All photos C/O Natasha Davey
The Wiiji’iwe Collective supports Indigenous artists by breaking down accessibility barriers
By: Subin Park, A&C Reporter
“Going together with the people”. Although not a direct translation, it closely describes the meaning behind Natasha Davey’s the Wiiji’iwe Collective. The Wiiji’iwe Collective is an Instagram-based shop that carries beaded accessories, moccasins, artwork and other hand-made items by Indigenous artists from Northern Ontario.
The shop’s story began in 2014, when Davey started her teaching career working with Grade 7 and 8 students in Aroland, a northern First Nations community. As a non-Indigenous person herself, the opportunity to teach there for three years allowed her to gain a deeper understanding of the Indigenous community and develop life-long friendships, many of which were with Indigenous artists.
“I went [to Aroland] without knowing what the North was and with little understanding of the Indigenous people in Canada,” explained Davey.
After returning from Aroland, she worked as a teacher development manager for Teach for Canada, a non-profit organization supporting teachers working in northern First Nations communities.
When Davey returned to her home in Hamilton, she missed her friends in the northern community very much. She also had people inquire about where to get similar beaded accessories and moccasins she owned. Recognizing the demand for Indigenous art and artifacts as well as the difficulty of connecting with Indigenous artists living in remote reserves, Davey was inspired to create The Wiiji’iwe Collective.
“I [want it] to be known that, from this collective, I’m not profiting from the Indigenous community and I’m really doing it to support the Indigenous artists who are in remote northern places, who don’t have as much exposure as [they would] in southern Ontario,” explained Davey.
Davey launched the collective last year in consultation with Elders and friends in the Indigenous community. On Nov. 7, the collective will celebrate its one year anniversary. It was important for her to discuss the project idea with Indigenous members and gather their input as she was conscious of her place as an ally and wanted to hold space for the Indigenous community. In support of Davey, two of the Elders she consulted with gifted her the name Wiiji’iwe for the project.
“When I was thinking about [starting the Wiiji’iwe Collective], I wanted to do it in a good way. Because I am not Indigenous myself, I recognize myself as an Indigenous ally. So when starting it, I didn’t want to go about things without consulting the Elders and my friends in the Indigenous community,” said Davey.
Currently, Davey runs the Wiiji’iwe Collective from her home office space while still working as a teacher at the Halton Catholic School Board. She sources her inventory directly from Indigenous artists who she knows from her time working in northern First Nations communities or have been referred to by friends in the community. The collective includes work from many including artists, Elders, teachers, education assistants, students and even school bus drivers. The collective works with over 20 Indigenous artists.
Once Davey receives the items to her home in Hamilton, she repackages them, takes photos to post on the Instagram page and ships it out to customers. Pick-ups are also available in Hamilton from her home.
When purchasing new items from Indigenous artists, Davey often pays more than the rate of the artists to ensure fair, equitable wages.
According to a recent report based on data from Demographic Diversity of Artists in Canada in 2016, Indigenous artists make 68 cents for every dollar non-Indigenous artists make. This can be attributed to many systemic barriers and biases that pose serious limitations on the income and career growth of Indigenous artists and discourages youths from pursuing art.
To address this inequity, Davey uses the profit from the sales to raise money for the collective’s Indigenous Youth Artists Fund.
“Part of the idea behind Wiiji’iwe is to support aspiring Indigenous youth who want to start beading, start making moccasins or maybe do art, but may not have the funds to get up and going,” said Davey.
A key aspect of the fund is that it is hassle-free. Davey noted although many grants are available for Indigenous youths, they often require an overwhelming number of forms and information to be uploaded in English which can be a barrier. Interested applicants can message the Wiiji’iwe Collective on Instagram and fill out a Google form to access the fund.
One of Davey’s favourite aspects of running the collective is sharing the stories behind the pieces and the artists. Recently, the Wiiji’iwe Collective had a collaboration event with MADabolic Burlington, Power Yoga Canada Burlington and Lululemon Mapleview called ReconciliACTION. It discussed the purpose of truth and reconciliation, recognized Indigenous communities and encouraged engagement in physical wellness activities. There, she was able to share and feature some of the artists and their works.
“It’s really about bringing the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communit[ies] together even though many of the artists are not always here. But I always tell [the artists] stories or tell them the pieces have sold right away and they’re so happy,” said Davey.
She is also keen on maintaining transparency and sharing the operation behind the business. A common question she receives is whether a non-Indigenous person can buy from the shop. Davey has consulted with many members in the Indigenous community to answer this question, including Elders, who have shared that as long as it is not appropriating Indigenous culture and the non-Indigenous person remains respectful, it is okay. For items with a ceremonial purpose, the artists will always indicate it.
“The artists know I’m not Indigenous and these items are being sold to everyone. The Elders and community also know and want people to support their work and their art,” said Davey.
To accommodate the growing community under the Wiiji’iwe Collective, it will soon partner with Grandmothers Voice, an Indigenous organization based in Halton aimed at bringing Elders to various groups, events and ceremonies to reclaim and restore their Indigenous culture.
Soon, the Wiiji’iwe Collective will have its own page on the Grandmothers Voice’s website and some of their items will also be available at Grandmothers Voice’s office space. With their support and guidance, Davey hopes to eventually open a Shopify account and ultimately help the artists to open their own websites as well to help them gain more autonomy in selling and promoting their work.
“I want to support the artists to be autonomous, build their capacity, build understanding about shipping, receiving and social media and promoting themselves so they can eventually go off on their own and have their own platform . . . For now, I’m happy to support them and show them there’s a lot of worth in the work they do and people are interested in it,” said Davey.
The Wiiji’iwe Collective is a place of sharing, appreciating, supporting and celebrating Indigenous art and creators. Whether you are Indigenous, non-Indigenous, wanting to feature your work, connect Indigenous artists or curious about Indigenous art and how to support Indigenous artists, the collective welcomes all students to reach out and go together with the Indigenous community.
The items listed on the page can be purchased by completing a Google form linked in the shop’s bio.
C/O Paige Porter
Local business owner Paige Porter is rediscovering her Indigenous heritage through her beadwork
Beading has a historical and cultural significance among Canada’s Indigenous communities as an art form passed down through generations. For Paige Porter, the Hamilton-based Indigenous beadwork artist behind House of Beads, it is a means of reconnecting with her heritage and carving out a cultural identity of her own.
Porter’s small business specializes in Indigenous beaded jewellery, accessories and custom commissions. Though beading is traditionally passed from parent to child within Indigenous communities, Porter’s journey to beading arose out of a self-driven search to learn more about her heritage. She is Haudenosaunee and Onyota'a:ka from Six Nations of the Grand River. As an intergenerational survivor of the residential schools system, Porter described feelings of disconnection from her culture within her family in her formative years.
“Growing up, I didn’t know that much about my culture. Down the line, my family was afraid to acknowledge and speak the language. Over the years it died off, which is sad to say, but because of residential schools I know some older Indigenous people went through especially traumatic experiences and were ashamed of being Native. That’s how they were brainwashed. Being Indigenous, I grew up and had to learn about my culture myself,” explained Porter.
In her efforts to reconnect with her heritage, Porter became involved with the Hamilton Regional Indian Center, where she gained more exposure to resources and other Indigenous community members. She began beading in November 2019 to rekindle the traditional art form within her family, entirely through self-teaching and her own devices.
“Beading is usually a tradition passed down generations and generations, but in my case, my family was never taught beading. I wanted to become the first-generation leader in my family . . . It’s not only for myself, but also so I can pass it down to my family and my grandkids — I can be that grandma that teaches them how to do it,”
Paige Porter
Porter began learning to bead through online resources and imitating designs, before beginning to create original designs of her own. The learning process has provided her with a sense of resilience and pride in her heritage.
Initially, Porter never saw herself as a business owner. Along her self-teaching journey, she began posting her work on Instagram. She started to amass a following and it was her mother who first had the idea to sell the art Porter had created. Her mother’s encouragement incited the transformation of her passion into a business, now with over 1,500 followers on her combined social media platforms.
Porter fondly recalled memories from the Together in Dance Festival at Mohawk College, which she attended as a vendor in February 2020. The celebration of diversity and multiculturalism was one of Porter’s first times presenting her work to the public. After the festival, Porter went on to collaborate with Sweet Peas Baby Company, a seasonal subscription box for parents of young children, where her bead art was featured.
“My products are handmade and take time. You're getting something that is authentic and handmade by an actual Indigenous person rather than Indigenous-inspired and when you support an Indigenous business, then you're also supporting the Indigenous community. When you go and shop in Canada, those proceeds go into Canada,” said Porter.
Beyond her bead art, Porter stressed the importance of bringing awareness to injustices committed against Indigenous peoples in Canada. She called students to action to educate themselves on Orange Shirt Day, Truth and Reconciliation Day and the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two spirit.
Porter’s small business has helped her to build a bridge back to the Indigenous culture that was stolen from her and her family and her art is a reminder of the importance of Indigenous culture and legacies.
C/O @killyourmasters_
For local artist Kyle Joedicke, murals are an opportunity to honour his Indigenous roots and share stories with the Hamilton community
By: Edwin Thomas, Contributor
As students, many of us are familiar with the difficult dialogue that is often involved in learning, particularly in conversations about Indigenous justice and reconciliation. However, most of us might not be aware of the importance of art in fostering these conversations. Art is powerful. It can raise awareness and provoke thoughts and dialogue while also helping us to give voice to experiences and stories that are otherwise difficult to communicate.
For local artist Kyle Joedicke, his murals are a way to honour his Indigenous roots and share Indigenous art, culture and stories with the Hamilton community. Joedicke is Cayuga Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River and grew up between the Six Nations reserve and Caledonia on the border of Hamilton. Although he describes himself as being not very connected to his Indigenous identity during his adolescent years, he began rediscovering his Indigenous roots in his twenties.
Joedicke uses his art to find his voice as an Indigenous person. His work has helped him become closer with the Indigenous community as well, which in turn teaches him more about the culture. For Joedicke, the relationship he has developed with his Indigenous community is a gift.
“I’m speechless in a lot of ways about the gifts that I have been given recently,” explained Joedicke.
His first mural was of an orca commissioned by Merk Snack Bar in 2020, dedicated to his late grandmother. He soon realized the spaces he was creating Indigenous art for could be used to support urban Indigenous communities and provide opportunities for conversation between both Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks.
Joedicke’s murals are woodland style and inspired by the style’s creator, Norval Morrisseau.
“His ability to paint these oral stories in such a visually captivating way is remarkable,” explained Joedicke.
Similar to Morrisseau’s depictions of traditional stories, Joedicke recently created a mural depicting The Seven Grandfather Teachings, which is an oral teaching and tradition centered on the Indigenous way of life.
Joedicke also uses his art to explore intergenerational trauma among Indigenous communities.
“I think being Indigenous means being resilient in a lot of ways. From the inception of the colony of Canada, it’s been the goal to have us not exist, to put it in blunt terms. To be an Indigenous person in 2021 is to be living proof of an entire civilization’s will to live,” said Joedicke.
The discovery of the unmarked graves of Indigenous children at residential schools over the past few months has shocked the nation and impacted Indigenous individuals and communities in complex ways. This extends to Joedicke, whose grandparents were survivors of the residential school system.
Recently, Joedicke has been working on a mural in the memory of children who died while attending residential schools. The mural is located at St. Matthew's House.
He found the experience of creating the mural at St. Matthew’s House cathartic and an opportunity for reflection.
“While I was working on the mural, it gave me a lot of time to reflect on the fact that it isn’t specific to me. It is an issue that has affected thousands and thousands of families. It also gives you a sense of the community because of the outpouring [of] support from the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities,” explained Joedicke.
Art can be an important catalyst for conversation and change and Joedicke has felt that the important role art plays in social progress in creating his artwork.
“It was impossible not to feel the added weight behind the art because, at that point, when you are trying to convey the particular images and ideas, it is too emotional to not be present for it,” explained Joedicke.
Joedicke was recently featured on CBC and has recently been commissioned across the city to continue his work, including a future project with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
“I want people to be able to come to see this art and feel that they are welcomed and included. It’s something they can be a part of and interact with,” said Joedicke.
Youth, representing the future generations of our society, are pivotal to social progress and change and embody people’s growing openness to learn. Joedicke encourages students from McMaster University to learn more about Indigenous culture as much as they can.
“It’s never wrong to ask questions. Education is important, especially in terms of understanding different cultures. Look into the teachings; [they] can be applied to your own life without being associated with a particular religion or culture. The stories are one of the major things that help us learn in life,” said Joedicke.
C/O @mcmaster_ihm
The McMaster student-run Indigenous Health Movement is encouraging education and reconciliation within issues relating to Indigenous health
By: Meg Durie, Contributor
The Indigenous Health Movement at McMaster University embodies the passion, drive and dedication to social justice of this generation of Indigenous folks and allies. Involving both Indigenous and non-Indigenous ally students, the group aims to educate others about and promote reconciliation within the area of Indigenous health.
The student-led movement and club, which started in 2016 and has been flourishing ever since, was initially a group project by classmates Yotakahron Jonathan, Yipeng Ge, Alex Liu, Sharon Yeung and Deepti Shanbhag. While their main event is the annual Indigenous Health Conference, which is organized in collaboration with the Indigenous Health Learning Lodge, IHM also runs learning circle workshops, speaker events and outreach activities with local Indigenous groups.
Current co-chairs Jayden Rivers and Alexa Vrzovski have both been involved with IHM in previous years. Both appreciated the opportunity the organization provided them to connect with other Indigenous students and become more involved in the community.
“I joined IHM midway through my first year as a liaison position opened up. Growing up, I had little exposure to my Indigenous background. It wasn’t until high school that I briefly learned about [residential schools] and Indigenous colonization. Upon entering university, I wanted to expand my knowledge and become an active member of the McMaster Indigenous community. Through joining IHM, I was happy to meet and learn from other Indigenous students,” explained Rivers.
“I joined IHM last year as a last-minute thing to do while everything was switching to an online platform. I have been very politically active since high school and wanted to join a group that fought for the rights of [Black, Indigenous and people of colour] and IHM seemed like a great place to start. IHM also gave me the opportunity to be more involved in the Indigenous community at McMaster and [to meet] new like-minded people,” said Vrzovski.
An interdisciplinary project, the IHM team is made of a unique group of students from all across McMaster faculties and years.
“Something that I find special about this team is how we are welcoming of people with all different levels of knowledge regarding Indigenous culture and health. For example, I was initially hesitant to join in first year because I feared I may not ‘know enough’, but they welcomed me with open arms so I could learn amongst my peers and figures in the community,” said Rivers.
“Not to brag, but we have an amazing team. Everyone has always been so genuine and kind and interested in making change in the world. If you are interested in Indigenous rights and health in general and want to fight against inequalities on a local level, IHM is a great student-led club to apply to!” explained Vrzovski.
It’s particularly important to Rivers and Vrzovski that all Indigenous students feel welcome at IHM.
“As reconnecting Indigenous women, Jayden and I also really wanted to make sure IHM was a really inclusive place for all Indigenous people, whether you live on or off reserve, are a mixed native person or you’re reconnecting to your culture for whatever reason,” explained Vrzovski.
A highlight of IHM’s year is their annual health conference. Each year, the conference features a number of accomplished and renowned speakers. It is a powerful and educational conference, aimed at promoting Indigenous voices and knowledge and providing opportunities to learn to workers and students in health-related fields. Typically, the conference is held in February.
As mentioned, IHM also hosts a variety of other events throughout the year that provide opportunities for both Indigenous students and non-Indigenous allies to come together, engage in activities and learn.
“We also have amazing, lighthearted events that allow allies to join beading circles or cooking classes and really appreciate Indigenous culture firsthand,” said Vrzovski.
In all their events, IHM strives to better educate and inform the McMaster community about issues relating to Indigenous health including environmental health and the climate crisis. IHM determinedly strives to encourage reconciliation in this realm.
IHM will be recruiting more members in the weeks to come, with applications to come out early November.
“IHM provides a welcoming space for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to learn from one another on important topics surrounding not only Indigenous health, but also community engagement and advocacy. It’s been amazing to see all the different initiatives this team has facilitated the last couple of years,” said Rivers.
Make sure to stay tuned to what this student group has in store for this academic year and to ensure to keep learning and unlearning on your own time.
C/O @goodmindsindigenousbooks
GoodMinds.com provides voices to Indigenous authors and their stories
By: Serena Habib, Contributor
GoodMinds.com is the largest Indigenous bookseller in Canada, but its impact extends far beyond that of a typical bookstore. It is a source of inspiration, a well of knowledge, a voice for Indigenous authors, an educational hotspot and a support for Indigenous communities across North America.
Dave Anderson, whose spirit name is Wahwahbiginojii, is Bear Clan of Dene and Anishinabe descent born in Atikokan, Ontario. As an educator with a doctorate in Indigenous education, he has been involved with Goodminds.com on a number of projects and is constantly directing students and teachers to GoodMinds.com in order to help them learn about Indigenous peoples.
Anderson described GoodMinds.com as an Indigenous way of doing business, with the purpose of helping Indigenous peoples and business grow economically due to disproportionate socioeconomic barriers faced.
The original vision for GoodMinds.com was to ensure there was a place where Indigenous authors could be supported and promoted. Founded over 20 years ago by Jeff Burnham and currently run by Achilles Gentle, the company’s owners have personally looked at every single book before choosing to sell it, ensuring it accurately represents Indigenous peoples in an honest and prideful way. Anderson described how each book will keep your mind growing in the spirit of having “GoodMinds”.
“Respect, responsibility and relationship: that's what GoodMinds is about . . . Understanding our relations, understanding the knowledge of each other, respecting that knowledge and being responsible to do what needs to be done,” explained Anderson.
Another important part of GoodMinds vision is to support Indigenous libraries through their initiative, Supporting Indigenous Libraries Today. Since many Indigenous communities have neither libraries nor access to books, five per cent of every sale goes towards SILT.
In addition to selling books, the company speaks to students, libraries and schools. They also support Indigenous education in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. The company tries to ensuring libraries purchase Indigenous books from Indigenous booksellers and reach out to schools and their teachers to help with the delivery of educational concepts and issues relating to Indigenous communities. GoodMinds have also begun to publish works by Indigenous authors and present interviews and reviews with Indigenous authors on their YouTube channel in their collection, “13 Moons 13 Reads.”
For Indigenous peoples, stories are a critical way of remembering and celebrating their life on this land.
“We're learning our teachings again, we're learning to laugh again . . . The resiliency and the life that these authors bring in spite of what’s happened — that needs to be shared. There’s a vision . . . there’s a life. And we need to celebrate that life,” explained Anderson.
For non-Indigenous people, this is an important opportunity to finally listen to the stories of Indigenous peoples. We all can learn from these teachings and from the interactions of Indigenous peoples with the land we live on today. They have been offering their teachings for 500 years to help us understand our land. It is time we embrace one another and learn so we can step towards a better future.
“We are in a time of truth and reconciliation and educating everybody, understanding everybody,” said Anderson.
As an example, Anderon spoke about the climate crisis. There are a number of books about Josephine-ba Mandamin, a Water Walker who walked around all five Great Lakes, carrying a bucket of water and a staff, singing Anishinaabe water songs and honouring the water because of how important it is.
The stories about her and the reasons behind her actions can teach us how to value water and ensure that our future generations will have clean water. The lessons from these stories are applicable to every one of us. To further explain our relationship with our land and water, Anderson recalled a statement from a Cree Elder he had spoken to.
“It’s about Kenanow. It’s about all of us. That’s you and me and the water and the plants and the animals and the land. It’s about all of us living together,” said Anderson.
Reading one story is taking one step on a road towards learning and understanding our place and responsibility as human beings on this shared land. The path of learning is ever-expanding; every book illuminates a path to infinite more for us to discover.
GoodMinds’ catalogue feature lists so that every individual can find multiple books for themselves. Anderson also recommended 500 Nations and the Truth About Stories as places to start reading Indigenous work.
To complement university courses, there are books in every subject ranging from engineering, medicine, astronomy and many more. The children’s books, novels and poetry collections also share wisdom from an Indigenous perspective that are beneficial for everyone to become more aware of.
“It’s your first step on [your] road — your road to knowledge [and], to being. If you've taken that first step, it means there's something that has brought you here. And now, there's more . . . There's so much for us to learn,” explained Anderson.
The truth about stories, as Anderson powerfully described, is that everything we need is in the story. GoodMinds provides us with these stories in a way that allows us to help our communities by making a purchase and by reading a book. Let us open a story and join hands and minds for a future of flourishing and friendship.
“It's a time when we live together and for us to share with you. [Y]ou can listen in and we'll grow together to build a better world, a world that we can be proud of to leave for our children [and] our grandchildren,” said Anderson.
C/O Don Craig
True advocacy entails more than just empty words
By: Ardena Bašić, Contributor
cw: abuse, neglect
Given the increased attention on human rights issues and the overall mistreatment of the Indigenous population, reconciliation has gained an increase in discussion in many institutions.
Professors and leaders are now acknowledging the ownership of the land they work and live on. The orange shirt has become a symbol of support for victims of the residential school system. Political leaders are making promises to address the issue of water advisories in Indigenous communities and inequities in education and housing.
While these symbolic actions exemplify desires to make positive changes, they are still only symbolic acts. Whether these intentions lead to actual change is contingent on whether leaders and members of society translate their intentions and words into tangible action.
Advocacy may very well begin with words, promises and acknowledging mistakes and atrocities of the past. However, as it pertains to the issues that many marginalized and oppressed groups such as the Indigenous population of so-called Canada experience, words represent only the preliminary step in building a better world.
Both Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau have given formal apologies to the Indigenous community in regards to the residential school system. In 2021, Canadian catholic bishops also communicated their remorse for the role of religious bodies in the residential school system. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church and Pope have not followed suit. Calls for the church to take accountability for its role in the residential school system became widespread this past year given the many bodies of Indigenous children found in unmarked graves across Canada in what used to be residential schools.
Some action has been taken on the part of the Canadian federal government to follow up on their apologies and address the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For example, the government has budgeted for their intent to address the lack of access to clean drinking water, develop better health and social services on and near reserves and contribute to preserving Indigenous languages.
Moreover, Sept. 30, 2021 marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day sought to commemorate the victims of the residential school system and entailed memorials and other events held across the nation.
There are also calls for institutions to remove statues and names of people who were involved in the residential school system. For example, Ryerson University will be changing its name, given its eponym, Egerton Ryerson, was an important architecture in designing the residential school system. However, changing an institution’s name is only a symbolic act and must be followed by more tangible action to support reconciliation and contribute to social progress.
When Stephen Harper apologized to Indigenous communities years ago, he failed to fund significant projects like the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Justin Trudeau’s follow up was equally as inadequate, as the campaign promises he made to Indigenous communities during his 2015 election campaign have still not been fulfilled as of publication.
There are still water advisories in place and the presence of inadequate infrastructure and services across Indigenous communities despite promises to address these issues. In fact, government funding for awards that serve to honour leaders in Indigenous communities has decreased. It is clear the government wants to take accountability of its past actions and do its work in laying the foundation for reconciliation, but this is not followed by proper, tangible action.
Only when tangible actions are taken after communicating an intent to do so will greater equity become a possibility. It is time Canadian society and its government follow suit on their promises and intents and invest more towards showing accountability and working towards reconciliation.
In sum, symbolic reconciliation is communication of an intention to right the wrongs of the past. However, this needs to be followed up by real action in order for true societal change to occur.
C/O Marcus Spiske
Imagine contributing the least to climate change, but being affected by it the most
By: Hadeeqa Aziz, Contributor
The climate crisis: you’ve heard about it, you see it everywhere in the news and maybe sometimes you just can’t escape its widespread acknowledgment – that’s a good thing. Yet, despite the media’s best efforts to spread information about it, the climate crisis continues to get buried under other, seemingly larger and more “urgent” issues such as the pandemic.
What most individuals fail to understand is that global climate change is perhaps the most time-sensitive issue that we’re facing. At the moment, you and I may not be directly experiencing the effects of climate change, but I promise you that others are. In particular, marginalized groups such as Indigenous communities are often the first to face consequences of climate change due to their close relationship with the environment.
Indigenous communities are generally the most affected by events such as extreme weather conditions, depletion of natural resources and water contamination. Direct consequences have resulted in restricted access to traditional areas for resources like medicine and food and forced relocation or displacement.
If that wasn’t enough, climate change effectively exacerbates the pre-existing issues Indigenous peoples face, such as economic and political marginalization, discrimination, unemployment and human rights violations.
This is ironic, to say the least. Although Indigenous communities face the greatest threats from climate change, they contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions.
The larger issue is that, although we know climate change does not affect everyone to the same degree, many proposed solutions seem to assume exactly that. We’re advised to ditch the cheeseburgers, receive passive death glares upon requesting a straw at Starbucks and penalized if we don’t use compostable coffee cups. Though changing small habits like these can definitely have an impact when done on a larger scale, it’s rather unfair to single out individuals, especially Indigenous peoples, for not complying.
Veganism is not feasible when it may be a struggle to put food on the table, conserving water would be difficult when there’s limited access to it and contemplating the purchase of a metal straw seems silly when there’s no cup to stick it into. See the pattern? Developing eurocentric solutions for an intersectional problem is simply classist, racist and will not get the job done.
What’s more is that most of these short-sighted solutions may not be applicable to Indigenous groups to begin with. Asking a community that has relied on animal husbandry for thousands of years without depleting wildlife populations or inflicting permanent harm to the earth to suddenly go vegan is a questionable approach. Meanwhile, industrial agriculture and capitalism’s insistence on competitive factory farming is slowly but surely demolishing our planet.
Want to know who popularized the idea of individual carbon footprints in the first place? It was none other than British Petroleum, which is currently the sixth largest polluter in the world. Go figure.
All this being said, some Indigenous communities may very well be capable of and have the means to apply these changes to their lives. Better yet, let’s pretend for a second that these changes are feasible for everyone and executed on a sizable scale. According to the International Energy Agency, in one of the biggest pandemics, carbon emissions have only dropped by eight per cent. What does this tell us? When the world supposedly shut down and individual impacts significantly decreased, the effects of climate change didn’t follow very far. We continue to promote individual contributions without looking at the bigger picture.
So what exactly does this bigger picture look like?
Let’s take a young start-up located on the Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation reserve just south of Hamilton, for example. They work in proximity with local Indigenous partners to develop projects such as wind farms, sustainable fishing for companies and sustainable forest management programs through which they’ve created carbon offsets. These offsets can then be used to help large businesses reduce their environmental impacts.
It’s funny how, despite facing the harsh consequences of issues created by multinational corporations, Indigenous community leaders are at the forefront in designing innovative solutions to combat climate change. Indigenous communities protect and nurture 80 per cent of the earth’s biodiversity but instead of giving them a seat at the table, we'd rather focus on metal straws.
C/O Dulcey Lima
Being aware of Canada’s historical atrocities helps one understand why Indigenous people can’t just “get over it”
By: Kimia Tahaei, Contributor
cw: suicide, abuse, violence, drug use
Time after time, we hear non-Indigenous individuals criticize the Indigenous community with demands to get over it and move on. Although it is seemingly perspicuous why the community cannot simply move past the decades of cultural erasure, mass genocide and racial discrimination, I will provide an even deeper insight in this article in hopes of educating the few.
Imagine being discriminated against on your land and then being forced to absorb the colonizer's culture. Not only was the land of Indigenous peoples strategically stripped away from them, but so was their culture, language and children. Since land confiscation was seemingly not enough, they are racially profiled and systemically discriminated against up to the present time. Taking into further consideration barbaric acts such as forcefully seizing children into the residential school system and coercing adults into working for plantations, it is naive to assume that long-term trauma doesn't form as a result.
Fred Kelly, a citizen of the Ojibways of Onigaming of the Anishinaabe Nation and an IRS survivor, described his experience as “agonizing”. In his writings in The Confessions of a Born Again Pagan, Kelly describes how the residential school system would brainwash young Indigenous children into shame and guilt because of their language, traditions and cultural practices. Kelly was taken away from his parents at a young and vulnerable age, had his hair cut as a symbol of cultural confiscation and faced physical abuse in numerous encounters. I wonder if colonizers ever saw the irony of committing these merciless acts against defenceless children and yet convincing them that they were the savage ones and in need of civilization.
Experiencing such intense traumatization at an impressionable age can lead to psychological issues such as an inferiority complex, post-traumatic stress disorder, crippling depression and future violent behaviour.
Taking a deeper psychological dive, after centuries of exploitation and experiencing European standards of right and wrong, it’s unsurprising that some Indigenous individuals questioned whether the Europeans were truly superior and how this societal hierarchy has remained constant through time. It is wholly unacceptable how the colonizers set themselves as a standard of success and have judged everything by that standard to this day.
Not only does this haunt Indigenous individuals who directly experienced this trauma in their lifetime, but it can also be passed on to subsequent generations. The transmission of this type of trauma caused by oppressive historical events is defined as intergenerational trauma. Although the mechanisms of transmission of intergenerational trauma are still unclear to scientists, the data is definite. According to the Aboriginal Peoples Survey, children and grandchildren of those who attended the residential schools were more likely to report signs of psychological distress, attempt suicide, experience learning difficulties and participate in drug use. Furthermore, with many Indigenous people living in rural and isolated areas, individuals have minimum access to mental health resources. Therefore, since the Indigenous community cannot approach their grief easily, historical traumatization and cultural dislocation, it becomes increasingly difficult to simply get over it.
I strongly believe that through historical education, the stigmatization of the Indigenous community can be altered if non-Indigenous individuals truly understand the depths of trauma that they have faced in all stages of life.
C/O Sara Kurfess
Why we need to stop relying on social media to address injustices
By: Ana Mamula, Contributor
cw: abuse, violence, death, suicide
Growing up in the age of social media, the way we receive and react to social injustices has changed immensely. We have the privilege of receiving news minutes after its occurrence, have many forms of information right at the tip of our fingers and can show our friends these injustices so that we educate those around us.
Although these aspects may all seem beneficial for society at the surface, there are still many things we lack when it comes to social media and social injustices. Today, due to the quick and easy nature by which posts can be made, seen or shown, we tend to have the same mindset when it comes to dealing with social injustices online. Our society sees a like on a post, a tweet or using a trending hashtag as the fix to social injustice.
Our society feels as though they are genuinely helping the issue at hand and that they can simply pat themselves on the back for doing something that takes a second. Yet, in reality, it truly does not do much, especially in the long run. And that is why this generation is full of “Slacktivists.”
Slacktivism is working to achieve political or social change by using the internet to carry out actions that require little effort or time.
With regards to issues faced by the Indigenous community, they are either not recognized at all and if they are, Slacktivists merely like or repost the post that discusses the issue and carry on.
We have forgotten what activism truly is. It requires us to be diligent and concerted in our efforts — not just clicking on our mouse.
If our society keeps thinking that a like or a post is going to solve the whole issue, this will only make it so much more acceptable for future injustices and future generations to take performative action. Although posting about an issue and sharing it brings some benefits, it does not truly aid the situation as a whole. Moreover, individuals may think that is all they can do.
By limiting our activism to reposting hashtags like #prayforparis and #blm, we are effectively teaching our society that these injustices are just trends.
This summer, hundreds of remains of children who attended residential schools in Canada were found. Even as an individual born and raised in Canada, I did not learn about residential schools until grade six and rarely, if ever, did I see it spoken about in the media. This summer was the first time I personally saw society recognizing the traumas the Indigenous community faced and continue to face, with respect to residential schools.
A 22-year-old Inuk creator named Shina Novalinga (ᓴᐃᓇ ᓄᕙᓕᙵ) became immensely popular on TikTok. On the platform, she creates educational videos on the Inuit culture, such as videos about their foods, traditions and practices such as throat singing.
I fell in love with Shina’s videos as she broke down the stereotypes and sugar coated information the media has taught all of us. It was a surprise to me to read the comments and see how some were trying to argue with her and her beliefs, as well as being shocked by the information she would share about her culture.
There are many stereotypes surrounding Indigenous folks in our society, thus showing how our society and mainstream media ignore their struggles. Today, Indigenous communities and individuals still face countless injustices.
We need to do better and be better. We need to educate ourselves and others, listen, share, be supportive and speak out against a government that does not care. We need to do more than like a post or retweet and we need to stop believing everything we see online is true. We need to stop believing the media is going to change and solve everything. It is only us who can do it.
C/O Wenzdae Dimaline
cw: sexual assault
SACHA brings the community together online to take back the night on stolen land
Every year, the Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton holds an event known as Take Back the Night. SACHA is a feminist, non-profit, community-based organization that raises awareness regarding sexual assault and provides support for people who have experienced sexual violence.
At Take Back the Night, community members gather together to walk an hour-long march to show solidarity for ending sexual violence in front of the Hamilton City Hall. Aside from the march, Take Back the Night also involves other solidarity events that people can join in on.
This year, for their 40th anniversary, Take Back the Night had a unique theme — Taking Back the Night on Stolen Land.
Bringing the focus on Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people, this year’s theme aims to raise awareness of how colonization leads to sexual violence, gender-based violence and sexual harassment.
“The theme we hope will be a reminder to people that all justice work must be rooted in decolonization and Indigenous sovereignty,” stated SACHA’s announcement.
“Take Back the Night has always been about taking up and reclaiming space but when we take to the streets and take up space we have to remember we are taking up space on stolen Indigenous land that has been the land of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek peoples for long before colonization.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Take Back the Night event was conducted online. On Sept. 16, SACHA posted a YouTube video for the main event, including a variety of clips from Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse performers, artists, musicians, poets and singers.
The virtual event kicks off with an impactful clip of community members holding signs saying things such as, “We have the power. We have the might. These lands are Indigenous. Take back the night” and “Claim our bodies. Claim our right. Take a stand. Take back the night” while shouting loud and clear, “Taking back the night on stolen land. We believe survivors.”
Following a land acknowledgement and theme introduction, Jessica Bonilla-Damptey, Director of SACHA, provided an overview of the 40-year history behind Take Back the Night.
“We will not tolerate gender-based violence. We will not tolerate sexual violence. We will not tolerate street harassment. We shout loud and proud that we deserve a world where we are not only safe, but to be free, to thrive as our full selves. We shout. We cry. We know that you are not alone and we shout that we believe survivors,”
jessica bonilla-damptey
Two different honour songs sung by Indigenous folks were then played. The first song was sung by Nicole Jones from Mississauga of the Credit First Nations to honour women, girls and Two-Spirited folks. The second song was sung by Jordan Carrier who is Plains Cree to honour the water.
Next, the Red Dress Project was discussed. The project involves red dresses hung up on tress and across cities each year to draw attention to the issue of countless Indigenous women being missing or murdered across the country.
Tristan, a Two-Spirited Indigenous community member, explained the significance behind the red dresses.
“Their colour symbolizes the emotion, the anger and the rage we feel — the blood of these built women and our connection to them. Over 4000 women are missing in Canada and the RCMP reports maybe less than a quarter of that. But these aren’t just statistics, these are people. These are mothers and aunties and sisters who supported us and took care of us and now they’re gone. Missing or murdered and nobody’s looking for them,” said Tristan.
Tristan explained his frustration with the lack of awareness non-Indigenous people have of the issue.
“That’s just how things were growing up and continued to be. And now I’m hearing people start to realize what’s going on that aren’t a part of this community with this shock. And I get surprised when I feel my own shock when I think how did you not realize this was happening? How did you not realize that I show up with somebody one day and they’re gone the next? And that’s just another number missing,” said Tristan.
By the half-way mark of the online event, SACHA pieced together a multitude of messages from community members dedicated to Indigenous youth.
Reading their messages, each person reminded Indigenous youth of their value, “Dear Indigenous youth, you are loved. Dear Indigenous youth, you bring so much joy and brightness into the world and you have my thanks for being wonderfully you. Dear Indigneous youth, you don’t have to look or sound a certain way to be Two-Spirited. You are who you are. End of story.”
Finally, before closing off the event, Joan, co-chair of Sisters in Spirit, an organization that works to educate the public about missing and murdered Indigenous women, addressed the Red Ribbon Skirt Project.
The project began with a group of women gathering together in response to a lack of police action regarding the Picton case when 33 women were found murdered in Vancouver, many of which were Indigenous women.
The project involves sewing skirts for the members of the families and marching every year on May 5th to raise awareness. Joan touched on the impact that the project has and what it means for the families of the missing women.
“The families really need to have the support and they need to have the acknowledgement that they have’t been forgotten...It’s not just one day that people go missing. It’s everyday,” said Joan.
As a closing honour song, singers and dancers from a performance group known as Spirit Vision performed a song called Red Dress. The song holds a message saying that Indigenous men need to protect Indigenous women from further harm.
Take Back the Night is more than just about showing solidarity against sexual violence. At it’s core, it is an event that brings together the community, reminds people that they are not alone and brings to light issues that are too often dismissed. This year, even without an in-person rally, the community found its own ways to remind all of us — there is still work to be done.
