Indigenous Culture and the Blindness of Capitalism

In the January 25, 2013 edition of HuffPost Politics (Canada), you will find a blog by Diane Weber Bederman entitled, "The Left's Betrayal of the First Nations".  It is a classic example of how certain destructive forces in our society are attempting to totally distort and deceive the public about positive, Aboriginally driven movements such as Idle No More.  Although the views contained in this article are without any merit and warrant our contempt, I include the link to this article for two reasons: 1) it is an education in itself in that it demonstrates the flim flam and incomprehension of Conservative attacks; and 2) HuffPost censors refused to print my rebuttal to Bederman's blog in their comment section.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/diane-bederman/idle-no-more-left_b_2546243.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Based on her article, this author does not have a clue about either indigenous world views or left wing ideology. She defines neither, and instead uses a Tea Party-like peppergun approach to villify anyone who questions capitalism, colonialism, globalization or simply stands up for and with Aboriginal Peoples in their quest for justice and fairness. I'm sure Paul Martin, our former PM and a successful capitalist, now devoting his energies to Aboriginal causes, would be amused to find himself in the company of left wing ideologues.  According to Bederman, if you are concerned about socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal people and try to exercise some some responsibility for those conditions, you stand in the way of capitalism and are betraying Aboriginal people.  And you are a "left-wing fundamentalist" (which is sort of like military intelligence, or more accurately, cognitive dissonance).

First of all, Bederman's assumption that traditional indigenous culture is so weak and primitive that it is open to manipulation by either the left or the right has to be thoroughly and completely denounced.  She is presenting a pseudo-analysis that is entirely based on the Eurocentric notions which are at the heart of the malaise we find ourselves in with settler/immigrant and Aboriginal relations.  Idle No More, and certainly traditional indigenous perspectives, are neither left or right, nor are they centrist.  Aboriginal world views belong to a totally different paradigm as to how to understand life, the earth, society, relationships or even what we know or don't know.  For instance, First Nations culture does not distinguish between the planet and the people that live on Earth.  Neither do many environmentalists, as Bederman suggests.

It is true that there have been many well-meaning attempts to do something about unacceptable socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal Peoples by those who may be reasonably considered as "left" leaning or actual self-confessed left-wing activists.  Many projects and programs have been initiated but they have not been sustained nor have the multitude of these attempts made a marked improvement in the socio-economic conditions being addressed. Just as their right-wing counterparts, many on the left have failed to understand the strength and essence of indigenous culture.  I could write a longer essay on the disconnect between the left and traditional Aboriginal culture, which makes the Bederman blog all the more specious.

But where the strength and uniqueness of indigenous culture is seen most starkly is in its resilience in the face of the most concerted onslaught of obliteration imaginable at the hands of capitalists and colonialists. And they have not quit - we do not yet live in a post-colonialist age as clearly demonstrated by the hunger strike of Chief Theresa Spence and the growing Idle No More movement. Indigenous culture is still here and growing despite centuries of attempts by capitalism and colonialism to assimilate, acculturate, decimate, isolate, alienate or annihilate.  Despite my critique of the left in relation to Aboriginal issues, they were just trying to clean up the mess created by capitalism, colonialism and globalism.  Capitalism has not worked, and never will work, within the context of indigenous culture.  

There are many more critiques that could be made about the Bederman blog but it is ironic that she ends her vitriol with a reference to the play, "Waiting for Godot", suggesting that Aboriginal people will be trapped in the past if she and her lot can't drive a wedge between Aboriginal people and anti-capitalists.  The men who were waiting for Godot were visited by a slave-trader, Pozzo, and his slave whom he had singing and dancing for the men waiting.  The next day the same slave-trader again came by the two men waiting for Godot but this time the slave-trader was blind.  Seems like Pozzo is still with us.

Signs of the Times: Idle No More: The Media Doesn't Get It

Signs of the Times: Idle No More: The Media Doesn't Get It

Idle No More: The Media Doesn't Get It

The mainstream corporate media just don’t get it.  After watching the coverage of #Idle No More, #J11 and Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike, it is clear that a major obstacle to getting our message across to mainstream society is the media itself.  I must admit that I am not an avid media watcher: I don’t read any printed newspapers or magazines (except alternative ones), the only news I watch is CBC News Network and the The National, and occasionally I may check out CTV and Global just to see what spin they are putting to a story I am interested in.  However, I do listen to CBC Radio daily (no ads) and I get my print news online from alternative sources. Lately, I have been considering not watching any TV news at all. 

However, lately, during the life of Idle No More, I have been making exceptions to my rule of ignoring mainstream media, only to be affirmed that my mainstream media boycott is a wise course of action.  Don’t get me wrong – I used to be a reporter, editor, even started my own magazine which ran for five years (no ads).  Furthermore, I believe we need a strong and vibrant media in order to have a healthy democracy.  I may even be a bit old-school in favouring the role of print and radio media, and looking somewhat askance at social media.  So I am not some raving anti-media fanatic. 

I am in favour of informed decision-making, intelligence, critical or big-picture analysis, investigative journalism and thought-provoking articles.  But that is not what you get with any of the mainstream media (individual exceptions, of course), and based on some of the columns Huff Post has been publishing lately, it looks like they want to be mainstream as well.  By the way, I do not include Fox News or the Toronto Sun as part of any kind of media (further comment about that would be a waste of time).

So what don’t the media get.  With respect to Idle No More, the media does not understand anything to do with Nation to Nation relationship, honouring and restoring the historic Treaties, the history and ongoing practice of colonialism in Canada or sovereignty of First Nations.  These are big picture items that require a fundamental power shift in how Canada is run.  To understand the emergence and popularity of Idle No More, to understand why so many chiefs boycotted the Harper-AFN meeting, and to understand why Chief Spence took the drastic step of going on a hunger strike, you have to deal with the very issues the media doesn’t get. 

Instead what the media asks for is a list of specific demands on the part of Idle No More.  The media would be much happier if Idle No More spokespersons said: “We want more and better housing;” “We want programs to fight diabetes or improve health indicators;” “We want jobs;” “We want economic development programs;” “We want more suicide intervention or addiction programs.”  This would fit much more conveniently into the dominant media narrative (and public stereotype) about Aboriginal people: that they are an impoverished, unhealthy people living in terrible conditions.  In other words, they are inferior.  Based on this, the media can then package and sell a story much easier because it fits with what a significant segment of the public expects or assumes about “Indians”. 

Another reason media asks for specific demands such as those listed above is because they have an orientation to what is possible and practical, what is deliverable, to their notion of reality.  So asking for repeal of Bills that have already passed through Parliament and approved by Senate, or restoring a Nation to Nation relationship, or having the Crown (through Governor-General) present at a meeting with government and First Nations is a non-deliverable according to Harper, and the media has largely bought into that.  If it’s not practical or realistic, the media will dismiss it, and do so with a lot of condescension.  This is very similar to how the American media got sucked into Bush’s notion that reality is whatever he made it out to be. 

One other factor to be mindful of with the media is that they have a notion about what they call balance or objectivity.  This is the way the media notion of balance works: if we find someone who says “A” then we have to find someone who says “Z”, and then the viewer can decide for herself and probably land up somewhere around “M”.  Then the media thinks it has done its job and brought balance.  But what if the media quotes someone who is saying “M”, or even saying “C” and it is actually the truth.  Doesn’t matter.  Then they go off the other end of the scale and find someone who is saying “ZZ”, simply to reach what they think of as balance.  Case in point?  The Lang-O’Leary Report on CBC.  Amanda Lang is a little right of centre in her economic perspective so they go and find someone like Terry O’Leary who is way off the scale (ZZZ), and they think they have balance.  Whether it’s intended or not, this is also a very effective divide and conquer technique. 

Idle No More is about honouring the Earth and about a transformational change where First Nations are in charge of their own destiny.  As soon as a movement for fundamental change yields to the seduction of providing specific demands, the system wins. Then the government can talk about these demands for years to come, in the meantime allowing their corporate masters to continue the ongoing destruction, and finally providing a watered down settlement that doesn't change anything, take it or leave it. Such an outcome would only reinforce the power of the corporate state and allow it to play the benevolent benefactor role which keeps First Nations and Metis people in submission and dependant. The principle of ending corporate and colonial rule and shifting power to the people must be remain the focus of Idle No More.

Beyond J11

J11 is now history!  Prior to J11, there were great expectations, some skepticism (myself included, see lsawatsky.blogspot.com, Jan. 4, 2013) and demands were made.  Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike deserves a significant portion of the credit for getting the Harper Government to agree to the meeting on J11, and the #IdleNoMore (INM) movement deserves the rest of the credit.  Forcing Harper to have a meeting on First Nations issues is a noteworthy accomplishment and I wholeheartedly applaud both Chief Spence and INM for achieving this. 

Despite misgivings on my part, it is necessary to recognize and respect the attempts on National Chief Shawn Atleo’s part to get consensus of First Nations Chiefs and even for going to the meeting to tell Harper face to face what the Chiefs and INM are demanding.  The option to not attend was also a reasonable and respectable choice but Grand Chief Atleo did what he was elected to do within the colonized framework of First Nations governance under the Indian Act.  

But what were the expectations and demands of Chief Spence and INM prior to J11?  Chief Spence wanted

• A meeting with Harper, the Governor-General and the Ontario Premier all present
• Discussion on the implementation of the Treaties, the nation to nation relationship between First Nations and Canada, and the constitutionally protected rights as a sovereign nation. 

Contrary to mainstream media reports, the INM has been very clear about their expectations:

• Withdrawal of sections of both Omnibus bills that affect First Nations
• Protection of land, water and air, and resource sharing
• Implementation of historic treaties on a nation-to-nation basis
• Self-determination for First Nations, the original inhabitants, as full-fledged Nations
• Support for Chief Theresa Spence and her demands. 

I ask forgiveness from Chief Spence and the INM if I have failed to word these expectations appropriately or missed some key demands. 

What has become clear one day after J11 is that none of these expectations or demands have been met: 

• Harper designed the meeting so that Chief Spence would have to boycott the meeting, if for no other reason than to retain her integrity.  As predicted, Harper still has not met with Chief Spence, nor will he. 
• The Governor-General was not part of the meeting of Harper and First Nations Chiefs
• The Government clearly refused to rescind anything in the Omnibus bills
• There was no assurance about environmental protection, resource-sharing or sovereignty for First Nations
• Despite the agreement to discuss Treaty relationships, Harper and First Nations are on a completely different page when they use the word “treaty”.  In fact, they are in a different book. 

If Harper agreed to modernize the historic, numbered Treaties on J11, what he has in mind is a similar template as is currently being used by the Government of Canada in making treaties with First Nations in B.C., most of whom do not have Treaties.  Essentially what the treaty-making process in B.C. amounts to is extinguishment of indigenous rights – termination.  Already in the first such settlement with the Nishga in B.C. 10 years ago, they are soon running out of the money they settled for and are now put in a position where they have to sell land on the reserve to non-native buyers.  This suits the Harper government and their corporate bosses just fine. 

Many of the initial signers of the historic Treaties were held hostage simply because they did not understand the language or importance placed on the written word by John A. MacDonald and his cronies, nor did MacDonald or his cronies understand the importance First Nations placed on oral tradition.  If the First Nations leaders stay true to their position that the historic Treaties are sacred and based on true Nation to Nation relations, then I am convinced these discussions with the Harper government will come to nothing. 

So what does the rejection of all key demands of IdleNoMore and Chief Spence mean for the future?  For INM, it clearly means that this movement will have a long life because considerable public pressure will have to be exercised to bring about the fundamental transformational change required to achieve its aims.  For Chief Spence, the prognosis is not so good.  The Harper government is in power for another two years, and I do not see any possibility of the corporations that control Harper letting him off the hook and allowing him to do the humanly and morally sensible thing, whether Chief Theresa Spence is with us or not.  If the choice between the existence of the Harper government and meeting Chief Spence’s demands were up to me, I would choose Theresa Spence in a heartbeat. 

What we need is transformation of the whole way of doing things in Canada: true and sincere Nation to Nation relations with First Nations, Metis and Inuit, but also economically, politically, democratically, ecologically and culturally for the rest of us.  The Nation to Nation transformation (see my next blog) must happen immediately, not only for the sake of historical justice but also for Chief Spence’s life.  And frankly, I for one, cannot wait another 2-3 years until the next charade of an election either.  

Is there a role for non-Aboriginal people in #IdleNoMore

After contributing a short video and some pictures from the Idle No More rally I attended in Saskatoon on January 5th to the #IdleNoMore website, I received a very kind comment back which included the question, what did I bring back from the experience of attending the rally.  This blog is devoted to answering that question from the perspective of one who is not Aboriginal.  I am, in fact, a white, male, senior citizen (barely…senior, that is).  I should also acknowledge that Aboriginal issues are not new for me as I have worked off and on for almost 30 years with various First Nations and Metis organizations. 

The January 5^th rally in Saskatoon was the fourth #IdleNoMore event I attended.  In the first three events, I brought my bear drum to support the singers and at the rally I obviously brought my iPad and contributed photos (both drum and iPad were gifts from my Cree spouse).  Being somewhat limited in my capacity, I am unable to drum and take pictures at the same time.  The experience I came away with at all four events was a deep sense of joy and hope and exhilaration.  Why?  The hook that first got me involved in Aboriginal issues was the over-representation of First Nations and Metis people in prison.  Since then I have dealt with other concerns such as traditional justice (peace-keeping and peace-making), Aboriginal control of services, self-governance, Constitutional issues, Treaty Land Entitlement, urban native issues, natural resources, residential schools, and indigenous organic market gardens. 

Having also done research and teaching in these areas, I have often wondered when First Nations and Metis people would take matters into their own hands and show resistance to forces equally destructive as apartheid in South Africa, the holocaust for Jewish people, or as the Vietnam War and slavery of black people in the U.S.  I came away from the rally with a deep sense that it is beginning to happen, and how happy I am to be included in this resistance.  It is an honour to stand with this movement and be idle no more about injustices that are as abominable as those I have listed above among others. 

I come from a people who were invited by the colonialist government of the time to come to Canada a few years after the first several numbered Treaties were signed – the Mennonites.  We came in several groupings over a period of 50-60 years.  Most of us came with nothing but our experience in farming and we were given cheap if not free land.  Although I was raised in poverty, I owe a lot to the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.  I do not waste my time with guilt about this, or with self-loathing or with blaming my people; rather, I am delighted and grateful for the opportunity to give back through my previous work and now by standing with #IdleNoMore, to give back from that which was shared by indigenous ancestors with my ancestors.  These Treaties are my Treaties as well, and they gave me life.  Indeed, we are all Treaty people. 

At the first flash mob round dance in Saskatoon, I thought that it might be seen as inappropriate for me as a non-Aboriginal to join in, especially bringing my own drum and supporting the singers. It’s not that I would feel awkward; in fact, I feel much more at home with most Aboriginal people than I do with most white people.  But I did not want to usurp or exploit what is essentially an Aboriginal movement; there has been too much of that.  But as I listened to Tantoo Cardinal, Chief Wally Fox and particularly the four women who founded #IdleNoMore (one of whom is non-Aboriginal), I found my spirit singing with their spirit.  The #IdleNoMore issues are my issues as well, and I would be so bold as to say that they are the issues of every single Canadian, whether they realize it now or not. 

So it is encouraging to see more and more non-Aboriginal people at #IdleNoMore events.  Those of us who attend and participate have far more in common with Aboriginal people than either side realizes.  Many non-Aboriginal people have seen the light as well, many are looking for a way to deal with the brokenness of our society and our world, many, in fact the majority, do not have a voice and feel powerless.  Let us not forget that Steven Harper and his cabal were elected by only 23-24% of eligible voters in Canada.  That means the majority of non-Aboriginal people should really support #IdleNoMore. 

Who among us all on Turtle Island wants to live without clean water?  Who among us all wants to live with a poisoned atmosphere?  Who among us wants to live with soil that has become useless?  Who among us can live with our own Mother being raped and abused?  If we acquiesce to these realities, we won’t be living with anything anymore, we’ll be dead. 

This is what #IdleNoMore is shedding some light on, and this is what every single Canadian that is not part of the 1% should support.  There is a role for non-Aboriginal people in the Idle No More movement as supporters, as allies, as participants, as contributors, but not as leaders or saviours.  If anyone is going to do any "saviouring", it will be Aboriginal people saving the rest of us.  They did it before; let’s support them in doing it again.  

On Harper meeting with First Nations and #IdleNoMore

To use a phrase often used by Harper, “Let’s be clear”, and realistic: the meeting between Harper and First Nations on January 11, 2013 will in no way address or achieve the goals set by the #IdleNoMore movement or the goals of Chief Theresa Spence’s fast. 

I heard Harper’s press conference on this matter and I have the statement Harper issued before me.  It is manifestly clear that he is determined to drive the agenda for this meeting.  Not a word about Chief Theresa Spence, and in response to a question from the media, he said it was up to Grand Chief Atleo whom he includes in his delegation at this meeting. First he neglects her, and then exploits a divide and conquer tactic to put the issue of her attendance in the Grand Chief’s court. 

In a tweet I put out a couple of weeks ago, I predicted that Harper would not meet with Chief Theresa Spence.  So far he has not proved me wrong.  Harper has clearly stipulated that the January 11, 2013 meeting will be a “working” meeting and solidly within the framework of the Crown-First Nations Gathering of January 2012.  Nothing of any substance has taken place since then, and the same outcome will prevail after next week’s meeting. 

Yet Harper spins that “some progress has been made” since January 2012 without giving any specifics.  If any progress had been made, would Chief Spence be sitting outside of Parliament in the cold on a 25 day fast?  Would the #IdleNoMore movement been spawned, not only across Canada but across the world?  As it went with the January 2012 meeting, so it will go with the January 2013 meeting as long as Harper and his cabal are in charge. 

How can I be so confident about this prediction?  First of all, look at how Harper words his conception of the agenda.  Not a word about land claims or resource protection, nothing about the collective nature of Aboriginal realities, and not a word about a Nation to Nation discussion or agreement. But he does talk about accountability of Aboriginal governance, success for individuals, economic development and maximizing benefits for all Canadians.  Loaded words – it’s the rhetoric of the status quo market economy which has guided all his policy about the environment as well. 

I’m particularly amused by his reference to Aboriginal and Treaty rights “as recognized and affirmed in the Constitution Act, 1982”.  Well, the Constitution Act certainly recognizes Aboriginal rights but it does not define them, let alone affirm them.  How could you affirm rights that have yet to be defined.  The courts have done a partial job of defining Aboriginal rights but no mention of that in Harper’s agenda for the meeting. 

But the clincher comes in the last paragraph of Harper’s statement.  He asserts that the Government of Canada and First Nations have had an “enduring historic relationship based on mutual respect, friendship and support.”  Anyone who knows even a smattering of history will understand this to be an outright misrepresentation of the truth.  If this is how Harper sees relations between the original inhabitants and the white immigrants who came here post 1763, what positive outcome can there be of this meeting. 

At least Harper is consistent.  Two or three years ago, he told a G-20 meeting in Philadelphia that Canada has no history of colonialism.  I guess when one is so completely stuck in a colonialist mentality, you can’t see that what you are foisting on others is actually colonialism.  Through omnibus bills and other administrative and regulatory measures, Harper’s agenda is to completely dismantle any Treaty obligations on the part of Government.  And this is the “relationship” that he is “committed to strengthening” as the last sentence in his statement indicates.