When Justin Trudeau relied on a platform/promise of truth and reconciliation and nation-to-nation to come in to power, I found myself in a sad and miserable state. What made this feeling worse for me was how so many people were falling for it. I knew it was a political lie. I knew he had no plan to meet Indigenous people on a nation-to-nation basis. I knew he was not going to share the land and resources on an equal basis. Although I knew this what made me sad and miserable was that he was manipulating the hopes of Indigenous people. This I felt was a violation of the worse kind. I know too many Indigenous people who have killed themselves because they had no hope. And I know what it is to live without hope. I do this every day of my life. As a child all too often I felt and observed my hope being manipulated by other people; people who knew better but could not come through for me. Recently I have had another experience of this manipulation of hope. This time it was more of a bizarre form of appropriation.

I must caution you though that reading the paragraphs below may cause within you extreme cognitive dissonance, extreme enough for you to project hatred toward me, or maybe it may deepen that hate you already feel. I will take that risk though because ultimately I know I am going to die alone; die alone without all the pretenders who claim to care about Indigenous people.

Indigenous people have been speaking up, petitioning, and protesting for our land and land related economic rights since the early 1600s. Our more recent protests include challenges to the 1969 White Paper, and in 1982 when the Constitution was re-patriated. And of course there have been numerous court challenges such as the 1973 Calder decision, 1990 Sparrow decision, 1997 Delgamuukw decision, 2004 Haida decision, 2014 Tsilhqot’in decision … . Indigenous people have done our work over and over and over again. It is clear as day we want our Land Back. Again we have done our work.

The latest Indigenous uprising is on the matter of the Wet’suwet’in Nation’s demand that their rights be upheld and honoured. Many Indigenous and settler people across Canada protested in solidarity with them. During these protests I had an odd experience, again a feeling, and an insight when I heard an older white woman share her joy that she, in her old age, was finally able to experience Indigenous people rise up against the colonial state. This older woman expressed her glee where people around relished along with her. I experienced this collective glee perplexing and disenfranchising because it seemed to me that she was making the protests all about her and her need for a happy story and ending. It seemed like the only thing that was important was how she felt experiencing the protest and the hope it gave her. To me this was a bizarre experience of appropriation of hope somewhat analogous to when a wealthy person appropriates the ‘culture of poverty’ as a part of their persona.

Indigenous protests are not about settler Canadians and their need to feel good about themselves. It is foremost about Indigenous people and our need to address in concrete and practical ways the hopelessness that many of us feel and experience. As many know, many Indigenous people feel hopelessness every day of our lives and for good reason. We wake up with this feeling of hopelessness, every step we take is with this feeling of hopelessness, and we go to bed with this feeling of hopelessness. For me, and many Indigenous people, it was a sad situation when Juno award nominee Inuk singer Kelly Fraser ended her life on Christmas Eve. She was only 26 years old and for many she held hope.

I have always felt that there is the need to allow Indigenous peoples the space required to express this very hopelessness. I do this bravely as I soldier on. We need to keep in mind that suicide is only one manifestation or response to living with hopelessness. We need to allow people the right to talk about hopelessness when they want to versus quell and silence it.

My commentary here is not so much about living with hopelessness, rather it is about how it is that our protests are not about a settler’s need to feel hopeful especially considering that most settlers do not really understand what the issues are and what it is that we want: Our Land Returned to Us. We want more than Church charity; We want to live as well as Canadians on our land and from our land with structures that are meaningful to us such as health care, education, and law.

It was my experience that this older woman appropriated the recent Wet’suwet’in protest as hers for her need to feel good. To me it was bizarre because I know that it will not be until settler Canadians stand up en masse to their government regarding Indigenous rights that anything will change. Once this happens, Indigenous people will genuinely experience the joy and glee associated; then settler people can stand behind that. Until this happens there really is nothing for settlers to feel joy about.

Please Creator make them stop these bizarre forms of appropriation. The hopelessness and hope to be felt is not at all, all about them. When it is, the hopelessness sinks deeper for Indigenous people. It sure does for me.
​
While after reading this, while some people may be prone to act and think into a place of cognitive dissonance and hate the messenger, as settler Jean Koning has stated several times, “Settler people need to shut up and listen” and I will add stop stealing hope that is not really there.

​© Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She is a published author of Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit and The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process. You can reach her and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com.

​While you may have questions guiding your thinking, and this is a good thing, it is never appropriate to assume you can direct your questions to a person. Said another way, while it is good that you are thinking and have some boundaries around what it is that you are seeking to learn, you should not assume that you have a right to have your questions answered. There are many reasons for this.
​
First, knowledge does not unfold in linear ways. Continue to listen, read, and think. As the knowledge unfolds you will learn what is important when the time is right. As the knowledge unfolds you may learn that your guiding questions were not important after all.

Second, a good teacher will always respect your own journey. They will respect your process of learning because they know that if the journey to the knowledge is your own process of observing, participating, thinking, dreaming, and making the necessary cognitive connections you will come to embody the knowledge and remember it better than if the knowledge is simply handed to you on a plate. We need to value that knowledge is more than about a squirrel collecting nuts or about rote memory; this is especially so if the knowledge is deeply layered or requires conceptual reasoning skills.

Third, when the knowledge is of a personal nature it is not appropriate to ask questions. This is especially so if you do not have a proven good relationship, a proven trusting relationship, or a proven relationship of reciprocity with the person.

Fourth, if you are in a quest for knowledge it is really important to demonstrate that you will be responsible first. Responsibility means many things such as you will act in a good and respectful way versus use the knowledge for personal gain; or when the knowledge is of a personal nature you will not use it to gossip about and thus harm.
​
Fifth, it must be understood that the most important knowledge will not be shared and we may never know it because the knowledge is too personal. Sometimes you have to trust your authority versus question it.

​© Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She is a published author of Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit and The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process. You can reach her and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com.

The Fourth of Thirteen Moon Teachings ...

All too often people want to debate with me about the existence and reality of cultural genocide in Canada. For the most part I do not engage in these opportunities largely because I do not have time to fully address my position with every single person.

That said, regardless of its removal from Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, through my recent reading of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Legal Analysis of Genocide it is clear to me that cultural genocide in Canada continues in the form of practices, policies, and for that matter acts of omission.

We need to keep in mind that a crime can exist regardless of a legal system’s denial, silencing, and carefully constructed voids in law. As an example, INAC’s unknown and unstated paternity policy assumption was not written down and thus not formalized as a policy, but I challenged it anyway because INAC did have a policy at the level of practice of discriminating against these children.

Do you want to learn more? If so, you can read my seven key learnings on the MMIWG Legal Analysis of Genocide at this link:
​
https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/seven-key-learnings-from-the-mmiwg-legal-analysis-on-genocide

​© 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.

The Third of Thirteen Moon Teachings
 
While the Revolution has to be Old …
 
A huge revolutionary potential exists within old people because they stand on the other side of wage slavery. For the most part their nests are empty, they are not carrying student debt, and their mortgages are paid. Existing outside this jail of the economic system they have more agency to do what is right and to do what is moral. Unfortunately the dominant discourse socializes seniors into thinking that they are in the restful time of the golden years where they are manipulated into submission of what they are really supposed to do: Walk into their power and freedom that they worked so hard to gain. We really need more seniors to stand up and say, “The golden years can kiss my ass. I am now going to live the wisdom I gained. I am now going to stand up, and I am now going to speak up because I need to make sure I leave the world in a better state for the generations that come after me. They are depending on me.”
 
It Has To Be So Much More …
 
Foremost feminism is a political agenda where the goal is to challenge patriarchal structures and forge out a better life for women, children, and the more oppressed such as persons with disabilities. This political agenda also concerns itself with how men are oppressed by patriarchy and other oppressive structures. Feminism shines a light on oppression; Feminism is always concrete and practical; and feminism is always local.

Foremost feminism is also a mindset where as such the essential criterion of being a feminist is not necessarily having a vagina. In this way feminism is a political agenda that emerges from a particular mindset. When we think feminism is merely about having a vagina versus the importance of a mindset with a political agenda we risk patriarchy co-opting young, obliging, accommodating needful women who lack the political mindset needed for real meaningful change to occur because they are unable to stand up to patriarchal oppression; or for that matter women who only want a political career. There are many people with penises and who have valid feminist agendas.

Today feminism also has to be intersectional and must value that along with sexism, people are also oppressed through racism and ableism. Intersectional feminism understands that being oppressed by more than one oppressive structure has more than an additive impact in terms of how difficult it is to live. The lived experience of intersectional oppression has an interaction effect.

Feminism today that does not work in the ‘practical’, does not work in the ‘local’, and does not work in the ‘intersectional’ in unison will always remain inadequate at generating real change. Feminism today and feminist actions have to be more. White silos of old women, although important, will not work.

Feminist events, feminist actions, feminist awareness building, and feminist celebrations also have to move beyond education, entertainment, social activity, coffee clubs, and show-casing feminists. Feminism today has to be concrete, practical, and local because feminism is more than about the education, the entertainment, and the social activity of a few. White, able-bodied, cis-gender feminist women and men who have more access to power and privilege have to be better in the way they serve the more intersectionally oppressed. Again feminism today has to be concrete, practical, and remain with a local issue of oppression.

If I were a ‘feminist without a penis’ I would be very upset with how feminism has been co-opted and spun into meaningless events and actions that lack concrete value and thus serve the change needed. Will the real feminists (regardless of your biology) please stand up.

Radiation Exposure is More of a Women’s Issue …

While the revolution has to be old and intersectional radiation exposure is nothing to laugh about. We should all be crying. There are three ways that radiation harms us and our community members:

1. Radiation is carcinogenic, meaning it causes cancer. It only takes one radioactive particle to damage a human cell. Children are particularly vulnerable because their bodies are containers of much cellular growth.

2. Radiation is mutagenic, meaning it mutates our egg and sperm cells and causes birth abnormalities.
​
3. Radiation is teratogenic, meaning it has the ability to infiltrate the mother-child placenta barrier. Unborn babies are particularly vulnerable because their bodies are containers of much cellular growth.

The Revolution also has to be Young:
​
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fngWdqZagWU&fbclid=IwAR3X0AC4OcJjBmzbKYV6bDKqVGPmgStb9xzFJznnVgjKxEZ5eVbb0y--1k4

​​​​​​​​© 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.

​You ask, “How can I have been so poor when I live in one of the richest countries in the world?” ...

I am a Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. I am now a member of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and a member of the larger Anishinabek Nation.

I grew up poor and lived off of welfare in urban Toronto. For me there was no privilege there. None. My mom had eight kids to take care of. She was a single mother. It was completely miserable life for me.

Many settler Canadians think, and some actually say, my parents were ‘sucking off the teat’ of Canada, and they also argued that my father's Algonquin Anishisinabe ancestors’ culture and knowledge system was disorganized, primitive, ignorant, stupid, and we were lazy.

These same settler Canadians then blame us for our poor place in society, when in fact Canada: Seized our ancestral land and resources; Granted our land to settler people; Refused to grant us our own land because we made the adjacent land undesirable for settler people; Taxed our trap lines when we were not in the wage economy and so we lost them; Took away our fishing and hunting rights allocating them to settler people and tourists; Refused us employment in our own territories reserving it for settler people; Refused us the right to sell our vegetables when our gardens were more productive because the settler people were upset; Criminalized our culture and knowledge system; Made it illegal for us to hire advisers and lawyers in our efforts to retain our rights; Imposed a pass system on us where we could not leave reserve communities without permission from Indian Agents; Exploited our land and resources selling for profits overseas; And destroyed our most sacred sites such as the land and waterscape where the Great Sacred Pipe is located.

While this was happening industries such as E.B. Eddy and Domtar polluted our land and waterscapes. What is most disturbing is that today a new industry was recently awarded a $60 million tax break to clean up the land that E.B. Eddy and Domtar polluted in exchange for building a condominium and retail complex on sacred Algonquin Anishinaabe land.

While I grew up on welfare, settler people and their descendants now called Canadians and powerful industries and corporations reaped the resources and medicines off Indigenous land. While I grew up on welfare, settler people made me feel embarrassed and less than because, according to them, I was sucking off the teat of Canada. Let’s be clear about who has been sucking off of whose teat. The truth is, Canada and all Canadians have been sucking off the teat of Indigenous Nations. This is your truth Canada.

Scheer, you need to check your privilege and the ignorance it embodies within you.

​​​​​​​© 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.

​​​​​​© 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.

The First of 13 Moon Teachings
​
I have come to learn that many people do not really understand what I mean when I talk about “practice knowledge”. There are many delineations of what I mean …
 
First, some people think I am talking about the difference between theory and practice, and that when I talk about practice knowledge that I am stressing that people can have all the theory in the world but if it is not practiced it is meaningless. While I like this truth and agree I mean something different ... .
 
Second, in the Anishinaabeg knowledge tradition it is commonly thought that the most important knowledge is the knowledge we do through our practices. What I mean by this is our parents teach us how best to do things through their practices, meaning through being good role-models. For example, through practice they teach us how to be good human beings. From this process of practice we practice it too even though we do not consciously understand the theory of ontological morality. We just do morality in practice as it was practiced for us to learn from. This means we do not necessarily have a conscious and cognitive ability to talk about the theory of morality and why it is important; rather we embody and practice it.
 
Third, ceremony is a collection of practices. While some people are able to conduct a Sacred Pipe Ceremony because they learned it through practice from their Elders, others who were not trained in ceremonies yet who have been trained in Indigenous knowledge philosophy have the skill to talk about it in a way a ceremonialist or Elder may not be able to. Both are important.
 
Fourth, some people who embody intergenerational trauma manifest it at the level of practice with little ability to express consciously and cognitively the very knowledge they have within their bodies. This inability does not mean they do not have knowledge about their trauma; they do at the level of embodiment and practice. When knowledge is embodied and practiced in this way, in a way that is harming to self and others, it is suggested that the person go on a journey; a journey to connect one’s heart and mind so they are better able to cope and have a good life.
 
Fifth, some people have great ideas in that they are great thinkers but they lack the skills, or maybe the time, to manifest the ideas into concrete practice. When this happens another person can pick up the idea and work with it to ensure it moves into practice.
 
Sixth, sometimes practice knowledge is just yours and only yours. It is not something you do for other people. For example, it is never advisable to say to an impoverished person, “I will pray for you”. Once I heard someone say this to a woman who was struggling to feed her eight children. I could tell by the look on her face that she was patronized and was thinking, “I don’t need your prayers. Stuff your prayers and help me feed my children in real and practiced ways.”
 
Most of the time knowledge at the level of practice is the most important knowledge. Sometimes thinking or theoretical knowledge is the most important knowledge. And sometimes both together are important knowledge.

Chi-Miigwetch for reading this and thinking about it.

​​​​​© 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.

I am not a date (day, month, year) kind of person. Regardless, I am able to convey my interpretation of this important story without these details.

For several years I observed at a distance the Persons Day celebration in Peterborough, Ontario. After initially attending a few times I could no longer participate in the “celebration” because for me, as an intersectionally oppressed person, it held little to no meaning. I felt, and thought, this way for several reasons:

• First, it was mostly attended by older white women. There was no colour in the crowd of almost 100 people;
• Second, it lacked a critical understanding of intersectional structural oppression;
• Third, it lacked a critical understanding of how some of the famous five women where both architects and proponents of the eugenics movement in Canada; and,
• Fourth, the celebration lacked a practical element for women who are intersectionally oppressed.

I felt like it was for the most part white women celebrating their own oppression. When I did attend the event my concern was not so much that that space was unsafe for me. Generally speaking white women do not scare me. As I have said before it is nice women who scare me. My issue was more that as an intersectional oppressed woman the event was disenfranchising, patronizing, humiliating, and embarrassing. Feminism, I know, has to be more than about this; it has to be meaningful for women of colour, women with disabilities, and gay and transgender people. It has to address issues of intersectionality in real practical ways. Period! I began to publicly voice my critique of “privileged white feminism”.

Eventually the organizers of the Peterborough Persons Day event asked Kemi Akapo, and new Peterborough community member Marion Little to be the masters of the ceremony of one of their annual events. They agreed and a Facebook event page was created thus moving the event into the era of social media communications. This was a great move in that it in part served to reach more oppressed people who are home bound or people who the white organizers preferred to silence. I was quick to post a comment on the event page and it was here that Marion first heard my criticism. As I understand it Marion and Kemi did some initial research and they also followed through with the commitment to be masters of ceremony in a qualified and cautious way. Afterwards they were quick to complete additional research learning more about the questionable history of some of the famous five.

Upon discussing what their research uncovered, several leading white women determined that consultation with community members was needed. Apparently these leading white women wanted to understand why the annual event was void of both young women and women of colour. This was good to learn in that some white women seemed to be ‘getting it’ and they seemed to be genuinely interested in moving Peterborough’s feminism out of the dark ages. Since it was these white women who reached out to Marion and Kemi, their personal agency was invested in hearing what they had to say. Lord knows they could care less about what I have to say; I can only assume the cognitive dissonance was too emotional for them. 

The consultation process unfolded and several women of colour in the Peterborough community participated. It is said that they had a lot to offer. Of course they did. I was not one of them though. As many know I have been busy challenging Canada to eliminate the sex discrimination in the Indian Act through both court actions, writing, speaking out, and on the ground. Regardless of my lack of participation Marion told me that some of the older white women were informed about the issues uncovered in the consultation process. I am not sure if a report was created and to tell the truth it is not really important to me because I know that knowledge does move orally. The argument that an artifact was not produced is not a genuine argument at refuting what is now known.

In the end, through the consultation process, there was some collective thought by the event organizers and leading white women that the event was not going to be celebrated anymore with the last event being in 2017 (I think this date is correct). In offering this knowledge it would be inappropriate for someone to argue there was no consensus in this decision or that only a few of the white women feel this way. We need to keep in mind that it was feminism that questioned the limitations of quantitative arguments. Said another way, feminism taught us that ‘majority rule arguments’ are not enough as they have huge limitations. Many now know, and as I have said before and before and before, sometimes the most important knowledge is in the minority.

That said, while there may be opposition for the need to put the event to rest, and thus it may very well be picked up again, I wish to let people know that if the event is picked up again and it continues to lack a critical discussion of the eugenics movement, continues to lack an intersectional lens, continues to offer no practical value for people who are more oppressed, and continues to be void of including all sectors of person hood, I will speak up again. The thoughts, ideas, and voices collected through the consultation process must be valued because they are legitimate. Readers who think that I offer this statement as a threat, you could not be more incorrect. I love the Anishinaabeg and the very land this event was held on. My goal is bigger than you and me. I know I am doing the right thing in raising the issue of this event where all I could see was 100 white women doing nothing for their sisters of colour ... . Simple objective thinking, versus projecting your negative emotions is needed to really hear and value what I am saying: Women of colour in Peterborough want and need more from white women.

It is important that I stress that the inclusion of token women of colour will not at all move the event forward in a valid way. Change has to be more than what is called “white tokenism of colour” or “cupcake feminism”. Feminism today is more than about adding some colour and stirring. Clearly the issues cannot be resolved in a cake mix kind of way. If you want to think more about what I mean by this here is a link to what I call "cup cake feminism":
https://thefeministwire.com/2013/04/cupcake/?fbclid=IwAR3_XjpuaSWuoA7sDlBqoWgMSSMgZPINF7a_9CHDovbbvpaS0TVqlAR3PU8

I am grateful to Marion and Kemi for doing the right thing and for risking getting blow back from people, and for risking not being liked. We need to keep in mind that nice people are scary anyway in that they are usually participants and thus complicit in what is wrong.

People interested in learning more about intersectional feminism and the history of the eugenics movement in Canada are invited to take the personal responsibility needed and do the research, thinking, and learning they need from where they are located because foremost knowledge is a personal journey.

Lastly, at this link I explain what intersectional feminism is.  I have done my work giving back knowledge to the Peterborough community:
https://journeymagazineptbo.com/2016/09/14/2830/

​Miigwetch to the women in Peterborough who heard this critical message. So very much appreciated.

​​​​© 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.

​In this video I am interviewed by Lisa Barry for what is called "Doctrine of Discovery: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts" documentary and where I have a few small cameo appearances. In this more complete interview I talk about my court case regarding sex discrimination in the Indian Act, the treaty process, why I remain with using the language of "cultural genocide" and always will, the intelligence of the heart, Indigenous knowledge, and a better way to care for the water that we and all the beings need.

Miigwetch for taking the time and watch this interview. It would be great to read your comments at the bottom of the video ... .

​​​​© 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.

​​​© 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.