Welcome back to our regular favourite series, Historians’ Histories! If you’d like to see more posts from this series, you can do so here. This week we will be interviewing the fascinating Kathryn Magee Labelle. Enjoy!
Dr. Kathryn Labelle is an Associate Professor of Aboriginal history at the University of Saskatchewan and an adopted member of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas. Her research centres on the Wendat/Wyandot/Huron communities of North America with particular interest in settler colonialism, Indigenous identity and the experiences of women from the seventeenth century to the present. In addition to publishing articles on Wendat child-rearing, witchcraft, warfare, and leadership, Labelle is the author of the award-winning book Dispersed, But Not Destroyed: A History of the Seventeenth Century Wendat People (UBC Press, 2013). Her current research is a collaborative project with the Wendat Longhouse Women entitled Daughters of Aataentsic that explores the lives of seven Wendat women from the 17th-21stcenturies.
What is your background (education, life experience, etc..)?
I have a BA and MA from the University of Ottawa and a PhD from The Ohio State University. I was born and raised in Brookville Ontario.
What drew you to history in the first place?
My mother was a history teacher and raised us with a passion for understanding the past. I also spent a lot of time visiting Crawford Lake Indian Village (a fourteenth century reconstructed Wendat village).
Why did you decide to become a historian?
I became frustrated with Canadian history textbooks and the general “national” narrative. I wanted to contribute to the re-telling of the history of where I am from.
Why did you decide to focus on your particular area of study?
I grew up paddling the shores of the 17th century Wendat Homeland (Georgian Bay, Ontario) and visiting Wendat historic sites. The history books told me that the “Huron” or Wendats ceased to exist after 1650. Then, I had Georges Sioui (huron-wendat) as my undergraduate professor. I was completely embarrassed to have taken the textbooks at face value and was astonished to learn that there are modern Wendat communities in Quebec, Ontario/Michigan, Kansas and Oklahoma. Dr. Sioui encouraged me to contribute to the scholarship (including his own) by researching and writing histories that reflected the complicated, long and continued history of the modern Wendat communities.
If you didn’t go study your chosen area, why kind of history do you think you would want to do?
King Henry VIII for sure (or more specifically his six wives)
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Grade 3 public school teacher
What kind of work do you do as a historian?
My professional practice is guided by work with the Wendat Confederacy. This means that my projects are grounded in the question – how can I be of service to these communities? Often this includes grants and publications that target topics of particular interest to the Wendat/Wyandot/Wyandottes. At the moment my project Daughters of Aataentsic, for instance, is the result of a request from a Wendat Women’s advisory council to have more published research on key Wendat women to make that history accessible for future generations .
What is the coolest and/or strangest thing you’ve ever found or learned while doing research?
An original letter written by a Jesuit in 1635 at the Newberry Library. (Editor’s Note: Was it an original version of a now-published letter or an original letter that nobody had ever heard of before? I have so many questions…)
What is your favourite part about being a historian? And what is your least favourite part?
Writing and writing…..
What is the most surprising thing you’ve ever learned about history?
That the saying is true – history DOES repeat itself!
Why do you think we, as a society, should study history?
So that history DOES NOT repeat itself.
If you could go back in time, whether to live or just visit, which time and place would you pick and why?
1633 Wendat Homeland – to solve the mystery behind Étienne Brulé’s death.
What is your favourite historical book/film/museum/etc, and why?
Hmmmmm…. too many to pick just one. My LEAST favourite is Black Robe. (Editor’s note: You are not alone.)
In your opinion, what is the most important event or person in Canadian history that everyone should know about?
Molly Brant. There are others that I could include, but her story tells us many important things about time period and it has remained in the shadows of Joseph Brant for too long.
Special thanks to Kathryn Labelle participating in Historians’ Histories!! I hope you enjoyed this blog post! If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice. If you are interested in participating in this series, please get in touch by emailing me at unwritten histories [at] gmail [dot] com or by sending me a message on Facebook or Twitter. Don’t forget to check back on Sunday for our regular Canadian History Roundup. See you then!
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