Mother, Nehiyaw, Metis, & Itisahwâkan – career communicator. This is my collection of opinions, stories, and the occasional rise to, or fall from, challenge. In other words, it's my party, I can fun if I want to. Artwork by aaronpaquette.net
The infamous war on Christmas seems like a relatively new event in our modern days of internet posts and Facebook memes, but apparently it started back in 1959. That would be about 100 years after Christmas became the rendition that we now know, which is quite significantly evolved from the far more somber origins of around 270AD, courtesy Emperor Aurelian. Our current version is thanks to the imaginings of good old Charles Dickens.
So, for at least 100 years, this British version of Christmas that we now claim as ours, ruled undiminished. Then, this tradition to end all traditions seemingly began to die.
The sense of demise started when the John Birch Society et al, determined there was a strenuous effort to take Christ out of Christmas, not by immigrants, our current concern, but by the God-less Communists. In 1959, someone introduced decorations with United Nations iconography. The Society, founded in the anti-Communism sentiment of the day, saw threat within those designs and the war was on. They demanded a boycott of any stores that sold these obviously commie-based decorations. Makes you wonder if they might’ve brought out actual artillery if they’d got to see our Elvis and KISS inspired ornaments.
The current Christmas wars could be something in theory, but only if we were to ignore all the examples that contradict the labors of this incursion. The season officially held in December, starts in August now. (Thanks so much, Costco et al). By Halloween, next to the ghoulish costume displays are pre-season sales of last year’s Christmas cards and glass ornaments. By November 1st, we’re in full decorative bloom with every store and mall on the continent swathed in garland and bows. Seems like a lot of effort for retailers to invest in a dying event.
This is where we should be reminded that Christians are not the only people who celebrate during the weeks of winter solstice. For 6,000 years, cultures have been paying spiritual homage within the diminishing days of the year. With our relatively new traditions, our continent hosts others, many far older than ours.
So, why don’t we see the celebratory implements for all these other apparently impinging cultures on those same store shelves? Despite our having sizable populations of those various cultures, who can recall seeing Jewish menorahs, Bhodi Day Bhudda icons, Kwaanza decorative mats, or Japanese Oshogatsu mochi displays on store shelves, much less crowding out the Christmas goods?
As an aside, I often hear people insist that those moving to North America should adapt fully and only to the Canadian/U.S. traditions, especially Christmas. I take it that, along with their regular seasonal rituals, they also fully engage in the traditions of the original cultures of the continent? Those would include: healing rituals, tobacco offerings, prayer drumming, ceremonial drumming, and dancing.
Christmas has always been, and still is, a tribute in motion. In another 100 years it may not look at all like today, but I really don’t see how that would diminish the point of it. We honour our faiths and gratitude for deep and meaningful reasons that have nothing to do with decorations, gifts, or greetings.
It could also be argued that the other cited example of downfall, saying Happy Holidays, is a way for businesses to remain inoffensive and maximize profits. Likely true, but Happy Holidays is also someone’s way of paying respect to the multi-cultural traditions. So what? That has nothing to do with the tradition of Christmas. Or maybe it does? Isn’t the idea of inclusion, respect, and kindness toward our fellow beings at the heart of Christian teachings?
This more recent defensive posturing on the meaning of Christmas is purely re-manufactured malarkey by a Fox News blowhard clawing for ratings. The only way people can allow their God to be removed from their own hearts or holiday, is if they do it themselves, and that was, by and large, the original point of Christ’s teachings.
As far as how the war on Christmas is going, I think we can relax.
Being bullied as a kid feels like you’re walking out into a dangerous field that’s surrounded by a big fence electrified by fear. I remember this from when I was nine years old. I’ll always remember because no one forgets their encounters with bullies, ever.
For whatever reason, in grade four I caught the eye of our school bully. His name was Shane and although we were in the same grade, he was almost a head taller than me. I suppose it’s not surprising that a bully might have sought me out; I was one of the smallest in our class. I’m sure he felt confident I was one of the weakest.
Shane would look for opportunities to push me around and because he was so much bigger than me, it didn’t take much of a push from him to knock me down. He would generally follow that up with slapping me and threatening worse after school. There weren’t many options for me after school, it was either run like hell for home, try to hide behind people as they were walking, or just take the beating while trying to fend off too much damage. Teachers weren’t much involved outside of class in those days and my parents were otherwise occupied with the drama of their own lives.
One Saturday I was heading over to a friend’s a few blocks from home. I had a temporary shortcut because a house between my street and hers had been torn down and I could cut through the now open yard. The only impediment was a fence in the back that I could climb over at the alley.
I started to walk across the yard, but suddenly a shadow caught my eye. Shane stepped out from behind some building debris that I’d just walked by. His face was sheer glee at having me cornered and alone. My mind took in the entire scenario in about eleven seconds. I knew exactly what was in store.
My heart dropped as I watched him slowly stepping toward me with the promise of pure menace. Within those eleven seconds, I figured my only options to get away were to run back by him or run for the fence. As my panic escalated with his every step, it felt like I couldn’t move my feet anyway. I knew I had reached the point of no return.
He got closer and as he raised his hand, instinct took over. I closed my eyes and I ran toward him. Hard. His head being higher than mine was providence; it turned out it was the perfect height for my hands to reach his face, which I blindly pummeled with my fists. Hard and fast.
I heard a cry. I opened my eyes and saw that Shane had stepped back from me. He was holding his nose and just staring at me. Then he took his hands down and looked at them. They were covered in blood. He couldn’t see it, but so was his face as the bleeding from his nose dripped steadily down his chin. We stared at each other equally stunned.
Then he brought his hands back up to his nose and started crying. I took this as my cue to head for the fence. At the same time I started to move, so did he, but the other way, for home I presume.
My body was unbeaten, but the adrenaline continued to stream throughout it. I didn’t bother running to the fence, but I’m pretty sure I scaled it like a parkour athlete. I was safe and I would remain safe. Shane never bothered to come near me again.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that was a life changing event. It wasn’t just that I was able to defend myself, no matter the miracle was unplanned. It was because it was the first time I was consciously aware that I did something I had no idea I could.
Unfortunately it wasn’t the last time I would encounter bullies in my life, but sometimes, when I do come up on the short end of the stick in those meetings, I remember that sweet, sweet time I kicked ass. Like a boss.
I’m not an authority on all things Indigenous. I am only an authority on being one. Despite my great-grandfather, being an Indian signatory on Treaty 8, most of the information regarding our history with government oversight is new to me, as I expect it will be to most of you. What a shame this statement is.
I’ve condensed a huge amount of myth debunking information here, which I sincerely hope you’ll find interesting, enlightening, and worthy of sharing.
If you’ve ever read general media stories on Indigenous issues, coupled with what you likely learned in school, it wouldn’t be surprising if you have very light, usually unfavorable understanding, of First Nations peoples. Too often we’ve been portrayed as drains on society’s purse and guilt strings.
The headlines, commentaries, and letters to Editors that I see daily certainly provide ample evidence of that. We’re at a place now where we can rise to counter the myths and we should.
My son has been in our local school district’s Aboriginal Program since 1st grade and though his lessons have included more cultural detail and none of the talk about Indians terrorizing settlers that I’d learned, there’s wasn’t much beyond that except one disturbing lesson.
It was only 3 yrs ago, within the general curriculum, that he was taught that Indigenous children forced into the infamous residential schools was a good thing because they were able to get an education. For the record, those notorious schools are not ancient history; the last of them closed in 1996.
Apparently, those school lessons remain much the same for the general curriculum and Aboriginal program until graduation. There are no details added such as why the original Indian/Aboriginal/First Nations reserve system was created, what the rules were for living on them, and how they’re funded.
This is mainly what’s behind the long-held misconceptions about what and why things are the way they are. I don’t think this is by mistake. I think we were all misled by early and some current governmental efforts to hide, subvert, and muddy the details of Indigenous history and issues in Canada. I think there was disinterest by most media who, given generous benefit of the doubt, were likely unaware of the full picture too.
As more demands for governing transparency are made and more communications technology becomes available, we’re all learning far more, which benefits the Indigenous greatly by finally being heard in more vast and accessible ways. Government records are being posted online for all to review, including the many Indigenous peoples catching up in education.
As mentioned in my previous post, some of my recent discussions about First Nations were rife with that lack of education and full of bitter assertions, derision and accusations against First Nations. When I contradicted their understandings, barrels of outrage erupted. The chats quickly devolved into calling me names and mentally unfit.
The highlights of the madness that ensued are these:
“Since when do First Nations people pay taxes”?
We give you our taxes!
The majority of First Nations people do, in fact, pay all taxes. Of the 1,400,700 Indigenous as of 2011, which includes registered and non-registered First Nations, Metis, Treaty, and Inuit, all are required to pay income tax and the same goods and services taxes as everyone else.
As for those other often touted ‘free funds for Natives’, I’m a card carrying legitimately recognized Metis and I have yet to find any funding to meet my medical needs or for continuing education outside of the same channels for everyone else.
…“How do all the chiefs get away with taking millions while their band members freeze, with no clean water”?
You’re dense; Chiefs steal
There are 3,000+ elected First Nations officials in Canada. They’re required to turn in over 160 to 200, financial reports per year to the department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC, known as CIRNA effective 2018). Chiefs who misappropriate funds exist but number less than the annual mismanagement cases we find in the Senate. How are any bands able to consistently outwit the 4,000+ employee AANDC, when it is literally their job to read & approve the reports they demand of these bands?
Assembly of First Nations Interim Chief, Ghislain Picard made a good point when he said, it’s too bad it’s these exceptions that are trumpeted and viewed as the norm instead of no outrage for the many more Chiefs who are grossly underpaid. (It’s Ottawa’s turn to be transparent – The Globe and Mail)
Despite the heavy demands of the role, the average band Chief makes an average annual salary of $60,000 (updated in 2015 from a previous average of 36,000). Many are making far less than that, as low as $0.00 to $25,000 annually. They get no pensions nor entitlements as those provided for Prime Ministers, MPs, or Senators.
“When will they finally stop living off of taxpayer’s backs and stand on their own two feet”?
First Nations don’t live off of taxpayers, in fact, quite the opposite, their resources have generously subsidized Canada.
The common misunderstandings of facts
Although, the 1876 Indian Act was used to brutally coerce government control of Indian economic and resource development and land use, Canada was formed through legal negotiations rather than war.
Treaties were agreements meant to sustain Indigenous rights and uses of land and resources equally with European newcomers. They are not invalid ancient history documents; there have been several additions since, right up to the current Harper Government.
The Indian Act outlawed First Nations from acting for their own economic development. This has only recently been somewhat revised and many reserves now generate their own monies in addition to the transfer funds they get from the ‘Indian Trust Fund’ which is overseen by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, (AANDC). They’re often referred to as ‘federal funds’, but that term should really be, ‘federally managed Indigenous funds’.
Must deny facts to retain right to argue
The monies that were/are supplied to this trust fund came from part of the resources taken off of their lands. Note to people who insist it was started with taxes: the Bank of Canada and the taxation system didn’t even exist at that time.
This fund is substantial, billions of dollars, and the Government of Canada still decides how those funds will be distributed to the bands.
The country of Canada, when unable to manage with the rest of the resources from land and taxes, has actually lived off of that First Nations trust fund from time to time, paying for things like general Canadian infrastructure and economic stimulus plans.
This is only part of a rather large story, but writer, Elyse Bruce who regularly covers Indigenous affairs further speaks to the points. If you follow her link, you will also get a picture as to why there is chronic under-funding to First Nation’s people who were made to live on reserves and into the Arctic regions to maintain Canadian territory:
…”the monies due the First Nations peoples from natural resources has been taken into consideration as part of First Nation revenues”.
… “the First Nations Trust Fund isn’t the only money that belongs to First Nations peoples that is handled by the AANDC”.
She’s referring to the fees for the licenses, permits and other instruments to individuals and organizations for exploration and development on First Nations land, and the Indian Moneys Suspense Accounts under the direction of the AANDC.
…”If the resource exploration and development projects weren’t on First Nations property, there wouldn’t be any need for AANDC to involve itself ergo the revenues generated from “licenses, permits and other instruments to individuals and organizations” is First Nations revenues, is it not”?
“In other words, there’s all kinds of money that belongs to First Nations peoples that isn’t part of the First Nations Trust Fund, (and yet) the AANDC controls all of it”.
So where have all those extra funds been going? Could it be, that Canada is in debt to the First Nations Trust Fund? First Nations have been asking for transparency of that account for years.
They’ve also been asking for autonomy in administration of their funds, education, and social services; however this has not been a successful effort. This was very nearly accomplished with an agreement set to be signed in 2007, called the Kelowna Accord. It was cancelled by the then next incoming Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.
One more note that begs sharing, in my opinion:
“Anyone crying that FN’s should disappear from the world and assimilate, might as well be advocating for Canada itself to be dissolved because that is the only way to dissolve the treaties. Like it or not, dissolving Canada puts us directly under international law. Like it or not, under international law, you must prove right of discovery. Like it or not, right of discovery belongs to FNs and Inuit under international law, meaning the lands and resources would revert to FN’s and Inuit, which is worth a lot more. Like it or not, this is why even Harper’s government has entered into Treaty as well as using Inuit right of discovery to secure Canadian jurisdiction over the Arctic’s vast resources”. –David King comment, from the Westcoast Native News, “A Short Note To Correct Canadian Misconceptions About Indians Living Off “Taxpayer Monies”, September 23, 2014.
Most, if not all of this, should be common knowledge to the average Canadian citizen, after all it’s their history too. Given the speed with which we can share information now, I feel cautious optimism that most Canadians will finally understand the issues and the reasons behind them.
These details are a huge missing piece of esteem building block for people of Indigenous ancestry. We don’t all have a full understanding of our own history. We deserve this. We deserve recognition for the stunning contributions of the Indigenous Peoples on behalf of Canada even while being purposely oppressed or denigrated for the consequences of that history. Surely, this is worthy of respect; it’s certainly worthy of placement in all school history books.
Unfortunately, there will always be people who will continue to deny the worst of our history despite its evidence. There are citizens, leaders, and purveyors of history who say it’s time to just to move on. How do they propose successfully moving from point A to C, if we don’t acknowledge the hows and whys of point B?
Knowledge changes everything. All of Canada benefits when her history is fully known. The scars of that history can heal only if they’re truly and fully acknowledged; the fears that hold that back, hold us all back. Those fears are based in the idea of losing something, but the facts show that there is only everything to gain.
How much does Canada owe Indigenous communities for stolen land?
My boy – I will always hope that whatever your challenges are to be, you will always know that you are lovingly surrounded and supported by a thousand of your ancestors. You are a great spirit, with the wisdom of the eagle and the heart of a warrior.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” -Albert Einstein.
There comes those moments when you sit back and assess why you do what you do. I’ve done this recently in response to the reactions on my posts and comments about Indigenous Peoples based issues.
I originally started writing to throw out my views on general life events. I worked around what I might write and I settled on the concept that my son would know his mother as a multi-dimensional being. For the day that he realizes I am an actual person, I want him to know what I stood for outside of “dinner’s ready and is your homework done”? I want him to know what I learned about the entire human experience.
I wanted to fill in as much of his background for him, in order to spare him and other children in our family, any moment of the emptiness I felt while growing up. There was little knowledge of my family history beyond the shame of what we experienced and what was said to define us. A number of those experiences were based in the fact that I was born an Indigenous person.
I’ve written about some of my childhood and what it was like to grow up facing some of the ugliness of people who had no desire to hide their disdain for Indigenous anything. I was called names that I knew were about disparagement of my culture before I had any idea about the concept of racism. I was only about four or five years old when I first recall being called some of those names: savage, squaw, filthy redskin, whatever it was, I knew enough to know it wasn’t good.
That was far from the last time I’d be called those sorts of names and treated with equal disdain. Those overt efforts to denigrate me didn’t end until I was in my teens. It was most likely the fact that public awareness was growing around the concepts of political awareness and correctness.
It would be three decades before the same kind of voices and sneers would come at me again. I suppose I could count my last posted column to be the first instance of the return events – which caused a loss of some followers of my blog and my Twitter account. The most recent occasion was this past weekend. I wasn’t called a savage, dirty redskin or a filthy Indian this time; they went for my intelligence and mental stability levels before they finished off with a reference to my ancestry.
This foray back into the dark happened while I was engaged in an online conversation. It was within the comments of a national newspaper about the current call for an inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered Aboriginal women. The comments began mostly as denials for any need for inquiry, because the recently published RCMP report seemed to have all the answers already, despite the many calls showing the disproportionate numbers of Aboriginal women as victims overall.
The reasons for denying an inquiry have been solidly reported already, so I won’t repeat them, but it didn’t take long for the conversation to move from that topic to how it was about time for First Nations to take control of their own lives, to get over the past, and to get off the backs of taxpayers.
In defense, I began in earnest to answer the questions and reply to the statements of derision as quickly as they were being posted. With each question, I would get another question or asked about something completely unrelated – the old, deflect to another point to avoid having to admit first point trumped – tactic.
With every answer I gave came the demand for proof, and when I provided reference links to support my statements, I was hit with personal aspersions. Four people at various points each let me know that I was unaware of what planet I lived on, that I was “dense”, “dumb”, “pathetic”, a “nutter”, and finally in summation: “You HAVE to be an Indian”.
Now, I don’t have a problem with being “an Indian”, even the sort that man was insinuating; I don’t deny my moments of mental densities, but I survived the years four, ten, twelve and the three plus decades with heart and soul intact.
While, I mostly repelled the sting of those arrows, they did make me question whether or not I was subjecting myself and possibly my son to potential harm down the road. Was I going to lose more people within my friendship and supporter circles?
I am prepared for any lack of interest or opposition to my views, but I can still be surprised by who those contradictions may come from. It is painful to find out that people you thought gave a damn about you actually didn’t. It is saddening to learn that people you counted on didn’t really have a backbone of their own, let alone your back, and that even people you admired can walk away with each step feeling like a slap to the face.
Here’s the thing about that stronger constitution I now own – it takes a lot less time to get over the hurt of crossing paths with those sorts of people. Now I realize I am losing nothing except future moments of wasted time. Whatever our purpose was to that point, it was served and now, time to move on, God bless.
I wrote a while ago that this was my tap dance, and part of the song is my ancestry. The fact that my ancestry happens to be tied to very real and important issues for my country matters.
I will continue to write of human experiences, of my own triumphs and failures; I will write about what I find humorous, and I will continue to write about affairs Indigenous.
In fact, my next post is going to be about the answers I gave that caused those biting heads to explode in that online discussion. The part about how taxpayers do not support First Nations people and in fact, why taxpayers should be saying a hell of a lot of thanks instead.
It’s all so simple really, what’s at the bottom of the fight over changing the name of the Washington Redskin’s football team. The real deal point that hits home the hardest about the debate is the word racist. Not racism; it’s the full-on, take it personally, title of racist.
The idea that they have, for generation after generation, celebrated and cheered a term built upon the bloodied bodies of human beings is incomprehensible. It should be.
After all, regardless of the mouthpieces who speak in support of it, another truth is that the majority of those team fans are really just your average, basic, decent citizen and neighbors. They’re the same people who’d help you shovel your walk; they’d rush to help someone in an accident. They send donation after donation to help people devastated by wrath of nature disasters. They’re the same people you’d likely enjoy a coffee with at a local school or church event. Like most anyone, they will move heaven and earth to protect and cherish their children and community.
They will also do the same to protect that inner sensibility to remain good people. Good people are not racist. Therefore, that “R” word is the issue, but not really the term itself; it’s about the people who are changing their truth’s history of it.
The campaign to bring out that ‘truth’ is everywhere. Social media is fully covered by various groups in support of the talking points put out by the team’s organization. They include the origin of the term, the number of teams with the name, the original honor intended, and so on. The team has put up a page on their website dedicated to the issue. There are constant interviews given by their P.R. reps in radio, podcasts, TV, and newspapers.
The team owners created a charitable organization dedicated to the plight of Native Americans – although the altruistic intentions are vociferously debated given the timing of the new generosity and the requirement of highly visible team branding attached to what is given.
The information available for the entire issues’s history is ample and readily accessible, and yet its existence is denied over and over. The engagement of hundreds of Native American tribes and groups is almost wholly ignored. The organization at the head of the issue, the Change the Mascot organization is never referenced.
The irony in the labor to ignore the voices of Native Americans by declaring this is only an effort by white liberals serving a politically correct agenda is completely lost on them. They’ll state sadness and regret about the Trail of Tears, but if there is such a thing as opinion genocide, there is a good case for this being an example at work.
How do decent people seemingly willingly embrace racism?
How is all of this even possible by these same decent people of regular everyday life?
To get an idea, we’d have to ask what it would feel like, within the dawning of the realization, that what Native Americans are saying, is true. What does the evidence of horrible realities behind nearly 80 years of mythical stories of supportive honor do to the average heart?
What does it mean and what does it say about everyone who ever supported the team? What does that make every celebrating and cheering owner, employee, player and fan over those nearly 80 years?
Despite a likelihood of racism within some of the mindsets, for the most part, for the rest, in a word, it would have to be: ignorance. We’re talking about mostly just ignorance. For over two centuries there has been a deliberate effort to hide the history of Native Americans with even more fervor than the attempts to silence them today.
The concerted work to erase the attempted genocide of the America’s Indigenous Peoples includes omitting and revising facts in school history books. Governments even today will avoid the word genocide despite loads of buildings holding their own records detailing:
the creation of reserves, reservations,
the breakup of families and the creation of residential schools to break the cultures and assimilate them,
the demand to manage virtually every aspect of life on those reserves and reservations.
The most the average citizen learned about Indigenous people amounts to pemmican recipes, tipi making, and how they caused great harm to the poor besieged settlers on their land. This is just fact, and in truth, because of that even many of the Indigenous peoples have yet to learn their own histories.
So, it is in these cases, that we can say to people: we understand. We can’t condemn someone for racism unless they are informed and educated about the point of issue. To be sure, there has been a lot of informing going on and the aid of social media has been helpful in spreading the news even faster. There have been a good number of successful inroads because of this, but make no mistake, there is still a huge amount of ground to cover in North America.
For those informed and educated, but still insist on the old beliefs, I suppose the notion of change itself is even harder to embrace. There’s not much that can be done about that by us, but for all the rest, the truth of the words by slave abolitionist, William Wilberforce stands in this as much as all inhumanity:
“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say that you didn’t know.”
RL
Thank you, to Mike Wise – Washington Post Sports Writer, for sharing this piece at CSN Washington Post.
As an aside, I often hear people insist that those moving to North America should adapt fully and only to the Canadian/U.S. traditions, especially Christmas. I take it that, along with their regular seasonal rituals, they also fully engage in the traditions of the original cultures of the continent? Those would include: healing rituals, tobacco offerings, prayer drumming, ceremonial drumming, and dancing.
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