On January 11, 2017, the world lost one of its fiercest warriors against colonialism when Art Manuel passed away. This article, published last year in the First Nations Strategic Bulletin, is characteristic of his clarity, honesty and vision. It is reprinted here with permission.

2017 marks the fact that we have been officially colonized by Canada for 150 years. This is an important milestone and it is time for us to decide if we want to continue to be colonized peoples or if we want to seek self-determination.

I know I am not alone shedding tears for the story of the 2016 American election. These aren't the tears of a campaign or game lost, or an ego wounded, nor are they tears of aloneness, because I know I am not the only one who is afraid.

These tears connect me to all of those who are afraid. We are connected because the politics of hatred and fear are less visible but alive in Canada too, because the fear of discrimination and violence is shared by women and so many minority groups in America, because those who voted for Trump are afraid too. There is fear all around us.

Purple is a colour that calms the mind and nerves, offers a sense of spirituality and encourages creativity. It’s also the colour of courage. Purple embodies the ingredients necessary to move a woman from a place of fear to one of empowerment.

November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month in Ontario, a time to shine a purple light on gendered violence. Woman abuse takes many forms including physical, sexual, psychological or emotional, as well as intellectual, social, financial, verbal, cyberbullying, stalking, manipulating children, environmental and spiritual violence.

In the late 1980s, because of my Indigenous policy background, I was convinced by a close friend to get involved in efforts to create an Aboriginal Peoples' Commission within the Liberal Party of Canada. The Liberal Party already had a Women's and Youth Commission so the model to change the Liberal Party's constitution was already there.

I agreed to get involved because the Mulroney era was a disaster. In 1986, a secret federal Cabinet document was leaked called the "Buffalo Jump of the 1980s," which recommended -- like the 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy -- the termination of Indigenous rights through various policy measures including off-loading federal responsibilities for "status Indians" onto the provinces.