From Terry Goldie's essay The Representation of the Indigene
“The white Canadian looks at the Indian. The Indian is Other and therefore alien. But the Indian is indigenous and therefore cannot be alien. So the Canadian must be alien. But how can the Canadian be alien within Canada?
There are only two possible answers. The white culture can attempt to incorporate the Other, superficially through beaded moccasins and names like Mohawk Motors, or with more sophistication through the novels of Rudy Wiebe. Conversely, the white culture may reject the indigene: 'This country really began with the arrival of the whites.' This is no longer an openly popular alternative...
...The importance of the alien within cannot be overstated. In their need to become 'native,' to belong here, whites in Canada, New Zealand and Australia have adopted a process which I have termed 'indigenization.' A peculiar word, it suggests the impossible necessity of becoming indigenous.”
he goes on to talk of the way whites described themselves as indigenous in national bulletins, or how whites try to access this identity through writing on those who are actually native to the land...
hmmm. it is an anomaly, this creation of identity in a land that was never yours, (the you is the white Canadian here) that you cannot lay claim to and you know it, yet you cannot seem to admit it, because what else will you do, where else will you go, you were born here, etc... I mean its not an easy thing, eviction of the colonizers after all this time.
I really want to delve into whiteness studies, (we are such a strange breed) looking forward to this semester ending so that can get started...
