Settler colonialism, Indigenous cultures, and the promotional landscape of tourism in Ontario, Canada's ‘near North’

ABSTRACT

Settler colonialism relies upon a logic of elimination that strives to dissolve Indigenous culture and title to ancestral lands. In Canada, settler colonialism has steered not only oppressive state policy directions, but also settler narratives that essentialize and displace Indigenous Peoples and cultural connections to land. Tourism is an especially potent social force through which such settler stories can be perpetuated and resisted. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how Indigenous culture is portrayed in the tourism promotional landscape of Ontario's ‘near north’, a rural leisure landscape for nature enthusiasts and second-home owners. While Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee First Nations have inhabited this area for generations, their cultural presence is often marginalized in development discourses, both historical and contemporary. Our study draws upon critical discourse analysis of websites produced by stakeholders associated with three case study sites – a Provincial Park, an annual cranberry Festival, and a major casino operation – to understand both the limits and opportunities of tourism in relation to maintaining and revitalizing Indigenous culture. In so doing, our paper contributes to critiques of settler colonial power relations and how these infiltrate tourism, and identifies pathways for disrupting the erasure of Indigenous cultures in tourism.

KEYWORDS:

• Settler colonialism
• discourse analysis
• tourism promotion
• representation
• Indigenous cultures

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Bryan S. R. Grimwood, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada. His research analyzes human-nature relationships and advocates social justice and sustainability in contexts of tourism, leisure, and livelihoods.

Meghan L. Muldoon is assistant professor in the School of Community Resources and Development at Hainan University–Arizona State University Joint International Tourism College, China. She completed her PhD in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Zachary M. Stevens recently completed his MA degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

ORCID

Bryan S. R. Grimwood http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1555-7541

Notes

1. Indigenous Peoples in settler colonial Canada are incredibly diverse and include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. First Nation is ‘a term that came into common usage in the 1970s to replace the word ‘Indian’, which some people found offensive’ (CIHR et al., 2014, p. 136).

2. An estimated 150,000 children were taken from their families and placed in residential schools, many of them being subjected to physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse (TRC, 2015). Much has been written on this chapter of Canadian nation-making and we have no space to review it here. See Regan (2010) for an influential and related source.

3. Personal communication with Wahta Mohawk Economic Development Officer, May 2017.

4. Ibid.

5. The District Municipality of Muskoka. (2016).

6. Algonquin Outfitters. (2017).

7. Muskoka Lakes Chamber of Commerce. (2016).

8. The Portage Store. (2017).

9. Bartlett Lodge. (n.d.).

10. Arowhon Pines. (n.d.).

11. Ibid.

12. Ontario Parks. (2017).

13. Casino Rama Resort. (2017).

14. Algonquin Park Residents Association. (n.d.a).

15. Algonquin Park Residents Association. (n.d.b)

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh. (2016).

19. Friends of Algonquin Park (2017).

20. Bartlett Lodge. (n.d.).

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Iroquois Cranberry Growers. (2016).

24. Chippewas of Rama First Nation. (n.d.b).

25. Chippewas of Rama First Nation. (n.d.a).

26. Ontario’s Lake Country. (2016).

27. Chippewas of Rama First Nation. (n.d.b).

28. Chippewas of Rama First Nation. (n.d.a).

29. Algonquins of Ontario. (2013d).

30. Algonquins of Ontario. (2013b).

31. Algonquins of Ontario. (2013a).

32. Algonquins of Ontario. (2013c).

33. Algonquin Canoe Company. (2015b).

34. Algonquin Canoe Company. (2015a).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science [Early Researcher Award, project number ER15-11-182].