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Islands of truth : Vancouver Island from Captain Cook to the beginnings of colonialism Clayton, Daniel Wright
Abstract
This study examines Native-white relations on Vancouver Island, and the creation of the region as an object of imperial interest, between the late eighteenth and mid nineteenth centuries. These processes are investigated using a range of empirical and theoretical materials, and in relation to the British Columbian present. Archaeological, ethnographic and historical evidence is considered alongside ideas about the nature of power, space and representation drawn from the critical literature on European colonialism. The study has a twin argument. First, it is argued that these phases of exploration, trade and imperial dispute should be studied in terms of a broader series of Enlightenment, commercial and geopolitical dynamics. But second, it is claimed that western agendas were not imposed on Vancouver Island in a mechanical fashion. They were warped in regionally specific ways because of the nature of the contact process. Western discourses and practices actively shaped Vancouver Island and were themselves reshaped in the process. Part 1 explores Captain James Cook's encounter with the Native people of Nootka Sound in 1778; the spatial and corporeal dimensions of contact are teased out in order to interrogate the scope and limits of Cook's scientific-humanitarian agenda. Part II assesses the Native-white sea otter trade on Vancouver Island between the 1780s and 1810s. It is argued that traders' assumptions about, and representations of, Native people were influenced by the commercial geography of the trade and by Native agendas. Part III deals with the way the region was refashioned as a prospective imperial space by western politicians, and the implications of this imperial outreach for Native peoples. Vancouver Island is viewed through methodological and archival lenses, and is connected to a broader late eighteenth-century capitalist-imperial world. This study works between Europe and Vancouver Island to illuminate the connections and fissures between knowledge, power and geography.
Item Metadata
Title |
Islands of truth : Vancouver Island from Captain Cook to the beginnings of colonialism
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1995
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Description |
This study examines Native-white relations on Vancouver Island, and the creation
of the region as an object of imperial interest, between the late eighteenth and mid
nineteenth centuries. These processes are investigated using a range of empirical and
theoretical materials, and in relation to the British Columbian present. Archaeological,
ethnographic and historical evidence is considered alongside ideas about the nature of
power, space and representation drawn from the critical literature on European
colonialism.
The study has a twin argument. First, it is argued that these phases of exploration,
trade and imperial dispute should be studied in terms of a broader series of
Enlightenment, commercial and geopolitical dynamics. But second, it is claimed that
western agendas were not imposed on Vancouver Island in a mechanical fashion. They
were warped in regionally specific ways because of the nature of the contact process.
Western discourses and practices actively shaped Vancouver Island and were themselves
reshaped in the process.
Part 1 explores Captain James Cook's encounter with the Native people of
Nootka Sound in 1778; the spatial and corporeal dimensions of contact are teased out in
order to interrogate the scope and limits of Cook's scientific-humanitarian agenda. Part
II assesses the Native-white sea otter trade on Vancouver Island between the 1780s and
1810s. It is argued that traders' assumptions about, and representations of, Native people
were influenced by the commercial geography of the trade and by Native agendas. Part
III deals with the way the region was refashioned as a prospective imperial space by
western politicians, and the implications of this imperial outreach for Native peoples.
Vancouver Island is viewed through methodological and archival lenses, and is
connected to a broader late eighteenth-century capitalist-imperial world. This study
works between Europe and Vancouver Island to illuminate the connections and fissures
between knowledge, power and geography.
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Extent |
31546401 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-03-20
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0087888
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1996-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.