Paul DePasquale’s Course on “Indigenous Representations of Land and Water”
Mon. Feb. 25, 2019
Group photo credit: Adam Collicutt
In Fall 2018, Professor Paul DePasquale offered a new iteration of the seminar course English 4717, Topics in Indigenous Literature and Culture, on “Acknowledging the Land and Water in Canada.” We asked Professor DePasquale to tell us more about this innovative course.
Q: What was the topic of this course and how did you develop the idea?
The topic was “Indigenous Representations of Land and Water.” Last year, the English department worked toward a departmental Land Acknowledgment (LA). Our LA is important because it goes beyond the typical pro forma statement you tend to hear these days by identifying the specific ways Indigenous peoples in Manitoba were alienated from their lands, cultures, and languages. English as a language and an academic discipline played a very large role in the process of colonization, here and in other parts of the world. It was arguably the most destructive factor. I’m really proud of the work we all did on our LA. Also, I am currently developing a book on Indigenous knowledges of water, with new work by the country's leading Elders, community workers, and scholars, such as Maria Campbell, Dave Courchene, and Emma LaRocque. The knowledge and ethic of care of the original stewards of the land is a vital part of a good way forward. Anyway, I wanted to teach an honours course that would engage with some of these ideas and interests, and the course just sort of evolved.
Q: What kinds of readings, activities, and assignments did the students have?
Students were encouraged to identify a physical location that holds special meaning to them. For example, a beloved forest, park, or body of water, in Manitoba or elsewhere in Canada, where they have spent time individually, or with family, friends, community. The idea was for students to explore their personal connection to this land and/or water, and then to learn about the peoples who first inhabited and occupied these spaces. What beliefs and knowledges about the land & water did they, and do many still, hold? How did these peoples become alienated from their land & water? Why did this occur? What were the legal and other mechanisms by which this took place? Who owns it now, why, to what purpose, who gets the benefit, and what are the consequences, to the people and to the land & water? Pausing to think deeply in these ways about locations we might ordinarily just drive by or see on a map and not think much about.
We studied literary and non-literary writings, art, images of all kinds, produced by Manitoban and Canadian Indigenous writers, artists, Elders, community workers, lawyers, scholars, etc. Course assignments involved research updates and other sharing of information that emphasized process as students moved from initial ideas and hunches, to research questions, to the production of well-researched and well-written essays informed by Indigenous research methodology and protocol. Most of the research projects produced in the course involved topics that were cultural, historical, environmental, and/or legal, rather than literary-critical/theoretical.
Q: Were there any surprises, challenges, or unexpected topics/conversations that emerged in the course?
We were quite possibly visited by several Little People during a trip to Manitou Api (“Where the Creator Sat”) at Bannock Point, Whiteshell Provincial Park. We were visited and entertained by eagles and a fox.
Manitou Api is an important sacred site for local Indigenous peoples, a place for spiritual guidance and healing. Elder Calvin Pompana (who enrolled in this course as a UW student) led a sacred Pipe Ceremony and offered a song of gratitude and thanks. Students had the opportunity to offer tobacco at various spots along our visit if they wished.
This was an enjoyable, fun, small group of students. It was rewarding to watch each other’s work develop in productive and meaningful ways over the term.
Q: Will you be offering the course again or taking these topics into other courses you teach?
Most of the Indigenous-related courses I plan to teach in the near future will draw attention in various ways to land & water issues in Manitoba and Canada. I’m not sure when another English honours course like this one will be offered again.