(Warning: swears) Cultural Appropriation

What I find excellent about this is it compares cultural appropriation to something most people here can understand. These responses are extreme examples, but I think the emotions behind them are common. When we discussed this topic, I think what was missing for us was a frame of reference for what these cultures go through. Though white North Americans can relate on some levels with racist portrayals, we don't have so many equivalents when it comes to sacred objects. From the culture we are raised in, we don't think that wearing something in a certain way or in a certain context may be offensive  because we don't have much of anything that we would be offended to have another culture use. I think we all understand that wearing something from another culture in a mocking way is wrong, but we wouldn't think to see where we may be offensive in just wearing something. 

One Last Point on The Rez Sisters (itc)

I know everyone's excited to move onto the next part of the curriculum  but there's just one last thing I'd like to talk about.

My thesis for the paragraphs was that Nanabush brought out the true thoughts and feelings of the characters. I wasn't entirely convinced of my thesis, but I thought it was worth exploring. One of the things I explored for support was the scene where Marie Adele, while sitting with Zhaboonigan, throws a stone at the seagull (Nanabush), but Veronique thinks she's throwing it at at her. The exchange is very innocuous, but in light of my thesis I decided to more closely examine their relationship. Upon doing so, I found that Marie-Adele thinks Veronique only adopted Zhaboonigan for the government support.

I am quite in awe of the detail of connection Thompson Highway has put into The Rez Sisters (itc).

Native Capability

I spent last Saturday sitting in the audience for the Liberal Leadership Convention in Mississauga (don't worry, this isn't about to become a political post), and Native affairs were discussed quite a bit. Hearing the candidates talk about how we should proceed with First Nations communities made me aware of something that I'd been kind of ignoring in our class discussions and in our blog posts.

Most of us know very little about Native life and reserves and so forth, which is expected. This course and this play is kind of like a first look. As such, there are going to be a lot of inaccuracies in our perceptions of issues, ect. I don't claim to know everything about this topic (not by a long shot), but I really must put one common misconception to rest.

Native Americans know what's up. Yes, there is a large problem with education, and there are a lot of very segregated communities, but they're still an intelligent people. Like in every society, there are less capable leaders and people who don't understand the politics around them, but that's life. Many reserves find themselves in difficult situations because up until all too recently, the government of Canada was implementing systematically racist policy, because Natives were seen as a weird burden on society. This agenda was no secret, either.

Coming out of this adversity, it's really no wonder a lot of the communities have problems, but it in no way means that the people are incapable of functioning in modern society.

I see a lot of people writing and saying things along the lines of "Our government needs to sit down with Natives and teach them how to handle money" or "Natives need to be taught how to handle their reserves." Let's just get one thing straight - there are many capable and excellent Native leaders. They understand politics in Canada and better understand how to treat their people than other politicians and law-makers (I won't get into any specifics unless someone would like me to). The problem is our current government rarely sits down to discuss this with them properly, and thusly the way they're supplied isn't always how they need (again, I can go into a bit of detail if requested).

So how should you be phrasing these suggestions (because I believe we're generally on track with our line of thought)? "Our government needs to sit down and discuss with Natives how they need to be funded and get a clear view of what the money should be for" or "the government needs to get an understanding of what problems are on reserves and work with First Nations to find solutions."

I think if we really look at a lot of the problems, the trouble lies in the ambiguity and miscommunication. There is a lack of information on spending on reserves and a lack of information on how the government is funding them.

We have more similarities than differences.

Our Tinted Perspective

In my Law class last semester, we spent a week or so discussing stereotypes. Stereotypes in media, stereotypes in historical settings, and stereotypes we ourselves held. When we got to First Nations, we found that while no one held any intense beliefs, some people were willing to argue in support of some stereotypes. At least, they did until our teacher asked all those of Native heritage to raise their hands. An awkward silence filled the room as an unexpected amount of hands went up, and the examples of support melted away into situational circumstances. It's easy to hold onto ideas about a people if  when you meet some of them, your notions are preconceived. Whether we accept it or not, we do see with a veil of race, and it's important to take that into account before we defend any prejudice we hold. We're likely to find we've made a mountain of a molehill and over-emphasized a habit or action. Understand that your view is tinted.