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Abenaki DaringThe Life and Writings of Noel Annance, 1792-1869 |
eBook Available
The life and work of an Abenaki man illuminate the troubled history of Indigenous peoples.
An Abenaki born in St Francis, Quebec, Noel Annance (1792-1869), by virtue of two of his great-grandparents having been early white captives, attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Determined to apply his privileged education, he was caught between two ways of being, neither of which accepted him among their numbers.
Despite outstanding service as an officer in the War of 1812, Annance was too Indigenous to be allowed to succeed in the far west fur trade, and too schooled in outsiders’ ways to be accepted by those in charge on returning home. Annance did not crumple, but all his life dared the promise of literacy on his own behalf and on that of Indigenous peoples more generally. His doing so is tracked through his writings to government officials and others, some of which are reproduced in this volume. Annance’s life makes visible how the exclusionary policies towards Indigenous peoples, generally considered to have originated with the Indian Act of 1876, were being put in place upwards to half a century earlier.
On account of his literacy, Annance’s story can be told. Recounting a life marked equally by success and failure, and by perseverance, Abenaki Daring speaks to similar barriers that to this day impede many educated Indigenous persons from realizing their life goals. To dare is no less essential than it was for Noel Annance.
Despite outstanding service as an officer in the War of 1812, Annance was too Indigenous to be allowed to succeed in the far west fur trade, and too schooled in outsiders’ ways to be accepted by those in charge on returning home. Annance did not crumple, but all his life dared the promise of literacy on his own behalf and on that of Indigenous peoples more generally. His doing so is tracked through his writings to government officials and others, some of which are reproduced in this volume. Annance’s life makes visible how the exclusionary policies towards Indigenous peoples, generally considered to have originated with the Indian Act of 1876, were being put in place upwards to half a century earlier.
On account of his literacy, Annance’s story can be told. Recounting a life marked equally by success and failure, and by perseverance, Abenaki Daring speaks to similar barriers that to this day impede many educated Indigenous persons from realizing their life goals. To dare is no less essential than it was for Noel Annance.
Details
Part of the McGill-Queen's Indigenous and Northern Studies (number 88 in series)
400 Pages, 6 x 9
12 photos
ISBN 9780773547926
September 2016
Formats: Cloth, eBook
“Abenaki Daring tells the story of Noel Annance whose life and career spanned the continent. The challenges he faced as an Abenaki student, as a Hudson’s Bay Company clerk, and as a political activist shed new light on the history of Aboriginal education, the social history of the fur trade, and Abenaki history in his times, as he and his people coped with intensifying political and economic pressures. This book makes a major contribution to historical research and will also attract readers keen on new biographies of understudied people, particularly Aboriginal, whose stories stand out as unique.” Jennifer S.H. Brown, University of Winnipeg
“… a fascinating glimpse into the experiences of a man whose career and whose life … dared to challenge the exclusion he faced within the context of the developing Dominion. Carefully researched and featuring many of Annance’s original writings, Abenaki Daring is an important and timely study about being Indigenous and about identity and colonialism.” Canada’s History
“… a fascinating glimpse into the experiences of a man whose career and whose life … dared to challenge the exclusion he faced within the context of the developing Dominion. Carefully researched and featuring many of Annance’s original writings, Abenaki Daring is an important and timely study about being Indigenous and about identity and colonialism.” Canada’s History
Jean Barman is professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia.
Contents
Annance’s Writings Reproduced in the Text / xiii
Illustrations, Maps, and Table / xv
Preface / xvii
Chronology / xxi
Introduction / 3
PART ONE An Inheritance of Wary Engagement / 13
1 Of Abenaki Daring and Captivity Narratives / 18
2 Taking a Chance on Literacy’s Promise / 39
PART TWO Pursuing Indigenous Inclusion / 63
3 In Search of Belonging / 67
4 Hopes for the Fur Trade / 95
5 Letting Go / 124
PART THREE Contesting Indigenous Exclusion / 149
6 Returning Home to Captivity Narratives’ Legacies / 157
7 Land No More / 198
8 To Belong or Not to Belong / 223
Postscript / 256
Appendix: Noel Annance’s Journal of the Voyage from Fort George
to the Fraser River, 18 November to 31 December 1824 / 261
Notes / 275
Works Cited / 337
Index / 365
Annance’s Writings Reproduced in the Text / xiii
Illustrations, Maps, and Table / xv
Preface / xvii
Chronology / xxi
Introduction / 3
PART ONE An Inheritance of Wary Engagement / 13
1 Of Abenaki Daring and Captivity Narratives / 18
2 Taking a Chance on Literacy’s Promise / 39
PART TWO Pursuing Indigenous Inclusion / 63
3 In Search of Belonging / 67
4 Hopes for the Fur Trade / 95
5 Letting Go / 124
PART THREE Contesting Indigenous Exclusion / 149
6 Returning Home to Captivity Narratives’ Legacies / 157
7 Land No More / 198
8 To Belong or Not to Belong / 223
Postscript / 256
Appendix: Noel Annance’s Journal of the Voyage from Fort George
to the Fraser River, 18 November to 31 December 1824 / 261
Notes / 275
Works Cited / 337
Index / 365
9780228005681
$115.00 CAD
Cloth
9780773518377
$37.95 CAD
Paperback
