Nomads, pilgrims, tourists: women teachers in the Canadian north

Drawing on notions of the modern pilgrim and postmodern tourist, this paper explores the discursive resources concerning women, travel, and transience as they apply to female teachers working in the Canadian north. In particular, it traces the discourses evident in the talk of twenty‐five women teachers currently working in northern First Nations (indigenous) education. Although both were invoked, neither the postmodern teacher–tourist nor the modernist pilgrim–teacher were easily mapped onto the positioning of the ‘woman’ teacher. Alternative discourses of the female teacher need to be developed to organize the work of women teachers who come to teach in the Canadian north or indeed any site of minority or multicultural education. Notes * Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario, 1137 Western Road, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 1G7. Email: harper@uwo.ca In Canada, the term ‘Indian’ has been largely replaced by the ‘First Nations’ or ‘Aboriginal’ and sometimes ‘Native.’ Martha, the First Nations woman in my study, used ‘Native’ to refer to herself. In the context of this paper the terms ‘Aboriginal’ or ‘First Nations’ are used somewhat synonymously to refer to indigenous populations and follow what was suggested in the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. In general ‘First Nations’ is a more inclusive term referring to all indigenous peoples including the Inuit, a term that has replaced Eskimo. Additional informationNotes on contributorsHelen Harper Footnote* * Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario, 1137 Western Road, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 1G7. Email: harper@uwo.ca