The Crown Imperial: The Emergence of Canadian Cultural Nationalism

1
The Crown Imperial The Emergence of Canadian
Cultural Nationalism

• Or the performance of whiteness in the Okanagan
  in 1953 to celebrate the crowning of Elizabeth II
• May 2008 Philosophers Café
• Daniel Keyes

2

• The settler is an exhibitionist faced with the
  problem of being outnumbered he develops ways of
  displaying power over the native. (Root 231
  quoting Fanon 53).
• There is truth in Queen Elizabeth which the
  modern world should not neglect In pompous
  ceremonies a secret of government doth consist
  (Massey On Being Canadian (1948) 183)

3
Allen Filewod in Performing Canada The Nation
Enacted in the Imagined Theatre

• Pageantry theatricalised the public sphere
  through the iconic power of state ceremonial.
  Even in a provincial backwater like Toronto, a
  grand Military Review, such as the one held in
  1901 for the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and
  York in Toronto, could parade 10, 000 military
  troops in a mass patriotic spectacle. (19)

4
1907 Pamphlet produced by the Okanagan Trust
Company

• you would not wish to find yourself surrounded
  with garlic eating, foreign speaking neighbours,
  with whom you could have nothing in common
  socially. The class of people coming to NARAMATA
  is not of that type. They are the very best
  Canadian stuff (8)

5
Filewod demonstrates how pageants in the 1890s
through to the 1920s were used to

• articulate a new imperium of racial destiny . . .
  This was the empire in practice, played through
  the community efforts of its (white) citizens.
  The stage on which the school children recited
  the script of their teachers was, through the
  medium of imagined theatre, a platform for
  countless others, to form an imperial stage on
  which regiments marched, pageant-master restaged
  episodes of glory, and playwrights offered verse
  dramas. (19)

6
Massey On Being Canadian (1948)

• The typical Canadian
• resembled in many ways both Englishman and
  American, but there could not have been mistaken
  for either. They were Canadians, and with a small
  margin of error, one could spot them in the
  streets as such long before their badges could be
  identified. They could have come from anywhere in
  Canada. Something their bearing told the storya
  combination of qualitieson the one hand a
  naturalness and freedom of movement, a touch of
  breeziness and an alertness which suggested the
  new world. They also showed self control, an air
  of discipline and good manners, and they had
  generally taken some trouble about their
  appearance. They were rarely found lounging they
  seemed always to have some purpose in mind. (3)

7
Massey On Being Canadian

• To no country in the world does tolerance mean
  more than to our (24)

8
Sunera Thobanis Exalted Subjects (2007)

• In the foundational moment of Canadian
  nationhood, the British and the French were cast
  as the true subjects of the colony, while the
  Indian was expelled as the enemy outsider.
  Constituted as preferred races within the
  bureaucratic apparatus of the settler state, the
  settlement activities of these true subject
  accomplished the violent dispossession of
  Aboriginal populationsa dispossession duly
  constituted and preserve as lawful to this day
  (11).

9
Masseys radio broadcast from Ottawa on
Coronation day June 2, 1953

• The Coronation is the
• most moving historical pageant of our time. But
  to us, it is something more than the history
  which is our history. It is part of ourselves. It
  is linked in a very special way within our
  national life. It stands for all qualities and
  institutions which mean Canada to every one of us
  and which for all our differences and all our
  variety have kept Canada Canadian. . . . The
  Queen wears the Sign, which unites us all.
  (1)

10
Crown Imperials Climax

• The Marquis of Lorne and Lieutenant Governor
  Laird bringing the western plains into the
  motherland by having the Crowfeet and another
  chief sign a treaty. The narrator explains
  Canadian history was made this day. Pioneers
  from there moved ever westward, claiming peaceful
  occupancy and freedom from attack by warring
  Indian tribes.

11
June 2, 1953 Editorial in Kelowna Courier

• We are sure, it Crown Imperial must have
  brought to our foreign-born citizens a better
  understanding of our background of our British
  connections and of our unique and personal
  allegiance to the monarchy. It must have
  stimulated the patriotism and understanding of
  our children (1) .

12
Today

• Rather than seeking authenticity elsewhere, we
  need to transform how we look at our histories
  and traditions and find ways to unravel these
  from all the racist versions to which we have
  been subjected. We need to confront the painful
  histories as a way to begin abandoning the
  essentialist notions of white identity as well
  as positions that construct Native cultures as
  the imaginary space that can save us from
  ourselves. (Deborah Root in "White Indians
  Appropriation and the Politics of Display. 232)

13
Globe and Mail Travel advertisement Spring 2007

• Kelowna is an epicureans nirvana
• The only reference to aboriginal culture is to
  the Turtle Island Gallery, a purveyor of
  authentic Aboriginal Art and Wares (TK1).
• History is constituted in this supplement as
  being available at the Laurel Packing house where
  you can learn about our wines and our heritage
  as a fruit-growing region from citizens who are
  characterized as ranging from trendy youths to
  hip boomers (TK1).

14
CTV poll April 2008

• 88 per cent of Canadians said they felt their
  community was welcoming to people from visible
  minority groups.
• However, the survey also showed that 45 per cent
  of Canadians felt new immigrants hold onto their
  customs and traditions for too long.

15
BC150 Year Celebration

• As the original inhabitants of B.C., Aboriginal
  peoples have lived here for thousands of years.
  In 1858 and the years following, First Nations
  people faced great challenges to retain their
  heritage. Because of their perseverance and
  dedication to continuing the rich traditions of
  their ancestors, and their willingness to share
  these experiences, all British Columbians today
  can celebrate the culture of First Nations as
  part of what makes B.C. truly unique.
• There are many things to celebrate. From the
  contributions of Aboriginal peoples, to the
  stories of the pioneers who followed the gold
  rush and set down roots here, this is a time to
  honour the diversity and widespread achievements
  of the people who built this province, while also
  setting our sights on all of the opportunities
  that the future holds.

16
Premier Campbell and Governor Schwarzenegger

• From the Green summit May 31, 2007.
• A video clip provided by the premier office so
  news agencies can generate their story.

17
Questions

• Has the management of diversity in the Okanagan
  and British Columbia changed since the 1950s? If
  so, how?
• How does Whiteness operate today as an invisible,
  yet dominant and privileged position?
• Do public celebrations of local, provincial, and
  national history account for the colonial past?
• How might we imagine a celebration of Kelowna or
  BC that might reconcile the past and present?