Content area
Full Text
THERE IS A PHOTOGRAPH, taken in 1910, of the hereditary chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy sitting in session at the Six Nations council house located in Ohsweken, Ontario (fig. 1). It is a solemn photo in which the chiefs stare back at the camera with rather bored expressions, as if the photographer has interrupted more important business. What strikes the viewer -- after looking beyond the twenty or so men dressed in the fashion of the day -- are the seemingly random images that hang on the wall behind them: a military flag of some sort; several paintings and photographs including Queen Victoria, Joseph Brant, and Tom Longboat; and, most significant culturally, clan "flags" depicting a turtle, a wolf, and a deer. But what probably stands out for most viewers is the large Union Jack that dominates much of the backdrop. This symbol of colonial presence could be interpreted as a sign of Iroquois compliance with and obedience to the Crown and therefore to Canada. But if one considers more closely the time and the historical significance of the era in terms of Native and Canadian relations, then a completely different understanding emerges. While other First Nations and Metis people in Canada were engaged in treaty making with what was still a relatively new country, the Six Nations of the Grand River had a two-hundred-year relationship as allies of the Crown and therefore recognized themselves as being equal to the British, and they were not willing to be subjugated by the upstart country called Canada. After all, the council house in which the chiefs sat had been built in 1863, a full four years before Confederation, and it was evidence of a prosperous, self-governing society.
Pauline Johnson (1861-1913), a well-known literary figure at the time of this photograph, was in many ways a reflection of the images contained within it. During her career, she wrote and commented extensively on the relationship between the Iroquois, the Crown, and Canada, offering her unique vision of what the Canadian national identity could be. The daughter of a well-classed English mother and a Mohawk father who was an influential chief at Six Nations, Johnson rose to prominence at a time when Canada was attempting to create a literature that...