Temagami’s Tangled Wild traces the processes and power relationships through which the Temagami area of northeastern Ontario has become emblematic of Canadian wilderness. In this sophisticated analysis, Jocelyn Thorpe uncovers how struggles over meaning, racialized and gendered identities, and land have made Temagami a site of wild Canadian nature. Despite the fact that the Teme-Augama Anishnabai have for many generations understood the region as their homeland rather than as a wilderness, the forestry and tourism industries, as well as Canadian law, have refused to acknowledge this claim. Instead, the concept of wilderness has been employed to aid in Aboriginal dispossession and to create a home for non-Aboriginal Canadians on Native land.

An eloquent critique and engaging history, Temagami’s Tangled Wild challenges readers to acknowledge how colonial relations are embedded in our notions of wilderness, and to reconsider our understanding of the wilderness ideal.

Jocelyn Thorpe's profile page

Jocelyn Thorpe is an assistant professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Manitoba.

The book’s short length and clear writing, which make it ideal for teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels, belie not only this ambitious objective but also Thorpe’s carefully theorizing and rich historical detail.

The Goose, Issue 11, 2012