Âpihtawikosisân

Settlers claiming Métis heritage because they just feel more Indigenous

apihtawikosisan — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 16:55:05 +0000

In 2009, John Ralston Saul tried to whip together a cohesive Canadian identity in A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada, using the Métis as a synecdoche for ‘a unique people' (i.e. Canadians). He argued that Canadian culture was less a result of English and French Enlightenment values, and more of a result of interactions between English and French newcomers and First Nations. To call this a rosy reading of history is an understatement as vast as the Mariana Trench. The goal of this approach is to encourage Canadians to "learn who they truly are" via reconnecting with their Indigenous roots. Real, or very much imagined.

Indian & Cowboy: Making and taking space for alternative Indigenous media

apihtawikosisan — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 18:15:45 +0000

"What do you do when you wake up on a daily basis and the news around you, the media, music, movies & the television you consume does not represent you and you can't connect with it?

You make your own media." -- Ryan McMahon

How non-Indigenous allies can support Indigenous struggle

apihtawikosisan — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:15:14 +0000

Generally, once people become aware of Indigenous issues in a clear sense, the first question is "how can I help"?

Having faced this question so many times with only vague answers in my head, I have thought a lot about how best to answer this question with something concrete. After all, how does anyone undo generations of colonization, theft of land and resources and deliberate policies to destroy our cultures?

The most comprehensive answer is complex and involves a lot of learning and effort to make change, but the answer can also be simple and immediate:

National inquiry won't keep Indigenous women safe, but it couldn't hurt

apihtawikosisan — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:36:47 +0000

Some of you might be asking, "Who would oppose an inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW)? I mean, besides Harper and his cronies. Only awful people, probably!"

The reality is of course much more complicated than this. Many Indigenous people oppose an inquiry for some very valid reasons, mostly centering on Canada's track record of pouring millions of dollars into inquiries that result in a whack of fantastic recommendations that are never, ever implemented. Or worse, setting up inquiries that are worse than useless and pretending the issue was dealt with, case closed.

Indigenous women and two-spirited people unite to decolonize the People's Island

apihtawikosisan — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 19:14:48 +0000

Indigenous women and two-spirited* people are leading a resurgence movement in iyiniwi-ministik, the People's Island.** They draw on their traditional roles as protectors of the land and water to inform their work in our communities, and root themselves in their specific socio-political orders to counter colonialism and to revitalize language and culture. Rather than being defined as a struggle against patriarchal gender roles and the division of labour, Indigenous women and two-spirited people's work combats the imposition of colonial barriers. The goal is not to attain gender equality, but rather to restore Indigenous nationhood, which includes gender equality and respect for gender fluidity.

Don't worry, modern democracy will be just fine after Tsilhqot'in decision

apihtawikosisan — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 17:38:49 +0000

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The number of opinion pieces coming out over the June 26, Supreme Court Tsilhqot'in decision have been staggering in volume. Unsurprising, given that we have waited 17 years since the Delgamuukw decision first pronounced the possibility of Canada recognizing Aboriginal title to see a Court point to a specific tract of land and say, "and it looks like that."

A present for Canada Day: Idle No More Blockade, the video game!

apihtawikosisan — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:13:56 +0000

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I am no programmer, and honestly my kids understand this better than I do, but I have had a heck of a lot of fun these past few days creating a silly little RPG called "Idle No More: Blockade." It is probably full of bugs and I'll have to finesse it a little later, but I wanted to get this out for Canada Day.

Aboriginal horror film depicts brutal legacies of Canadian colonialism

apihtawikosisan — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 19:15:43 +0000

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I have been meaning to write this for weeks now, but I needed the time to distance myself from my reaction to seeing Jeff Barnaby's film, Rhymes for Young Ghouls. I'm not sure how successful I've been, given that I couldn't even write this piece in one sitting and needed to come back to it several times. The film was held over in Montreal for an extra week, so I excitedly organised some friends to go see it before we lost the chance to experience this film in the theatre.

Dear non-natives who like to wear headdresses: Just don't

apihtawikosisan — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:01:17 +0000

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This open letter was originally published in 2012 on apihtawikosisan.com and was adapted from another longer article, also on that site. It is republished here with permission in response to the recent cover of Elle UK, which features American hip-hop artist Pharrell wearing a headdress.

tânisi!

Elsipogtog: The conversation we need to have

apihtawikosisan — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 21:59:51 +0000

Despite the plethora of informative articles about the ongoing struggle at Elispogtog First Nation, north of Moncton, New Brunswick, and the RCMP raid there on October 17th, most mainstream media outlets have been underemphasizing some very important aspects of the conflict. As a result, many Canadians are focusing solely on the image of burning vehicles, and some are even going as far as to brand native protestors as terrorists.

Before engaging in a back and forth about who is more in the wrong, I suggest addressing some outstanding issues that for some reason are not treated as central to these events.

Indigenous languages crucial to cultural flourishing

apihtawikosisan — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:36:49 +0000

To hear non-Indigenous people tell it, we've been teetering on the edge of extinction since not too long after Contact. That narrative hasn't changed much over the years, though the cause of our cultural and perhaps even physical demise has varied somewhat in the details. There have been moments of colonial guilt over past policies, but in every age the contemporary opinion is focused on the inherent inability of Indigenous peoples to survive in the supposedly modern world.

Indigenous nationhood is a verb

apihtawikosisan — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 19:49:02 +0000

When settlers discuss the concept of Indigenous nationhood, the term "capacity" often comes up, as in Indigenous peoples lack it.

There might be some recognition that we governed ourselves before contact, though rarely is any respect or understanding shown of those socio-political orders, but the opinion of the majority of Canadians is that we cannot govern ourselves today because we lack the capacity to do so.

Everything you need to know about Elsipogtog

apihtawikosisan — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 15:09:39 +0000

Though I will be writing on the events that took place on October 17, 2013 when the RCMP raided a peaceful blockade by members of the Elsipogtog Mi'kmaq First Nation, for now I just want to provide people with some already available and excellent resources on the subject. What I won't be doing is linking to the plethora of unbelievably racist articles that are pouring out, branding the people of Elsipogtog as everything from terrorists, to puppets of environmental NGOs. These pieces already have mainstream attention, capture mainstream attitudes towards indigenous peoples, and are pretty successfully creating the official narrative.

If you want to delve deeper, or need resources with which to counter these portrayals, here you go!

'Sovereignty summer schools' can mobilize First Peoples for the future

apihtawikosisan — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 04:30:24 +0000

It is so easy to get bogged down by all the problems indigenous peoples face. Poverty, suicide, addiction, disease, incarceration, homelessness, violence -- where does one even begin to address these things?

We can cast our nets widely, and see the big picture in all its ugly colonial horror. This is absolutely necessary; but philosophically deconstructing colonialism can only get us so far when so many indigenous peoples are struggling just to have their basic needs met.

University, beer, and Marxists who don't read Marx

apihtawikosisan — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 16:21:07 +0000

I do not come from a family that has experience with post-secondary studies and because of this I had no one to prepare me for it. Though I was very excited to be going, it meant that I was moving out of my parent's house at age 17 and moving into the city to live on my own (actually in a house full of people from back home, but that is another series of stories). It is also true that my excitement was very much tempered by my fear and feelings of intellectual inadequacy.