he really thought i was.” when asked why she thought he might think this, her response reflected early medical perceptions of the female body: “well women in particular, i think the old witches’ tale about...your uterus, you shouldn’t be jigging it like that.” while such views are laughable to modern women runners, katherine reflected on how they restricted long distance running for women in the 1950s. she remembered what women were told: it was dangerous for our reproductive health. that we might not be able to have children if we ‘overtaxed ourselves’...i’ve thought about that. why did we take that crap? in the ‘50s there wasn’t a feminist approach to things. we were told, ‘oh it’s dangerous for you and there’s no events. you can’t do it.’ and we just accepted that. it was not until the early sixties...that we began to say, ‘what is this? these men telling us what we can and cannot do with our bodies.’ paula and joan’s experiences in varsity competition during the 1970s show how these patriarchal medicalized views persisted. paula recalled being twenty and the coach from another university saying, “when are you going to give this up?” and she said, “i’m not. i’m just getting going. what do you mean give it up? give it up and have kids and be a wife? i’m not quite ready to do that yet.” running distances another prominent theme to emerge from the interviews was the role of distance running regulations in influencing the trajectory of these women’s running careers. paula recalled that in the 1960s high school track and field was becoming increasingly popular for boys and girls, although “there were definitely events that the girls didn’t run.” she, along with a few friends, was able to convince their high school coach to allow a girls’ cross-country team, although they were restricted to running a mile and a half. echoing paula’s comments, joan explains, “you could run the 100, the 200, the long jump, or the 800m.” she added frustratingly that “men were running marathons, men were running 5km, 10km, men were steeple chasing, men were running hurdles, doing all these events that none of us as women could do!” it was not until paula and joan entered university in the early 1970s that the distance restrictions started to crumble. katherine described the removal of restrictions as having a “trickle down” effect: “whenever an event wasn’t allowed at the international level, it wouldn’t happen down below for the talented runners.” as a result, joan stated she was “always running the longest distance they had.” ironically, as katherine mentioned, these shorter events were actually more detrimental to young women: “we were allowed to run up to 220 yards which is totally a power event. i mean, you’ve got to be strong and muscular...there’s far more potential to injure a young girl’s body developing in her teens than...to run a longer race. but it wasn’t seen like that.” similarly, joan remarked: a girl usually reaches puberty before a guy. and also they know that women have a greater capacity for endurance...and supposedly after you’ve had a baby the hormones change and you have more capacity for endurance. well all these things about how we might shake up the insides of our reproductive systems, or we were going to do all this damage is interesting, because it’s exactly the opposite to what science has kind of proven. and that’s really sad. eventually, the successes of women runners in road racing helped discredit the validity of long distance regulations along with corporate-sponsored events geared specifically for the average female runner. katherine recounted participating in these corporate sponsored races of the 1970s: 9 unless you were a very competitive elite woman you would feel ‘there’s no place for me.’ five percent of the women who are out running are young and competitive and the rest are all men, and the men are very competitive because it was a fairly small field. and it was an intimidating environment for women. and so the concept was, all right, we’ll have a race that’s for women only...it was strictly for giving women an opportunity to run in an environment where they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with very competitive men all around. katherine also noted that these races helped dispel medical misconceptions about women’s involvement in running “by showing that women from 26 different countries can run a marathon and they’re fine and they’re thriving.” however, although the women’s running movement was gathering steam, katherine said that the most significant gain in long distance running came when a women’s marathon event was included in the 1984 olympic games. at the time, she was a member of the board for the women’s association for the advancement of sport in canada. she recalled the board debating how the international olympic committee was “discriminating against women at the international level” by not having a women’s marathon race in the olympics. age and running women’s participation in long distance events was also hampered by concerns about age. abby recalled that when she first started road racing in the mid 1980s, “fifty plus was as far as it went for the women. the men had another category. i can remember whining about that...i thought, ‘if the men get it, why shouldn’t the women?’” likewise, joan reflected that it was not until the mid 1990s that track and field opportunities for women became more equivalent to those of men. the masters athletics movement played an instrumental role in that regard. when katherine became involved in masters athletics, participating athletes were seen as “just a bunch of old people over there doing their thing.” as a result, older women faced few restrictions which helped them equal or surpass their younger counterparts in many distance events. this helped reverse common gender misconceptions about older female athletes. katherine recalled the first time she witnessed a woman running the 10,000m at a 1977 masters track meet: she turned up, and oh my goodness she’s a woman! and they said, ‘no. you can’t do that. you’ll get in the way of the men.’ and there was a protest... ‘she’s got her number. she’s paid. what are you going to do?’ and i was in the stands...and i watched her. and she lapped a good quarter or third of the field. describing the age requirements for masters level competition (35 for women, 40 for men), paula noted that the rationale was “to grab women and keep them in the sport.” she added, “men were staying in...but women weren’t. they were dropping out. they’d have families. they’d put that as their first priority and they would just get away for doing anything for themselves.” for her part, paula described how she felt empowered when she began running as a masters athlete: it was basically forbidden. they were to get married. they were to have kids. but to be athletic was just not on. and so they got involved later. they got involved when they were 55, 60, 65 and discovered their amazing athletic abilities. and so this was just like a rebirth for them. yet, the participants spoke about still encountering skepticism about their involvement in competitive running as older women. for example, abby talked about the reactions of women in her bridge club, many of whom are in their eighties: “they can’t believe that i’m still doing this...they’ve had 10 hip replacements and knee replacements. and i think that’s what a lot of people worry about. that you’re going to cost the health system a lot of money with these injuries, which in the long run doesn’t add up that way.” for her part, joan mentioned that in many of the workshops she teaches, “i’m going over hurdles and i’m doing all this stuff, and these women and men look at me and the men usually say, ‘how old are you? how can you do that?’” by contrast, paula spoke about the respect she received from her peers. “they think it’s amazing and they’re incredibly supportive and awed i would say...the fact that i’ve stepped it up another notch and compete, they think that’s very cool...there’s no jealousy or ‘what an idiot. act your age.’” yet, paula felt that “people are still blown away when they see these older athletes.” she reports that a frequent misconception is “that if you’re an older female then the only type of running you’re doing is marathons.” sexualization and commodification the sport of running has shifted from being a preserve of youthful masculinity to a sport for the masses of all ages. however, despite these inroads, running remains “a markedly androcentric realm” (vertinsky, 2000, p. 390) as new discourses emerge that sexualize and commodify the female athletic body. media coverage of female athletes has increasingly sexualized and trivialized their sporting performances by emphasizing their appearance while the eroticization of the female body in sports such as gymnastics, beach volleyball, and figure skating invite voyeurism (hardin, lynn, & walsdof, 2005, p. 16-17). hardin et al., (2005) also note that the emphasis placed on sexuality in women’s sports and fitness magazines suggest that “the goal of any fitness routine for women is purely aesthetic – to attract men” (p. 108). hargreaves (1984) concurs by stating that the ideal type of female olympic athlete has become the svelte and sexy glamour girl (p. 20). in running, this is epitomized by former us track athlete mary decker. “little,” “pretty,” and “sexy,” mary decker was frequently contrasted to “those hard-faced east europeans with the ambiguous biceps” (hargreaves, 1984, p. 20) while olympic gold-medal sprinter florence griffith-joyner was regularly described as “leggy,” “lithe,” and “gorgeous” (hargreaves, 1994, p. 162). athletes failing to conform to the standard of desirable female athleticism continue to face “the stigma of overt masculinity” (mccrone, 1984, p. 131). in some cases, this discrimination is taken to the extreme by calling the athletes’ gender into question. for example, due to their masculine appearance, olympic runners such as south africa’s caster semenya and poland’s “huge and husky, deep-voiced” (hall, 2002, p. 92) stella walsh have faced much scrutiny regarding their gender. in the 1960s, gender verification tests were instituted as a mandatory requirement of female athletes wishing to compete at the olympic level. although the context has changed, the subordination of women’s sporting prowess to their sexuality remains constant (hargreaves, 1984, p. 20). this theme of the sexualization of the athletic female body was prevalent in the interviews. katherine, abby, joan, and paula all commented on the increased exposure of the athletic female running body in the media. paula reports being “astounded” by the extent to which the beauty of female athletes was emphasized by the sports media: “you watch the olympics and you think, there’s not an ugly athlete out there. not one! they are these totally perfect specimens.” she reflects that while the promotion of sexiness in running was not taken to the extent of beach volleyball, “where a bikini outfit was mandated as the outfit…, there is still that manipulation of women. yeah you’re an athlete, but first of all we want you to look sexy and good out there. and maybe that’s a drawing card, but yeah. it riles me.” paula furthers that as “the female sport body is becoming more and more a desirable shape...fashion-wise there is very much an acceptance and a promotion of the fit female body.” when discussing running clothing, abby admitted a dislike of the latest fashion trend of running skirts because 11 “you have to have a lovely figure to wear those.” similarly, paula highlights the subtle concessions to patriarchy that continue to be perpetuated through sport. “everything matches now...so that’s brought women in as well as satisfying that acceptance from males that, oh yeah, they look great. short shorts. you can’t beat it.” this increased sexualization of the body is a concern because it might lead to the resurgence of “the stigma of overt masculinity” (mccrone, 1984, p. 131) which was once associated with female muscularity. at least one participant spoke about experiencing this stigma. small and muscular, joan’s appearance fit the picture of youthful muscular athleticism that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. as she puts it, “i have these defined arms and this big rib cage, and of course no boobs... i could pretty much be a body builder.” yet she mentioned one stigma, which made her realize that her physical appearance remained out of the norm in the eyes of some: i had this mom come and see me and say, ‘can i get my husband to meet you? he doesn’t want our daughter to do sports because he thinks it’s going to make her muscular and masculine. can i get him to come and look at you?’...that made me realize that there was still this perception by people that this was going to happen. similarly, paula remarked, “you’re not considered weird to be in sport anymore, just as long as you don’t get too muscular. if you get too muscular then you’re pushing it a little bit.” she felt that there persists “a worry with the girls about developing too much muscle, even though you explain the physiology to them...so it’s still out there.” joan pointed out, “look at that poor girl, semenya. it’s not her fault she was born questionable...she’s left out there...probably by a bunch of men in their sport organization...to be fed to the wolves!” although discourse sexualizing the athletic body can be restrictive, paula felt that older women often find a sense of empowerment through uncovering the previously hidden older female body. commenting on the variety of attire in masters athletics, paula reports a “huge range of what the athletes will wear out there,” with apparel ranging from “the bum hugger bikini bottom shorts...to a high cut loose short” to “what would be considered some fairly skimpy outfits. and they’re loving it! ” paula feels that older women athletes “enjoy looking feminine and looking good.” she attributes this to the fact many of these women “in their earlier youth were probably not even allowed to show their shoulders, let alone be running out in public in shorts for goodness sakes!” however, uncovering the older female body entails walking a fine line between personal empowerment and conformity to the dictates of feminine beauty. as joan reflected, “our society has sort of told everybody to defy age. we dye our hair and we do this or that, but if you’re doing it because you’re afraid of getting old it’s sort of sad.” she added, “i must admit we’re all competitive and we do judge each other, and you see these women that look better then you at your age and you think, ‘oh gee. how’d i let myself go that badly?’” conclusion the social discourses informing women’s involvement in sport have evolved over time. notions about women having “limited energy” and being “susceptible to strain” have been disproved by advancements in medicine and research demonstrating the positive effects of exercise on the aging body. with the rise of a healthy aging discourse, older adults are increasingly encouraged by public 12 health campaigns to get active rather than take it easy. with these increasingly positive definitions of aging, athleticism in later life is becoming increasingly valued (flatten, 1991, p. 67). although older women have historically been socialized to abstain from engaging in strenuous sports, unprecedented participation rates in untraditional activities such as running suggests that the barriers of sexism and ageism are being eliminated (vertinsky, 2000, p. 387). in particular, older women can be seen as having defied sexist and ageist discourses by competing so vigorously and establishing the older female body as a source of pride and joy. nonetheless, remnants of those discourses continue to oppress, as evidenced by the stigmatization some of the athletes experienced concerning their muscularity and the ongoing issues related to the commodification and sexualization of female sports. in summary, while new freedoms for women in sports and physical activity have undeniably been gained, this research demonstrates that the discourses informing women’s early participation in sport continue to operate within culture, albeit in new manifestations. 13 references anderson, w. g. 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(1989). athletic “womanhood”: exploring sources for female sport in victorian and edwardian england. journal of sport history, 16 (2), 140-157. rhodes, d. (1978) history of women’s running. in the complete woman runner. (pp. 241-255). california: world publications. tulle, e. (2008). the aging body and the ontology of aging: athletic competence in later life. body society, 14 (1), 1-19. vertinsky, p. (1987). exercise, physical capability, and the eternally wounded woman in late nineteenth century north america. journal of sport history, 14 (1), 7-27. vertinsky, p. (1994). gender relations, women’s history and sport history: a decade of changing enquiry, 1983-1993. journal of sport and history, 21, 1-24. vertinsky, p. (1995). stereotypes of aging women and exercise: a historical perspective. journal of aging and physical activity, 3, 223-237. vertinsky, p. (2000). eternally wounded women? feminist perspectives on physical activity and aging, or, a woman’s p(l)ace in the marathon of life. journal of aging and physical activity, 8, 386-406. wearing, b. (1995). leisure and resistance in an aging society. leisure studies, 14, 263-279. contact information corresponding author: bridget j. mcgowan, department of sociology, university of victoria, po box 3050 stn csc, victoria bc v8w 3p5. email address: mcgowanb@uvic.ca. dr. andré smith can be contacted at apsmith@uvic.ca. acknowledgments bridget mcgowan would like to thank the participants for taking time to share their experiences with her. mailto:mcgowanb@uvic.ca mailto:apsmith@uvic.ca 68 exploring death and dying through discourse al whitney and dr. andré smith abstract: while there is continuous research being done on death and dying, often theoretical abstractions are offered which are removed from the realities of lived experiences. this paper seeks to understand contemporary practices of death and dying, in a canadian context, through an analysis of the larger discourses which structure our conceptions of death. guided by an interpretation of foucault’s genealogical and archaeological methodologies, current practices of death and dying are explored by tracing the history of the discourses that structure these practices, specifically the institution of medicine. this paper reaffirms the need to further explore the heterogeneity of death and dying as cultural experience and examines the ways in which those experiences are influenced by broader discourses that limit the possibility of creating meaning in death in a positive way. key words: biomedicine, death and dying, medicalization, discourse, end of life care introduction death has always been an integral part of human existence; therefore, death must be given credence as a pivotal component within individual life trajectories as it is, ultimately (regardless of one’s beliefs of afterlife), the end of “biological” life. it is also estimated that “each death in canada affects the immediate well-being of, on average, five other people” (carstairs, 2010, p. 12). the death of a family member, partner, lover, friend, acquaintance, or even stranger, affects our lives, often in very intense and critical ways. as canadians, we are living longer lives; the life expectancies for women and men are 83.91 and 78.69 years respectively (statistics canada, 2006); however, it is also taking us longer to die, and we are more likely to die alone in institutions and among strangers (ziegler, 2009, p.318). the death trajectory has increased because of the proliferation and prevalence of chronic illness, specifically cancer and heart disease. in western canada, within the final year of life, 62% of canadian decedents were hospitalized at least once (canadian institute for health information [cihi], 2007). a previous study in western canada on death in long-term and acute-care hospitals recorded that “97% of patients died with at least one continuous life-saving technology in use” (northcott & wilson, 2008, p. 48). death has become medicalized, routinized, and normalized in such a way that it is often devoid of meaning. kaufman (1992) argued that “biomedicine has come to provide the fundamental framework for understanding death” (p. 721). despite its heterogeneous essence, death is controlled and regulated through medical and technological interventions that are practiced within the structure of various levels of administration, under bureaucratic rule. as we look cross-culturally and historically, it becomes more apparent that the ways in which death is managed is largely dependent upon the social and cultural context in which it occurs. this context, however, is not merely an evolutionary progression, but, rather, it is a manifestation of various discourses (beyond linguistics) and relations of power. as the process of death and dying becomes increasingly defined as a technical problem, a medical discourse prevails in which 69 death is disguised, demeaned, and ignored. why is this? have we, as individuals, refuted the celebration of life in death and conceded to become just another body to be fixed, another patient to be regulated, and a piece of paper to be filed? does society fear death itself, or is it the process of dying that we are afraid of? is it the physical space we are likely to occupy in death that affects our conceptions of death as a society? do we fear the process of dying in a sterile institutional space? while the existential questions will always be, in some sense, associated with suffering (be that emotional, physical, or spiritual), the way a society thinks about death largely impacts individual conceptions of the way we deal with both dying and living, individually and as a society. this conceptualization is related to the type of discourses and relations of power that operate in a society. one must consider the larger discourses that ultimately work to influence the meaning (for a population) which affects how we think about and live in our bodies, through the practices that structure the process. this paper explores these questions by examining the literature surrounding death and dying, enabling a greater understanding of current practices that exist by tracing the history of the medical discourses that structure these practices and the ways in which the historical construction of these discourses affects the management of death (expressly for older adults) in the way that it occurs, specifically within an institutionalized space. this is not to say, however, that institutions should be understood as tangible entities that merely exert power over individuals, but rather they should be conceptualized as a site of power relations and discursive practices. much of the literature surrounding death and dying in the social sciences, as well as in medical and ethics journals, is now predicated upon opposition to a biomedical model of death to understand (and define) a “good death” in comparison to a “bad death” (both quantitatively and qualitatively). kauffman (1992) refers to this as a cultural conversation in which a “good death” or “death with dignity” is conceptualized in relation to “personal control in dying on the one hand, and on the other hand, the pain, suffering, loneliness, and lack of autonomy brought about by the use of advanced technology medicine in the hospital setting” (p. 715). while there are varying approaches and means of operationalizing a “good death” within the literature, it is generally understood to include some aspects of palliative (and/or hospice) care philosophies (gott, small, barnes, payne & seamark, 2008; cihi, 2007). death, however, cannot practically (or even theoretically) be reduced to a binary. these contemplations bring forth my primary research question, which is to examine how death and dying is managed in canada, in relation to a foucauldian conception of discourse. the intent is to critically engage not only current conceptions of death and dying, but also to provide a better understanding of the impact of historical processes on the manner in which death and dying is conceptualized in the context of north american health care. theoretical framework in order to question the management of death and dying, this paper draws largely on foucault’s (1977) methodologies (as well as his work) as a framework for conducting research. foucault uses the term archaeology to describe the study of statements throughout history: specifically, what is included and excluded, and the ways in which these statements are used to structure and legitimize certain types of knowledge. foucault uses genealogy to describe the search for connections between ideas (that affect practice) and institutions: if we were to characterize it in two terms, then ‘archaeology’ would be the appropriate methodology of this analysis of local discursivities, and ‘genealogy’ would be the tactics 70 whereby, on the basis of the descriptions of these local discursivities, the subjugated knowledges which were thus released would be brought into play. (p. 72) in an attempt to operationalize discourse, this paper draws on foucault’s (1979) proposition: “a delimitation of a field of objects, the definition of a legitimate perspective for the agent of knowledge, and the fixing of norms for the elaboration of concepts or theories” (p. 199); this elaboration is not restricted to words but also incorporates actions and practices. power, knowledge, truth discourse(s) work to construct regimes of truth, and, as such, it becomes the “medium for struggle” (purvis & hunt 1993, p. 489) through various relations of power. power must be understood beyond repression, as it is both positive and productive, and the relations of power that allow for certain regimes of truth to occur are inextricably linked to the production of certain types of knowledge. knowledge must be contextualized within the historical and social space in which it is produced as a discourse. the analysis of discourse, then, becomes imperative. this process seeks to understand which statements, in relation to knowledge, are legitimated and which are excluded, and the relations of power which permit this to occur. power is not reducible to knowledge, nor is knowledge reducible to power. relations of power occur within and amongst individuals and institutions, and through these processes specific discourses emerge as dominant forms of knowledge. truth, then, is context-specific. “truth” does not operate outside of power, and mechanisms of power produce different types of knowledge; and the “effects of truth are produced within discourses which in themselves are neither true nor false” (foucault, 1977, p. 118). with the latter conceptions of discourse in mind, then, the biomedical paradigm is not necessarily an external or objective truth. nor is it, essentially, a form of power that merely represses, “for power inevitably creates and works through resistance” (lupton, 1997, p. 101). the institution of medicine is a discourse that relies on science and the idea that there is a knowable truth. and truth “is to be understood as a system of ordered procedures for the production, regulation, distribution and circulation and operation of statements” (foucault, 1977, p. 133). lupton (1997) summarizes foucault’s argument, stating that “over time, various medical paradigms have provided important systems of knowledge and related practices by which we have not only understood but also experienced our bodies” (p. 99). through a process of normalization, (through the production of texts, disciplines, practices, which have not preceded this idea of medicine), this particular conception of medicine and the body is legitimated as a discourse. medicine has come to be understood as a dominant and progressive institution despite its multiplicity and heterogeneity, resulting in specific discursive practices that draw on a singular conception of the body, and the assumptions from this perspective manifest in the justification for the management of death and dying. as such, its de-legitimization must be acknowledged within the discursive realm. by conceptualizing the institution of medicine as it currently exists as a discourse (including discursive practices), one can problematize the production and maintenance of this discourse through power relations and mechanisms of power. what constitutes truth is entirely dependent upon the mechanisms of power that produce it and the power relations that structure what is counted as true. because truth is fluid and dependent upon the condition of its production, the potential for alternative truth(s) can be understood within the process of competition between regimes of truth. 71 the institution of medicine as discourse in an attempt to explore the history of canadian medicine, i draw heavily on foucault (1973), as his genealogy of medicine in the birth of the clinic is often cited in sociological literature regarding medicine and health. in order to understand contemporary practices surrounding death and dying, it is imperative to understand how the process of medicalization came into being through the institution of medicine. in the birth of the clinic, foucault (1973) seeks to undertake a study that attempts to “disentangle the conditions of its history from the density of discourse” (p. xix). foucault situates the study of the birth of medicine in relation to the moment in which the treatment of disease became discursive, as a “new alliance was forged between words and things enabling one to see and to say” (p. xii), which foucault (through english translation) refers to as the “clinical gaze.” according to foucault, the history of medicine has emerged as a specific discourse through the reorganization of the clinic. it was during the 18 th century, foucault (1989) writes, that the conversation between the doctor and the patient shifted from “what is the matter with you?” to “where does it hurt?” (p. xviii). this was the moment in which one can discursively locate the premise of contemporary medicine. disease came to be understood as situated within the body, rather than of the body. the “clinical gaze” is understood as a mechanism of diagnosis stemming from a conceptualization of the body in terms of volume rather than “the body as process” (foucault, 1973, p. 136). the observation of patients in their beds became a central component of new medicine and the new clinic: a new way of seeing coupled with a new way of teaching and researching (foucault, 1973). the clinic became representative of the medical experience (foucault), resulting in a hegemonic discourse through a reorganization of the hospital and the patient. the institution of medicine, then, can be understood in relation to the ways in which various discourses (medical paradigms) become reference points for practices that become a part of these same discourses. it is important, however, to realize that this is not to say that there is a centralized, singular conception of medicine, but rather it is “a series of loosely linked assemblages each with different rationalities” (lupton, 1997, p. 100). drawing on the birth of the clinic, we can understand how various medical discourses have become reference points that guide contemporary practices surrounding the management of death and dying. biomedical model understanding historical conceptualizations of disease and the ensuing practices as discourses is imperative to understanding contemporary conditions of death and dying and the ways in which it is controlled, managed, and regulated within larger bureaucracies (although, this is not necessarily the source of repressive power, but a form of enactment, a mechanism through which the discourse is both maintained and altered simultaneously). conceptualizing disease and medicine as a discourse allows one to understand contemporary conditions of death and dying in relation to a biomedical paradigm which is rooted in empiricism. according to nettleton (2006), the biomedical model is based upon five primary assumptions and is generally an accepted means of describing the initial theoretical positioning of western medicine. the first assumption is that there is a mind-body dualism in which the body is considered separate from the mind; the body is the space in which doctors look to find disease. the second assumption within this model is a conceptualization of the body as a machine that can be repaired by “experts” and is referred to as the mechanical metaphor. the third assumption is that there is a technological imperative inherent in medicine, as technological developments appear to operate parallel 72 to science and intervention is justified. the fourth assumption is that this model is reductionist, that explanations of diseases focus singularly on the biological without reference to the social and cultural contexts in which they exist. this conception of reductionism is rooted in a doctrine of aetiology which seeks to understand causation from a perspective of pathology or epidemiology; this is the fifth assumption of the biomedical model. critiques of the biomedical model have been articulated as critiques of medicalization, in which various events in life become defined and regulated through the discourse of medicine. death and dying, in this sense, became problematic in society in a certain way. upon the emergence of the ability to define disease within the body, particular methods for observating and analyzing the body came to be normalized and became a part of dying. according to lupton (1997), medicalization critiques originate from marxist theories and liberal humanism, which emphasize “the importance of liberal freedom, human rights and social change” (p. 95). this type of argument is predicated upon a conceptualization of the dominance of the institution of medicine over individual’s agency, with power existing in the hands of a particular group of people. for the purpose of this paper, a “foucauldian” perspective is drawn upon, which argues that “society is medicalized in a profound way, serving to monitor and administer the bodies of citizens in an effort to regulate and maintain social order as well as promoting good health and productivity” (lupton, 1997, p. 100). with this positionality, the authors hope to avoid conceptualizations of the institution of medicine as a centralized, essentialized form of power (power as a possession residing in a social or political group) that exists outside of discourse. however, as doctors, and the institution of medicine in its entirety, have legitimized status, the way death is managed in canadian society must be contextualized within this framework. the management of death and dying falls primarily on the institution of medicine. life prolonging technologies are rampant. pain management and relief have become directly related to the “healing” function that doctors must fulfill. the dominance of the institution of medicine becomes reified through these processes while it is simultaneously challenged. it is imperative to move beyond a singular conception of doctors as an oppressive force, relegating power to a possession. considering the positionality of doctors, in an attempt to remove oneself from the sociological urge to distinguish between good and evil, i seek to conceptualize doctors as “links in a set of power relations,...people through whom power passes or who are important in the field of power relations” (foucault, 1984, p. 99). while doctors often act within the confines of discourse, these discourses are fluid and dependent upon competing regimes of truth. patients, then, are not merely rendered docile but actively consent and comply with medical and physician dominance. there are continuously relations of power between individuals and doctors and the institution of medicine, and subjectivity is constructed through these discourses on both the part of the “patient” as well as the doctor. mastery over death? foucault argues that modern medicine is born as an enterprise of hubris of mastery over death, or “bringing together life and death under the same controlling gaze” (bleakley & bligh, 2009, p. 372). this gaze can be abstractly applied to the institution of medicine in its entirety. because of the prominence of medicine (and the “expertise” of physicians) and its premise on the biomedical model (body as machine, etc.), the process of death has become medicalized; the natural event of death comes to be defined as a condition which must be treated and controlled by medicine, and this generally takes place within an institutional setting. as our faith in medicine and technology increases, we have given 73 way to the prominence of medicine and in many ways concede to its “curative function and ability to extend the lives of the dying” (ziegler, 2009, p. 318). death can be resisted through entirely artificial means, through life support machines and ventilators. the dead body can be brought back to life through cardiopulmonary resuscitation. we are even “able to use organs from brain-dead donors whose heart is still beating to replace malfunctioning organs in others” (van biesen, lameire, veys & vanderhaegen, 2004, p. 539). technological advancements have created the means to intervene in ways that have never before existed. but what has not simultaneously occurred is consensus on the ethical ways in which these mechanisms of control over death should be employed. the individual circumstances surrounding death have become structured in an institutional space whereby morality and ethics are implemented in the form of routinized legal and medical practices. as death emerges within a biomedical paradigm (as failure) and we concede to hand over our bodies (even in death) to the institution of medicine, we renounce the meaning of our lives through the resistance and ignorance of dying. death is no longer understood as a natural part of life but becomes something that must be resisted and intervened upon. even upon acceptance of a lack of cure, it continues to be regulated, controlled, and managed in an impersonal way because of the functions of bureaucracy. bleakly and bligh (2009) remark that the medical profession shapes, guides, and controls death across the boundary of the doctor-patient relationship. this boundary is inclusive of institutional spaces in which discourses of medicine permeate in conjunction with specific rules and regulations. when one dies within an institutional setting, the feature of bureaucracy is a dominant force. efficiency is a key component to a successful bureaucracy, and the efficacy of death management relies on mechanization and routinization. this space is theoretically incongruent, or rather, it severely limits or restrains the acknowledgement of existential issues relating to death, thus limiting a conceptualization of death as a positive experience or as a natural life event that could be celebrated. the institution of medicine, which includes the biomedical model, expertise, and bureaucracy, can be used to explore the space of long-term care facilities, which also operate as totalizing institutions and bureaucracies that function under administrative rule. total care, total institution? drawing on goffman’s (1957) essay characteristics of total institutions, one can understand a total institution as a space which encompasses the whole of one’s being. through a regimented pattern of life, which takes place in one setting, the subject becomes relegated to a collective and therefore loses individuality. long-term care homes can be understood as totalizing institutions as they too operate as regimented structures, spaces in which “human needs are handled in a bureaucratic and impersonal way” (weinstein, 1982, p. 268). this process may also be understood in relation to goffman’s references to custodial care which includes “routinization, surveillance, and mortification of the self” (askham et al., 2007, p. 20). paraphrasing goffman, askham (2007) describes how attempts are made to “mortify and alter the inmates’ sense of self: their sense of self-determination is curtailed; and previous or preferred identities are disallowed” (p. 3), in order to carry out caring tasks in the most efficient way. (p. 9). these functions of a total institution can be applied within the context of the dehumanization and depersonalization within long-term care homes. the depersonalization of death can be understood within the context of the de-personalization of life upon entry into long-term care homes (mcmurray, 2004). this process of de-personalization 74 begins through an administrative process whereby existence becomes encapsulated within a file containing various medical and legal documents. the positionality as resident (and as such, technically client or employer) becomes subsumed by the bureaucracy that manages the efficacy of care. as it is easy to theorize about these issues, it is important to also note that the relationships and interactions between staff and residents are complex and diverse, as are all interactions. discursive practices largely shape these relationships in many instances, and often the role of “patient requiring care” takes precedence. however, it is also imperative to note that it is inaccurate to generalize all interactions that occur within this framework; there is always some element of social interaction that cannot be reduced to the theoretical realm. pollak (1981) describes this as a form of anticipatory dying, while neimeyer (1995) describes it as prolonged dying, whereby the individual is conceptualized as dying because of the space in which he or she physically and socially resides. this can be framed within the context of the institution, in that those who live within this space are devalued or feared, because of their close association with death and dying; loss of independence is associated with this process which is intensified within a collective space the totalizing institution. beyond the body: holistic philosophies death has shifted from the private sphere to that of the public, as it has become increasingly medicalized. at the same time, it is argued that death and dying has been removed from “public scrutiny and consciousness to the hospital” (northcott & wilson, 2008 p. 14). dying in hospital (as well as within long term care homes) has been the topic of much research across academic disciplines (wass & neimeyer, 1995). it has been described as a dehumanizing experience in which advancements in medicine and technology intervene on the body in such a way that the existential issues surrounding death and dying have been ignored. however, alternative conceptualizations of death and dying and the care associated with this process have emerged over time; they are not just specific to the present. the proliferation of holistic philosophies of care can be understood as forms of knowledge which have specific discursive practices. the roots of contemporary forms of resistance against the medicalization of death can be understood in relation to subjugated knowledge and the emergence of alternative discourses surrounding death and dying. responses to modern conceptualizations and practices of death and dying are most explicitly found in hospice and palliative care philosophies. fox (1981) attributes the emergence of these responses to two “social movement-like phenomena.” in 1969, psychologist kubler-ross wrote on death and dying, which contained research on her experience of dying patients. fox (1981) refers to kubler-ross as a “pioneering catalyst, increasing public awareness of death” and credits her “pointing up inadequacies in the established institutional care of the dying” (p. 51). kubler-ross has contended that the experience of death and dying can be a meaningful and “life-enhancing,” and the “acceptance of mortality [is] not morbid” (fox, 1981, p. 50). the new hospice is the second social movement-like phenomena to which fox refers. in 1967, cicely saunders opened the first free standing hospice in the united kingdom designated for the treatment of those with terminal cancer (semour, clark, & winslow, 2005). it is said that as a medical social worker, saunders had an experience with a dying man in which she realized that care encompassed a variety of treatments beyond the body itself. saunders is associated with the term “total pain,” beginning a movement that focused on dealing with what may be referred to as the existential issues surrounding death, incorporating the social, psychological, and spiritual aspects of dying (albinsson, & strang, 2002; semour et al., 2005). this movement can also be understood as a counter-movement against dominant discourses of biomedicine, and resistance against 75 a singular conceptualization of the care of the dying. however, the power relations that structure the emergence of these discourses must be understood as the context of religious belief must also be considered, although the complexities of this variable are too large in scope to address in this paper. in both the past and present, caring for the dying, beyond the physical aspects, is often taken on by family, volunteers, and nursing staff. as can be seen by the changing mentalities (eg. “evolution”) of caring for the dying, most notably beginning with the work of kubler-ross and saunders, this type of caring can be framed as forms of subjugated knowledge: “a whole series of knowledges that have been disqualified as…insufficiently elaborated knowledges: naïve knowledges, hierarchically inferior knowledges, knowledges that are below the required level of erudition or scientificity” (foucault, 2003, p. 7). although there has been a proliferation of these philosophies and this resistance, one must question to what extent these philosophies are subsumed within the biomedical paradigm. the palliative care foundation of canada was formed in the early 1980’s and was later replaced by the canadian hospice palliative care association (chpca). although initially introduced in response to the need to treat cancer patients, hospice and palliative care movements are now “appropriate for any patient and/or family living with, or at risk of developing, a life-threatening illness due to any diagnosis, with any prognosis, regardless of age, and at any time they have unmet expectations and/or needs, and are prepared to accept care” (chpca, 2009, para. 3). ferrell (2010) operationalizes palliative care as “both a philosophy of care and an organized, highly structured system for delivering care” that “expands traditional disease-model medical treatments” (p. 221). hospice and palliative care organizations throughout canada have some funding from government, but fundraising is also a key component as they operate as not-for-profit. while provincial organizations vary in terms of funding and practice, all include some aspect of in-hospital care as well as home care services. in victoria, british columbia, victoria hospice has 17 in-patient beds within the royal jubilee hospital, some of which are used for respite care while others are designated for long term care. there is a fee for this service that is determined by a case manager. the 2000 senate report “quality of end of life care: the right of every canadian” and the follow-up report “still not there” indicate that there is limited and unequal access to palliative hospice services in canada, although much improvement has been made. the chpca and specifically senator sharon carstairs focus on interacting with the federal government and lobbies and advocate for improved access and implementation of hospice palliative programs. there are varying definitions of palliative and hospice care, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. the chpca (2007) uses “hospice palliative care” to describe “whole-person health care that aims to relieve suffering and improve quality of living and dying” (para. 1). while the underlying philosophies of palliative and hospice care are interpreted in different ways, the foci are on end of life care. because of the ways in which medicine and science operate as dominant discourses and regimes of truth, inherent within the re-conceptualization of end-of-life care movements is the issue of individual control, and it is often framed as the autonomy of the patient in opposition to institutions of medicine (hospital bureaucracy, physicians, etc.). this can be conceptualized within the context of critiques of medicalization from liberal, humanist perspectives. while the chpca does not advocate for right-to-die movements (this can be understood within the politics and power relations of the organization itself and in relation to broader governmental structures as well as society on a whole), the philosophy on which they rely is predicated upon the idea that when people have more control over the experience of dying, they experience a greater sense of 76 meaning. the key foci include the right to make choices and plan for end-of-life care, specifically in relation to treatment and medication options (chpca, 2007). senator carstairs (2010) negotiates the issue well by stating that “before we *can+ have a debate about euthanasia and assisted suicide in canada we should be providing equitable access to quality, integrated palliative care” (p. 6). the philosophy of palliative care, then, can be understood as a discursive space which affects the formation of policy and legislation as well as being a discourse that informs end-of-life care and practices. concluding thoughts this research paper acknowledges the multiplicity of discourses in relation to death and dying and the inability to ever fully disentangle these discourses. although palliative and hospice care philosophies operate as alternative discourses challenging alternative health care and conceptualizations of death, they are ultimately subsumed within the master discourses influencing medical practices surrounding end-of-life care. this paper has discussed how several aspects of palliative hospice care philosophies tend to be congruent with the biomedical paradigm and, as a result, pain management has become the central focus in this space and is synonymous with palliative care. this raises a question about what happens to other knowledges and philosophies and why they are excluded and delegitimized in this space. the answer might be that it is a function of bureaucracy but also a manifestation of medical discursive dominance. because the institutional space of the long term care home requires a routinization and mechanization of care, this process routinizes and depersonalizes death to the extent that it becomes invisible and unacknowledged. this may be understood as a form of death denial, as an inherent part of the institutionalized space, but it also must be understood within broader discourses of medicine which inform our conceptualizations of death. by not celebrating the lives of individuals, we relegate the meaning of death to the bureaucratic hand that controls, manages, regulates, administers, and then removes the life lived. while the specific institutional circumstances of death and dying in canada are diverse, they are, ultimately, regulated by discourses that affect the people who are dying. this paper has attempted to disentangle some of the dominant discourses surrounding death and dying and their intersectionalities, examining how death and dying is managed by the discourses of medicine and how this management is enacted as discursive practices. by understanding medicine as discourse, we see how death and dying is controlled through the practices and ideologies of specific institutions or organizations. inherent within this conceptualization of discourse is that individuals are actively engaged in this process while simultaneously being confined by discourse and power relations (for example, the doctor-patient relationship, nurse-doctor relationship, etc.). although death and dying is a personal and private experience, it is also regulated by law, medicine, and discursive practices that structure institutional space through power relations. as science has come to be understood as an objective truth, medicine legitimizes its practices by drawing on empirical rationality, objectifying and defining how we should conceptualize both living and dying. one cannot expect that by offering palliative hospice care that the management of death will be “rectified,” this type of care can be critiqued as being subsumed to a “moral tale or cultural script” (seale, 2009, p. 1114). humanistic alternatives will not necessarily solve society’s fear of death and dying. ultimately, all forms of resistance and challenges to dominant discourse become part of the 77 discourse; we are always operating within the discursive realm. again, this is not to suggest that power is only repressive, but that power relations are dynamic and discourse is fluid yet potentially inescapable (although this does not equate to an inability to change). in order to alter end-of-life care and practices we need to reconsider the practices and institutional arrangements of not only the way we live but the way we die as well. it is imperative to continuously search for alternatives, but to do so through a process of reflexivity and constant evaluation of our ontological and epistemological approaches. reforming the way individuals conceive of society is directly related to the ways in which we obtain or maintain our subjectivities and can be cyclical. therefore, even if we believe that we cannot move beyond discourse, or be outside of power relations, this does not mean that we should not continuously try. how we conceptualize or define death does not really matter in the theoretical sense; what matters is the meaning that is created through these processes. how can we achieve or resolve our existential issues surrounding death and dying? is meaning and meaning making the solution to our problems? if we attribute value to death, will that reflect the way that we live? what is death? is death a “temporary, mutable condition that we will someday understand control and overcome” (fox, 1981, p. 46)? these are the types of questions that we must unpack within the context of discourse and power relations. this must be a continual process: not that we are seeking an underlying truth, but as we continue to learn and experience, perhaps we can reach a consensus based on multiple truths and therefore be given the space to create meaning in death, in a positive way. 78 references albinsson, l., strange, p. 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(2009). collaborated death: an exploration of the swiss model of assisted suicide for its potential to enhance oversight and de-medicalize the dying process. the journal of law and medicine and ethics, 37(2), 318-330. contact information corresponding author: al whitney, department of sociology, university of victoria, po box 3050 stn csc, victoria bc v8w 3p5. email address: whitney@uvic.ca. dr. andré smith can be contacted at apsmith@uvic.ca. mailto:whitney@uvic.ca mailto:apsmith@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 71 assessing mild cognitive impairment using portable electroencephalography: the p300 component hannah h. smith1 hannahs396@gmail.com abstract increased prevalence of mild cognitive impairments (mcis) and dementias are a growing concern as the population ages, which produces a need for an objective, accessible, and cost-effective tool to facilitate early detection and intervention. this article investigates whether a portable electroencephalography (eeg) system can provide an effective measure of mci using a visual oddball task to target the memory and attention event-related potential (erp) component called the p300. in this study, 40 participants were separated into two groups: individuals with a diagnosed cognitive impairment and a healthy age-matched control group. participants completed two typical pen-and-paper mci assessments to gather behavioural data, which were followed by a perceptual eeg oddball task to gather brain data. results show that the mci group demonstrated decreased behavioural task performance in the pen-and-paper assessments and a modulated brain response during the oddball task when compared to healthy controls, which the portable eeg system revealed to be a decreased p300 peak amplitude. these results indicate the capability of portable eegs to identify biomarkers for mci and their potential use in the diagnostic process. this capability could provide major benefits to patients, their families, and physicians, and would also assist with alzheimer’s research. future research could expand on these findings by applying a lifespan or disease-span approach to investigate p300 changes in the course of a healthy individual’s life compared to p300 changes in individuals with mci over the entire course of their disease. this research could also cultivate a greater understanding of how mci progresses, which could improve diagnostic or treatment development. keywords: mild cognitive impairment; electroencephalography; dementia; alzheimer’s disease 1 this research was supported by the jamie cassels undergraduate research award at the university of victoria under the supervision of robert trska, dr. olave krigolson, and dr. alexandre henri-bhargava. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 http://hannahs396@gmail.com/ the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 72 introduction mild cognitive impairment (mci) is a growing concern in the twenty-first century since prevalence rates are increasing with an aging population without a concurrent increase in diagnostic and treatment capability (patnode et al., 2020). mci is included within the spectrum of cognitive decline and is characterized by a deterioration of cognition that does not notably impact an individual’s ability to perform everyday activities independently (langa & levine, 2014). additionally, individuals with mci have a greater risk of developing dementia (gauthier et al., 2006; gillis et al., 2019; langa & levine, 2014; owens et al., 2020). in this debilitating condition, one of six cognitive domains (learning and memory, executive function, complex attention, language, social cognition, and visuospatial processing) undergoes significant decline, which interferes with an individual’s ability to perform daily activities (patnode et al., 2020). dementia can be caused by several factors including alzheimer’s disease (ad), vascular or traumatic brain injuries, and nutritional or metabolic disorders (gale et al., 2018). dementia most commonly affects the elderly and has a global prevalence of 7% in individuals over the age of 65 (gale et al., 2018). current estimates of dementia in canadians alone are at over 700,000 people, and this number is predicted to increase steadily due to an aging population (chambers et al., 2016). unfortunately, the prevalence of mci rates in canada is more challenging to establish due to issues with current diagnostic testing, which is variable and can produce wide-ranging results (owens et al., 2020). current global prevalence estimates of mci are between 16.8% and 19.2% for individuals over the age of 65, range from 22% to 27.6% for individuals over the age of 75, and are between 29% and 38% for individuals over the age of 85 (qian et al., 2020). with the increasing prevalence of dementia and expected increase in related diseases as the population ages (correa-jaraba et al., 2018; patnode et al., 2020), early detection of mci can significantly benefit patients, their families, and the canadian healthcare system (gale, 2018; sabbagh et al., 2020). for example, patients can be instructed on lifestyle changes that can slow the progression of mci and reduce symptoms (such as memory or attention deficits) to minimize the impact of the disease (sabbagh et al., 2020). in short, early intervention can maximize treatment benefits and improve patient health outcomes (sabbagh et al., 2020) by granting physicians and patients time to address and modify risk factors, such as improving dietary and exercise habits (galvin, 2018). additionally, early identification can allow patients and their families to prepare for the future, including planning for increased care needs as well as considering potential financial and legal situational changes (sabbagh et al., 2020). with mci contributing to between 40% to 60% of ad cases in adults over the age of 57 (gillis et al., 2019), early detection is essential since advances in disease-modifying therapies may delay or halt ad while still in its prodromal mci stage (sabbagh et al., 2020). one major challenge to developing successful drug therapies has been the inability of researchers to accurately identify a substantial base of eligible patients in the early stages of ad to take part in research and clinical trials. accordingly, widespread and accurate early detection of mci could provide major benefits towards the research and development of successful ad therapies (sabbagh et al., 2020). current methods of diagnoses several contemporary methods are used to screen for mci; however, each method uses different diagnostic criteria and can produce results that may vary depending on whether the test was administered in a specialized clinic or primary care setting (langa & levine, 2014). moreover, https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 73 current methods used to assess and diagnose dementia are intensive and may require a timeconsuming, comprehensive workup that often includes a complete medical history, neurological testing for mental status, lab testing for physiologic or metabolic indicators, and a structural brain scan (gale et al., 2018). some common clinical interview tools include the mini-mental state examination (mmse), the montreal cognitive assessment (moca), and the memory impairment screen (mis)/mis by telephone (mis-t) (owens et al., 2020). despite this array of assessment tools, test performance can vary based on age, educational background, and culture, as well as anxiety and stress levels; hence, reliability may vary when using these methods (gale et al., 2018; galvin, 2018; qian et al., 2020; yokomizo et al., 2014). additional limitations for interview-based assessments include the need for skilled administrators and repeated examination (yokomizo et al., 2014), as well as potential inaccuracies in detecting milder cognitive impairment and changes in impairment in both abnormally highand low-functioning individuals (galvin, 2018). informant-based assessments, such as the aging and dementia-8 interview (ad8) and the informant questionnaire on cognitive decline in the elderly (iqcode), can mitigate biases implicit within clinical interview assessments; however, these assessments depend on the reliability of the informer to accurately diagnose mci (galvin, 2018). furthermore, issues with limited appointment times in primary care settings, combined with untrained technicians and inconsistent diagnostic screenings, can lead to missed opportunities for the early diagnosis of mci (galvin, 2018). self-assessment tools, such as the self-administered gerocognitive examination (sage), have successfully identified early stage mci for some individuals. yet, self-awareness of cognitive decline varies between individuals, and the test is limited by its inability to detect symptom denial (galvin, 2018). due to limitations with current diagnostic protocols, an objective, accessible, and reliable tool is needed to help accurately and efficiently diagnose mci in both primary care and ambulatory settings. utilizing a portable electroencephalography (eeg) device to identify event-related potentials (erps) as biomarkers for mci could offer a potential solution. what is eeg? eeg, or electroencephalography, is a device that continuously records brain activity that is then represented as a graph of the voltage difference between two brain regions over time (olejniczak, 2006). eeg is generated via cortical pyramidal cells, which are the predominant neurons of the cerebral cortex (biasiucci et al., 2019). when these postsynaptic cortical pyramidal cells receive excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitters from surrounding neurons, their polarity changes. this change in polarity results in a dipole, which is a small separation of positive and negative charges. when many neurons work together in parallel to create many small dipoles, a local field potential is generated. this local field potential can be measured with eeg by capturing the summed change in the extracellular fluid charge created when many cortical pyramidal cells act in synchrony. eeg measurements typically show brain activity at four different bands of wavelengths: alpha, beta, delta, and theta, (on et al., 2013). these wavelengths are based on the frequency of oscillation and are determined by the firing rates of neurons: the faster the neurons fire, the higher the frequency rate. thus, the increased synchrony of firing neurons results in waves with higher amplitudes (musall et al., 2014). delta waves are the slowest frequency (0.1-3 hz) and occur during deep sleep whereas beta waves are high frequency (13-40 hz) and dominate during wakeful states when individuals are alert and focused (on et al., 2013). all wavelengths can be detected at all times, but one usually dominates based on an individual’s mental state (on et al., 2013). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 74 what are erps? in addition to its oscillatory characteristics, eeg may be indexed through time-locked brain responses. an erp, or event-related potential, is a change in voltage that reflects the brain’s response to an event (coles & rugg, 1996). erps can be identified by their amplitudes and latencies, and occur on a much smaller scale (microvolts) than eeg waveforms (tens of microvolts). both eeg and erps are generated by summed post-synaptic potentials, which create electric fields through the synchronized activity of large groups of neurons. they differ in that eeg includes all brain activity, both related and unrelated to an event, whereas erps only include the brain’s response to specific events (coles & rugg, 1996). as such, erps can capture the temporal aspect of eeg by illuminating the precise time in which the brain registers or responds to specific stimuli. additionally, erps reveal processes impacted by experimental manipulation and can measure covert mental processes. since erps reflect brain polarity changes produced by influxes of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, erps can provide biomarkers to measure the impaired brain functions and processes linked to neurotransmitters. such measurements can provide specific insight into diseases caused by neurotransmitter abnormalities when compared to other, more indirect, biomarking methods (luck, 2014). importantly, erp studies using portable eeg could help further our understanding of the neurochemical changes associated with mci. eeg portability can improve diagnostic power and effectiveness traditionally, eeg has been confined to a lab setting due to long setup times, low equipment portability, and the availability of highly trained technicians to administer eeg tests (gottlibe et al., 2020). however, recent advancements have created eeg systems that are cost and time-effective, as well as highly mobile, accessible, and user-friendly (gottlibe et al., 2020). these systems are useful for conducting erp research, and their portability has increased the potential to apply erp methods to new settings (krigolson et al., 2017; 2021). these devices have also demonstrated success in clinical contexts and, so far, have provided practitioners with quick, non-invasive techniques with which to assess the brain changes associated with stroke and chronic pain in patients with dementia (gottlibe et al., 2020; pu et al., 2021). this tool is especially useful for non-verbal populations or patients who have lost the cognitive capacity to articulate their experiences, as seen in patients with dementia (pu et al., 2021). using eeg to identify biomarkers for mci/ad has several advantages over current methods. cerebrospinal fluid analysis for biomarkers (such as tau, phosphorylated tau, and beta amyloid)2 can provide diagnostic information and useful insights on the prognosis of mci (vemuri et al., 2009); however, the technique (lumbar puncture) from which cerebrospinal fluid is obtained is invasive and can cause anxiety and discomfort in patients (duits et al., 2016). other methods, such as structural magnetic resonance imaging (mri) or computer tomography (ct) scans, can provide accurate information about structural abnormalities indicative of mci and can have predictive power for future clinical decline in individuals (vemuri et al., 2009). nevertheless, the equipment required to apply these techniques is expensive and often inaccessible to populations in rural areas (burdorf, 2021). in contrast, a portable eeg system is non-invasive, widely available, 2 beta amyloid is a peptide whereas tao and phosphorylated tao are proteins that show differences in both structure and number in individuals with mci and ad. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 75 cost-effective, and capable of revealing a direct connection between brain health, neuronal activity, and cognitive impairments, including mci (smailovic & jelic, 2019). eeg markers for mci and dementia several neurophysiological characteristics of mci and ad have been identified through the use of full eeg systems, which demonstrates the capability of eeg to diagnose and track the course and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. for example, resting state alpha rhythms exhibit changes over time in patients with mci (babiloni et al., 2014). furthermore, resting state eyes-open and eyes-closed tasks have successfully identified individuals with mci from healthy individuals (kavcic et al., 2021). additionally, theta/gamma and alpha3/alpha2 ratios have been used to distinguish individuals with mci who will progress to ad from individuals with mci who will remain stable or regain their health (moretti et al., 2011). however, undertaking a comparison of the resting state values of healthy individuals versus individuals with mci often produces overlapping results that do not present clinically significant differences sufficient for the diagnostic process (deiber et al., 2009). as a solution, the sensitivity and utility of early stage diagnostic tests can be increased by looking at the functional activation of brain regions during distinct cognitive tasks that engage areas experiencing cognitive decline due to mci (deiber et al., 2009). this narrowing of focus is often accomplished through erp research, since the latter employs tasks designed to elicit specific components associated with different brain areas and aspects of cognition. using erps to assess for mci can provide specific information regarding each patient’s disease that could, in turn, be used to help create individualized care plans. eeg and p300 for mci erp researchers have identified several components that show electrophysiological differences in individuals with mci, of which the p300 stands apart (gu et al., 2019). the p300 erp component, henceforth referred to as p3, has been associated with several neural processes, such as context updating, attention, and memory encoding (donchin & coles, 1988; polich, 2012). for instance, polich (2007) has associated the amplitude of p3 with stimulus, attention, and cognitive load, whereas the latency of p3 reflects stimulus evaluation and task difficulty. another theory proposed by nieuwenhuis et al. (2005) has contended that p3 is involved in decisionmaking and reflects the activity of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. this system has been implicated in reward expectancy and information processing, both of which register decline in individuals with dementia (perry et al., 2017). furthermore, krigolson and holroyd (2007) have suggested that p3 may reflect locus coeruleus activity on the posterior cortex during errorprocessing tasks, specifically for stimulus-response optimization. importantly, this versatile component encompasses several domains of cognition impacted by mci, which renders p3 a promising candidate for comparison in this study. comparing erp components in individuals with mci versus their healthy counterparts can be useful for identifying and diagnosing mci (gu et al., 2019; jiang et al., 2015), tracking disease progression (jiang et al., 2015), distinguishing between subtypes of mci (correa-jaraba et al., 2018; gu et al., 2019), and predicting the potential progression of mci to ad (chapman et al., 2011). in particular, the association of p3 with memory consolidation and attention (chapman et al., 2011) has shown high sensitivity for detecting mci as well as high specificity in identifying and distinguishing different subtypes of mci (correa-jaraba et al., 2018). as previously https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 76 mentioned, p3 demonstrates decreased amplitude and increased latency in individuals with mci, and these differences are heightened as the disease progresses (jiang et al., 2015). accordingly, tasks that elicit p3, such as this study’s visual oddball task, can be useful for mci assessment and diagnosis. previously, pupil responses to oddball tasks have been studied and associated with mci (jiménez et al., 2021). moreover, the fast fourier transform3 delta and theta wave differences during oddball tasks show promise for early mci detection and the identification of mci subtypes that may progress to ad (tülay et al., 2020). recently, oddball tasks that elicit p3 have been used to identify mci associated with early stages of parkinson’s disease (hünerli et al., 2019). however, these changes associated with mci have only been revealed using full eeg systems and have yet to be observed with portable eeg systems. since portable eeg systems are better suited for the widespread clinical assessment of mci, it is important to demonstrate that portable eeg systems can accurately detect the erp changes associated with mci previously identified by their full-system counterparts. statement of purpose to facilitate the early detection and diagnosis of mci, a widely available, objective, and easy-to-use diagnostic tool is needed for clinical and non-clinical settings. advances in eeg technology potentiate the creation of an accessible, cost-effective, and portable eeg tool capable of screening for early stage mci in both primary and outpatient settings. the current study aims to discern if a portable eeg system can be used as an effective measure for mci, specifically through using a visual oddball task to target memory and attention components, such as p3. we predict that individuals with mci will demonstrate both decreased task performance and erp changes in components associated with the oddball task when compared to healthy, age-matched individuals. furthermore, we predict a correlation between individual behavioural assessment scores and p3 peak amplitudes. in other words, we anticipate that, as behavioral scores increase, p3 amplitudes will also increase. methodology participants this study took place at the university of victoria, british columbia. participants were assigned to one of two distinct groups: individuals with a clinically diagnosed cognitive impairment referred to this study by the royal jubilee hospital in victoria (mci group: n = 20, 6 females, 14 males, m age = 76.0 ± 7.8), and apparently healthy ageand sex-matched individuals gathered from victoria and the greater vancouver island region (control group n = 20, 8 females, 12 males, m age = 71.3 ± 3.9). the recruitment of the mci group was accomplished either through the permission to contact (ptc) program at the royal jubilee hospital specialist memory clinic or through direct-contact patient referrals from clinical research assistants, research nurses, general practitioners, and specialist physicians. mci group participant identification was accomplished through approved island health standard operating procedures (sop) via the ptc program, or through the specialist memory clinic after a confirmed mci or early stage dementia diagnosis. control group participants were recruited through word-of-mouth promotions, media streams, and 3 a fast fourier transform, or fft, can be applied to raw eeg data to convert time domains to frequency domains to reveal their sinusoidal waveforms. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 77 local newspapers. participants did not disclose any known psychiatric, drug, or addiction disorders; nor did participants disclose any cognitive disorders in addition to the disorder under study. moreover, all participants had functional or corrected-to-functional vision. participants provided informed consent and were compensated $10.00 cad for parking upon completion of each session. ethical standards outlined in the revised declaration of helsinki (1964) were followed, and ethics for this study were approved by the human research ethics board at the university of victoria (hreb: h19-02910). apparatus and procedure informed consent, including a briefing on all aspects of this study, was provided to all subjects prior to participation. trained researchers then provided an outline of the project to the control and mci groups, which was followed by a set of surveys and assessments that included questions on demographics (i.e., age, sex, handedness, etc.), medical history, current medications, and a confirmation of diagnosis. surveys and assessments to aid in participant screening and assessment, the montreal cognitive assessment (moca v. 8.2; 8.3) was administered to both control and mci groups (nasreddine et al., 2005). research by costa et al. (2014) has indicated that the moca can sensitively assess cognitive capacity in individuals with mild dementia as well as mci. as described by costa et al. (2014), individuals who score lower than 14/30 may not have the capacity to provide informed consent and may struggle to complete assigned study tasks. for this reason, the present study set a minimum moca criterion score of 14 for participation, and all individuals who scored below 14 were informed of their ineligibility to continue their participation in this study (n = 0, moca score mci m = 23.0 [21.4, 24.5], moca score control m = 26.9 [25.8, 28.0]). after administering the moca to ensure eligibility to provide informed consent, participants completed two short-form questionnaires. in cases in which a participant was accompanied by a study partner (i.e., a spouse, friend, family member, or caretaker), the functional activity questionnaire (faq) was completed by the study partner (pfeffer et al., 1982). if the participant arrived alone, or their study partner was unavailable during the session, researchers asked for permission to contact a spouse or family member to administer the faq by phone. if neither the in-person nor remote administration of the faq to a study partner were viable options, then participants were asked to complete the survey themselves. next, participants completed the geriatric depression scale short form (gds-15) to provide insights concerning participant mood, affect, and outlook (sheik & yesavage, 1986). finally, participants completed the repeatable battery for the assessment neuropsychological state (rbans a & b)—a pen-and-paper test used to assess cognitive decline by measuring memory, visuospatial/constructional ability, language, and attention (randolph et al., 2012). the approximate run time for this section was 60 minutes, which included breaks offered to participants prior to and following the administration of the rbans to ensure participant comfort. electroencephalography and cognitive tasks after a short break following completion of the rbans, brain data was recorded using a portable eeg system. to begin, participants’ baseline brain measurements were recorded, first in https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 78 an eyes-open condition followed by an eyes-closed condition. in the eyes-open condition, participants were instructed to remain still and focus on any position in front of them while continuous eegs were recorded for 2 minutes. data markers were placed at the beginning and end of the 2-minute eyes-open recording. after 2 minutes, participants were asked to close their eyes and continuous eegs were recorded for another 2 minutes to establish their eyes-closed baseline. again, data markers were placed at the beginning and end of the eyes-closed recording. after obtaining baseline measurements, eegs were recorded while participants completed an ordered series of perceptual tasks: (1) a go-no-go response task, (2) a n-back memory task, (3) an oddball response task, and (4) a reward processing task. the present study reports exclusively on the oddball response task. the approximate run time for the completion of all eeg tasks in this session was 60 minutes. the oddball task basic onscreen instructions were provided to participants prior to the oddball task. next, participants were instructed to respond to infrequent stimuli presented intermittently amid more frequent stimuli. in this study, green circles (40 mm in diameter; green: 117/251/67; #75fb4c) served as the infrequent stimuli to which participants were instructed to respond by tapping their screen. blue circles (40 mm in diameter; blue: 0/0/244; #0000f4) served as the frequent stimuli to which participants were told not to respond. all circles were presented for 1000 ms in the centre of the screen. if participants failed to respond to the presentation of an infrequent (green) stimulus within 1000 ms, the trial would automatically end. each block of time consisting of 30 trials began with the appearance of a 10 mm fixation cross “+” (yellow: 254/254/84; #fefe54) in the centre of the screen for 400 ms with a 200 ms jitter, which caused the duration of the fixation cross to vary by +/200 ms and was included to ensure that participants could not unconsciously predict the timing of the fixation cross and to remove the possibility of unwanted or unintentional background cognitive processing. the fixation cross was also used as an interstimulus interval to reduce testing times (see figure 1), as opposed to using a blank screen between trials. finally, a black background (black: 0/0/0/; #000000) was featured throughout the task. participants completed six blocks of the oddball task, of which each contained 30 trials. for each trial, there was a 70% probability of a frequent (blue) stimulus being presented, and a 30% probability of an infrequent (green) stimulus being presented (70.14% frequent; 29.86% infrequent); however, participants were not aware of these stimuli probabilities. the order of stimulus presentation was random; however, presentation software assured that no more than two infrequent (green) stimuli would appear in a row to ensure the green circle would always be perceived as the infrequent stimulus. participants were told the number of missed responses from the current block upon completion of that block. figure 1: depiction of the oddball task note. image shows all stimuli within the oddball task including the fixation cross, frequent (blue) stimuli, and infrequent (green) stimuli. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 79 electroencephalography and data acquisition prior to donning the portable eeg system, participants were asked to wipe their skin at the electrode sites with a 70% isopropyl swab to remove makeup and reduce natural skin oils to improve the signal quality. participants were then equipped with a cognionics developer kit (cgx) portable eeg system capable of sampling at a 500 hz rate to record eeg data. a standard 10-10 eeg layout was applied (seeck et al., 2017), which designated the placement of 3m red dot electrodes in the following locations: fp1, fp2, tp9, tp10, fpz, and afz. during the recording process, fpz served as the ground electrode and afz served as the reference electrode. eeg data collected from the cgx were sent via bluetooth to proprietary ios software, which also displayed the tasks and experimental stimuli (recording device: ipad pro, 11-inch 2nd gen). a known bluetooth lag and jitter (krigolson et al., 2017) was used during data collection in lieu of temporally synchronizing experimental stimuli and event markers, as is typically done in erp studies (luck, 2014). due to the wireless design of the bluetooth, there was a small (~50 ms) lag once the signal was sent from the black box to the ipad for recording. this delay caused some minor variability, or jitter, in the initial timing of the cgx’s signal lock, which was accounted for in this study’s data analysis. eeg-bluetooth jitter was solely influenced by the initial locking of the cgx’s signal to the custom software since, once locked, the signal stayed connected and, thus, did not vary over time. throughout the recording, when any task-relevant information was drawn (such as the presentation of a stimulus or the start/end of blocks), eeg data were “marked” for subsequent analysis at those specific times. furthermore, the signals, which differed between participants but not between trials, and a visual inspection of the variance per second on the raw eeg data (or unprocessed stream of data coming from each channel) were used to assess signal quality. data processing and analysis data were processed offline using the brain vision analyzer 2 software (version 2.1.2, brain products, gmbh, munich, germany), as well as the matlab software with an eeglab toolbox (delorme & makeig, 2004) and a custom code. continuous eeg data were not rereferenced offline, since the two posterior electrodes (tp9 and tp10) were the focus of erp analysis and were appropriately referenced to electrode afz at the time of recording. next, a dualpass butterworth filter (passband 0.1 to 30 hz), which is a filter that is applied twice to flatten the eeg signal, was applied to the continuous eeg data to remove signals unassociated with brain activity. the aforementioned filter was then followed by a 60 hz notch filter to remove the ambient signal associated with outlet voltages. no lateralized effects (hemispheric-specific responses) were present upon preliminary data analysis, which meant that both the left and right sides of the brain were producing similar responses. to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of erp measures (oken & chiappa, 1986), pooled frontal (fp1 and fp2) and posterior (tp9 and tp10) virtual electrodes were created by averaging across each pair of frontal and posterior electrodes. accordingly, erp analysis evaluated only the new average posterior virtual electrode instead of each individual electrode, which provided cleaner data due to the lack of hemispheric-specific responses (krigolson et al., 2017); however, both the averaged frontal and posterior electrodes were examined during eeg analysis using a fast fourier transform (fft) to assess eeg frequencies. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 80 erp analysis to evaluate erps, epochs (or segments of data) surrounding frequent and infrequent stimuli were generated from the filtered continuous eeg data, which started 200 ms prior to stimulus onset and extended to 800 ms post-stimulus onset. an absolute difference of 100 uv was used as the criterion measure in an artifact rejection algorithm, and segments with differences greater than 100 uv were discarded (on average: 24.80% [19.97%, 29.63%]). the artifact rejection algorithm was an algorithm employed to remove any areas of unusable data due to participant movement, blinking, etc. the remaining segments in both conditions (frequent, infrequent) were averaged for each participant, then the average frequent erp waveform was subtracted from the average infrequent erp waveform to generate a difference wave. the averages of all conditional (frequent, infrequent) and difference waveforms were produced for each participant to generate a grand average erp. next, p3 peak amplitudes were found for each participant by determining the voltage of the local maximal amplitude within a +25/-25 ms window surrounding the grand average component peaks. to simplify, 50 ms windows at the typical locations of erp components were inspected on the grand average waveform to look for component peaks, and the highest part, or local maximal amplitude, of the p3 component was noted. due to the small number of electrodes used, and the placement of reference electrodes relative to active channels in many portable eeg tools, the erps generated via these systems presented as inverted or upside down (krigolson et al., 2017). that is to say, p3 is typically a positive-going component, which means that the component peaks upwards towards a positive voltage; however, in using this method, the peak deflected negatively in the opposite direction, as is typical, and presented as inverted. to clarify the correlations between peak values and behavioural scores, and to facilitate a clearer understanding of the data drawn, erp data were multiplied by -1 to show positive p3 waveforms and peak values. in conducting these analyses, clean and easy to interpret data was produced that can be utilized in later statistical comparisons. statistical analysis behavioural and brain data were compared in two ways: (1) inferential statistics were conducted using independent sample t-tests (alpha value = 0.05); (2) correlational statistics were conducted using pearson’s r correlation equations. initially, t-tests were run to compare the mci and control groups’ behavioural task scores. total rbans and moca scores were compared between groups, along with selected subcategory scores within the rbans and moca tests to assess aspects of cognition associated with p3. these subcategories consisted of the rbans attention, immediate memory, and delayed memory subcategories, as well as the memory index score (mis) subcategory from the moca. t-tests were also used to compare performance on the oddball task by identifying the number of correct responses, false positives, premature responses, and missed infrequent responses. additionally, t-tests were used to compare the peak values of the p3 component during the oddball task for the mci and control groups. following t-tests, pearson’s r correlations were run to analyze the relationship between peak values and behavioural scores for both groups. peak values were then compared to the total rbans, moca, and individual subcategory scores listed above. finally, mean values and 95% confidence intervals were included with all of the descriptive statistics, and statistical analyses were carried out using microsoft excel. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 81 results an examination of behavioural data confirmed that the mci group scored significantly lower than the control group on all pen-and-paper behavioural mci assessments. independent ttests revealed significantly lower total rbans scores [t(38) = 17.05, p < .001, cohen’s d = 1.26] and lower total moca scores [t(38) = 3.95, p < .001, cohen’s d = 1.39] in the mci group. further analysis comparing the subcategories related to attention and memory indicated that the mci group scored significantly lower than the control group in all comparisons made—namely, rbans attention [t(38) = 15.95, p < .001, cohen’s d = 1.19], rbans immediate memory [t(38) = 17.15, p < .01, cohen’s d = 0.98], rbans delayed memory [t(38) = 20.40, p < .001, cohen’s d = 1.13], and the moca memory index score (mis) [t(38) = 5.00, p < .001, cohen’s d = 1.70]. inspection of oddball behavioural data demonstrated that the control and mci groups performed similarly on most measures with the exception of missed infrequent responses. more specifically, the paired t-tests revealed no significant differences in correct responses, false positives, or premature responses (p > .05). while both groups scored well on missed infrequent responses, with averages of less than one, the mci group performed with decreased accuracy [t(38) = 0.40, p < .05, cohen’s d = -0.71] when compared to the control group (see table 1 for all t-test data). furthermore, an analysis of eeg data revealed a decreased p3 response in the mci group during the oddball task when compared to the healthy control group. specifically, when peak values of the p3 erp component were compared (see figure 2), the mci group showed significantly reduced peak amplitudes [t(38) = 1.70, p < .05, cohen’s d = 0.66] of p3 during the oddball task, which meant that these participants had a smaller or less synchronized brain response that was reflected in a smaller change in voltage. figure 2: comparison of difference waves and peak p3 amplitude for control and mci groups note. left graph illustrates the p3 difference wave (frequent–infrequent) for the control and mci groups. right graph visualizes the peak amplitude of the p3 erp component for the control and mci groups; error bars represent a 95% confidence interval.*p < .05. -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 -200 0 200 400 600 800 v o lt a g e ( u v ) time (ms) control mci 0 2 4 6 8 control mci a v e ra g e v o lt a g e ( u v ) * https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 82 table 1: comparison of control and mci behavioural and brain responses using paired t-tests control mci m sd 95% ci m sd 95% ci p age 71.3 3.9 1.8 76.0 7.8 3.7 .0311* peak value 5.5 2.9 1.4 3.8 2.2 1.0 .0438* rbans 99.9 13.0 6.1 82.9 14.1 6.6 .0003*** moca 26.9 2.3 1.1 23.0 3.3 1.5 .0001*** rbans attn 108.6 14.8 6.9 92.6 11.9 5.6 .0006*** rbans im 101.5 13.9 6.5 84.4 20.5 9.6 .0036** rbans dm 96.3 14.5 6.8 75.9 20.9 9.8 .0009*** moca mis 12.9 2.8 1.3 7.9 3.1 1.4 .0000*** oddball cr 53.3 3.3 1.4 53.1 3.0 1.3 .8423 oddball fa 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.8 1.1 0.5 .2094 oddball pr 0.4 0.7 0.3 0.6 0.9 0.4 .2246 oddball mi 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.6 0.7 0.3 .0303* note. rbans = repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological state; moca = montreal cognitive assessment; attn = attention subcategory; im = immediate memory subcategory; dm = delayed memory subcategory; mis = memory index score; cr = correct response; fa = false positive; pr = premature response; mi = missed infrequent response. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001 correlational statistics comparing peak values with pen-and-paper behavioural scores revealed mixed results. specifically, stronger correlations between peak values and behavioural scores were seen in the control group for all conditions besides immediate memory, which indicated a stronger correlation in the mci group. these findings are summarized in table 2, which presents all pearson’s r comparisons made in this study and their coefficients. the strongest correlations for the control group were between peak values and delayed memory subcategory scores as well as between peak values and total moca scores, both of which showed moderately strong relationships with the r values of -0.62 and -0.50, respectively. to have a strong correlation with a high coefficient meant that, as one measure increases (i.e., peak value), the other measure either increases or decreases concurrently (i.e., delayed memory or moca scores). in contrast, these trends disappeared completely in the mci group, in which peak values and delayed memory subcategory scores demonstrated no correlation (r = -0.01), and peak values and total moca scores showed a weak correlation (r = 0.12). the strongest correlation in the mci group was between peak values and immediate memory subcategory scores, with a weak relationship (r = -0.30). this weak relationship meant that, as peak values increased for mci participants, there was no strong concurrent increase or decrease in immediate memory scores. table 2: pearson’s correlations comparing p3 peak values to behavioural scores pearson’s coefficient, r control mci peak vs rbans -0.30 -0.02 peak vs moca -0.50 0.12 peak vs attention -0.04 -0.09 peak vs im -0.18 -0.30 peak vs dm -0.62 -0.01 peak vs mis -0.32 -0.06 https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 83 note. peak = p3 peak value; rbans = repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological state; moca = montreal cognitive assessment; attention = rbans attention subcategory; im = rbans immediate memory subcategory; dm = rbans delayed memory subcategory; mis = moca memory index score. discussion this study confirms that mci patients demonstrate modulated behavioural and brain responses compared to healthy, age-matched controls. furthermore, this study affirms that these brain changes can be measured via a portable eeg system. as expected, the mci group scored significantly lower on the traditional pen-and-paper mci assessments used to measure behaviour in this study (the rbans and moca). in addition to scoring lower overall on assessed tasks, the mci group also scored lower in all of the subcategories that pertained to attention and memory within the moca and rbans tests. in contrast, few differences were seen between groups when measuring oddball task performance; however, an analysis of brain data revealed that the mci group exhibited a reduced p3 response during the visual oddball task. additionally, it was noted during the oddball task that the control group exhibited moderately strong relationships between peak p3 values and pen-and-paper behavioural scores, whereas the mci group had weak to nonexistent relationships within these same categories. as such, the pen-and-paper behavioural results of this study support the first hypothesis that the mci group would demonstrate decreased task performance compared to the control group. this study found that the control group outperformed the mci group on all pen-and-paper measures. this finding aligns with previous mci and dementia literature (see nasreddine et al., 2005; randolph et al., 2010) that found the moca and rbans assessments designed to aid in mci diagnostic processes distinguished individuals with mci from those without. the present study chose to compare cognitive processes associated with the p3 component (attention and memory) with subcategories that assessed only those processes. previously, mci had been shown to affect attention and memory (klekociuk & summers, 2014; saunders & summers, 2011), and the present study arrived at similar findings since the mci group scored lower than the control group on each of the attention and memory subcategory assessments. conversely, the results from the oddball task revealed little difference in behavioural task performance between groups, while simultaneously illustrating brain differences in their p3 responses. our erp results support this study’s second hypothesis since the mci group displayed a reduced peak amplitude for the p3 erp component during the oddball task. previous studies have arrived at similar findings, in which patients with mci or ad demonstrate reduced p3 amplitudes across varying experimental tasks and conditions (see cecchi et al., 2015; jiang et al., 2015; parra et al., 2012); however, few extant studies have demonstrated this finding using a portable eeg system. the reduced peak amplitude of p3 in the mci group suggests alternative brain activations, which could indicate the development of mci. accordingly, a reduced p3 amplitude may serve as a biomarker for mci, and the fact that this difference can be detected using a portable eeg tool enhances its potential for widespread use. as previously stated, p3 is correlated with attention and memory, both of which are implicated in mci (klekociuk & summers, 2014; saunders & summers, 2011). with this connection in mind, we had expected to discern a relationship between the peak values of the p3 component and behavioural scores assessing attention and memory cognitive processes; however, this hypothesis was only partially supported. the total rbans and moca scores, along with several subcategory scores, demonstrated weak-to-moderate correlations with peak values in the https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 84 control group; however, in the mci group, these relationships were not present. moreover, the relationships between behavioural scores and peak values for both control and mci groups were negative, which meant that as peak value amplitudes increased behavioural scores decreased. one possible explanation for this finding could be that, as brain health declines (due to natural aging processes or pathologically via mci), tasks that require attention and memory become harder to complete. this added challenge could increase the workload for areas of the brain associated with attention and memory, which may prompt these systems to work harder to achieve the same (or worse) scores for tasks when compared to healthy counterparts. this increased workload could be reflected in the larger p3 amplitude and lower task scores seen in the present study. additionally, the negative relationship between p3 amplitudes and task scores was seen in both groups, which meant that cognitive decline, due to natural aging processes or mci, resulted in similar neurological outcomes and behavioural responses. conclusions this study demonstrated that a portable eeg system could serve as a viable tool for mci diagnosis and assessment. specifically, the reduced amplitude of the p3 component exhibited in mci patients could serve as a biomarker for mci. future research could expand this study to include a lifespan scope that tracks changes in p3 amplitudes as healthy populations age naturally, or by applying a disease-span approach that tracks p3 amplitude changes as mci populations experience disease progression. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 85 references babiloni, c., del percio, c., lizio, r., marzano, n., infarinato, f., soricelli, a., salvatore, e., ferri, r., bonforte, c., tedeschi, g., montella, p., baglieri, a., rodriguez, g., famà, f., nobili, f., vernieri, f., ursini, f., mundi, c., frisoni, g. b., & rossini, p. m. 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(2014). cognitive screening for dementia in primary care: a systematic review. international psychogeriatrics, 26(11), 1783– 1804. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610214001082 https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220753 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2017.06.254 https://doi.org/10.1300/j018v05n01_09 https://doi.org/10.1300/j018v05n01_09 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40120-019-00169-0 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40120-019-00169-0 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40120-019-00169-0 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.06.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.06.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.06.001 https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181af79fb https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610214001082 https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610214001082 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 132 healthy neuroticism, daily physical activity, and daily stress in older adults tristen lozinski1, tomiko yoneda, scott m. hofer, and jonathan rush tristenlozinski@outlook.com abstract people are typically less physically active when experiencing stress, an unavoidable aspect of life. since physical activity has been associated with health benefits, it is important to understand what influences physical activity during stress. research has demonstrated that individuals who are high in conscientiousness are more physically active; however, studies that have examined physical activity among people high in neuroticism have yielded mixed findings. healthy neuroticism, a term used to describe individuals high in conscientiousness and neuroticism, may explain these mixed results. while individuals low in conscientiousness and high in neuroticism may become overwhelmed, stress may motivate people high in healthy neuroticism to be physically active as an investment in their future. we assessed older adults’ (n = 60; mage = 70.72; 76.70% cisgender women) personality at baseline as well as daily physical activity and daily stress over 14 days. regression analyses investigated whether daily stress predicted daily physical activity and whether healthy neuroticism moderated the physical activity-stress association. ultimately, this study found that daily stress did not predict daily physical activity; as stress increased, individuals higher in conscientiousness were less physically active, while individuals lower in conscientiousness were more active. these findings were inconsistent with our predictions and previous research. consequently, we propose future research directions and potential explanations for these unforeseen findings. keywords: healthy neuroticism; conscientiousness; neuroticism; physical activity; stress 1 tristen would like to thank her supervisors, dr. tomiko yoneda, dr. scott m. hofer, and dr. jonathan rush, for their ongoing support and guidance throughout her undergraduate education at the university of victoria. all authors acknowledge and respect the ləḱʷəŋən peoples, on whose traditional territory the university of victoria stands, and the songhees, esquimalt, and w̱sáneć peoples, whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 http://tristenlozinski@outlook.com/ the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 133 introduction stress, or mental and physical reactions to experiences perceived to be overwhelming, is an inescapable part of daily life. further, stress has been inversely associated with beneficial health outcomes (cohen et al., 1983) as well as healthy behaviours like physical activity, which means that individuals often exercise less when experiencing stress (dunton et al., 2009). since physical activity has been associated with positive health outcomes (stieger et al., 2020), it is critial to understand the factors that influence the likelihood of individuals to engage in physical activity when experiencing stress. conscientiousness and neuroticism, two of the “big five” personality traits, may play a role in the inverse relationship between physical activity and stress (2020). individuals high in conscientiousness are typically future-oriented, productive, disciplined, and tend to engage in more physical activity than individuals low in conscientiousness (graham et al., 2020; ludwig et al., 2019). in comparison, studies that have examined physical activity among people high in neuroticism, who tend to be emotional and reactive to stress, have yielded mixed findings (friedman, 2000). extant literature on healthy neuroticism, a term used to describe the personalities of those high in both conscientiousness and neuroticism, has attributed these mixed results to the higher rates of physical activity during periods of stress among those high in healthy neuroticism (friedman, 2000; turiano et al., 2013; weston & jackson, 2015). however, current research has yet to provide adequate empirical support for this notion by examining the extent to which healthy neuroticism may moderate the association between daily physical activity and daily stress. the current study held two primary objectives: to identify whether daily physical activity was associated with daily stress and to investigate whether healthy neuroticism moderated the association between physical activity and stress. this research expands upon personality theory in its analysis of how healthy neuroticism may promote physical activity in the face of daily stress. physical activity and stress regular engagement in physical activity has been associated with considerable long-term health benefits (stieger et al., 2020; world health organization, 2018). physical activity has been associated with physical health, such as lower incidence of diabetes and stroke (2018), and mental health, such as reduced anxiety and depression (stults-kolehmainen & sinha, 2014). however, a significant barrier to regular physical activity is the common day-to-day experience of stress (dunton et al. 2009; jones et al., 2017). generally, stress has been understood to refer to psychological and physiological disruptions in response to situations perceived to be difficult, uncontrollable, and/or overwhelming (cohen et al., 1983; stults-kolehmainen & sinha, 2014). there are several ways in which day-to-day stress may deter individuals from engaging in regular physical activity. individuals may have less time to devote to physical activity due to stressful events. comparatively, capacity or motivation for physical activity may be reduced by the considerable mental and physical health costs correlated with stress, including depression and cardiovascular disease (stults-kolehmainen & sinha, 2014). however, some individuals have been found to favour more physical activity during times of stress to maladaptive coping strategies, such as substance use, unhealthy eating, and sedentary behaviour. further, physical activity has been associated with a reduced risk of stress-induced harms (e.g., immunosuppression) and an increased likelihood of adaptive coping with future stressors, likely due to the reduced stress reactivity seen among those who engage in regular physical activity (2014). since stress is an https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 134 unavoidable aspect of daily life, elucidating the conditions in which stress promotes physical activity is important, and personality traits may be relevant factors to consider. physical activity, conscientiousness, and neuroticism personality traits describe differences in individuals’ enduring patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour (john & srivastava, 1999). the big five traits (i.e., conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience) comprise an empirically supported framework for understanding personality (1999). this framework has exceptional predictive utility with respect to meaningful life outcomes, including health and health behaviours (1999). moreover, research indicates that, while the big five traits are relatively stable across the lifespan, they can be modified through intervention (roberts et al., 2017; roberts & takahashi, 2011). therefore, personality traits are an important consideration when deciphering the harmful, inverse relationship between physical activity and stress. specifically, two of the big five traits, conscientiousness and neuroticism, demonstrate notable relationships with physical activity and stress (stieger et al., 2020). as such, this article considers conscientiousness and neuroticism together, rather than separately, to illuminate contexts in which lifelong health can be promoted through the facilitation of physical activity during times of stress (friedman, 2000). conscientiousness conscientiousness is characterized by industriousness, organization, responsibility, and self-control (friedman, 2000). individuals high in conscientiousness are more likely to engage in healthy behaviours, such as physical activity (bogg & roberts, 2004). informed by the invest-andaccrue model of conscientiousness (hill & jackson, 2016), stress can motivate individuals high in conscientiousness to both engage in healthy behaviours and avoid unhealthy behaviours as investments in their future accrual of health benefits. in support, two meta-analyses found that individuals higher in conscientiousness engaged in more physical activity than those lower in conscientiousness (sutin et al., 2016; wilson & dishman, 2015). as might be expected of individuals who partake in regular physical activity, high conscientiousness has been associated with positive health outcomes, including longevity (graham et al., 2017; weiss & costa, 2005) and lower rates of chronic conditions, such as arthritis and tuberculosis (goodwin & friedman, 2006; weston et al., 2015). however, while conscientiousness has been consistently associated with the subsequent health benefits of physical activity, research that has examined neuroticism has yielded mixed findings (gale et al., 2017; onken & nielsen, 2019). neuroticism neuroticism is characterized by emotional instability, negative affectivity, and pessimism (friedman, 2000) as well as increased exposure and reactivity to stress (bolger & schilling, 1991; hampson, 2012; suls & martin, 2005). as such, individuals high in neuroticism are at risk of adverse health outcomes, including mortality (graham et al., 2017) and chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure and sciatica (goodwin & friedman, 2006; weston et al., 2015). the stressinduced relationship between neuroticism and adverse health outcomes occurs through direct and indirect pathways (friedman, 2000). for instance, stress-induced cortisol dysregulation has been associated with long-term disruptions in lipid metabolism (i.e., the breakdown and synthesis of https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 135 lipids within cells) (orth-gomer & schneiderman, 1996). in contrast, the health harms of the stress exposure and reactivity associated with high neuroticism may be indirectly potentiated through unhealthy coping behaviours, such as substance use, sedentary behaviour, and reduced physical activity (hampson, 2012; sutin et al., 2016; wilson & dishman, 2015). yet, a wealth of research has refuted the notion that neuroticism is solely associated with diminished health; instead, recent studies have identified either nonexistent (friedman et al., 2010; iwasa et al., 2008; jokela et al., 2013) or positive associations between health and neuroticism (brickman et al., 1996; gale et al., 2017; korten et al., 1999; tikhonoff et al., 2014; weiss & costa, 2005). nevertheless, healthy neuroticism, or a combination of high conscientiousness and high neuroticism, may explain these contradictory findings (friedman, 2000). healthy neuroticism health and personality psychology researcher howard friedman originally proposed two profiles for categorizing people high in neuroticism based on their level of conscientiousness (2000). the first profile described individuals low in conscientiousness and high in neuroticism, who become overwhelmed by ongoing exposure to stress (bolger & schilling, 1991; hampson, 2012; suls & martin, 2005), which leads to unhealthy coping strategies (e.g., sendentary behaviour) and greater adverse health outcomes (allen et al., 2017). friedman’s second profile described individuals high in both conscientiousness and neuroticism, who exhibit increased vigilance and/or stress regarding their health, which leads to a focus on healthy behaviours (e.g., physical activity) and, thus, the accrual of related health benefits (jones et al., 2017). friedman’s profiles are supported by the invest-and-accrue model of conscientiousness developed by hill and jackson (2016). within this model, individuals low in conscientiousness and high in neuroticism may become overwhelmed by stress, which may lead to reduced physical activity. in contrast, stress has been theorized to motivate those high in both conscientiousness and neuroticism to invest in their future by engaging in physical activity (hill & jackson, 2016). in essence, healthy neuroticism may allow (otherwise damaging) daily stress to elicit adaptive responses from individuals and, thereby, promote physical activity (friedman, 2000; hill & jackson, 2016). research that has investigated healthy neuroticism is relatively novel. while some research has found scant evidence to establish a relationship between healthy neuroticism and health (weston et al., 2019), several studies have yielded findings in support of healthy neuroticism (terracciano & costa, 2004; turiano et al., 2013; weston & jackson, 2015). for instance, a recent coordinated analysis of 15 longitudinal research studies found that healthy neuroticism was associated with physical activity (graham et al., 2020). while individuals low in conscientiousness and neuroticism benefitted the least from an intervention to increase physical activity, those high in healthy neuroticism benefitted greatly (stieger et al., 2020). still, research has yet to empirically test if the relationship between healthy neuroticism and physical activity represents differential stress responses among those high in neuroticism based on their level of conscientiousness (friedman, 2000; hill & jackson, 2016). as such, this article aimed to address this gap in literature. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 136 the current study the current study examined whether there was an association between daily physical activity and daily stress and whether healthy neuroticism moderated the relationship. our hypotheses were based on previous research that had examined conscientiousness, neuroticism (friedman, 2000; hill & jackson, 2016), and the relationship between physical activity and stress (dunton et al., 2009; jones et al., 2017; stults-kolehmainen & sinha, 2014). specifically, we predicted that daily physical activity would be inversely associated with daily stress and that healthy neuroticism would attenuate that association. that is, we anticipated that the inverse relationship between physical activity and stress would be weaker among individuals high in both conscientiousness and neuroticism. in short, we hypothesized that individuals high in healthy neuroticism would engage in more daily physical activity despite daily stress. methods participants participants were healthy, community residing, older adults (n = 72; mage = 70.75, range = 64-78; 75.00% cisgender women) from victoria, british columbia, who learned about this study through hardcopy and online recruitment posters. eligible participants had to be both literate and fluent in english and could not have previously participated in similar research at the university of victoria. moreover, individuals who disclosed serious medical or health concerns (e.g., a psychiatric illness or head injury) that might impede sustained participation in the study, or exacerabate pre-existing conditions, were deemed ineligible. lastly, participants who did not complete the baseline and daily measurement portions of the “daily experiences of affect, stress, and health” (dash) study (and/or completed < four daily assessments) were also excluded, which resulted in a sample of 60 older adults (mage = 70.72; 76.70% cisgender women). procedure within this dash research study, conducted in 2019, participants attended a 2-hour baseline laboratory session at the institute on aging and lifelong health. participants submitted their consent form and online self-report surveys via limesurvey (2021), which allowed us to assess demographic characteristics and personality traits, including conscientiousness and neuroticism. during the subsequent repeated measurement portion of the dash study, physical activity and stress were assessed daily for 2 weeks. this approach, in which scores from 14 daily assessments were averaged, enabled more accurate measurements of daily physical activity and stress compared to the single assessments typically used in between-person studies (jones et al., 2017; reis & gable, 2000). participants received a nightly notification to complete a short (7-to10 minute) self-report survey via android phones equipped with the mycoghealth mobile survey software (institute on aging and lifelong health, n.d.). participants also wore charge fitbits (fitbit, n.d.) for the 14-day measurement period. to ensure effective operation of the android and fitbit devices, research assistants trained participants to use both devices at baseline and gave participants supplementary take-home instructional guides. the dash study was approved by the human research ethics board at the university of victoria in the spring of 2019 (under ethics protocol number 18-1069). participants received an honorarium of $75 cdn. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 137 measures demographic characteristics participants’ demographic characteristics (i.e., age, gender) were assessed at baseline. age was measured in years and gender was assessed through the following open-ended response item: “with which gender do you most identify?” each participant’s gender response was compared with their response to the item “what is your sex?” each participant who responded as being of the “female” sex also identified as being a “woman,” and each participant who responded as being of the “male” sex also identified as being a “man.” as such, we recoded the dichotomous sex responses to represent participants’ gender identities (i.e., 0 = cisgender woman, 1 = cisgender man). personality conscientiousness and neuroticism were assessed at baseline using the respective subscales of a standardized, 44-item, big five inventory (bfi) (john & srivastava, 1999). conscientiousness was assessed through nine items (e.g., “i see myself as someone who does a thorough job,” “…is a reliable worker,” “…does things efficiently”). neuroticism was assessed through eight items (e.g., “i see myself as someone who can be tense,” “…worries a lot,” “…gets nervous easily”). participants responded to each item on a 5-point scale that ranged from 1 = disagree strongly to 5 = agree strongly. negatively worded items were reverse coded so that higher scores indicated higher levels of each trait. item responses were summed and divided by 9 and 8, respectively, to yield average trait scores that ranged from 1 to 5. physical activity daily physical activity was assessed in three ways: fitbits were used to calculate participants’ daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and daily steps, and the nightly survey item “approximately what duration of time was spent participating in moderate-tovigorous physical activity today?” captured participants’ self-reported daily minutes of moderateto-vigorous physical activity, which ranged from 0 to 180 minutes. participants’ 14 daily scores for each variable were summed and divided by 14 to reflect their average daily (a) fitbit-calculated minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, (b) fitbit-calculated steps, and (c) self-reported minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. stress stress was assessed daily through the following four adapted items from the perceived stress scale: “over the course of the day, how often have you felt nervous or stressed?”; “…been upset because something happened unexpectedly?”; “…felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems?”; and “…felt like you could not cope with all the things you have to do?” (cohen et al., 1983). participants responded to items on a scale that ranged from 0 = never to 100 = often. negatively worded items were reverse coded so that higher scores indicated higher levels of stress. item responses were summed and divided by four to yield an average stress score from https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 138 0 to 100. participants’ 14 daily scores were then summed and divided by 14 to capture participants’ average levels of daily stress. analytic strategy to assess the internal consistency of the conscientiousness and neuroticism bfi subscales (john & srivastava, 1999), or the extent to which the individual items that comprised each subscale measured the same construct, we calculated cronbach’s α values. in addition, for sample demographic characteristics and each study variable, we calculated descriptive statistics (i.e., values that describe the sample, dataset, and variables measured) and zero-order pearson correlations (i.e., values that represent the linear relationship between two variables, whereby the effects of additional variables are not controlled for). beyond preliminary analyses, we employed multiple linear regression three-way interaction modeling—a statistical technique that uses multiple predictor variables (and their interactions) to explain the findings of a single outcome variable. this approach was used to determine whether an association could be drawn between older adults’ average daily physical activity and average daily stress. furthermore, this method was used to deduce whether the interaction of conscientiousness and neuroticism moderated the association between daily physical activity and stress. equation 1 depicts the primary regression model, which examined the influence of the three primary predictor variables (stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) on the outcome variable of physical activity. this model adjusted for the between-person variability introduced by individual differences in participants’ demographic characteristics (age and gender): physical activityi = β0 + β1(stressi) + β2(conscientiousnessi) + β3(neuroticismi) + β4(stressi × conscientiousnessi) + β5(stressi × neuroticismi) + β6(conscientiousnessi × neuroticismi) + β7(stressi × conscientiousnessi × neuroticismi) + β8(agei) + β9(genderi) + ei (1) where physical activityi represents participant i’s mean daily minutes of fitbit-calculated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; stressi represents participant i’s mean daily stress; conscientiousnessi represents participant i’s conscientiousness score; neuroticismi represents participant i’s neuroticism score; agei represents participant i’s age; and genderi represents participant i’s gender. to allow for the meaningful interpretation of the between-person interaction effects, all variables (apart from physical activityi and genderi) were grand-mean-centred prior to analysis. further, the regression coefficients were interpreted as follows: β0 represents the intercept (or the mean daily physical activity when all nine predictor variables are equal to zero); β1-β3 represent the between-person associations between physical activity and stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, respectively; β4 represents the between-person interaction of stress with conscientiousness; β5 represents the between-person interaction of stress with neuroticism; β6 represents the between-person interaction of conscientiousness with neuroticism; β7 represents the between-person, three-way interaction between stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism; to refine the unexplained variability, β8 adjusts for individual differences in age and β9 adjusts for individual differences in gender; and ei represents the residual unexplained variance. although our results section reports the primary analysis with and without accounting for the interaction terms and adjusting for demographic characteristics (to illustrate changes in the https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 139 main effects of stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism after adjusting for the interactions and covariates), hypotheses were tested using the fully adjusted regression model (see equation 1). moreover, to test the robustness of the findings from the primary regression model, we conducted two planned sensitivity analyses that twice repeated the primary analysis, substituting fitbitcalculated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with fitbit-calculated steps, followed by selfreported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. for each of the three models, we probed significant interactions (i.e., interaction effects between the primary predictors of physical activity that possess a < 5% likelihood of having occurred by chance). the probing was accomplished through testing simple slopes—a statistical technique used to understand the nature and direction of significant interaction effects (preacher et al., 2006). all analyses were conducted in spss statistical analysis software (ibm corp, 2021). results the bfi subscales (john & srivastava, 1999) demonstrated good internal consistency with cronbach’s α = .72 for conscientiousness and cronbach’s α = .83 for neuroticism. descriptive statistics are reported in table 1. the current sample of healthy, community residing, older adults was relatively homogeneous. participants were primarily cisgender women, european/white, educated beyond high school, and reported notably high average daily physical activity and low average daily stress. moderate-to-strong positive skew was identified for average daily fitbitcalculated (skewness = 1.23, se = .31) and self-reported (skewness = 1.49, se = .31) moderateto-vigorous physical activity. additionally, mild-to-moderate positive skew was identified for average daily stress (skewness = 0.84, se = .31). moreover, each participant reported a high conscientiousness score. when artificially dichotomized at the sample mean into high–very high conscientiousness and low–high neuroticism, participants were most commonly high in both conscientiousness and neuroticism (n = 18), and least commonly very high in conscientiousness and high in neuroticism (n = 12; see figure 1). table 1 descriptive statistics variable n m (sd) range or % age 60 70.72 (3.53) 64.00–78.00 gender cisgender woman 46 76.70% cisgender man 14 23.30% ethnicity european/white 53 88.33% east or southeast asian 3 5.00% south asian 1 1.67% other 3 5.00% education post-graduate education 24 40.00% undergraduate degree 15 25.00% some college or university 12 20.00% https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 140 low neuroticism high neuroticism high conscientiousness very high conscientiousness n = 12 n = 16 n = 14 n = 18 variable n m (sd) range or % trade school 4 6.70% high school 4 6.70% no high school diploma 1 1.70% physical activity mod-vig pa (fitbit) 59 51.08 (33.69) 2.14–158.36 steps 60 8113.68 (3082.98) 2316.79–16086.79 mod-vig pa (sr) 60 54.08 (32.12) 11.43–180.00 stress 60 19.01 (13.33) 1.54–53.85 personality conscientiousness 60 3.96 (0.45) 2.89–5.00 neuroticism 60 2.62 (0.63) 1.50–4.13 note. mod-vig pa (fitbit) = fitbit-calculated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; mod-vig pa (sr) = self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. figure 1 distribution of conscientiousness and neuroticism scores note. n = 60. we computed zero-order pearson correlations between all study variables (see table 2). a moderate, direct correlation appeared between average daily fitbit-calculated and self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. further, both measures of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were strongly, directly associated with average daily steps. age was weakly, inversely associated with average daily steps, and average daily stress was moderately, directly associated with neuroticism. no additional significant correlations appeared; thus, the three primary predictor variables (stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) were not correlated with any of the three physical activity outcome variables. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 141 table 2 zero-order pearson correlations of study variables variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. age † 2. gender –.05 † 3. mod-vig pa (fitbit) –.03 .13 † 4. steps –.26* .10 .75*** † 5. mod-vig pa (sr) –.19 .17 .36** .56*** † 6. stress –.01 –.12 –.10 –.11 –.09 † 7. conscientiousness –.17 –.08 –.03 –.08 .11 –.09 † 8. neuroticism .03 .00 .11 .03 .10 .33* –.23 † note. mod-vig pa (fitbit) = fitbit-calculated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; mod-vig pa (sr) = self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. primary analysis the primary analysis employed multiple linear regression three-way interaction modeling to examine whether average daily stress predicted average daily physical activity, as well as whether the association was moderated by the interaction between conscientiousness and neuroticism. one participant’s fitbit-calculated minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity data was compromised in the uploading process. their data was excluded from the primary analysis, which resulted in 59 participants. results from the primary analysis predicting average daily fitbit-calculated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity are reported in table 3. model 1 reflects the main effects of average daily stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism (r2 = .03); model 2 introduces the three 2-way and one 3-way interaction terms (r2 = .12); and model 3 adjusts for the effects of age and gender (r2 = .13). this fully adjusted model explained little variance in average daily fitbit-calculated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (i.e., 13%). since no significant effects emerged, probing interactions was not required. planned sensitivity analyses the planned sensitivity analyses both employed multiple linear regression three-way interaction modeling to examine whether two alternative measures of average daily physical activity (fitbit-calculated steps and self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) were predicted by average daily stress and whether the conscientiousness-neuroticism interaction moderated these relationships. results from the fully adjusted models predicting average daily steps (r2 = .22) and self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (r2 = .15) are reported in table 4. while modest in their explanatory ability, variance in their respective physical activity outcome variables proved more illustrative than data gleaned from the primary regression model, with the greatest proportion explained for average daily steps (i.e., 22%). the sole significant effect was a negative interaction between average daily stress and conscientiousness in the model predicting average daily steps. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 142 table 3 multiple linear regression three-way interaction analysis predicting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity variable model 1 model 2 model 3 est. (se) 95% ci est. (se) 95% ci est. (se) 95% ci intercept (β0) 50.96 (4.43)*** 42.08, 59.83 51.41 (4.86)*** 41.66, 61.16 49.69 (5.79)*** 38.06, 61.32 stress (β1) –0.40 (0.36) –1.12, 0.32 –0.09 (0.40) –0.89, 0.72 –0.08 (0.41) –0.90, 0.74 conscientiousness (β2) –0.44 (10.17) –20.82, 19.94 –5.21 (10.37) –26.03, 15.62 –5.50 (10.66) –26.93, 15.93 neuroticism (β3) 8.50 (7.62) –6.76, 23.77 6.27 (7.78) –9.35, 21.89 6.07 (7.93) –9.87, 22.02 stress × c (β4) † † –1.05 (0.83) –2.72, 0.61 –1.03 (0.84) –2.73, 0.67 stress × n (β5) † † –0.47 (0.54) –1.55, 0.61 –0.42 (0.57) –1.56, 0.73 c × n (β6) † † –4.98 (16.41) –37.92, 27.96 –6.75 (17.81) –42.53, 29.04 stress × c × n (β7) † † 2.24 (1.55) –0.88, 5.35 2.11 (1.60) –1.09, 5.32 age (β8) † † † † 0.34 (1.41) –2.60, 3.08 gender (β9) † † † † 6.15 (10.89) –15.73, 28.03 note. stress × c = stress-conscientiousness interaction; stress × n = stress-neuroticism interaction; c × n = conscientiousness-neuroticism interaction; stress × c × n = stress-conscientiousnessneuroticism interaction; ci = confidence interval. ***p < .001. table 4 sensitivity analyses predicting steps and self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity variable steps mod-vig pa (sr) est. (se) 95% ci est. (se) 95% ci intercept (β0) 8004.27 (491.39)*** 7017.28, 8991.26 50.75 (5.33)*** 40.05, 61.46 stress (β1) –5.18 (34.61) –74.68, 64.33 –0.29 (0.38) –1.05, 0.46 conscientiousness (β2) –1205.10 (912.75) –3038.42, 628.21 6.96 (9.90) –12.92, 26.84 neuroticism (β3) 103.75 (688.34) –1278.82, 1486.33 10.08 (7.46) –4.92, 25.07 stress × c (β4) –148.73 (71.55)* –292.44, –5.02 –1.03 (0.78) –2.59, 0.53 stress × n (β5) –35.42 (49.13) –134.10, 63.27 –0.21 (0.53) –1.28, 0.86 c × n (β6) –854.59 (1537.63) –3943.01, 2233.84 –13.65 (16.67) –47.13, 19.84 stress × c × n (β7) 117.22 (136.12) –156.18, 390.62 –1.23 (1.48) –4.19, 1.74 age (β8) –193.47 (122.55) –439.61, 52.68 –1.00 (1.33) –3.67, 1.67 gender (β9) 339.95 (941.25) –1550.60, 2230.51 10.36 (10.21) –10.14, 30.86 note. mod-vig pa (sr) = self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; stress × c = stressconscientiousness interaction; stress × n = stress-neuroticism interaction; c × n = conscientiousnessneuroticism interaction; stress × c × n = stress-conscientiousness-neuroticism interaction; ci = confidence interval. *p < .05. ***p < .001. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 143 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 m e a n d a il y s te p s mean daily stress stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting steps the significant stress-conscientiousness interaction was probed via testing simple slopes (preacher et al., 2006; see figure 2). as average daily stress increased, average daily steps both decreased among individuals higher in conscientiousness and increased among individuals lower in conscientiousness. these findings contradicted our prediction that individuals higher in conscientiousness would engage in more physical activity when experiencing stress compared to individuals lower in conscientiousness. figure 2 stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting steps high conscientiousness (+1 sd) mean conscientiousness low conscientiousness (–1 sd) discussion the current study investigated whether average daily physical activity was associated with average daily stress and whether healthy neuroticism moderated the association. based on past research (friedman, 2000; hill & jackson, 2016; jones et al., 2017; stults-kolehmainen & sinha, 2014), we expected that, on average, individuals who experienced more daily stress would engage in less daily physical activity; further, we expected otherwise damaging daily stress to catalyze daily physical activity among participants high in both conscientiousness and neuroticism. yet, these predictions were not supported by our analysis of 59 to 60 healthy, community residing, older adults. indeed, average daily stress did not predict any of the three average daily physical activity variables, and there was no moderating effect of healthy neuroticism. moreover, the primarily null regression findings aligned with the non-significant pearson correlations between each physical activity outcome variable (fitibit-calculated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, daily steps, and self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) with the three primary predictor variables (stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism). therefore, in contrast to our hypotheses, physical activity appeared unrelated to both stress and healthy neuroticism https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 144 consistently across the varied types of analyses executed in the current study. furthermore, the observed regression findings appeared robust, with the three models demonstrating comparable non-significant outcomes apart from the significant stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting average daily steps. informed by the invest-and-accrue model of conscientiousness, we expected those high in conscientiousness to translate stress into motivation for physical activity (hill & jackson, 2016). in contrast, as average daily stress increased, participants higher in conscientiousness took fewer daily steps and participants lower in conscientiousness took more daily steps, on average. there are various explanations for both the consistently null findings and the unexpected stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting average daily steps. statistical limitations may have reduced our ability to detect effects in the three analyses. examining between-person, three-way, interaction effects among 59 to 60 participants offered unsatisfactory statistical power and, therefore, reduced our ability to detect significant effects between healthy neuroticism, physical activity, and stress. additionally, both average daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and average daily stress variable distributions were positively skewed, with scores clustering below the sample mean, which potentially imposed additional statistical power constraints. although examining a larger sample would improve statistical power, within-person statistical approaches (such as multilevel modeling) would improve statistical power without requiring a markedly larger sample, since such approaches can acccount for more residual variability (stemming from individual differences) compared to between-person analytical approaches. moreover, a within-person analysis would effectively investigate the moderating role of healthy neuroticism on the time-bound association between dayto-day physical activity and stress. by averaging the 14 daily physical activity and stress scores of participants, our between-person analysis may have missed the dynamic relationship between physical activity and stress in individuals’ day-to-day lives. for example, our approach could not capture an inverse, time-bound, physical activity-stress association for someone low in conscientiousness and high in neuroticism who consistently attends a daily workout class, yet misses 2 consecutive days due to stressful events. by analyzing time-bound associations through a within-person statistical approach, more informed between-person comparisons could be made between individuals low in conscientiousness and high in neuroticism with individuals high in healthy neuroticism, whose daily physical activity does not decrease as daily stress increases. as such, future research would benefit from employing within-person statistical methods. in addition to analytical constraints, confounding variables not accounted for in the current study may have been meaningful predictors of physical activity. for instance, research has suggested that both lifetime exercise habits and current physical condition are associated with the physical activity of older adults (rhodes et al., 1999). as such, perhaps conscientious older adults with less established exercise habits or increased physical restrictions due to a chronic condition would direct motivation from stress towards healthy behaviours besides physical activity (such as meditation). similarly, global and momentary perceived physical activity self-efficacy have been associated with the physical activity of older adults (dunton et al., 2013). therefore, if conscientious older adults do not perceive high physical activity self-efficacy (due to their lack of prior exercise experience or current physical limitations), they may again translate motivation from stress into a different healthy behaviour. additionally, fatigue (kop et al., 2005) and negative affect (dunton et al., 2009) are related to reduced day-to-day physical activity. thus, to accurately analyze the moderating role of healthy neuroticism in predicting daily physical activity from daily stress, it may be prudent for future research to adjust for the effects of potentially confounding https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 145 variables (such as prior exercise habits, physical condition, self-efficacy regarding physical activity, fatigue, and negative affect). while null findings consistently appeared while predicting three types of physical activity, the sensitivity analysis predicting average daily steps yielded a sole significant effect: a stressconscientiousness interaction in which individuals higher in conscientiousness took fewer daily steps and individuals lower in conscientiousness took more daily steps as daily stress increased. since “average daily steps” was the only non-skewed physical activity outcome variable, the regression model predicting steps may have been the only model with sufficient statistical power to detect a negative stress-conscientiousness interaction. alternatively, since older adults tend to prefer low-cost physical activity (such as outdoor walking) to costly physical activity (such as aerobic machines), perhaps steps are a more valid metric of older adult physical activity than moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (rhodes et al., 1999). if so, the absence of stressconscientiousness interactions in predicting average daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may reflect true null effects rather than low statistical power. beyond discussing the presence of a significant stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting average daily steps, it is pertinent to address the potential implications of the unexpected findings. the observed interaction may illustrate one maladaptive aspect of being inordinately high in any personality trait (hill & jackson, 2016). for instance, individuals exceptionally high in conscientiousness may become overinvested in specific tasks or behaviours (james et al., 1983); rather than translating stress into an unrelated healthy behaviour (physical activity), they may direct all of their energy to an immediate stressor in an effort to “fix” that stressor through unrelenting effort (stanton et al., 2010). this psychological disposition has been termed john henryism. beyond the indirect, adverse health impacts of being less physically active, john henryism has been independently associated with cardiovascular problems (bennett et al., 2004; stanton et al., 2010), likely due to the autonomic arousal associated with effortful coping (james et al., 1983). the relationship between john henryism and cardiovascular issues is prevalent among those who remain determined to fix situations in which they can exercise little agency (james et al., 1983; stanton et al., 2010). this context may be relevant for highly conscientious older adults grappling with situations they cannot fix, such as their own cognitive decline or the death of a loved one. alternatively, the unforeseen stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting average daily steps may be explained by the distribution of conscientiousness scores in our sample. in our study, conscientiousness scores demonstrated little variability and were considerably higher than scores in comparable older adult samples (chapman et al., 2017; yoneda et al., 2022). since little difference was detected between the higher and lower conscientiousness scores (with all participants scoring high in conscientiousness), the practical significance of the observed stressconscientiousness interaction was presumably inconsequential. in addition to the restricted range of conscientiousness scores, the older adult sample was homogeneous in other ways. for example, participants experienced unusually low levels of average daily stress. also, compared to most older adults, who fall short of the recommended 150 weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (dunton et al., 2009), particiants in this study were highly physically active, reporting approximately 350 average weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. furthermore, the sample recruited for this study was disproportionately comprised of european/white, highly educated, cisgender women. therefore, this “western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic” (weird) sample (henrich et al., 2010) is not representative of the diversity typically found within the broader canadian population. caution should therefore https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 146 be taken when generalizing the findings from this study, and future research seeking to examine the moderating effect of healthy neuroticism on physical activity-stress would benefit from recruiting a more diverse sample. conclusions a wealth of prior research has shown that heightened daily stress is typically associated with reduced daily physical activity (dunton et al., 2009; jones et al., 2017). yet, research has also suggested that, among individuals high in both conscientiousness and neuroticism, stress may instead promote physical activity (friedman, 2000). however, findings from the current study do not support either notion. due to our between-person analysis of a relatively small sample (n = 60), analytical constraints may explain the lack of observed significant effects. in future research, statistical power would be improved by employing a within-person analysis, such as multilevel modeling. this approach would also offer a clearer picture of how physical activity and stress vary dynamically through time. moreover, our broadly null findings were likely due to not adequately adjusting for confounding variables, many of which may have led to conscientious participants directing motivation from stress towards healthy behaviours other than physical activity. as such, future healthy neuroticism and stress research predicting one health behaviour may benefit from simultaneously examining and controlling for additional health behaviours. despite the consistently null findings, the current study yielded one significant effect; unexpectedly, this sole significant outcome contradicted the theory that underlies both healthy neuroticism (friedman, 2000) and the invest-and-accrue model of conscientiousness (hill & jackson, 2016), which posit that individuals high in conscientiousness override the negative stress responses of high neuroticism by translating stress into motivation for healthy behaviour. instead, on average over a two-week period, we observed that participants higher in conscientiousness were less active and participants lower in conscientiousness were more active as stress increased. in addition to providing further evidence to a growing body of literature that refutes the premise of healthy neuroticism (turiano et al., 2020; weston et al., 2019; weston et al., 2020), the findings from the current study also dispute hill and jackson’s (2016) invest-and-accrue model of conscientiousness. the implications of such unexpected findings are twofold: the outcomes highlight the possible harms associated with being extraordinarily high in conscientiousness (stanton et al., 2010), which is less commonly discussed as posing potential drawbacks in current personality research. also, the stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting average daily steps may be attributable to the aforementioned homogeneity of the recruited sample. study participants were not only broadly alike in conscientiousness; they were also similar demographically and in their reported levels of average daily physical activity and stress. thus, future research examining whether healthy neuroticism attenuates an inverse association between daily physical activity and stress among a diverse sample of participants is imperative for two reasons: first, doing so may ensure that findings are representative of and generalizable to broader populations; second, doing so may elucidate whether the observed stress-conscientiousness interaction was indicative of the restricted conscientiousness scores or was reflective of the potential harms associated with inordinately high conscientiousness. it is important for ongoing personality and health psychology research to build upon this study to explain the relationships between physical activity, stress, conscientiousness, and neuroticism among demographically diverse samples. the knowledge gleaned will further inform https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 147 the personality and health psychology research fields as well as offer meaningful insights for health behaviour promotion interventions. research demonstrates that high conscientiousness is associated with healthy behaviour (bogg & roberts, 2004) and that personality traits are amenable to targeted interventions (roberts et al. 2017; roberts & takahashi, 2011). as such, health behaviour promotion interventions to increase conscientiousness are well-supported throughout personality and health psychology research (roberts et al. 2017; roberts & takahashi, 2011). in contrast, our findings showed less physical activity among more 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(2018). global action plan for physical activity 2018–2030: more active people for a healthier world. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272722/9789241514187eng.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/hjh.0000000000000244 https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.268 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2012.10.020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.psy.0000181272.58103.18 https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.267 https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kay055 https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614553248 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2014.04.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.08.023 https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272722/9789241514187-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272722/9789241514187-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 153 yoneda, t., graham, e., lozinski, t., bennett, d. a., mroczek, d., piccinin, a. m., hofer, s. m., & muniz-terrera, g. (2022). personality traits, cognitive states, and mortality in older adulthood. journal of personality and social psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000418 https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220745 https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000418 abstract introduction physical activity and stress physical activity, conscientiousness, and neuroticism conscientiousness neuroticism healthy neuroticism the current study methods procedure measures demographic characteristics personality physical activity stress analytic strategy results primary analysis planned sensitivity analyses stress-conscientiousness interaction predicting steps discussion references politics of identity: unfolding the identity of the chinese-thai population the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 32 flexible identity: unfolding the identity of the chinese-thai population in contemporary thailand ruji auethavornpipat abstract: this research paper argues against the prominent theory articulated by william skinner, who predicts the total assimilation of the chinese in thailand. in relation to stuart hall’s definitions of sociological subject and post-modern subject, a new perspective on identity of the ethnic chinese in thailand is introduced in order to assert that hybridity and cultural flexibility allow the chinese descendants in thailand to willingly become thai as well as chinese instead of becoming thai only. this research paper explores identity politics played by the chinese-thai population in contemporary thailand at the village, national, and transnational levels. facilitated by the notions of hybridity and flexible citizenship, identity politics are embraced by the chinese-thais in a way that benefits not only them but also other members in the thai society. key terms: identity, identity politics, chinese, thai, hybridity, flexible citizenship, flexible capital, sociological subject, post-modern subject, cp group, contemporary thailand introduction the central intelligence agency (cia) world factbook identifies that 14 percent of thailand’s current population is ethnic chinese (cia, 2010). they form the second largest ethnic group in thailand, comprised of more than 8 million people (chansiri, 2008). the statistics suggest it is evident that the population of thailand is not homogeneous and there is a distinct ethnic group of people who are identified as chinese. however, in reality, the manifestation of ethnic identity among the chinese is not as simple and obvious as the statistics point out. although the ethnic chinese are legally labeled as thai citizens, in the past couple of decades, there has been a re-assertion of chinese identity as a way to express their ethnicity. more importantly, they strategically perform both thai and chinese identities in order to empower themselves economically and socially in a way that benefits themselves and, to a certain extent, other members of the society as well. this research paper argues that instead of the chinese population in thailand experiencing inevitable assimilation and eventually becoming solely thai as predicted by william skinner (1957), in fact, the chinese descendants are able to maintain and re-assert their chinese identity through the hybridization process. hybridity and cultural flexibility are what skinner fails to see, and this is illustrated through the case studies of the chinese-thai population in bangkok and northern thailand as well as through thailand’s largest the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 33 transnational corporation called charoen pokphand (cp) group. furthermore, these case studies demonstrate that the notions of hybridity and cultural flexibility create the realm of identity politics in which the ethnic chinese engage in and are able to advance socially and economically. identity defined because this research paper attempts to critically analyze the identity of the chinese-thai population, it is crucial that the term identity be conceptualized before further discussion on the topic can continue. in order to define identity, this research paper refers to stuart hall’s notion of cultural identity in which he theorizes through the relevant concept of sociological subject and post-modern subject. reflecting the growing complexity of the modern world, hall and du gay (1996) identify the sociological subject as not autonomous or self-sufficient but being “formed in relation to ‘significant others,’ who [mediate] to the subject the values, meanings and symbols—the culture—of the worlds he/she inhabit[s]” (p.275). in other words, the identity of the sociological subject is influenced and created by external forces such as values and cultures of the existing society. identity is also formed by the interaction between the self and the society in which the former is the inside and the latter is the outside or the personal and the public, respectively. in addition to their perception of the sociological subject, the post-modern subject is articulated as having no fixed, essential, or permanent identity. hall and du gay call it “a moveable feast,” (p.277) whose identity is continuously formed and transformed in relation to the ways one is represented or addressed in cultural systems. the post-modern subject has different identities at different times. in other words, cultural identity is fluid, constantly changing, and unfixed. however, according to hall and du gay, there are two ways of thinking about cultural identity. the first way is to perceive cultural identity as one shared culture, a sort of collective “one true self” that is positioned inside the superficial imposed “selves” that people with a shared history and ancestry have in common. nonetheless, it is the second view of cultural identity that is emphasized in this research paper. hall (1990) recognizes that it is “a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being’” (p.225). cultural identity in this sense is subject to the continuous manifestation of history, culture, and power. in fact, it is this concept of being and becoming that he incorporates the notion of hybridity in his article and argues that diaspora identities are constantly producing and reproducing themselves anew, through transformation and difference. hall believes that every regime of representation is a regime of power formed by knowledge and power in foucault’s sense. most importantly, he argues that due to the ability of producing and reproducing one’s own identity through transformation and difference, or othering oneself, “there is always a politics of identity, a politics of position, which has no absolute guarantee in an unproblematic, transcendental ‘law of origin’” (p.226). supported by hall’s argument on identity politics, the subsequent sections of this research paper argue that identity politics among the chinese in thailand is played out the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 34 because the ethnic chinese embrace their hybrid and flexible identities as a way to empower themselves in order to achieve higher social and economic goals. demography of the chinese population in thailand it is believed that the earliest chinese migration to thailand dates back to the 13 th century during the sukothai kingdom, the first official historic kingdom of thailand (skinner, 1957). it was a group of chinese political refugees who fled from southern china to the champa kingdom and eventually to siam after the mongols conquered southern china and sacked the cham capital in 1283. because of the long historical migration of the chinese to thailand, it is important to recognize the current ethnic chinese population of thailand is not a homogenous group. in fact, they come from different historical backgrounds and speak different dialects. gungwu wang (1991) differentiates the chinese migrants into four types: the first type is the trader who went overseas in the 13 th century; the second type is the coolie or the unskilled, landless laborers from the peasant class who migrated from china during the 19 th and 20 th centuries; the third group is the sojourner from a more educated and cultured class that left china after 1949; and lastly, the descendant or the ethnic chinese who have chinese ancestors and may have never lived in china. in terms of the number of the ethnic chinese living in thailand, out of approximately 8 million chinese-thais, 56 percent belong to the teochiu dialect group, 16 percent are the hakka people, 12 percent are hainanese, 7 percent are hokkien, 7 percent are cantonese, and 2 percent are considered other groups such as the yunnanese in northern thailand (chansiri, 2008). historical and political conditions for the articulations of identity william skinner’s theory of total assimilation in order to comprehend the theories on identity which have been articulated about chinese migrants in thailand, the historical context of thailand from the 1940s until the present should be considered. the pro-assimilation policies during the authoritarian regime of phibun have been influenced by both domestic and international factors. domestically, phibun was interested in building the thai nation by imposing cultural norms of what is perceived as “thai” on the citizens. for instance, in the 1940s, the government issued a decree which required all thai nationals to know and use the central thai language in public and created thailand’s current national anthem, flag, and the royal anthem (numnonda, 1978). specific western dress code was also in effect in order to depict the image of the modern and civilized thai nationals. furthermore, due to the growing communist activities in thailand during that period, the compulsory use of thai language campaign was aimed specifically at assimilating the local-born chinese and malay who preferred communicating in their own dialects (skinner, 1957). internationally, prior to 1949, the chinese communist party (ccp) and the nationalist party—or the kuomintang (kmt)—were fighting to take control of mainland china. in the end, the people’s liberation army (pla) of the ccp won repeated victories against the kmt and the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 35 eventually seized control of the entire mainland china. after the founding of the people’s republic of china (prc) in october 1949, communist organizers in thailand were able to appeal to all the chinese in terms of loyalty and nationalism. furthermore, the communist party of thailand, which operated semi-openly and underground since 1946, transformed itself to be a major political force among the ethnic chinese (skinner, 1957). as a result, the support for the communist china among the chinese in thailand started to gain its momentum. because of that reason, in 1949, the thai government tremendously reduced the quota of chinese immigrants from 10,000 persons per year to 200 persons per year (chantavanich & sikharaksakul, 2001). it was 1952 that proved to be a crucial year among the chinese in thailand because there was a critical split between the pro-communists and the pro-nationalists, starting within the chinese chamber of commerce and spreading to almost every chinese organization in thailand (skinner, 1957). consequently, the thai government started a full-scale policy of containment toward the chinese and launched extensive social policies against the chinese as the chinese communist elements became much more evident in thailand’s central labour union, chinese schools, and chinese newspapers (skinner, 1957). in response to the communist activities, the thai labour union was established by the phibun regime to attract the membership of thai workers in order to prevent thai labourers from joining chinese-dominated unions which were considered having alien loyalties and connection with communist china. the ccp at that time was attempting to win further support from all the chinese abroad and perceived overseas chinese as a political tool for spreading communism elsewhere. from 1959 to 1970, field marshal sarit thanarat took power, and thailand was again under a military regime. he closed down all leftist newspapers, both thai and chinese, and allowed only the newspapers that supported taiwan and the united states to operate because during the cold war period, the us government injected money into thailand and urged thailand to oppose communism in all aspects. as for chinese schools, which were viewed by the thai government as a tool to advocate the students’ allegiance to china and communism, thailand’s ministry of education took control of all of them in 1948 and prohibited further establishment of new chinese schools. moreover, the schools with political activities were closed down; chinese language could be taught for only seven hours a week, and schools were required to use syllabi and textbooks which were solely supplied by the thai government (chantavanich & sikharaksakul, 2001). chinese schools also underwent more tightly regulated policies formulated by the thai government. for example, several subjects such as music and physical education were required to be instructed exclusively by thai teachers; writing chinese characters on the blackboard outside chinese language classes was strictly against regulations; and only thai school principals possessed full administrative power. various heavily regulated policies directed toward chinese schools resulted in the decline of chinese education as more chinese parents sent their children to thai public primary schools, where tuition was free or lower than in chinese schools. the distinction between thai and chinese schools also began to vanish as the curricula used were directed by the central thai government (skinner, 1957). the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 36 numerous pro-assimilationist policies, as well as the decline of chinese education, shape an influential theoretical framework articulated by skinner (1957). according to skinner, chinese education is considered crucial for the ethnic chinese in thailand to maintain their chinese identity. between 1948 and 1956, the total number of chinese schools in thailand decreased from over 430 to approximately 195 (skinner, 1957). with more and more chinese attending thai schools, skinner believes that it will accelerate the total assimilation process of the chinese population because they are not exposed directly to the official chinese affiliations such as chinese history and traditions. skinner notices that the ethnic chinese in thailand became increasingly dominated by the thailand-born, who mostly have little or no firsthand experience of china. skinner concludes that “*t+he only third-generation chinese who identify in most social situations as chinese are those educated in chinese schools, in thailand or abroad. the only fourth-generation chinese who ever identify as chinese are likewise chineseeducated. the implication is clear that without a chinese education, grandchildren of chinese immigrants at the present time become thai,” (p.381) and “the thai government has it within its power to bring closer the day when descendants of chinese immigrants will be fully assimilated and completely loyal citizens” (p.382). in other words, skinner articulates that the fourth-generation chinese and the following generations, sooner or later, will become completely thai. bun and tong’s discovery of bilingualism among the chinese in thailand contrary to skinner’s (1957) articulation of total assimilation, based on their findings during field research, bun and tong (2004) present their theory which critiques skinner for overemphasizing the forces of assimilation. however, the historical context, which profoundly shapes bun and tong’s argument around bilingualism in thailand, is much different as it was heavily influenced by the diplomatic relations between china and thailand which would eventually allow the thai government to implement liberalized domestic policies toward the chinese. the period between 1955 and 1975 was considered as the move between the two countries toward rapprochement (chansiri, 2008). an informal relationship between thailand and the prc began to develop at the bandung conference in indonesia in 1955 where premier zhou enlai of china reassured the thai minister of foreign affairs that china would not influence or interfere with thai domestic politics (chansiri, 2008). however, due to the implication of thailand receiving financial aid from the us at that time, the thai government was willing to formally maintain an anti-chinese diplomatic campaign while developing a friendly and informal relationship with the prc at the same time (chansiri, 2008). in 1955, a group of thai official delegates visited the prc for the first time since its founding. one of the most important outcomes of this official delegation is that chairman mao sent a message to the chinese communities in thailand that they should abide by thai laws whether or not they were born in china. the chinese government also encouraged the overseas chinese to assimilate into the local community (chansiri, 2008). chairman mao’s message further assured the thai the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 37 government that the communist china would not try to influence thai domestic politics and opened the route to re-establish ties. moreover, in 1957, thailand and the prc mutually sought to be each other’s economic partners in which the prc signed in burma an agreement to purchase rice from thailand even though thai rice was sold at a higher price. as a result, the thai government had more trust in the goodwill of the prc (chansiri, 2008). with a short period of disruption of the improving relationship between china and thailand during the military regime under field marshal sarit, the two countries’ diplomatic relations began to take measures that were more formal after henry kissinger’s visit to the prc in july 1971. in 1974, thailand’s prime ministry kukrit pramoj proposed to the house of representatives to open diplomatic relations with the prc, and thailand soon became the 101 st state to establish formal diplomatic relations with the prc. after that, the chinese ambassador to thailand, chai jer min, arrived in thailand and was received by the king of thailand. “this was *considered+ the end of the thai government’s suppression of chinese (both overseas chinese and their younger generations who were born in thailand)” (chansiri, 2008, p.89). with the improving international political climate and the end of repressive domestic policies toward the chinese population of thailand, the ethnic chinese are more free from previously imposed restrictions that forced them to conform to cultural norms once declared by the thai government. consequently, this has led to the emergence of bilingualism among the ethnic chinese. it is suggested the acquisition of the language of the dominant group is an indication of cultural assimilation as language adoption is often accompanied by the adoption of cultural values and social institutions. bun and tong (2004) argue that although skinner is right that the ethnic chinese have adopted thai language, it was only exigencies of social and economic survival that have necessitated it. additionally, most chinese-thais are not monolingual; in fact, they continue to use both chinese language and thai language in their everyday life. in their extensive fieldwork in the 1980s and 1990s, bun and tong encountered many occasions in which their subjects spoke a mix of chinese and thai. according to them, the adoption of thai language does not lead to the demise of chinese language. in fact, they saw “the development of bilingualism whereby different languages were used in different social situations” (bun & tong, 2004, p.153). chinese language is generally used in communicating with family members and relatives or when performing economic transactions with other chinese, and thai is used when dealing with thai bureaucrats and ethnic thai. in contrast to skinner’s assertion, coughlin (1960, as cited in bun and tong, 2004) argues that chinese education was in a stronger position in the 1960s than in the 1930s and 1940s as the number of chinese students increased from 17,000 in 1938 to 63,000 in 1960 even though the declining number of chinese schools was obvious. based on these statistics, there was no evidence that the chinese community had abandoned its desire for chinese education. chinese language, along with thai, can now be the medium of instruction in chinese schools, and for the chinese-thai children who attend thai public schools during the day, their parents would normally employ private tutors to teach their children chinese in the evening (bun, 1993). the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 38 moreover, chinese schools in thailand currently do not teach nationalistic and communist subject matters; therefore, it has certainly become less of a concern for the thai government. under this circumstance, chan and tong are able to argue that the bilingual use of the chinese and thai languages as well as the re-emergence of chinese education in thailand are regarded as a proof that, rather than being totally assimilated, the chinese-thai citizens desire to retain their chinese identity. new perspective on identity: marwan kraidy’s hybridity and aihwa ong’s flexible citizenship bilingualism among the ethnic chinese in thailand can be considered part of hybrid identity or the post-modern subject whose identity is fluid and always changing. based on this transforming nature of identity, hybridity is further defined as “the fusion of two hitherto relatively distinct forms, styles, or identities, cross-cultural contact, which often occurs across national borders as well as across cultural boundaries” (kraidy, 2005, p. 5). in other words, it is the “trend to blend” (kraidy, 2005, p. 1). furthermore, although hybridity can describe “multipurpose electronic gadgets, designer agricultural seeds, environment-friendly cars with dual combustion and electrical engines, companies that blend american and japanese management practices, multiracial people, dual citizens, and postcolonial cultures,” (kraidy, 2005, p. 1) the term principally refers to culture, which almost always preserves residual meanings relating to race, language, and ethnicity. it can undoubtedly be incorporated in the specific context of modern day thailand. bun and tong (2004) indicate that hybrid identity has allowed the ethnic chinese to discover one’s multiple rootedness or zhonggen (众根) and as a result, they are able to be not only thai or chinese but both. moreover, the multiple rootedness permits the possible space for alternating subjectivity and identity in which an ethnic chinese person in thailand can develop different subjectivities and each individual can transform one’s identity in a particular context (bun & tong, 2004). similarly, the flexibility of the ethnic chinese in thailand to embrace being both thai and chinese in different circumstances also conforms to ong’s (1999) notion of flexible citizenship that is described as “the cultural logics of capitalist accumulation, travel, and displacement that induce subjects to respond fluidly and opportunistically to changing political-economic conditions” (p.6). most importantly, ong emphasizes the transnationality of these practices in the era of globalization. in this research paper, the notion of flexible citizenship is used slightly differently from the concept of hybridity in terms of the former, emphasizing flexible acts or cultural logics in the field of transnational investment. however, these two concepts can be used parallel to each other because the articulation of flexible citizenship also demonstrates hybrid identity among the ethnic chinese as is shown in one of the case studies. as ong (1999) states, these flexible practices are formulated in relation to markets, governments, and cultural regimes and within the configuration of meaning about family, gender, nationality, class mobility, and social power. thus, it is not only the liberalized domestic policy of the ethnic chinese of thailand that facilitate these flexible cultural logics but also the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 39 open door policy of china that was put in place by deng xiaoping, the former chairman of the ccp. callahan (2002) argues that the reemergence of the overseas chinese identity in the late 1980s is contributed by two factors surrounding deng’s economic reforms. firstly, the open door policy allows the new immigrants to leave china legally, and secondly, it invites the wealthy overseas chinese to return to the motherland and invest in china as part of the greater china economic networks. callahan indicates that 25 million diasporic overseas chinese constitute the third largest economy in the world. thus, the overseas chinese have always been considered the major source of capital for the chinese government. for instance, in the past, both the prc and taiwan attempted to control the loyalty of overseas chinese in order to fund their national reunification campaigns. in contrast to the common assumption that western multinational corporations (mncs) would rush to china with their capital for investment, 80 percent of foreign direct investment in the prc are in fact from overseas chinese. as a result of the open door policy, china has become the second ranking host country for foreign direct investment after the united states (callahan, 2002). the more relaxed domestic policy in thailand and the open door policy of china have influenced many of the chinese in thailand to respond fluidly to surrounding political and economic institutions in a way that supports ong’s theory of flexible citizenship which produces the capitalist accumulation. this capitalist accumulation is illustrated through a case study of the cp group later in this research paper. the identity politics among the chinese-thais that is created by notions of hybridity and flexibility creates the sphere for them to re-assert their chineseness and also strengthen their social and economic powers in the society of thailand as well as china. the next section offers case studies that illuminate how identity politics are carried out by the chinese-thai in order for them to sustain their economic and social strength. identity politics at village, national, and transnational levels 1. identity politics and the buddhist merit-making activity at the village level similarly, hill (1998) examines how hybrid identity shapes identity politics in chiangmai, northern thailand. hill provides an example of mr. li, a wealthy yunnanese man, who financially supports a thai buddhist temple that is patronized by members of the thai royal family. he had always proposed building a wing on an existing ground of the temple to be devoted to new gods; however, his proposal was not approved until the royal family presented him with buddhist images in recognition of his contributions to the thai temple. his proposal that was approved included the construction of a chinese temple with contrastingly traditional chinese style architecture on the ground of the thai temple. it shows yellow tiles with dragon coil around plaster pillars, a bronze plaque listing the names of financial contributors in chinese, and the temple’s name in chinese characters under the thai script (“sanctuary in support of the buddhist religion”) (hill, 2005, p.132). the chinese temple is dedicated to the maitreya buddha, the mahayana buddhist representation of the buddha that can be found in any chinese buddhist temple. according to the monk whom hill interviewed, building this chinese the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 40 temple also benefits the thai buddhist society as it would attract more people to visit the temple. thus, it is perceived as a desirable outcome for the monk. in this case, mr. li utilizes the buddhist merit-making ceremony and makes donations to the temple in order to achieve his goal of establishing a chinese temple through two of the three most important pillars of thailand—religion and monarchy—by economic means. hill (2005) argues that “through connections with government patrons and via public religious activities, the yunnanese can claim a position in local society as chinese, an identity recognizable and acceptable to a thai audience” (p.133). in other words, mr. li utilizes his economic power in order to enhance his social power as a distinguished patronage of the thai society by embracing both thai and chinese cultures. 2. identity politics and the red envelope at the national level the celebration of the chinese new year in bangkok’s chinatown in 1992 can provide an excellent example of the way thai people with chinese origin incorporate identity politics through hybrid identity and culturally flexible practices. as part of the celebration, there were activities including the miss chinatown beauty contest and traditional chinese performances involving dragon dancers, lion dancers, stilt-walkers, and acrobats. however, bao (2005) directed his attention to the dragon dancers when shop owners in chinatown attempted to attract the dragon to dance in front of their shop by presenting it with hongbao or a red envelope with some “lucky” money inside. having the dragon dance in front of and inside the store signifies bringing in the owner’s prosperity for the up-coming year and buying protection from the dragon. as the dragon dance continued, four policemen came and saluted a shop owner at the entrance of the store, and the store owner presented each police officer with a red envelope (bao, 2005). bao indicates that the visit of police officers and bribing them with the red envelope are another custom of chinese new year celebration in bangkok. ultimately, buying protection from the dragon is translated into buying protection from thai policemen or the thai state. providing thai police officers with some “lucky” money as a way to buy protection from the thai state allows the ethnic chinese to express and maintain their chinese cultural tradition while demonstrating themselves as thai citizens who arguably respect the thai state institutions at the same time. more importantly, not only does giving the red envelope reveal their ethnic background, but it also represents their advancement in economic and social power that can buy them protection from the thai state. bao (2005) also notices a number of performances that took place during the chinese new year celebration, including a teochiu opera. teochiu is a local chinese dialect spoken among the people from chaozhou and shantou in guangdong province, southern china. in thailand, teochiu opera has been neglected for many decades as very few native speakers are interested in becoming opera singers. as a result, the opera’s organizers have to recruit performers from northeastern or isan region of thailand, where economic development is much lower than other parts of thailand and many people are still impoverished. this is still true in the case of modern-day thailand when i also discovered the same scenario in chonburi the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 41 province in the year of 2009. i encountered only one opera performer who was a teochiu native speaker whereas the rest were not. normally, opera singers cannot speak teochiu dialect but sing the opera by memorizing every single word. they are recruited and trained at a very young age. bao indicates that a new hybrid chinese culture is created as teochiu chinese watch isan performers imitate teochiu opera. interestingly, recruiting young people to be opera performers is akin to handing out the red envelope with some money inside. however, in this case, the opera singers are provided with a life-long employment as long as they can still engage in teochiu opera business. interestingly, although the native teochiu speakers are no longer interested in performing the opera, the opera organizers are able to maintain their opera business which symbolizes their chineseness while empowering themselves as economic providers to the impoverished population of thailand. figure 1: teochiu opera in chonburi province figure 2: a little girl in the left corner has been recruited to be an opera singer at a very young age the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 42 3. identity politics and flexible capital at the transnational level thailand’s largest transnational business group, cp group, has become one of the largest foreign investors in china since 1994. the two founding brothers, chia ek chor and chia seow nooy, migrated from shantou, guangdong province in southern china in 1917 (hamilton, 2006). however, it was not until the 1970s that their business became successful. in the 1950s, they began to initialize in supplying animal feed in thailand and by 1969, after reaching an agreement with arbor acres which is a firm in the rockefeller group, the company has the turnover of approximately $1.5 million. after that, the cp group grew rapidly and expanded its business to other countries such as indonesia, taiwan, turkey, portugal, the philippines, and china. currently, its products do not only include animal feed but also processed meat and frozen food. in 1987, the cp group initiated manufacturing businesses in shanghai, producing motorcycles with a license from honda and brewing beer with a license from heineken (hamilton, 2006). in 2009, the cp group, with its business arm named chia tai group in teochiu dialect or zheng da (正大) in mandarin chinese, has been ranked number one of 500 best overseas chinese companies that contributed to china’s economic development (“chia tai ranked among the list of 500 best overseas chinese companies in china,” n.d.). more importantly, the cp group was also ranked ninth in the top 50 overseas chinese companies that contributed significantly to public welfare and charity in china. although the success of the cp group is definitely influenced by effective business strategies, the notions of hybridity and flexible citizenship will also be offered here in order to account for the corporation’s success in both thailand and china as well as the resurgence of chinese identity. the corporate logo of the cp group (figure 3) that is used in thailand is a green lotus enclosed in a circle which signifies “the revered buddhist symbol of commitment, effort, and accomplishment” (“chia tai ranked among the list of 500 best overseas chinese companies in china,” n.d.). in this case, the symbol of buddhism, which is one of the three pillars of the thai society, is utilized in order to carry out the company’s three-benefit business philosophy which seeks to generate a benefit to the country, the people, and the company. as thailand’s largest transnational corporation, the company’s growth without a doubt will be advantageous to the economic development of thailand. in terms of the benefit to the people, the cp group is an employer of more than 250,000 people worldwide. moreover, the cp group has also established a series of social developmental projects such as building numerous schools, providing 120 scholarships each year since 1979, and educating thai farmers about self-sufficient and sustainable farming skills (“corporate citizen,” n.d.). in the context of thailand, the company demonstrates its commitment, effort, and accomplishment in the society under the banner of the buddhist lotus, and with all these positive images, the company is able to complete its third business philosophy—the benefit to the company—by illustrating its corporate responsibility in thailand. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 43 figure 3 figure 4 in contrast, the corporate logo that is presented in china (figure 4) is “the circle within the square symbolizes flexible action within a fixed parameter of non-changing principles.” (“corporate citizen,” n.d.). the official website of zheng da, which is completely different from the cp group’s website, is published only in mandarin chinese and english and introduces the company as being founded by “thai-chinese” (“profile: brief introduction,” n.d.) with “strong china complex” (“profile: brief introduction,” n.d.) rather than chinese-thai. zheng da also attains the same set of three-benefit business philosophy as mentioned above. it emphasizes the company’s contribution to the economic growth of china in the past two decades by stating that “the group has always been concerned about and supported development of china” (“profile: brief introduction,” n.d.). as for the aspect of benefiting the people, except for qinghai and tibet, zheng da has more than 80,000 employees in every province and autonomous region of china. in addition, its social contributions to china such as education projects and response campaigns during the sars outbreak and the qinghai earthquake in 2008 have the total of approximately 300 million chinese renminbi, or $45 million. similarly to its strategies in thailand, zheng da admits that “developing china and chia tai (zheng da) grow together” (“profile: brief introduction,” n.d.). more importantly, zheng da is determined to join forces with chinese people to build up a harmonious society and create a brighter future. in the case of the cp group, its three-benefit business philosophy symbolizes its hybrid identity and flexible citizenship which results in a capitalist accumulation in accordance with ong’s (1999) analysis. its business philosophy does not indicate specifically which country or people to whom the cp group seeks to benefit. in thailand, in order to maximize its benefit, the cp group appeals to the nation-state of thailand under the symbol of thai buddhist lotus by initiating various local developmental projects as a member and a contributor of the thai society. having embraced the thai institutions, the cp group also takes advantage of china’s recent economic reforms and its heritage of being a historically overseas chinese establishment and invests its capital in mainland china with the same ultimate goal of maximizing profit. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 44 similarly, hamilton (2008) presents an argument about the chinese community performing two rituals, the vegetarian festival in the provinces of phuket and trang and the annual rites worshiping goddess lim ko niao in pattani, that participating in these rituals is an act of performing identities that “transpose[s] the link to the homeland from the historical to the mythical plane” (p.176). in fact, the ethnic chinese in thailand taking part in the rituals reinforce their chinese identity through the re-establishment of cultural and historical root with china as chinese pilgrims from abroad as well as tourists from malaysia and singapore also attend the two rituals. in this case, the cp group and its investment in china can also be considered as an act of performing chinese identity starting first in guangdong province, where the two founding members of the cp group were from. thus, the investment, which later spread to all over china, re-establishes personal ties between china and the founding members and their descendants of the cp group. in parallel to hamilton’s argument, the cp group also represents the economic ties between china and thailand. the cp group is the unique case of cultural flexibility as it offers a different perception in which identity is asserted at the global level in a form of capitalist investment. more importantly, in june 2010, the cp group has been recognized as a symbol of the harmonious sino-thai relations at the seminar on the 35 th anniversary of sino-thai relationship establishment in shanghai. at the seminar, the vicepresident of the cp group, dr. sarasin viraphol, provided a speech on the cp group’s economic involvement in china (royal thai consulate-general shanghai, n.d.). dr. viraphol’s presence at the seminar can be perceived as the recognition of the cp group’s engagement in the development of china which in this context is utilized as a political tool to publicly present the harmonious diplomatic relationship between thailand and china. the case study of the cp group demonstrates that with its three-benefit business philosophy, the cp group successfully utilizes the buddhist lotus symbol domestically and emphasizes and reasserts the chinese origin of the company abroad in order to maximize its economic power in thailand as well as in china. identity revisited several scholars have a tendency to perceive identity as being imposed vigorously by the officials or the state, especially in relation to nationalism or nation-building projects. for instance, skinner (1957) has offered the reader an argument of the inevitable assimilation force exerting by the thai state on the chinese society. skinner (1957) considers the identity formation as a one-way process which suggests “an essentially unilateral approximation of one culture in the direction of the other, typically in the context of unequal status and power between two parties involved” (as cited in bun, 1993, p. 140). in thailand, it is oftentimes assumed that the state is the official creator of new identity for the ethnic chinese. although this point of view is influential, it is very important to recognize identity formation as a two-way process which “highlights the mutual, reciprocal and syncretic character of culture contact” (bun & tong, 2004, p. 52). in addition, this research paper has offered an alternative perspective on identity which illustrates human agency—the capacity to make choices and act the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 45 in this world—of the chinese-thai population. bun and tong (1993) also comprehend that “the human being is now seen as an active agent selectively and strategically presenting and displaying his ethnic emblems in ways he sees fit” (p.143). to be more specific, the chinese in thailand have the capacity to swing their identity back and forth between being thai and chinese. moreover, it is also this human agency that enables the reassertion of the chinese identity as well as identity politics. however, the three case studies demonstrate a type of human agency that is under the restriction and framework of state institutions. bao (2005) recognizes there is “the tension between agency and structural constraint [which] lies hidden beneath the surface of hybridity” (p.98). for example, public activities including the miss chinatown beauty contest and chinese dragon dancers during the bangkok chinatown’s new year celebration in 1992 need permission from the thai state to perform. bao’s statement also applies to the cases of mr. li and the cp group. mr. li is able to have a chinese temple constructed on the ground of a thai buddhist temple only because of the recognition from the thai royal family and, ultimately, the approval of the temple’s abbot. human agency can also apply to the case of the cp group as it represents strategic decisions made by the company’s management team including its ceos. the cp group has become successful in china fundamentally because its advancement has been facilitated by the chinese government’s open door policy. consequently, human agency in this particular case of the ethnic chinese in thailand is not the type of human agency that is completely free from restraints, however, constrained by the structure of state institutions. conclusion: rethinking skinner the skinnerian paradigm would not allow for the reassertion of chinese identity among the sino-thai population in thailand due to the fact that the successful assimilation process would result in the homogeneity of the thai population. this research paper has provided an alternative perspective to examine the identity of the chinese-thai population in contemporary thailand. it is the applications of hybrid identity and flexible citizenship which enable this resurgence of chinese identity. for instance, the celebration of chinese new year and the giving of red envelope to the dragon and the thai policemen are considered expressions of both thai and chinese identities. this hybrid presentation of culture represents an attempt of the ethnic chinese to advance economically and socially as they utilize chinese tradition to buy protection of the thai state with an underlying goal of bringing fortune and luck to their business. in the example of mr. li, social status is achieved only after the royal family recognizes his engagement in the thai buddhist merit-making activity. moreover, mr. li is able to maintain his chinese identity by having a chinese temple constructed in the area of the thai temple. transnationally, while appealing to the local thai population with the buddhist symbol of lotus as a corporate logo, the cp group emphasizes its origin of being established by overseas chinese and invests in china. therefore, the cp group embraces both the thai and chinese elements into its corporate strategies in order to maximize its profit both in thailand the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 46 and china. the cp group also has a political significance as it was presented at the seminar in shanghai in 2009 as a symbol of harmonious diplomatic relations between thailand and china. these three case studies represent how the ethnic chinese in thailand take advantage of the notions of hybrid identity and flexible citizenship as a way to reassert their chinese heritage and enhance their economic and social power in thailand and china. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 47 references bao, j. (1999). chinese-thai transmigrants: reworking identities and gender relations in thailand and the united states. amerasia journal, 25(2), 95-115. bun, c. (1993). rethinking assimilation and ethnicity: the chinese in thailand. international migration review, 27(1), 140. bun, c., & tong, c. k. (2004). rethinking identity and ethnicity: the chinese of thailand, singapore and hong kong. in wong siu-lun (ed), chinese and indian diasporas comparative perspectives (pp. 153-180). hong kong: university of hong kong. callahan, w. (2002). diaspora, cosmopolitanism and nationalism: overseas chinese and neonationalism in china and thailand. southeast asia research institute, 1. chansiri, d. (2008). the chinese émigrés of thailand in the twentieth century. youngstown, n.y: cambria press. chantavanich, s., & sikharaksakulm, s. (2001). preservation of ethnic identity and acculturation. in t. c. kiong & c. k. bun (eds), alternate identities: the chinese of contemporary thailand (pp. 189-202). singapore: times academic press. charoen pokphand group. (2010) corporate citizen. retrieved from http://www.cpthailand.com/default.aspx?tabid=229 charoen pokphand group. (2010). profile: brief introduction. retrieved from http://www.cpgroup.cn/en/about.aspx?catid=51&subcatid=60 cia world factbook. (2010). thailand. retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/th.html coughlin, r. j. (1960). double identity: the chinese in modern thailand. [hong kong]: hong kong university press. hall, s. (1990). cultural identity and diaspora. identity: community, culture, difference. ed. j. rutherford. london: lawrence & wishart. hall, s., & du gay, p. (1996). questions of cultural identity. london; thousand oaks, california: sage publications. hamilton, a. (2008). performing identities: two chinese rites in southern thailand. international journal of asian studies, 5(2), 161. hamilton, g. g. (2006). commerce and capitalism in chinese societies. london: routledge. hill, a. m. (1998). merchants and migrants: ethnicity and trade among yunnanese chinese in southeast asia. new haven, conn: yale university southeast asia studies. kraidy, marwan. (2005). chapter 1: cultural hybridity and international communication. in hybridity or the cultural logic of globalization. india: temple university press. numnonda, t. (1978). pibulsongkram's thai nation-building programme during the japanese military presence, 1941-1945. journal of southeast asian studies, 9(2), 234. ong, a. (1999). flexible citizenship: the cultural logics of transnationality. durham, nc: duke university press. http://www.cpthailand.com/default.aspx?tabid=229 http://www.cpgroup.cn/en/about.aspx?catid=51&subcatid=60 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/th.html the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 48 royal thai consulate-general shanghai (2010). consulate news. retrieved from http://thaishanghai.com/en/news_info.asp?id=152 skinner, g. w. (1957). chinese society in thailand: an analytical history. ithaca, n.y: cornell university press. wang, g. (1991). china and the chinese overseas. singapore: times academic press. contact information ruji auethavornpipat, from the department of pacific and asian studies, can be contacted at ruji55@uvic.ca. acknowledgements this research paper was supervised by dr. leslie butt, who kindly assisted me in the writing process. http://thaishanghai.com/en/news_info.asp?id=152 the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 75 phonetic perception and pronunciation difficulties of russian language (from a canadian perspective) alyssa marren abstract: this study looked at the most important problems from previously discovered issues of learning russian, focusing on the students at the university of victoria. conclusions made would help professors know the future steps to be taken in assisting students in becoming proficient in russian. two groups of students were studied: a group only recently introduced to proper pronunciation and another group who worked extensively for three months on techniques for proper pronunciation. from the two groups of participants, recordings were used to compare the groups to see which problems were apparent at the beginning and which problems continued into higher levels of learning. for both groups, the most important problem was word stress, which, in russian, differs greatly from english. other issues found included vowel reduction, palatalization of vowels, assimilation of prepositions to the following word, and intonation. however, the group who worked extensively on these pronunciation issues showed far more improvement than those only introduced to the concepts. it was also discovered that these issues are not resolved subconsciously, and a great deal of time must be spent focusing on them to ensure pronunciation problems do not continue into the more advanced levels of russian learning. future steps to be taken in research pertaining to russian language learning would include how much emphasis instructors of russian should put on these issues and when the problems disappear. key terms: russian language, pronunciation difficulties, intonation, word stress, english influence introduction the research learning a second language can be difficult. many things influence our ability to become fluent in another language, most importantly the influence of our native language. for russian and english, there are considerable differences that make it difficult for a canadian english speaker to learn russian. pronunciation and phonetic perception contribute to the majority of issues people have. without being aware of these problems, a student of russian may continue to make these same mistakes and never achieve complete fluency in the language or naturalness to their speech. through correct pronunciation and a proficiency in listening, speakers can the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 76 express themselves in an eloquent way and forego the embarrassment of being misunderstood or misunderstanding another. it is believed that through awareness, aspects of the language can be focused and improved upon to allow a student to excel in the russian language. looking at some of the differences between russian and english and comparing these results to groups of students at the university of victoria will allow for insight into the problems canadian students have when learning russian. understanding the problems discovered will allow instructors of russian to address these issues and enrich the experience of future students at the university and hopefully beyond. previous research has been completed on the difficulties of russian language, as is pointed out in the section titled “in-depth look at the problems of russian learning”; however, research where the focus is primarily on canadian students of the university of victoria has not been completed. limiting the research to a specific group allows for the conclusions made to specifically help the russian professors at the university of victoria improve the russian language courses. some of the most notable differences discovered between english and russian are the vowels, stress of the words, consonant devoicing and voicing assimilation, unfamiliar consonants, and intonation. from this set of known difficulties, it is to be determined which of these are apparent in the students at the university of victoria who speak canadian english. the students from a special course with the focus on pronunciation and intonation (group a) were compared to students in a regular class (group b). voice recordings from each group were used to determine what the issues were for students and to compare the groups to see which problems persist and which problems subside with practice. recordings of group a were collected over a period of three months to help identify improvements in russian pronunciation. also, a questionnaire was completed by group b to acquire insight into listening difficulties of russian. the most important problems are noted, which will help the professors at the university understand the particular problems of students. the goal is to help students understand, by knowing these issues, the problems of learning russian and give them better pronunciation and phonetic perception of the language. in-depth look at the problems of russian learning it has been previously determined that some of the difficulties english speakers have in learning russian are issues with vowels, stress, unfamiliar consonants and pronunciation rules, and intonation. the vowel system of canadian english is extremely complicated in comparison to the russian vowel system. english has approximately twenty vowels including diphthongs while russian has only five (bauer, 2007). of all the vowels in both phonetic systems, the only one that canadian english does not have is [ɨ], represented by the letter “ы” in russian. although russian vowels are much simpler than those in canadian english, it is the influence of these vowels on the surrounding consonants and the influence on the vowels by the stress of the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 77 word that create trouble for students learning russian. russian language has ten letters for its five vowel sounds: а, о, у, э, ы and я, ё, ю, е, и. the pair а-я represents one vowel sound. other pairs representing the same sound are о-ё, э-е, у-ю, and ы-и. the second letter of each pair shows that the preceding consonant has a [ j ] pronounced directly after it and before the vowel. this is called palatalization. the word for “forest” in russian is “лес,” pronounced [l j es] with a palatalized (or soft) consonant “л” in front of the letter “е.” this palatalization is difficult for english speakers to produce; often, a speaker will revert to the more familiar english sound. however, this creates improper pronunciation as well as a possibility of incorrect meaning as these sounds contrast in russian. words like лук – “onion,” pronounced as [luk], and люк – “hatch,” pronounced as [l j uk], for example, can be easily confused if palatalization is not taken into account. stress also greatly affects the pronunciation of the vowels within a word. vowels in russian undergo what is called “vowel reduction,” where if the vowel is in an unstressed position, it has a different pronunciation. for example, when the [o] is in the unstressed position, it is pronounced [a]. so, the word for “summer” in russian is “лето,” where stress is on the “e,” and is pronounced [ ' l j eta]. four russian vowels (а, о, я, е) have a corresponding “reduced” value. in english, all vowels in an unstressed position are pronounced as a schwa [ə] (woods, 1987). however, english speakers do not reduce all their vowels to schwas in russian but instead, influenced by the orthography, want to say every vowel as it is spelt, incorrectly saying ['l j eto] for “summer.” it can also influence how the speaker hears the word. if speakers continually do not reduce their vowels, they will no longer associate the correct pronunciation with the term. this would cause the speaker, upon hearing [ ' l j eta], not to recognize it as meaning “summer” compared to their incorrect pronunciation of ['l j eto]. incorrectly pronouncing vowels by either not palatalizing or not reducing the vowels can cause an unintended meaning, creating confusion, and also cause a speaker to have a characteristic foreign pronunciation. as already mentioned, stress is an important aspect of russian. it is characterized as “free stress” so “it is not limited to any one part of a word. it may fall on any syllable or morphological element of a word” (avanesov, 1964, p. 22) and may even change its position within one word for different grammatical forms. stress is even used to differentiate words that have identical sound structures. this great variability of stress in russian is lost on english speakers. there is no fixed stress in english, but there are more set rules as to where the stress can fall. generally, stress falls on the base syllable, the first syllable not including prefixes (woods, 1987). if stress is placed on the wrong syllable in english, it may sound strange, but a native speaker can generally understand the intended meaning. in russian, changing the placement of stress can dramatically change the meaning of a word. incorrectly stressing the word in russian is increased for english speakers because there is no rule to explain what syllable the stress falls on (avanesov, 1964). influenced by english stress, people learning the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 78 russian may put the stress on the base syllable if not aware of the proper stress pattern for a certain word. english stress particularly influences words that sound similar in both russian and english. the russian term may have a different stress pattern, and english speakers make the mistake of pronouncing the russian word with english stress. the word for “student” in russian is “студент,” pronounced [stu ' d j ent]. in russian, stress is on the second syllable whereas in english, stress is on the first syllable. this creates confusion and causes incorrect stress of the word “student” in russian for english speakers. it is also because of this nonchalant feeling toward stress that english speakers also find it hard to hear stress. because stress is not as important in english as it is in russian, speakers have not been raised to be able to differentiate stress in as dramatic a way as a native russian speaker has. a similar phenomenon can be noted for tone between english and mandarin speakers, where english speakers have difficulty hearing lexical tone and mandarin speakers depend on it for contrast in their language (bauer, 2007). also uncharacteristically like english, russian does not consider link words and particles, particularly prepositions, as independent words with their own stress but attached to the proceeding independent word. together, a particle and a word form a single phonetic word, the stress of this phonetic word never on the preposition (avanesov, 1964). english speakers learning russian constantly want to pronounce prepositions as a separate word, giving it its own stress and not pronouncing it with the next word. this is incorrect and gives a very halting and unnatural speech pattern. moreover, as our research shows, pronouncing prepositions as separate words can cause troubles hearing prepositions: students expect to hear prepositions as independent words and often do not recognize them in the natural flow of speech. correct stress is not only important for sounding more natural when speaking russian but is also imperative for expressing the intended meaning of a word. another process unfamiliar to english speakers is the change to voiced and voiceless consonants, dependent on their position. there are two voicing rules in russian: word final devoicing and voicing assimilation. word final devoicing occurs when a voiced consonant appears at the end of a word and is devoiced; a [v] sound becomes a [f], or a [g] becomes a [k]. voicing is a very unusual process for english speakers to practice. the mistake often made is that, even if a consonant is in the final position, english speakers still pronounce it as voiced. another process that students of russian make more often is voicing assimilation. this occurs when two consonants are adjacent to each other; the second consonant will dictate the voiced quality of both consonants. an example of voicing assimilation would be a consonant cluster such as “вк.” the voiceless “к” [k] causes the voiced “в” [v] to become devoiced and the cluster will be pronounced [fk]. this will also occur across word boundaries, which is the most difficult concept for english speakers to grasp. the phrase “in canada” in russian—“в канаде”—will be pronounced [f ka ' nad j e]; the [k] influenced the [v] to become devoiced and pronounced as [f]. a voiced consonant influencing voiceless consonants to become voiced also occurs. because of the unfamiliarity of the voicing rules in english, it is hard for students of russian to adhere to the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 79 them easily. other unfamiliar aspects difficult for english speakers are the hushing sounds. these include the letters “ш,” “ж,” “ч,” and “щ,” pronounced [ʂ], [ʐ], [ʨ], and [ɕɕ] respectively. although english does not have letters for these sounds, it does have very similar sounds. the sound [ʂ] in russian is similar to the sound [ʃ] in english, and the sound [ʨ] similar to [ʧ]. although quite capable of pronouncing all four of the unfamiliar sounds, an english speaker finds it hard to differentiate them when hearing or pronouncing them correctly in spontaneous speech. of particular difficulty are the two sounds [ʂ] and [ɕɕ], a contrast not found in english. the last difference considered in this analysis is english and russian intonation. english intonation is characterized by a fall in tone for statements, exclamations, wh-questions (questions including the words “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how”), and commands and a rise in tone for yes-no questions. wh-questions can also be said with a rising tone to be portrayed as more kind, gentle, and sympathetic (wells, 2006). russian intonation can be divided into seven intonation contours (ics): ic-1 for statements, where there is a fall in tone ic-2 for questions with a question word (similar to wh-questions) with a fall in tone ic-3 for yes-no questions, where there is a dramatic rise and abrupt fall in tone within the stressed syllable ic-4 for questions beginning with the conjunction “a” meaning “and” with a fall and rise in tone ic-5 for exclamations and expressing delight with a rise at the very beginning of the statement and a fall at the very end ic-6 for exclamations where there is a sharp rise on the center of the statement and the tone does not drop ic-7 used to show disagreement or sarcasm with a sharp rise on the stressed syllable and a fall in tone for the following word unlike english, russian intonation can demonstrate different statements for just one single word, using different ics. the word for “water” in russian—“воды,” pronounced [va ' dɨ], for example, can be expressed by three different ics. using ic-2 (воды!) gives the meaning “give me some water!”; using ic-3 (воды?) would be a question as in “some water?”; and ic-6 (воды!) is used to exclaim about how much water there is, like “so much water!” also in russian, intonation can be used to differentiate between a statement and a question. the literal translation of “ты студент” is “you student” pronounced [tɨ stu'd j ent], but it actually means “you are a student.” this phrase can be said with ic-1 (for a statement) or ic-3 (for a question). here, the difference between a statement and a question is shown only by means of intonation. in english, that same sentence must be rearranged to portray a question as in “are you a student?” and intonation can only be used to portray a question for confirmation. for the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 80 example, if a person was to say “i am a student,” another individual can say “you are a student?” with a rising intonation only for confirmation of the previous statement, not as a stand-alone question. some of the other differences between english and russian intonation noted by bratus (1972) are no gradual descending scale (in russian, the first word is often not the highest in pitch), fall of intonation in statements (the range of fall is greater in russian than in english), steeper emphasis (there is a steeper rise in tone for the stressed syllable in russian), stressed syllables (russian only allows rise in tone to occur on stressed syllables, unlike in english, where unstressed syllables may have a rise in tone), and the fall-rise intonation (characteristically not used in russian). the problem is speakers will transfer their native language intonation rules into the second language. incorrect intonation causes english speakers to sound foreign and more likely to be misunderstood. it is not a quality often assimilated into speech unconsciously, and it is often not taught, although it plays an extremely important part in learning and understanding a second language (wells, 2006). methods participants participants only included native canadian english speakers. there were two groups of students at the university of victoria learning russian. both groups were involved in russian language instruction during the course of the study. group a consisted of students at all levels who decided to take a course on russian pronunciation. group b consisted of students at a 100 level (second semester of language learning in a regular class). in their russian classes, group a focused primarily on pronunciation (focus class) whereas group b was introduced to proper pronunciation, intonation, and reading rules for two weeks at the very beginning (first semester) and then focused primarily on grammar and vocabulary for the remainder of their russian instruction (regular class). group a was also split for further analysis into two groups: an upper-level group and a lower-level group. the upper-level group consisted of about half of group a at a 300 and above level of russian instruction and the lower-level group were the remaining participants at 100 and 200 levels. below is a summary of the groups of participants and the recordings completed: group a – focus class (focus on proper pronunciation) upper level: 300 and 400 levels o recordings: first month: pronunciation second month: pronunciation third month: pronunciation and intonation lower level: 100 and 200 levels o recordings: same as upper level the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 81 group b – regular class (only introduction to proper pronunciation) 100 level (second semester) o recordings: third month: pronunciation and intonation procedure the known difficulties of learning russian were first determined by observation and research into the issues. the researchers used their contact with russian-learning students to observe and make notes of the difficulties encountered as well as relying on past knowledge of the subject. the data was then collected from participants, which consisted of voice recordings in russian completed by students in their course work to be submitted for marks. the professors of the russian classes chose the phrases to be recorded because of the use of difficult russian pronunciation in the sentences. the recordings were then forwarded to the researchers for further analysis: three separate recordings from group a over a period of three months and one recording from group b near the end of their course. during the three months, both groups were involved in russian language courses. although group a consisted of varying levels of russian and group b consisted of only beginners of russian, the two were used to compare recordings to each other because group a would have the advantage of more intensive instruction compared to group b. the two different groups were anticipated to help demonstrate that the type of instruction group a received was needed to overcome certain problems of learning russian. the interest of this research is not in the improvement of group b but, rather, the improvement of group a compared to group b. the recordings from group b would help show what level all students would be before completing the intensive pronunciation course, and the three recordings from group a would help show any improvements over the course as well the level of their russian after the completion of the course. the first recordings from group a, collected in the first month of instruction, focused on pronunciation. they were used to analyze what phonetic issues were present amongst students and what issues previously known were present in the recordings. the analysis created a list of pronunciation problems to be used and compared to in future recordings. the second and third recordings from group a were collected in the second and third months of instruction, respectively. the second recording focused on pronunciation, and the third recording focused on intonation. also in the third month of instruction, the recordings from group b were collected which focused both on pronunciation and intonation. for the second and third recordings of group a and the recordings of group b, participants were asked to record the same set of phrases. this was done to allow comparison of the two groups on the same pronunciation and intonation problems. from the list of pronunciation problems previously determined, the recordings of group a were analyzed and general trends were determined amongst the problems encountered by the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 82 the participants. the data was then put into graphs to better represent the distribution of students’ pronunciation. the same thing was done for group b. then, these two groups of data and graphs were compared to each other to see what problems both groups had. generalizations were made as to the problems present in canadian english students’ pronunciation of russian. the data would also demonstrate which problems persisted into the more advanced levels of learning and if group a, who were aware of pronunciation and intonation issues, showed more improvement. the three recordings of group a were then used to analyze the upperand lower-level groups. all participants were compared from their first recording to their third recording to note improvements. the notes taken were then generalized into the improvements of the upper-level group and the lower-level group. this study was done to see if students at an upper level, not knowing extensively about proper pronunciation and intonation, showed a greater proficiency in the language at the start, from their first recording, than the lower-level group. the comparison was also completed to determine the improvements of both groups through the three months of pronunciation instruction. group b also conducted a questionnaire in the first month of the study. the questionnaire was formatted to determine the difficulties of phonetic perception for students. the participants listened to a number of recordings of natural speech and were asked to indicate stress, prepositions, and hushing sounds, three known issues students have when listening to russian. firstly, the participants listened to a set of sentences and were asked to indicate stress on the highlighted word. then they listened three times to a short dialogue between two native russian speakers and were asked to write down the prepositions and the hushing sounds they heard. the results showed which problems of listening to russian were present for canadian students. the study and comparison of these two groups of students showed the problems present for the english-speaking students at the university of victoria learning russian. the results would determine what actions instructors of russian would need to take in the future to facilitate students’ russian language acquisition. results phonetic perception (listening) the data from the questionnaires completed by group b (regular class, where there was little focus on pronunciation) was used to determine the phonetic perception difficulties. in the question where participants were asked to indicate stress, the words were familiar to the students and stress apparent. however, a considerable number of students made mistakes and chose the incorrect stress, especially for longer words (refer to figure 1 below). the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 83 figure 1. distribution of stress perception for group b. this shows the percentage of students who either chose correct or incorrect stress for the highlighted word in the questionnaire complete (words given in cyrillic only). correct stress is shown by an asterisk placed before the stressed vowel of the word. many students chose the incorrect stress where, for such easy words, the numbers should be much lower. these results demonstrate that some english-speaking students have difficulty perceiving the correct stress. when students chose the wrong stress, most chose the english style of stress for the word that sounds similar to the word given. for example, the word for “university,” spelt “университет” and pronounced [univɪrsi't j et] with stress on the fifth syllable, had 48% of students choose the incorrect stress; and from that group, 62% of those students chose the english pattern with stress on the third syllable. other words in the survey with this similar pattern include the word for “astronomy”—“астрономию,” with 60% of the students indicating incorrect stress, choosing the english stress pattern, 46% for “literature”—“литературу,” 57% for “italian”—“итальянский,” and 60% for “journalist”— “журналист.” these findings help to emphasize the importance for professors to make students aware of certain pronunciation issues, particularly stress in this case. also considered in the questionnaire was the perception of prepositions and hushing sounds. there were three prepositions in the dialogue: the word for “in,” spelt “в” and pronounced [v] and another word for “in,” spelt “на” and pronounced [na] which occurred twice in the dialogue. once again, there was difficulty in hearing prepositions. although only 13% of students did not hear the preposition [v], a considerable 61% of students did not hear [na] the first time and 43% did not hear it the second time. generally, for the hushing sounds ([ʂ], [ʐ], [ʨ], and [ɕɕ]), students did poorly in hearing them but did well perceiving the correct 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% correct stress incorrect stress the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 84 hushing sound they did hear. one word in the dialogue—“скучная,” meaning “boring” and pronounced ['skuʨnəjə]—had variants in the hushing sound heard. 46% of students heard the proper “ʨ,” spelt “ч,” but 29% incorrectly heard “ʂ,” spelt “ш,” while the remaining 25% did not even hear it. these data demonstrate there are some difficulties in hearing prepositions and differentiating between the hushing sounds. pronunciation introduction for the pronunciation difficulties of both target groups, group a (focus class, where there was focus on pronunciation) and group b (regular class, where there was little focus on pronunciation) were compared to each other for stress, vowel reduction, palatalization, prepositions, and intonation (results given in the “pronunciation focus comparison” section). group a was then analyzed for the improvements amongst the participants, issues still remaining (results in the “improvements of the focus class” section), and then, finally, the differences between the upperand lower-levels of group a (discussed later in the “is proper pronunciation learned subconsciously?” section). pronunciation focus comparison for this step of the research, the two groups were compared to each other for pronunciation difficulties in russian. this included stress, reduction of vowels, palatalization, proper pronunciation of prepositions, and intonation. the recordings completed by both groups included words that were simple and expected to be known by all participants, allowing little chance of improper pronunciation. for group a (focus class), most students showed correct pronunciation for the indicated words (see figure 2 below). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% correct pronunciation incorrect pronunciation the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 85 figure 2. distribution of pronunciation for group a. this shows the percentages of students with correct and incorrect pronunciation (words from voice recordings and given in cyrillic only). correct stress is shown by an asterisk placed before the stressed vowel of the word. however, group b (regular class) showed a considerable number of participants incorrectly pronouncing the same words, in some cases over 50% of students improperly pronouncing the word (see figure 3 below). figure 3. distribution for pronunciation for group b. this shows the percentages of students with correct and incorrect pronunciation (words from voice recordings and given in cyrillic only). correct stress is shown by an asterisk placed before the stressed vowel of the word. when students incorrectly pronounced the word, the problems would include putting the stress on the wrong syllable, not reducing the vowels, or not palatalizing, especially for the vowel “е” where preceding consonants become palatalized. in the cases where there was improper pronunciation, there were far fewer participants in group a than in group b (refer to figure 4 below). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% correct pronunciation incorrect pronunciation the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 86 figure 4. distribution of improper pronunciation for group a and b. this demonstrates the difference of the large percentage of group b participants who improperly pronounce the given words compared to group a participants (words from voice recordings and given in cyrillic only). correct stress is shown by an asterisk placed before the stressed vowel of the word. most notably for the word “это,” pronounced ['ɛta], 0% of participants in group a pronounced it incorrectly while 38% of participants in group b did. group b, not aware of proper pronunciation rules, 49% of the time would say the incorrect pronunciation while group a would only do this 20% of the time. the research shows that, as in group a, more emphasis and awareness by professors at the university of victoria needs to be put on pronunciation concerning stress, rules for reduction of vowels, and palatalization for learners of russian to have proper pronunciation. concerning proper pronunciation of prepositions, where the preposition is pronounced together with the following word, the two considered to be one phonetic word, group a performed considerably better than group b. where a preposition was of one phonetic sound, such as “в,” pronounced [v] or [f] depending on its position, less than 25% of participants of group a would incorrectly pronounce them while over 50% of participants in group b would. there was an issue for both groups, however, in the case where the preposition was longer than one phonetic sound. in this study, this problem arose for the word “от” which in unstressed position is pronounced [at]. 56% of group a and 57% of group b pronounced it incorrectly (refer to figure 5 below). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% group a group b the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 87 figure 5. distribution of incorrect pronunciation of prepositions for group a and b. the prepositions are given with the proceeding word (the phrase considered the complete phonetic word). a greater percentage of group b incorrectly pronounced prepositions compared to group a except in the case for the preposition longer than one phonetic sound. correct stress is shown by an asterisk placed before the stressed vowel of the word. for russian, seven intonation contours (ics) were previously introduced. for the research, only the basic ones (ic-1, ic-2, and, ic-3), presumably familiar to both groups, were considered: ic-1 used for statements and ic-2 and ic-3 for questions. consideration of only these intonation contours was done as group b (regular class) was only introduced to the first three ics. group a (focus class), who were introduced to and spent a considerable amount of time working on proper russian intonation, performed much better than group b. for all the sentences, only 14% by group a were pronounced with incorrect intonation while a considerable difference of 76% of sentences were pronounced incorrectly by group b (see figure 6 below). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% в январ*е в евр*опу в ег*ипет от *яблони group a group b the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 88 figure 6. distribution of intonation pronunciation for group a and group b. group a shows a greater percentage of participants who use correct intonation than group b. both groups consistently pronounced statements using ic-1 correctly but had difficulties with question contours. for ic-2 and ic-3, group b would consistently use english intonation regardless of the type of question rather than the russian intonation contours they were introduced to. group a, who worked on russian intonation, would at least try to use proper intonation for questions, but when mistakes occurred, participants would either not know the center of the intonation contour and put stress on the wrong word or, on the rare occasion, use english intonation. without knowing and working on intonation concepts, participants showed they would mostly use the improper english intonation when speaking russian. for the other intonation contours, ic-4, 5, 6, and 7, used to show more emotion in a person’s speech, only group a was considered. in general, the participants performed well. ic-5, 6, and 7 were all conducted with proper intonation or a very close attempt with only a few mistakes as to the center of the contour. there was some difficulty with ic-4, where participants would do a combination of ic-3 and 4 or a combination of ic-4 and english intonation. there was an attempt by all students in group a to conduct russian ics on their phrases rather than simply using english intonation as in group b. the important finding in these data is that our native language, english in this case, greatly influences the intonation we use in other languages, like russian. the study discovered that, since english and russian differ greatly in how intonation contours are used, it is important for students to learn and focus extensively on the intonation differences to achieve proficiency in russian. improvements of the focus class for this section of the research, only group a (focus class, who focused on proper pronunciation) was analyzed for improvements in the three months that the recordings were 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% group a group b correct intonation incorrect intonation the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 89 conducted. the earlier recordings were compared to the later recordings to see what improvements the participants made after they had spent time focusing on proper pronunciation. the table below shows the problems at the beginning of the research in the left column and the corresponding improvement of the problem after pronunciation focus to the right. problem at the beginning improvement made after participants consistently put the stress on the wrong part of the word improvement made to putting the correct stress on a word not remembering to reduce all vowels most participants remembering to reduce vowels and also improvement as to knowing what sound the vowels reduce to speech is halting with large pauses between words and the words themselves were pronounced in a forced manner speech sounds more natural, less forced with a flow to their words and almost all participants not putting pauses between words issues with palatalizing where participants forget and pronounce without palatalization majority of participants all remembering to palatalize consonants preceding certain vowels prepositions consistently pronounced as a separate phonetic word all one phonetic sound prepositions consistently pronounced with proceeding word always using english intonation during russian speech mostly use russian intonation with only a few issues as to the details of the contour structure the research found that most participants showed considerable improvement after their time spent focusing on proper pronunciation. minor issues that still remained were putting the proper stress on a word, remembering to reduce vowels as well as not putting stress on the unstressed vowels, and knowing which word to properly stress at the center of an intonation contour. these are important issues for professors at the university to address in a more detailed manner to ensure these problems do not continue further. is proper pronunciation learned subconsciously? for the final step of the research, the recordings for the upper and lower levels of group a (focus class) were compared to each other to see if upper-level participants, being in a 300 or higher level and having practiced and learned more russian, had subconsciously acquired the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 90 proper pronunciation or if they made the same mistakes at the beginning of the research as did the lower-level participants, only at a 100 and 200 level of russian. if upper-level participants do start at the same pronunciation level, do they advance faster and master proper pronunciation more easily than the lower-level participants? when comparing the first recordings of the upper and lower levels, we found that all participants have the same pronunciation issues regardless of level. consistently, the average number of upper-level participants having issues with palatalization, prepositions, proper stress, and vowel reduction was very similar to the average number of lower-level participants having similar issues: 60% of upper-level participants and 75% of lower-level participants had issues with stress; 40% upper-level and 50% lower-level had issues with prepositions; and 80% upper level and 100% lower level had issues with vowel reduction. these data show that without focusing on pronunciation issues, participants will continue to make errors throughout their russian learning experience into more advanced levels. in the research, both groups then progressed at about the same level, neither the uppernor lower-level doing better in acquiring proficient pronunciation skills than the other. they improved together, and similar problems persisted for both levels. findings of the research show that proper pronunciation is not something that comes naturally for an english speaker learning russian, and it is apparent that focusing on the issues helps speakers to learn and adhere to the unfamiliar russian pronunciation concepts. with regard to pronunciation, it was found that group a, in which the participants focused directly on pronunciation, showed a considerably better pronunciation compared to group b, who were only introduced to pronunciation concepts. group a also showed considerable improvement over the three months of the research. the biggest problem both groups had was using correct stress consistently. other problems included vowel reduction, palatalization, and prepositions. within group a, the upper and lower levels were found to start at the same pronunciation level and certain problems persisted into more advanced levels when participants were not made aware of them earlier on. the two levels then progressed at the same pace, showing patterns of improvement and persisting issues. conclusion it has been previously discovered that learners of russian have difficulties with the unfamiliar phonetic rules of the language including stress of words, vowel reduction, consonant devoicing, voicing assimilation, unfamiliar consonant sounds, and intonation. this study found that participants had difficulty with all the above issues when they started learning russian, and it is only when these pronunciation problems are pointed out and worked on specifically that participants will improve and no longer make mistakes. previously undiscovered, the largest problem area for students of russian at the university of victoria is word stress. as mentioned, stress is crucial to proper russian pronunciation. it influences the meaning of the word as well as the vowels within a word (vowel reduction). the participants of the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 91 this study had particular problems putting the correct stress on a word, often reverting to standard english stress, with emphasis either on the base syllable or somewhere else. if a word sounded similar in both english and russian, english speakers would be influenced by their native language and put the stress pattern of the english word onto the russian word. this creates an enormous problem not just for proper russian pronunciation but also proper meaning and understanding. even when there is more emphasis put on proper stress patterning, students still have issues following correct stress every time. this may be because english speakers have difficulty perceiving stress, as demonstrated by the participants in this study when they had to indicate stress. a vast number had difficulty even knowing where the stress was on very simple words. for english speakers, professors at the university of victoria need to put even more emphasis on perceiving and pronouncing stress when learning russian to ensure stress issues do not continue into the more advanced levels. the problem with stress also influences how the vowels within the word are pronounced. another issue that many students had was remembering to reduce vowels that are not stressed. english speakers become so influenced by the orthography that they tend to want to read every single vowel as it is written, giving improper pronunciation. this aspect improved immensely when participants were taught and focused on proper vowel reduction, but it still proved to be an issue where students occasionally stressed the reduced vowels. only with knowledge of this process and practice will this problem subside. the conclusion of this research brings a new awareness and understanding for the professors of the university of victoria teaching russian. the other issues examined, including proper pronunciation of prepositions, palatalization, and intonation, greatly improved when participants focused primarily on them. these pronunciation problems will persist into more advanced levels of russian learning if there is not a considerable amount of time spent focusing on these issues alone. students with only a brief introduction to the concepts will make mistakes, and if these mistakes are not corrected and focused on, problems for students will persist into more advanced levels. proper pronunciation and intonation are not concepts that are learned subconsciously, slowly integrated into a learner of russian’s speech. there are, however, considerable improvements in students when pronunciation problems are focused on, and, in some cases, these problems disappear completely. focusing on the issues then allows learners of russian to improve their pronunciation and become more proficient in the language. minor issues that still persisted even after there was focus on proper pronunciation were proper stress and reduction of vowels, as previously mentioned, as well as knowing the center of an intonation contour and properly pronouncing prepositions that are longer than one phonetic sound. however, these are all issues that can be resolved over time with focused instruction and practice. this study found that it is important for learners of russian to have time to learn and practice proper pronunciation techniques. it is only when these issues are focused on that the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 92 students will learn and improve their russian speech. proper pronunciation is not subconsciously learned, and if it is not targeted, problems of pronunciation will continue into more advanced levels of russian learning. the most important issues found for the students at the university of victoria learning russian were the stress and vowel reduction rules, two issues that merit much more time and work. other issues improved considerably only when focused on, including proper pronunciation of prepositions, consonant devoicing, voicing assimilation, palatalization, and intonation. the discoveries in this study will allow the professors at the university of victoria to have a better understanding of the more important problems students have when learning russian. by focusing on the issues laid out here, students of russian will be able to enrich the understanding of the language and get closer to the goal of proficiency in russian. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 93 references avanesov, r. i. (1964). modern russian stress. london: pergamon press. bauer, l. (2007). the linguistics student’s handbook. edinburgh: edinburgh university press. bratus, b. v. (1972). russian intonation. london: pergamon press. wells, j. c. (2006). english intonation. new york: cambridge university press. woods, h. b. (1987). syllable stress and unstress. ottawa, canada: canadian government publishing centre. contact information alyssa marren, from the department of germanic and slavic studies, can be reached at aemarren@uvic.ca. acknowledgements the undergraduate research scholarship from the learning and teaching centre funded this project. thanks are given to the participants for the use of their voice recordings and a special thanks to dr. julia rochtchina for her help and time spent on this research project. “warm zeal and cool judgement”: 98 “warm zeal and cool judgement”: the cheap repository and english charity, 1794-1800 megan clare webber abstract: in 1794, english philanthropist hannah more spearheaded a venture to produce short tracts promoting morality and religion among readers ―the cheap repository. the predominant historiographical approach has been to examine the interaction of the repository with the popular print marketplace. historians such as susan pedersen emphasize that the tracts were intended to supplant subversive forms of popular literature, such as thomas paine’s rights of man, chapbooks, and broadsides. they argue that the cheap repository was an attempt at “topdown” reformation; elite writers sought to suppress the turbulence and political participation of the poor. this paper takes an alternate approach. the tracts are charitable texts which addressed middling and gentry readers as much as (or even more than) they did the poor. the repository did not isolate labouring people and their print culture as the sole threats to the stability of england, nor did it engage solely in “top-down” moralizing. this essay shows how the repository lays blame on the charitable practices of state poor relief and rich beneficiaries ―as well as the poor― for encouraging immorality and unrest. the cheap repository seeks to reform the meaning and practice of charity amongst all members of english society. key terms: benevolence, charity, cheap repository, class/rank, deservingness, discernment, evangelicalism, frugality, material relief, hannah more, poor law/parish relief, popular literature, radicalism, “top-down” reformation, workhouse note on the cheap repository texts each cheap repository tract was printed multiple times, often under different titles. i cite the texts as they appear in their first penny pamphlet format and refer to them by their original titles. i employ the collected editions only to highlight later departures from or additions to the original texts, or when the first printed pamphlets are not available. as all the tracts are unsigned, determining the authors of particular tracts is difficult. therefore, this paper refers to and lists the tracts by title, rather than by author. the quotations underneath the reproduced images are not original captions, but are excerpted from the text from which the image comes. i have modernized the long ‘s’ which appears in the tracts. introduction prosperity has made most of us careless. the thoughtless profusion of some of the rich could only be exceeded by the idleness, and bad management, of some of the poor. let us now at last adopt that good old maxim, every one mend one. —the way to plenty; or, the second part of tom white, 1795, p. 34. in 1794, beilby porteus, bishop of london, was horrified to learn of english colliers who had pawned their bibles in order to purchase thomas paine’s radical attack on hierarchy and heredity, the rights of man (robinson, 2004). this was only one episode of many which led porteus and his fellow 99 elites to believe that england was tottering dangerously on the verge of anarchy and apostasy in the last decade of the eighteenth century. not only were poor harvests, famine, heavy wartime taxes, and unemployment creating misery among the poor, but radicalism threatened the very stability of the state. presses churned out hundreds of thousands of subversive tracts, while the mobbing of the king in 1795, naval mutinies in 1797, and rioting seemed awful premonitions of an english revolution to rival that of france (kidd, 1999; o’gorman, 1997; roberts, 2004). in order to prevent such a horrifying event, porteus turned to the evangelical writer and sunday school philanthropist hannah more (1745-1833). he proposed that she produce moral tracts which would compete with and, in due course, “supplant the corrupt and vicious little books and ballads which ha[d] been found highly mischievous to the community” ―by which he meant the lewd and irreverent chapbooks and broadsides of popular literature (cheap repository for moral, 1795, p. 1). with the aid of her evangelical collaborators, more produced a series of tracts (known collectively as the cheap repository) whose entertaining plots, eye-catching woodcut illustrations, inexpensive price, and simple format and diction followed the chapbook model, albeit with a strong dose of morality (pedersen, 1986; stott, 2003). 1 in addition to the parables, hymns, and prayers of the “sunday readings,” there were criminal biographies, providential tales, ballads, non-fictional instructions and ―most popular of all― short stories featuring eighteenth-century settings. two million cheap repository tracts were printed in the first year alone (1794), and over one hundred distinct tracts were produced between 1794 and 1797 (two or three tracts being released every month) (the cheap repository for moral, 1795; haywood, 2004). the repository ceased publication in 1797 when more found the burden of writing too much to bear. however, the demand for tracts was hardly satiated. the original tracts were reprinted multiple times, even up until 1884, and dozens of spurious tracts surfaced in the wake of the repository’s decline, including a series produced by john marshall, the original publisher of the cheap repository, between 1797 and 1800 (which are considered in this essay) (stott, 2003). it is little wonder that scholars such as m.g. jones dub more’s literature “burke for beginners” (jones, 1952, p. 125). with titles including the riot; or, half a loaf is better than no bread (1795) and the shopkeeper turned sailor; or, the folly of going out of our element (1796), the cheap repository is often typified as a knee-jerk reaction to the radical literature of the 1790s; evangelical writers sought to stifle working-class political participation. this argument has had a remarkably long run among historians, from g.h. spinney writing in 1939, to e.p. thompson in 1966, to susan pedersen in 1989. while the cheap repository writers undoubtedly sought to impose values of obedience, piety, contentment, and a protestant work-ethic upon their readers, i argue that the repository was not purely an attempt at “top-down” reformation, nor did it identify the mob and radical print as the sole threats to the stability of england. the “top-down” argument neglects to consider that members of the middling and gentry classes were the primary consumers of the tracts. the very scarcity of documentary evidence describing working-class reactions to the texts hints that the repository failed to make a significant impact in the popular marketplace. indeed, the few extant records suggest that the poor were ambivalent or even 1 as the tracts are unsigned, it is difficult to determine the identities of many of the authors. more was the most prolific writer, but hannah’s sister sally (sarah) more, the poet william mason, the abolitionists henry thornton and zachary macaulay, and the reverend john gilpin also contributed. scholars have also advanced patty (martha) more, elizabeth bouverie, hester mulso chapone, selena mills, reverend john venn ―rector at clapham― and the abolitionist preacher john newton and his wife as possible authors. despite the number of contributors, the authors’ common evangelical background and hannah more’s editing ensured an ideologically cohesive body of work (blanch, 2009; jones, 1952; pedersen, 1986; spinney, 1939). 100 hostile toward the tracts (smith, 1984; stott, 2003). but while evangelicals found it necessary to bribe common hawkers into carrying repository stock, middling and gentry readers enthusiastically bought the tracts for use at home or in the schoolroom. such was the demand from these affluent readers that expensive collected editions, printed on paper “of a superior kind for gentry,” appeared (the cheap repository for moral, 1795, p. 2). by typifying the cheap repository as a venture which seeks to transform popular literature by directly competing with chapbook culture, “top-down” arguments ignore contexts ―other than the marketplace― which the cheap repository engaged. the majority of tracts did not compete side-byside with paine’s rights of man on bookstands but were bought in bulk by affluent benefactors and from thence distributed as charitable gifts in sunday schools, hospitals, and prisons (the cheap repository for moral, 1795; kelly, 1987). moreover, the venture itself relied upon charitable subscriptions to cover printing and distribution costs. the publishing history of the cheap repository suggests that the tracts must be seen as more than working-class texts which were ingrained within the print marketplace; they are texts which reached a broad social audience and were intimately connected to charity. in its moral messages, too, the cheap repository addressed a broad swathe of society and charitable concerns. as the quote which heads this essay suggests, the cheap repository does not hold the dregs of society single-handedly responsible for immorality and vice: “most of us” are guilty. although idle and wasteful, the poor are nonetheless victims of elites’ “thoughtless profusion.” by providing charitable relief indiscriminately and extravagantly, state institutions and the rich have failed to provide lasting benefits to the poor and have degraded ― even endangered― the nation. elites’ profuse charitable gifts have only provided the poor with the economic means to continue living their depraved lives. in this way, the cheap repository suggests that the condition of the poor is as much the fault of the rich as it is of the poor themselves. only a complete overhaul of charitable practice can restore security; a regulated, frugal, and educationbased charity will allow the poor to develop the requisite self-sufficiency and morality. through their fictional creations, hannah more and her collaborators undertook to redefine the meaning and practice of charity amongst all ranks of english society. the history of the cheap repository and its publication suggests that the tracts addressed society’s elite as much as they did the poor. yet, the narratives, dialogue, imagery, characters, and illustrations contained within the tracts themselves are likewise designed to effect moral change in all levels of society. far from focusing solely on the immorality of the poor (as we would expect purely “top-down” tracts to do), the cheap repository also addresses issues of particular concern to elites. the following sections explore how the cheap repository texts apply the basic tenets of evangelical charity to three distinct components of late eighteenth-century society: state poor relief (the poor law), benefactors, and poor beneficiaries. i explain how the tracts critique the impersonal institution of the poor law and replace it with an intimate and discerning charity. in the following section, i argue that the cheap repository constructs a new ideal of the good samaritan. by reinterpreting christ’s example, evangelicals deemed frugality, discernment, and activity the touchstones of the pious benefactor. and finally, the tracts disassemble the “moral economy of charity” held by the labouring classes, seeking to transform their expectations of cash handouts to expectations of advice. more significantly, however, the repository replaces the benefactor’s duty to give with the beneficiary’s responsibility to deserve. however, before examining how charity is constructed in the cheap repository texts, i will briefly outline the ideological underpinnings of evangelical philanthropy. a broad introduction to evangelical doctrines will prove useful before exploring how these doctrines are adapted with greater specificity within the tracts themselves. 101 evangelical philanthropy how many troubles and miseries are there in this land, which, if a few more of our independent ladies and gentlemen would be so good as to turn christians (i mean zealous christians!) would presently be relieved. what a great number of poor cottagers are there who drag on life both in wickedness and misery for the want of being overlooked, and instructed, and advised, and now and then assisted by their superiors who dwell near them? —some new thoughts for the new year (1796), p. 16 evangelical benefactors of the 1790s emphasized three concepts: “warm zeal” or personal christian motivation; “scientific” discrimination and frugality; and information-based charity (on carrying religion, 1796, p. 3). evangelicals were members of the church of england; however, they stressed a vital personal faith above strict adherence to church doctrine. in everything they did, evangelicals strove to emulate christ. charity was no exception. the doctrine of sanctification, “of living a life of social usefulness in imitation of the life of christ” (andrew, 1989, p. 166), necessitated a personal and active benefaction. just as christ entered the homes of the poor to preach the word, so too did evangelicals undertake personal missions of mercy. a heartfelt drive to do good was imperative and the “cult of sensibility” encouraged profuse expressions of sympathy for the suffering. while evangelicals held to salvation by faith, good works offered proof of the sincerity of this faith (roberts, 2004, p. 47). the evangelicals’ emotional approach to charity co-existed (often uncomfortably) with “scientific” discrimination ―“cool judgement” rooted in level-headed rationality rather than in sentimentality (on carrying religion, 1796, p. 3). philanthropists argued that charity ought to be treated as a science and perfected through carefully controlled procedures. potential beneficiaries were to be carefully examined and to be subject to discriminatory selection. time, funds, and effort were not to be lavished on any subject who excited sympathy but carefully directed towards initiatives which had been tested and deemed effective. the benefactor was thus sure to obtain the greatest return for his or her investment. this emphasis on frugal investment is suggested in the title of the cheap repository. evangelicals embraced the most inexpensive form of charity: learning. whereas material relief (such as cash handouts or the provision of food, housing, or clothing) only offered temporary relief for the body, education and advice had much more lasting benefits not only for the body, but also for the soul. moral and religious education activated the innate reason of the poor, and the christian principles obtained through education prevented the contravention of the laws of men or god. while a gift of food might assuage hunger for a day, occupational and practical instruction outfitted the poor to become self-sufficient over a lifetime. the most prominent of evangelical charities specialized in the provision of education; sunday schools offered religious instruction, and the society for bettering the condition of the poor (s.b.c.p.) distributed pamphlets which provided tips for household economy. the cheap repository, too, promised the educational gift of moral, religious, and practical improvement. the poor law [h]ow many are there who shamefully run to the parish for relief, without any necessity...? these are people who either want industry in providing for their families — or frugality, in not making the best use of what they provide... let them consider, how directly they break a scripture command, by eating other men’s bread for nought; and by becoming chargeable without necessity. 102 — the life of william baker, with his funeral sermon, 1795, pp. 15-16 poor harvests and want in the 1790s led to the establishment of the most generous statutory relief system in europe. english parishes offered various types of “outdoor relief” or non-institutional charity, including allowances-in-aid-of-wages (the basis of the “speenhamland system”); payments to labourers with large families; and payments to seasonally unemployed agricultural labourers (kidd, 1999). although capable of relieving fewer applicants than outdoor relief, workhouses were also widespread. the influx of applicants in the 1790s was such that parishes could no longer uphold the discriminatory practices encoded within the elizabethan poor law. the “workhouse test,” which had divided “deserving” from “undeserving” candidates for relief in the early seventeenth century, was suspended. christie (1984) argues that the poor law in the late eighteenth century “contributed greatly to the degree of social peace in the country, and that without it elements of instability would have been far more formidable” (pp. 116, 113, 104, 99). evangelicals believed differently. rather than relieving labouring people, workhouses and indiscriminate outdoor relief merely rewarded careless economy and cultivated idle (read: turbulent) working classes. not only did the system impose heavy rates on those already struggling under wartime taxation, but its cash-based model fostered corruption and indifference toward the poor. the cheap repository highlights the downfalls of public relief and seeks to replace it with a personal and educationcentred philanthropy in all but exceptional circumstances of disability, advanced age, or extreme honourable poverty. if not the most far-reaching, the workhouse was nonetheless the most visually prominent element of parish relief in late-century england. as such, it is often the scapegoat of criticism in the cheap repository. in spite of their name, workhouses in the tracts are not places of industry. indeed, they are quite the opposite ―overrun with “pilfering idle children” (the apprentice turned master, 1796, p. 12). one parish inmate “stand*s+ at the *alms-house] door, where she passe[s] most of her time quarrelling with women as idle and dirty as herself” (the apprentice turned master, 1796, p. 11). evangelicals attacked parish relief for failing to distinguish between claimants who truly deserved relief and those who merely chose not to work. such indiscriminate relief rewarded idleness and lack of foresight; as relief was virtually assured to all who applied, there were few incentives for the poor to work industriously or to save for unforeseen trials. amy talbot finds herself in the workhouse after having squandered the inheritance “which might... have afforded her a comfortable maintenance,” while mrs. betty is admitted after having “taken no care by frugality and prudence to avoid it” (the hubbub, 1797, p. 4; ’tis all for the best, 1797, p. 3). the illustration for the hubbub; or, the history of farmer russel the hard-hearted overseer (1797) depicts a large number of able-bodied alms-house beneficiaries who have little to do but to heckle the local overseer (fig. 1). the tracts imply the question: if these beneficiaries are strong enough to brandish frying pans and ring warming pans, should they not be working? the idle poor fostered by parish relief not only harmed the economy and the pockets of ratepayers, but threatened the very social fabric of england. workhouses offered material relief which temporarily reduced want and the motivation to beg or steal but did not offer the moral, religious, or occupational instruction which equipped labouring people to lead self-sufficient lives over the long term. moreover, in parish institutions, “all ages and tempers were met together” (the history of jonathan griffin, 1799, p. 8). elite critics of parish relief decried the fact that, in these institutions, children resided beside depraved adults, women with men ―a mixture inevitably resulting in the corruption of all. by removing the poor from the land and by making them entirely dependent on the 103 goodness of others, parish relief created a demoralized populace. parish inmates in the tracts are degenerated beasts; they are dirty, “abject and base-minded,” “half-starved and half-naked,” and “languid wretches, with faces sodden, pale, and dropsical,” who desire nothing better than to have gin in their “clutches.” by contrast, an honest and hardworking individual “feels his own consequence, and is beholden only to his heavenly master: he wants no assistance, but... the use of his limbs” (the life of william baker, 1795, p. 18). influenced by malthus (1978), the cheap repository suggests that welfare encourages the propagation of a dangerously depraved underclass (pp. 67-68). with unlimited idle time, an unawakened reason, no property, and little self-respect, parish recipients in the tracts have little to lose if they choose to riot. according to the tracts, the animal instincts which flourish in workhouses are dangerous. the hubbub forcefully links parish relief to political unrest. the crowd which gathers outside the alms-house seems to have little compunction against openly attacking social superiors. accepting relief is often depicted as akin to stealing (those who do so are “little better than thieves”) or even leads directly to crime (the history of jonathan griffin, 1799; the life of william baker, 1795). for example, black giles progresses from begging around the parish to stealing apples (black giles... widow brown’s apple-tree, 1796, p. 8). parish relief was a cash-based system. not only did various types of outdoor relief take the form of cash pensions, but funds were raised through the compulsory taxation of parishioners. moreover, it was quite common for an appointed overseer to pay an inferior to perform his duties. critics of the poor law believed parish rates to be too exorbitant, especially as the extent of post-war poverty increased taxation. at the same time, they argued that such an enforced monetary system of relief fostered corruption, inhumanity, and ambivalence toward the poor. the cheap repository tracts often describe parish relief as corrupted. for instance, an appointed overseer of the poor offloads his duties onto an inferior man who is “in such low circumstances as to be under great temptation to be dishonest” and parish officers routinely shirk their duties in order to save money (the history of jonathan griffin, 1799, p. 13). mr. simpson, the farmer who “is ignorant and worse educated than his plowmen” and is thus hardly fit to be in a position of authority, evicts a man from the parish for refusing to work on the sabbath (’tis all for the best, 1797, pp. 10-11). the sunday school benefactress mrs. jones uncovers “a scheme to take a large family off the parish,” a man in a workhouse perishes from neglect, and a nurse hired by parish officers to care for infant charges succeeds only in starving them (the history of mr. fantom, 1797; the parish nurse, 1798; the sunday school, 1797). farmer russel is worst of all. he refuses to replace the decayed thatch of the poor house, and melted snow soon pours onto an inmate’s bed, crippling her. he seizes the land of the poor for his own use and is accused of dragging a dying soldier into a neighbouring parish “in order to save *his own parish+... a trifling expence *sic+” (the hubbub, 1797, pp. 7-8, 10, 11). the cheap repository also underlines the failure of parish relief to cultivate christian enthusiasm. the tracts present the poor law as a sad excuse for charity, lacklustre and lethargic. this lack of enthusiasm is illustrated by the incidence of uneducated characters (often farmers) becoming defacto parish officers when gentry superiors refuse to perform the job themselves. evangelicals believed that the involuntary demands of parish rates and officer appointments destroyed the “warm zeal” ―the voluntary compulsion to do good― which was a vital component of christian charity (on carrying religion, 1796; m.j.d. roberts, 2004). william peterson bemoans the lack of dedication to parish work: not that i mean to say it is right for them, when they are chosen church-warden or overseer to shift the burden from their own shoulders... because a christian 104 should never mind his own trouble when he has an opportunity of being useful to his fellow creatures. (the history of jonathan griffin, 1799, p. 13) a reforming impulse could exist only when money was not a consideration. indeed, many well-off characters are entirely drained of charitable feeling due to constant demands on their purses. when approached for a charitable contribution, farmer hoskins explodes with: “well, madam, what is it now? flannel or french? or weavers, or a new church, or large bread, or cheap rice?” (the sunday school, 1797, p. 10). several times the tracts remind working-class readers not to be offended if they are refused relief “since the kind hearts of the wealthy are often imposed upon” by undeserving claimants (the history of tom white, 1795, p. 15; the hubbub, 1797, p. 6; the two soldiers, 1795, p. 13). exhausted and disillusioned by an inefficient and ineffective system of parish relief, beneficiaries are left bereft of reforming zeal. the cheap repository critiques local authorities for abandoning their flocks to dissipation and riot. the critiques of the poor law in the cheap repository mirror those emerging in wider society. in 1786, joseph townsend initiated a fierce pamphlet debate with his scathing criticism of parish relief in his dissertation on the poor laws. wood (1791) promises houses of industry as a substitute for the parish relief which merely supports “undeserving, artful cheats” in idleness (p. 6). an s.b.c.p. tract proposes to reduce parish taxation to one-tenth of its current rates by establishing the poor in selfsufficiency on their own plots. the author of the tract, thomas bernard, argues that independent labour and property ownership, rather than relief, provide psychological fulfillment: “*i+n his cottage, *a poor man] has his family around him, he has something he can call his own... and is the master of his own actions. domestic connections, property, hope, liberty... exist not in a workhouse” (bernard, 1797, p.7). the philanthropic society, too, argues that parish relief destroys social ties and encourages crime by removing beneficiaries’ stake in society (e.g. property and labour): no mutual tie connects [a charitable benefactor and a beneficiary], the one is not held by interest, nor the other bound by gratitude... no affection holds the beggar to the public who supports him; alms and plunder are alternate and indifferent to him... the nuisances, pests, and disturbers of society, are found almost exclusively among those who enjoy its gratuitous benefits. (plan and particulars, 1792, p. 13) the idle and ungrateful beggars populating the pages of the cheap repository are representative of the social breakdown which evangelicals and poor law critics alike took to be the result of the poor law’s ambivalence. in order to right the wrongs of parish relief, the cheap repository sought to radically redefine the meaning and practice of public charity. it did this in two ways. firstly, it argued that poverty is a natural condition which should be made tolerable through education, but never entirely alleviated. secondly, it sought to make the poor law more discriminating and to attach a social stigma to the workhouse. ironically, the ideal evangelical charity was no charity at all. in a perfect world, the poor would be so very industrious and frugal that parish intervention would be entirely unnecessary. both evangelicals and their cheap repository argued that education in economy and self-sufficiency would negate the need for material relief. after having been taught how to avoid distress, the working classes could manage for themselves. 105 furthermore, more’s contemporaries suggested that poverty was not necessarily a condition which demanded rectification. throughout the tracts, poverty is presented as a god-given condition which should not be altered. for example, a hymn of praise for the abundant harvest of 1796 (1796) presents scarcity as a divine chastisement for war and “domestic hate” (pp. 4-5). the struggle with the fluctuations of the market was merely part of the broader christian struggle “of temptation, trial and exemplary suffering.” as kidd (1999) argues: since the individual was responsible for his own salvation, the sustenance of the labourer merely because of his poverty was in contravention of the laws of god. to remove this unthinking paternalism [of the parish] would be to restore the natural order and to foster selfdenial, spiritual growth and moral virtue. (p. 22) the goal of evangelical charity was not to abolish suffering (the fallen nature of the earth made this impossible) but to inure the poor to hardship. the most fulfilled and upstanding characters, such as the shepherd of salisbury plain, the lancashire collier girl, and the happy waterman, are those who steadfastly refuse all public relief (cheap repository shorter tracts, 1798; the lancashire collier girl, 1795; the shepherd of salisbury plain, 1795). william baker, for example, “bred up a large family, without receiving a single farthing from the parish” (the life of william baker, 1795, p. 20). furthermore, benefactors in the texts contribute to schemes for supporting the poor in their own homes, rather than in the poorhouse. they fund schooling, allow their inferiors to purchase things at cheaper rates during scarcity, provide loans to keep families in business, arrange employment or apprenticeship, or pay doctors to treat the sick in their own homes (the apprentice turned master, 1796; cheap repository shorter tracts, 1798; the good parish priest, 1799; the history of fanny mills, 1799; the honest publican, 1798; the life of william baker, 1795; sweep soot o!, 1799). as late-century evangelicals attempted to replace cash handouts with saving banks and friendly societies, so too did the cheap repository privilege self-sufficiency. 2 the cheap repository reserves parish relief for those who are labelled “deserving” through sickness, disability, old age, or an abundance of young children. the pious labourer william peterson only enters the workhouse after enduring a ridiculous number of trials. sickness “reduce*s+ him to a skeleton,” then his wife falls ill, his children nearly starve, a fire destroys his cottage and possessions, and his wife dies. and it does not end there. peterson explains how, nearly blind, he: supported myself for years by making cabbage nets... but a stroke of the palsy in my right hand quite disabled me. my son indeed, the only child i have left, would fain have taken me to live with him; but he has a wife and six children, and, god knows, they fare but badly as it is. (the history of jonathan griffin, 1799, pp. 7-8, 11-12) the message is clear. parish relief should only be for those who truly have no viable means of support. even then, the poor house is not for rest. inmates are to labour, like good mrs. apsley, who mends stays and quilts petticoats in her spare time, or mrs. simpson, who, upon entering the alms-house, declares that her “cares are at an end, but not *her+ duties” (the hubbub, 1797, p. 7; ’tis all for the best, 1797, p. 2 evangelicals increasingly promoted ‘self-supporting’ charitable ventures. labouring people regularly contributed to saving banks, friendly societies, and benefit clubs in return for financial or material support in the event of personal hardship. dispensaries provided medicine to contributors, friendly societies offered financial assistance to the temporarily unemployed and covered funeral expenses, while women’s benefit societies lent out childbirth linens (andrew, 1989, p. 201). 106 13). decades before the poor law act of 1834 officially encoded policies of discrimination (“less eligibility”) and forced labour, and dickensian workhouses were designed to make their inmates prefer the outside world, evangelicals and the cheap repository pushed to reduce the availability of parish relief. benefactor the miser and the sensual find how each misused the gifts assigned; while he who spends and gives, to the true end of living lives; ’tis self-denying moderation gains the great father’s approbation. — the plum-cakes; or, the father and his three sons, 1797, p. 8 scholars such as susan pedersen (1986) argue that the tracts attack “popular culture” (pp. 107108). however, the cheap repository’s decidedly unflattering portrait of state relief indicates that evangelicals were just as prepared to blame official institutions for post-war turbulence and to bend even the most long-standing and widespread charitable institution to the evangelical will. the cheap repository is replete with bad benefactors. there are “miser*s+” like the aptly named lady blithe, who never lifts a finger for the poor, and the “over-frugal” squire, who will help mrs. jones with any of her plans ―so long “as it cost*s+ him nothing” (the cottage cook, 1797, p. 4; the deceitfulness of pleasure, 1799). then there are “sensuals” like sir john, who lavishes gifts upon his dependents but never questions whether he truly benefits them (the cottage cook, 1797, p. 4). worst of all, however, are radicals like mr. fantom, the new-fashioned philosopher, who dreams up plans for aiding labouring people but succeeds only in alienating those whom he would theoretically help (the history of mr. fantom, 1797). the poor law was not the sole institution in late eighteenth-century england which evangelicals attacked for encouraging social unrest. by offering indiscriminate material relief or by neglecting their paternal duties, benefactors also fuelled disaffection. this section illustrates how the cheap repository condemns the miserliness, open-handed largesse, and innovation of benefactors. i argue that the tracts reform the practice of giving by manipulating christian doctrine. frugality, discernment, and advice replace largesse as touchstones of the good samaritan. misers are the most benign type of wayward benefactor; their worst effects are sulky dependents. indeed, the tracts suggest it is better to give nothing than to give indiscriminately and extravagantly. by offering material relief, sensuals encourage idleness and immorality. sir john has all the requisite humanity of the christian but misapplies it. for example, he provides his tenants with beer because the “poor fellows... work hard,” but neglects to consider “that while the man is enjoying himself... his wife and children are ragged and starving” (the cottage cook, 1797, p. 10). he puts no thought into charity, as he “subscribe*s+ with equal readiness to a cricket match or a charity school” (the cottage cook, p. 4), and he favours inactive subscriptions to personal interaction with his beneficiaries. furthermore, his charity does nothing to address morality or religion. indeed, his benevolence encourages moral license. he “take*s+ it for granted that the poor are to be indulged with bellringing and bonfires, and to be made drunk at christmas” (the cottage cook, p. 4). sir john’s entertainments are hardly harmless fun. for elite readers, sir john’s charity must have carried suggestions of riot. 107 elsewhere in the tracts, indiscriminate giving merely supports idleness and unrest. both the giles children and madge blarney, “the gipsey girl,” progress from begging handouts to outright stealing (black giles... widow brown’s apple-tree, 1796; madge blarney, 1798). far from forging ties between a benefactor and beneficiary, material relief secures only ingratitude: the gentleman... threw down a shilling, which the lad picked up, with very little gratitude in his countenance, but with no small conceit, at his own quickness and cleverness in seizing hold of it; after which, he grew as proud as could be of having got possession of the piece of money, not considering at all that it was a mere present, and that he had not given the gentleman a single match for it out of his basket. (the beggarly boy, 1798, pp. 5-6) according to the tracts, the poor cannot distinguish cash handouts from the profits of stealing. indiscriminate charity does not instil in the poor a respect for property but teaches that rewards can be had with deception ― not industry. evangelicals were also highly critical of innovation purely for the sake of innovation. thomas bernard (1798), for example, condemned past philanthropic projects which were based upon conjecture: “the good effects... have been limited and uncertain: the project having originated not in *the poor+, but in the projector; ―not in fact, but in speculation” (p.xiii). the cheap repository characters similarly voice their concerns respecting the “new whim-wham[s]... foolish inventions, and new-fangled devices” of charitable ventures “which do more harm than good” (the sunday school, 1797, p. 10). mr. fantom is a telling example of the pitfalls of such charitable day-dreaming. seeking fame, he spends his days concocting elaborate (but ultimately untenable) plans for liberating the poor from poverty. in spite of his assertion that he will “make all mankind good and happy,” he cannot even secure the happiness of one and fails to help those who are right in front of him (the history of mr. fantom, 1797, pp. 2, 8). he refuses to help mr. trueman release an old friend from debtor’s prison. furthermore, fantom’s footman ―following his master’s profligate example― soon turns to stealing and commits murder. fantom even refuses to forgive his ex-servant when william is in his condemned cell (the history of mr. fantom). expansive schemes were not only uneconomical but inhumane. they were not propelled by the “warm zeal” of christian sympathy, but from selfish motives. the cheap repository is critical of benefactors who have sensibility but no sense and, equally, benefactors who have sense but no sensibility. the ideal benefactors are those who, like mrs. jones, combine “good sense, activity, and piety” (the sunday school, 1797, p. 5). she need not give up her money but devotes her time to spreading good economy and religion. the evangelical doctrine of sanctification required one to perform good works in imitation of christ. the cheap repository constructs a frugal and discriminating version of christ as benefactor ―an image which provided the ideal model for gentry and middle-class philanthropists of the late eighteenth century to follow. christ in the cheap repository is, first and foremost, discriminating. he cautiously considers the merits of potential beneficiaries and offers material relief only in exceptional circumstances where there is no possibility of self-sufficiency. he provides loaves and the fishes to his followers only because his mission requires the abandonment of labour: “this multitude being in the way of duty, were so far from being allowed to starve while ‘following christ,’ that a miracle was wrought on their behalf” (hints to all ranks, 1795, p. 11). the image of the discerning christ also appears in thomas bernard’s writings. he, too, claims that christ gave food only in times of exceptional need: “*w+e do not read of any extraordinary, or gratuitous, supply of food; except in the wilderness, where there were no ordinary 108 means of human industry” (bernard, 1802, p. 11). in hints to all ranks of people (1795), more than one half of a single page is composed of a footnote which implores the reader not to misunderstand the parable of the loaves and the fishes. the footnote suggests a discordance between christ’s expansive generosity and evangelical discrimination. the writer of the tract reminds the reader that “*n+o miracles will be wrought for those, who merely on a religious pretence break off their proper and necessary work” (emphasis added, p. 11). it is hardly “miracles” of multiplying bread and fish which readers might mistakenly expect. evangelical writers transform the biblical miracle of a mere five loaves feeding five thousand into the miracle of receiving material relief at all. just as a miracle is rare, so too is the evangelical philanthropist’s material relief limited and exceptional. christ in the cheap repository is not only discriminating, but frugal. the parable of the loaves and the fishes emphasizes his divine frugality over his divine bounty. the tract underscores christ’s injunction to “*g+ather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost” ―and includes this verse as a caption for the illustration (fig. 2) (hints to all ranks, 1795, pp. 15, 19). furthermore, the author argues that christ demonstrates his economy by providing coarse brown bread and cheap fish, rather than costly white bread and meat. the cheap repository also emphasizes the educational nature of christ’s charity. not only does christ attend to the bodies of his followers but to their souls. he distributes loaves but, more importantly, also preaches to his followers. the example of christ demanded an active concern for education, as opposed to material relief: the best mode of showing charity to the poor is that which our savior has set the example; i mean the uniting charitable help and religious instruction both together, for many a one may take from the same hand which has given him bread, a bible, or some religious book which may prove a far greater benefit than all the money which he may have received (hints to all ranks, 1795, p. 14) just as christ ministered to his people in their homes, so too were eighteenth-century beneficiaries to look personally to amend the morals and religion of those surrounding them. simply ministering to the poor is the most refined charity. the christian allegory bear ye one another’s burthens (1796) presents a series of characters who travel along the valley of tears and aid each other to carry loads of poverty, oppression, and sickness. while material relief “might be of real use, *it+ seemed, by galling the travellers, to add to the load.” by contrast, “so cheap a kindness as a mild word, or an affectionate look” works wonders (p. 5). the tract suggests that true christian charity takes the form of encouragement, rather than relief. indeed, by encouraging the poor to bear their burdens humbly and graciously, the benefactor serves them better than had he attempted to remove the burden. after all, a god-given burden (such as poverty) is not designed to be alleviated, but to be borne. thompson (1966) has argued that “the humanitarian tradition became warped beyond recognition” under the influence of more in the 1790s (p. 57). utilitarian and malthusian doctrines narrowed the scope of benevolence. thompson is certainly correct in his suggestion that elite fears of radicalism influenced the expression of charity as much as did the depravity of the poor. however, the discriminating and personal charity which the cheap repository promotes was certainly not perceived by evangelicals as “warped” ―as an alien and unfamiliar concept. rather, they genuinely sought to reconstruct what they took to be a simple and pure biblical paternalism. the “selfish system” of malthusian-inspired charity co-existed with a revival of paternalist feelings. mutual obligation and paternal ties of affection were fostered, albeit through ties of advice rather than cash (perkin, 2002; d. 109 roberts, 1979; lawes, 2000). at the same time, by turning its reforming gaze towards elites, the cheap repository acknowledges commonality between rich and poor: the traditional christian discourse of the struggle of the individual sinner against the temptations of vice was... modified so that the whole of society, particularly the gentry, shared responsibility for helping the weak resist temptation. (dodsworth, 2008, p. 602) by re-interpreting the christian example, the cheap repository tracts mediate (however awkwardly) between an ancient paternal ideal and enlightenment values of scientific regulation and reason. beneficiary what tho’ i be low and mean i’ll engage the rich to love me, while i’m modest, neat and clean, and submit when they reprove me. if i should be poor or sick, i shall meet i hope with pity since i love to help the weak tho’ they’re neither fair nor witty. — divine songs... for the use of children, 1795, p. 30 elliott (2009) argues that evangelical charity was a “gift exchange, where one side, more wealthy and advantaged, gives a benefit that the other has an obligation to reciprocate” (p. 108). however, the gift-exchange system is by nature voluntary; reciprocity is expected but not always provided. as advice and education “were a ‘gift’ to the poor, not a contractual bargain, the recipients were not bound to respond as the donors hoped they would” ―that is, with gratitude (elliott, p. 108). the cheap repository tracts abound with instances in which the poor neglect to perform their part in the gift exchange. jack deems his benefactor to be “cheap and shabby,” while john rails against the parish priest for refusing to provide him aid in cash (the good parish priest, 1799, p. 6; jack brown in prison, 1796, p. 5). mothers adamantly refuse to send their children to sunday school, and tawny rachel promptly pawns for gin the shoes which mr. wilson gives her son (black giles... with some account of a family, 1796; the history of fanny mills, 1799; the history of hester wilmot... second part, 1797; sorrowful sam, 1795). through these characters, the cheap repository voices objections to the “moral economy of charity” ―the poor’s expectations that charity be material in nature, impersonal in its application and offered without conditions. more and her fellow writers seek to redefine the expectations of the poor and to inure labouring people to the advice-based, personal, and discriminatory evangelical charity. the tracts present charity not as an unavoidable duty of the rich (a “natural debt” for their god-given wealth), but as a gift which may be withheld at will. in the cheap repository, the degree of charity offered is entirely dependent upon the degree to which the beneficiary both deserves and can profit from aid. in this final section, i examine how the cheap repository first presents the “moral economy of charity” and, secondly, redefines its boundaries. 110 rebellious cheap repository characters are adamant that charity be material in nature. john hobson rails against mr. dormer after the latter refuses to provide a cash handout and chooses instead to pay the hobson family’s nursing bills and rent. when hobson’s neighbour, fisher, suggests that the parson’s investments are as worthy as cash-in-hand, hobson objects: just the same thing indeed! no, truly, i think it as different a thing as a nail and a hammer. i should never think putting a boy to school, was half so good a thing as giving me the six-pence a week to get a dram would be. if the parson would do that now [i.e. provide cash]... i promise you i should think he did much more for me, than all his gifts to my wife, and all his long lectures to me put together have ever yet been. (the good parish priest, 1799, p. 5) for a poor character like hobson, virtuous charity takes the form of simple gifts which provide temporary relief. he rejects entirely advice (the parson’s “long lectures”) and aid which seek, in the longterm, to foster self-sufficiency. hobson shares his opinion with jack brown: incarcerated in prison, brown bemoans the fact that mr. stock has not “sent him a good sum of money to procure his liberty, or even a trifle to make merry with his companions” (fig. 3). all he has received is the “empty comfort” of “dry advice” (jack brown in prison, 1796, p. 5). temporary relief is more valued than religious instruction. characters also bemoan the personal nature of charity. the supervisory presence of benefactors is deeply annoying. hobson calls mr. dormer “impertinent, and officious, and... a busy-body... why i never meet him, that he does not begin with his questions, and enquires about this, about that, and about the other” (the good parish priest, 1799, p. 5). not only this, but intervention denies the poor control over their finances, families, and leisure. hobson’s rampage against the parson’s charity is fuelled not only by the type of charity offered, but also by the manner in which it is given. by funding schooling and by providing funds to hobson’s wife, dormer effectively removes all decision-making power from hobson (the good parish priest). many parents resent their loss of discretionary power. mrs. williams begs mr. stock to give her cash rather than fund her son’s schooling, “for nobody could do so well by *her son+ as his own mother,” while mrs. waters denies her children education and, by so doing, asserts her power over her offspring: “nobody shall hector them but myself” (the apprentice turned master, 1796, p. 12; sorrowful sam, 1795, p. 11). evangelical charity not only threatens to override the powers of patriarchs and parents in poor families, but education actively fragments the working-class family. education raises children above the moral and occupational standards of their parents. mrs. williams claims that education “makes a child despise his own mother because she *i+s poor” and “set*s+ men, women, and children against their own flesh and blood” (the apprentice turned master, 1796, p. 12). mrs. wilmot worries that her daughter’s sunday school education will make her too haughty to perform her chores about the house (the history of hester wilmot... second part, 1797). these parents reject the evangelical notion of a “gift” designed to strengthen the family unit as a social, moral, and economic unit. for mrs. williams and mrs. wilmot, the evangelicals’ educational charity is no gift, but a curse. evangelical charity is not only perceived as an attack on the family and the family economy, but also on leisure. hobson and brown resent the replacement of alcohol by education and advice (the good parish priest, 1799; jack brown in prison, 1796). furthermore, sunday schools steal the single day allotted for entertainment and rest in a long working week. mrs. waters claims her children “don’t love confinement, and they shan’t go *to school+ to be put upon;” the children “shall have their own way, for they are likely to have nothing else” (sorrowful sam, 1795, p. 11). boys argue that schooling denies them 111 enjoyment by “shut*ting] them up with godly books, when they ought to be taking a little pleasure” (black giles... widow brown’s apple-tree, 1796, p. 7). the boys further argue that sunday schools encourage crime by cooping them up. once released from school, children expend their energy by stealing. the cheap repository easily counters the objections of the poor. those who receive material charity waste it on gin, serving only to aggravate underlying poverty. education in household economy and subsidized purchases are better than cash, for they enable a poor family to save money over the long term. furthermore, evangelical charity empowers the poor rather than usurps their control. whereas material relief cultivates a demoralizing dependence on the goodness of others, education provides labouring people with the tools with which to manage independently. rather than creating disobedient and lazy sons and daughters who have too great an opinion of themselves, religious education teaches children to be obedient and happy in their own place. mothers who defend the leisure of their children do so at the cost of the eternal happiness of their charges. keeping children from school may give them leisure, but it does not secure salvation as does a religious education. rather than benefactors living up to the standards of working-class expectations, it is the poor who must work for charity in the cheap repository. the tracts argue that the poor must deserve aid in order to receive it. they must adopt standards of cleanliness, piety, and good management in order to become candidates. charity is an exchange, and benefactors expect a return for their investment. as aid is offered in order to support the poor in their own homes, beneficiaries must demonstrate that the gift is instilling self-sufficiency. cheap repository benefactors often cease giving to those who continue in their depraved ways. the gentry refuse to give to the giles family when they see the family’s decrepit cottage and the children who spend all day begging by the gate (black giles... with some account of a family, 1796). jem’s benefactress explains that she will not help him “if he would not work for his bread,” echoing another donor who declares her willingness to help only those “who are willing to help themselves” (betty brown, 1796, p. 13; sweep soot o!, 1799, p. 7). mr. britton gives half a crown to the industrious mrs. apsley, while he provides the immoral amy talbot “only a few halfpence... which he thought was more than such an idle and dirty woman deserved” (the hubbub, 1797, p. 5). in other instances, benefactors refuse to give to those who patronise gin shops, or who refuse to go to school or church (the gin-shop, 1795; the way to plenty, 1795). ironically, those who receive the most attention from their social superiors are those who are least affected by want and immorality. they are those who, like sarah sanday, are most industrious: she had, by unremitting diligence and œconomy, maintained herself and her child, with a credit that recommended her to the notice of every worthy person...she is ... so neat and respectable in her appearance, so honest, and pains-taking, that it is a duty to encourage her, and a pleasure to see her in the house. (the two cousins, 1798, pp. 3-4) more and her fellow contributors redefine the obligations at the heart of the charitable gift. roberts (1998) argues that in the late eighteenth century: educated citizens came to accept the view that charity was not a duty performed as a result of holding resources on trust for communal benefit: it was an act of mercy performed as a result of morally refined sensitivity in the giver to the sight or knowledge of human suffering. because the act of giving was now voluntary in 112 a moral as well as legal sense, it was reasonable for the donor to expect the recipient to conform to certain continuing standards of deservingness. (p. 70) the cheap repository directly outlines these standards of deservingness. it rejects the “moral economy of charity” which necessitates little effort on the part of benefactors and replaces it with a set of moral compunctions for the poor to deserve the charity which they receive. while contributions are considered emphatically voluntary on the part of “gift”-givers, for beneficiaries, gratitude and deservingness are non-negotiable. conclusion [h]e had found out that two things were necessary to the promoting of religion among his friends; a warm zeal to be always on the watch for occasions, and a cool judgement to distinguish which was the right time and place to make use of them. to know how to do good is a great matter, but to know when to do it is no small one. — on carrying religion into the common business of life, 1796, p. 3 it is no easy task to discern whether the cheap repository truly grasped the occasion, igniting its benevolent plan at “the right time and place.” the tracts were met with a spectrum of responses, from outright hostility to apathy to enthusiasm. as noted in the introduction, the poor showed little interest in the tracts. those who were considered the lowest of the low ―prostitutes and sailors’ wives― were decidedly unimpressed by cheap repository wares when the evangelicals selina mills and mary thatcher came knocking (stott, 2003). however, there is much evidence that the charitable ideals endorsed by the cheap repository were dominant in nineteenth-century discourses on poverty, welfare, and relief. societies such as the religious tract society (1799), the british and foreign bible society (1804), and the society for the promotion of christian knowledge (1805) specialized in the distribution of similar didactic literature, testifying to the continued importance of textual advice to charity (pickering, 1976; stott, 2003). the new poor law of 1834 incorporated discrimination, while self-supporting charities flourished, and an evangelical style of charity was favoured in victorian prostitute reclamation schemes. however, whether the cheap repository succeeded in its goal to reform charitable conduct among all classes in english society is the work of a future paper. the image of the pitchfork-wielding, chapbook reading, and sabbath-breaking englishman is never far from the pages of the tracts. but to characterize the cheap repository as a simple attack on the popular literature and radical sympathies of the working classes is to fail to grasp the breadth of the evangelical reforming gaze. historians have often revealed their dislike of hannah more and her contemporaries, describing her as a hypocritical pedant intent only on the suppression of the masses (thompson, 1966). although every stereotype has a foundation in truth, the characterization is largely misleading. as demonstrated in this essay, the cheap repository writers heaped blame for the immorality and instability of england not only on the unwashed masses, but also upon the well-healed ―their own peers, and indeed, their gentrified superiors. the cheap repository was conservative in its aim to strengthen hierarchy. in one respect, however, the tracts were more egalitarian than a one-sided attack. every englishman and englishwoman has a responsibility to practice safe charity for the good of the whole. 113 appendixfigures fig. 1 “a number of men, women, and children, had formed a ring around one farmer russel... whom no one loved, and every one feared; for his love of money had led him to be hard-hearted; and his power over the poor had made him indulge his natural insolence” (p. 3). the poor townspeople gather outside the almshouse to mock the hated overseer in the woodcut illustration to the hubbub; or, the history of farmer russel the hard-hearted overseer (1797). the image illustrates the downfalls of parish relief: corrupted overseers and idle poor (note the large numbers of unemployed able-bodied adults). 114 fig. 2 “what a striking lesson of œconomy does our savior give us by this precept” (p. 15). christ oversees the distribution of the loaves and fishes to the five thousand in the woodcut illustration to hints to all ranks of people, on the occasion of the scarcity of 1795 (1795). both the text and the caption emphasize the frugality of christ’s charity and the educational, as well as physical, nature of his gift. fig. 3 “if mr. stock had sent him a good sum of money to procure... a trifle to make merry with his wretched companions, jack would have thought him a friend indeed.... unfortunately, *mr. stock’s+ letter came just as he [jack] was going to sit down to one of those direful merry-makings which are often carried on with brutal riot within the doleful walls of a jail” (pp. 5-6). jack and his companions have a riotous feast in prison in the woodcut illustration to jack brown in prison; or, the pitcher never goes so often to the well but it is broke at last... (1796). mr. stock avoids contributing to social unrest by withholding monetary relief from the undeserving jack. 115 references primary sources cheap repository (all available on e.c.c.o. & m.m.w.) 3 the apprentice turned master; or, the second part of the two shoemakers: shewing how james stock from a parish apprentice became a creditable tradesman. (1796). london. bear ye one another’s burthens; or, the valley of tears: a vision. (1796). london. the beggarly boy, a parable. (1798). london. betty brown, the st. giles’s orange girl: with some account of mrs. sponge, the money lender. (1796). london. black giles the poacher. with the history of widow brown’s apple tree. (1796). london. black giles the poacher. with some account of a family who would rather live by their wits than their work. (1796). london. cheap repository for moral and religious publications. (1795). london. subscription list. cheap repository shorter tracts. (1798). london. used as source for the happy waterman. cheap repository tracts, published during the year 1795. forming volume i. (1797). london. used as source for the riot; or, half a loaf is better than no bread. the cottage cook; or, mrs. jones’s cheap dishes: shewing the way to do much good with little money. (1797). london. the deceitfulness of pleasure; or, some account of my lady blithe. (1799). london. spurious tract. divine songs attempted in easy language for the use of children by i. watts d.d. to which are added, prayers for children. (1795). london. the gin-shop; or, a peep into a prison. (1795). london. the good parish priest; or, the drunken carpenter reclaimed. (1799). london. spurious tract. 3 e.c.c.o. = eighteenth-century collections online (gale); m.m.w. = making of the modern world: the goldsmiths’-kress library of economic literature 1480-1850 (gale). 116 hints to all ranks of people on the occasion of the present scarcity. (1795). london. the history of fanny mills.part i. (1799). london. spurious tract. the history of hester wilmot; or, the second part of the sunday school. (1797). london. the history of jonathan griffin and william peterson. pointing out an asylum to the destitute. (1799). london. spurious tract. the history of mr. fantom, the new fashioned philosopher and his man william. (1797). london. the history of tom white, the postilion. (1795). london. the hubbub; or, the history of farmer russel the hard-hearted overseer. (1797). london. a hymn of praise for the abundant harvest of 1796. (1796). london. jack brown in prison; or, the pitcher never goes so often to the well but it is broke at last. being the fourth part of the history of the two shoemakers. (1796). london. the lancashire collier girl. a true story. (1795). london. life of william baker, with his funeral sermon, by the rev. mr. gilpin. (1795). london. madge blarney, the gipsey girl. (1798). london. spurious tract. on carrying religion into the common business of life. a dialogue between james stock and will simpson, the shoemakers. (1796). london. the parish nurse. (1798). london. spurious tract. the plum-cakes; or, the father and his three sons. (1797). london. the shepherd of salisbury plain. part i. (1795). london. the shopkeeper turned sailor; or, the folly of going out of our element. (1796). london. sorrowful sam; or, the two blacksmiths. (1795). london. the sunday school. (1797). london. sweep soot o!; or, some account of little jem, the chimney sweeper and his benefactress. (1799). london. spurious tract. 117 ’tis all for the best. (c.1797). london. the two cousins; or, spare the rod and spoil the child. (1798). london. spurious tract. two soldiers. (1795). london. the two wealthy farmers, with the sad adventures of miss bragwell. part v. (1796). london. the two wealthy farmers; or, the sixth part of the history of mr. bragwell and his daughters. (1797). london. the way to plenty; or, the second part of tom white. (1795). london. non-cheap repository bernard, t. (1797). an account of a cottage and garden, near tadcaster. with observations upon labourers having freehold cottages and gardens, and upon a plan for supplying cottagers with cows. printed at the desire of the society for bettering the condition and improving the comforts of the poor. london. e.c.c.o. bernard. t. (1798). the reports of the society for bettering the condition and increasing the comforts of the poor. vol i. london. e.c.c.o. bernard, t. (1802). the reports of the society for bettering the condition and increasing the comforts of the poor. vol. iii. london. e.c.c.o. malthus, t.r. (1798). an essay on the principle of population. london. e.c.c.o. paine, t. (1791). rights of man: being an answer to mr. burke’s attack on the french revolution. london. e.c.c.o. paine, t. (1792). rights of man. part the second. combining principle and practice. london. e.c.c.o. plan and particulars respecting the first establishment of the philanthropic society, instituted in london 1788, for the promotion of industry, and the reform of the criminal poor. (1792). london. e.c.c.o. townsend, j. (1786). a dissertation on the poor laws. by a well-wisher to mankind. london. e.c.c.o. 118 wood, i. (1791). some account of the shrewsbury house of industry, its establishment and regulations; with hints to those who may have similar institutions in view. by i. wood. the second edition. to which is added, the third edition of the bye-laws, rules, and ordinances, of the said house. shewsbury, u.k. e.c.c.o. secondary sources andrew, d.t. (1989). philanthropy and police: london charity in the eighteenth century. princeton, nj: princeton university. blanch, a. (2009). a reassessment of the authorship of the cheap repository tracts. unpublished ma thesis. baylor university, tx. https://beardocs.baylor.edu/bitstream/2104/5365/1/anna_blanch_masters.pdf christie, i. (1984). stress and stability in late eighteenth-century britain: reflections on the british avoidance of revolution. the ford lectures delivered in the university of oxford 1983-1984. oxford: clarendon. dodsworth, f.m. (2008). the idea of police in eighteenth-century england: discipline, reformation, superintendence, c.1780-1800. journal of the history of ideas 69(4), 583-604. elliott, d.w. (2009). the gift of an education: sarah trimmer’s economy of charity and the sunday school movement. in l. zionkowski, & c. klekar (eds.), the culture of the gift in eighteenth-century england. new york: palgrave macmillan, 107-122. haywood, i. (2004). the revolution in popular literature: print, politics and the people, 1790-1860. cambridge: cambridge university. jones, m.g. (1952). hannah more. cambridge: cambridge university. kelly, g. (1987). revolution, reaction, and the expropriation of popular culture: hannah more’s cheap repository. man and nature 6, 179-204. 119 kidd, a. (1999). state, society and the poor in nineteenth-century england. london: macmillan. lawes, k. (2002). paternalism and politics: the revival of paternalism in early nineteenth-century britain. basingstoke, u.k.: macmillan. o’gorman, f. (1997). the long eighteenth-century: british political and social history, 1688-1832. london: arnold. pedersen, s. (1986). hannah more meets simple simon: tracts, chapbooks, and popular culture in late eighteenth-century england. the journal of british studies 25(1), 84-113. perkin, h. (2002). the origins of modern english society (2nd ed.). london: routledge. pickering, s.f., jr. (1976). the moral tradition in english fiction, 1785-1850. hanover, nh: university of new england. roberts, d. (1979). paternalism in early victorian england. new brunswick, nj: rutgers university. roberts, m. j. d. (1998). head versus heart?: voluntary associations and charity organization in england, c.1700-1850. in h. cunningham, & j. innes (eds.), charity, philanthropy and reform: from the 1690s to 1850. london: macmillan, 66-86. roberts, m. j. d. (2004). making english morals: voluntary association and moral reform in england, 1787-1886. cambridge: cambridge university. robinson, a. (2004). “porteus, beilby (1731-1809).” oxford dictionary of national biography. oxford university. smith, o. (1984).the politics of language, 1791-1819. oxford: clarendon. spinney, g.h. (1939). cheap repository tracts: hazard and marshall edition. the library, fourth series, 20(3), 295-340. stott, a. (2003). hannah more: the first victorian. oxford: oxford university. thompson, e.p. (1966). the making of the english working class. new york: vintage. 120 contact information megan clare webber can be reached at mcwebber@uvic.ca. acknowledgements first and foremost, i would like to thank dr. simon devereaux from the department of history for supervising for my honours thesis (of which this essay is a portion), for correcting drafts of this work, and for supporting my research as an undergraduate research scholar. thank you also to dr. andrea mckenzie and dr. sara beam for serving on my honours thesis panel. and, finally, thank you to the university of victoria’s undergraduate research scholarship program for providing me with funding and the research opportunity to undertake this project. mailto:mcwebber@uvic.ca the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 4 the river’s legal personhood: a branch growing on canada’s multijuridical living tree andrew ambers1 ambersandrew@gmail.com abstract relationships with rivers in british columbia are often imbued with social and material toxicity. learning from three sources of law in british columbia—indigenous, canadian, and international law—this article draws out one potential remedy to the imbalanced relationships between humans and rivers through exploring the viability of declaring the rights of nature in accordance with the socio-cultural and doctrinal frameworks embedded in these three sources of law. by taking seriously storied precedents and governing practices from the ‘namgis, heiltsuk, and w̱sáneć nations, this article is guided by their water relations, governance, and legal orders. in expanding canadian conceptions of personhood, challenging anthropocentrism within section 7 of the charter of rights and freedoms, and expanding section 35 constitutional protections, this article also leverages canadian legal concepts and protections for remedying river relations. drawing upon the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples (undrip) further guides the process of affirming the rights of rivers, especially in light of legislation that has codified undrip domestically. braiding these three sources of law indicates that subsequent rights of nature cases should be rooted in the interpretative and analytical framework of canada’s multi-juridical living tree. keywords: indigenous governance; indigenous legal orders; indigenous rights; legal pluralism; rights of nature 1 i would like to acknowledge and thank those who have offered me lessons surrounding indigenous politics and law, which have undoubtably shaped my engagement with these topics. i would also like to thank dr. christine o’bonsawin for her insightful feedback and guidance throughout this project. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 http://ambersandrew@gmail.com/ the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 5 introduction one of the most pressing environmental, political, and legal challenges today is locating effective remedies to reduce and rectify injuries committed against more-than-human natural actors. this challenge has been addressed in the natural sciences (cooke et al., 2016; nordhaus, 2008), social sciences (dell, 2009; mcgregor, 2018), and legal studies (borrows, 2002a; dellapenna & gupta, 2009; fisher, 2017), which indicate that relationships between nature and humans are imbued with social and material imbalance and toxicity. in the pursuit of remedying these relationships, some scholars have leveraged rights-based discourses to argue that a healthy environment is a human right (hiskes, 2008), whereas others have shifted the location of rights to argue in favour of recognizing the inherent rights of nature (burdon et al., 2015; o’donnell & talbot-jones, 2018). the latter has gained social, political, and legal traction globally. pursuing the rights of nature by attributing legal personhood to natural actors is innovative in western environmental law and policy because doing so marks a departure from prescriptive environmental policies. recognizing the animacy, living-nature, and personhood of rivers, however, is not so nascent within indigenous legal orders2 and the relational practices that derive from indigenous expressions of nationhood and governance. as such, this article draws on western and indigenous legal practices to draw out a potential remedy to imbalanced relationships with natural actors, which is developed through using legal personhood as a cross-cultural and inter-legal nexus. this article therefore develops the claim that rivers’ legal personalities might offer a mechanism to leverage when declared through and in accordance with indigenous, canadian, and international law to remedy imbalanced water relations. the organizational analysis of this article spans three overlapping legal geographies within which british columbians move: indigenous, canadian, and international law. following an overview of current developments in and literature on the rights of nature, the first substantive section learns from the legal theories and practices of ‘namgis, heiltsuk, and w̱sáneć law, with an emphasis on the reasoning that defines humans’ distinctive obligations to more-than-human actors. this section is followed by an exploration of the role of canadian law in the rights of nature. this part interrogates how personhood has historically shifted in canadian socio-cultural and legal epochs, why section 7 of the charter of rights and freedoms (charter) acts as a reference point for understanding canadian legal values, and why corporate personhood under british columbian and canadian law justifies the legal personhood of rivers. this exploration is then followed by a discussion of section 35 of the constitution act (1982), and how the thesis advanced in this article might be pursued through the inter-societal principles embedded in doctrinal and jurisprudential developments. the final section of this article briefly examines how international declarations, as a form of “soft law” (barelli, 2009; gunn, 2017), might contribute to rights-based approaches to environmental relations and governance. when considering these legal sources, it is important to emphasize that i understand law to be a social process and cultural derivative that is living, dynamic, and reflexive. this perspective means that each legal order and system should adapt to changing societal needs by rescinding practices contrary to fundamental justice. furthermore, discussing questions of personhood for natural actors requires a broader consideration of the personhood of people in communities targeted by colonial governmentalities. the injustices that personhood has created and continues 2 val napoleon (2007) distinguishes legal order and legal system: the former is described as “law that is embedded in social, political, economic, and spiritual institutions” whereas the latter refers to state-centric “law [that] is managed by legal professionals that are separate from other social and political institutions” (p. 2). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 6 to create are deeply enduring political tools to categorize groups into the boxes of “deserving” and “undeserving”—a social border that creates an insider-outsider dichotomy for who is (un)worthy of rights, protections, and respect. until its 1951 amendment, the indian act defined a person as “an individual other than an indian” (as cited in wilson-raybould, 2019, p. 18), which codified the socio-cultural norm that indigenous people were unworthy of rights and protections. in fact, it was not until 1960 that all status indians retained suffrage rights and were recognized as citizens “capable” of engaging in civic activities (leslie, 2016). by considering how personhood has functioned as a mechanism to liberate and oppress, it is vital that these realities are reflected in how personhood for natural actors develops, so that it does not grow in an ahistorical vacuum divorced from personhood’s social, political, and juridical entanglements. the rights of nature in retrospect prior to engaging with academic literature on the rights of nature, it is important to address why legal personhood can be a useful mechanism in righting nature, despite its imperfections. there are legitimate concerns regarding the practice of attributing legal personhood to natural actors since doing so has the potential to misrecognize indigenous relationships to place, constrain liberatory politics, hinder radical emancipation, and erase the underlying title interests of a nation (collins & esterling, 2019; coombes, 2020; tănăsescu, 2020). these concerns emerge from legal personhood and the rights of nature not taking indigenous law seriously, so reaffirming the role of indigenous legal orders in these pursuits could work to address these concerns. while this analysis primarily interrogates the rights of nature via legal personhood, it also recognizes that other vehicles may be more fitting, powerful, and transformative for nations. despite having ambiguous conceptual borders, understanding legal personhood through a mask metaphor can elucidate its dual function: “to hide, or rather to replace, the actor’s own face and countenance, but in a way that would make it possible for the voice to sound through” (as cited in gaakeer, 2016, p. 290). thus, legal personhood understood through the mask metaphor protects the underlying entity while also providing a voice to express their interests through the false face that legal personhood confers. the substantive purpose and intent of extending legal personhood to rivers is twofold: first, the expansion of personhood should recognize canada’s “multi-juridical legal culture” (borrows, 2010), which derives reasoning from a plurality of regulatory systems and dispute resolution processes across geographical areas with overlapping spaces of inherent and asserted jurisdiction; second, natural actors recognized as legal persons are granted higher thresholds of rights and protections—privileges withheld prior to obtaining legal personhood. these additional protections arise from rights that are made accessible to legal persons, such as the right to enter contracts, own property, and litigate (business corporations act, s. 30, 2002; o’donnell & talbotjones, 2018). such rights grant juridical standing, which means that legal persons can initiate claims against those who harm them, including through pursuing monetary damages and injunctive reliefs (o’donnell & talbot-jones, 2018). due to these rights, legal personhood offers a means to protect natural actors because remedial mechanisms are expanded to the natural actor and normative shifts may occur in how people, governments, and corporations (re)interpret their relationships with lands and waters. american law scholar christopher stone (1972) first introduced an approach to what has become known as the “rights of nature” discourse by engaging with legal standing and rights frameworks to advance environmental protections. in essence, stone’s work is predicated on the following question: if corporations, trusts, and governments hold rights and privileges, why is the https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 7 environment not subject to a similar set of protections through the attribution of rights? this inquiry asks states to move beyond the common law’s riparian doctrine, which allows damages to be recovered only if a natural person (human being) can demonstrate that an environmental harm has inflicted damages that impede their own interests (stone, 1972, pp. 459–460). rather than continuing to allow the law to treat nature as a non-rights-bearing entity, stone has suggested that state authorities should recognize natural actors as rights holders and bestow upon them the standing required to claim injury and pursue damages. despite this innovative proposal, it was not until the following decades that stone’s work gained traction when it developed in practice into what is now globally known as “earth jurisprudence” (burdon, 2011), “wild law” (cullinan, 2011), and “the rights of nature” (mortiaux, 2021).3 approaches to the rights of nature the rights of nature first formally appeared in ecuador’s constitutional reform in 2008, followed by aotearoa (new zealand) in 2017, india in 2017, hawai‘i in 2021, and innu of the ekuanitshit territories (quebec) in 2021. these developments, and the processes through which they arose, can be generally understood as applying four possible approaches, in which the fourth has the potential to transform canada’s colonial legal landscapes. while these approaches are nonexhaustive and invite combination, they offer an understanding of the breadth of approaches that have been taken to declare the rights of nature. the first approach occurs through legislation, which codifies specific rights for natural actors. the second approach occurs by recognizing the rights of nature through a judicial declaration, which is largely reliant on pre-existing frameworks. the third, more institutionally transformative, approach occurs by declaring the rights of nature through constitutional reform. finally, the fourth approach, albeit still emergent, embraces the legally plural landscapes of colonial states by using both state and indigenous jurisdictional authorities and legal processes to attribute or recognize the rights, protections, and personhood of natural actors. it is with respect to this last approach that this article seeks to contribute to a more fulsome discussion on how the rights of nature can be better informed by indigenous legal orders. in the terms of the first approach, aotearoa and hawai‘i have both taken legislative means to pursue the rights of nature in 2017 and 2021, respectively. in aotearoa, through the māori’s defense of their territories, a land claims negotiation carved out a process in which neither new zealand nor the māori hold whole property interests in a river; rather, in 2017, the new zealand legislature passed the te awa tupua act, which vested partial land rights to the river (morris & ruru, 2010; o’bryan, 2017a; studley, 2018).4 in one reading, this process has the potential to unsettle notions of property and ownership, which invites alternative visions of who can hold property interests. alternatively, this development might be interpreted as deriving from the turbulent political climate in aotearoa, where concerns persist about releasing land title back to iwi and hapū (tănăsescu, 2020, p. 444). this legislative approach, nevertheless, has codified the te awa tupua (whanganui) river’s legal personhood in the hope of allowing the māori to 3 these three developments possess distinctions that both overlap and invite critique; however, a more granular comparative analysis is beyond the scope of this article. 4 property interests, and the property theories that shape them, have acted as both bases to deny and affirm indigenous rights. each theory of property reflects the ideological assumptions embedded in the worldview of the social group it is constituted by, which is a particularly pressing site of interrogation at the intersections between the rights of nature and dominant, emerging, and critical property theories (for diverse property theories, see anthon, 1832; borrows, 2019b, p. 151; cameron et al., 2020; davies, 1999; davies, 2021; hohfeld, 1931; johnson, 2007). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 8 maintain their relationships with this river. likewise, in 2021, hawaiian legislation emerged from the state that interferred in kānaka maoli’s relationships with mount mauna kea (casumbalsalazar, 2017; huihui & karides, 2021). such interventions in their land relations initiated the emergence of mauna kea’s legal personhood via bill 693 (hawai’i house of representatives, 2021). it is, however, too early to assess the impact that this emerging case will have on kānaka maoli rights, relationships with lands, and rights of nature discourse, more broadly. the second approach, judicially declaring the rights of nature, occurred in india in 2017. initiated through public interest litigation, the high court of uttarakhand deemed the ganges and yamuna rivers legal/juristic persons in order to protect the rivers from further damage (o’donnell, 2018; o’donnell & talbot-jones, 2018; studley, 2018). the court’s reasoning derived from the existing parens patriae doctrine, where there is duty vested in the court to intervene in environmental degradation (o’donnell, 2018, p. 139). this case is awaiting appeal at the supreme court, which could lead to the case being overturned. the third approach to granting legal rights to nature, constitutional reform, was used in ecuador—the first state to formally declare the rights of nature in 2008. ecuador’s “environmental constitutionalism” has since influenced the rights of nature across the globe (macpherson et al., 2021, pp. 444–446). this influence derives from article 71, in particular, which declares that “nature, or pacha mama, where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes” (republic of ecuador, 2008). article 71, therefore, aligns with a set of (in)formal principles within rights of nature cases, which affirms and grants rivers the right to exist, flow, and flourish. a fourth discernable approach has gained momentum that embraces legal pluralism, or what anishinaabe legal scholar john borrows has described as canada’s “multi-juridical legal culture” (2010). dimensions of this approach have been advanced in a recent rights of nature case in innu of the ekuanitshit territories in 2021. this approach grows from the authority of the innu council of ekuanitshit, who entered a partnership with the regional municipality of minganie, which resulted in the collaborative recognition of the legal personhood of muteshekau shipu (magpie river), including the river’s right to flow, maintain physical integrity, and litigate (townsend et al., 2021). a recent article with two rivers as its lead authors, the martuwarra and unamen shipu romain rivers, demonstrates the transformative potential of listening to and voicing rivers’ interests to nurture such relationships for future generations (martuwarra riveroflife et al., 2022). the following section, therefore, seeks to develop a discussion that leverages the rights of nature to amplify indigenous law and governance and, thereby, to listen and give voice to water beings. indigenous legal orders the legal personification of natural actors can align closer with indigenous legal practices since such processes transcend western conceptions of natural actors as mere legal objects or property. while legal personhood derives from roman law and is now a central component of the common law (gaakeer, 2016), it may dovetail with indigenous legal orders when infused with and informed by indigenous ethics and relational responsibilities. this section focuses on, listens to, and learns from ‘namgis, heiltsuk, and w̱sáneć law. i deliberately choose to engage with these nations’ practices because i belong to the ‘namgis nation, and heiltsuk governance demonstrates https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 9 the centrality of indigenous self-determination to addressing environmental imbalance, and w̱sáneć law has guided my thinking as i move through their homelands and waters. consequently, this section is not intended to speak for these communities but to address how generative processes of engagement with indigenous legal thought and practice can shape the rights of nature. furthermore, as borrows (2019a) has noted, indigenous laws are constituted by subjective normative and juridical principles that have numerous interpretations. this complexity means that the rights of nature are best achieved through community-based reasoning and engagement. additionally, what saulteau and gitksan legal scholar val napoleon has found by applying this interpretive ethic in practice is that “one could take up several perspectives” of a single legal principle since indigenous laws are non-essentialist and can be applied to contexts that are as diverse as indigenous nations themselves (2019, p. 9). recognizing that indigenous laws have a multiplicity of interpretations ensures that indigenous legal reasoning does not become deterministic, which means that these interpretations contribute to a broader legal fabric without essentializing indigenous law and its application. in fact, it is through working with a plurality of interpretive lenses that indigenous law maintains its intellectual and applied rigour. as such, the principles expressed here should be critiqued, challenged, and modified in order to refine the ways that indigenous reasoning develops. while respecting the agency of nations to assess the rights of nature on their own terms, the purpose of this section is to highlight how the rights of nature can be a strategic instrument leveraged by indigenous nations to maintain and perpetuate relationships with their lands and waters. this discussion is also intended to foreground the subsequent analysis of section 35 protections and the rights of rivers. these three coastal nations’ legal orders thus offer an anchor point from which to broaden legal conceptions of rivers, natural actors, and personhood in ways that are rooted in contextual and coastal indigenous ethics and laws. the ‘namgis, which is a part of the kwakwaka’wakw, is situated off of the northern end of vancouver island. this community is where i hold political membership and from which these lessons, principles, and practices emerge. the legend of the ts̕it̕sał’walagama’yi offers both normative and legal lessons on the relationships and responsibilities embedded in river relations. this story, understood as a mode of legal reasoning (napoleon & friedland, 2016), offers processes that demonstrate and apply responsibilities of intergenerational ethics and relationship continuance. the u’mista cultural centre has provided an account of this story, told by pa̱lʼnakwa̱laga̱lis waʼkas, dan cranmer, in 1930. i have also heard this story shared by family and reflected on it in irene isaac’s analysis of kwakwaka’wakw education, ecological knowledge, and storytelling (2010). u’mista’s account from pa̱lʼnakwa̱laga̱lis waʼkas is as follows: when the transformer (or creator), ḵaniḵiʼlakw, travelled around the world, he was eventually returned to the place where gwaʼnalalis lived. in an earlier encounter, the transformer had beaten gwaʼnalalis, who was ready for his return. ḵaniḵiʼlakw asked, ‘would you like to become a cedar tree?’ gwaʼnalalis replied, ‘no, cedar trees, when struck by lightning, split and fall. then they rot away for as long as the days dawn in the world.’ ḵaniḵiʼlakw asked again, ‘would you like to become a mountain?’ ‘no,’ gwaʼnalalis answered, ‘for mountains have slides and crumble away for as long as the days dawn in the world.’ the transformer asked a third question. ‘would you like to become a large boulder?’ again, gwaʼnalalis answered, ‘no. do not let me become a boulder, for i may crack in half and crumble away as long as the days dawn in the world.’ finally, ḵaniḵiʼlakw asked, ‘would you like to become a river?’ ‘yes, let me become a river that i may flow for as long https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 10 as the days shall dawn in the world,’ gwaʼnalalis replied. putting his hand on gwaʼnalalis’ forehead and pushing him down prone, ḵaniḵiʼlakw said, ‘there, friend, you will be a river and many kinds of salmon will come to you to provide food for your [descendants] for as long as the days shall dawn in the world.’ and so the man gwaʼnalalis became the river, gwaʼni. (u’mista cultural centre, n.d.) this legend provides two lessons on one interpretation with river relations as the referent for drawing out legal principles. through this lens, this story first demonstrates how relationships with gwa’ni recognize the genealogical roots and the ancestral membership of the river. this principle indicates how river relations are not framed in terms of the ownership of an object but, rather, as a life-sustaining relationship with the river. second, the legend demonstrates that using the common law’s concept of legal personhood might offer a mechanism to affirm the first lesson, in which attributing legal personhood to the gwa’ni river may prevent state interference in ongoing relationships with gwa’ni. without recognizing the river’s rights, canadian authorities are likely to continue to treat the river as an object that is subject to their jurisdiction (canada water act 1985, (rsc) c. c-11, ss. 4(a), 4(b), & 4(c); land act 1996, (rsbc) c. 245; the constitution act 1867 ss. 91(1a), 91(10), 91(12), 92a(1)(a), 92a(b), 92a(c)). declaring the legal personhood of the gwa’ni river offers a potential vehicle to fulfill obligations to gwa’ni and to future generations, just as gwa’nalalis did when he chose to become a river (rather than a cedar, mountain, or boulder). pursuing these possibilities in practice must be shaped by community interests rooted in indigenous property, management, and ownership regimes to ensure that these pursuits are informed by community-based reasoning. east of the ‘namgis, the heiltsuk nation sits on the central coast across from vancouver island. in 2016, heiltsuk waters were contaminated by an oil spill off of the coast of their territory. this oil spill offered an opportunity to re-envision how the legal personality of natural actors connects to indigenous and water-based governance. the nation responded to the oil spill in two ways: first, by serving the liable corporation notice of civil claim and, second, by drawing upon ǧvil̓ás (heiltsuk traditional law) to pursue just actions and remedies (heiltsuk tribal council, 2018). it is the latter which is of greatest importance here because of the lessons embedded in the legal and governing practices advanced. ǧvil̓ás is what undergirds the relations between heiltsuk citizens and natural actors. it governs and is the basis of their respective rights, responsibilities, and obligations to nature, humans, and future generations (curran et al., 2020). in a 2018 report issued after the oil spill, which focused on the revitalization of their traditional laws, the heiltsuk tribal council noted that “ǧvil̓ás governs not only our relationship and responsibilities to land and sea resources, but also social relationships and obligations with respect to people, stories and all animate beings in our territory” (n.p.). recognizing natural actors’ legal personalities is one potential process to create space for the revitalization of ǧvil̓ás and the governing authority of heiltsuk. the declaration of heiltsuk title & rights, which was issued in 2015 prior to the oil contamination, flows from ǧvil̓ás and the rights, responsibilities, and relationships that it confers and upholds. section c(7) of the declaration outlines that the heiltsuk nation seeks to collaborate with external entities to advance the interests of the nation (2015). this provision offers a jurisdictional space, if in the interests of the nation, from which to expand legal personhood in accordance with the fundamental principles of heiltsuk law and governance. moreover, recognizing the legal personality of natural actors fits within the purpose and intent of section c(5), which outlines that traditional laws will evolve within a contemporary governance system (declaration of heiltsuk title & rights, 2018). taken https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 11 together, sections c(5) and c(7) offer avenues through which the legal personhood of natural actors could be pursued when advanced in accordance with ǧvil̓ás and the declaration. in turn, advancing the rights of natural actors could facilitate broader and deeper forms of heiltsuk governing authority in coastal, marine, and water governance—areas in which indigenous stewardship practices have been historically marginalized but are being revitalized by heiltsuk (von der porten et al., 2019). this shift toward indigenous governance could be formally actualized via declaring the legal personalities of natural actors, which would mark a fundamental departure from current relationships between british columbia and heiltsuk waters. moving to the southern end of vancouver island, the w̱sáneć offer another perspective on the relationships, rights, and obligations to and/or with natural actors, especially in light of the 2011 oil contamination of goldstream river (comprised of selektel and mioen streams) (clifford, 2016; shaw, 2013). not only does this unfortunate but common reality inform what the rights of nature could offer for nations—both as a preventative mechanism and remedial process after an environmental disaster—but w̱sáneć legal principles may align with the normative strands that righting nature possesses. as the w̱sáneć leadership council has described, the senćoŧen word for island means “relative of the deep” (n.d.-a; see also clifford, 2016, p. 774), which denotes a relational worldview with natural actors. as noted in w̱sáneć legal scholar robert yelkatŧe clifford’s analysis of this expression, understanding land in a relational way illustrates the agency of non-humans, which is embedded, affirmed, and recognized in w̱sáneć stories and law (2016, p. 773). in further reflecting on these strands of thought and practice, clifford has drawn out the legal obligations of reciprocity in the creation story of lel,tos (james island) (pp. 773–774). these ethical obligations derive from islands being past w̱sáneć ancestors. as such, there is a responsibility to take care of the island, and, in return, xals (the creator) tells lel,tos to “look after your relatives, the w̱sáneć people” (as cited in clifford, 2016, p. 774). this relational engagement, which is premised upon the mutual agency of humans and natural actors, becomes further contextualized through the role that water plays for the w̱sáneć, and how the oil spill has impacted w̱sáneć practices. the spill not only impacted the river’s health and well-being, but it has also interfered in w̱sáneć ceremonial bathing practices (pp. 775–777). bathing, according to clifford, emerges from the teachings of xals because water has “a pure spirit and thus has the ability to cleanse” (p. 776). in these ways, the oil spill has impacted the environmental, social, and cultural dimensions of the legal geographies of selektel. adjacent principles to those discussed above radiate from the legend of ƚáu, welṉew̱, which expresses that winds, trees, and bodies of water are people (w̱sáneć leadership council, n.d.-b). treating these persons—winds, trees, and waters—as legal objects seen only to serve the purpose of being owned, sold, and extracted from sits in tension with what w̱sáneć practices express and uphold. there is a need to recognize and practice what lel,tos and ƚáu, welṉew̱ outline, which remains true across many indigenous governing and legal processes: natural actors are persons and relational caretaking is paramount. as the 2011 fuel spill indicates, canada still treats rivers as objects rather than as beings enmeshed in a web of social, political, and juridical responsibilities. in this respect, the personhood of natural actors can amplify what indigenous legal orders already know—that natural actors are animate and, as w̱sáneć elder dave elliot sr. says, “our people lived as part of everything. we … were just like the birds, the animals, the fish” (1990, p. 75). the personhood of natural actors may help reassert the reality that humans and nature are not separate but inherently related, which can help humans (re)interpret their relationships with natural actors for both the health of rivers and human societies. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 12 canadian law having addressed, through engaging with and centring coastal governance and law, where three inter-societal spaces for attributing legal personhood to natural actors might exist, this section turns to the role of canadian law in the rights of nature. while the discussions explored below emerge from diverse contexts that may seem bounded by western normative and juridical principles, this section seeks to bring these strands of canadian history and rights together to develop a stronger rights of nature paradigm in the canadian context. this section specifically examines how and why personhood has shifted throughout canadian socio-cultural and legal epochs, why section 7 of the charter guides this pursuit, how corporate personhood and the rights of nature’s relational witnessing ethic are related, and how section 35 of the constitution act (1982) can be used as a medium to recognize these inter-societal claims. a canadian personhood genealogy: reflections on edwards v. canada at one point in canadian history, a fundamental legal debate transpired over the meaning of “qualified persons” in section 24 of the constitution act (1867). generally, this debate centred on the question of whether women were classified as “qualified persons” in the context of senate appointments (edwards v. canada, 1929). this case, edwards v. canada, was appealed to the judicial committee of the privy council—the highest appellate court in 1929. despite ruling only on white women’s personhood, edwards has been regarded as groundbreaking for both substantive and interpretive reasons (l’heureaux-dube, 2000; tuck, 1941). first, the case established that personhood is not rigid nor static by permitting women to be appointed as senators; second, the case embraced what has become known as “living tree constitutionalism,” in which canadian judicial decisions must consider and remain responsive to societal change (l’heureauxdube, 2000; tuck, 1941). when lord sankey delivered the judgment in edwards, it was “unthinkable”5 that “person” in the act included women since the ruling departed from the exclusionary jurisprudence pertaining to women within canadian law (l’heureaux-dube, 2000; tuck, 1941). the importance of edwards in the context of the rights of rivers rests in its judicial reasoning since the case emphasized that personhood lives and grows with societal needs. given this context, this judgement carries with it two important implications for the personhood of rivers: first, that judicial analyses should not undertake narrow readings of statutory and constitutional provisions for rivers’ rights; and, second, that canadian law determines personhood by contextualized analyses rooted in the time and space of the claim. thus, if socio-cultural understandings of indigenous legal orders (as well as the domestic and international rights of indigenous peoples shift) there is established doctrinal and jurisprudential flexibility for the expansion of personhood, even when it may be initially deemed “unthinkable.” since edwards found that judicial analyses cannot rest on narrow interpretations of legal provisions, section 7 of the charter is a constitutional provision that can guide rivers’ rights. following living tree constitutionalism, and the generous and liberal approach expressed in edwards (see hogg, 1990)—characteristics also shared with section 35 rights (r. v. gladstone, 1996; r. v. sparrow, 1990; r. v. van der peet, 1996)— 5 there are notable overlapping narratives of “the impossible” and “the unthinkable” in discourses on the rights of nature, colonial permanence, and personhood (escobar, 2020, pp. 131–134; stone, 1972, pp. 450–457). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 13 recognizing rivers’ legal personalities can be consistent with canadian law when read and interpreted through existing norms, doctrines, and processes within canadian constitutionalism. affirming the “life, liberty, and security” rights of rivers as a pillar of canadian law, section 7 embodies fundamental canadian values as protections for the “life, liberty, and security of the person” (charter of rights and freedoms, 1982, s. 7). this constitutional protection provides natural persons with the freedom to make personal choices without the state depriving them of their life, liberty, or security (sharpe & roach, 2013). this protection has been demonstrated in application in the 2003 case of r. v. clay, which found that the liberty right under section 7 protects individual autonomy to make profoundly personal choices without state interference (2013). clay built upon the 2000 case of blencoe v. british columbia, which found that the security right under section 7 is violated when the state interferes in profoundly intimate matters and induces physical or psychological suffering (2013). while developments under section 7 have centred on the right to abortion (r. v. morgentaler, 1988), the right to physician-assisted dying (carter v. canada, 2015), and the limitations of criminal punishment (r. v. bissonnette, 2022; r. v. vaillancourt, 1987), the underlying principles of section 7 also inform the rights of rivers. in this context, the life, liberty, and security rights of rivers may be violated by state contracts that enable interactions that deprive rivers of their health and well-being (i.e., resource extraction or the implementation of hydro-electric technologies). rivers’ life and security rights under section 7 are placed in further jeopardy since extractive technologies interfere with the profoundly intimate matters of rivers and induce the detrimental suffering of water beings. although currently interpreted to protect “only human beings” (irwin toy ltd. v. quebec (a.g.), 1989, para. 13), section 7 protections provide important insights into limitations to governmental involvement in matters of individual agency, autonomy, life, liberty, and security. even if rivers are not yet considered “persons” because of existing non-human (corporate) cases under section 7, this omission should not preclude rivers from challenging the anthropocentrism of section 7 protections through the emergence of robust and rooted rights of nature claims. indeed, the ability of section 7 to adapt to changing societal needs tests the durability of living tree constitutionalism that canada has embraced since cases such as edwards in 1929. riverine rights and rationality: connecting relational personhood and witnessing ethics thus far, this article has challenged some of the fundamental assumptions that underpin western notions of rights, persons, and constitutional protections. therefore, there are some broad counterarguments that can be initially addressed. before considering the role of section 35 rights in these inter-societal pursuits, this section explores natural personhood, legal personhood, and rationality in the context of british columbian and canadian law to repudiate an argument that emerges from logics embedded in liberal philosophy. without abandoning lessons that can be drawn from corporate personhood, this section also identifies not only how corporate personhood can be cited as a supplemental method to advance the rights of nature but also how rivers’ representative bodies are largely premised upon relational and witnessing ethics. strands of liberal philosophy suggest that personhood cannot be extended to non-human, non-rational entities incapable of expressing free will or exercising agency (ripken, 2019a). it is important to acknowledge and address this counterargument because canadian institutions and https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 14 normative orders are undergirded by liberal logics and structures. to be transparent, i understand natural actors, under the standard grammar of rationality, to be rational beings with interests and preferences that are pursued advantageously (mancuso & viola, 2015). i, however, do not believe that the logical inverse of my argument has any weight when considering the legal personhood of rivers, since it has yet to have substantive and significant weight in corporate personhood. as an anthropocentric and eurocentric construction,6 however, rationality has underpinned the philosophical underbelly of personhood debates for centuries and has remained an enduring consideration in contemporary questions of “who or what can be a legal person” (kurki, 2019; travis, 2014). although a rigid definition of rationality is contested, rationality is commonly understood as the capacity exercised by living beings who have beliefs and values, which then determine their actions in ways that are advantageous to achieving their own interests (brooner & di iorio, 2018; shepsle, 2010). despite countervailing tides that challenge the anthropocentrism embedded in theories of rationality (osto, 2010), seldom do these critiques challenge the ontological assumption that humans are the dominant rational beings. indeed, most are premised on the assumption that the more similar beings are to the human species, the more rational they are. david papineau, professor of philosophy, for instance, draws on psychological literature to classify non-humans as “unrefined thinkers” within a broader hierarchy of knowledge, in which humans are superior thinkers on the basis of rationality (2006, p. 21). thus, the general application of rationality demonstrates that it is oriented toward the adjacent and erroneous practice of dichotomously demarcating beings into the categories of human/non-human, worthy/undeserving of protection, and agent/object. despite these philosophical debates informing contemporary canadian political and legal thought, using liberal notions of rationality to restrict the extension of personhood to rivers can be rejected on the grounds of corporate personhood. under both canadian and british columbian law, rationality is not a formal nor substantive prerequisite for legal personhood. corporations, among other non-human, non-rational entities, possess legal personhood. indeed, british columbia grants corporations the statutory rights of a natural person (business corporations act, s. 30), and corporations hold limited constitutional rights under the charter, such as the right to free expression (irwin toy ltd. v. quebec (a.g.), 1988). by implication, this logic means that rivers can also hold specific statutory and charter rights, such as those afforded under section 7. according to section 30 of british columbia’s business corporations act, “[a] company has the capacity and the rights, powers and privileges of an individual of full capacity” (2018, s. 30). there is no de facto status that corporate persons are unrefined or incapable entities because they cannot express themselves without representatives, nor are there other substantive grounds that corporations must satisfy prior to becoming legal persons in british columbia. in fact, the assumption embedded in corporate personhood is the logical inverse of what is projected upon natural actors—that corporations are rational. therefore, recognizing the legal personhood of rivers is not met with a strong counterclaim, and arguments premised on rationality must be rejected since british columbia already recognizes the legal personhood of non-human entities. although critiqued (ripken, 2019b), corporate personhood offers a framework for recognizing the legal personhood of rivers, including their right to maintain the integrity of their flow, health, and autonomy. 6 rationality has also been central to creating colonial hierarchies in social orders, especially through constituting the artificial and erroneous notion that societies are located along a linear continuum from “primitive” to “modern/rational” (quijano, 2007). neoliberal rationality has likewise been used to justify the mistreatment of women—especially racialized women (schuster & weichselbaumer, 2022). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 15 reflected in developments beginning in 2017, international advancements have sought to draw lessons from corporate personhood for the rights of nature. there have been promising developments where statutory bodies are established to represent the interests and values of rivers (i.e., via a board, council, or executive body). this advancement is exemplified by the yarra (o’bryan, 2019) and martuwarra fitzroy rivers in australia (poelina et al., 2019). following the framework of corporate personhood with a representative executive body that acts as its voice, the representatives of a river’s statutory body serve as the “voice of the river” who both speak for and defend the river’s interests (o’bryan, 2017b). since the preferences and interests of rivers are unintelligible in western fora, this approach offers a vehicle to centre and amplify the voices of rivers through indigenous relationships to place. this mechanism for voicing rivers’ interests interlocks with “relational personhood,” which (re)conceives of personhood as interdependent rather than atomistic (arstein-kerslake et al., 2021). the concept of relational personhood also challenges western anthropocentric notions of personhood as a characteristic exercised by individuals in a vacuum absent of communal supports. in essence, relational personhood can make indigenous relationships to place intelligible to western actors and institutions, particularly to those who choose not to hear the interests that rivers have voiced and communicated to indigenous nations for generations. this representative approach, which empowers a group of representatives to act on behalf of a natural actor, may be framed in a manner that positions the council as a conduit (from the river to state and private actors) to actualize the rights of nature. in so doing, this approach overcomes liberal counter-arguments regarding rationality and personhood. not only does this approach address debates over how rivers voice their interests, but it may also be consistent with what kwakwaka’wakw scholar sarah hunt, tłaliłila’ogwa, identifies as the “kwagiulth witnessing methodology” (2018, p. 288), in which the act of witnessing “is inherently bound up in relations based in responsibility” (p. 289) and is mobilized for the purpose of “making visible and audible those members of our communities who are being silenced” (p. 293). the intersection of pressing research and activism regarding land, gendered, and sexualized violence (konsmo & pacheco, 2016) provides rooted ethics to further guide contextual developments in connecting the practice of listening to rivers to adjacent colonial violence. both relational personhood and kwagiulth witnessing provide processes that advance the practice of listening to persons whose voices are suppressed, whose interests are obscured, and whose rights are denied through colonial governmentalities. toward an inter-societal rights of nature: leveraging section 35 the former sections, generally speaking, have been neatly demarcated along the lines of indigenous and canadian law, with a focus on their respective practices, obligations, and theoretical strands. this section will now take a more “inter-societal” approach (r. v. sparrow, 1990) since section 35 and aboriginal rights are sui generis and rooted in indigenous and canadian law (borrows, 2002b; slattery, 2000). this section demonstrates that section 35 jurisprudence, albeit embedded within problematic frameworks, offers opportunities to advance the legal personhood of rivers. this opportunity is particularly true if the boundaries of section 35 protections are redrawn. international developments in aboriginal rights and aboriginal law have advanced the legal personhood of rivers (o’donnell et al., 2020; studley, 2018), which suggests that section 35 may be a suitable provision to achieve the rights of nature in canada. although indigenous nations have distinctive practices integral to their cultural and social principles (r. v. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 16 van der peet, 1996), corporate interests persist in hindering these practices, as witnessed in the degradation of selektel and heiltsuk waters (clifford, 2016; curran et al., 2020; hernandez, 2018). what often permits this degradation derives from the crown’s “ownership” of public lands and its leasing schemes over cultural sites (lavoie, 2018), which exemplify the connections between the imposition of crown ownership over indigenous lands, corporate wealth, and environmental harms. additionally, both private and public entities have harmed indigenous lands due to canada’s flawed proportionality doctrines, which position private property interests as superior to the interests of indigenous nations (barker, 2007; cf. borrows, 2015; bryce, 2008). in such circumstances, section 35 can be leveraged to prevent state authorities from permitting harms against indigenous lands and waters. it is not just that maintaining relationships with rivers is becoming increasingly difficult but also that governmental (in)actions are restricting nations from fulfilling legal responsibilities to rivers and future generations under indigenous law. in the 2006 joint supreme court case of r. v. sappier; r. v. gray, it was further clarified that culture encompasses a nation’s “socialization methods” and “legal systems” (2006, paras. 4 & 45). the case instructed courts not to view these practices as fixed but as responsive to the contemporary needs of the nation (2006). within this framework, section 35 can be used to protect the connections between the ‘namgis and the gwa’ni river since that relationship falls under the legal system of the nation. in fact, such practices arguably meet the higher threshold of being “integral to [their] distinctive culture” (r. v. sparrow, 1990, paras. 53 & 66; r. v. van der peet, 1996, para. 6) since the nation’s relationship with gwa’ni is not incidental but instrumental to their nation, culture, and societal identity. furthermore, heiltsuk’s ǧvil̓ás and subsequent legal practices can also be protected under section 35 since these governing practices are rooted in heiltsuk law and act in the interests of future generations. this set of practices is guided by socialization processes that purposively weave together core pillars of heiltsuk governance, authority, and responsibility. in fact, any or all these legal developments could also be protected under section 35 since they have grown out of traditional law to reflect the current needs of the nation. lastly, the w̱sáneć’s relationship with selektel can be protected in canadian law as a set of practices that affirm the river’s personhood under both the socialization and legal system modifications to culture in sappier and gray. that said, to meaningfully remedy canada’s infringements of indigenous law, the crown’s jurisdictional powers over lands and waters must be deconstructed to nurture what a nation-to-nation relationship should mean. in short, while some of these practices may fit within existing protections under section 35, expanded protections are needed to uphold both nations’ land rights and the land’s own rights. while leveraging section 35 for the rights of nature may not be the most effective way of affirming riverine rights, it can be an instrument to strategically support these pursuits. this strategy can be especially effective since one successful case under section 35 can confirm the existence of this right for all nations. there is indeed continuity in the relational, cultural, and legal practices across the ‘namgis, heiltsuk, and w̱sáneć nations and indigenous nations more broadly: they regard natural actors as agents that are embedded in relationships that are built upon the principles and practices of respect, dignity, and reciprocity. as van der peet has suggested, an aboriginal right must be “morally and politically defensible” in the sense that any aboriginal right must derive from both indigenous and canadian perspectives (1996, para. 42). since respecting natural actors’ health, well-being, and personhood are long-standing and integral practices within many indigenous legal orders, the canadian legal system, rooted in the common law tradition, has room to grow a new branch of legal practice—one that reflects changing societal needs. as this legal branch is cultivated and nurtured, it must not be forgotten that the central trunk of canadian https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 17 constitutionalism allows for this claim to be consistent with pre-existing jurisprudential and doctrinal frameworks. it is, in fact, through these inter-societal processes that the legal personhood of rivers can be made morally and politically defensible through section 35 developments, processes, and doctrinal tests. international declarations and law lastly, british columbia’s recent adoption of the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples (undrip) further cements the applicability of this article’s claim. despite undrip’s legally non-binding status (unhr, 2013, p. 37), it has led to numerous international developments regarding indigenous rights and indigenous-state relations. further, as international law scholar mauro barelli has reminded those engaging with undrip’s legal status, “soft law cannot be simply dismissed as non-law” (2009, p. 959). numerous jurisdictions have additionally adopted undrip into domestic law by codifying the document into statutory protections, including british columbia. notwithstanding the fact that british columbia has yet to fully integrate and apply undrip, a cursory analysis of the declaration further advances the central thesis of this article. article 25 of the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples act (dripa) (2019), for instance, declares that indigenous nations are provided the right to maintain their relationships with lands and waters, which includes fulfilling their obligations to future generations. in conjunction with article 34 of dripa, which guarantees that indigenous peoples can live in accordance with their own juridical systems (2019), pursuing the legal personhood of rivers according to indigenous legal orders can fall under this statutory right, which is derived from international law and politics. maintaining these relationships and obligations to lands and waters could be protected under and encapsulated within the attribution of legal personhood to natural actors. while this section on international indigenous rights is brief, it is of central importance to these growing discussions. future considerations in sum, this article has addressed how the rights of nature can be informed by indigenous legal orders through offering a cross-cultural and inter-legal analysis of legal personhood to demonstrate that personhood is more expansive than what is currently recognized under western law. this inquiry also alludes to the fact that shifting conceptions of rivers from legal objects to subjects requires that policy-makers embrace “the grammar of animacy” (kimmerer, 2013). in order to meaningfully advance this politic, there is a need for additional research and communityled involvement to develop a rooted rights of nature through contextual, place-based actions shaped by indigenous storied precedents, indigenous governance, and indigenous legal mechanisms. through interrogating the socio-cultural and doctrinal practices across three overlapping legal geographies in british columbia, this article first contends that the legal personhood of rivers could be leveraged to assert indigenous legal orders when advanced in accordance with their socio-cultural and doctrinal frameworks. further, this article demonstrates that attributing legal personhood to rivers is congruent with canadian law through the historical growth of personhood, corporate personhood, section 7 of the charter, and section 35 of the constitution act (1982). just as a multi-juridical account of the rights of nature may lead to indigenous legal orders growing a branch of legal practice that draws on canada’s conception of legal personhood, canadian law must also cultivate and nurture a new branch rooted in indigenous https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 18 legal principles. this approach will involve sections 7 and 35 developing a more inclusive legal understanding—developments that would benefit both canadian citizens and the “national interests” of the state. at the same time, it must not be forgotten that indigenous relationships with rivers, and the practices that such connections embody, are integral to indigenous cultures, legal systems, and socialization methods, and must be protected accordingly. recognizing the legitimacy of the thesis advanced in this article may appear to be “unthinkable” to some; however, it was not so long ago that women had to fight to be recognized as persons under canadian constitutional law, which resulted in a partial break from patriarchal, exclusionary, and oppressive conceptions of personhood. indeed, this battle is a struggle that is still being fought, which indicates that justice is met not simply through formal enactments but through continuous processes of social, political and juridical exchange and interaction. similarly, fundamental justice for natural actors must braid the legal principles and practices of indigenous, canadian, and international law to affirm the rights of nature from the most formal of declarations to the relationships that individuals embody with rivers, lands, and oceans. as demonstrated in edwards, a judicial declaration on the matter of personhood may substantially advance the legitimacy of this claim. a declaration might explore, inter alia, a parens patriae claim against the state for neglecting to act in the best interests of persons who may not be able to represent themselves (studley, 2018). moreover, a declaration might develop a decolonized public trust doctrine rooted in indigenous multi-generational and legal ethics. a more grounded approach might also engage in cultural, political, and legal resurgence to advance indigenous nationhood and “sustainable self-determination” (corntassel, 2008; 2012), which may also challenge the very foundation of the rights of nature—its reliance on rights-based discourses. notwithstanding what process is pursued, societal change must be paired with these declarations to advance its legitimacy as well, which could occur through engaging with indigenous storied precedents, advocacy work, and the transformation of public and academic discourses across canada’s plural legal landscapes and diverse socio-cultural geographies. no matter what approach is taken towards justice for natural actors, it must reconcile with the fact that, as an analytical mode of legal reasoning and interpretation, the legal traditions that emerge from the territories of canada are most generatively understood through the multi-juridical living tree. the standard application of living tree constitutionalism, however, does not account for the tree’s roots. for a robust shift towards the rights of nature, the processes that shape these developments must be grounded in and informed by the roots of a multi-juridical canada informed by indigenous, canadian, and international law. canada’s multi-juridical living tree must strive to foster practices that embody the multi-generational ethics of cultural continuance and rooted reciprocity that emerge from indigenous relationships with lands and waters. to not remedy the social and material toxicities embedded in current river relationships would be to forgo acting upon responsibilities to lands, waters, and future generations in accordance with indigenous storied precedents. the responsibility of those living in canada and beyond is to nurture inter-legal innovations through the multi-juridical living tree now to remedy imbalanced relationships with lands and waters. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 the arbutus review – 2022 – vol. 13, no. 1 – 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(2013, november 12,). chum salmon ‘wiped out’ by 2011 fuel spill in goldstream river. times colonist. https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/chum-salmon-wipedout-by-2011-fuel-spill-in-goldstream-river-4601902 shepsle, k. a. (2010). rationality: the model of choice. in k. a. shepsle (ed.) analyzing politics: rationality, behaviour, and institutions (pp. 13–37). w.w. norton. sinha, b. (2017, july 7). sc puts hold on uttarakhand hc order declaring river ganga a living entity. hindustan times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-puts-on-holduttarakhand-high-court-order-declaring-ganga-a-living-entity/storyiyqkaeholhaywfjap8gyoo.html slattery, b. (2000). making sense of aboriginal and treaty rights. canadian bar review, 79(2), 196–224. https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/scholarly_works/672/ stone, c. 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(2019). indigenous nationhood and herring governance: strategies for the reassertion of indigenous authority and inter-indigenous solidarity regarding marine resources. alternative, 15(1), 62–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180118823560 w̱sáneć leadership council. (n.d.-a). four stories of how things came to be. https://wsanec.com/four-stories-of-how-things-came-to-be/ w̱sáneć leadership council. (n.d.-b). history and territory. https://wsanec.com/historyterritory/ wilson-raybould, j. (2019). we truly have come a long way… in from where i stand: rebuilding indigenous nations for a stronger canada (pp. 17–28). purich books. https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790 https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180118823560 https://wsanec.com/four-stories-of-how-things-came-to-be/ https://wsanec.com/history-territory/ https://wsanec.com/history-territory/ the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 12 divisions, intersections, and demographics: women’s human rights and reproductive justice in india joshua d. kepkay abstract: tensions continue to endure between the right to cultural accommodation and women’s human rights within multicultural states. this research examines a variety of secondary sources to compare the autonomy of muslim women with hindu women across india. both are found to possess some autonomy in their lives and over their bodies, although areas of independence vary with each culture. kinship model and geographic location are perhaps the most important indicators of the autonomy available to a woman in india with religion proving to be of only periphery importance once all variables are evaluated. in the pursuits of human rights, cultural identity presents the key difference between muslim and hindu women. it impacts both to whom they address their claims for gender justice and how they present those claims. hindu women are better situated under federal legislation to exit from abusive marriages because their group is the majority. as such, the largely hindu societal culture is more receptive to their claims. muslim women, however, as part of a minority group, face cultural barriers that inhibit the state’s accommodation of their human rights. key terms: feminism, women’s rights, reproductive rights, patriarchy, india, muslim, hindu, shah bano, muslim personal law, kinship models, maternal health, multiculturalism introduction group mobilization, and state accommodation on the basis of culture, defines the nature of multicultural politics. to protect the legitimacy of their cultural claims under multiculturalism, dominant males seek to impose restrictions on the bodies of women within their cultural groups. this research seeks only to examine the autonomy of women in india. it asks if muslim culture in india is more oppressive toward women than the majority hindu culture. 1 it argues that although muslim religious doctrine explicitly restricts the availability of reproductive autonomy to women, hindu practices can also be highly restrictive. as this research focuses on women’s autonomy, multiculturalism, human rights, and the abortion 1 for the purposes of this research, culture is understood as “a way of life” that includes religion, language, values, symbols, and orientations constructed through socialization. it is not seen as homogenous, but as important to those who advocate for recognition and accommodation (li, 1999). the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 13 debate—prolife versus prochoice, it provides a portrayal of multiculturalism in india through a feminist lens. the debate is contextualized within india because the applicability of the preexisting theories is too limited due to overgeneralization 2 or because the focus only concerns western liberal democracies. 3 women’s sexual autonomy is examined as an indicator of the respective gender equity of the muslim and hindu populations coexisting within india. abortion is not forbidden to hindu women, but the women are denied sexual rights and emotional freedom insofar as husbands and their natal kin control most, if not all, aspects of their lives. such forms of control constitute human rights abuse. for hindu women, the human rights abuses range in some cases from mobility restrictions to marital rape and forced abortion. these abuses are surmised as just cause for the creation of a progressive uniform civil code. however, such a policy may only be described as “progressive” if a woman’s right to exit and dissociate from an illiberal culture is respected regardless of religious affiliation. this means that india has to repeal the muslim personal law (mpl) before it can begin to improve the status of all women in india, not just that of those in the majority. the consequences of the mpl will be detailed in turn. first, the rationale for the investigation into the status of muslim and hindu women must be clarified. theoretical rationale india was selected for this research because it is unique. it is both multicultural and democratic, while also highly oppressive in its treatment of women. furthermore, in contrast to the separation of church and state common in the global north, india’s federal government has enshrined the personal law of muslims into federal policy. followers of islam are effectively exempted from india’s civil law and instead allowed sovereignty over their own civil matters. consequently, india’s version of a multicultural society resembles kukathas’s (2001) libertarian model more closely than okin’s (1998) since the state does not overturn the gendered practices of the muslim cultural minority when the wider society finds those practices abhorrent. however, before proceeding in a comparison of women’s status within india’s two dominant cultures, it is necessary to ground my conceptions of gender and culture, along with feminism, in the context of indian society. societies and cultures are always biased toward one sex, while societal cultures, according to kymlicka (1995), are always biased toward the majority culture. in most cases, societies, cultures, and societal cultures are patriarchal, attributing higher value to the male sex and masculinity in general. this means that women in the minority experience a double discrimination because of their identity as a woman and cultural minority. many cultures in india—both minority and majority—are deeply patriarchal and remain stratified by gender insofar as women are exclusively defined by their sexed bodies. 2 kukathas (2001) argues from a libertarian standpoint that the state should tolerate all cultures, whether liberal or otherwise. 3 okin (1998) grants primacy to the values of liberal feminism over those of multiculturalism. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 14 sex determines gendered social roles; subsequently, female genitalia translate into obligatory caregiving and culture bearing duties (banerjee, 2005). additionally, if a woman is part of a minority culture, she will undoubtedly have restrictions placed on her body by dominant males within the group. patriarchal control of women’s bodies is a strategy that minority cultures employ to preserve their distinct cultural identity when they are situated within a societal culture biased toward the majority cultures (shachar, 2001). internal restrictions are placed on women’s bodies to control group membership because women control the entry and socialization of new members through childbirth and childcare. consequently, the social norms of a culture often act as structural barriers that constrain women within the private sphere and perpetuate their oppression, thereby preventing their emancipation from male control. these structural barriers are borne of the historical separation of the public and private spheres and the three hundred years of british colonial rule that consolidated patriarchy and communalism in india (banerjee, 2005). india’s colonial rulers brought with them the eurocentric conceptions of masculinity and femininity that were less pervasive in indian society at that time (banerjee, 2005). the west’s understandings of gender roles came to be internalized by india’s indigenous peoples who subsequently adopted the colonizers’ views of women in india as the “dependent subjects” of husbands, families, and communities. recognition bestowed on women in india by the british colonial authorities came to reflect the “cult of domesticity” common to colonies controlled by the british empire. the warren hastings plan of 1772 officially placed women under the dominion of husbands, families, and communities (mullally, 2004). british colonial legislation divided the public and private spheres, placing matters of inheritance, marriage, caste, and other religious usages and institutions under the authority of religious doctrine and, consequently, the men who interpret it (mullally, 2004). in its positioning of private sphere disputes under the control of dominant males, the warren hastings plan de-facto placed women under the exclusive control of men. personal laws came to define hindu and muslim women as the “boundary markers” (mullally, 2004, p. 676; steans, 2010, p. 84) of their cultures and traditional practices—now relegated to the private sphere. the british may have perceived indian men as their effeminate counterparts, but patriarchy dictates that they still recognize women as a man’s subsidiary. furthermore, colonial rule threatened the identities of india’s conquered indigenous peoples as it feminized the men (banerjee, 2005). colonial feminization fueled misogyny and a hyper-masculine backlash in india where the imported gender norms thrived. this exploration of the historical and social background, against which indian women have been subjugated, contributes to the apprehension of the cultural and gender barriers that continue to inhibit women’s emancipation in india today. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 15 women’s autonomy women cannot gain political influence until they have control over their own bodies. and for the purposes of this research, it is unfortunate that there are only scattered data concerning the relationship between religion and reproductive autonomy amidst the literature reviewed. what is known, according to rahman and rao (2004), is that purdah and gunghat—the practice of female seclusion where, in certain muslim and hindu societies, women are screened from men or strangers—are most prevalent in india’s muslim families. purdah and gunghat show mixed effects on mobility in that muslim women require permission to visit friends and relatives but less often require it to visit the market or health center (rahman & rao, 2004). these findings are counter-intuitive to the goals of seclusion insofar as allowing women to run errands without permission or escort creates a larger potential for rape or female infidelity; there are no relatives or friends present to protect or bear witness to extramarital affairs, be they consensual or not. one can only speculate that the logic behind allowing muslim women to attend only to errands that are ultimately linked to the nourishment and general health of children (without permission) is a product of religious belief. according to p. saikia (personal communication, october 11, 2010), most muslim societies maintain the devout belief that children are a gift from god that must be protected even before birth. consequently, women, as primary caregivers, are allotted some flexibility in their seclusion when it affects the health of children. evidence from multiple qualitative studies points to the equal autonomy of muslim and hindu women which manifests in different areas of their lives (rahman & rao, 2004). muslim women consistently have more autonomy within the household, and their influence over household expenditures provides them with a better selection of health care providers than is available to many hindu women (rahman & rao, 2004). hindu women have less influence over decisions concerning their own health as husbands and the natal kin of husbands often put financial concerns above the health of a new bride. the availability of finances independent of the husband, however, is the primary indicator of a women’s ability to seek maternal health services, according to bloom, wypij, and das gupta (2001). their study was conducted in an urban district of varanasi, uttar pradesh in northern india, and their findings suggest that employment outside the home as well as contact with natal kin correlates positively with utilization of maternal health services (bloom, wypij, & das gupta, 2001). this means that when government services are inadequate—they usually are—women seek private health care. unfortunately, the strict control over finances within extended households, which are common to northern societies, requires women to seek funds elsewhere until they reach an age where their opinions are more influential. rahmen and rao (2004) attribute differences in muslim and hindu female autonomy to economic conditions, specifically agriculture. they argue that when women work outside the home, their contributions to the household budget are acknowledged and they are afforded the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 16 greater input in financial matters (such as using money earned to pay for abortions, safe or unsafe). in southern india, women contribute more because the economy is largely dependent on wet-rice cultivation—women are said to have a comparative advantage in this vocation, although rahmen and rao do not elaborate on what this advantage is. the north contrasts the south in that crops are primarily wheat, which is easier for men to harvest because biology dictates that, on average, men typically posses greater upper-body strength than women do. consequently, women’s lack of authority in the north can be traced to their lower contribution to the household budget. lower financial contributions do not, however, always correlate to lower labour contributions. the embodied labour women perform as part of their primary caregiving responsibilities (housework and child-rearing) is not given monetary value and thus not taken into account as a contribution to the household budget (salleh, 2009). moreover, with fewer options to participate in the labour force, women in the north have to rely on the patriarch as the sole monetary provider. this argument, put forth by rahmen and rao (2004), is limited in that it can only apply to hindu women because muslim women are less likely to work in agriculture (jejeebhoy & sathar, 2001). therefore, the greater control muslim women have over finances cannot be attributed to crop variety. rahmen and rao’s work could benefit from a broader claim that encompasses the sales work in which muslim women are more commonly engaged as it is a form of wage labour that is recognized as a contribution to the household budget. the influence muslim women hold over finances can mean the difference between life and a pregnancy-related death. india’s maternal health services vary tremendously by region because of the inequitable development and distribution of resources that plague the country. maternal health service providers in india include state-run facilities, certified (or uncertified) private doctors, midwives, and traditional delivery services. having some control over the household budget allows muslim women to choose the safest option available to the family. young, low-caste hindu women are not as fortunate. if the kinship model is exogamic—spouses are unrelated and originate from different birthplaces and areas of residence, a hindu woman will be subject to the authority of the husband’s family, who will often opt for the lower costing, less safe, traditional delivery within the home (vissandjée, barlow, & fraser, 1997). hindus in general have been found to have a higher maternal mortality rate (573 per 100,000 live births) than muslims (384). muslims also fared better than hindus in terms of infant mortality rate. for hindus, it stands at seventy-seven per thousand, much higher than muslims (fifty-nine per 1,000) (registrar general, india, 2006). kinship and geopolitics according to dyson and moore (1983), india’s kinship models have the greatest impact on women’s autonomy. they characterize kinship models by three key principles: marriage rules, the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 17 ties to natal kin, and property rights. marriage rules largely define the institution of marriage in india. depending on the primacy of female chastity and dowry (property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage), marriage may be a strictly financial ritual as well as a means for establishing alliances between families rather than a celebration of love. ties to natal kin are especially important for women because without them, new brides can be left without any financial, social, or emotional support. the husband’s family can be hostile to the new bride if her dowry was not significant enough or if she bears female children, as son preference is very common in patriarchal cultures in south asia (seager, 2009). property rights, if they are recognized, are also a valuable resource for women in india. for widows or female siblings, having ownership rights to property can serve as a protection against debt bondage because the land can be farmed, sold, leased, or used to leverage loans. in other words, property rights translate into independent income for women in india. different combinations of these kinship practices determine the autonomy of women in different regions of india. the major differences in gender equality between the north and south arise from these three principles of kinship (dyson & moore, 1983). in the north, marriage rules are exogamic, leading to great tensions between patrilineally related groups of males. marriage becomes the means of establishing alliances between groups. the chastity of wives is of great importance and can often lead to purdah and gunghat (rahman & rao, 2004). it is also not uncommon to find dowry concerns provided by a new bride’s in-laws as a cultural defense 4 for sati, a form of femicide where a new bride is burned at the stake (kumar & kanth, 2004). the cultural accommodation legal defense is addressed in the section discussing mpl. when sati occurs, it is labeled culturally from a defensive stance as an “honour killing.” 5 in fact, the murder is used as a means for the husband to renege on marital vows without returning the dowry. furthermore, in some northern states, the emotional ties between husband and wife are thought to threaten group solidarity, causing women to be separated from the men and the political aspects of the marriage arrangement. wives, and women in general, are stereotyped and (mis)recognized as selfish, malicious, and promiscuous; they are said to corrupt men’s logic and reason with their destructive mannerisms (dyson & moore, 1983). the importance of dowry and chastity, in addition to the disingenuous concerns for an emotive connection between spouses, transforms the ceremony of marriage under the northern kinship model into a formalized and state sanctioned trafficking in human beings (sullivan, 2010). a representative example of the impassive nature of northern marriage rules is the offering of dowry combined with the fact that women are rarely allowed to visit their natal kin after marriage. new brides are thought to begin a completely new life after marriage so that 4 the cultural defense argues that “*p+ersons socialized in a minority or foreign culture, who regularly conduct themselves in accordance with their own culture’s norms, should not be held fully accountable to the full prescriptions of their own culture” (magnarella, 1991, p. 67). 5 the term “honour killing,” much like “mail order bride,” is contested because it takes away women’s agency and removes any context or backstory from the motivation for why the murder occurred. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 18 the interests of the bride’s natal kin do not threaten those of the husband’s family (bloom et al., 2001). the social life of a hindu woman in the north is considerably gendered, given the importance of a woman’s chastity, dowry, and her lacking contact with natal kin. she also holds no property or inheritance rights, making her merely the link through which property rights are transferred to offspring. northern kinship practices severely restrict women’s autonomy. brides are seen only as sexual objects and empty vessels whose purpose in life is to birth (preferably) male children and serve men. the northern kinship model places them under the control of men and the mothers of those men, thereby denying them any agency whatsoever. employment opportunities are also gendered in the north insofar as women residing in northern states are commonly limited to formal employment in which they may only interact with other women. this ensures their chastity and the group’s solidarity while also reinforcing traditional gender roles, since women primarily become teachers and nurses if they are not participating in agricultural labour. under this repressive model of kinship, a woman’s only means of exercising any social influence as a new bride is through gossip and other such social channels (dyson & moore, 1983). brides are most often subjected to the authority of their mother-in-law because northern families tend to live in extended households where multiple generations cohabit (vissandjée et al., 1997). however, all of the authors within the literature reviewed agree that with increased age comes increased autonomy, regardless of region (dyson & moore, 1983; bloom et al., 2001). trust and influence are gained incrementally. access to maternal health care services though the kinship model greatly influences a woman’s autonomy and access to maternal health services, the region in which she resides often determines the quality of service. health care is a state head-of-power in india, and states are allowed to tailor their health services to the needs of each community. in many countries, this model is highly efficient, as lower levels of government are often more sensitive to the needs of their constituents than the federal government. unfortunately, the political and bureaucratic corruption in india leads to large disparities in the provision and quality of health care. rural areas are dominated by private clinics because the government facilities are of poor quality and lack the staff needed to meet demand (bhatia & cleland, 1995). government services may be advertised as free, but patients often have to incur hidden expenses, creating the perception that there is no real advantage in using government services. private practitioners fill the gap by providing services ranging from family planning services to antenatal and postnatal care. however, these services are expensive, and most women cannot afford them. they can also be risky, as most practitioners have no certified medical qualifications (bhatia & cleland, 1995). in the conservative northern states, health care is largely provided by poorly regulated private enterprises offering mostly substandard services (chawla, 2007), though they are still desirable relative to those provided by the state. the inadequate provision and scarce use of the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 19 maternal health services contributes to a high rate of maternal mortality: 599 deaths per 100,000 live births in uttar pradesh compared with india’s total average of 437 deaths per 100,000 live births (bloom et al., 2001). preference for male children is high because of the traditions of patrilineal decent, producing sex ratios in rajasthan of 850 females per 1,000 males (seager, 2009; chawla, 2007). it appears that capitalist pressures and patriarchy reinforce son preference and the feminization of poverty in northern india. male children are perceived as economic assets insofar as they can generate future income for the family, in contrast to daughters, whom are perceived as economic burdens (chawla, 2007). despite region and kinship model’s effect on women’s maternal health, class remains the foremost indicator of a woman’s access to maternal health services in rural india, according to vissandjée et al. (1997). vissandjée et al. demonstrate how the travel variable is the largest impediment to women’s access to maternal health services because of hidden costs associated with travel—time off from work, transportation, food, accommodation, and so on. older highcaste hindu women fare best because they control enough resources to have a private doctor come to their home. contrary to the privileged upper-caste, low-caste hindu women are faced with barriers to their own human security as they struggle to find time off from agricultural work to travel to a clinic (vissandjée et al., 1997). young low-caste hindu women living in extended family households are particularly susceptible to maternal mortality. the mother-inlaw’s influence over family finances often means the pregnant daughter-in-law will be more likely to have a less safe traditional childbirth which is cheaper than a physician-assisted birth (vissandjée et al., 1997). in contrast, muslim women are less alienated from natal kin than northern hindu women, that familial contact can mean better health care for a woman because natal kin will often assist in financing a safer in-hospital birth (jejeebhoy & sathar, 2001). a woman’s access to maternal health care depends on numerous variables including caste, class, age, religion, location, kinship practices, and community norms and mores. in southern india, the ideal marriage in both muslim and hindu cultures is between second cousins or between uncle and niece. marriage rules are endogamic, meaning that brides live closer to their natal kin and are thus likely to visit more often. closer ties to natal kin provide married women with more financial resources with which to exert influence over their reproductive autonomy. women’s sexuality and movement are less strictly controlled, and, therefore, female chastity is of less importance in the south. evidently, marriage is less politically gendered and more egalitarian under southern kinship models insofar as the union is based on mutual attraction between partners rather than financial benefit. in the more egalitarian south, kinship practices dictate that women can sometimes inherit property rights, as marriage ties are as important to social organization as blood ties. marriage arrangements are more conventional, considering that dowry is less prevalent and nuclear families are more common with the ties between husband and wife not perceived as a threat to the social group. this allows for less sex-specific communication and therefore less restriction on a women’s the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 20 choice of employment (dyson & moore, 1983). the greater autonomy of women in south, relative to those in the north, must be attributed to the kinship practices inherited from the dravidian culture insofar as muslim and hindu women’s freedoms vary only in minor instances such as employment. in contrast with the northern states, southern states, such as tamil nadu, are more developed and have a more modern liberal culture. income is much higher, the human development index is higher, fertility rates are lower, son preference is less prevalent, and the government and bureaucracy are much less corrupt (chawla, 2007; seager, 2009). the government in tamil nadu also invests more in public health care; it owns 78 percent of the hospitals (chawla, 2007). however, in india, the federal government does not make equalization payments to its “have-not” states as the canadian government does to the provinces. consequently, resources are concentrated in various regions of the country, as opposed to being distributed equally, causing women in many rural districts to seek privatized abortion service providers (many of whom are without any recognized medical qualification) because of the greater accessibility and quality relative to that of government service providers (varkey et al., 2000). seeing as abortion is more acceptable within the southern hindu culture, the south can be thought more liberal in terms of reproductive justice than the north. the intense aversion to abortion in the north may be attributed to the influence of the husband’s family’s often traditional values, which are common in the extended households of the northern aryan kinship model (dyson & moore, 1983). the comparative wealth and modernization common in the south correlate with modern liberal values, which allow women greater access to maternal health services. the inequitable distribution of resources within those states, however, leaves many rural pockets of poverty in which women’s maternal health occupies a disadvantaged position. southern culture may provide women with a greater reproductive autonomy, but when an impoverished woman must journey great distances to exercise this freedom, the travel variable proves more important than either region or religion. religion and reproductive rights amongst all the analysis of culture, kinship structures, and regional disparities, there lie only scattered data concerning the religious aspect of culture and reproductive autonomy. the data suggest that muslim women are no less autonomous than hindu women in terms of their access to maternal health services (bloom et al., 2001; jejeebhoy & sathar, 2001; rahman & rao, 2004). muslim women consistently have more decision-making power within the household as well as on issues concerning of their own health and that of their children (with the exception of accessing abortion services) (rahman & rao, 2004). the greater influence muslim women hold in these areas can be attributed to their responsibilities as the primary caregivers. the muslim male vanguard interprets the koran in a manner that strictly restricts the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 21 women’s reproductive agency. aside from these restrictions, muslim women are largely autonomous within the domestic sphere. hindu women differ insofar as they are more reproductively autonomous but wield less influence in household decision-making. muslim women may have a greater ability to reach clinics for prenatal and antenatal services, but the use of any form of birth control is forbidden by muslim religious doctrine (chawla, 2007). consequently, the fertility rate among muslim women is higher (jejeebhoy & sathar, 2001) relative to hindu women, whose rates of maternal mortality are climbing because of unsafe abortion (seager, 2009; varkey et al., 2000). more children translate into greater responsibilities for women as the primary caregivers, causing a decrease in the likelihood of their becoming politically active. contraception may be forbidden to protect unborn muslim children, but it effectively limits a woman’s control over her body and life choices. at the other end of the spectrum, abortion has become normalized within hindu culture. many hindu women believe that it is normal to have at least one abortion in a lifetime (varkey et al., 2000); they use it as a means of spacing out births and limiting family size. rather than using temporary contraceptive measures such as condoms or iuds, 49 percent of hindu women opt for their own sterilization while only 0.3 percent of hindu men get sterilized (sundari ravindran & balasubramanian, 2004). hindu women are said to not use condoms for three reasons: (1) they reduce the man’s pleasure during intercourse; (2) they are not regularly available; and (3) they are difficult to dispose of, as men often prefer to flush them down the toilet, raising both plumbing and environmental issues. furthermore, many hindu women consider condoms to be appropriate only for prostitutes and extra-marital relationships and when a man fears he will get hiv. they may be forced by their families to have abortions in some cases (sundari ravindran & balasubramanian, 2004). reasons offered by hindu women for their distaste for iuds and birth control pills are complaints of adverse side effects and the inconvenience of having to take the pill daily (sundari ravindran & balasubramanian, 2004; varkey et al., 2000). it appears that india’s patriarchal culture creates a distaste in both hindu and muslim communities for contraceptives. these attitudes toward birth control and women’s bodies reflect the gendering of indian society that socializes women to internalize feelings of inferiority, leaving their bodies vulnerable to male control. they reflect the low status hindu women carry within their marriages and society in general. as sundari ravindran and balasubramania (2004) demonstrate, hindu culture has effectively said “yes” to abortion but “no” to women’s sexual rights. in some cases, this repression translates into the husband’s all-encompassing control over his wife’s body, posing a threat to her human security. when a woman’s human security is threatened under such circumstances, okin (1998) would argue, india, as a liberal democracy (according to freedom house (2010)), has a positive obligation to reform the cultural practices of the oppressor group. her claim that groups whose traditions and practices are illiberal should be reformed through education preferably, but where necessary by punishment, is important (okin, 1998). india, the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 22 however, is unable to take any policy advice from okin because (a) okin ignores the possibility that illiberal traditions may have real and valuable meaning for the women whom she assumes are oppressed and trapped in a false consciousness and (b) the corruption and instability of government renders the implementation of such progressive national reforms impossible. though it is true that some cultures socialize one sex (usually the female) into inferior roles, okin’s argument assumes that all women who do not value liberal feminism have a false consciousness. perhaps her framing of a dichotomy between culture and feminism is essentialist in its approach insofar as it forces individual women to choose one at the expense of the other. often, the perceived choice is only an illusion, as culture is a major aspect of identity. when culture is lost, an individual may also lose his or her family, friends, social support, and financial support. indeed, there is much to lose if a woman chooses rights over culture. policy recommendations – family planning in a country where abortion has been legal since 1971, women should not be opting for sterilization and unsafe abortion in such large numbers. they are only doing so because they cannot force vasectomies on their male sexual partners. furthermore, safe abortions in india are too costly while cheap abortions are unsafe—especially when preformed by an unqualified practitioner using high-risk procedures as late as seven months into a pregnancy (seager, 2009; varkey et al., 2000). the federal government should be combating india’s distaste for temporary contraceptive use because this will reduce the spread of hiv—which in south and south-east asia is the highest after africa (seager, 2009)—and it will help control the growth of a population which india cannot sustain even at present. fortunately, the federal government can at least take a step in the right direction without implementing any major policy reforms. it could invest heavily in sex education and promotion of condom use to promote safe sex and to dispel the stigma attached to condom usage. condoms are not simply an implement created for sex workers or unfaithful husbands; they are a weapon that the state should draw to combat both the spread of hiv to men and women and india’s unsustainable population growth (central intelligence agency, 2010). the medical services required for childbirth and hiv treatment are expensive and cost india large sums of money. this is money that could be redirected toward its development goals. proactive policies would greatly reduce percentage of the state’s budget that is dedicated to health care (world health organization, 2006). india’s family planning programs need intensive reforms, and the proactive prevention of pregnancy is consistent with both india’s economic interests and its human rights concerns. disease prevention and population decline should reduce medical expenditures as increased condom usage allows women at least some control over their bodies. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 23 sexualized violence – hindu women many women have some ability to control their fertility in the south, but not enough as to be able to generalize beyond jejeebhoy and sathar’s (2001) findings that fertility rates for both muslims and hindus are lower in the south than in the north. though southern women are said to have greater autonomy due to a more egalitarian culture, hindu women residing within the progressive state of tamil nadu are commonly victims of sexual violence within their marriages. i speculate that the same is likely true for muslim women. nonetheless, the disturbing quotations of hindus in ravindran sundari and balasubramanian’s (2004) research on abortion in the south of india illustrate experiences with marital rape and domestic violence, instead of supporting claims of a relatively egalitarian society. they report the following: sixty percent of the women interviewed (44/66) stated that they could not refuse if their husbands desired to have sex. sexual violence was embedded within marriage in a wider context of the use or threat of physical violence to keep women submissive, however. five women reported intimate partner violence if a non-sexual nature in addition to the 40 who reported sexual violence. (ravindran sundari and balasubramanian, 2004, p. 95) hindu men are “taking abortion very lightly in india—as if it were something they can pay for and be done with” (ravindran sundari & balasubramanian’s, 2004, p. 98). as a result, many hindu women are having abortions because they lack the ability to say no to their husbands. this lack of sexual agency leaves them disempowered and oppressed. forced abortion and marital rape are intimately connected and threaten a woman’s human security. moreover, they are not matters that can be brushed aside by claims of cultural relativism. according to the universal declaration of human rights, article 3, “[e]veryone has the right to life, liberty[,] and security of person.” consequently, women (no matter what their identity or marital status) have the right to be sovereign over their own bodies, and they have the right to say “no” to sex. this is not the case according to several of the hindu women interviewed in ravindran sundari and balasubramanian’s (2004) research. the atrocious sexualized violence discovered in their study can only be communicated satisfactorily by quotation. in these instances, the wives are defined exclusively by their bodies and misrecognized by husbands as sex slaves and empty vessels. the women have no visible agency; they appear to be objectified and recognized as the private property of men. some men might regret their cruelty in the morning; however, they will only commit to financing abortions as a solution to the unwanted pregnancy resulting from their sexual abuse. some young hindu women have described their sexual experiences with men as well as their personal views on abortion: i have aborted two pregnancies—the second and the fourth. fear and embarrassment in asking for spacing methods and his compulsion for sex have led to three unwanted pregnancies and two abortions. even though men are the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 24 responsible for pregnancy, people generally say it is the woman’s fault. they say: “men are good, but women are foolish, emotional and looking for bodily pleasure.” (ravindran sundari & balasubramanian, 2004, p. 96) here is a young woman whose culture is highly conservative, making sex a topic not often available for discussion. fear and embarrassment should not serve as a justification to abstaining from a serious discussion concerning birth control. moreover, the stereotype that women are foolish and irrational serves only as an outdated sexist tool with which to repress women. in india, the man always claims to know the best course of action. sex, for the men discussed in this study, is not a reciprocal expression of love between partners but rather a mechanical performance choreographed for men’s exclusive pleasure. a woman has little say even when her life is in jeopardy: i am pregnant now. i had decided to abort this one also, whether i live or not (my emphasis). but he and my father convinced me to have this child and then have the operation. [after the previous abortion,] the doctors did not say anything about preventative methods [contraceptives]. when i asked my husband to find out whether there is anything to avoid getting pregnant, he said: “am i having sex with a prostitute that i have to ask about preventing pregnancy?” (ravindran sundari & balasubramanian, 2004, p. 96) ravindran sundari and balasubramanian’s study accurately paints a shameful portrait of patriarchy and misogyny in the lower-castes of hindu society. the study participants (93 percent belonging to the low-caste dalit community) represent the largest caste in the hindu caste system, making the dalit-dominated sample an accurate, while disturbing, portrayal of marital relations in hindu culture. it reveals the painfully low status hindu women have in a culture that socializes them to believe that they are, for all intents and purposes, the property of the patriarch, be it a father or husband. many hindu men see sex within marriage as a right in which a hindu wife has no say. they do communicate an understanding that the sexualized violence they inflict upon their wives is wrong, although they also convey that they will continue to assert their dominance as long as their actions continue to lack consequence. such misogyny is not limited to hindu culture, as it is part of the legacy of british colonialism where the colonizers feminized the indigenous peoples in india. muslim women are in a position no less oppressed because, without access to birth control, they are forced to have more children than they have the means to provide for (census of india, 2001; jeffery and jeffery, 1997; the council on foreign relations, 2007). poverty compounded with a high birthrate causes the legitimization of birth control to sit high on the agenda of muslim women’s rights activists (or islamic feminists). women’s rights activism islamic feminists cannot appeal to the state to lend legitimacy to their claims as hindu women the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 25 may. muslim women’s claims to freedom and equality are complicated by the mpl, which requires the state to remain largely neutral on matters of cultural practice. the mpl serves as both a restriction and lifeline to islamic feminists because it calls for the resolution of private sphere disputes as prescribed by religious doctrine derived from the koran. historically, men have been the sole interpreters of the koran, and while traditionally religious texts have been read patriarchally, a new breed of islamic feminists have argued that the koran “grants muslim women numerous rights that in practice are routinely denied” (vatuk, 2008, p. 489). these women seek to change islam from within by reinterpreting the koran with a gender-neutral understanding rather than lobbying a federal government for a uniform civil code that does not serve its own electoral interests. the fact that the state has no role to play in the muslim private sphere can also be recognized as an advantage for islamic feminists. once their social movement to reform mpl reaches a critical mass, change can be made swiftly without too many formalities and bureaucratic red tape. if islamic feminists could pursue litigation strategies or other conventional modes of pursuing social change, they would be faced with corruption and partisan barriers in addition to sexism. instead, by choosing to derive their values from feminist interpretations of the koran, islamic feminists are reclaiming their religion by challenging the well-entrenched and widely influential religious authorities in muslim culture. their challenges are supported by the educational and technological advances associated with globalization which have allowed for religious texts to be mass produced and read by more people who no longer have to rely on middlemen to (mis)interpret the word of allah. this surfacing fragmentation within the muslim community indicates a problem that must be addressed before the outdated gendered traditions can be overhauled. a muslim woman is twice marginalized within india because she belongs to a minority religion whose traditions and practices are highly gendered. the dominant voices claiming to represent the interests of all muslims in india are but a small elite fraction of men within the culture. these men privilege themselves and men in general by silencing subversive voices of feminists within the group who are calling for the promotion of women’s rights within an islamic framework. the male elite has exclusive control over the interpretation of the koran’s text. they employ this power to dispel dissenting groups, such as the sisters of islam, by deploying accusations of the sisters’ acquiescence of western values and americanization. listening to these rebellious women will benefit muslims as a group in terms of both health and human security (obaid, 2005). large families are commonly unsustainable in developed nations, let alone densely populated developing ones such as india. the reality facing islamic culture is that allah is not providing for all and leaving the size of a family up to his will is irresponsible. contraception may seem unacceptable to the majority of muslims today, but if the leaders of muslim organizations are invited to and involved in india’s family planning programs, perhaps these the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 26 perceptions will change. what i am calling for is a globalization of feminist values from below. grassroots organizations like development alternatives for women network (dawn) need to be included in the discussion on state policy. dawn and its sister organizations bring the lived experiences of women and other actors, whom the decisions of the state affect most, to the policy table (moghadam, 2005). obaid (2005) illustrates the feasibility of such measures by identifying five stages adopted in indonesia to involve muslim leaders in a national family planning initiative: 1. learning and understanding their roles and status among the people; 2. building the vision that islam is not against family planning and reproductive health; 3. continuing communication with muslim leaders and organization for their advice and religious interpretation; 4. providing non-financial rewards for the involvement of muslim leaders and organizations; and 5. supporting programs in reproductive health and family planning by these institutions. (p. 1167) the sisters of islam and the indonesian example of government collaboration with faith-based institutions demonstrate that the muslim culture is not monolithic. there are dissenting factions within the groups, and there are leaders open to the adjustment of certain religious laws to end the unnecessary suffering attributed to hiv and unwanted pregnancies. muslim personal law and the shah bano case the key difference between muslim and hindu women in their pursuit of human rights is that their cultural identity impacts both to whom they address their claims for gender justice and how they present those claims. hindu women are better situated under federal legislation to exit from abusive marriages because their cultural group is the majority and therefore the largely hindu societal culture is more receptive to their claims. muslim women, however, as part of a minority group, face cultural barriers that inhibit the state’s accommodation of their human rights. in the shah bano case, a muslim woman invoked the code of criminal procedure—a general law applying to all citizens regardless of religion—in her efforts to exit the confines of mpl (mullally, 2004). she was seeking maintenance (alimony) from her former husband, who retorted that his duty to pay should be determined under the muslim personal law and not the general law (mullally, 2004). the supreme court ruled for shah bano, providing the federal government with a convenient opportunity to implement a uniform civil code. in fact, the court explicitly called on the government to do so (mullally, 2004). unfortunately, conservative muslim elites responded by influencing shah bano’s community to pressure her to withdraw her claim for maintenance. they drew on essentialist representations of muslim culture to influence the government to support their interests because any perceived the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 27 disregard toward muslims could result in the administration’s loss of the muslim voter support it needed to maintain rule. subsequently, the federal government enacted the 1986 muslim women’s (protection of rights in divorce) act and effectively overturned the court’s verdict. government responsiveness to communal interest group pressure has reinstated the ties that bind muslim women to their husbands, families, and communities as dependent subjects and boundary markers. shah bano’s coerced recantation homogenized the muslim culture in india, creating the illusion of group solidarity thereby successfully denying muslim women the right to participate in debates to determine the limits of cultural claims. the shah bano case illustrates the debates surrounding the way in which claims for multicultural accommodation are used to silence women. culture is too often taken as an inalienable monolith, causing the dissent within the religious community to be ignored (mullally, 2004). moreover, india’s discourse of communalism defines individuals solely through religious membership, thereby sacrificing gender equity to placate communal tensions (mullally, 2004). under pressure from her community, shah bano had no choice but to recant her claims because she would have been ostracized. court-ordered maintenance would also have been difficult for her to enforce from her marginalized position. she would be forced to uproot her life and relocate, starting alone in a new community and lacking the social or financial resources necessary to provide for herself. the combination of communalist discourse and the election of weak coalition governments result in the preserved legitimacy of a gendered personal law for muslims, which restricts a woman’s ability to exit and dissociate herself from the confines of islam. according to both mullally (2004) and okin (1998), great numbers of muslim women do not support the illiberal status quo. many muslim women in india do not support the patriarchal practices that leave them subservient within their culture. mullally demonstrates how they “have protested the double standard that is being applied on behalf of their aggressors” (p. 674) with legal cases studies while okin does so with interviews. unfortunately, the federal government is hesitant to override the personal laws of religion because of their liberal multicultural discourse, which states that all cultures must be respected, even the illiberal ones which the wider majority finds abhorrent. india has even ratified the 1979 un convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women which has been critical to the raising of awareness regarding violence against women around the globe (joachim, 2007), but it did so only upon the inclusion of a caveat declaration stating that the convention cannot interfere with the personal laws of minority communities (mullally, 2004). the mpl refuses muslim women the rights entitled to them by virtue of their humanity and citizenship. the defense of cultural differences fails to justify the oppression of muslim women. mpl exposes india’s commitments, both international and domestic, to women’s human rights as empty promises. the supreme court of india would agree that the rights of individuals should be held above the interests of groups in a liberal democracy because the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 28 intended ruling favoured shah bano’s individual rights over the mpl’s “distinct culture” defense. groups are not important in and of themselves; their worth lies only in the importance they hold for the individual’s well-being. if a group’s traditions impair the well-being of one gender to advance the interests of another, those practices should be redressed by the state. hindu women are better equipped with more legal rights and state assistance to distance themselves from the illiberal traditions that constrain them because the state interprets the law. these tools are unavailable to muslim women, who must conform to the demands of religious elites who interpret the koran and mpl. the shah bano case provides a definitive example of how important it is that the federal government implements a progressive uniform civil code to better protect both muslim and hindu women from the paradox of multicultural vulnerability. cultural restrictions should not be placed on women’s bodies solely in the interest of protecting a group’s distinct cultural identity. hindu women do have more resources and autonomy to pursue rights claims than muslim women under some circumstances, but the reverse is also true. none of this is to say that muslim women should not continue with reclaiming their religion. by continuing their struggle and networking with other feminists, muslim women can nationalize their pursuit of substantive reproductive and gender justice in india. conclusion hindu women have the law on their side while muslim women are faced with a male dominated theocracy. this dynamic, however, can work in favour of muslim women. islamic feminists can mobilize their muslim sisters to displace the men who exclude them and their interpretations of the koran. one may also appeal to the state to put aside the partisan politics and get to work, as india’s multiculturalism is essentializing and prioritizing culture at the expense of a culture’s weakest group members, namely women and children. unfortunately, the leadership gap limits the legislature’s ability to pass any bills other than those that reflect regional and political favouritism. the indian government’s legislative inabilities leave the pursuit of gender and reproductive justice in the already full hands of women and civil society. hindu and muslim women must work together in concert to emancipate themselves from the cultures which render them the powerless objects of men. they must form a coalition of their own within indian civil society focused on conscious-raising and social support to resolve communalist and gender tensions in india. much of this progress is currently underway as india’s women struggle to come together in solidarity through coalition. the voices of feminism in contemporary india are growing in volume as they untie the tipping point of equal rights legislation approaches. it is very likely that the grassroots organizations and research by women in civil society and ngo’s will have to be the drivers behind the social change needed to gain reproductive justice for both hindu and muslim women. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 29 references banerjee, s. 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(2010). body politics: human rights in international relations. in l. j. shepard (ed.), gender matters in global politics: a feminist introduction to international relations (pp. 74-88). new york: routledge. sullivan, b. (2010) trafficking in human beings. in l. j. shepard (ed.), gender matters in global politics: a feminist introduction to international relations (pp. 89-102). new york: routledge. sundari ravindran, t. k., & balasubramanian, p. (2004). “yes” to abortion but “no” to sexual rights: the paradoxical reality of married women in rural tamil nadu, india. reproductive health matters, 12(23), 88-99. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ united nations. general assembly. 1949 universal declaration of human rights. retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ varkey, p., balakrishna, p. p., prasad, j. h., abraham, s., & josheph a. (2000). the reality of unsafe abortion in a rural community in south india. reproductive health matters, 8(16), 83-91. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ vatuk, sylvia. (2008). islamic feminism in india: indian muslim women activists and the reform of muslim personal law. modern asian studies, 42(2), 489–518. retrieved from http://journals.cambridge.org/ vissandjée, b., barlow, r., & fraser, d. w. (1997). utilization of health services among rural women in gujarat, india. public health, 111, 135-148. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 31 world health organization. 2006. country cooperation strategy. retrieved from http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccsbrief_ind_en.pdf the council on foreign relations. 2007. india’s muslim population. new york: author. contact information joshua kepkay, from the department of political science, can be reached at jdkepkay@gmail.com. acknowledgements i would like to thank the university of victoria for the opportunity to pursue my own independent research. also, i would like to extend thanks to my mentor and supervisor, dr. janni aragon, for the guidance, support, and wisdom that she continually provides me and so many other students with. as a 2010/11 recipient of an undergraduate research scholarship, i began work this year on a historical novel (which i intend t the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 94 on historical fiction martin ainsley rain hisses like swinging snakes and gutters gurgle. orito watches a vein pulsating in yayoi’s throat. the belly craves food, she thinks, the tongue craves water, the heart craves love, and the mind craves stories. it is stories, she believes, that make life in the house of sisters tolerable, stories in all their forms: the gifts’ letters, tittle-tattle, recollections, and tall tales like hatsune’s singing skull. she thinks of myths of gods, of izanami and izanagi, of buddha and jesus, and perhaps the goddess of mount shiranui, and wonders whether the same principle is not at work. orito pictures the human mind as a loom that weaves disparate threads of belief, memory, and narrative into an entity whose common name is self, and which sometimes calls itself perception. —david mitchell, the thousand autumns of jacob de zoet readers of the excerpt from askew that accompanies this short essay will already know that askew is a historical novel, set in the latter half of the19th century, about the lives of two english immigrants to british columbia, thomas george askew and isabel julia curtis. what may not be obvious from reading the fiction alone is that these characters are not my original creations but are based on the lives of real people who bore those names. in broad outline, the lives of my characters parallels what can be gleaned from archival sources about the lives of the real george askew and isabel curtis (who eventually married and settled in chemainus, bc, i should add), but the characters themselves, their motives, voices, and interactions are, properly speaking, fictional. many years ago, as an undergraduate student of history, i first encountered—and wrote a paper, subsequently published in the bc historical news, about— the english prospector and colonist george askew. that essay considered askew as a case study in the application of the rhetoric and ethics of the victorian ideal of the “self-made man.” at the time, i was both intrigued and frustrated with the way my research kept branching out, as i discovered more and more interesting facts and characters, most of which i could not use to advance my thesis. the necessity of a rigorous focus in this context was also a kind of wilful blindness to other currents. at the same time, i found myself teasing at the gaps in the available evidence—the connections that are implied but not explicit, connections that suggested themselves, but for which i could find no archival support. and finally, there was simply the fact that details of many people’s lives are hidden from history; the records that exist are the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 95 necessarily incomplete and selective, a problem that historians of women, first nations, and the lower classes have long struggled with. for example, the experience of askew’s wife, isabel, intrigued me, but her story was beyond the scope of my thesis. i was interested in the way askew’s decisions and experiences were informed by, and showed up the faults in, the contemporary myth of the “self-made man.” as such, my thesis had no room for much consideration of mrs. askew. moreover, the archival sources privilege george askew over his wife, as he was the public face of the family; at least until his death, it is his name that appears on government documents; and it is his correspondence—with his mentor, rev. c.e. searle, and with the colonial authorities over myriad business and public concerns—that survives. isabel’s voice in the records is weak. yet she survived his death by nearly twenty years, raising their eight children alone, embarking on many business ventures of her own, and coping with the machinations of her overbearing mother and avaricious stepfather. like countless other individuals, she left little direct evidence of her life. what was her experience like? i had a strong sense that the particular lives of these people were much more interesting than the generalizations of my thesis—or any academic study—could possibly show. i nursed the notion of turning the askews into fiction for a very long time. i had been drawn to history as a way of understanding the lived experience of people in other times and places, but history—and rightly so—moves from the specific to the general. its subject is people, whereas fiction is about persons. as aristotle noted, history tells us what has happened, fiction (or poetry 1 ) what might happen: for this reason poetry is more philosophical and more serious than history. poetry tends to express universals, and history particulars. the universal is the kind of speech or action which is consonant with a person of a given kind in accordance with probability or necessity; this is what poetry aims at, even though it applies individual names. the particular is the actions or experiences of (e.g.) alcibiades. (51a-b) what is the nature, then, of historical fiction? how does it combine (or confound) the roles of the poet and the historian, and how is it different or similar in intent, focus, and function from academic history? i chose narrative fiction as the way to tell this story, so why is this choice preferable to an academic approach? work like this—at the interstices between fiction and history—inevitably raises questions of the author’s intentions; of the relation between fiction and fact; of the nature and purpose of research itself; and even of the nature and purpose of fictional narrative. 1 aristotle would, of course, find no meaningful distinction between our terms for poet, playwright, and novelist; “poetry” here is read to subsume all forms of literary artistry. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 96 reading and writing fiction is a form of play. fiction allows its readers to think about the experience of others, but in a self-reflexive manner. fiction allows empathy and identification. we pretend to read about others (pretend because it is fiction), but we ultimately read (and write) fiction to learn about ourselves. the illusion of fiction—the way it seems real even as we know it is not—allows us to imagine ourselves as others, to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, to experience and examine (hopefully) our emotional and intellectual response to the characters’ actions. and occasionally, too, fiction succeeds by failing; our lack of comprehension across boundaries of culture, for example, highlights the diversity of human experience. fiction is also a way to interrogate ideas, to let characters play out in the “real world” (imaginatively conceived) the conflicts and ramifications of different ideas, ideologies, and world-views. history is much more direct and explicit in its concerns. history seldom concerns itself with counterfactuals—what might have happened if . . . ?—except as an occasionally useful thought experiment. ideas that do not have long-term traction, actions that are not taken, fall away from the essential questions of what happened and why. but for individuals, decisions that are not taken are often of as much importance as those that are. history as lived by its participants is always contingent, never determined. possibilities are endless. historical fiction is a way to understand history from the inside out. it is necessarily an imaginative exercise, but it is no less complex or rigorous than academic study for that. research into the historical reality—the facts of what happened—provides the context; fiction provides the content—the what-might-have-happened. colonial british columbia is a nexus of such possibilities. from the perspective of this time and place, nothing about the future in which we now live could be taken for granted. geopolitically, the competing claims of imperial britain and the westward-expanding united states shadowed over the legitimate claims of the region’s first nations, and european immigrants still comprised a minority of the people living in the colonial territories. successful colonization (whatever that might mean for the european powers) was far from assured. the u.s. was sliding toward a civil war, the outcome of which was impossible to predict, while the pressures of a massive influx of gold-seeking immigrants—mostly young, mostly male—from eastern canada and the united states, england, europe and elsewhere threatened to upend diplomatic equilibrium between the political powers. economically, european nations and their colonies, present and former, were beginning a massive shift from agrarian to industrial bases, with concomitant shifts in structures of class and social standing. in the domestic sphere, new understandings of masculinity and femininity, and the role of the family, were challenging the old. yet within the network of all these powerful, overarching, and long-term forces, ordinary men and women lived their lives day to day. it is here that the novelist’s true powers—of observation, description, characterization—come into play to illuminate the ways that these impersonal forces affect the individuals that are the novel’s proper subject. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 97 if history’s primary fidelity is to society, fiction’s is to the individual. history is the story we tell about ourselves as a group, and often, there are competing versions of this story. fiction is the story of the individual, but its “factual” equivalent is not memoir. memoir is about a particular individual. fiction pretends to be, in order that the reader can imaginatively empathize with the fiction’s subject, in a way that is potentially deeper than our identification with the putatively “real” subject of memoir. each of us, while we read, becomes the characters of fiction. the serious writer of historical fiction, then, must serve two masters. while writing alias grace, atwood (1998) set herself some guidelines: when there was a solid fact, i could not alter it; . . . every major element in the book had to be suggested by something in the writing about grace and her times, however dubious such writing might be. (p. 1515) it is not necessary to be as faithful to extant written records as this (indeed, it is not adherence to the “facts” that distinguishes atwood’s novel, but the way she exploits discrepancies in the records), but there must be fidelity to the historical reality to the extent that history is our common inheritance. the past is like the foundation of a house, long since buried beneath the ground and the bricks of the present’s structure. it is undeniably there, but our access to it is indirect and informed by what we know of the structure that has been built upon it. sometimes this obligation to the past entails overt or covert questioning of the ways history is recorded, preserved, and interpreted—interrogating the relationship between history and the past—just as alias grace questions the very sources upon which it is based; or as george bowering in burning water worries about whose histories are preserved and whose obfuscated by time and circumstance. this fidelity is not to the “facts” themselves, but to the “meta-fact” that the past is real, but that history is merely a story about what “really” happened; we can only know the past through the stories we tell about it. to the individual, the novelist has the obligation to invent characters that are humanly true—true to their historical context, as the novelist understands it; and true to what we know of ourselves, as humans. a character’s actions must be believable and understandable—or, if incomprehensible, plausibly so—even if those actions do not accord with what may be historically “true;” and if they do not accord with historical facts, the writer must justify the divergence by appealing to a higher truth of artistic understanding. to return to the askews, then, my decision to pursue my concerns through fiction rather than history arises from a line of questioning that moves from the historian’s to the novelist’s. in the historian’s work, the evidence surrounding these individuals is marshalled to answer the question of “what did people do and why?” the askews are examples of the general case. in my essay, george askew is a type of the colonist. but this general question changed for me into “what did these specific people do and why?” which, as it turned out, was another way of asking “what would i have done?” the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 98 and this is the novelist’s question; the novelist’s task is to make this also the reader’s question. i want the reader of my novel to consider not only, or not even primarily, what really happened, but to imagine what it would have been like to have been these characters in this historical context. this enlargement of the reader’s imagination, then, is the goal of the novelist. historical fiction must enlighten and entertain by commanding an understanding of history and historiography and marshalling this understanding with a commensurate grasp of human nature, not to mention style and skill as a storyteller. the novelist must offer a fresh perspective on the historical subject, a new way to consider the past. without stories to connect us, we become increasingly atomized and isolated, from one another and from our shared pasts. fiction allows us a way to reconnect to a larger self, to see ourselves in history, and history in ourselves. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 99 references ainsley, m. j. (1996-1997, winter). askew of chemainus. bc historical news 30(1), 6-9. aristotle (1996). poetics. london: penguin. arnett, c. (1999). the terror of the coast: land alienation and colonial war on vancouver island and the gulf islands, 1849-1863. vancouver: talonbooks. atwood, m. (1999). alias grace. toronto: mcclelland & stewart (original work published in 1996) atwood, m. (1998, december). in search of alias grace: on writing canadian historical fiction.” american historical review 103(5), 1503-16. bowering, g. (2007). burning water. vancouver: new star books. (original work published in 1980) forbes, e. (1971). wild roses at their feet: pioneer women of vancouver island. vancouver: british columbia centennial ’71 committee. foster, h. d. (ed.). (1976). victoria: physical environment and development. western geographical series, vol. 12. victoria: university of victoria. harris, c. (1997). the resettlement of british columbia: essays on colonialism and geographical change. vancouver: ubc press. hutcheon, l. (1988). historiographic metafiction: “the pastime of past time.” a poetics of postmodernism: history, theory, fiction (pp. 105-123). new york: routledge. johnson, p. w. (2002). voyages of hope: the saga of the bride-ships. victoria: touchwood editions. kennedy, e. m. (1995, fall). the pioneer bride of chemainus. bc historical news 28(4), 15-17. mitchell, d. (2011). the thousand autumns of jacob de zoet. toronto: vintage canada. (original work published in 2010) olsen, w. h. (1963). water over the wheel. chemainus, bc: chemainus valley historical society. perry, a. (2001). on the edge of empire: gender, race, and the making of british columbia, 1849-1871. toronto: university of toronto. van rijn, k. (2006). “lo! the poor indian!” colonial responses to the 1862-63 smallpox epidemic in british columbia and vancouver island.” bchm 23(2), 541-560. contact information martin ainsley can be reached at martin.ainsley@unb.ca. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 100 askew a novel by martin ainsley o how unlike the place from whence they fell! —john milton, paradise lost i.75 1862—town of victoria, vancouver’s island colony having passed yet another dreary night within the steaming, stinking bowels of the tynemouth, anchored in esquimalt lagoon, our destination just around the corner, as it were, i reflected with some sympathy upon the plight of mr. milton‟s rebel angels. early this morning, the good reverend scott and his henchwomen rousted us out of our narrow berths and the marines in their blues and whites herded us aboard the royal navy gunboat forward. one hundred and six days we had weltered in our tiny cabins on the tynemouth, out from devon, breathing foul air and eating fouler food. on two occasions, crew members attempted mutiny, and several deserted the ship in san francisco. one of the girls, elizabeth buchanan, died before we reached the falkland islands, of a mysterious ailment. before we had even reached the open sea, a gale on the channel had killed much of the livestock; the sounds of that storm—the desperate scrabbling of hooves and the terrible slamming of flesh and bone on the deck over our heads, and the uncanny screams of the pigs as they were swept into the ocean—still haunt my sleep. now, leaning over the gunwales of this sleek craft, bristling with cannon and crinoline, we hove into view of the little city. the prospect before us promised little better. we passed a channel between two points of land. to the left of us, to my horror and delight, was an indian village. a few indians sat outside their long, low wooden houses wrapped in blankets; and smoke rose from their fires, but i could discern little activity. as the harbour widened before us, we were greeted by the dismal pickets of the hudson‟s bay company‟s fort; which was besieged on either side by a motley assortment of low brick and wood structures, and before and aft by the mirrored forests of ship‟s masts and living trees. the ships moored in the harbour flew flags of many nations and companies, providing some little colour. darkly forested ruddy hills rolled away behind the town, and a plain, though substantial, whitewashed church surveyed the scene from a hilltop. shards of sunlight glinted off the water, but the clear sky was belied by a bitter cold wind which lashed the forward and stung our skin through our clothes. i held my shawl tight at my throat, my palm pressed against the little silver brooch father had given me. mother held my other hand in hers. “it‟s rather down-at-heel for a new world,” i muttered; but mother snapped, “hush, child!” and when i saw the hard set to her jaw, i bit my cheek to keep from weeping. of the three-hundred or so passengers aboard, some sixty of us were unmarried women, most little more than girls—many who had been raise in orphanages. in later years, i would hear the tynemouth referred to as a “bride-ship,” which conjures to my mind a festive image: a gangplank the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 101 festooned with bunting; debutantes debarking into a phalanx of cravated bachelors—young men of good manners and better prospects, waiting to tender their proposals to the new immigrants with cut flowers; and a brass band playing beside. it is true that some of us entertained such romantic fantasies—not least of whom were both my mother and myself—but if the brutal three months at sea had not properly disabused us of such notions, the present reality finished the job. later, mother would style herself as a “chaperone to the girls” but she was no more chaperone than i was. since father had died, leaving us a balance sheet with more debt than assets, she had scraped to make ends meet for us. when she read the advertisement the female middle class emigration society had placed to solicit emigrants to the colony, she applied immediately. it was said that there was a surplus of single women in england—half a million—competing for husbands and domestic work. to me, she was categorical that i was not of an age to marry, although in public, she acted as though she sought only to find a suitable husband for her daughter. perhaps she thought it indecorous for a widow to be seen seeking remarriage, but at thirty-five, she still stood a chance herself, and i believe she hoped to find a member of the colonial gentry, or at least a respectable gold miner, to take us both in. i have never been able to shake the impression that i was, in some way, her bait. * * * the afternoon previous, when the ship lay anchored at esquimalt, several gentlemen had been paddled up in a longboat; our welcoming committee; local dignitaries, including some newspapermen. the other passengers had already disembarked, leaving only those of us who had sailed under the protection of the columbia emigration society (which included also the female middle class emigration society women). on this rare occasion, we were allowed on the deck for the benefit of these eminent gentlemen. so we stood, filthy and weakened, under a drizzle of rain. the cold wind stung the salt boils on my skin, the result of having had only seawater with which to bathe and wash our clothes. despite what i am sure was our lacklustre appearance, the men seemed pleased and talked amiably with capt. hellyer and rev. scott. mrs. robb—deputed to rev. scott as the emigration society‟s matron chaperone—stood gamely in their midst with her mouth gaping, always on the verge of some profundity, but was mostly ignored by the victoria gentlemen. this offered some amusement to us girls, who had suffered these long weeks under the yoke of mrs. robb. mother, playing the chaperone, also stood near mrs. robb and the men. all of a sudden, there was a commotion behind us. near the rail, my friend lydia pratt called out, “there‟s another boat coming alongside!” several of the younger girls ran back to see what was going on. below, on the water, another longboat was being paddled by five more gentlemen: three clergymen and two more journalists, to judge from appearances. when they espied the row of girls leaning across the rail of the ship, the men in the boat grinned and waved to us. one attempted to stand, but unsettled the boat and was thrown onto his backside. we all laughed at that, and a few of the girls waved coquettishly at the men. now the gentlemen on the ship began to notice, and came to the rail. one of the newspapermen asked capt. hellyer whether he knew any of the men on the boat, and advised him the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 102 to warn them off. the captain hailed the boat, but could elicit no clear response from the men, who now kept their heads low under their hats. “i know at least one of those men,” the newspaperman said. “a thoroughgoing scoundrel and a philanderer, that one, dressed as a preacher. with a wife and children at home.” after some more discussion, the captain came to share the view that the men were imposters and ordered them away from his ship. the boatmen hesitated while several girls and a few of the welcoming party entreated capt. hellyer to let them come on board, but the captain roared for silence and repeated the order. to enforce it, he summoned the police officer who had been assigned to guard the mutineers under arrest below decks. the captain had put down two mutinies already, and was not willing to brook a third. “what a pity,” said lydia as the crestfallen young men paddled away. lydia pratt was a darkhaired waif who said she was sixteen, but she was smaller than i, and more credulous. “they seemed like respectable men.” “and unmarried,” another girl put in. “how would you know that?” i said. “because their wives were not on the boat with them? were you not listening? that one‟s not even a minister. i‟m sure they are all in disguise.” “but why?” said lydia. “perhaps they wanted a private viewing, as it were. haven‟t you noticed the way the men already on the ship are ogling us? we‟ll be auctioned off to the highest bidder when they get us ashore.” “disgusting!” said lydia, meaning me, and not the men, but i just laughed at her. * * * before we left the tynemouth this morning, word came that two of the girls had been placed in service in the mainland colony, and they and some of their friends became hysterical, screaming and weeping at the prospect of their imminent separation. two girls fainted and had to be revived by dr. chipp. now, as we entered the harbour, a paddlewheeler came up alongside the forward and the two bound for new westminster were helped across, amid a fresh round of tears and clinging embraces. meanwhile, hundreds of men lined up along the shores, waving their hats in the air and cheering. the paddlewheeler continued past us and out of the harbour; i waved half-heartedly to the girls, and a horrible feeling of nausea came over me as they were carried away. lydia stood near me, and her face was ashen beneath her bonnet. “izzy,” she said. “let us promise not to lose each other here, come what may.” i held her hand tightly and gave her my word that we would remain friends in our new home. mother leaned on the rails, waving to the men on the beaches. rather than steaming into the city wharves beneath the hbco. fort, the gunboat tacked to starboard, where some strange, wooden buildings of oriental appearance stood apart—later, i discovered these were the colonial offices and legislative council buildings—and near to them was the marine barracks, where we were to be temporarily housed. here, the mob was thickest; hundreds of men crowded around a short pier. there were a few women and some children here and there, and some china-men, standing back from the crowd, but mostly there were men. several seemed to have invested in new articles of clothing—shiny cravats and spotless hats—for the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 103 occasion, but taken together they presented an altogether scruffy and uncouth sight. shouts and cheers went up from the crowd as the forward dropped anchor. two sailors paddled a longboat alongside, and several girls were helped to climb down a ladder into the boat, while policemen and marines worked to push the throng back from the pier. the longboat carried the girls to the dock, then returned to the forward and, in this way, we all disembarked within the span of thirty or forty minutes. on the pier, we lined up two by two, unsteady on the solid surface, until the whole cargo stood in neat formation. the officers had cordoned a path up to the largest of the legislature buildings, and rev. scott and mrs. robb ushered us through. the mob pressed against the valiant officers, and i heard several coarse remarks directed toward us. in fairly short order, the cordon began to break against the surging crowd. terrified, i screamed and pulled away from my mother‟s grip and, with many of the other girls, began to run. hoots and hard laughter rippled around as some girls tripped, and rough hands grazed my own and tugged at my skirts. i nearly fell over lydia, who knelt in the mud ahead of me. i grabbed her arm and hoisted her up beside me. at that moment, the report of a gun-shot from one of the marine‟s pistols, fired into the air, quelled the ardour of the mob, and the officers, with the assistance of some other gentlemen and less-hardened members of the gathering, managed to restore some order to the procession. as the men were pushed back, one of their number burst through and accosted sophia shaw, one of the london orphans of lydia‟s group. he was a young man, but unshaven, dirty and shabbily dressed, as though he had walked directly from the diggings to be here. he snatched his cap from his head and on the spot loudly proposed marriage to poor little sophia. now the crowd fell silent. well, filthy and tired-looking as he was, the young man must have stopped en route, at least long enough to visit an assayer or to play a hand of cards in a saloon, because the prospector reached into his pocket and pulled out a bundle of bank notes, which he thrust into sophia‟s hands. “here is two thousand dollars,” he announced, “and if you accept me, i want you should use it to buy yourself a new dress and things for our wedding.” rev. scott stood wringing his hands and tears stained his cheeks, though my own eyes remained dry. sophia smiled at the man and tucked the banknotes into her skirts, while the crowd roared its approval. one of the bluecoats, grinning, gently drew the miner back into the crowd. as he was pulled back, the miner shouted above the din, “what‟s your name, miss?” sophia told him, and he yelled, “my name‟s charles poineer.” she seemed well pleased, but i was glad that it hadn‟t been me to whom he‟d tendered his proposal. this absurd incident had a salutary effect on the mob, for the press slackened, and we were allowed to make our way, yet under its gawking gaze, to an array of washtubs which had been set up on the lawns of the council chambers. the welcoming committee had there provided fresh water and clean soap. steam rolled invitingly from the tubs into the brisk air. many of the girls availed themselves of it, the poorer ones in particular, who had not any clean changes of clothes in their baggage. i had no clean dress to wear, myself, but held back with mother, out of modesty. lydia, though, was covered all down her front with mud; until her fall, this had been her cleanest dress, so she begged me to go with her up to the tubs. mother, sensing as i did, i‟m sure, that we might not soon have another opportunity, nodded her approval, and so we each took some salt-caked garments from our bundles to wash. all together at the tubs, we nearly forgot that we were in the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 104 middle of an arena, and we had a gay time splashing in the warm, soft water. we removed our bonnets and washed our faces and necks and our hair. salt and dirt streamed from our arms, and the water in the tubs soon turned quite brown, but it was infinitely better than the pails of cold seawater to which we had become accustomed. what a sight we must have been. daughters of the empire, giggling like schoolgirls, wet and shivering in the cold september air while a mob of indigent miners looked on. it came to me that yesterday was my birthday. this washing was my first unalloyed pleasure since stepping on board the tynemouth three months and a world away. 1862—chemainus district, vancouver’s island colony “damn!” waist-deep in the rushing creek, askew steadied himself against the fallen log upon which, a moment before, he had been walking. he was in need of a bath, but this dunking was not what he had in mind. he shrugged his shoulders to reposition the knapsack on his back and found a purchase for his walking staff among the slippery rocks underfoot. gingerly, braced between the log and his staff, he shuffled across the stream and pulled himself up onto the bank. luckily, the weather was mild for late october, so he wasn‟t in any immediate danger of exposure, but he would need to get out of these wet clothes and make camp soon. he must be close to the lake. on the theory that “the better parte of valour is discretion,” askew decided to change into dry breeches before carrying on. he had been put ashore by h.m.s. forward at horse shoe bay two days ago, where he was allowed to inspect mr. elliot‟s new saw-mill. he met elliot in victoria a week earlier, and was impressed by elliot‟s claims for his mill and the land in the chemainus valley. the mill had recently produced its first shipment of lumber. elliot had said he hired two cowichans to operate the mill in his absence, but when the two marines had put askew ashore on the beach, no one, indian or otherwise, was in evidence. the mill was idle and no uncut timber to be seen, except what was still standing, although there were neat booms of cut spars already floating in the bay. elliot had said nothing about his supply of timber, so askew supposed that the erstwhile millers were also loggers and that they had roamed off to fall trees for the mill. for what he could see, it was a creditable operation. the building was solid, and housed a simple up-and-down mill powered by a wooden over-shot water wheel. the stream that turned the wheel came out of the forest in a fall of some fifty feet, so the wheel was an immense forty-five feet in diameter. askew had it in mind to build something of the sort himself, and he‟d also heard rumours of mineral wealth in the district, so had arranged to spend a few days exploring the area on his own. he registered a claim in the cariboo this autumn, and was in victoria to spend the winter before returning to the goldfields in the spring; he felt certain that he would spend no more than one or two seasons more in the interior. with some cash saved, he‟d settle on the coast and set up something with a steadier return than gold prospecting. for the last two days, askew had wandered about five miles up the coast from the mill, coming to a small lagoon near the entrance to oyster harbour. elliot had told him—and this was confirmed by some of the marines on the forward—that the stream that let out at this lagoon had its headwaters at a lake a couple of miles inland, which was where he was now heading. assuming his informants were correct, he ought to be able to camp at the lake tonight. tomorrow, he would make the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 105 his way back to the coast, where he expected to meet the forward at oyster harbour the day following, on its return from patrolling up the strait. askew was pulling his braces over his shoulders when a branch cracked behind him. he turned to face an indian pointing a rifle at his midsection. he was tall and broad-shouldered and wore leather breeches and a dirty woollen sweater. a fur hat sat atop his head, but his feet were bare. he looked askew up and down and plainly noted askew‟s own rifle on the ground, tied to his knapsack. askew had learned a few words of chinook, and attempted a greeting. “klahowya.” the man didn‟t respond. askew had never had any dealings with the cowichan before. they were reputed a warlike tribe, and had been causing trouble with white settlers in the district of late. “kah mowitch?”—where‟s the deer?—askew asked with a smile and a nod to the indian‟s rifle. the indian laughed at this, and made eye contact, but did not lower the gun. “mamook kinchauch wawa?” askew asked. “ah-ha. un petit peu.” “may i speak english?” “ah-ha. speak your name.” “askew.” “i am qualtkanent. you are going somewhere with this haversack?” he gave askew‟s pack a nudge with a big, brown, callused toe. “i am travelling through this district. i was told i would find a lake at the headwaters of this stream.” qualtkanent squatted down, still pointing at askew‟s belly with the gun, and examined a shoot of salal, although askew did not know any of its names. qualtkanent said, “yes, there is a small lake upstream, not much farther. do you intend to camp there?” “i do.” “then tomorrow, askew, you will leave.” “yes. i have . . . i have made arrangements to be picked up at oyster harbour.” qualtkanent frowned at this and waved in the direction of the ocean. “i come from sickameen,”—askew sensed that he had offended the indian, somehow—“as you have not. my village is across the „bay of oysters,‟ as you say. nesika kwanesum. you understand this, n’est-ce pas? make your camp at the lake tonight. i entreat you to be gone tomorrow. until then you are under my aegis; after tomorrow—” he lowered the rifle and stalked off into the bush. arrogant fellow. askew sensed that he was lucky to be alive. he reached for his knapsack and felt a little unsteady, so he sat on a mossy rock and filled a pipe. the indian said the lake wasn‟t far. he should be able to spare fifteen minutes for a smoke and to gather his nerves. massive cedars and firs stretched up into an amorphous canopy within which unseen ravens screamed to be heard over the roar of the tumbling creek. he could see by the angle of light through the trees that it was still early afternoon, although here it was perpetual twilight. he was still awed by the superfluency of this forest. these trees were larger still than those in the interior, though those dwarfed anything that had grown in bedfordshire in living memory; and the undergrowth was dense and often impassable, choked with giant sword ferns and devil‟s club and salal and nettles and snowberry and blackberry. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 106 he must remember to write to rev. searle before he set out for the cariboo. indeed, if he posted a letter promptly when he returned to victoria, by a slim chance he might receive a reply before he started up the fraser in the spring. word in the colony was that the recent smallpox epidemic had had little impact on the cowichans—although it ravaged the songhees and saanich and the mainland salishans, as well as many of the northern tribes. this latter fact, in particular, seemed to have emboldened the cowichans in their resistance to english settlement in their territories, as they needed no longer fear counterpoising forays from their diminished northern rivals. perhaps the sight of the forward anchored in the harbour would dampen their spirits, askew thought. his pipe finished, askew felt quite refreshed. he heaved his knapsack onto his back, picked up his walking staff, and continued upstream along the rough path. another hour of hiking brought him to the opening of the forest canopy that signalled the nearness of the lake. when he broke out of the bush, he was nearly in the water; the slopes were fairly steep, for the most part, and the forest grew right down to the water line. he decided to follow the northern bank, as the slope appeared to lessen toward the middle of the lake, and the south aspect would afford him direct sunlight, while it lasted. a few hundred yards from the stream outlet, he found a relatively level and treeless beach. a circle of fire-stones indicated that others had used this campsite before him. he turned out his pack and arranged his supplies before pitching his canvas tent. the tent was well-worn but clean and tight, modelled after sibley‟s patent, though smaller; in design it approximated the tee-pee of the plains indians, with a telescoping central pole and a smoke-hole at the peak so he could build a small fire within, if need be. he purchased it in san francisco three years ago, and had been diligent in keeping it well oiled and patched. it served him well. askew gathered some armfuls of damp wood and stoked a small, crackling fire to heat a tin of beans and brew some coffee. the silent sun slid behind the mountains. * * * he dreams of mountains. he stands on the highest summit and can see clearly in all directions. forested hills and stony peaks roll away toward the sea. they are in movement, undulating like the ocean waves, mountains and hills rising and falling around him. heavy black clouds gather, tumbling and shivering with light. he is adrift in this trackless place, tossed in a storm that racks the very land. he falls to his knees, grapples with the bare rock for a grip. the clouds lower, quaking, and he sees they are filled with ravens. the ravens descend, screaming, and begin to devour him, tearing the flesh from his bones. * * * he shuddered awake, cold and damp with sweat. a tendril of smoke whispered from the embers of last night‟s fire. the morning sun glowed dimly through the walls of his tent and voices echoed without. one shouted, “ho, there! you in the tent, get the fuck out here!” he pulled on his boots and seized his rifle and went outside in his underwear. five men stood at the edge of the forest, surveying his campsite. it‟s crowded as king‟s cross in this wood, he thought. to a man, they were dirty and savage-looking fellows. one was indian; the other four white. all were armed, and three of them aimed rifles at him. by christ! twice in as many days. shaken by his dream and indignant at the intrusion, askew thundered at them. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 107 “who are you? what do you want here?” the men laughed. “we could ask the same of you,” one of them answered. this one did not have a gun pulled on askew, but stood erect with his arms folded across his chest. “i am george askew, and i have every right to camp here. i do not take it well to face the muzzles of three rifles before i have dressed or breakfasted. kindly put up your guns, or i will not hesitate to shoot my own.” the white man who had spoken regarded him for a moment, then motioned the others to put up their rifles. “our business here is none of yours,” he said. “but our business ain‟t murder, either. pack up your camp, here, and make your way back to where you come from, and there won‟t be any trouble.” “this is outrageous! you have no right—” askew began. “out here, we got five rights to your one, mr. askew—it‟s askew, is it? pack it up and move along.” askew was relieved to sense that he wouldn‟t be murdered in cold blood this morning, but his boiled all the more. “we‟ll see about this, gentlemen. however savage this country, there are laws in force. i will be on my way, but you may rest assured the colonial office will hear about this bloody effrontery.” he nearly tore the canvas as he stormed into his tent to finish dressing. when he reemerged, he saw that the men had removed themselves some distance down the trail and were now idling at a point nearer the narrow outlet of the lake. his rage tempered to ironic spite, askew took his time making and eating his breakfast and only then broke his camp with his usual meticulous routine. a rustle in the brush behind him turned his head, and, for an instant, he thought he saw a dark figure creeping in the gloom under the forest‟s canopy, but then the vision was gone. he peered steadily into the woods for a few more seconds, but saw no movement. the indian, qualtkanent? he checked his map and compass and determined to head north-east through the forest, north of stanton peak and toward oyster harbour as the crow flies. shouldering his pack, he turned his back on the louts‟ cat-calls and trudged into the wood. it was a bright clear morning. the air was cool, but not uncomfortably so. a good day for walking. the undergrowth here was not too heavy, and the grade was more or less level, so askew made good progress for about a mile before the land sloped down toward the harbour, about another mile away. as he hiked, askew found time to compose his protest to the colonial secretary—who would that be, now? pearse?—and to wonder what the men had been doing. prospecting, most likely, but they must have been in someone‟s employ. since askew had arrived in this country, he had not met five men altogether who could create a mutual bond of trust sufficient to embark on any moneymaking scheme, without there being some prior guarantee of wages; shares meant dilution, and every man here was here on his own account. be that as it may, none had the right to order askew‟s movements, without legal preemption; and of that, he was certain, neither these rogues nor their putative employer possessed any. their spokesman had not misspoke when he alluded to the rights immanent in their firearms, but they were still subject, all, to the laws of crown and country. even that indian fellow. askew spat. he was fed up with the exclusive company of lawless men, with this continuous sabre-rattling. the constant threat of violence was more corrosive than the event. corrosive of trust and civic feeling. corrosive of his nerves. he had the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 108 seen otherwise sensible and civil men behave like animals, and he himself was frequently forced to negotiate on that level, merely as a matter of survival. the forest spat him out on the beach, not long after noon, near the mouth of the bay. on vancouver‟s map, the harbour was a slender finger of shallow water pointing to the north-west. it was a mile or so across and five long, bounded opposite where askew stood by a forested peninsula of a few square miles. thin, inclining columns of smoke flagged the low houses of an indian village there, bowered beneath the firs, at a place marked as evening cove on the map. askew surmised that this was the “sickameen” to which the indian qualtkanent had referred. the sight of the village vexed him. with the prospectors roaming the bush behind him—not to mention qualtkanent himself; but was he a protection or a threat?—and the indians opposite, he had to wait on this beach until tomorrow for the forward’s arrival, and that assuming it was on schedule. between a rock and a hard place. he felt sour and petulant. nothing for it but to make something of the day. he had lunch and a pipe there on the beach, then set out to explore the harbour and find a campsite for the night. he found a sheltered spot near hail point, where capt. lascelles, the forward‟s commander, had instructed him to rendezvous. he dined on fresh oysters and potatoes. a din of savage revelry carried across the water from the fires of sickameen most of the night, but it was muted by distance and the prevailing wind, and three years in the gold fields had accustomed him to sleeping through worse; within the tent, his little fire glowing, in the dark he felt invisible and safe from molestation by either indians or white men. askew slept well that night. the day dawned cool and damp. a fog drifted over the bay. he passed an idle morning puttering about the shore in the mist. just before noon, the ghostly silhouette of the royal navy gunboat appeared in the fog about a quarter of a mile offshore. askew checked his pack and perched on a bone-white driftwood spar to wait. after some thirty minutes, he could make out a longboat paddling toward him. he hailed the boat and it soon nosed onto the beach with the wet rattling grind of wood on gravel. he handed his pack to one of the sailors, pushed the boat off and leapt over the gunwale. “a satisfactory expedition, mr. askew?” the fellow who had taken his pack inquired as he leaned into his oar. “very much so, sir. and how fares the progress of law and order elsewhere in her majesty‟s territories?” “oh, passing fair, sir. passing fair. any grief from the natives?” “i met one of the gentry,” askew said, “an obstinate mother‟s son who ordered me off. but no harm done.” “oh, aye; a blustery lot. cause no end of trouble for the settlers. and ye best keep your distance when they‟re in their cups. a trading vessel was captured this summer on one o‟these wee islands. massacred the crew, they did, and made a bonfire of their ship. we ain‟t found the culprits, yet.” askew shivered, thinking of qualtkanent and the roar of the indian village the previous night. he thought better of mentioning the other crew of knaves he came across, lest they were acquainted with one of these seamen. intelligence travelled through many and varied channels, and the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 109 one little knew the headwaters from the outlet, without close study; and a careless step could find one carried away in a flood. 1862—town of victoria, vancouver’s island colony following our very public bath, we were shepherded into a ramshackle fenced compound which lately had been the marine barracks. two long buildings housed the kitchen and sleeping rooms, a store room and a few small private rooms. a small outbuilding was set aside to store the luggage, and a row of water closets stood apart, up against the fence. a gang of marines was still finishing their renovations of the buildings and fence and roamed about with buckets and mops and carpentry tools. these men were evidently pleased to see us flooding into their recent quarters; martial discipline tempered their ogling and they behaved rather like gentlemen. it was a pleasant contrast to the overzealous attentions of the miners. despite our containment within the compound, it took several hours for the chaperones and members of the welcoming committee to impose order on the place, what with the mob outside pressed up against the fence and the girls making the most of their newfound liberty, however constrained. some girls gravitated to the fence, where they could converse openly with the men opposite; others played games in the yard; still more, myself and lydia included, went straight into the barracks buildings and staked claims on the bunks therein. mrs. robb and mrs. scott and a few of the ladies of the victoria female immigration committee scolded the lot of us as we heedlessly rushed about. all this chaos was compounded by the haphazard and eleventh-hour—in this case, literally, as it was barely noon—preparations for our arrival. the sleeping hall had bare, wooden walls, recently whitewashed, and a floor of splintery planks that creaked and groaned under the girls‟ capering boots. several small, high windows with panes of wavering glass let some light in. along each long wall were arrayed a dozen wooden cots, with thin straw mattresses and grey woollen blankets. the bedclothes were clean, and the beds expertly made up, but the whole room was redolent with the odours of mildew and sweat and tobacco smoke—the smell of men. the odious rev. scott—mutton-chop whiskers with a thin man hanging from them—stood ashen-faced in the middle of the sleeping hall wringing his hands, his accustomed posture, and saying, “this is fine. this will do just fine.”—when mother entered the hall. she wasn‟t having any of it. “it most certainly will not, reverend scott. i have taken a turn about the premises, and in my judgment these accommodations are wholly unsuitable for young ladies. this is a soldiers‟ barracks, don‟t you know? heaven knows what they do in here. there are beds for scarcely half the girls. have you seen to the kitchen? there is neither suitable equipment nor provisions. one would think tea and some cake might have been provided for our welcome.” the good reverend smiled weakly and said, “mrs. curtis, please calm yourself. take me to the kitchen, then, and we‟ll see about tea. what a splendid idea.” and out they went. mother in her dudgeon was often a source of no slight amusement, particularly if i was not her object, so i grabbed lydia‟s hand and we hurried after her, arm in arm. in the yard, the prospect was not so wild as before; many of the older girls and ladies had begun to line up next to the other barracks hall where two of the local committee-women could be the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 110 seen within, sat behind a table. mrs. scott, as thin and officious as her husband, but not quite so timid, stood by the door with a writing-tablet, marking the names of the girls as they queued in. when she spied us, mrs. scott bustled over with an imperious pencil pointed at us. “miss pratt and miss curtis! you draggle-tailed creatures! lydia! come here, please. into this line. these ladies from the immigration society are wanting to interview all the marriageable girls.” lydia blushed and her arm tightened about mine. “izzy—” she began. “come, now,” mrs. scott said. “you‟ve not come all this way to traipse about a barracksyard like little gillies.” she took lydia firmly by her other arm and tugged her away from me. “go on, lydia,” i said. “i‟ll come find you in a bit.” but mrs. scott pointed her pencil toward the luggage room. “and you, isabel curtis. over there with the little ones.” a loose gaggle of girls—my age and younger—had been herded about the shack. “if you please, mum, i‟m supposed to stay with mother,” i said, but before mrs. scott could answer, a commotion of squeals arose from the girls. a young woman, whose face i could not see, sat on the ground in their midst, her skirts splayed around her. a shriek of laughter tore from the luggage-room, followed closely by its source: lucy cray—a pretty red-haired girl, sixteen or seventeen, i should think—who stumbled into the crowd of girls and fell next to the first. she stood up, tugging her friend‟s arm to pull her up as well, and both rose, overbalanced, and fell back into the mud. all the girls howled with laughter, while the committee-women stood slack-jawed. mrs. scott was nearly screaming, still dragging poor lydia behind her. “miss cray! you‟re drunk! and who‟s your accomplice?—” while she was storming, one of the marines came running from the yard. “—miss stannard! i might have known.” she pulled lucy up by the ear—by this time, she had released both lydia and her writing-tablet—and slapped her ferociously across the face. she turned to agnes stannard, prone in the mud, and grasped a handful of hair that had slipped from agnes‟s bonnet. “you brazen sluts! where did you get—” just then, the marine intervened, taking hold of mrs. scott‟s wrist to relieve the tension on agnes‟s hair. “ma‟am. ma‟am. beg pardon, ma‟am, but these girls‟re quite soaked. scoldin‟ will do „em no good, now.” mrs. scott looked at the man, who bore an expression of solicitous concern. lucy, on her hands and knees, suddenly vomited into the mud. mrs. scott released the hank of hair and the marine released mrs. scott‟s wrist. he lifted agnes into his arms. “mr. creighton!” he barked at another marine, who came running. jutting his chin toward lucy cray, he said, “give this young lassie your arm, sir, and help her to a cot.” mrs. scott composed herself and bowed slightly. “thank you, mr.—” “marshall,” he replied. mr. marshall was a young man, not yet twenty, i guessed; handsome, clean-shaven and smartly dressed in his white trousers and blue coat, as were all the men assigned to prepare the barracks. his cap bore the name of his vessel—hms grappler—in gold thread. he and mr. creighton escorted the girls—agnes appeared quite asleep in mr. marshall‟s arms—into the barracks; and mrs. scott, once she had collected her tablet and clapped her hands and ordered everyone else to remain perfectly still, followed them in. the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 111 i had long since lost track of mother, and lydia had assumed her position in the line; i went over and said i was going to look for mother. “i‟ll be all right,” she assured me. i glanced into the barracks where agnes and lucy had been taken. the outer structure of the building was identical to the other, but the sleeping room was smaller; there were no more than a dozen cots in there. the room where the committee-women were interviewing girls was apart from the common room. mr. marshall was just standing up, having deposited the insensate girl on a bed, and he left by a door opposite the one i stood in. mrs. scott was tucking the girls in with an unexpected gentleness of manner. before she could turn around and see me, i skipped around the end of the barracks, and up the other side where mr. marshall had come out. he was going in at another door, up at the far end of the barracks-hall. i followed him and found the kitchen. empty wooden shelves lined two walls. there was a counter with a heavy block, a large wash-basin, and a black cook-stove, upon which sat a lonely, dirty, cast-iron skillet. there were no other cooking utensils in evidence. the kitchen was indeed bare, and rev. scott was tendering his obsequies to mother. i couldn‟t help think of old mother hubbard and her talented dog, but mother was far from delighted. mrs. robb had also found her way here, and she and mother had evidently been scolding one of the gentlemen of the committee, when mr. marshall had come in. he was attempting to calm the ladies. i sidled into the room and stood between an inner door and the stone-cold stove. “and who might you be, sir?” mother asked him. “mr. john marshall, ma‟am. i‟m a gunner aboard the grappler, under commander verney‟s authority—” “where is this commander verney?” mrs. robb interjected. i peered into the darkened doorway beside me, as though the elusive officer might be skulking within. this was a room about as large as the kitchen, lined with more shelves, bare but for a few shovels and crates, several bags of portland cement, and one mildewed bag of flour. “i can‟t say at the moment where the captain is,” mr. marshall said, “but could i not be of service? i am under clear orders to make the premises comfortable for you all.” “well, then, at last, someone is clear about something,” mother said, looking daggers at the other gentlemen. “perhaps you can explain the poor conditions that receive us here?” “no, ma‟am; i can‟t make any excuse, but what can i do for you, now?” mother stamped her foot and gestured broadly at her surroundings. mrs. robb folded her arms across her immense chest. after a silent moment, rev. scott stammered, “the ladies, that is, we, well—the kitchen and storeroom are empty of provisions and utensils. the girls are doubtless famished after the excitement of the morning, and none have had tea since breakfast.” mrs. robb announced, “but some have not been entirely without libation!” mr. marshall said, “yes, ma‟am. you have my deepest apologies. i‟m sure the young ladies will make a swift recovery. we‟ll do our utmost to prevent a repetition of this regrettable incident. i assure you, if the bottle came by the hands of any on the grappler, the miscreant will receive a right proper flogging.” almost imperceptibly, mrs. robb started at this last remark. “very well, then.” the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 112 “there now,” mr. marshall said brightly. “we‟ll soon set things aright.” he stepped past me with a sly grin and a wink, through the door into the adjacent storeroom. i returned his wink with a little curtsey and suppressed a giggle, and mother looked at me darkly. mr. marshall rummaged around in the gloom for a moment and emerged with a small writing-tablet and pencil. “now. let‟s take stock, shall we?” and, with the help of mrs. robb and mother, he set to composing a list of necessaries for the kitchen. rev. scott and the other gentleman slipped quietly outside, where they might breathe freer. i was afraid of falling into the hands of mrs. scott if i left mother‟s side again, but as handsome as mr. marshall was, watching these three make their shopping list seemed an unutterably dull pastime; so i crept out the door again to find lydia. the sky had darkened, and threatened rain. the melée in the yard had subsided considerably, by now, and i was freshly aware of the mob of men leaning against the fence, all the way around the compound. as a group, they had a less-frantic demeanour now. many were smoking pipes and cigars, and here and there brown jugs and brass flasks were raised to thirsty lips. several marines stood about at intervals, clearly to prevent a breach of the stockade, but a truce was in effect, and the besieged conversed companionably with the besiegers. a curtain of bluish smoke, and much talk of a similar hue, hung about the place. stepping into the open air, i felt self-conscious and exposed as i hadn‟t since this morning, but i stood straight and smoothed the front of my dress and walked smartly around the outside of the barrackshall. mrs. scott was occupied once again with the interview line, and took no notice of me as i strode past. lydia was no longer there, however, nor could i see her in the yard. i went in to the first barracks, where we had claimed our beds. a few girls lay sleeping or talking on the cots in the sleeping-room, now, and lydia was there, too, stretched out with her eyes closed. seeing her, i felt a wave of fatigue wash over me and i flopped down on the next cot. her eyes opened and she reached a hand across the space between us; i reached out my own and held hers. a gust of wind rattled the window above us, and a patter of rain streaked the glass. it felt strange to be lying down, so still, without the ceaseless to-and-fro of the tynemouth beneath us. it was as though the world had stopped dead and i waited anxiously for it to start again. the rain got heavier and skittered on the roof and windows. more girls began to come streaming in from outside. the chatter of the girls was subdued; we were all exhausted, and the noise of the rain and wind, and the close quarters, made us feel we were back on the tynemouth, but for the infernal stillness of the earth. “izzy,” lydia said, after awhile. our hands were still clasped. “i want to go home.” “i know. me, too.” my eyes blurred with tears, but i clenched my jaw and pushed back a sob. there was no home for us in england. i reckoned i would never see father‟s grave again, and that was such a lonely thought. “the littlest ones,” lydia went on. “they‟ve taken „em away, now.” i turned onto my side, wiping my eyes with my sleeve, and leant on an elbow, facing her. “what little ones?” “the little lassies, izzy. you‟re the youngest one left „ere, an‟ you‟re stayin‟ because of your mum.” “but where did they take them? who?” the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 113 “mrs. scott said the immigration committee found situations for „em. in the homes of the local high-muck-a-mucks.” she let go my hand and turned away from me. “until they‟re old enough to marry.” she paused a moment. “will you read to me, izzy? one of your poems? the one about isabel.” i smiled. before mother had sold all the furniture, i had contrived to claim a few books from my father‟s little library; and editions of lyrical ballads, jane eyre, and keats‟s lamia, isabella, the eve of st. agnes, and other poems came with me to the colony as stowaways. the latter volume i had rescued on the merit of my own name‟s variant in the title, but its poems had long since charmed me beyond that superficial connection. “isabella; or, the pot of basil” is a long poem, and not my favourite; but it tells a romantic story and i loved to read it to lydia, as much as she loved to hear it. but i didn‟t like to read it just then, and said so to lydia. “may i read „ode to a nightingale‟?” i asked. lydia said, “as you like, kitten; i just like to hear you read.” i rummaged in my kit for the battered tome and, finding it, opened to the poem and began to read: “my heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains my sense, as though of hemlock i had drunk, or emptied some dull opiate to the drains one minute past, and lethe-wards had sunk: ‟tis not through envy of thy happy lot, but being too happy in thy happiness, — that thou, light-wingèd dryad of the trees, in some melodious plot of beechen green, and shadows numberless, singest of summer in full-throated ease.” lydia interrupted me. “izzy?” i stopped reading and looked at lydia. she stared up at the bare rafters. “what‟s to become of us?” “we‟ll become what god has planned for us,” i said, but i didn‟t believe it. i continued reading, but my mind drifted to the other girls, the ones who had been hired away. they were all, so far as i knew, orphans and foundlings, so i supposed they must have been accustomed to a certain measure of arbitrary justice in their lives; but still: it was strange to have them all vanished at once, after we had survived together three months at sea. i told myself they were not lost, that i must see many of them again in this tiny city, but could not reconcile that thought to the sickness in my heart. by the time i finished reading the poem, lydia had drifted off to sleep. i tried to read more to myself, but could not concentrate. my mind was a flurry of inchoate thoughts, and my belly groaned with hunger. i slipped loose the laces of lydia‟s bonnet and pulled her muddy boots off, as gently as i could, then covered her to her breast with the blanket from my cot. i tucked my book safely away and went outside again. on the tynemouth we had been captive to our small corner in steerage, not even allowed on decks except on rare occasions. i relished this new freedom of movement within and without; the the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 114 fresh smells of rain and cedar and pine and the slow decay of the surrounding forests were intoxicating, especially absent the overpowering stench of bodies and chamberpots and vomit to which we had become inured; and yet there was that fence, and her majesty‟s royal marines posted to protect us. both sides of the fence worked equally well. we were prisoners yet, waiting for the ransom of marriage or employment to free us; but what new confinement would that be? and how were they to dispose of the rest of us; by public auction? i wandered back to the kitchen, where mrs. robb and mother and a couple of girls were busy with the preparation of tea and scones. the hero of the day, mr. marshall, had evidently procured some cooking pots, lard, flour, and other staples. the stove was now glowing with burning coal, and wisps of steam were beginning to rise from two brass pots. mother was kneading dough on the block. when she saw me, she wiped her hands on her apron and proffered me a knife. “where‟ve you been, girl? there‟s work to be done.” she gestured to a burlap bag of potatoes on the floor. i found an empty pot and a stool and sat with my back to the stove; its heat settled on me like a blanket. putting my hands to something, and listening to the companionable kitchen talk of women, alleviated my melancholy. i cut off an end of a potato and slipped it in my mouth to chew while i peeled. it was cool and fresh, its starchy sweetness a welcome balm. i left the peelings on the floor, cut each potato into quarters and dropped them into the pot. “your daughter‟s a pretty one, mrs. curtis,” mrs. robb said. i pretended not to hear. “you would be well advised to put a veil on her when she goes about this town.” “do you think so?” “she‟s only twelve, is she not?” “thirteen.” “thirteen. i shouldn‟t think you‟d like her to begin a courtship so soon.” “no, indeed.” i could feel mrs. robb‟s eyes on me. “aye. she‟s one to turn heads. there‟s many an unwed young man roaming about this town, and few of them‟s too well-bred, as i hear. best keep her under lock and key between sundays, if you don‟t want her eloping with any old ne‟er-do-well miner.” “i beg your pardon, mrs. robb, but i think i know my own daughter, and if you‟re suggesting—” “i‟m not suggesting—” “—that her character or conduct is any ways questionable—” “madam. i didn‟t mean—” “didn‟t you?” my face burned and i wished i were anywhere else, even back on the tynemouth. mother stood square to mrs. robb, her hands on her hips, crusty with dough and flour. “isabel is not one of your common waifs from the foundling home. she was raised in a proper english home. she knows her bible as well as her beeton.” i gasped as a searing pain pierced my thumb and the potato i held rolled to the floor. everyone looked at me and i looked at my right thumb. it was wet and starchy from the potatoes and, for an instant, i couldn‟t understand why my thumb hurt so, but then a crimson thread of blood appeared from the nail to the pad. the line thickened and began to drip onto my apron. the knife trembled in my left hand and a grey haze crept into my vision. “oh, mother,” i tried to say, the arbutus review, vol. 2, no. 1 (2011) 115 but then i was on the floor with an ache in the back of my head and mrs. robb‟s and mother‟s solicitous frowns in front. mrs. robb was passing a vial of smelling salts under my nose and someone was doing something painful with my right hand. i cut myself, i thought. “there she is,” mrs. robb said. i tried to sit up, but the awful ache clenched my head and i felt dizzy. “there, there. rest a moment, dear,” said she, tucking a folded linen towel under my head. “you‟ve had a nasty fall, miss curtis. i‟m so sorry. i upset your mother and you as well, it seems, with my idle chatter. please accept my apology.” i gave her what i hoped was a conciliatory smile and saw that a freckle-faced girl—why couldn‟t i think of her name?—held my hand, the thumb wrapped in a damp cloth with a touch of pink staining the edge. “well, that‟s all behind us, now,” mother said. “ada‟s gone for the surgeon. you cut your thumb near down to the bone, and there‟s that bump on your scone to see to. would you like to try standing up, now?” i nodded my assent, and she and mrs. robb helped me up. the sharp tang of ammonia lingered in my sinuses. the room tilted again, and i laughed weakly as they caught my weight. “it‟s like we‟re still at sea,” i said.