American History The Colonial Present - 1203 Words

Deconstructing Canada’s Colonial Present An Analysis of Technologies of Modernity in Tracey Deer’s Mohawk Girls Modernity plays an intricate role in Canadian society and the way in which it was built. One aspect of modernity that is particularly important to Canada’s colonial history would be with respect to the First Nations population of Canada. This paper will define and work through the concept of modernity and technologies of modernity in relation to Tracey Deer’s documentary Mohawk Girls. I argue that reserves and blood quantums all act as technologies of modernity, enforcing racialized worldviews and categorizing groups into inferior and superior. Modernity can be defined as a system of†¦show more content†¦Similarly, Said’s description of Orientalism is also an example of modernity, in that he describes it as an â€Å"imaginative examination [based] exclusively upon a sovereign Western consciousness [†¦] governed not simply by empirical reality but by a battery of desires, repressions, investments, and projects†. Thus, in Tracey Deer’s M ohawk Girls technologies of modernity can be seen through the creation and subsequent isolation of many First Nations to reserves, and the classification and declaration of â€Å"Indian-ness† or â€Å"Mohawk purity†. Kahnawake, and many other reserves throughout Canada are extremely isolated – not only in terms of physical geography, but in the culture, language, schooling, healthcare, and demographics. Kahnawake lies in Quebec, across the _____ river from the metropolitan of Montreal. Despite it’s close proximity to Montreal, Kahnawake does not share the business, demographics, or language of Montreal. French – one of Quebec’s languages *** - was not spoken or even taught in the reserve due to internalized anger and resentment from years of conflict with the province. The â€Å"French† were seen as the enemy. Tracey Deer recalled that â€Å"that relationships between [her] community to the outside [had] always been strained† a nd she first bore witness to this tension when she was twelve, during the Oka Crisis. Tracey was a part of a convoy of men, women, and children attempting to escape Kahnawake for safety. As they