Pile of assorted books on a wooden table.

Because, let’s face it – who has time to catch up on all the journal articles published in Canadian history?

Welcome back to the Best New Articles series, where, each month, I post a list of my favourite new articles! Don’t forget to also check out my favourites from previous months, which you can access by clicking here.

This month I read articles from:

 

Here are my favourites:

Denise Nicole Green, “An Archival Ethnography of Edward Sapir’s Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth) Texts, Correspondence, and Fieldwork through the Douglas Thomas Drawings,” Ethnography 66, no. 2 (April 2019): 353-384.

Link: https://read.dukeupress.edu/ethnohistory/article-abstract/66/2/353/137727/An-Archival-Ethnography-of-Edward-Sapir-s-Nootka?redirectedFrom=fulltext

What it’s about: This article is a critical consideration of the creation of a book of twelve drawings by Nuu-chah-nulth Knowledge Keeper and Artist, Douglas Thomas, with accompanying annotations by Thomas’s son, Alex (from the Nash’asat-h House of the Tseshaht First Nation). The drawings depict topati (ceremonial rites and privileges) owned by his family, as well as topatithat his family encountered during thluuch-ha (wedding proposal ceremonies). The drawings were purchased by Edward Sapir, then director (later chief anthropologist) of the Canadian National Museum (now the Canadian Museum of History) as part of his ethnographic research among the Nuu-chah-nulth, particularly around the area currently known as Alberni on Vancouver Island. Sapir worked with three generations of Tseshaht men, including Douglas Thomas and Alex Thomas, along with Douglas’s father, Tom Sayach’apis. Alex would later maintain correspondence with Sapir following the conclusion of Sapir’s research, and Alex was hired to collect as many stories and “secrets” as possible. The book of drawings was completed and sent to Sapir as part of this work, and Alex provided explanatory annotations. In addition to discussing the creation of the book of drawing, Green also provides examples of the important role that representational images played in Nuu-chal-nulth culture, including images depicted on kiitsaksuu-ilthim (cedar screens that were the backdrops to big houses), and later thliitsapilthim (curtains) as well as the ways in which the drawings in the book depict Douglas’ life history.

What I loved: This piece is fascinating in its own right. But what stuck out for me the most was that right at the beginning of the paper, Green acknowledges that information discussed in this paper is owned by the descendants of Douglas Green, and that she has been given permission to share them by his great-grandson Sayach’apis (Walter Thomas).  Walter Sayach’apis Thomas was seated as the head of the family house during Green’s research in February 2010, and was thus in a hereditary position of authority over matters pertaining to the family. This is an important example of how to do ethically-responsible research about Indigenous peoples, regardless of field. The rest of the paper is a testament as well to the importance of creating reciprocal relationships with Indigenous individuals and communities, as well as the importance of following the relevant Indigenous protocols around the sharing of knowledge. For instance, the article includes a section outlining conversations between Green and Walter Sayach’apis Thomas regarding the proper protocols for handling and accessing the information in the drawings. And finally, the article concludes with Green returning printed facsimiles and digitized copies of the original drawings and annotations to the Thomas family, who will be using them to design new ceremonial regalia. This is how you do it, people. (And if you’re wondering, yes, images of the drawings are included and they are wonderful).

Favourite quote:

“Once I found the Douglas Thomas drawings in the APS, and later the annotations, I returned them directly to Walter because of his role as head of the Nash’asat-h and his hereditary responsibility as head of this family within the Tseshaht First Nation more generally. One hundred years ago, Tom Sayach’apis was hesitant about sharing the secrets of osimitc unless they could be put to use by his male descendants — and today, the next generations are able to access this information, which had remained buried in archives.” P. 365-366

Suggested uses: Any settler that does or is considering doing Indigenous research should read this paper. Seriously.

 

Dagomar Degroot, “War of the Whales: Climate Change, Weather, and Arctic Conflict in the Early Seventeenth-Century,” Environment and History, Advanced Online (2019): 1-29.

Author’s Twitter: @DagomarDegroot

Link: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/eh/pre-prints/content-whp_eh_1665

What it’s about: This article explores the effect of the Little Ice Age (aka, the Grindelwald Fluctuation) on the whaling industry in the Greenland Fishery (which included areas currently known as Nunavut) through an examination of scientific reconstructions of Arctic temperature variations, ship logbooks, legal testimony, and correspondence from whalers. It argues that climate change has a significant impact on the behavior of humans. During the Little Ice Age, cooler temperatures made it more economical for most people to use whale oil rather than vegetables oils, which resulted in a renewed European hunt for the bowhead whale. In years where the sea ice enclosed some or all of the bays, there was little infighting between competing whalers, due to either physical separation by the ice or because they cooperated to exploit the few available areas. But in years where there was less sea ice, competition increased significantly, leading to several hostile encounters between whalers from different countries. While climate change didn’t cause these changes, it did create the conditions for them to occur. These hostilities only ended after the creation of formalized agreements dividing the Greenland fishery between the two most powerful players, the English and the Dutch.

What I loved: There are three main reasons why this article stood out to me. First of all, it is a highly entertaining read. I mean that. Degroot is able to make the historic whaling industry, including the whalers and the whales, come alive on the page. This includes absolutely wonderful descriptions of how the whales adapted to the behaviour of the whalers and wonderful quotes directly from documents written by whalers. If you had asked me even six months ago if I would enjoy reading an article about the whaling industry, I would have laughed. So I stand corrected! Second, I particularly appreciated Degroot’s discussion about uncertainty in historical research. Degroot argues that expressions of certainty are actually detrimental to the study of history, since they rely on highly subjective documents that may or may not accurately represent the events of the past. Finally, this is a piece that I think is important because it speaks directly to current political debates about the impact of climate change. As Degroot notes, the history of whaling during the Little Ice Age offers important warnings about our future, the ongoing disputes about both climate change, control of the Arctic region, and the ability to humans to find peaceful solutions through diplomatic negotiations.

Favourite quote: “Unfortunately, neither bowhead whales nor icebergs took the time to write a detailed record of their activities. Similarly, the human actors in this narrative – whalers weakened by a host of physical and psycho- logical burdens – more frequently articulated what they were doing rather than why they were doing it. This article therefore acknowledges areas of lingering uncertainty in its discussions of the motivations behind human actions, and the mechanisms for environmental changes.

There is a tendency among historians in particular to assume that scholars weaken their arguments when they admit uncertainty by, for example, using conditional statements. In fact, claims that communicate certainly about that past – ones that express with indefensible confidence, for example, what historical actors felt, how historical trends shaped events, or why exactly historical environments changed – are far more corrosive to the quest for truth in the historical record. Such claims actually rely on subjective interpretations of documents that do not always objectively record the activities of environments, animals and subaltern peoples, if they mention them at all. A close reading of available documents can provide the appearance of omniscience, but no collection of documents can ever give a complete reckoning of the forces, human and non-human, that shaped historical events and trends. Some environmental historians therefore argue that the best documented narrative of the past would not necessarily be the most accurate.8 Many arguments in environmental history – and particularly in climate history, which deals with variable environments on radically different scales – accordingly hinge on a careful consideration of probability, of what is more or less likely to have happened. They offer a humbler but often more truthful perspective on the past than do arguments in most other historical genres.” P. 5-6

Suggested uses: Obviously, environmental historians will love this piece, and it would make a fantastic addition to any course on environmental history, particularly those with content on the North, the Little Ice Age, climate change, and whaling. But I also think that this piece should be read by policy analysts, bureaucrats, and politicians around the world who are currently trying to find ways to minimize the impact of climate change. I would like to see climate-change-deniers read this too, but I think the odds of that happening are pretty low.

 

Also recommended:

 

Since both March and April seem to have been pretty quiet months on the article front, I decided it would be best to just combine them. But there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the latest edition of Best New Articles. If you did, please consider sharing this post on the social media platform of your choice. And don’t forget to check back on Sunday for a brand new Canadian history roundup. See you then!

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