Ruminations on a “fisherman’s path”

Land as palimpsest

Authors

  • Naomi Norquay York University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/2292-4736/40318

Abstract

This piece looks at the layered history of a “fisherman’s  [sic] path” that traverses my property in Grey County and makes its way to the Saugeen River. I am exploring the idea of land as (historical) palimpsest. My sources are: David Gibson’s surveyor field notes (1848); an archaeological report about a “point” (ancient spearhead) found along the river (1984); and my own recollections of the path and its environs. I am explore how different ‘periods’ and ‘peoples’ collide and layer and erupt as the land surrounding the “fisherman’s path” goes through natural and “man-made” changes. A temporal linearity of history gets jumbled and reassembled in interesting ways.

Author Biography

Naomi Norquay, York University

Naomi Norquay is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at York University. She has been researching the Old Durham Road Black pioneer settlement for the past 15 years. Using a combination of oral history, archival research and walking the land, she investigates not only the historic presence of this community but also the ways and means by which it disappeared from the local historic narrative. She currently serves as president of the Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery Committee and co-edits Northern Terminus, a community journal dedicated to Black history in Grey County, published through Grey Roots Museum and Archives.

References

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Gibson, David. Field Notes of the East Part of the Durham Road. Toronto Archives, 180972-2, 1848.

Gray, Barry. Archaeological Survey: Glenelg and Artemesia Townships, Grey County, Ontario. May to September, 1984. South Grey Museum and Historical Library, Archival Collection, 1989, accession number 2014.004.235, file Glenelg/Artemesia Survey Report 1984.

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Hubbert, Mildred Young, editor. Split Rail Country: A History of Artemesia Township. Stan Brown, 1986.

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Norquay, Naomi. “An Accidental Archive of the Old Durham Road: Reclaiming a Black Pioneer Settlement.” Archivaria, vol. 81, 2016, pp. 1–22.

Norquay, Naomi, and Pariss Garramone. “The Old Durham Road Black Pioneer Settlement: Contested Place as an Invitation to Curriculum.” Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, 2016, pp. 20–31.

Thomas, Alfred. Prague Palimpsest: Writing, Memory, and the City. University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Willinsky, John. Learning to Divide the World: Education at Empire’s End. University of Minnesota Press, 1998.

Our Home on Native Land by Kelly King. Three women, a dog, and a cat sit on steps outside of an old house. They are coloured in sepia. Vines of s’gepn—the wild potato plant—climb the sides of the house, coloured in green with the flowers in pink. The grass in front of them women has also been coloured in green.

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Published

2022-10-18

How to Cite

Norquay, N. (2022). Ruminations on a “fisherman’s path”: Land as palimpsest. UnderCurrents: Journal of Critical Environmental Studies, 21, 4–7. https://doi.org/10.25071/2292-4736/40318

Issue

Vol. 21 (2022): Memories and Futurities

Section

Scholarly

License

Copyright (c) 2022 UnderCurrents: Journal of Critical Environmental Studies

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