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.
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All too often settler people say to me, “The Algonquin have to get it together and stop being so divided”. Although I am Algonquin Anishinaabe, a person does not have to be Algonquin to carry a critical thinking lens or framework in understanding that the issue with the denial of Algonquin rights, the destruction of our land, the pollution of the Ottawa River, and the destruction of our sacred places is in fact a settler issue and a settler government issue. It is not an Algonquin issue; not at all. It is not too difficult to reason that here in what has become the nation state called Canada, settlers have benefited from colonization in enormous and lucrative ways; in more ways than the Algonquin have. Through the construction of Canada settler people have had greater access to Indigenous land and settlers have benefited more from the resources mined and pilfered from the land. There are more settlers on Indigenous lands, and it is their settler government that continues to spend millions and millions of dollars to ensure the Algonquin remain in hardship, in poverty, and divided. Let’s face it, as long as the Algonquin remain divided Canada can, and will, blame us for the very divide Canada has manufactured ‒ again through the resources pilfered from Indigenous land. Through the settler court system, from the 1973 Calder decision through to the 2017 Tsilhoqot’in decision, Indigenous people have won the recognition for our rights yet Canada continues to deny these rights to us. Indigenous people have also placed their bodies on the land over and over and over again. It is about time settler people stop with the practice of blaming Algonquin people for the ongoing desecration and pollution of the land and water that we all need; trees and animals included. Said another way, the time is ripe for settlers to stop blaming Algonquin ancestors and fellow Algonquin who walk the earth today for what their ancestors did and their current settler government continues to do to the Four Orders of Creation. Too many so called friends and acquaintances continually say ignorant things to me over and over again about the Algonquin. They blame us. This has to stop. Settlers, you own this situation. It is time for you to put your bodies on the land and on the line. Mortgage your homes; sell you summer homes too; then there is the content of those homes, it can all go too. Really serve the cause. You can do this. Whatever steps you take to generate the change you seek and the change we all need, stop with the excuse of blaming on the Algonquin for the continued pilfering of the land that you mostly benefit from. Settlers stop externalizing your responsibility. Settlers, you own this; not the Algonquin Anishinaabeg. 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 Who is historian Lindsay Lambert? Who is film maker Andrée Cazabon? Who is lawyer Michael Swinwood? Who is the group Free the Falls? Who is the group Stop Windmill? The Algonquin Anishinaabeg are in pretty dire conditions. We have never had a treaty and our nation has been divided by imposed British and French laws, imposed English and French language, and imposed religions, as well as imposed provincial borders. The situation of the Algonquin was largely accomplished through do-gooders also known as people with so-called good intentions. One example is the residential school system imposed by Canada and the churches. Another example is and continues to be “helping” Indigenous people become more civilized through the land tenure system. In addition there are all the earlier anthropologists who were actually agents of the state. Through decolonization and Indigenous awareness of these do-gooder agents of the state, and the birth of theoretical frameworks such as feminism, critical theory, anti-colonialism, allyship, and more recently Indigenism many people are now asking tough questions about people who come in to our communities claiming to be a helper. Being a shkaabewis or in English "a helper" is a place of honour and a place of humbleness where it is now expected that they must tell us: Who are they? Who are they related to? What do they want? Why do they want it? How did they determine and define the help they seek to offer? Who is funding their efforts? How do they plan to meet our needs? What are their unstated political affiliations? What is their strategy? Who are they accountable to? How will they allocate funds the process may generate? How are they assuring that friends have not biased them? Asking these questions are now the accepted way to protect community members and assuring the community’s needs are paramount, but also as a way of assuring that the effort being taken is indeed genuine and legitimate. In terms of the latter, if the effort is not viewed as legitimate community support for the effort and the mobilization of the effort will be hindered. This would be counter-productive to the goal. Contrary to what many may think I ask these questions not to be harmful. Rather, I ask for valid reasons. I ask because I want the larger Algonquin Anishinaabeg to be able to trust these people if they are indeed worthy, and I also ask these questions as a measure to assure what they are doing is a good thing. As I have said legitimacy is important. If Algonquin do not see the person or the effort as legitimate this is not a good thing. If these helpers are genuine they will appreciate the need to assure that their role and effort is genuine and legitimate. In short, they will value the questions. We have all heard of, and many of us personally know, individuals who come into our families and into our communities offering us help, such as giving us their services, time, shelter, food, clothes, and money. Unfortunately, what some of these “helping people” count on is for members to be too busy where as such they are unquestionably grateful for the help being offered. This is the ultimate of vulnerability. As a result of the great need, and the imposition of the survival mode imposed on them by Canada, many of us cannot stop, think, and ask these hard questions. But some can and this is a good thing not a bad thing. Poor families and Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable. We all know this and so do others. Even today our families and communities continue to be infiltrated by outsiders who are selfishly seeking research needs, the need for a spiritual experience; the need to be perceived as a good person; and there are people who want to sexually exploit the exotic and young girls and boys, persons with disabilities, the elderly, sometimes even babies. As suggested helpers are not limited to what is obviously evil. Some are sociologists and anthropologists; where others are reporters, journalists, and media and film makers. They are all looking for their stories to fulfill their own needs. Still further, others are activists, both charitable and social. But of course the worst are the pedophiles. There are also the land claims and legal industries where people are seeking and gaining huge financial rewards and/or media fame in the realm of legal precedent from the Aboriginal law industry. They all want something, some more sinister, some less sinister. Our Needs Matter More! The point is, Indigenous families and communities have been the fodder of much questionable practice. Fortunately academics are now more ethical in their research where many, if not all, now allow us to shape the research process, its goal, and the direction of the knowledge produced. But there is more work to do in our journey forward to liberation, freedom, and self-determination. Indigenous families and communities need to put in place within our minds and practices the confidence that we do indeed have the right ask hard questions. Helping people who claim they wish to serve our families and our communities, yet who fail to tell us: Who are they? Who are they related to? What do they want? Why do they want it? How did they determine and define the help they seek to offer? Who is funding their efforts? How do they plan to meet our needs? What are their unstated political affiliations? What is their strategy? Who are they accountable to? How will they allocate funds the process may generate? How are they assuring that friends have not biased them? – are potentially dangerous people. If they are genuine people with integrity they will be respectful of our need to know the answers to these questions, and they will appreciate that they need to be transparent on these issues and respect our need to know. We have a right to protect our communities and assure all political and legal actions are legitimate and will be perceived as legitimate. When helping people respond to our questions in a way that implies they are insulted and possibly say things such as: “I am volunteering my time, be grateful”, or similarly with “No one is paying me, be grateful”, these are individuals who are not deserving of the privilege of being “helping people”. Another more disturbing response is they may move into a character attack or assassination of the person who has taken on the hard job of asking the questions. The helping person who takes this reactionary response should be avoided. To be a Shkaabewis is a place of honour and humbleness. Please like and share this blog. Chi-Miigwetch! 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. 10/4/2016 0 Comments Clearing the Smoke on the WaterThere are at least five layers of water pollution: 1 Debris such as plastic, glass, tires, planes, cars ... 2 Toxic metals such as mercury, lead ... 3 Toxic organic such as dioxins, pesticides, herbicides ... 4 Sewage and biological waste. 5 Radioactive particles. People should never be satisfied with the corporate deception of development through "greening up" a space such as removing old buildings, adding sod, and planting trees. The eye must not be allowed to appropriate reality. Like reality, most of the pollution is invisible to the eye. Ask a blind person. They know. 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. My teacher Grandfather William CommandaI was fortunate to have spent some time with the late Algonquin Anishinaabe Grandfather William Commanda (1913 - 2011), who lived in Maniwaki Quebec and who was the last keeper of three traditional wampum belts. Grandfather Commanda taught me via the oral tradition about the significance of the Chaudière Falls, best known as Akikpautik, located in the Kiji Sìbì, now known as the Ottawa River, and adjacent to Canada’s parliament buildings. He told me why Akikpautik – which translates to “Pipe Bowl Falls” – and the islands located just downstream are sacred. Interestingly the significance of Akikpautik was observed and recorded in 1613 in Champlain’s Journals where he witnessed the Anishinaabeg ceremonially offering tobacco to the pipe bowl. [see note 1]. This was before the time when settler people imprisoned Akikpautik within the cement walls of a huge hydroelectric dam. When reading Grandfather’s face, as he told me the story, I could feel that he was sad. While many Canadians understand the Ottawa River as the border between what colonial officials created and call the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, it must be appreciated that prior to contact the river was the uniting feature of the larger Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation who reside on both sides of the river. In addition, it must be appreciated that the river, Akikpautik, and the islands are indeed the jurisdiction of the larger Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation as we have never ceded or extinguished our land and water rights. I must stress here that this includes the much larger population of the non-status and the status Algonquin. Wìsakedjàk (Nanaboozo) and His GiftsA central Anishinaabe figure and philosopher, Wìsakedjàk (also Nanaboozo), the son of the Spirit of the West Wind and Mother Earth’s first woman Winona, had many responsibilities, one of which was the naming all the beings on Mother Earth. Wìsakedjàk is also credited for bringing forth a special gift from his father, the First Sacred Pipe. As an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe community member rooted in my ancestral oral teachings I have heard that Wìsakedjàk’s footprints remain inscribed along the Ottawa River and so we know he was at Akikpautik. Many people know that Grandfather Commanda held a special vision and plan, “Asinabka the Sacred Chaudière Site”, that included re-naturalizing Pipe Bowl Falls and the three islands downstream. His plan included the removal of the large ring dam imposed, and the creation of a park, historic interpretive centre, peace building meeting site, and an Indigenous centre [see note 2 and 3]. But since capital trumps reconciliation between the Canadian state and Indigenous Nations, a well-supported development corporation known as The Windmill Development Group has momentum in moving ahead with building a “waterfront community” on this very sacred land and water space, despite sustained protests by community members, both Indigenous and settler people, as well as the opposition of most of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Chiefs in Quebec. These people want Grandfather’s plans to be implemented over more corporate destruction. Canada’s parliament buildings, the Prime Minister’s residence, the Governor General’s residence, and the entire National Capital Region reside on traditional Algonquin territory. As a result of this reality a major component of Canada’s nation-building strategy is dedicated to inventing and promoting a collective Canadian consciousness that rests on the erasure of Indigenous peoples and seizure of their territories [see note 4 and 5]. Sadly, many critical theorists realize that Canada has control and access to the resources to do this all too well. Canada's control of the resources is the very problem in that through this control they are able to manufacture a particular mindset that denies the need for valuing what is sacred. Indigenous Knowledge is in the LandFor Indigenous people our water and landscapes are very much storied as this is one way that we preserve important sacred beliefs, teachings, and knowledge for future generations to come. The short story is we want our descendants to embody and feel love for the land and the gifts it provides. For example, places such as Oiseau Rock, in Quebec, tell our story of Creation when the four sacred elements of rock, water, wind, and fire first came together. Through these stories we learn to honour the Earth for future generations. This is the very value of sacred beliefs; They are not trivial, silly, and primitive relics of the past that need to go away. In addition the location where waterways meet are valued as special meeting places in that it was through the gift of water that we were able to travel great distances to meet our relatives. One such location, situated between Quebec and Ontario, is in the Kiji Sìbì, where the Gatineau and Rideau Rivers join and where the three islands − Chaudière, Albert, and Victoria − are located downstream of the Chaudière Falls [see note 6 and 7]. Grandfather Commanda told me about the special features of Akikpautik / Chaudière Falls’ that have spiritual meaning for the Anishinaabeg, as well as for all the nearby and visiting Indigenous Nations such as the Cree and Blackfoot Nations. These features consist of a horseshoe falls, shaped as a near-circle (representing a pipe bowl); and an area where great amounts of water travel through an underwater cavern, re-emerging downstream (a pipe stem). The constriction of the river represents the narrowness of the pipe stem when it meets the bowl. Collectively, these features represent Creator’s First Sacred Pipe given to us by Wìsakedjàk [see note 8]. As I listened to Grandfather’s story my heart and mind swelled with pride and joy. This is what sacred stories and beliefs should do: fill you with the love of knowing how special you are, how special your ancestors are, and how special the land and water are. What I know for sureMeaning is not something you casually find on the ground. Rather, we are all born into meaning systems and socialized to love them. Unfortunately, power mediates the process where consequently oppressive cultures collapse sacred and moral meaning. In doing this they destroy the world. images of the sacred FallsNotes/links of interest: 1. Champlain, Samuel de. 2000. Algonquians, Hurons and Iroquois: Champlain Explores America 1603–1616. Edward Gaylord Bourne (ed.), Annie Nettleton Bourne (trans.). Dartmouth, NS: Book House Press 2. http://www.asinabka.com/geninfo.htm 3. http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/occ/2010/11-19/cpsc/02-%20report%20on%20the%20vision%20for%20the%20Askiabka.htm 4. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf 5. Gehl, L. (2014). The Truth That Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process. Halifax and Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing. 6. http://albertdumont.com/the-kettle-of-boiling-waters-chaudiere-falls-algonquin-territory/ 7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeFqbRBU5mk 8. Google Map Please share and like this blog. If you value my work and want to support it the donation button is below. Miigwetch. 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. |
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