In a European fine arts museum I see another painting of a non-chalant Christ, surrounded by cherubs. He is resting his left foot on a baby-angel’s head. Like in many similar paintings, bodies appear to be falling from the sky. There is no real indication of who is pushing them but we can assume it is those in positions of ultimate authority.
This takes my mind back to Canada, northern Turtle Island, where Indigenous people appear to be falling from on high, particularly from university positions. In both situations, it is not completely clear who is doing the pushing and who will help the pushes when they hit the ground. Aren’t we all supposed to be in the medicine wheel together? At least that is what my Metis/Cree, sundance-based teachings tell me.
In my role as a counsellor, I am witness to many forms of suffering, including the pain that comes from self-accusation and so-called imposter syndrome (It’s more of a feeling than an actual syndrome!). In a neo-colonialism society that targets First Nations, Métis, Inuit and racialized people with systemic violence, it is no wonder we blame ourselves when perpetrators spin the narrative to conceal their role in the violence. In fact, self-blame can be protective. If I blame myself first (e.g “I guess I shouldn’t just gone along with it”/”I guess I shouldn’t have kicked up a fuss”) others will blame me less. They may align with my my self-critique and feel happy that I have insight or am taking responsibility for something. As such, others may ease up on their accusation that I have done something wrong, am not good enough or not authentic enough. In fact, self-blame may be the most powerful antidote to victim-blaming and other similar negative, and unsupportive, social responses.
It is worrying to me that many Indigenous folks – primarily non-Status, perhaps the most marginalized and the last to be promised some protection and belonging via the 2016 Daniel’s Decision) – are being subjected to a thorough ‘going over’ – “Are you really Indigenous enough?” In recent years, I have heard them referred to “as those fake Métis”. This comment was directed at a precious young one, someone whose identities are forming, and fragile, and someone who has every right to belong as “Indigenous”, in this world.
So who supports these violent, ‘divide and conquer’ strategies, processes that turn to the racist Indian Act to validate identities? Who benefits? Well, one group are non-Indigenous scholars who have become the gatekeepers on identity, land-use and Indigenous ‘truths.’ In our own communities, this is being played out in ways that harm each other. (I don’t use the word “lateral violence” because it’s never lateral, there are always power hierarchies and interests at play). Isolation, separation and banishment from community continue to be the most vile forms of colonial violence perpetrated against Indigenous peoples, often enacted through our social services and so-called child/youth protection.
Many Indigenous people who do not fit neatly into Indian Act categories are being rounded up, in very wide nets designed to catch “Pretendians”, non-Indigenous white folk who lie about ancestry, making false identity claims in order to ‘get stuff. ’ Even if it doesn’t feel like it, it is still non-Indigenous people who have the most access to lands, waters, fishes, animals, jobs, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Pick one northern Indigenous community and go there. Who holds most of the professional positions? It is not Indigenous people. And it is not because Indigenous people want it that way. It is ironic that there can be a shortage of jobs for Indigenous folks while others make hefty incomes and build their lives and their bank accounts.
Many Indigenous communities continue to live with the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, health deficits, suicide, loss and grief in the country. Where are the “train the trainer” models to facilitate the transition into self-governance? Who is responsible for relinquishing power and promoting Indigenous community development?
Back in university-land, we must be careful to not accuse some of the most vulnerabilized Indigenous people of being “Pretendians”. These folks are often the ones who were torn away from their community, by the state, the churches and the RCMP, ripped away from culture, family, traditions and dignity. While these words are almost becoming ‘cliché’, in that you hear them a lot, where is the #landback movement, particularly in Quebec, to start restoring the damage.
And what about the children of mothers who left the community to escape gang or woman-directed violence in search of a better life? Are we disregarding these young ones as well? Do we spend more time talking about their ‘disconnectedness’ than helping them to connect to culture? Who are the gatekeepers of connection? Ironically, the language used to describe the round-up of “Pretendians” is similar to the misogynistic church discourse, referring to ‘witch hunts’ (as if there was anything wrong with women who call themselves witches). Perhaps some of these targeted individuals need our help and our kindness, regardless of what you think about their Indigeneity. We are treating these ‘called out’ ones worse than many perpetrators of violence. We don’t excuse their behaviour or pathologize them, we just treat them like liars and thieves. If someone was caught lying publicly in a Métis community, they might get their saddle cut up in front of others. They would be humiliated and then probably sent home. It is unlikely they would be banished; they would probably continue to live in the village because we all lived together.
So again, who benefits from these gatekeeping and expulsion processes? One group may be White scholars who study Indigenous identity and participate in calling out people with mixed or disputed identities? Have white scholars and Canadian universities become the knowledge and gate keepers of who is Indigenous? And, why do we turn most harshly against appropriation amongst our own peoples while there are so many others in Canada appropriating culture, rituals, land, jewelry, Indigenous medicines? There doesn’t seem to be a movement to shut this down. And what’s with the ongoing attack on mixed-race Indigenous people, especially in Quebec? The ones who go ‘round saying “I still don’t understand what Métis means” have neglected numerous opportunities to do some research on the topic, particularly since 1982 and 2016, in regards to the Constitution Act and the Daniel’s Decision.
(If you don’t know what this means, then please start googling!).
In relation to the false notion that Indigenous programs exclude White scholars, the main criteria for getting hired as a part-time teacher is union membership (and content knowledge). I cannot hire an Indigenous teacher unless no non-Indigenous teacher/union member applies. I do not believe this will change before I retire, in five years. There are a few complicated exceptions, which tend to penalize the hiree in order to re-establish priority for union members. There are only a few Indigenous members of the part-time teachers’ union.
When there is racism in a classroom, I (as program director) cannot publicly stand with the students (the victims of the racialized violence) without receiving inflamed letters of hate from people with more social power than the students, typically White professors. During this past year, over two dozen non-Indigenous professors signed an accusatory letter against me in support of a teacher who had made racist comments in the class. They were angry because I aspire to Indigenize a First Peoples Studies program and stated publicly that Indigenous people do not need anthropologists to tell us who we are. Alarmingly, the signatories did not show interest in what their colleague had said to the students, nor inquire about the student well-being. This was what I found most distressing. Against this backdrop, I heard rumblings at my university about how Indigenous and racialized students are being too “thin-skinned.” This kind of commentary demonstrates a disregard for Canada’s colonial violence, as if just ‘pulling yourself together’ was ever an option. One of the scholars, whose name won’t be mentioned here, signed the Open Letter in the Dorchester Review of August 9, 2021, stating that genocide was not perpetrated against Indigenous people in Canada (See Historians Rally Against Genocide Myth). All-in-all, I, along with many Indigenous students, find these kind of claims to be outrageous as they are hateful, hurtful, anti-academic and ideological in the fashion of white supremacy. There are so many issues one could take up here. Suffice it to say that it should be left to the victims of state violence to name and describe their experience, not the perpetrators.
So for the record, my students told me this guest teacher told them they were fortunate to be removed from their homes (by child welfare) because they probably would have been sexually abused by their parents anyway. They were told they are “not Cree” because they were raised in a white (colonized) society and that their family’s experience in residential school (they weren’t schools, they were prison camps) wasn’t as bad as in some other places. I could go on. I wasn’t in the class. I held a debriefing circle with some students, including with the entire class, as well as listening to individual complaints. I made referrals for counselling and support. I was not happy. The students walked out of their class and contacted the media. That was the only way they could be heard. They are strong and smart. Hopefully no one will ever call them thin-skinned, or resilient, again. These are bullshit terms that hide the violence of the education system and of colonial Canada. These students are brave, compassionate warriors for peace and justice.
In conclusion, there are many ways to hurt Indigenous people and we see this happening right now, still, today. Some of the harms are enacted by Indigenous individuals but perhaps the most powerful and damaging are the ones which have non-Indigenous academics behind them as well as universities. We don’t need the Indian Act as a guide to identity. We already have ways for Indigenous scholars to show who they are as part of their credentials, including letters of support from their Indigenous community. Once again, let’s not add to the list of Indigenous tasks and expectations: Non-Indigenous scholars don’t have to show proof of their identities, just the quality of their scholarship. Self-location is part of Indigenous scholarship and methodology. Can we do this without invoking Darrel Leroux?
Metaphorically, we will see many bodies falling from the sky, onto pavement, without much help getting up again. Whose job is it to extend a hand here? We don’t seem to be rushing in with the restorative justice truck as we would do in other kinds of situations.
What I will tell students and faculty who are being harmed, is that you cannot rely upon a colonial institution to help you or to provide justice. There is no point in coming forward, making a complaint. If you do, you will never find out how it went, what decision was made or if there was even an investigation. Confidentiality protects perpetrators and those who speak out about the lack of justice just get called “thin skinned”. I wish I could do more. I really care for my students; they deserve better. So do I.