Prairie Fire, my previous post, starts out essentially as a no-holds-barred exercise. At least that is how some people see it, yet others know it to be all too true. Those who disagree say it’s all about sour grapes, but that is the usual colonial response, which is nothing more than the inability to deal with things outside your own immediate realm. Native reality, to some, is a hard pill to swallow; it shocks the intellectual recesses of the mind.
But nonetheless to know native people is to know and acknowledge every aspect of their lives.
It seems that every time natives gripe about their circumstance, it becomes a polarizing exercise. It becomes an issue of "us" verses "them," and nothing ever gets done. Locked in polarizations.
I often wonder how natives can be so scrutinized when truthfully their essence lies in the majorities’ hand. The latest books on native people attest to this: “Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry”, or that no so harsh “A New Look at Canadian Indian Policy,” these are the two latest books, making their rounds in mainstream circles.
Really what I’m saying is how can they criticise yet all the while not seriously look at, (rather I should say acknowledge) what has been created by themselves and their forefathers? When I wrote this paper it essentially lays out where natives presently are, and since we cannot create the changes we need, we have to, of all things, look at what we can do for ourselves.
We can ask, of all things, do we not, both need great leaders to take their place; ordinary (yet extraordinary)people from all walks of life to initiate social change. I mentioned that natives never really needed revolution; they just operated in an already great system.
The highest call for all is to seek unity above all things, but unfortunately we have to carry different burdens. (But you also have to be realistic and competent, to address the way things are.)
After I put up my blog on this article, it appeared in google, but it didn’t take long before it went missing, but when you speak what is true it is not always welcomed news, especially when it pertains to native people. If anything it goes against the national objective: Which to me is to is really about keeping it all under the rug; you know, keep all the dirty Landry in the closet,yet hold a “just” facade.
Since we didn’t create most of this mess, I would say some other people better stand up and be take resposibility.
Let me refresh your memory on what I pointed out. The treatment of its aboriginal people is an international disgrace; we just have to know a little about some things that Canada has been involved in, at the United Nations level, to see how true this is. Long standing bureaucratic oppression, rejection of meaningful dialogue, and as long as the colonizer is still dominating there seems to be no end in sight. With the present system of the Indian Act still in place, native people are controlled by the minister, which is something that is so outdated. The paternalistic excuse no longer cuts it. Then of course there is the industry of keeping dependency in place which essentially is about justifying colonialism.
Let’s not forget our bright minds in Canada, and all they can come up with is some overly prejudicial view, (sadly products of their culture).
A person can then understand why natives hold such a position of enmity in society after all this lop-sided mess.
Of all things the idea of having no means of becoming self-sustaining and sufficient, in a system noless designed to fail, leaves you scratching your head. Can you come up with some easy answer to the Indians and their problems, probably not: And rather than take responsibility of all things just and true, and let these people free, but ashamedly they continue to be a part of the colonial legacy!
And so it is harsh! And it has to be constantly asserted; essentially that native people do not possess the ability to do anything because everything is taken from them. Be honest and know and acknowledge that for natives to come out of this fiasco, they are going to have to, have people from the outside making the biggest impact in their communities; which seems rather ironic, but not impossible.
We can spin the big lie and say they are all under the cult of victimization but that is just another colonial way of off-shooting responsibility and neglecting to see the way things really are.
Unfortunately natives and their circumstances are not the easiest things to swallow: And it going to take some great people to transcend all that.
Native people have had to, for so long, carry the burden of their circumstance, yet all the while believing the lie that they are wholly responsible for this mess, when in fact it has exogenous ramifications: Meaning that these circumstances are not just their own doing but rather it has been put in place by the outside influences. I think it is about time those on the outside, start carrying the responsibility and start letting these people exercise their natural freedom and implement the principles of “good government!” Like anybody else natives need to drop the burden, they need to be free, last of all they need a newfound strength to take on the tasks ahead. And finally being responsible seems, of all things, to be a collaborated effort.
I don’t have to justify what I have written, but I would like to see a little more discussion and debate when it comes to the native circumstance, after all we live in a democracy.
And so democracy is not something you are born with, but remember it is part of native history. And so every person or rather new generation has to be established or learn the rudiments of democracy. We have to know our rights, and politics should never be some dirty word. Politics is a just cause, and an area that is filled with practical issues. To some people democracy will be a candle lit flame, to others it will be a torch. Every effort of freedom is freedom for those who need it the most. Stick your nose in the books, learn more and ignite your passions. I think about the fire it started in me, I think of the fire Benjamin Franklin had and how fired up he was with the democratic principles.
I also think about racism, oppression based on race, it is something to learn about, especially in a society that has become shrewd and can wilfully subvert its intentions.
So what about native people and their dire circumstances we are told the intentions were misguided, and they really had the best interest in mind, and really that is just fudging over reality. From what I read and know of Sir John A. MacDonald his wasn’t very benevolent. In fact Indians were given little consideration; the impetus was to build a nation, and never mind the Indian problem. The idea of the treaties was just to do what was necessary, after that natives were once again given no consideration and put out of site.How do you hold you head up, it must be hard for a proud nation?
All this benevolence has somehow wrapped up the natives to where nothing gets done, that is called bureaucracy: Or more formally known as the Indian Act.
Freedom is to be able to think the way we want to, and as a result we can also speak whatever we want. If it is wrong let people decide for themselves, we don’t live in a totalitarian regime. Certainly our government is not a dictatorship, practising absolutism, right?
All this can be summed up in this quote....
“Many Canadians who discover what has been done under the Indian Act can scarcely believe that such things happen in Canada: the all-embracing, totalitarian controls taken over every aspect of Indian life; the deliberate degradation of native cultures; the mean spirited regulations that first reduced aboriginals to penury and then ensured they stayed poor; the fascistic race-classification system, invented by a race of faceless civil servants; the neglect of aboriginal education and health; the deliberate subjugation of all things Indian to the physical psychological dominance of non-Indians. These historical cruelties are responsible for the collective misery and individual personal tragedies of much cotemporary aboriginal life.” (“People of Terra Nullius,” Richardson: p. 95)
In an era of great strides, how do we overcome the native circumstance? Shall we stay indifferent, and neglect to stand and hash out and take on our responsibilities. It must be clear by now that, “It is illogical to accept responsibility beyond the scope of one’s powers.” (Gibson, p. 48)
From what I know it is hard to approach dominance, it makes them more indurate. And so I say, drop the gloves of dominance already! Let’s get real if we are to deal with this country’s main issue.
Are the problems that natives face just about disgrace-opprobrium? If it was, then a red face is least of our problems.
What does Canada’s relations with its natives entail: White guilt and native hurt, that culminates in disappointment. Yet a country so rich with opportunity cannot bring itself further than its history. A ahistorical attitude is to deny the reality that native people have and still struggle. How can we admonish equality when one segment of our society lags behind the rest? There has to be more to our lives than to roll around in the sticky argillaceous Canadian soil. Will we have a character that can face and ultimately deal with the real Canadian reality? We search for areas to tackle, areas that have yet to be conquered, and sadly our social development lags behind. Until people decide to come together, and seriously say I will deal with this problem, then what are we going to do?
I say in the mean time, our goal should be to unify our own people, by strengthening them in the auspiciousness of good governance. Democracy- the rule of the people has yet to establish itself among our people, and if it did, we would have greater power than can ever be imagined.
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