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My Anti-Colonial Work

6/15/2014

4 Comments

 
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My Anti-Colonial Work is in Two Areas.

The first area has to do with the long-time sex discrimination in the Indian Act.  Through court action I have a section 15 Charter challenge regarding Canada / Aboriginal Affairs' unstated paternity policy that assumes all situations where a father's signature is not on a child's birth certificate is non-Indian.  Through this Aboriginal Affairs' assumption, many Indigenous children are denied Indian status registration, First Nation band membership, treaty rights, and citizenship in their nations.

In Canada's process of eliminating their treaty responsibilities, mothers and babies − the most vulnerable − are being targeted.  This is in part why I continue this challenge even though I know that being a status Indian does not guarantee treaty rights, nor make a person Indigenous.  In Canada’s process of eliminating their treaty responsibilities through eliminating Indians mothers and babies should not be targeted.  I have been working on this for over 25 years.

To learn more:  Click here
 
The second area has to do with Canada’s land claims and Canada’s self-government policies.  These two policies, and thus processes, are limited by a colonial understanding of what a treaty is and what treaty rights are.  These processes are not about treaty making; rather they are about Indigenous nations’ relinquishing or terminating their rights.

To learn more: Click here

While these two issues intersect in critical areas such as non-status people having less say in the land claims and self-government process, and in that they are both about Canada eliminating the treaty responsibilities that this very country was founded on, I in no way think that my court case will have a significant role in Indigenous rights being recognized as was discussed during the Treaty at Niagara and recognized and affirmed in section 35 of Canada’s Constitution.

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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 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.

4 Comments
Michele Tittler link
6/15/2014 09:54:17 pm

you have to stop extorting money from innocent tax payers with your racist agendas. It's unfair to every woman and child who is not your race. Stop talking about race and start caring about everyone. ALL race laws must be abolished. Anything less is native supremacy. And no lying about how it's the native Chiefs who refused to get rid of the Indian Act.

Reply
Lynn Gehl link
6/16/2014 01:52:09 am

Thank you Michele for your comments.

I cannot get over how incredibly misinformed you are. You have no idea that both your consciousness and heart have been shaped, manipulated, and indoctrinated by the agenda of Canadian state nationalism which lacks a moral appreciation of the land, air, and water. Your argument that calls for the end of race based law is incredibly misguided. This argument is analogous to the need to eliminate the gendered based laws that protect women and children. You have no concept that differences such as "race" and gender need to be appreciated as differences of equal value. Nor do you have any understanding that prior to the imposition of provincial federalism there was a treaty federal order where Indigenous people held jurisdiction of the land and resources - and this means we held the jurisdiction to make decisions on who the land was shared with, and how we managed the gifts the natural world provided.

Lynn Gehl

Reply
Yvette ringham-Cowan
6/16/2014 03:22:10 am

Michelle,

The statement above lacks the all important legal, social, and economic context of the Canadian-First Nations political circumstances. Numerous European legal documents, Canadian court rulings and political agreements complicate these situations. The relationship of Canada to First Nations contains many difficulties. Glossing over the complexities confuses and frustrates all peoples alike. I have followed some of your writing and can see that you want change. I think we can all agree change is an excellent goal! Unfortunately, it won't come fast enough for anyone. The details of those changes are real, complicated and very important. Somethings, and I believe this is one of those things, require effort and time. Encouraging the government to negotiate in good faith and with speed would benefit us all. Peace Michelle

Reply
sue black
6/16/2014 02:41:06 am

Michelle,

Thank you for your comments.

I am not clear what your goal was in your statement but I suspect it was simply venting of personal frustration directed outward.
Your words reinforce that I /we as Native people must continue to stand our ground.
When people make statements such as yours, i interpret it as them saying: Shut up because i don't want to have to give up any privileges afforded me by mere virtue of skin color.

I /we are not going to stop talking; its as simple as that.
We WILL change things whether people like it or not.

So, you can either get on board and view the world as an infinite process of collaboration with the goal of making things better for all. Or, you can keep repeating yourself, keep hurling bitterness and frustration at the world around you.

Take responsibility for your own life and difficulties. If you suffer its because of the life that YOU created for yourself. Another's pride and concern for their culture has nothing to do with it .

If you wish to argue intelligently then get educated with facts and use logic to present your concerns. That's how adults handle life.

Lastly, since you you stated your obviously strong belief that we should have no race differentiation; I assume then that you also vehemently oppose white supremacists? And if not .......how come?




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copyright Lynn Gehl
www.lynngehl.com