The Indian in Poetry and His Relationship to Canadian Nationalism: A Study of the Late Nineteenth Century and the Mid Twentieth Century

Abstract

<p>This thesis studies the relationship between the use of the "figure qf the Indian in poetry and the concerns of Canadian nationalism. In the two intensely nationalistic periods that are focused on, the late nineteenth century and the mid twentieth, the Indian becomes the symbolic link to a sense of Canadian unity and patriotism, playing the role of the Canadian hero and the innocent and noble savage. Yet the Indian also becomes the implacable foe, functionning as a force detrimental to the development of a sincere Canadian sense of security and comfort in a homeland. The varying roles of the Indian symbolically represent both the innocent promise and the terror offered by the Canadian landscape to its new inhabitants. The Canadian must come to terms with both before he can achieve a true sense of nationalism. The presence of recurring themes in both periods in connection with the Indian in poetry attests to the fact that the Canadian mentality has yet to achieve the understanding necessary for the creation of such a sense of nationalism.</p>