Taylor’s Top Ten Treaty-Ed Teachings

Teachings to follow as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow.

How did I do on the alliteration?

For my final ECCU 400 project I have made a top ten list to highlight my main enlightenments over the course of this class. A lot of what we discussed was not new knowledge for me, but I believe that when exploring topics of justice and marginalization it is always good to be reminded, and to be open to looking at things in new perspectives, and this class certainly delivered that. PS – If you see links, please look at them and just skim the blog articles. I don’t expect you to seriously read all that is mentioned here!

I promised myself I would be to the point to keep this more effective. KGO.

Indigenous issues were in the past – BUT THEY ARE ALSO IN THE PRESENT.

To count them only as historical grievances means avoiding fixing the injustices going on today. Think in contemporary terms. We need to act now, not just learn about it in history books. Horrible reserve conditions, missing and murdered children and women, blatant and systemic racism – it is all here, and very close to home.

Kindness is important in achieving goals for justice.

Pam Palmater did not talk, in her speech, about raising pitchforks and going after racists. She talked about the importance of a “good old fashioned apology”. The gentleman at the Legislative building did not ask us to take up arms and go in guns ablazing. He asked for awareness of the issues we face, and to pass it on to others. Even Angela Davis, although she talked about things as radical as getting rid of policing as we know it, was calm and rational through all of her speaking. She expressed how, to help women overall, we need to reach down and offer hands to those of us who are lower on the triangle hierarchy of power right now, to truly break the ceiling of patriarchy. I have learned from people (the greatest resources) this semester that self-care, advocating for those who are marginalized, and personally seeking and offering ways to help, are good ways to approach social justice, and too, reconciliation. And don’t confuse kindness with passivity and inaction – you can act, but you can act with kindness. You can show strength in kindness. I do talk about scenarios where I understand when using force to demand rights is best – after all, some people have been trying peace for years and it has not gotten them anywhere.

However, if we are in a position of privilege to talk with other privileged peoples about changing mindsets, I think kindness is a first, because is our end goal a world of hatred, or a world of love? I find that getting angry is so tiring and draining, spiritually. I would rather seek my inner power from positive sources, live love, laughter, and art. I expect many oppressed peoples would like to feel this way, too – but can’t, because they need to fight a daily fight to be treated as equal.

We need to hold people accountable when it comes to oppression or ignorance of any kind.

State facts, don’t attack personally, but defend why someone’s behavior is racist in a certain moment. Point it out, don’t let it pass. Angela Davis holds people accountable – for example when she said that YOU, as a man, might not demean women behind closed doors, but as a man who wants equal rights you still have a duty to call ANY OTHER MEN out on acting that way. If you aren’t going to be a teacher, a voice to counteract the hate, nobody is going to learn. And it isn’t going to be easy. I have begun honest (and messy) conversations with family about racism. I am starting to realize moreso who to keep in my life that will push me further, and those who will hold me back if I give them the chance. Some other situations where I have learned firsthand the power of being accountable: the bake sale “pressure” at the ReconciliACTION event to go beyond passively throwing in money, to actively educating myself on a topic; and the day with the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp where I saw Angela’s propositions be put into practise.

Find personal connections and hold on to them to help you relate.

I talk in this blog about the personal perspectives that I bring to the haunting past (and present) of residential school abuse. I am a person who believes that pain is pain, and to compare levels of pain and “whose is worse” does not get either person healing. The more we can relate to it and see… “You are suffering through something, just like I suffered through something, and this is how I felt” the more I believe we can heal together and help one another. This is why I have to nod along when survivors say that they find healing in sharing their stories to people who can listen (and understand and sympathize). I also understand how vulnerable those survivors must feel sharing stories to a large number of people who deny that residential schools were a cultural and physical genocide, and claim people are milking it. Do these people even realize how cold it is to judge another person’s grief on a scale of importance? All trauma and grief is heartbreaking, and requires love and support to overcome.

Follow the news.

CBC: Unreserved, CBC: Indigenous, APTN. Particularly, news from a marginalized group about a certain group. Follow diverse news, not just what pops up on your Facebook feed (yikes!) Yes, stories about Indigenous peoples will make it into mainstream news, but are not going to give you the most comprehensive and accurate understanding of their culture and current issues. When I asked Sylvia Smith what I could do, this was her best advice, and still is. News is not static – it is not one single webpage of “Indigenous Peoples Facts” that can be current today, and outdated tomorrow. The news is evolving and growing, just as we the people are. And most importantly, make sure you are balancing bad news with good news. If all you have heard about is how the government is failing Indigenous peoples (they are and I do not want to undermine the tragedy of this) you will need a pick me up – so read about the wonderful contemporary Indigenous cultures in Canada. Read about a local and recent powwow, or a reconciliation art contest and its winners. If you look for it, you will find it, and it will help you realize how strong and beautiful Indigenous peoples are.

Find your niche – your purpose.

You can support everything reconciliation based but if you find a particular passion – follow it as far as it will take you. As Ann Perry says you may not make a lot of friends – but in the end, I think you will make ones that count. I have been talking with my mom at length about this gentleman who is raising awareness and encouraging discussion about justice and reconciliation. She told me, “You know, people say he needs to get a job – but what he is doing right now is his purpose in life.” She thinks it is an important purpose and that he should be honoured, after he has left, by having the teepee remain as a community meeting place. She also thinks there should be a plaque in Wascana honouring what was done there. I am proud of my mama for thinking of something I didn’t even think of. I am happy that Prescott has found a purpose and is touching so many lives.

Do the “little things” that add up.

Write a letter to the PM. Go to Reconciliation or any kind of social justice workshops. Go to powwows. Take opportunities, make time for opportunities. I helped take a man home in a blizzard, and my perspectives on what little things and big things are changed considerably. I was going to buy hand soap that day, and instead I helped a man find shelter. It took 30 minutes out of my day. Little thing or a big thing – you decide. I have had so many great opportunities for learning because of this class – when I went to the museum I was sorely disappointed with the material BUT, once again, people are the best to learn from. I walked through the museum with a young Cree boy and an older relative, and he taught him “amisk”. I (being snoopy) asked what that meant and he replied, “It is beaver, in Cree.” It always pays to ask – how I know the local name of my favourite wild creature!!

Read Chelsea Vowel.

I really have to say no more. Just read Chelsea Vowel. Here is her online blog, and buy Indigenous Writes. She speaks with a passion for social justice that many people may write off as snarky, but she speaks the truth and everything she says I have to nod along to. My favourite thing I have read from her is in Indigenous Writes, when she suggests that, if we are not happy with how we are referred to in English terms (settler, Caucasian, non-Indigenous, white, etc.) we should look up what we would be called in a local Indigenous language. This incited anger in me as I realize “No, I want to be called by a name of my choosing” yet she is pointing out how this is essentially what colonial settlers have done to marginalized groups for centuries – choose their own names, for a different group of people.

If you are going to be in it, be in it. Show integrity.

For example, Prescott highlighted a serious issue when he said that all of the fancy “modern” institutions are doing land claims, acknowledging and “honouring” they are located on traditional First Nations land. But as soon as First Nations peoples motion a want to actually make use of their rights, the people and their systems get nervous and oppositional, or dig their heels in. I think I have done a good job showing integrity this class.

Navigate carefully the waters of cultural appropriation. If you like Indigenous art, go and support Indigenous artists right from their independent shops. Put your money where your mouth is. Buy their art. Your money will make a difference in the lives of that Indigenous person and their families. As Pam Palmater says, if you want to help, tell us how: can we have land? Money? Time?

Pass on your experiences to your students. Inspire them.

Tell them your good stories, your heartbreaking stories – tell it all, and give them avenues to begin their own journeys. Show them 150 ways to reconcile. Explore the news with them. Take them to Indigenous cultural events, and yes, make sure they learn about the injustices being done to Indigenous peoples too. Check out Project of Heart with your students and teach them about things like Jordan’s Principle. As Sylvia Smith says, “Speak from the heart”, because everything else “You can flush.”

#thisisnottheend #thisisjustthebeginning

Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism (SCAR) – Camp Outside of the Leg Building

As I write my reflections, I will write with this important disclaimer: I will not include the name of the gentleman who shared his stories and purposes for doing this with us, and I will not include details of his personal stories.

This reasoning is twofold: Firstly, I understand the importance of privacy and that he may not want everything he shared with us to be shared with the whole world.

Second, I want to strongly encourage anyone who visits Regina, or especially who lives in Regina, to stop by and show your support to this gentleman, and the others who have been part of this camp. Even if you feel “on the fence” about Indigenous justice issues, I encourage you to ask to be invited in, sit down, open your ears, and listen. Give them an hour, and see how you feel coming out of that teepee. Be sure to sign the guest book!

When I got there at 3 pm on what looked to be a busy Thursday at the Legislative Building, I was greeted with a scene I knew I was likely to see. Banners highlighting the injustices done to youth in Saskatchewan. A tally board counting how many days the group has been camping. And a little makeshift village, a home away from home, with a sharp and deep purpose: To raise awareness for racism.

A gentleman came out, tall with long black hair, and he mentioned he was checking to see what was going on because he heard some talking. We talked a bit, I explained we were here as a University class and were wondering if he would be interested in sharing some stories with us. He agreed quickly, and that was that. Two hours later, and he had no shortage of things to tell us. I found myself able to relate, to have a dialogue where I could speak and ask questions too. I thanked him for his kindness and generosity, and he in turn thanked us for being here to tell his stories and thoughts to.

I assessed how much my prejudice had led me astray from the experience I was actually immersed in. When I got there, I thought that the protesters would be too busy in their own world to have time to talk to us. Boy, was I wrong. I also worried that, if they did talk to us, it would be off the walls radical, emotionally heated screaming, and so on, and they would hold us hostage until we agreed to be just as radical. Again, no. I had the misconception that they would not be socially-minded because they had been camping for 44 days not in their homes, but this entire event seems to have made them entirely socially-minded. People were coming and going to talk to them everyday, and also… my settler mindset was severely shaken up when he explained to us that he finds it funny that the media is saying “they (meaning him) are sleeping and living there illegally”, when so many big, fancy institutions (like the U of R) do land acknowledgements, honoring the traditional lands of First Nations peoples. Land is acknowledged and honoured, but when it comes time to actually “allow” Indigenous peoples to use their land – complications ensue. Ideas of private property and needing a home to be a fully-functioning human, are very colonial mindsets. How arrogantly ironic it is to (presumably be a settler, descended from many people who moved to a new country before arrangements were made with the original occupants of the country) tell an Indigenous person they are on some land “illegally”. This interesting situation is likely why the RCMP have not forcibly removed them from the spot.

So no. This gentleman was not ranting and raving. He was, however, very passionate about justice and about Indigenous traditions and ways of knowing being respected. He spoke in a calm, quiet, slow voice. He explained that this was an act to raise awareness – he wasn’t there to raise hell. He said there essentially is no end goal of camping there, no ultimatum to bargain with – if my understanding is correct, he just wants those in positions of power, in government structures, to begin to see from the other side.

The Legislative Building also has not come forward to talk to the campers. The explanation was that they need an invitation, and I laughed and exclaimed, before I could even think of the words coming out of my mouth, “Isn’t being here on your doorstep invitation enough?” The Legislative staff are likely wondering what political, formal agreements the campers want them to come to, when really, I think the campers just want them to acknowledge their humanity.

If we, a group of university students, can come into the teepee and listen to a new perspective for two hours – surely to god the staff at the Legislative building can bridge some connections, make a friendship or two, and seek understanding.

Some valuable things I took away from this was:

1. The sacred fire. Although it was freezing cold, we were toasty warm from this sacred fire which had been burning since they began camping there. He explained that the word for fire also mean’s a woman’s heart, in Cree.
2. Indigenous people are a commodity. I can honestly say I had never looked at it from this perspective before, but if you think about it – thousands of Indigenous children in child care services, in jails, and so on… They provide child care workers, prison guards, etc. jobs. It shouldn’t be that way. We should not need the amount of jobs that we currently have filled, in a better world in our future – sorry, prison guards and social workers.
3. There were 500 signatures signed in their guest book. I hope there will be over a thousand next month.
4. We participated in a smudging. Another person joined us in the teepee and was asked to smudge us. He asked to clarify that we were sober, and I believe that was new learning for some people – you cannot be smudged if you are under any kind of influence. You need to be clean.
5. Sometimes a hug works as the best thank you. I asked him if he was a hugger and we had a good hug before I left!

There was much more learning that went on – but you know what – you will just have to go there to find out!! The Legislative Building shouldn’t be too hard to find. And feel free to leave a comment if you have went, or decided to go after reading this blog.

 

ECCU 400 Current Events Reflection

What is Wrong in Regina?

I think this 2017 Maclean’s article by Jonathon Gatehouse is well worth the read on issues Indigenous peoples face not only in present-day, but literally in our backyard. I am still fairly new to Regina but ever since I moved here for University 2nd year I quickly became aware of the notorious “North Central” – however, not aware enough to know the actual perimeters of the neighbourhood. I had my prejudices challenged the other day and wanted to share with you all.

Over the past few days I have spent time up past Dewdney. I filled my car with gas there, did some shopping there, and did my laundry there (as my apartment building’s dryer was not working). I noticed there was a high visible Indigenous population there and also noticed on Google Maps that it said Piapot in-city Reserve. I was quite intrigued by this and so off I went. As I was driving home, however, I started to wonder if maybe I was in North Central. I Googled “North Central area” and lo and behold, I have been spending the last few days in North Central. The area looks old and tired and some of the people do look quite “on guard”, but I did not feel unsafe (albeit I was going in the daytime).

I know for sure that my prejudices from reading articles like this would have kept me out of the neighbourhood, so I am glad for my naivety that I never even thought of it, because I was able to immerse myself in the neighbourhood and realize there are some very kind and interesting people who live and work and go about their day in that neighbourhood, just like everywhere else.

This article is a must-read. I find it appalling that North Central is literally a big red blob on the crime and poverty radar, yet the city is not taking better steps to try to help the neighbourhood out. As the author points out, in a lot of ways it has not gotten better in ten years. This is not only an Indigenous issue, this is a Regina issue. I am curious to hear of peoples’ experiences and if there are any positive articles on progress going on in NC.