Indigenous Writes

by Chelsea Vowel

  What’s the big picture here?

  Our central conclusion can be summarized simply: The main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been wrong.6

  I know many people reading that conclusion are going to roll their eyes and say, “Well, yeah, obviously! We know that things weren’t done in a fair fashion, but holy cats! Let’s get over the past and live in the present already!”

  Except that’s not what the Commission is saying. They have not absolved current government policy or indicated that things have been fixed and now we have only historical injustices to address. Please understand this very clearly: current government policy continues to be wrong. RCAP was quite adamant about this when they released their final report in 1996, and not enough has changed in the 20 years since then to warrant a pat on the back for making things all better.

  I recognize this is too vague for you right now, but I want you to understand it is incredibly important to simply admit this one thing. Admitting that historical and current government policy toward Indigenous peoples is wrong is no light thing. You will find strong resistance to this concept, particularly in the contemporary context. The Canadian government certainly does not accept this as true. The vast majority of Canadians probably do not accept this is true.

  Before you ask the question, “Why belabour the obvious?” I want you to remember getting people to accept this premise on a wide scale is something we have yet to accomplish, and the rejection of this as truth is the number one reason we have yet to resolve our problems, people to people, nation to nation.

  So, what do I need to know?

  I think the first thing all Canadians need to have firmly rooted in their consciousness is that Indigenous peoples are not going away. Ever. Never, ever, ever. This, despite the fact that:

  …successive governments have tried – sometimes intentionally, sometimes in ignorance – to absorb Aboriginal people into Canadian society, thus eliminating them as distinct peoples. Policies pursued over the decades have undermined – and almost erased – Aboriginal cultures and identities.

  This is assimilation. It is a denial of the principles of peace, harmony and justice for which this country stands and it has failed. Aboriginal peoples remain proudly different.

  Assimilation policies failed because Aboriginal people have the secret of cultural survival. They have an enduring sense of themselves as peoples with a unique heritage and the right to cultural continuity.7

  Many Canadians are still clamouring for assimilation. Again, you can see this in all those comment sections in all of the dialogues about “how to fix the Aboriginal problem.” The solutions are invariably, “Make them more like us! Private property!8 Get them out of isolated communities and into the cities with the rest of us!9 No special rights! No differences! Treat them the same!” and so on.

  It’s all been tried. It really has. You might not know all the history yet so perhaps you think your ideas are novel. I suggest starting with Volume 1 of the RCAP report, titled “Looking Forward, Looking Back.”10 Go ahead and skip to the sections on the Indian Act, residential schools, and relocation of Aboriginal communities.11 Pretty much every suggestion currently being given to assimilate Indigenous peoples has been actively tried before with disastrous results – ultimately, a failure to assimilate us.

  Stop it. It didn’t work, and it isn’t going to work, no matter how much cooler you think you are than the policymakers of the past. Accept the fact that we are here, and we aren’t leaving, and that we recognize you aren’t leaving, either. It would do us all a world of good if we could be on the same page on this one.

  Where do we go from here?

  After some 500 years of a relationship that has swung from partnership to domination, from mutual respect and co-operation to paternalism and attempted assimilation, Canada must now work out fair and lasting terms of coexistence with Aboriginal peoples.12

  The truth is that the status quo isn’t working. I have repeatedly talked about the need to form new relationships, but I’m not just pulling this out of thin air. This is something many people have recognized over the years as they have examined the history and the current reality of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships.

  The Commission, quite conveniently, outlined four reasons to commit to building this new relationship:

  Canada’s claim to be a fair and enlightened society depends on it.

  The life chances of Aboriginal people, which are still shamefully low, must be improved.

  Negotiations, as conducted under the current rules, have proved unequal to the task of settling grievances.

  Continued failure may well lead to violence.13

  Don’t buy that? Then, perhaps you can explain how repeating the mistakes of the past (assimilation, relocation, and so on) is a more intelligent approach? I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely ready to try something different.

  What did the Commission have in mind?

  The first and perhaps most important element is the need to reject the principles on which the relationship has foundered over the last two centuries in particular – principles such as assimilation, control, intrusion and coercion – and do away with the remnants of the colonial era. As a beginning, we need to abandon outmoded doctrines such as terra nullius and discovery. We must reject the attitudes of racial and cultural superiority reflected in these concepts, which contributed to European nations’ presumptions of sovereignty over Indigenous peoples and lands. The renewed relationship needs to be built on principles that will return us to a path of justice, co-existence and equality.14

  I know I keep coming back to this, but it’s important. The way forward needs to be guided by accepting these two related points as true:

  1.The main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been (and continues to be) wrong.

  2.We need to reject the principles on which the relationship has foundered over the last two centuries, in particular, principles such as assimilation, control, intrusion, and coercion – and do away with the remnants of the colonial era.

  Until we have that firmly set in our minds, we are all going to spin our wheels, because a great many of the people coming to the table will continue to hold onto ideas that will actively sabotage any attempt to create new relationships.

  But let’s pretend we all agree, and move on.

  Restructure the relationship? How?

  Volume 2 of RCAP’s final report deals with precisely this issue.15 The Commission makes concrete suggestions about restructuring and renewing treaties, for example, to return them to living agreements rather than historical artifacts.16 This includes changing the approach to so-called “modern” treaties that are still very much based on a model of “we talk about this once, we sign, and we never, ever discuss it again.” No other kind of treaty works that way, and the Commission provides some good recommendations about how to change the process both of addressing historical treaties and approaching modern treaties.17

  In-depth discussions and recommendations related to governance, lands and resources, and economic development can also be found in Volume 2.18 If you are curious about any of these things, please use this resource to learn more about the issues. Again, the important thing about this report is that it does not just leave you with the problems identified (a step that is undoubtedly important), but also provides you with concrete solutions you can roll around in your head for a while to see how you feel about them.

  Volume 2 is very much about building a vehicle for change.

  Even if we change the relationship, how is that going to fix the problems Aboriginal communities face?

  Volume 3 of RCAP is titled, “Gathering Strength.”19 It deals with many of the issues that have been raised over the past few years in the context of Attawapiskat such as housing, education, and health.20 It also addresses family, arts and heritage, and social policy in general.21
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br />   Volume 3 is about how where we’re going to drive that vehicle for change.

  Volume 4 provides us with a diversity of Indigenous perspectives on a range of issues, providing us with historical information, current issues and needs, and recommendations for integrating these different perspectives in ways that ensure any sightseeing we do along the journey doesn’t leave anyone out.22

  What if I just want to see a roadmap for how any of this would actually work?

  Volume 5 lays out a 20-year plan to implement all the recommendations of the Commission.23 It provides the sort of cost/benefit analysis that seems to tickle some people to no end; so if that’s your thing, feel free to skip straight to the nitty gritty. If you simply want to overload on practical suggestions for identified problems, mosey on over to Appendix A, which contains all 444 recommendations for change proposed by RCAP.24

  Wait, 20-year plan? But 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of RCAP; surely, we’re close to implementing all these recommendations?

  Ahahahahahahhaaa…….ha. No. Sadly, we have seen precious little improvement in 20 years.

  The Assembly of First Nations released a Report Card 10 years after RCAP, detailing the dismal implementation record to date:25

  This summary analysis points to a clear lack of action on the key foundational recommendations of RCAP and a resultant lack of progress on key socio-economic indicators. Based on our assessment, Canada has failed in terms of its action to date.26

  I also attended a conference in 2006 that basically discussed “Life After RCAP,” which was pretty disheartening. That conference provided some very interesting information on what impact RCAP has had – even absent full implementation. So, if you want a quick discussion on the pros and cons of how the Commission went about fulfilling its mandate, and on how the report has been received nonofficially in the courts, and so on, please take a gander!27 In particular, I suggest reading the summary of Alan C. Cairn’s breakdown of some of the inherent problems with the Commission’s approach to nationhood. RCAP was not without its flaws.

  Why hasn’t there been more progress?

  Aaaaand this is why I take you back to those points I kept hammering away at earlier. You know, these ones:

  The main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been (and continues to be) wrong.

  We need to reject the principles on which the relationship has foundered over the last two centuries – in particular, principles such as assimilation, control, intrusion, and coercion – and do away with the remnants of the colonial era.

  It is my firm belief that Canada has not yet accepted these two points as true; because of this, there has been little in the way of progress.

  You don’t value these points if you actually believe Indigenous cultures are inferior, and you sure as heck aren’t going to take them seriously. If you don’t understand the history of relations between Indigenous peoples and settlers, then you aren’t going to believe that current conditions faced by Indigenous peoples aren’t self-imposed. If you know nothing about Indigenous governance and think Indian Act governance is “traditional,” then you probably aren’t going to have much faith in Indigenous self-government. If you don’t know what has been attempted before (assimilation, relocation, and so on) then you’re going to think you’re coming up with something really radical when you suggest similar things in the current context.

  This country is woefully ignorant on a grand scale, and we will never succeed in rebuilding relationships until we address that ignorance. I can’t stress this enough: without education, there can be no justice, and until there is justice, there will be no peace.

  My purpose here was to introduce people to RCAP, both as a starting point for further investigation into the many issues faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada, and also as proof positive that practical solutions have been suggested. That latter part is important because people need to stop believing there is no other way out besides just assimilating us once and for all. It might seem so much simpler to just legislate us out of existence – make us all “the same” to satisfy liberal notions of equality – but it won’t actually solve anything. RCAP is a good place to start if you want to know why such attempts are doomed to fail, and what alternatives have been proposed.

  NOTES

  1.Peter Gzowski, and Georges Erasmus, Nothing for First Nations to celebrate, says Georges Erasmus, radio, CBC Morningside, Oct. 16, 1989, 8:34, accessed Dec. 3, 2015, http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/georges-erasmus-nothing-to-celebrate.

  This speech was given in 1989 to a committee planning celebrations for Canada’s 125th birthday (which was in 1992) by Georges Erasmus, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and later, co-chair to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. This speech is something you really should listen to in full, as, unfortunately, it is as relevant today as it was then. It is available at the link above, along with more resources about Georges Erasmus.

  A transcript of this speech, along with many other fantastic written pieces, is included in another invaluable learning/teaching resource: Shelagh Rogers, et al., eds., Reconciliation and the Way Forward: Collected Essays and Personal Reflections (Winnipeg: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2014), 37–41, http://www.legacyofhope.ca/downloads/reconciliation-and-the-way-forward-pdf-full.pdf.

  2.Paul L. Chartrand, et al., “A Word From Commissioners,” Highlights From the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: People to People, Nation to Nation (Ottawa, 1996), http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014597/1100100014637#chp2, p.ix.

  3.Ibid.

  4.Institute on Governance, Summary of the Final Report of The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Ottawa, April 1997), http://iog.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/1997_April_rcapsum.pdf. If you want to work with something even less dense, this 51-page document summarizes the report and its main recommendations, including financial estimates for implementation of these recommendations.

  5.See note 2, page 10 (my emphasis).

  6.Ibid. (my emphasis).

  7.Ibid. (my emphasis).

  8.Tom Flanagan, Christopher Alcantara, and Andre Le Dressay, Beyond the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal Property Rights (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010).

  9.Joseph Quesnel, Respecting the Seventh Generation: A Voluntary Plan for Relocating Non-viable Native Reserves (Frontier Centre for Public Policy, 2010).

  10.Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), “Volume 1: Looking Forward, Looking Back,” Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1997), http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125216/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sg1_e.html#0.

  11.RCAP, “Chapter 9: The Indian Act,” Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, vol. 1, part 2, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124124337/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sgm9_e.html; RCAP, “Chapter 10: Residential Schools,” Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, vol. 1, part 2, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124130216/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sgm10_e.html; RCAP, “Chapter 11: Relocation of Aboriginal Communities,” Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, vol. 1, part 2, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125856/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sgm11_e.html.

  12.RCAP, “Volume 1: Looking Forward, Looking Back,” 1.

  13.See note 2, page 1.

  14.RCAP, “Chapter 14: The Turning Point,” vol. 1, part 3, 609.

  15.RCAP, “Volume 2: Restructuring the Relationship,” http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125001/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sh1_e.html#Volume%202.

  16.RCAP, “Chapter 1: Introduction,” vol. 2, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071211052559/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sh
2_e.html#1%20Introduction.

  17.RCAP, “Appendix A: Summary of the Recommendations in Volume 2, Parts One and Two,” vol. 2, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124130607/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sha6a_e.html.

  18.RCAP, “3: Governance,” vol. 2, part 1, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124130703/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/shm3_e.html; RCAP, “4: Lands and Resources,” vol. 2, part 1, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125812/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/shm4_e.html; RCAP, “5: Economic Development,” vol. 2, part 1, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124130434/ http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/shm5_e.html.

  19.RCAP, “Volume 3: Gathering Strength,” http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124060708/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/si1_e.html#Volume%203.

  20.RCAP, “4: Housing,” vol. 3, last modified February 8, 2006, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125633/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sim4_e.html; RCAP, “5: Education,” vol. 3, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125456/ http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sim5_e.html; RCAP, “3: Health and Healing,” vol. 3, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124034445/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sim3_e.html.

  21.RCAP, “2: The Family,” vol. 3, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124125546/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sim2_e.html; RCAP, “6: Arts and Heritage,” vol. 3, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124130346/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sim6_e.html; RCAP, “1: New Directions in Social Policy,” vol. 3, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071124124438/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sim1_e.html.