Claiming Christmas for the tourist: 'Living history' in Dundurn Castle

This thesis examines the history and representation of Canada's historical past by looking at the history and restoration of Dundurn Castle, a historic home and living history museum, located in Hamilton, Ontario, and by considering the interpretation of the past offered in the Dundurn Castle Christmas Evening Tour, the site's longest running and most popular programme. In my discussion, I trace the history of the site and evaluate the connection between nationalistic frameworks constructed during the preparation period for the 1967 Canadian Centennial and the restoration of historic sites. I argue that Dundurn Castle, with its period decorations and live interpretation offered at the Christmas Evening Tour of 2004, represents an ethnicized version of a historical holiday and essentializes Canadian history as distinctively British-based. I suggest that this process of ethnicization is intertwined with the live interpretation offered at the site, a distinct and essential part of the living history format. I argue that visitors' experience of place encourages them to engage in what are presented as "traditional" Christmas activities, ones that are portrayed as distinctively British-based, and, in doing so, to seemingly "step out of time." This thesis explores the complexity of live interpretation and the decorated interior as an example of the material culture that represents Canadian history in the context of contemporary multicultural Canada. By examining Dundurn Castle's Christmas programming, I show how, despite the existence of multiculturalism as a state policy that recognizes the existence of many cultures in Canada, historic sites often reproduce core Canadianism. I position this analysis within critical frameworks that operate across the disciplines of art history, Canadian history, museum studies, cultural studies and tourism studies.