Delgamuukw. Sixties Scoop. Bill c-31. Blood quantum. Appropriation. Two-Spirit. Status. TRC. RCAP. FNPOA. Pass and permit. Numbered Treaties. Terra nullius. The Great Peace. The Daniels decision…
Are you familiar with the terms listed above? In Indigenous Writes, Chelsea Vowel, writer, lawyer, and intellectual, opens an important dialogue about these (and more) concepts and the wider social beliefs associated with the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada. In 31 essays, Chelsea explores the Indigenous experience from the time of contact to the present, through five categories – Terminology of Relationships; Culture and Identity; Myth-Busting; State Violence; and Land, Learning, Law, and Treaties. She answers the questions that many people have on these topics to spark further conversations at home, in the classroom, and in the larger community.
© 2016 by Chelsea Vowel
Excerpts from this publication may be reproduced under licence from Access Copyright, or with the express written permission of HighWater Press, or as permitted by law.
All rights are otherwise reserved, and no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording, or otherwise – except as specifically authorized.
HighWater Press gratefully acknowledges for their financial support the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage & Tourism.
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Vowel, Chelsea, author
Indigenous writes : a guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit issues in Canada / Chelsea Vowel.
Includes bibliographical references.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-55379-680-0 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-55379-689-3 (epub)
1. Native peoples--Canada. I. Title.
E78.C2V69 2016
971.004'97
C2016-903683-9
C2016-903684-7
HighWater Press is an imprint of Portage & Main Press
Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens
Cover and interior design by Relish New Brand Experience
100-318 McDermot Avenue
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3A 0A2
Toll free: 1-800-667-9673
www.highwaterpress.com
Dedicated to ninâpêm, José Tomás Díaz Valenzuela, kisâkihitin mistahi.
Contents
kinanâskomitinâwâw/Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION: HOW TO READ THIS BOOK
PART 1.THE TERMINOLOGY OF RELATIONSHIPS
1.Just Don’t Call Us Late for Supper
Names for Indigenous Peoples
2.Settling on a Name
Names for Non-Indigenous Canadians
PART 2.CULTURE AND IDENTITY
3.Got Status?
Indian Status in Canada
4.You’re Métis? Which of Your Parents Is an Indian?
Métis Identity
5.Feel the Inukness
Inuit Identity
6.Hunter-Gatherers or Trapper-Harvesters?
Why Some Terms Matter
7.Allowably Indigenous: To Ptarmigan or Not to Ptarmigan
When Indigeneity Is Transgressive
8.Caught in the Crossfire of Blood-Quantum Reasoning
Popular Notions of Indigenous Purity
9.What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Respecting Cultural Boundaries
10.Check the Tag on That “Indian” Story
How to Find Authentic Indigenous Stories
11.Icewine, Roquefort Cheese, and the Navajo Nation
Indigenous Use of Intellectual Property Laws
12.All My Queer Relations
Language, Culture, and Two-Spirit Identity
PART 3.MYTH-BUSTING
13.The Myth of Progress
14.The Myth of the Level Playing Field
15.The Myth of Taxation
16.The Myth of Free Housing
17.The Myth of the Drunken Indian
18.The Myth of the Wandering Nomad
19.The Myth of Authenticity
PART 4.STATE VIOLENCE
20.Monster
The Residential-School Legacy
21.Our Stolen Generations
The Sixties and Millennial Scoops
22.Human Flagpoles
Inuit Relocation
23.From Hunters to Farmers
Indigenous Farming on the Prairies
24.Dirty Water, Dirty Secrets
Drinking Water in First Nations Communities
25.No Justice, No Peace
The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
PART 5.LAND, LEARNING, LAW, AND TREATIES
26.Rights? What Rights?
Doctrines of Colonialism
27.Treaty Talk
The Evolution of Treaty-Making in Canada
28.The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
Numbered Treaties and Modern Treaty-Making
29.Why Don’t First Nations Just Leave the Reserve?
Reserves Are Not the Problem
30.White Paper, What Paper?
More Attempts to Assimilate Indigenous Peoples
31.Our Children, Our Schools
Fighting for Control Over Indigenous Education
Index
Image Credits
About the Debwe Series
kinanâskomitinâwâw/Acknowledgments
In addition to all the amazing people I have cited as sources and resources in this book, I have some specific acknowledgments to make.
I want to start by thanking Darrel Dennis for giving me the motivation I needed to finally sit down and get this book done. ay-ay.
To my husband, kinanâskomitin mistahi. The only reason I got this book done in three months with a newborn in the house is because he is an amazing and present father. I have been writing and teaching and speaking and travelling for a few years now, none of which would have been possible without my husband’s help. He will downplay his role, but this work took a village, and nîcimos is the reason the village didn’t burn down around our ears.
ninanâskomâwak all our amazing daughters: Isidora, Arlis, Emily, Neve, and sâkowêw. They are the light and joy of this life.
ninanâskomâw my fellow otipêyimisiw-iskwêw kihci-kîsikohk, Molly Swain, for reading the whole manuscript as I produced it, helping me to avoid classist and ableist language (two areas I continue to really struggle with, as ingrained as these things are), and asking me the questions that helped me go back and make things a little more clear when necessary. Also, Molly is my cohost on Métis In Space, honorary okâwiya (auntie) to my kids, and, basically, an all-around mood-lifter. Her visits during the course of my work on this book kept my mood positive, and my humour intact!
ninanâskomâw Shauna Mulligan for organizing my endnotes. That might sound underwhelming, so let me clarify how important this was! As I point out in the Introduction, I didn’t just want to present readers with a bunch of my opinions and the digested portions of my research. A huge part of this book, perhaps the most important part, is the curated resources I’ve included with every chapter. Making sure those resources are properly cited, and as accessible to readers as possible, was absolutely vital. I was doing a very poor job of this, so having Shauna step in was a huge reason this book actually got completed.
ninanâskomâw Romeo Saganash for being the catalyst of sorts for my writing on these issues. He is the one who first tweeted out my article on Attawapiskat, and things haven’t been the same since!
ninanâskomâwak Chris Andersen, Jennifer Adese, Adam Gaudry, Zoe S. Todd, Rob Innes, and Dar
ren O’Toole – all of whom are brilliant and hilarious Métis scholars. Their vital feedback and thought-provoking conversations (and rants) have been wonderful sources of inspiration and energy.
And, of course, ninanâskomâwak my parents for their love and support, my sister, Cathleen, who always has my back, and my brother, Teagun, who is out there in the world doing exactly what he wants to be doing.
Introduction
How to Read This Book
After teaching in the Northwest Territories and Alberta for a few years, I applied to law school at the University of Alberta. Education has always been my passion, but I felt I needed additional skills to be able to better understand and articulate some of the problems I was dealing with on a daily basis in the classroom. I wanted to be able to advocate more effectively for my students – most of whom are Indigenous – and I wanted to know how to go about making institutional changes. I thought studying law would give me insights I lacked.
I was right, but the most valuable education I received was not the one I’d been expecting.
I began law school in 2006. To say it was difficult is an understatement. Oh, it wasn’t the crushing workload or the competitive peers, and it wasn’t even studying law while raising two daughters. It was the world-view that informed every course. I thought I was prepared for this – after all, I had spent 17 years in the Canadian system of education. I had forced myself to read all the great European philosophers, and I thought I already understood the world-view. Yet, as I squirmed uncomfortably through each Property Law session, it dawned on me that although I had been exposed to these ideas before, they had never been laid before me so clearly and concretely – and boy, were they different from the way I had been raised to see the world!
I didn’t know how to process any of this until, one day, I went to get a pint with a couple of classmates. It sounds like the beginning of a joke: “A Métis, a Liberal, and a Conservative walk into a bar….” Well, they actually were members of these political parties and were the first people I’d ever met who knew that much about Canadian politics. By now, I’ve mythologized these conversations because they had such a profound impact on me, but, at the time, it was just three people debating topics they’d learned in class.
This was an opportunity to sit down with people who were my friends and who had very clear yet different political beliefs from my own. We weren’t out to prove each other wrong or “win” anything. We were trying to understand and be understood. We wanted to leave these conversations as friends. Our discussions about Indigenous issues were unlike anything I’d ever experienced before because they were respectful. There were times when emotions ran high because the issues we were discussing were challenging, and very personal. When you are talking about the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada, it is very difficult for the conversation not to get personal if you live on these lands. Nonetheless, despite the fact we had very deep political differences – and I mean Mariana Trench-sized differences – all three of us managed to really listen to what the others were saying, and to be truly heard in return. For me, these conversations were life changing and are the part of my legal education I value the most.
We did not come out of those conversations in full agreement – and in many situations we had to agree to disagree – but we did come out of them with a deeper understanding of one another’s concerns and beliefs.
Those conversations are the reason this book exists. Each one of the pieces presented here is written as though you and I are sitting down together having a discussion. Obviously, the conversation is one-sided (as I am trying to present my point of view to you), but always, in the back of my mind, I am speaking to friends. Sometimes, I invoke the counterarguments or questions I was actually presented with or that I have had in subsequent conversations with others. They are not the only counterarguments or questions that are possible, but when I present them it is because I believe they are questions many people have on these topics. I am not trying to put words in your mouth, and I am certainly not trying to represent Liberal or Conservative viewpoints; I do not claim to understand the political ideologies involved well enough to do that. I am trying to make myself understood, and it is entirely up to you to evaluate this information as you will.
My writing will not always be received as polite – I warn you now. I am indeed impatient with certain claims, and I have been battling the same stereotypes for nearly two decades. This can wear on a person. Sometimes, I am going to be straight-out sarcastic and brusque. It is extremely important readers of this book remind themselves we probably do not know one another in real life – what I am saying, dismissing, or getting a little snarky about is not something personal to you, the reader. Instead, I am reacting to wider social beliefs. Basically, this is not about you as a person. It can’t be, because, as I pointed out, we are strangers. If you start to get the eerie feeling that I am peering out from these pages and fixing you with an accusatory stare, go back and see if I’ve actually named you. From time to time, I will name names, so if yours is not there, you can relax. More significantly, if you need me to always be polite in order to read what I’ve written here, please ask yourself whether my tone is more important than learning about these issues. I do try my best to keep things light, but these topics are not easy ones, and I am genuinely trying to communicate with you.
The writings in this book are divided into five broad, interrelated themes: the terminology of relationships; culture and identity; myth-busting; state violence; and land, learning, law, and treaties. Each chapter is meant to stand on its own, and I have made it a priority to provide readers with as many additional resources as possible on each topic.
In fact, I worked as hard on the endnotes as I did on some of the chapters for three reasons: (1) I wanted to make sure to acknowledge my learning has been aided by many brilliant people, and this book would not have been possible without all they have thought about, tried, and shared. That I am able to articulate any of what is in this book is a result of my interaction with those minds. (2) I want you to be able to pull out a chapter you are interested in and have the full sources cited even if they refer to things mentioned in other chapters. (3) I want you to have a curated list of books and websites to explore as you wish. This book should only be the beginning of your exploration of these topics.
I want this book to spark further conversations in your home, in the classroom, and in community groups. Sometimes, emotions are going to run high; that is an inevitable part of these vital conversations. When we remind ourselves we are speaking to other human beings who have families, who face diverse challenges, and who have diverse aspirations for a better life, it becomes easier to process those emotions. What we cannot do is pretend the subject matter is anything but difficult. Sometimes, we will simply have to agree to disagree. At the end of the day, we are all still going to have to figure out how to relate to one another. We begin that process by understanding the fundamental issues.
PART 1
The Terminology of Relationships
1
Just Don’t Call Us Late for Supper
Names for Indigenous Peoples
Any discussion needs a certain number of terms that can be understood by all participants; otherwise, communication ends up even messier than usual. I’ve read a lot of books about Indigenous peoples, and it seems every single one spends some time explaining which term the author will use in the rest of the text, and why he or she chose that particular term. I’ve tried avoiding that sort of thing when talking to people, but it absolutely always comes up.
I find it somewhat easier to start with a list of what you should definitely not be calling us – a little housecleaning of the mind, if you will. Surprisingly, there are a great number of people who still think the use of some of these terms is up for debate, but I would sincerely like to help you avoid unintentionally putting your foot in your mouth. So, between us, let’s just agree the following words are never okay to call Indigenous peo
ples:
savage
red Indian
redskin
primitive
half-breed
squaw/brave/buck/papoose
This is not an exhaustive list, and there are plenty of other slurs we do not need to mention that are obviously unacceptable. I do not intend to spend any time discussing how the above terms might not be offensive, because engaging in a philosophical sidebar about whether words have inherent meaning tends to end in recitals of Jabberwocky;1 before you know it, you’ve wasted half the night trying to translate it into Cree, yet again. Or, so I’ve heard.
A lot of people who would like to talk about Indigenous issues honestly do not want to cause offence, and get very stressed out about the proper terms; so, it is in the interest of lowering those people’s blood pressure that I’m now going to discuss various terms in use out there.
First, there is no across-the-board agreement on a term. The fact that all Indigenous peoples have not settled on one term really seems to bother some people. I would like those people to take a deep breath, and chill out. It’s okay. Names are linked to identity, and notions of identity are fluid.
For example, did you have a cute nickname when you were a young child? I did. My parents called me “Goose Girl.” Twenty-five or so years later, if my employer called me “Goose Girl,” it would be awkward at best. There are terms of endearment that my friends and family call me that would sound very strange coming out of the mouth of someone I just met.
When meeting new people, we tend to err on the side of formality to avoid giving a poor first impression. So it is with identifiers for Indigenous peoples. Terms change; they evolve. What was a good term 20 years ago might be inappropriate now, or it has been worn out through constant repetition – like every hit song you used to love but can no longer stand to listen to. There is also an issue of terms becoming co-opted and changed by government, industry, or by pundits searching for new ways to take potshots at us. Sometimes, a term is abandoned because it has become so loaded that using it suggests tacit agreement to some bizarre external interpretation of who Indigenous peoples are.
Indigenous Writes Page 1