On December 1st, 2023 Pikwàkanagàn First Nation Chief and Council has declared a State of Emergency, and as such the leadership is seeking support. Canadians, new settlers, and descendants of settler people can help. First though, Pikwàkanagàn First Nation is the closest First Nation to Canada’s capital region. As a matter of fact, through Canada’s processes of genocide which include legislative and policy manifestations, denying Algonquin their very own land and resources while at the same time offering free land grants to settler people, Canada parliament buildings, supreme court, governor general’s residence, and the majority of its national museums all illegally squat on Algonquin territory. Here are three actions that you can take today: 1. Donate to the Enaji Madinamage - MIDJM/The Sharing Place Food Bank. This food bank serves the Pikwàkanagàn First Nation community as well as the surrounding area of Golden Lake. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/enaji-madinamage-midjmthe-sharing-place-food-bank/ 2. Donate to Omamiwinini Pimadjwowin: The Algonquin Way of Life Cultural Centre. One goal this initiative has is building a new Cultural Centre and Museum - a place to share Algonquin culture, traditions, language, and art forms are honoured and celebrated. This capital project is said to require $5 million dollars. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/omamiwinini-pimadjwowin-algonquin-way-of-life/ 3. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission forgot to mention the need for people to decolonize their Last Will and Testaments and their final obituary. Do you live, work, or recreate on Algonquin land? If so, consider gifting an element of your final estate back to the Algonquin. You can donate to the charities above, or you can contact the First Nation directly. You can also ask family and friends to ‘in lieu of flowers’ donate to the Algonquin Anishinaabe. https://www.algonquinsofpikwakanagan.com/ Lynn is an author, advocate, artist, and public speaker. Her work encompasses both anti-colonial work and the celebration of Indigenous knowledge. She challenges Canada’s practices, policies, and laws of colonial genocide such as the land claims and self-government process, sex-discrimination in the Indian Act, the continued destruction of Akikpautik / Chaudière Falls–an Anishinaabeg sacred place, and Canada’s lack of policy addressing Indigenous women and girls with disabilities who are bigger targets of sexual violence. © All Rights Reserved
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Although Canada the nation State’s parliamentary base illegally squats on Algonquin Anishinaabeg traditional territory, inclusive of its House of Commons, its Senate Chamber, the Governor General and the Prime Minister’s residence, and the Supreme Court of Canada, very few Canadians know who the Algonquin Anishinaabeg are. We are still here! Many Canadians do not know that the Algonquin Anishinaabeg were one of the first Indigenous nations recorded by Samuel de Champlain, nor do they know that through the creation of Canada, the British pitted the Algonquin and the French against one another when they gave the French colony Algonquin land. Yes, this is what the British did! This was an act of reprimand on the part of the British because the Algonquin were allies with the French. This action on the part of the British continues to undermine Algonquin sovereignty efforts today. The Algonquin have been divided by the provincial federal order, language, law, and religion. In addition, the Algonquin have been divided through the imposition of the reserve system and the Indian Act where as a result some communities today are federally recognized First Nation communities and others are not, and where some are registered Status Indians and others are not. What is more, some of our traditional communities and subsistence lands were flooded, or converted into provincial parks for the social, physical, and entertainment activity of the Canadian citizenry. Through these means of power, a Canadian cultural hegemony (read oppressive power) was established. Despite this historic genocide, what many Canadians also do not know is that this genocide continues in an evergreen way. Yes, this is correct. What Canada calls the “modern treaty process” is in fact a land claims process that forces economically impoverished First Nation communities and their Status membership, inclusive of the more disenfranchised non-Status Algonquin, to relinquish their land and resource rights. There are several reasons why Canadians are not knowledgeable about the historic and ongoing evergreen Algonquin genocide. One reason is because the governments of Canada control the school curriculum, a curriculum that creates a foundation of ignorance versus truth. A second reason is because Canada manipulates the mindsets and hearts of the Canadian citizenry through song, art, museums, monuments, provincial park recreational activity, and the news media inclusive of social media. A third reason is that incoming prime ministers place their party’s political power and money behind electoral candidates who are accommodating and obliging because they will be the token cabinet ministers and members of parliament needed to control (through party whipping) and perpetuate the evergreen genocide against Indigenous people. While Canada has been manipulating the mindsets of its citizenry in these ways, Canadians need to come to the place of valuing that when it comes to understanding the truth of Canada’s history, the locus of control is best understood as internal, meaning individuals hold and manage the jurisdiction of their own agency and thus read, think, and learn what they want to or need to. Cancel Your Canada Day Celebrations! Witness Canada’s Algonquin Genocide Instead. Take the time needed to learn about how it is that the Algonquin Anishinaabe today are facing genocide through the land claims and self government processes. Compiled below is a series of news articles that I have written (one is collaborative). Once you have completed these readings, let me know and I will send you a certificate of completion: “I completed the Algonquin challenge: Witnessing Canada’s Algonquin Genocide”. See below.
People need to stop thinking reconciliation is possible through government rhetoric alone. Genuine action must follow. As long as Canada fails to participate in a genuine nation-to-nation relationship that honours Indigenous Land and Resource rights, reconciliation will always only be something settler people and their descendants celebrate through false parties at the expense of Indigenous people. Imagine an Indigenous child who has embodied within them generations of racist, sexist, and genocidal colonial policies and laws, where their father was an angry, abusive, drunken, maniac due to racism, abandonment, abuse, and poverty, and where their mother was a neglected child, a residential school survivor, and a victim of sexual abuse. Imagine this child who has grown up in a similar context as their parents of racism, sexism, abuse, poverty, neglect, and hunger. Imagine all this knowledge is embodied within this child yet the young child is unable to express it verbally; all they can do at their young age is express their embodied knowledge and inherent emotions at the level of practice. After all this is what Indigenous knowledge brings to the table – that being that knowledge is not simply in the mind; it begins in the feet and body first. Imagine this child of direct trauma, inter-generational, and multi-generational trauma goes to school and manifests their embodied knowledge and emotions of racism, sexism, and genocide against a more privileged white settler child, where they are then forced to reconcile their knowledge that is yet to be really understood, examined, and affirmed and consequently if fortunate enough addressed and resolved. In this context so-called reconciliation means the Indigenous child has to shut down their knowledge and emotions and who they are, where everyone is then allowed to ignore what the real underlying issues are all for the sake of reconciliation. In this context it is the privileged white settler child who gains reconciliation off the back of the Indigenous child. In this context reconciliation means the Indigenous child is not really a person; in this context the privilege child with all the material wealth once again gains. If you think reconciliation comes from institutions and organizations with paid employees that are funded in part through the latest political rhetoric and dollars you are not doing the critical thinking needed. And you are patronizing critically trained and thinking Indigenous intellectuals who know better. Follow the money and you will learn you are being manipulated; you are celebrating the oppression of others; and you are complicit in the perpetuation of the pain of children who are pooping in buckets, drinking poisoned water, and eating mercury contaminated food. When people celebrate their own oppression, or the oppression of others, this is the worst form of manipulation and genocide. Today colonization has become a celebration rooted in the lie of reconciliation. It is a party that makes some Indigenous people happy and where some settlers too are happy and benefiting more. Today reconciliation parties, like false generosity, are actually fake celebrations that may absolve settler anxiety and guilt. In this way these parties are rituals that are ultimately more for settler people. Today colonization means celebration called reconciliation that will include only some Indigenous people because the Indigenous critical thinkers want nothing to do with celebrating their own oppression. Look around and you will most likely see the party goers are paid employees; look around and you will most likely see party goers who are seeking awards; look around and you will most likely see party goers who are looking for political appointments. That said, if you need to attend a celebration to absolve your guilt, you can be sure there are Indigenous intellectuals who very well know you are complicit and they are hurt by your complicity. When you look at their faces you will see and feel their pain. Consider this transfer of their feelings the kindness and truth they offer. Reconciliation will only be achieved when Indigenous Nations’ jurisdiction to their Land and Resources is respected. We only need to turn to the land that Canada’s parliament buildings squat on. For almost 250 years the Algonquin Anishinaabeg have been asking Canada to respect our rights through the framework of the Two Row Wampum Belt and the British and Western Great Lakes Covenant Chain Confederacy Wampum Belt constitutional framework. Despite our repeated request Canada is only offering the Algonquin in Ontario 1.3% of our territory, a $300 million buy-out, and is currently desecrating Creator’s Sacred Pipe known as Akikpautik and Akikodjiwan. If you experience cognitive dissonance from this message this does not mean it is wrong. One day I hope to invite you to a real party that will not celebrate my oppression. © Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. In 2017 she won an Ontario Court of Appeal case on sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of Canada's land claims process. Recently she published Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit. You can reach her through, and see more of her work, at www.lynngehl.com. This map offers important knowledge about an ancient sacred land and waterscape. The yellow area is Akikpautik, the location where Creator placed the First Sacred Pipe. The red area is an ancient burial ground and the green illustrates ancient portage trails. Map source: Pilon, J. & Boswell, R. (2015) I have been hearing people offer the rationale that ‘all land is sacred’ as the excuse to desecrate land and waterscapes that are particularly sacred to the Algonquin Anishinaabeg. Intuitively most people are able to quickly realize that burial sites are particularly sacred and that the argument is poor. In his book “God is Red: A Native View of Religion” the well-known and highly respected author, theologian, historian, and Indigenous activist Vine Deloria Jr. (1933-2005) offers important thoughts that can guide us in thinking through the desecration and destruction of so called development. Deloria offers us four categories of sacred places. The first category involves land and waterscapes to which we attribute sanctity because it is a location where, within our known history, something of great importance took place there. One such example is the Gettysburg National Cemetery and the ground where the Twin Towers in New York City were once located. Another example is Wounded Knee, South Dakota. These places are considered sacred sites because of recent human activity. Second, other lands are sacred not due to human events, but rather due to a higher power. These are land and waterscapes where people have a special experience and this experience is attributed to the sacred. Said another way, within a secular context there is an experience that is attributed to the holy. One example is the town of Buffalo Gap at the south eastern edge of the Black Hills of South Dakota which is the location where the buffalo first emerged in the spring and which marks the beginning of the Plains Indians’ ceremonial year. Third, Deloria explains there are indeed locations of overwhelming holiness. At these places a higher power, on its own initiative, is revealed to human beings. Afterward this location and revelation is then preserved in story and shared for future generations to remember, revere, and direct them forward in a good way. Interestingly Deloria offers, “Indians who have never visited certain sacred sites nevertheless know of these places from the community knowledge, and they intuit this knowing to an essential part of their being” (271). One such place is Akikpautik, the location where Creator placed the First Sacred Pipe, also known as the Great Sacred Pipe. The sacredness of this particular land and waterscape has been preserved and taught to Algonquin Anishinaabeg and settler allies by the late Grandfather William Commanda (Gehl 2018). Lastly, Deloria offers there is a fourth category of sacred lands in that higher spiritual powers will always communicate with human beings of future. His point is we must always be open and ready to experience new revelations at new locations that will then become particularly sacred places. In this way Deloria values that Indigenous knowledge is alive, it growths, it is fluid, it is a verb, and it continues on into the future. References and Additional Sources Cicero, M. (2018). Condos on an Algonquin sacred site? Panels examines ongoing colonialism. Leveller. Retrieved from https://leveller.ca/2018/11/condos-on-an-algonquin-sacred-site/ Deloria, V. Jr. (1992). God is Red: A Native View of Religion. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing. Dumont, A. (2014). Free the Falls. Retrieved from http://albertdumont.com/free-the-falls/ Gehl, L. (2018). Akikodjiwan: The Destruction of Canada’s Heart of Reconciliation. Watershed Sentinel. Retrieved from https://watershedsentinel.ca/articles/akikodjiwan/ Gehl, L., & Lambert, L. (2018). Reconciliation Really?: A Timeline of the Desecration of Akikodjiwan and Akikpautik, An Anishinaabeg. Leveller. Retrieved from https://leveller.ca/2018/03/reconciliation-really/ Lambert, L. (2016). Chaudière Falls is an Indigenous Cathedral. Anishinabek News. Retrieved from http://anishinabeknews.ca/2016/10/01/chaudiere-falls-is-an-indigenous-cathedral/ Neigh, S. (2017). Canada 150 and the violation of an Algonquin Anishinaabe sacred site. Rabble. Retrieved from http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/talking-radical-radio/2017/01/canada-150-and-violation-algonquin-anishinaabe-sacred-s Pilon, J., & Boswell, R. (2015). Below the Falls; An Ancient Cultural Landscape in the Centre of (Canada’s National Capital Region) Gatineau. Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 39, 257-293. © Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. In 2017 she won an Ontario Court of Appeal case on sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Algonquin land claims process. Recently she published Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit. You can reach her through, and see more of her work, at www.lynngehl.com. It is often said that one of the culprits of Western culture and the process of colonization is the way it converted larger communities and families into nuclear homes with individualistic and/or egotistical values. Historically and traditionally here on Turtle Island we lived within communities where we were all related to one another and where we all had a role in teaching children values and morals. For the most part these values and morals were embodied through teachings, songs, and rituals. Once these values and morals were embodied, during times when our bodies and minds failed us, family and community members would remind one another of their collective obligations. In this way family and community members were an important element of Indigenous governance tradition. Oftentimes some people will actually excuse a family member’s lack of good moral judgement through statements such as, “I am not responsible for her actions” or “she is doing her job and she really is a nice person”. This line of reasoning, though, is rooted in an oppressive governance structure that relies on individualistic and/or egotistical values, and must be reconsidered; this is especially so if one claims to be leftist. Said another way, family and community members who remain silent as they stand beside violators of human rights are themselves complicit in the violation. And further, through their silence they remain stuck within an oppressive governance system; an oppressive system that is comparable to the system that has forced many families to find refuge in Canada. The contradiction of a young family finding refuge in Canada, yet that same family then denies Indigenous women and children their land and treaty rights, exists in plain sight for all to see. Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. In 2017 she won an Ontario Court of Appeal case on sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Algonquin land claims process. Recently she published Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit. You can reach her through, and see more of her work, at www.lynngehl.com 3/15/2018 4 Comments Angry Bitches Unite!Settler people must stop judging Indigenous women in petty and dismissive ways such as nasty name calling. Recently, I had a few experiences that were really telling of questionable settler thinking and a sure indication that they remain unaware and ignorant of the legitimate manifestations of structural oppression and how best to address it. One individual called me “needy”, another called an Anishinaabe women “a wimp” and further “too angry”. There is so much I could say that is wrong about settler people name calling, regardless I will remain with offering a bulleted point list as I am sure I can make my position succinctly.
If you lack the intellectual ability to understand Indigenous women and ALL the knowledge we have, have the intelligence to listen versus silence them through name calling. Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. In 2017 she won an Ontario Court of Appeal case on sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Algonquin land claims process. Recently she published Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit. You can reach her through, and see more of her work, at www.lynngehl.com 1/14/2018 0 Comments Why Settlers Rely on Nasty NamesMany Layers of Structural Oppression The knowledge of living as a structurally oppressed person is foremost held within the everyday lived experiences of the oppressed. The location of the knowledge of oppression resides within the bodies and hearts of the very people. As such, the wisdom needed to remedy structural oppression is located within the critical thinking minds of the oppressed themselves. Not all structurally oppressed people are able to move the knowledge from their bodies and hearts to the location of their minds. Remember that critical thinking is a gift and a skill. Most people know we live in a society that oppresses women. Few people will deny this. But we need to keep in mind that heterosexual, able-bodied, white women only experience one layer of structural oppression, and therefore only know one layer of the knowledge. Further, they lack the intersectional knowledge located within the spaces of having more than one layer of structural oppression. It can be said that the level of knowledge within the “Well of Wisdom”, needed to challenge oppressive structures that white women have, is not deep and murky. This sounds unkind but this is true. This is one reason why older white feminism was critiqued by women of colour. While white women were happy with the shifts made, women of colour were not ‘celebrating the continuation of the oppression’ as the shifts were mostly the assimilation of white women into patriarchal systems. Intersectional Feminism While white women do have some of the knowledge of structural oppression and the wisdom of how to address it, it stands to reason that women of colour will have more. What is more, women of colour will also have the intersectional effects of being both a woman and a woman of colour; where the experience of intersectional effects mean they also know the inter-acting results of experiencing two levels of structural oppression. What this means is the level of knowledge in the “Well of Wisdom” that women of colour hold to challenge oppressive societal structures is deeper and more murky than the level white women have. While women of colour know more than double the knowledge of structural oppression over white women, it stands to reason that women of colour with a disability embody even more of the knowledge and wisdom: more than three times the knowledge in that again they also hold the intersectional effects contained. We can keep adding to this. For example, a woman of colour with a disability and who is gender non-specific will even have more of the knowledge and wisdom needed to address structural oppression. In sum, the knowledge of structural oppression is located within the lived experiences of the oppressed where the multiply oppressed have more of the knowledge and wisdom needed to challenge it. My goal here is not to set up a knowledge competition but rather to illustrate why it is that people under more levels of oppression are able to identify the limitations of the less oppressed, that being white women. It is because they hold more of the knowledge. Cognitive Dissonance is Unpleasant All too often when white women take on a social justice issue, where they lack a deeper understanding of the knowledge of structural oppression, they are then faced with situations of cognitive dissonance when a person who is more oppressed speaks up letting them know they are not addressing issues in a way that the more oppressed need them to be addressed. Experiencing cognitive dissonance is emotional and the feelings that emerge are negative: embarrassment, shame, anger, hate, toxicity, lateral violence, arrogance, and ignorance. The good thing is the best learning is emotional; not nice though. What happens all too often when white women are informed or told about their ignorance they become reactionary so much so that they can and will rely on and hurl nasty adjectives to describe the person who was brave enough to speak up. Interestingly, I have come to know that the nasty adjectives actually best describe the less oppressed person’s emotional state brought on by their cognitive dissonance rather than the more oppressed brave person. The emotions are a result of them being challenged in ways they are ignorant about; or result from them being called out about their unspoken political agenda that further oppresses such as them supporting the current Minister of Status of Women Maryam Monsef who is not addressing sex discrimination in the Indian Act, the land claims process, and the destruction of sacred Indigenous land and waterscapes. On White Privilege; We Need White Women, But … While it is indeed a wonderful thing that white people are now learning about, reading about, thinking about, and talking about white privilege, white people do not have the everyday lived experience of being at the back end of white privilege where as such they do not hold the monopoly of knowledge on white privilege. It is crucial to keep in mind they do not and cannot ever hold the depth of knowledge and wisdom that people of colour hold on this topic. In short, because it is not their everyday lived misery they do not know it wholistically, deeply, or completely. Some people may be inclined to think, if white women do not hold enough of the knowledge of structural oppression, and if people who are more oppressed are not happy with the actions of white women, then they need to take a lead role in the process of challenging structural oppression and forget about white women. This line of thought is reactionary and not the thinking of a genuine social justice seeker, not at all. Asking white women to reflect on who has more of the knowledge is valid; it does not mean the more oppressed don’t need them in the struggle. Of course we do. What we need is for them to take a back seat or follow and serve the more oppressed. What is more, the less oppressed people who argue there is the need for the more oppressed to be nicer when they encounter settler ignorance really need to think critically about intersectional feminism, and stop burdening more oppressed people with settler emotions. I have produced a large volume of short reading materials that enhance the knowledge shared in this blog: Intersectional Oppression: https://journeymagazineptbo.com/2016/09/14/2830/ Follow the Turtle: https://www.lynngehl.com/follow-the-turtle.html Critical thinking and the Charity Model: www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/critical-thinking-and-the-charity-model-of-social-justice Kawartha Truth and Reconciliation Support Group on Maryam Monsef: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lynn-gehl/canada-is-carrying-out-cultural-genocide-with-a-smile_a_23204482/ http://www.windspeaker.com/news/opinion/opinion-minister-monsef-disappoints-on-bill-s-3-and-continues-the-discrimination/ White Woman’s Gaze: https://www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/that-white-womans-gaze On Nice People: https://www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/nice-people-scare-me On Reconciliation: http://muskratmagazine.com/celebrating-canadas-150th-featuring-the-desecration-of-an-indigenous-sacred-place/ Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. In 2017 she won an Ontario Court of Appeal case on sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Algonquin land claims process. Recently she published Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit. You can reach her through, and see more of her work, at www.lynngehl.com 7/7/2016 4 Comments On Empowering Settler Allies …1. The land claims process is an industry for lawyers and a job creation program for a few Algonquin people and nothing more. 2. Canada has huge amounts of money to craft policy and legislation that will forever prevent the Algonquin from unifying. The argument that the Algonquin must first come together before settlers act is incredibly misinformed and not at all rational. 3. Canada, like all oppressors, intentionally obfuscates and confounds things. Through this process oppressors gain agency in their oppressive acts. Do not fall for this. 4. Including oppressors, such as the police in your effort will thwart momentum. Make no mistake, it will. While at some point they may have a role in the final acceptance of structural change, this is near the end of the journey, not at the beginning. 5. Elders are ONLY one element of community governance traditions. It is community members – who have watched the child be socialized and shaped, grow up, and be valued as a person with good moral standing and integrity – who know who the genuine Elders are. Settler people need to stop interfering with identifying and calling people Elders. You do not have an Elder as in “my Elder”. If you want Indigenous people to get our act together, settlers must stay out of our traditions. Alternatively stated, Elderism has to end. For the most part Elders are for ceremony. 6. While sometimes an Elder is also an Intellectual, settlers need to understand that Indigenous communities also have philosophers and intellectuals. It will be the intellectuals that put concrete discourse to the policies and legislations that will motivate people and generate momentum. This is not a devaluation of Elders; it is an appreciation that Indigenous knowledge is also in the intellectuals. Alternatively stated, Elderism has to end. 7. All people are Indigenous to Mother Earth. Do not let oppressed Indigenous people who are laden with internalized oppression and lateral violence take this away. Settler people can, and must, stand up in a good kind way and defend their right to clean air, water, and land. We all have this responsibility. 8. Genuine action is not a festival, nor is it a tourist attraction, or a photographer’s / videographer’s opportunity. It is real hard work and some of us have been working on Indigenous rights for over 250 years. Yes, that is what I wrote, 250 years. 9. Knowledge is not in the majority and not held in consensus. Sometimes the most important knowledge is in the one person or the minority. We must listen to all the voices paying attention to experiential knowledge, intellectual knowledge, and the person’s critical training to determine if hegemonic forces have placed the knowledge in the minority. Alternatively stated, stop allowing the tyranny of the majority and the need for a consensus thwart people’s needs. Always think critically; move away from criticizing. 10. Settlers need to act strategically and think about who they are creating space for. Local Indigenous people and their intellectuals need to be central, and an effort must be made to include them at all levels such as who speaks when and for how long, who is the master of ceremonies, who are the advisers, and who are the helpers … . 11. Know that oftentimes the most important knowledge is not flattering nor will it be candy-coated. In the context of structural oppression knowledge can and will be angry, frustrated, and depressed. If all you listen to is happy knowledge you are making a grave mistake. Generally speaking it is a good thing to look out for “nice” people as they very likely are manipulating you for personal gain. Listen to authentic people. As an example, if you do not like the knowledge in this blog, this in itself does not make it wrong. Learn to be more objective. 12. The argument that the best speakers are free is completely incorrect. Find speakers with the knowledge and support their hard work, time, thinking, and ideas. If what you want is genuine change, this Truth is a no-brainer. More ally resources are posted here. Please like and share this blog. Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the land claims process. Her book The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin of the Algonquin Land Claims Process offers an insider-Indigenous analysis of the Algonquin land claims process in Ontario. You can reach her through, and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com.
1/20/2015 33 Comments That White Woman’s GazeI had an experience that is telling in terms of a white woman’s interference in the relationship between Indigenous knowledge holders and Indigenous community members. I offer my story as it is illustrative of what many Indigenous women, Indigenous communities, and Indigenous organizations are contending with. It is worthy of noting here first, though, that this experience of mine happened within a very politically powered and gendered, and thus a very socially stratified, organization. White Woman Gaze Switching On this particular occasion I found myself in one of life’s special moments walking with an Indigenous elder and wisdom holder. Building relationships, I have come to know, sometimes take place in fleeting moments such as these. Walking side-by-side in the direction of the building we were heading toward, we exchanged small yet heartfelt pleasantries. As we entered the doorway and began to walk down the ramp deeper into the interior of the building a white woman was situated at the bottom of the ramp. This white woman looked at me and then at the elder and then back at me. My process of observing this woman looking back and forth was disturbingly telling. Through this process of observing her gaze-switching back and forth, I was able to observe how some white women look at Indigenous elders, in comparison to how they look at other Indigenous people such as me. As this white woman looked at me her face was pretty much neutral and not too expressive. Yet when her gaze shifted to look at the Indigenous elder her entire facial expression turned to one of juvenile happiness and joy. Again, when this white woman looked at me her face shifted to the more neutral expression. Then, as she once again shifted her gaze to look at the Indigenous elder, her facial expression once again shifted – again and again to one of childish adoration. By the time we made it to the bottom of the ramp, I had the opportunity to watch this cycle of her shifting gaze three times. How Her Gaze Switching Made Me Feel Although I knew this white woman, and I did have a somewhat friendly relationship with her, when we arrived at the bottom of the ramp, the Indigenous elder stopped to speak with this ever adoring fan. I, though, feeling ill, kept on walking. I was ill with disappointment because it was at that very moment that I realized I could never do for an Indigenous elder what this needful and pitiful white woman was able to do. Oh how I loathed this woman’s pitifulness, a pitifulness that any man would enjoy. As an Indigenous woman I have a right to, and need of, the Indigenous knowledge I seek. Indigenous communities are very much dependent on the emancipation of Indigenous women. The problem is that sometimes when we encounter elders we are unable to engage in the same pitiful childish adoring way that white women, and for that matter white men, are able to. And when our neutral facial expressions are compared to one such as this white woman’s expression, we are perceived as not deserving of the knowledge that may emerge. White Gaze of Interference When I think about my experience further, I recognize this white woman’s behaviour for what it is: an interference. Although there are many other reasons, a huge barrier in the transmission of Indigenous knowledge within Indigenous communities is what I call “white-woman-settler-gaze-of-interference”. This ramp experience with a white woman’s gaze was the moment when I realized how it is that white women are sometimes able to gain greater access to Indigenous knowledge than indigenous people. White women should not be impinging on the relationships that Indigenous knowledge holders have with Indigenous community members in this way. Indigenous people and Indigenous communities are dependent on the re-building of our nations and knowledge structures. Certainly, the white-woman-settler-gaze-of-interference should not be the mortar that solidifies and fortifies yet another inadequate patriarchy. Indigenous Women Are Vulnerable Enough In further thinking, I have also come to understand that within any organization where one resides at the lower end of the social stratification hierarchy, one is as vulnerable, if not more vulnerable, than the most vulnerable person. Clearly this white woman was needful and the problem is that through her pitifulness, she makes other people, such as myself, more pitiful as we are not able to compete in terms of offering juvenile adoration to an Indigenous knowledge holder. The Privilege of a White Woman’s Gaze Later I came to realize that in fact this white woman comes from a very privileged family and position in society. She has had, and continues to have, the love, support, and guidance of her parents, grew up in a home in a nice area of town, and thus had great access to economic resources. Regardless of her privileged position over Indigenous women this white woman is selfish. There is the Need to End the Selfishness of the White Woman’s Gaze White women, and white men, need to critically reflect on, and be cognizant of, their actions and respond in a way that assures they do not hurt Indigenous women and people in their emancipation efforts. In Indigenous women’s goal for emancipation we need genuine allies and collaborators, not women who interfere through their white-woman-settler-gaze-of-interference. Related Black Face Blogs: http://www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/unhinging-settler-consciousness http://www.lynngehl.com/gehl-ally-bill-of-responsibilities.html http://www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/on-indigenous-knowledge Feminist Wire article: http://thefeministwire.com/2013/04/clearing-the-path-for-the-turtle/ Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Ontario Algonquin land claims and self-government process. She has three books: Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts, The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin of the Algonquin Land Claims Process, and Mkadengwe: Sharing Canada's Colonial Process through Black Face Methodology. You can reach her at lynngehl@gmail.com and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com.
1. A colonized ally stands in the front. A decolonized ally stands behind. 2. A colonized ally stands behind an oppressive patriarchy. A decolonized ally stands behind women and children. 3. A colonized ally makes assumptions about the process. A decolonized ally values there may be principles in the process they are not aware of. 4. A colonized ally wants knowledge now! A decolonized ally values their own relationship to the knowledge. 5. A colonized ally finds an Indigenous token. A decolonized ally is more objective in the process. 6. A colonized ally equates their money and hard work on the land as meaning land ownership. A decolonized ally knows that land ownership is more about social hierarchy and privilege. 7. A colonized ally projects guilt. A decolonized ally knows it is their work to do. 8. A colonized ally projects emotions. A decolonized ally knows Indigenous people have too much to deal with already. 9. A colonized ally has no respect for Indigenous intellectuals. A decolonized ally knows Indigenous people have their own intellectuals. 10. A colonized ally has no idea they need to decolonize. A decolonized ally understands they have to continually decolonize. 11. A colonized ally has no idea of the concomitant realities of Indigenous oppression. A decolonized ally understands the many, layered, and intersectional oppressions Indigenous people live under. 12. A colonized ally speaks for Indigenous people. A decolonized ally listens. 13. A colonized ally takes on work an Indigenous person can do and is doing. A decolonized ally takes on other work that needs to be done. 14. A colonized ally makes things worse. A decolonized ally understands. 15. A colonized ally says, “It is time to get over it.” A decolonized ally realizes one’s relationship to the harm is subjective. 16. A colonized ally appropriates another nation’s Indigenous knowledge. A decolonized ally does the hard work to uncover their own Indigenous knowledge. 17. A colonized ally will loath this truth offered. A decolonized ally will recognize the hard work telling this truth is. Additional ally resources are available here Lynn Gehl is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Ontario Algonquin land claims and self-government process. She recently published a book entitled Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts, and her second book, The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin of the Algonquin Land Claims Process, will be published in March 2014. You can reach her at lynngehl@gmail.com and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com. Please like and share this blog. For years I have been listening to, and subsequently thinking about, questions such as, “What does the sound of a crow – caw, caw, caw – mean?” For the most part I have found that these questions come from people who are not Indigenous to Turtle Island. I have always found these questions perplexing. Unfortunately, my response is conceptually tough; regardless I will give it my best shot here. The fundamental difference between humans and other animals is our dependency on cultural teachings and the deep meaning inherent. As an example, other animals, as is the case with trees and water, simply do what they do. Humans cannot; we need cultural teachings, and the meaning inherent, to guide us toward the good life. Given this, one has to ask, “Where and how do humans achieve these cultural teachings and the deep meaning that is inherent?” All human knowledge and inherent meaning is constructed and passed on through cultural teachings. The knowledge and meaning serve to help us understand our location within the broader cosmos of the universe, as well as give us guidance and direction in moving forward. These cultural teachings are passed on to us from our ancestors. Contrary to what many people may think, all ethnic groups had and continue to have a rich tradition of cultural teachings that serve them in living the good life. The Indigenous people of Turtle Island do not have the monopoly on cultural teachings and meaning. Please don’t make this mistake of thinking we do. As a matter of fact, knowledgeable Elders suggest that all people’s cultural teachings must be respected. This is what is meant when Anishinaabe Elders offer, “All Creation stories are true”. Quite simply, without cultural teachings and meaning humans are disenfranchised and lost in a world of chaos and disorder. It is Clifford Geertz’s argument that without culture, humans are nothing more than “mental basket cases” (The Interpretation of Cultures 1973, 40). This is a profound statement of how much humans are dependent on culture and the cultural meaning. Conceptually speaking, it is best to think of our collective cultural teachings as analogous to a “cultural meaning field” that we exist within, and that serve us as we move around the world. Just as there are many Indigenous or ethnic groups, there are many cultural meaning fields. Interestingly, cultural meaning fields are not rigidly defined, but rather are open to change through acts of borrowing and sharing from other ethnic groups, as well as through the ebb and flow of our larger ecosystems within the greater cosmos. In this way it is best to think of cultural teachings and meaning as consisting of a fluid body of knowledge rather than a body of knowledge that is static and frozen in a particular place at a particular time. While today some people’s cultural traditions may be laden with meaningless materialism and refuse production, we all are born into a rich cultural history and tradition. Before industrialization and capitalism swept over the earth, all people held a cultural meaning field that they were proud of and that guided them forward. People need to return to this place of being. Anishinaabe spiritual leader Jim Dumont has suggested, “Go back to your own Indigenous knowledge,” be it Russian, Irish, Danube Swabian, Haudenosaunee, or Anishinaabe (personal communication). Furthermore, as Grandfather William Commanda said, “We all need to learn our own teachings the Creator gave us,” as this is where you will find your cultural teachings that will lead to a good life (personal communication). That said, people who do not go back to their own cultural teachings and meaning, and who continually impinge on the culture of the people of Turtle Island, do great harm. While indeed cultural meaning is fluid and open to change, the pressure to provide meaning for too many people outside of our cultural tradition causes our cultural meaning to wear away and therefore become meaningless. There is a limit to what a culture can sustain in terms of remaining meaningful to the Indigenous members of a group. It is for this reason that my only response to, “What does it mean?” can and will always be, “What does it mean to you?” This is my way of suggesting people need to return to their own cultural knowledge and the meaning inherent. Schultz, Emily A. and Robert H. Lavenda (eds). Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition. 4th ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1998. Lynn Gehl is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, is an outspoken critic of the Ontario Algonquin land claims and self-government process, and she recently published a book titled Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts. You can reach her at lynngehl@gmail.com and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com. Please comment on, like, and share this Black Face blog. Constructs, models, theories, and policies while never offering universal truths, serve humans in that they guide our emotions, thoughts, and practices as we move forward. All human groups need them. To be without them, is to exist in chaos and thus go nowhere. After years of participating in the Algonquin land claims and self-government process in Ontario where experts were guiding the process, eventually it became apparent to me that I was situated in an awful context. Assisting state nationalism as they were, these so-called experts offered no real discussion, commentary, or teachings on the difference between the treaty process and the land claims process. Rather, they cleverly employed terms such as “government to government” versus “nation to nation”. Some even promoted the land claims and self-government process and the pitiful settlements through comparing the process to class action law suits against an employer such as the grocery store FRESHCO for example. Eventually, I realized these lawyers, anthropologists, and so called friends of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg were really serving Canada’s colonial agenda. I realized that the land claims and self-government process is about the government of Canada gaining access to and exploiting Indigenous lands and resources while at the same time giving Indigenous Nations mere crumbs and dirty water to subsist on. Canada does this, I learned, through unilaterally constructed and genocidal polices such as the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy and the Inherent Rights Policy. I was floored, as I had so hoped that the Algonquin land claims and self-government process would result in viable and meaningful self-government for the Algonquin. Not so. Recently the offer was tabled: 1.3% of our land and a $300 million one time payment. Eventually I found I had to do something constructive with the knowledge that I gained from this awful experience and so I once again pulled myself off the floor, gathered some of my thoughts, and compiled them into my Ally Bill of Responsibilities. I felt the people assisting the Canadian state’s agenda needed to know that I knew full well that they are not really allies, but rather they are agents of a genocidal colonial agenda. I compiled my Bill quite some time ago, publishing the first version in Canadian Dimension magazine. Many allies have emailed me since this time to let me know that they found the Bill useful, and to tell me that they rely on it to guide them in their emotions, thoughts, and practices of allyship. Many Indigenous people have also informed me that they find the Bill affirming and useful in their work. Still further, students have emailed me to let me know that my Bill was a reading in one of their university courses. While I know the issues put forward through the passing of Bill C-45 into law are not just an Indian matter, in my need to offer something constructive to the IdleNoMore movement I have taken the time to post a more recent and accessible version my Ally Bill of Responsibilities on many Facebook event walls as well as in groups. In my decision to do this I really have to credit Barbara Low for instilling in me the value of my Bill and for encouraging me to give it more currency. For this I am grateful. Posting my Bill on Facebook is a reasonable and constructive practice in that, after all, we have experienced a social media revolution. In fact, it is the social media revolution that is credited for the Canada wide, America wide, and now global wide IdleNoMore movement. Through this effort, once again I have been receiving positive feedback from both allies and Indigenous people who are finding the Bill useful in guiding their emotions, thoughts, and practices. Some people have even requested permission to translate the Bill into other languages. This makes me very happy and through this heart knowledge a flicker of hope is birthed. My Bill is available here at this link: http://www.lynngehl.com/my-ally-bill-of-responsibilities.html Other people, though, have pointed out that they do not like the words “behind” and “secondary” that are in my Ally Bill of Responsibilities. I address these concerns through explaining that in any social stratified society, people on the lower rungs of society – such as young Indigenous mothers and persons with disabilities − require allies to stand behind them in the process of collectively challenging oppressive regimes. Let’s face it, in a socially stratified society people are not equals, and real and effective change will only happen when people understand that those who are worse off require allies to stand behind them in their movement forward. It is my view that those people most denied need to lead the way forward, that is if emancipation for all is the desired outcome. I then point out that to stand behind and secondary to others is indeed a place of honour, and that they should reconsider their process of ascribing negative meaning to these words. Further, although I do not use the terms “settler ally” and “descendant of settlers ally” in this Bill, I do hear these terms and I rely on them too. I have found that some people do not like these terms. I find this interesting and wonder why they once again ascribe negative meaning to these terms. Many people offer that they were born in Canada and that they are proud to be Canadians. They also say that their family has been in Canada for many generations. I do hear what these people are saying, and I do value what they are saying. In response, though, I also offer that when I hear people use these terms to describe their location in the Canadian mosaic, I attribute to them as having a critical perspective. That is a critical perspective of state nationalism, its limitations, and the propaganda that the Canadian state and its education system has so carefully planted in the hearts and minds of everyday Canadians as a measure to control their emotions, thoughts, and practices. I further interpret the use of these terms to also mean the door is still open for these people to return to the rituals and ceremonies of their ethnicity and their Indigenous knowledge. After all we are all Indigenous to the earth and we all have our own Indigenous knowledge that we can draw from to guide us forward. This interpretation of mine makes me feel very happy and helps me move forward to a dreamed future. These people who think of themselves as “settler allies” or “descendants of settler allies” offer me hope, and they lift me off the floor that Canada’s genocidal policies and practices have thrown me to. When I think critically about how the Canadian state continues to undermine Indigenous people and our treaty rights, I realize that in passing Bill C-45 Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken on the action of an agent provocateur where his goal is to disrupt the ally relationship between Indigenous people and the average Canadian. What I mean by this is that while certainly Harper has passed legislation that will harm all Canadians, he has strategically placed Indigenous people and their ally relationship with settler allies at risk. In doing this Harper has shifted the real focus of Bill C-45 to being an Indian thing where consequently Indigenous people become targets of anger and racism. Through this process, Harper gains angry and reactionary support in fulfilling his economic political agenda. I have learned there is the need for Indigenous people to nurture our relationship with allies. In my needfulness and hope that more and more Canadians are waking up to the methods of propaganda that the Canadian government uses to control their emotions, thoughts, and practices, I asked “allies”, “settler allies”, and “descendants of settler allies” to send me their photographs as IdleNoMore supporters. I offer this collection here for others to experience. Please take the time to like, tweet, and share this blog.
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