Out of the Same Waters: Contemporary Relations between Mi'kmaq and Settler Fishers

Abstract

This thesis investigates the current relationships between Mi’kmaq and Settler fishers given the post-Marshall decision context. It considers how years of fishing in the same waters has affected contemporary relationships between Mi’kmaq and Settler fishers. The thesis will do so by coupling rich data gained from two months of fieldwork in a rural fishing community in the Maritimes with literature that speaks to Aboriginal-Settler relations. This literature includes research done in the wake of the Marshall decision which proposes that close contact at the community level could help to move relations between Mi’kmaq and Settler fishers forward. My analysis will rely on Herbert Blumer’s (1955, 1958) group position theory as it relates to a sense of racial prejudice.