Rooted In History: Representations of Ethiopian Identities in Canada

In his exploration of overlapping territories and intertwined histories, Edward Said declares “appeals to the past, are among the commonest of strategies in interpretations of the present.” Ethiopians and other interrelated Horn-of-African groups living in the Diaspora embody the tenets of Said’s argument. This observation led to a search for modalities to interpret the meanings of how and why this was the case. In response to this phenomenon, this research sought to ascertain the nexus between personal, cultural and national histories when reading contemporary expressions of Ethiopian identities. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, this dissertation examines the historical roots of contemporary representations of Ethiopians and other interrelated identities in Canada. Oral histories, Canadian archival records and other forms of representation are examined in this thesis to discern the roots of an Ethiopian identity premised on a legacy of historical visibility. Roots of the most prevalent self-ascribed and super-imposed representations and perceptions of Ethiopia and Ethiopians are situated within an intersecting Canadian and Ethiopian historical framework.\nHallmark representations of Ethiopian identities evidenced in Canadian society are contextualized through the identification and examination of four key points of intersection in Ethiopian and Canadian history in the twentieth century. The four major catalysts for the permeation of Ethiopian identity chronicled are: the Abyssinian Crisis and Italo-Ethiopian War (1934-36), Ethiopian participation at Expo 67 (1967), the African/Ethiopian famine of 1984-88, and Ethiopian Migration and Settlement in Canada (1974- present). A macro, meso and micro framework of analysis is applied to each period to demonstrate the prevalence of representations.\nAs an exclusively Canadian case study, this dissertation demonstrates the ways in which Ethiopia and representative symbols of Ethiopian history and identity were highly visible within an interpretive framework of both world and Canadian history. In conjunction with existing scholarship and paradigms of Ethiopian studies globally (classical, literary, political and religious), this dissertation historicizes the Canadian manifestations of various signifiers and perceptions of Ethiopian identities throughout the twentieth century. This dissertation contributes to the existing scholarship on Ethiopians and\nother interrelated Africans in Canada. It also contributes to studies on migration, identity and Canada-Africa relations more broadly. Keywords\nCanada-Africa relations, Ethiopians in Canada, Habesha in Canada, History of Ethiopian Representation, Italo-Ethiopian War, Expo 67, Ethiopian Famine, Oral History, Migration and Identity, Second Generation Horn-of-Africa Youth, Ethiopian Food, Canadian Culture, Canadian Politics, Africa and The Commonwealth, Africa and La Francophonie

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