Mercury (French)

The Reaffirmation of Wendat/Wyandotte Identity examines the issues of identity and cultural adaptation of the Wendat Nation of Wendake (Quebec) and the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma (United States), both of which originated from the same confederation that dispersed more than 350 years ago. Author Linda R. Sioui offers a fresh look at the identity markers, historical cultural influences, and contemporary convergences and divergences that characterize the two communities, placing them in the context of globalization, which often tends to present Indigenous groups as a uniform whole. In doing so, she shows the importance of understanding the dynamics of cultural transformation among Indigenous peoples who share a common origin. One aim of this book is to analyze the influences and impacts of three centuries of cultural mixing and change on the identity of both the Wendat of Wendake, Quebec, and the Wyandotte of Oklahoma, in the United States. From the eighteenth century until the present day, numerous mixed marriages occurred between Wendat or Wyandotte with non-Indigenous and Indigenous alike. Efforts to understand the current identity of this people, whose descendants inhabit a suburb of Québec City as well as several locations in the United States (Oklahoma, Detroit, Kansas), must necessarily factor for this mixing. The present volume also seeks to determine why, over the course of time, this mixing process has not given rise to a separate, distinct mixed blood (Métis) identity, on the one hand, from the current Wendat/Wyandotte communities and, on the other hand, from Quebec and American societies. A member of the Wendat Nation, Linda R. Sioui holds a master's degree in anthropology (Université Laval) and a bachelor's degree in sociology (University of Ottawa). She brings her expertise to life as a lecturer, consultant, and researcher, collaborating with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous institutions across the education, culture, heritage, and tourism sectors. Linda R. Sioui explores the dispersion of the Wendat of Wendake and the Wyandotte of Oklahoma, as well as what has shaped their identity. Linda R. Sioui presents a rigorous, innovative study of the complex history and contemporary experience of Wendat and Wyandotte nationhood, identity, and cultural continuity. Her nuanced study of métissage is significant: a critical counterbalance to notions of blood quantum as the only criteria of Indigenous belonging. For readers of Indigenous studies, Sioui breaks new ground in offering important insights from Indigenous community perspectives, in both Canadian and U.S. contexts. Table of Contents / Table des matières Land Acknowledgement / Reconnaissance territoriale Abstract / Résumé List of Figures / Liste des figures List of Tables / Liste des tableaux Disclaimer / Avis Notes from the Author / Notes de l'autrice Foreword / Préface To my father / Pour toi papa Acknowledgements / Remerciements Introduction Chapter 1 / Chapitre1 An Overview of the Issue of Wendat Identity / Un tour d'horizon sur la question identitaire du peuple wendat Transnational Studies, Globalization, and Definitions of Diaspora / Les études transnationales, la mondialisation et les définitions de diaspora Theories and Definitions of Diaspora, Diasporic Moment, and Diasporic Dimension / Théories et définitions du concept de diaspora, moment diasporique et dimension diasporique An Outline of History / Un survol historique Methodology / Approche méthodologique Chapter 2 / Chapitre 2 Identity in Wendake, Quebec / L'identité à Wendake, au Québec Identity and Identity Markers / L'identité et ses marqueurs Perceptions of Reunification and the Wendat Transnational Movement / Perceptions de la réunification et du mouvement transnational wendat Perceptions Concerning Questions of Language and Communication / Les perceptions des questions de langue et de communication Chapter 3 / Chapit