In comparing my first and my final reading logs, my development as a history writer became apparent to me. My first log, found under the Read More, laid a more general roadmap than my later ones, having issues focusing on a single issue.
Reading Log #1
Jack Brink’s exploration of the tradition of buffalo jumping among the Plains peoples of Southern Alberta not only offers insight into the creativity involved in the process, but also deeper insight into how assessing jump sites allows the everyday person to “do” history. Brink uses his studies to inform the general population of myths associated with the peoples of the Plains and their hunting practices.
The 2008 book Imagining Head Smashed In: Aboriginal Buffalo Hunting on the Northern Plains’ main goal is to dispel misconceptions the public has about both people who lived in the past and the historical practice of buffalo jumping. Brink begins by describing the interactions between the present-day archeologists and the “nameless and faceless”[i] people who manufactured the jumps. One of history’s responsibilities is to pass on the stories of those who no longer can, and “of what they [were] capable”[ii]. Brink’s extensive background in the study allows him to accurately relay the stories of the Indigenous peoples that created the buffalo jump.
An early misconception of buffalo jumps made by Alexander Henry characterized them as “sheer laziness”[iii], a myth that is still found today.  Brink dispels this idea, claiming that:
“It all has to do with the application of ingenious trickery and astounding knowledge to an exceedingly complex set of landscape requirements that made most steep drops entirely unsuitable”[iv].
This claim not only works to challenge Alexander Henry’s perception of jumps, but also present-day visitors to Head-Smashed-In who question whether every cliff was used as a jump[v]. The idea that buffalo were haphazardly run off any cliff also runs in direct conflict with the actuality of the planning among multiple First Nations groups to create the communal hunting of large herds of buffalo. Another common misconception is that of buffalo jumps being born out of desperation for food sources. Brink’s studies lead to the conclusion that buffalo jumps allowed the groups involved in them to live a comfortable life not usually associated with pre-contact times[vi]. The author combines his archeological study of the physical locations of jumps and his knowledge of the peoples who used them to illustrate how creating buffalo jumps allowed these groups to prosper.
Brink uses his field of study of archeology to paint a vivid picture of the ways the Great Plains peoples of Alberta lived and hunted. This history is not often discussed in such detail, leading to misconceptions that historians and archeologists alike must work to dispel. How can other disciplines use their knowledge of the past to enhance the public’s understanding of the people that came before us?
[i] Jack W. Brink, “The Buffalo Jump” in Imagining Head Smashed In: Aboriginal Buffalo Hunting on the Northern Plains, (Athabasca, AB, Athabasca University Press, 2008), pg. 6.
[ii] Brink, “The Buffalo Jump”, pg. 6.
[iii] Brink, “The Buffalo Jump”, pg. 13.
[iv] Brink, “The Buffalo Jump”, pg. 12.
[v] Brink, “The Buffalo Jump”, pg. 12
[vi] Brink, “The Buffalo Jump”, pg. 10, 11
Final Reading Log
On the topic of duels in Upper Canada, the articles of Morgan and Brown examine the role duels played in popular culture of the time and how they helped to uphold patriarchal societal standards of Upper Canada. In examining duels and dueling culture, we can also gain insight into the values and beliefs of people living in Upper Canada prior to confederation.
Dueling was “dying out”[1] by the mid to late 19th century, in Britain and the colonies it oversaw. In Perth, Ontario, a town populated by “soldiers discharged from the British army after the War of 1812”[2], dueling held significance in its ties to the country from which its citizens came- Britain. Even in Britain[3], dueling culture was waning among the “upper or middle class, white, and Anglo-American or British”[4] men that were the demographic of such activities. Having less men living in Upper Canada means that less men participated in duels in their heyday; as duels declined in popularity very few men participated at all, and duels that did take place were “a subject of ridicule”[5]. This fact exemplifies the public’s disinterest in dueling just because it was from Britain, and a particular disinterest in activities that exclude large portions of the population.
The Lyon and Wilson duel was a matter of “embarrassment”[6] and pride, but the ability to duel another man for pride is based on the assumption that the participants were lawfully allowed to have pride in the first place. Duels were “not open to women of the same class and racial group”[7], and any non-white person was excluded as well. The patriarchal rule of Upper Canada expected that men would “exercise both dominance and protection over the women and children of their households”[8], and duels were a dominant way of upholding that dominance and protection. As such, even when a man was killed in a duel, the opponent was often found not guilty if they were upholding the rules that society had placed on dueling practices. A “list of twenty-six rules”[9] governed the activity, and if a jury agreed that rules were followed, acquittal was likely to occur. However, the opportunity for a white man to stand trial comes from a place of privilege that assumes the white man’s innocence and presumes the black man guilty. In this way, duels were a way of upholding patriarchal and prejudicial society and law.
As historians, we must think critically about activities of the past while refraining from judging the actions of past people using today’s standards. The practice of dueling is an event we must apply this thinking to. Even though as modern-day citizens we can see how the practice upheld the oppression of women and people of colour, we must also recognize that laws of the day did not consider this oppression to be of any importance. Upper Canadians were attempting to recreate British society as best they could, and because dueling was implemented in Britain, it became part of Canadian culture, although only to the extent that a small colony could uphold a scarce-practiced event from the old country.
[1] Stephen R. Bown, “Pistols at Six O’ Clock”, Beaver 79, no. 4 (Aug/Sept. 1999): 22.
[2] Ibid, 23.
[3] Cecilia Morgan, “’In Search of the Phantom Misnamed Honour’: Duelling in Upper Canada”, The Canadian Historical Review 76, no. 4 (December 1995): 530.
[4] Ibid, 531.
[5] Bown, “Pistols”, 23.
[6] Ibid, 25.
[7] Morgan, “In Search of the Phantom Misnamed Honour”, 531.
[8] Ibid, 533.
[9] Ibid, 535.