Gathering place: Urban indigeneity and the production of space in Edmonton, Canada

Abstract

Most major Canadian cities have displaced existing indigenous settlements and gathering places. The city of Edmonton, Canada today includes what will soon be the nation’s largest urban Aboriginal population. Though urban space and planning reflect colonial relationships, it has launched progressive initiatives preceding and following the work of the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This article examines material and intangible traces of Aboriginal history and cultural presence in a theoretical context concerned with public spaces promoting transformative, dialogic, cross-cultural encounters. Case studies consider urban spaces as gathering places in terms of their relevance to indigenous practices of metissage. What is at stake for settler colonial cities in the recognition and inclusion of indigenous presence and historical relationships? Aboriginal cultures can and must play a critical role in the development of a mature civic identity rooted in a complex mutual history, with implications for urban social and ecological sustainability in the future.

Local-Indigenous Autonomy and Community Streetscape Enhancement: Learnings from Māori and Te Ara Mua—Future Streets Project

“…The results emphasize the necessity of local-Indigenous autonomy in urban design, as a re-indigenising equitable approach that recognises and empowers first peoples. This approach makes an important contribution to increased Indigenous voice and visibility by reaffirming their presence and ownership of traditional lands despite the processes of urbanisation and colonisation [ 32 , 39 ]. Indigenous public artwork was viewed as contributory to Indigenous reaffirmation and revitalisation strategies, creating a symbolic capacity, and reassertion of cultural connections to land and place [ 37 ].…”

“…Settler cities today, reflect sites of oppression that perpetuate loss of agency while weakening land, cultural and identity connections [ 11 , 36 ]. The loss of Indigenous agency has resulted in increased calls for urban-Indigenous peoples to reaffirm their rights, identity and co-presence, and to reclaim their right to their city [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. International Indigenous rights affirm that Indigenous peoples are not mere participants or stakeholders in their communities [ 40 , 41 ], but in actuality, leaders and partners that have an important role in informing planning, design and community development [ 11 , 36 , 42 ].…”

On belonging and becoming in the settler-colonial city: Co-produced futurities, placemaking, and urban planning in the United States

“…Yet, as Blatman-Thomas and Porter observe, "Indigenous people have been variously invited, forced or cajoled into urban spaces over the course of settler colonial histories" (Blatman-Thomas & Porter, 2019, p. 33), producing various sites of resistance and accommodation within the settler-colonial city. As a result, just as Indigenous peoples are continuing to be displaced and marginalized within the urban environment, they are also participating in both economic and cultural development of urban lands, engaging as property developers (Grandinetti, 2019;Tomiak, 2017) and as participants in the development of a new civic identity through art and other public realm improvements that acknowledge at least partially acknowledge some form of Indigeneity in the urban environment (Nejad & Walker, 2018;Wall, 2016). Thus, the settler-colonial project is, as Porter and Yiftachel observe, "always structurally incomplete, and it is in urban settlements that this incompleteness is most visible and paradoxical" (Porter & Yiftachel, 2019, p. 4).…”