Rethinking the Great White North : race, nature, and the historical geographies of whiteness in Canada

Summary: Canada's claim to a distinct national identity is bound to the idea of a Great White North. Images of snow, wilderness, and emptiness in our most cherished narratives seem innocent, yet this path-breaking volume shows they contain the seeds of contemporary racism. Rethinking the Great White North moves the idea of whiteness to the centre of debates about Canadian history, geography, and identity. Informed by critical race theory and the insight that racism is geographical as well as historical and cultural, scholars from multiple disciplines explore how notions of race, whiteness, and nature helped shape the nation from travel writing to treaty making; from scientific research to park planning; and within small towns, cities, and tourist centres. Four themes -- identity and knowledge, city spaces, Arctic journeys, and Native land -- serve as entry points to trace how Canada's identity as a white country was built on historical geographies of nature. This insightful collection not only reassesses Canadian history and identity, it offers a vocabulary for thinking about whiteness, nature, and nation as Canada enters into new debates about the North and the nature of multiculturalism.