Sana Paracha
DARE Project: 'Little White Savages:' The Anglo-Indigeneity of Settler Colonial Childhoods in Fictional English-Language Captivity Narratives and Their Circulation and Readership within the Transatlantic Book and Periodical Trade, 1880-1920
Program(s) of Study: Humanities
Project Supervisor: Cheryl Cowdy
I enjoyed reading different versions of the John Tanner story, and different introductions because they were incredibly nuanced. Some versions highlighted a Christian narrative and others took a decolonial approach to his story. I found it fascinating how the same narrative has been interpreted in such varying ways, and has even been used as a piece of proof that race is inherited and not learned, which has been the very same thinking that justified genocide against Indigenous peoples.
Project Description:
My DARE research project was about examining different versions of John Tanner’s story, a settler child captive who was raised by an Indigenous family. My work involved paying special attention to the Ryerson Press version, as a case study of a captive story in children’s literature. The goal was to compare versions of Tanner’s narrative to identify the ways in which colonial narratives are constructed, and how they were used in religious institutions, educational institutions, and society at large to push ideas of Indigeneity, whiteness, belonging and otherness. Research question: How does John Tanner’s The Falcon navigate his bicultural experience as a white person raised by Indigenous people during the late 19th century, and furthermore, how do different adaptations navigate the cultural and religious contexts and discourses.The Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) - Undergraduate enables our students to meaningfully engage in research projects supervised by LA&PS faculty members. Find out more about DARE.