The big new thrill at this year's Royal Show will be the Chuck Wagon Races, with Red Indians in full war-paint going helter-skelter around the arena, chuck wagons swaying and jostling perilously, horse teams urged with wild whooping into a frenzy of speed. - Newspaper advertisement, Sydney, Australia, March 1939.
In 1939, a troupe of eight rodeo riders, accompanied by an RCMP officer, travelled to Sydney, Australia, to compete in the Royal Easter Show. The men were expected to compete in various rodeo events, as well as to sell handicrafts at the fair's "Indian village," where they also camped. International competition in rodeo was very rare at the time, and the team proved to be a popular draw for Australian audiences.
This little-known moment in Canadian history is explored in Canadian Indian Cowboys in Australia. Lynda Mannik uniquely incorporates five different perspectives of the event: that of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales; the Canadian government; the eight First Nations men who participated; the RCMP officer who travelled with the team; and the Australian public. These multiple perspectives offer insight into the constructs of identity and visual representation as they are influenced by intercultural, social, and power relationships.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references ( p. 171-186) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 305.89707109/043
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9781552383049 1552382001
- LCCN
- E78.C2
- LCCN Item number
- M25 2006eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- NLC
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xi, 196 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00208557 (OCoLC)137508159 (CaOOCEL)409270
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- NLC
Table of Contents
- Cover 1
- Title Page 4
- Bibliographic Information 5
- Dedication 6
- Table of Contents 8
- List of Illustrations 10
- Acknowledgements 12
- Introduction 14
- 1. The Australian Request 24
- The RAS and its Ambassadors 25
- Modernity at the Royal Easter Show and the Accompanying Brochures 30
- Economic Depression, World War II and the Unspoken Political Motivation of the RAS 43
- Conclusions 44
- 2. The Canadian Response 48
- The Beginning of the Negotiations 49
- The Second Canadian Preference 51
- Schmidt's Bottom Line 57
- Handicraft Sales as Government Income at the Royal Easter Show 59
- Conclusions 62
- 3. Canadian Indian Cowboys at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney: Celebrities, Citizens & Wards 66
- Life on the Reserves in Alberta, 1930's 73
- Life as an Indian Cowboy 76
- The Trip to Australia in 1939 80
- Indian Cowboys as Celebrities 83
- Indian Cowboys as Equals 92
- Conclusions 96
- 4. Constable Leach at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney: Tourist, Amateur Anthropologist & Chaperone 100
- The Unique Relationship between First Nations and the RCMP 104
- Constable Leach and a Touristic View 106
- Primitivism Discourse within Constable Leach's Commentary 111
- Constable Leach as Chaperone and Representative of Canada 115
- Conclusions 123
- 5. The Australian Audience's Reaction to their Canadian Visitors 128
- "Noble Savage" and Savage Ideology in North America and Australia 130
- Press Reports from Australia 134
- Conclusions 144
- Conclusion 148
- Endnotes 154
- Bibliography 184
- Index 200
- Back Cover 212
