Questions on Indigenous Identity

The single greatest cause for confusion among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike is identity. How do you define it? What is an Indigenous person? And if 100% of the population does not agree on a single definition, which one is the "true" definition?

Do we define Indigenous identity in the negative? That is to say, I am not white, therefore I am Indigenous. Or, I am not Canadian, therefore, Indigenous.

When we opt for a specific definition, do we need to be an exclusive group? That is to say, reject participation with the world or with anyone outside our own little cliques?

Can an Indigenous root for a sporting team that is not racially their own, yet refer to the team as "their" team? Does this mean they are not Indigenous or that they are not a credible voice for Indigenous issues?

Suppose the Olympic team try outs for Canada declared that no Indigenous person may be on the team... Would we not angrily cry out "Racism!"? When Waneek Horn Miller, prominent Mohawk voice, made the Canadian Olympic team for water polo... Did she refuse to call it her team? No! She referred to the team as her team. Would she have wanted Indigenous people to reject supporting the team? No! Did this make her "colonial," "collaborationalist," "uncredible as an Indigenous voice," "un-Indigenous"?!?

So what is an Indigenous person? Is it by blood? Then there are no Indigenous nations, only ethnicity.
Is it by geography? Then what of those living off reserve or who were born off reserve or never lived on reserve or were taken from birth mothers and adopted out to white families?

Is it by recognized special "status"? Then our identity is entirely dictated by the Federal government.
What about identity by following a spiritual path? Then we have no nations, only a religion and anyone, even a person of Asian, African, or European descent can be Indigenous simply by making a 'religious' choice.

What about citizenship? I have yet to see this implemented, but would this not make more sense. Then we would need our own citizenship codes and immigration laws.

Now, whatever becomes the defacto standard definition - if ever one can be possible even - is part of that identity dependent on how much hate and rejection of non-Indigenous people we demonstrate? Must we always refer to non-Indigenous people as "the enemy" and "them"?

In all honesty, I don't think we can form a single identity for "Indigenous" people. In fact, as I pose these questions and ponderings, I think "Indigenous" is just as bad a term as the Canadian use of "Aboriginal." In fact, a Haida or a Cree or a Mohawk has no right to accuse an Ojibway or Blackfoot or Assiniboine of not being "Indigenous."

In fact, I believe so called "Indigenous" people who do this are practicing assimilation (perhaps without realizing it), but rather than forcing people to be Canadian or British, they force them to be whatever group they themselves are from (I.e. Mohawk, Anishinaabe, Innu, etc.).

If you are reading this, maybe someone once called you Apple, or Trading Post Indian, or Indian Agent, or colonial, or some other crude derogatory term. Take heart, for those are assimilationist terms and you are who you are despite what others may say. Nobody can control your identity. If you wish to seek your own identity - go back to your own Elders, for only your own people can determine if you are "Indigenous" or not.

I am Anishinaabe. No Blackfoot, Cree, Mohawk, Innu, Dakota, Dene, Maliseet, etc can tell me I am not Anishinaabe. And not a single one of them can tell me I lack credibility to speak for my own people.

Likewise I cannot tell them the same, nor can any of us give "approval" for it either. Only Anishinaabe can respond to Anishinaabe on identity.

What does this mean going forward? I'm not fully sure. I just know I am not sure umbrella terms are doing any of us any favours.

Economic Ecosystem

A truly sustainable economy is not purely manmade. It is a breathing entity with seasons and fluidity. It is something we work with, something we try to synchronize with as we might do with a regional climate. We fail when we try to control it as western economists do.

Companies always view a quarterly "loss" or stagnation of profit as a bad thing. I think that's wrong; it is a necessary season as the daylight hours lengthen or shorten; or rainfall increases or decreases; or temperature rises or lowers. But when we push too hard for artificial and continual growth we end up with exhausted resources, over-saturated markets, mass consumption culture, etc.  

Rather than thinking of economy as some lifeless abstract concept, think of it as living ecosystem. Now imagine what would happen to any ecosystem if we tried to artificially control some aspect of it. Say we found a way to artificially super heat all the lakes and waterways in a region to force evaporation/condensation, and hence, rain. The ecosystem would experience continual rains, but at what cost?  

A little rain is great for growing crops or ensuring lush vegetation, but if we force it to a level that denies natural cycles, we end up with:

• flooded land
• nutrient stripped soil (as the water run off would leech out the nutrients)
• disrupted river and lake beds
• dying or dead aquatice life, which then affects the food chain
• etc.

Another example - suppose we were to specifically try to eradicate all wolves in a region because short-sightedly concluded that we would have more big game for ourselves without competition from wolves. Although, if we did that, there would be no natural mechanism in place to remove the old and sick from the herds, thereby diminishing overall quality of the wild meat and maybe even threatening us with disease.

Or what if we somehow figured out a way to make it daytime 24 hours a day. Party time! No night! Of course, if we did that, the scorching sun would damage plants, reducing food sources for humans and animals alike. Then entire food chain would begin to fall apart. Not to mention the net negative psychological effect on people and animals with respect to sleep patterns.  

With virtually any aspect of an ecosystem, too much of something is damaging, if not destructive, to the entire ecosystem itself. This is no different when we consider economies. Economies are not simply about money, jobs, businesses; they are holistic in nature. Economies are not rigid structures, but rather, they are fluid, moving, breathing, changing ecosystems. Economies are not one size fits all, but are unique for every region and community, each possessing distinct identities and features.  

This is crucial to understand if we wish to create true sustainable, meaningful community economic development. Too many communities look to mega-corporations from outside that ecosystem to come in and wave a magic economic wand (perhaps a benefit agreement of some sort), expecting that this will fix everything. Benefit agreements or partnerships are not bad, but they cannot be the driver and shaper of local/regional ecosystem (i.e. economy). The mega-corporations lack the understanding, the connection, and the personal stake in caring for the local ecosystem to adequately be able to "develop" it. They often come in with cookie cutter approaches to what the economy is "supposed" to look like.  

This, generally will not be sustainable. They are there to extract maximum benefit as quickly as possible without regard to natural cycles within the ecosystem. They come in like a wooden stake driven into the chest of a local ecosystem and stay until they have taken literally everything they want and then move on, leaving a gaping hole behind. It is not often easy or swift to heal from the hole left behind and often results in communities bleeding their residents who move away to follow the jobs.  

Some may call me idealistic in my thinking, but be that is it may, there a number of actions that people can take.  

On the "idealistic" side, it is an outright rejection of capitalism and its mass-consumption artificial culture. More pragmatically, it means exploring alternative methods for local trade and production and only producing as much as is needed for living. Local farms and gardens, barter exchanges, local stores, locally produced goods, etc. are all parts of the solution. If natural resources are to be developed, then less excessive extraction methods need to be considered and longer term thinking is required versus the short term "extract it all now" type of thinking.  

Coops, worker coops, social enterprises are all tangible mechanisms that can help create a better balance with a greater level of synchronization with the natural rhythms of the economic ecosystem.  

All said, at the core, pure capitalism is inconsistent and at odds with true community economic development in my humble opinion.

Indigenous Women - Foundation to Economy and Nationhood

I just attended the awareness march/rally for missing and murdered women (well over 600 now with no public inquiry, no police action, no arrests, mostly Indigenous women). The health of a nation, including its economy, depends on the health if its women.

Many of our Indigenous nations are suffering. The women in our nations are often the most impoverished... period. According to Statistics Canada data (contained in this fact sheet), nearly half of all Indigenous women live in poverty with the average ANNUAL incomes of a mere $13,300 – over $6,000 lower than non Indigenous women.

A sign that I saw one of the women holding said it all:

“Indigenous women are the heart of our families”

They are not only the heart of our families, but our very nations. Yet, how many women are recognized in leadership roles? How many are able to get into that old boys club that came as a “gift” from our colonial oppressors?

Why is it that our women are the ones being so systematically targeted? Not just by killers, but by poverty, and prison. Poverty and prison go hand in hand. Take for example Geraldine Beardy from Winnipeg. She was living in poverty and hungry. She was caught stealing a can of lunch meat by the store owner. The store owner beat her, after which, she fled for her life and later died in the hospital.

What justice was meted out for this beautiful Indigenous woman? NOTHING. All charges against the murderer were dropped (article here).

What if Geraldine had not been killed? She would have been punished by a justice system designed to discriminate against the poor. Indigenous women are increasingly being institutionalized. Between 1996 and 2002 the number of Indigenous women in Federal prisons increased by 36.7% (see this report http://www.laa.gov.nl.ca/laa/naws/pdf/nwac-legal.pdf). Since the Conservatives’ new crime, punishment and prison agenda, this rate is only expected to grow.

Injustice against our Indigenous women is not new. It has been a constant weapon against our nations for decades, if not longer. Many may remember the outrage of the story of Helen Betty Osborne and the utter failure of the justice system to help or protect Indigenous women in any way. This outrage sparked the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in the 1990’s, and yet very few of the recommendations were really implemented.

Now all of these examples and discussions are the “big” items: murders, crimes, and injustice. Yet our women face sexism, and racism and a constant barrage of put-downs that seek to kill their spirits.

A young Indigenous woman made this video to illustrate what our beautiful Indigenous women are put through on a daily basis.

The danger in all of this is that we lose the heart of our nations and our families – our Indigenous women. They are critical to our cultures, our next generations, and our national well-being (which includes our Indigenous economies). A growing body of research worldwide (one report here and here) has recognized that investing in women is the best ROI (if you excuse me using an annoying capitalist term).

Indigenous women are the hearts of our nations.

So what can we do? I will speak for a moment to Indigenous men.

You want to be a warrior? Then you better respect women. Defend them against racists and ignorant buffoons. Discourage men from making sexist or lewd jokes. See the true beauty of Indigenous women. They are not objects. They are women with dreams, aspirations, wisdom, love, a past and a future.

Be a listener and hear them out. Do your share of work around the home and with kids. Participate in rallies, educate people, and spread the word to raise awareness.

The greatest and most powerful action a modern warrior can take is to raise up our Indigenous women.

When our women rise up, our families will be strong, our nations will rise up, and our economic well-being will follow. This is the foundation and starting point for our Indigenous nations and our Indigenous economies.

Indigenous Thinkers

Over the past few months I have been inspired, honoured with learning from so many great Indigenous thinkers.

For starters, there has been so many great discussions in my LinkedIn Group, Indigenous Economic Development. Generally speaking, everyone is in agreement that economic development is important. However, there are many different approaches to this.

For starters, the word "development" itself carries colonial baggage - often used to mean resource development or development of mechanisms by which a financial profit can be gained from the Earth. Terminology and baggage aside, there is also a tension between colonial (aka mainstream or Western) approaches and culture/tradional ways of life.

In fact, many people often believe that culture and economy are disjoint. The fact is that they are not. Even colonial nations have culture embedded within their economies. The first problem is that economy takes the driver seat and priority over culture. The second problem is that colonial culture intentionally places a greater importance on profit and financial gain than culture, environment, people.

What has set Indigenous peoples apart is that their approach ensures that economy is NOT the driver. Rather each sphere of life plays an interconnected role. Culture, Social, Recreation, Economy, Health, etc., all play a role, holistically, to ensure balanced prosperity of person, spirit, nature.

When you really think about it, what price are we willing to pay for "successful" economic development? Are we willing to adopt colonial practices at the cost of our cultures, our ways of life?

What if we didn't have to adopt colonial practices to be thriving, people, fully meeting our potential? What if we didnt have to sacrifice our culture, our ways of life, our spirits to be "successful?"

Here is what I'm thinking. First we need to define what success means to us. Then we need to articulate how we can meet our needs (core meaning of economy) in a way that honours our ways of life, our cultures, our languages even.

In a future post, I would like to begin diving into this in greater detail. Through your comments/feedback, and through learning from the many great thinkers and leaders I am blessed to be contact with.

Learning Opportunities

I have been a little less active posting and on my LinkedIn account lately. Spring has come with many new opportunities for me to learn and gain new experiences.

For starters, I have my black belt test in Taekwondo coming up at the end of May. The lead up to this has been many new responsibilities in the club - teaching beginners classes, leading warm ups, acting as referee for sparring matches, and, of course, my own training. My instructors have at least given me ample warning of the test structure - 2.5 hours of non-stop gruelling paces that include drills, full contact sparring (without protective gear), defence against multiple attackers, live knife defence, technique demonstration, board breaking, patterns, and of course, grappling.

Already, just in preparation I have learned two lessons:

1. Focus - in the face of intense challenge, if I allow myself to be intimidated, I cannot succeed.
2. Life hurdles - there is never a good time for anything. Life will always offer many examples of why you should quit, give up, or postpone. "Do it later, things are busy now."

I also have become the team manager for my son's premier developmental league soccer team. I have been learning a lot of the administrative end of leading a team, plus training the goalie to push his skills up a notch. This whole soccer part of my life takes up seven evenings a week. One game per week, 2 practices, plus administrative paperwork, plus additional training for my son in a special elite academy.

My experience in working with a group of young kids in a more serious level of sport has given me two lessons:

1. The power of words - while all people generally acknowledge that children are sensitive to words, they typically believe, wrongly, that as adults, they are no longer affected by words. People... period - are affected by words in powerful ways. Sincere praise can motivate an individual to push harder, run faster. Harsh criticisms can crush the spirit of a person and drain their energy and motivation to even try.
2. If you aren't enjoying playing the game, don't. It is not about the most goals, the most cars or money, or position in the organisational chart, its about whether you enjoy what you are doing and making a positive impact on the team (society in general).

Finally, I have been given an Acting Director role of a unit of Business Analysts. This has come with many great learning opportunities and the chance to put to practice many of the things that I have already studied and researched on leadership. Some of the lessons so far, include:

1. Direct reports are more likely to respect you if you also respect them
2. Staff were hired because of their strengths - leverage those strengths, rather than simply pointing fingers at their deficits
3. Staff want a leader that will stand up for them and sincerely keep their best interests in mind
4. Don't make staff do anything you wouldn't do
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Some of these lessons I am learning, I can see broad application for even in community economic development. In fact, CED requires a lot of leadership principles and skills. Adapting what we learn through a variety of sources are important.

Happy learning everyone.

Ken

Indigenous Participation in Soccer

I am going to deviate slightly from the subject of directly speaking to economic development. I would like to address the subject of soccer.

Soccer is a sport that invites participation from all peoples. Unlike hockey (for example), where the price of involvement is almost elitist, the cost of participation in soccer is very minimal. As a sport, soccer develops leadership, teamwork, healthy lifestyle, and a sense of confidence that is critical to success in life, generally, and economic development/entrepreneurship, specifically.

Despite the simplicity of the sport, there is not a very high level of engagement within Indigenous communities in Canada. This is something that would not take much to start. Some places in Canada are starting to start things up, such as in BC, with the First Nation Soccer Association (http://fnsacanada.ca/).

They have even established a soccer scholarship: http://www.activecircle.ca/en/news-566-first-nations-soccer-association-announces.

So how do we get things started elsewhere, such as in Manitoba?

1. Tap into the soccer resources already available in the region. These include existing soccer training organizations (ie. World Soccer Academy in Winnipeg: http://www.world-soccer-academy.com/), Manitoba Major Soccer League (http://www.manitobamajorsoccer.com/), Manitoba Soccer Association (http://www.manitobasoccer.ca/), Mini U (http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/bsal/miniu/summer/sports/gsoccer.php, http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/bsal/miniu/summer/sports/super_soccer.php, http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/bsal/miniu/summer/sports/bsoccer.php).

2. Gather community recreation leaders train them on what is required to get soccer started, what resources are available, and who they can connect with for support.

3. Using some of the resources above, organize soccer training camps (determine feasibility of having them hosted in communities, or regional centres, or transporting participants into Winnipeg). Perhaps ask of the resources identified above if any group would be interested in offering a camp free to help stimulate greater interest in the sport. This is what has been happening in BC (with good success): http://www.canada.com/sports/Soccer+camps+offered/6347176/story.html.

4. Spread the word. Share this blog post with your soccer contacts, with First Nation community contacts, with government contacts, with universities, with anyone who will listen.

Ken

International Women's Day and CED

Today is International Women's Day. I thought I would take the time to celebrate this day with a blog post around the crucial importance of women to communities, generally, and community economic development, specifically.

Throughout history, among Indigenous communities, women were honored as equals to men. They held positions of leadership, they took on warrior roles, they hunted as much as the men did, they taught, offered guidance. They were highly valued and respected.

A well known Cheyenne Proverb states, "A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors or strong its weapons."

This was level of respect and understanding of the importance of women was disrupted on Turtle Island (aka North America) with the influx of empire-based cultures. Most of such cultures, from 3rd world to 1st world, have treated women as having lesser value, such as:
 - Treating women as property
 - Treating them as children of a lesser god (in some cultures)
 - Viewing them as burdens to their families.
 - Forcing them into marriages.
 - In extreme cases, women are sold as though they were objects of trade
 - In "1st world" nations, they have been often considered less qualified for leadership or positions of influence
 - They were denied the right to vote, left in the kitchens
 - For a long time, rape by their husbands was not recognized

Even today, nations that are so-called champions of human rights, such as Canada, refuse to recognize the value and role women play in the health of a nation and its economy.

We must, as Indigenous peoples and communities, reclaim the esteem of women. Consider community and its economic health if women were not around:
 - Their communication style is one of peace, generally.
 - Communication from women is relational (rather than competitive as with men)
 - They bring forth the future generations into our communities through child birth.
 - They are the first teachers of all our future generations
 - Women are far more likely to care for children even if they are working outside the home.
 - As mothers, they take on the roles of teacher, counsellor, tutor, nurse/doctor, operational manager (managing the complex tasks of maintaining a household)

Pre-contact, women set up and took down camps (I am speaking of Anishinaabe people), hunted small game, cared for the children, taught and trained children in various skills, prepared big game and cooked the meat, made clothing and tools, and so much more that I could list.

Putting this in a modern context.... Not much has changed. Women still take on these roles, often with limited support from us men. If you remove all what women do, economies would simply collapse.

It is time that we strive to honour women for the selfless and tireless work that they do to keep this world afloat. It is time we recognize that our communities can never have a thriving economy without first acknowledging and celebrating our Indigenous women.

CED Capacity Tool

For the past year, I have been working on developing a tool to assist communities in assessing their Community Economic Development capacity. The tool, developed (for now) in Excel, is built according to the this model:


Each of the 'boxes' around the circle have a set of questions that drill down to the concrete level to assist communities in translating the results of the assessment directly into action plans.

One thing I will say, some of the words I have used in this model can be slightly misleading. For example, when I write "Industrial Site," it is not intended in the traditional mainstream sense of big cities. An industrial site could be a gravel pit, forestry (selective harvesting), a sweet grass field, etc. The site, for the purposes of considering this model does not need to be a profit (financial) generating site either. Direct financial gain is not the only form of value. The cultural and spiritual value of a site is equally important and definitely important to note in planning so that they are not interfered with by any potential developments.

In any case, if any of my readers are interested in receiving a copy of this tool, subscribe to my blog with your email and I will send it to you.

Ken

Human Resources in Indigenous Country

Systems, companies, businesses, service organisations, community governance offices are all only as good as the people working within them. This is something we seem to forget about all too often. People, in any organisation or office need to be trained to be the best they can be in their role. Of course, that is precisely a human resources issue.

However, it goes beyond training and employee development. It goes beyond payroll and compensation. The gap that many of our Indigenous organisations and communities face is one of Human Resource policy. Many of us can recount a story of a manager hiring relatives who are clearly less qualified than other candidates or cases where people are fired by a new chief because they hadn't been among his supporters during elections. When we begin to consider this, a number of questions come to mind.

How many offices in Indigenous country have a solid understanding of employment standards?
Are there any workplace harassment policies in place?
Workplace health and safety standards?
Does office policy and practice meet up to Human Rights requirements?
How about duty to accommodate?
Have compensation levels been researched for fair market value?
Are there performance measurement strategies in place?
What employee orientation processes are there?
Does every position have job descriptions?
What is the office policy on sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, family leave, vacation leave?
What about statutory holidays? Are there other holidays the office will recognise?
What about funerals?
Is there a policy around child care or care for other family members?
What is the policy around equipment, furniture, and offices? Is it a fair process?
Is there a conflict of interest policy?
What accountability checks are in place for staff and managers? Ie. If a manager harasses an employee, what recourse does the employee have?
What is the hiring process? Is it fair?

There are many more questions that could be asked, but my point is made. We need to begin to consider HR policies and systems. Proper HR systems and policies will result in a greater level of governance capacity and therefore, greater accountability.

The National Centre for First Nations Governance established a principle, titled Human Resource Capacity and a related initiative called First Nations Public Service Initiative. In this document (found here), the Centre makes the argument for the critical importance of human resource capacity to successful governance of our communities and nations. They call for professional certification, which includes the ability to establish proper and fair system to manage human resources.

Slowly, more communities and organisations are recognising this and beginning to seek help in developing this area of Human Resources. This is good. However, there is a danger if this is not done properly.

There are hundreds of consultants and companies that are more than happy to make money doing this type of work. There is nothing wrong with being properly compensated for quality work. Unfortunately, not all the work out there is of good quality. Many consultants or HR companies that are great at what they do in mainstream urban centres, try to apply their typical products and tools to Indigenous organisations and communities without ever considering whether they are even culturally relevant.

A set of HR policies written for Corporation XYZ in downtown Toronto will not be particularly relevant to a band office in remote ABC First Nation. It is very important to answer all the right questions (including, but not limited to all those I listed), but more important to consider the culturally relevant responses to those questions. Some companies can do this, if, when they are contracted, it is clear that they must listen to the cultural and geographic reality of the community or organisation and then apply those in the development of policies.

There are also some Indigenous companies/consultants who understand the importance of this mapping of HR policy needs to culture. That being said, just because a consultant is Indigenous doesn't guarantee that he/she will understand the culture/policy dynamic.

On the other hand, a consultant or company that understands the cultural side of things, but is weak on understanding of policy and standards, will leave your workplace open to liability. If a policy is written that goes against the human rights code (recently extended to on-reserve), your workplace can be held accountable and can suffer lawsuits.

Clarity in the contract at the outset will help ensure proper understanding of this, but also monitoring the end product before signing off is important. The end product must be examined to ensure it meets the requirements of the contract. Seeking advice from other professionals in the HR realm can be helpful in this.

At the end of the day, there are some considerations for both company/consultant and community/organisation.

1. HR policies and systems are an important component of proper governance
2. HR policies need to be custom written to meet the unique cultural requirements of each organisation/community

One thing communities or organisations can do to help in this process is to document the cultural norms of the comunity and workplaces in the community ahead of time. This will ensure that a consultant or company will be supplied with some of the essential knowledge they require in order to ensure policies can be custom developed for cultural relevance.

Ken

Brave new world... without the Indian Act

One of the most significant factors affecting Indigenous economic development in Canada has been the Indian Act. The Indian Act has often been described as the most racist, draconian piece of legislation in the modern world.

The Indian Act took away the economic rights and freedoms of entire peoples. It took away their identities and, to this day, retains the power of identification in the hands of the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Under the Indian Act, Indigenous people were banned from conducting business, unless all revenues and profits ran through the Indian agent first. Indigenous people were banned from employment, from university and higher education, from stores unless they had specialized written permission from the Indian agents.

The effect to this day has been that the establishment of a business on reserve (land that should be held by First Nations, but is instead held 'in trust' by Canada) takes 6-10 years. The same type of business off reserve can be established in 1-3 years.

The Indian Act equated Indigenous people with persons of insanity and without mental capacities to decide for themselves. It declared Indigenous people as less than human. This same Act was used as the model and basis for South African Apartheid. The treatment of Indigenous peoples as prescribed by the Indian Act formed part of the inspiration of Hitler for his program of genocide against the Jewish people.

For many years, at hundreds of conferences, talks, forums, and gatherings; in hundreds of articles, research papers, studies, reports and reviews, the message has been clear: the racist Indian Act must be repealed.

This month, First Nation chiefs from across Canada met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after many years of requesting such a meeting, but being blown off. At this gathering, Harper stated "To be sure, our government has no grand scheme to repeal or to unilaterally re-write the Indian Act: After 136 years, that tree has deep roots."

First, let us consider the logic behind this.

Indian Act is racist.
Racist legislation is written by racist people.
Indian Act is also legislation.
--------------------------------------------
Therefore, the people who wrote the Indian Act were racist.

The Indian Act was written a long time ago.
Since the people who wrote it were racist, Canada has been historically racist.
--------------------------------------------
Harper states that since Canada has always been racist, we should continue that tradition because it "has deep roots."

Think of the inconsistency here. The Conservatives decry certain practices around the world like genital mutilation of girls, and rightfully so. However, if we apply the same logic Harper uses, we would conclude: "Since certain countries have always practiced genital mutilation, we should continue this historically wrong practice because it has deep traditional roots."

Putting Harper's promise to continue using racist legislation aside, for sake of argument I will assume he is fearful, politically, of how to go about repealing the Indian Act and what that will mean - fear of the unknown. Discussions about removing the Indian Act are not new and there have been some politicians who attempted to venture down this road in the past (Nault, Chretien). All prior efforts failed and met intense political fallout.

People, Canadians and Indigenous people alike, hold some fear of a world unknown - a world without the Indian Act prescribing the delicate relationship between First Nations and Canada.

I believe that this fear is unfounded and held in check by a misplaced focus. I will explain this with an analogy. Suppose a person purchases a sizable lot with a house and moves into it. At some point, he realises that this house is of such bad quality that it is a wonder it still stands. What is the sensible thing to do? He begins to make plans for a new home. He designs the new home to accommodate all of his needs and begins construction of the new. Once it is ready, he moves into it and tears down the old house.

What he does NOT do, is tear the old house down without any plans for a new house.

THIS is the problem we face today. In all of the discussions that I have ever heard regarding the Indian Act, it is about tearing the old house down without any thought or discussion on what the new house should look like.

I believe that the discussions today should focus on the development of what is needed if there is no Indian Act. Once this is done, the fear of the unknown is removed since we will have begun to map out the future, making it known. If it is designed first, in partnership between the Federal government and First Nations, there will be no gap when the Indian Act is actually abolished. It would mean that people can get to the point where repealing the Indian Act is not only possible, but rather simple.

Violence in the North End of Winnipeg

2011 marked the bloodiest year for Winnipeg with 39 homicides, most of which took place in the North End of Winnipeg. As the level of violence rose, so too did the many good people of the North End to counter it. Local champions, such as Michael Champagne, are leading efforts to rally the community and retake the North End for love and unity.

I, like many others, have reflected about what causes such levels of violence? The answers are many and not unrelated. Some of the key causes have been noted as:

·         Racism (http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/our_canadian_cities/2011/11/21/1808.html) , which is alive and well in Winnipeg (in RCMP offices, in media)

·         Poverty

·         Social exclusion

·         Oppression

Perhaps some background into the demographics of the North End might help. Neighbourhoods in the North End have high concentrations of Aboriginal people and immigrant populations. The employment rate is as much as 4 times lower than more “affluent” neighbourhoods, the total household income is similarly less (average of just over 20,000 annually), government spending at all levels for recreation and amenities is lower in the North End than in wealthier neighbourhoods, housing is in greater state of disrepair, the neighbourhood is grossly underserviced by banks and stores.

Racism and its brother, oppression, results in less opportunities for those on the receiving end. Less opportunity results in poverty. Considering that nearly all of the amenities, sports opportunities, recreation programs and entertainment options cost money, poverty leads to social exclusion very quickly.

All of the discussion and rhetoric in the media and among politicians and academics are focused on how to fix this. They discuss the justice system, crime & punishment, preventative programming (which must be noted that PM Harper is vehemently opposed to), police presence, etc. What seems to be lost in the discussion is lateral violence, which I began to discuss in a previous post (here).

For starters, the justice system itself is inherently racist – specifically against Aboriginal people. A very well documented discussion on this very point was discussed in another blog (here). Not only is the justice system unfairly harsh and unjust against Aboriginal people in terms of unfair processes and stiffer sentences, generally, but the law enforcement side of the justice system is also racist. Despite International condemnation over the fact that there are over 600 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada and virtually no action from law enforcement, there is no change.

Yet, each and every time a white woman is missing, a nation-wide manhunt is launched almost immediately with endless media coverage and public outpourings of support. When it is an Indigenous woman, almost at once, the media and public begin to accuse the missing woman of being a prostitute or drug user. They then sweep the ordeal under the carpet falsely assuming the woman lives a “high risk lifestyle.” Worse still that the general public believes that if a person makes certain lifestyle choices, they are not as important as the good middle class working people.

The message is clear, when you combine these two facts. If you are Indigenous and oppressed into poverty, your best bet is to steal from other Indigenous people or oppressed groups. If you steal from a white person, you will be slammed full force with the heavy hand of justice. However, if you steal from Indigenous people or other oppressed groups, the justice system either turns a blind eye or offers half hearted efforts.

The justice system in Canada and the media (specifically Sun Media who have a deliberate agenda of racism) encourage lateral violence. It is precisely this phenomenon that Winnipeg’s North End is facing. The majority of crimes committed in the North End are either committed by one person of an oppressed group (i.e. Indigenous, immigrants, etc.) to another. There is even ongoing gang conflict between the Indian Posse (a gang formed by Indigenous youth) and the Mad Cowz (a gang formed by African immigrant youth) all of whom are primarily in the North End.

What is the solution?

I do not have an answer. Although, efforts like Michael Champagne’s is one part of it. Initiatives to address poverty and racism are other parts of it. Efforts to address lateral violence also need to be part of the discussion. In an indirect way, the organization Winnipeg Afro-Aboriginal Cross Cultural Association is trying to address the issue by bridging the two communities and showing how much they actually have in common.

One thing for certain, we must not fall into the trap that Divide and Conquer tactics bring. We are often pressed to compete with one another as to whose oppression is greater and therefore, who merits government funding. This is self-defeating. We cannot eliminate oppression, if we begin to oppress one another in our efforts to eliminate oppression. A great summary of this is contained here.

Miigwech,

Ken

Apples and Lateral Violence

I have recently been accused of being a "trading post Indian." I was called this because I work in the Provincial government and according to "Indian purists," any person working in a government job is a traitor, a thief and a corrupt individual.

Naturally, this person had no evidence and not even any knowledge of my past performance, my advocacy of Indigenous people, or any of the services I have personally rendered for communities to their great satisfaction.

This is not the first type of comment like this that I have heard. It is the first time I have had such a comment directed at me, however. Another similar curse that is used among Indigenous people is "apple." The meaning here is to be red on the outside and white on the inside.

This phenomenon is referred to as lateral violence, which is defined as "verbal, physical, or psychological violence directed from one oppressed person to others from the same oppressed group." By verbal and psychological violence I include the use of terms like "apple" and "trading post Indian," as well as behaviours like gossiping, bullying, labeling, backstabbing, etc. Lateral violence is the expression of hatred toward one another stemming from our anti-colonial anger. (See video here)

Typically, people use these intra-racist terms according to their own fundamentalism. Yes, there are fundamentalists among Indigenous people too. To these people, unless you live up to their specific definition of what an Indigenous person is supposed to be, 100%, you are an apple or a trading post Indian.

The first question you should be asking is "who are they to define what an Indigenous person ought to be?" Who are they indeed? These are the very people who decry the Federal Government of Canada for defining Indigenous identity, and yet, they do the very same thing.

Although each individual has their own specific fundamentalist image of the ideal Indigenous person, there are a few typical commonalities. Before we explore the common myths, let us first delve into the foundational philosophy behind this kind of thinking.

Moral Superiority

Indigenous people who engage in lateral violence, specifically with respect to the use of intra-racist terms like apple or trading post Indian, have a strongly held belief that white people are intrinsically bad. To them, there is no such thing as a white person who cares for the environment or thinks communally. Their belief is that white people are void of moral capacity and that their entire culture is one of greed and wanton destruction.

What follows from this varies in degree from fundamentalist to fundamentalist. For some, an Indigenous person working with white people or governments is not worthy to be a real Indigenous person, hence the term "apple". For others, it has more to do with whether an Indigenous person is following specific spiritual principles or whether they are willing to reject most forms of modern tools/conveniences.

The core of the issue is the belief that "true" Indigenous people are perfect in their behaviour and understandings and that they make no errors in judgment. White people on the whole, or even Indigenous people working for a corporation or government department (regardless of their role or capacity they were hired in) are false and opposed to culture and traditional wisdom.

In short, "true" Indigenous people are better than white people and apples who "follow the white way."

There is so much wrong with this philosophy I could write a book. I will start with a few brief points. First, it is this very same attitude of superiority that led to the genocide against Indigenous peoples in Canada in the first place. Europeans believed they were superior and enacted forced assimilation policies. In trying to ridicule others for adopting the "white way," these people are actually adopting the worst of what has been brought against Indigenous people during colonial times.

This philosophy also contradicts the many sacred and traditional teachings of Indigenous peoples in Canada. We were always taught to honour the FOUR directions, not just one. We were taught about humanity being comprised of FOUR nations, not just one. We were taught to love and respect creation and all life, not to respect most and exclude others. We were taught that each nation (Red, Yellow, Black and White) have gifts to share with one another - not this racist dogma that claims white people have no gifts to share or that they are bad.

This philosophy also idealizes the past, claiming that Indigenous people were perfect before contact. It ignores the fact that we warred with one another, we fought over territories, we committed crimes against one another, we made use of slavery. Essentially, we made mistakes as much as each of the four nations of humanity.

Fundamentalist Myths

There are many myths that I could cover, but I thought I would tackle just a few. My hope is that you will begin to ask questions the next time someone tells you who they think and Indigenous person really is.

1. True Indigenous people follow Indigenous religions/spiritualities
2. True Indigenous people only work in careers that directly serve Indigenous people
3. True Indigenous people view Provincial and Federal governments as enemies
4. True Indigenous people do not differentiate between public/civil servants and political leaders

1.  True Indigenous people follow Indigenous religions/spiritualities

This touches upon the issue of moral superiority again. It is the belief that Indigenous religions/ways are superior to the spirituality or religions of other peoples. Is Indigenous identity something you are? Or is it something you choose to be through a religious choice? If it is by choice, we open the door to non-Indigenous people claiming identity through a religious choice and thereby, morally entitled to Indigenous rights. Meanwhile, Indigenous people by birth who do not choose Indigenous religion would necessarily be denied identity and therefore, rights.

This is the natural consequence of believing this myth. It spits in the face of the reality of diversity among Indigenous people and among the message that most of our people have been sharing with non-Indigenous people around the concepts of diversity and inclusion.

2. True Indigenous people only work in careers that directly serve Indigenous people

A belief such as this denies the growth of business and entrepreneuship among Indigenous people. It limits Indigenous people to Band council jobs, nursing positions, and social workers. At the heart of the matter, does taking a position of employment that serves general public result in an Indigenous person losing their identity? The ridiculousness of this statement is clear as soon as it is read.

3. True Indigenous people view Provincial and Federal governments as enemies

This particular point is an extremist one. Certainly there are times when conflict does arise and enemies are made (Gitxsan, Oka, Caledonia, etc.), but there are also times where a true sense of partnership exists (i.e. Kelowna Accord). Unless one is willing to declare all out civil war, things are not so black and white as this myth would have one believe.

4. True Indigenous people do not differentiate between public/civil servants and political leaders

To the believers of this myth, a mail carrier or a nurse is directly responsible for residential schools, bad negotiations and the expropriation of natural resources from Indigenous territories. They see no difference between a literacy educator and the MPs responsible for decisions to the point that teaching people to read and write is a wicked thing because the educator did not properly negotiate fair deals for Indigenous peoples.

The trouble with this belief is that it tosses out programs, benefits and resources that can actually support and assist Indigenous people - and which are many times delivered by employees who are Indigenous themselves.

In short - their frustrations are misdirected in the wrong places and they end up alienting Indigenous people by destroying friends and allies.

Conclusion

Lateral violence is a destructive force that can rip communities apart, create toxic workplaces, destroy relationships, and drive Indigenous people away from their own communities. As Indigenous professionals, it is our duty to rise above this; to be professional and focused on solutions rather than on how we might sabatoge or judge other Indigenous people.

If we see others engaging in lateral violence, we need to speak out and let them know that it is not acceptable.

Am I an apple or trading post Indian? No. I am an Ojibwe professional seeking to better the lives and futures of my people and the broader Indigenous world. My path may be a different one than my accusers, but it is no less valuable.

Focus and Canada’s Lord of the Rings

I was re-watching one of my favourite movie series, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the other day. One of the things I had noted in the story was the focus various characters kept and how that impacted them personally.

Merry and Pippin, the two younger Hobbits, only focused on the here and now. Their goals were simple; stay alive, eat, drink, and take joy in whatever comforts they can find wherever their journey would take them. Frodo was focused on the long term goal of bringing the ring to Mount Doom and could endure present hardships in light of his far off goal. Samwise was purely focused on protecting and helping Frodo complete his task and, more importantly, the journey home.

Most of the heroic characters (Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli) were focused very much on protecting the Hobbits at all costs. Those who failed Frodo, such as when Boromir tried to take the ring, failed because they were not focused on protection or the journey of the Hobbits, but on the power of the ring and how it might be a useful tool in their war against Sauron.

Gandalf had always kept his focus on protection and guidance of the Hobbits. In particular, he imparted much wisdom upon Frodo – wisdom that would later prove critical to Frodo’s success. With this focus, Gandalf remained true and dedicated to loyalty.

These characters, who had never faltered from their paths, kept a vision of the goal – the victory – in mind at all times. It enabled them to keep perspective no matter how dark things looked at various times in their journeys.

Interestingly though, was the results for those characters in the story who did not keep a vision of their desired goals fixed in mind. Saruman The White, described as the head of good wizards and greatest among them, had studied deep into “ways” of the enemy. He had even used a seeing stone, which allowed him to see the workings of the enemy. It was this focus on the details of all the dark tidings and challenges before him and his allies that his focus began to blur. Rather than seeing a vision of the victory he hoped to achieve, he became lost in the despair of all the day to day evils and the enormity of the full breadth of the challenge before him. As a result, he lost his hope and any vision of an alternative to failing against the challenges of Sauron.

The Steward of Gondor had also used a seeing stone. His city, bearing the full brunt of the Sauron’s armies and incursions in the lands of men and elves, had seen the evils and challenges of Sauron daily. Just as Saruman lost his hope, the Steward of Gondor lost his. He became mad with despair, unable to even properly lead the people to defend the city.

Even Frodo, at one point began to lose sight of the goal. He declared to Sam that he could no longer go on. Sam responded:

“I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something... That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.”

It was the focus of the characters that influenced their behaviours and their successes or failures. Focus and balance in what they focused on also played a role. Although it did not get displayed particularly prominently in the films, the books make it very clear how important celebrations and laughter were to giving the Hobbits the strength to continue their journey.

1.       Tom Bombadil and Goldberry encouraged the Hobbits early in their adventure – feasting and giving them a few evenings of merriment and laughter

2.       In the Inn of the Prancing Pony, the Hobbits (mostly the younger two) celebrated in the tavern

3.       In the valley of the elves, the Hobbits rested, feasted and had times to enjoy life

4.       Before entering the mines of Moria, the whole party of 9 (the fellowship of the ring) had some laughter and good times during their encampments

5.       On and on throughout the story, at various times, the characters took time to find some enjoyment in life regardless of the dangers and evil around them

For those of us working in the realm of Indigenous economic development, our challenges are no less daunting. Indigenous peoples are the most impoverished in Canada, kept at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder by the racist apartheid Indian Act. We face the highest suicide rates, drug and alcohol abuse, spirits broken from residential schools and Canadian cultural genocide policies, highest school drop out rates, lowest funding levels for child welfare, education, health, remote communities with food costing as much as 10 times what Canadians pay for, communities without running water, without heat, housing chronically underfunded resulting in overcrowding and mould, diabetes, the lowest unemployment, etc.

Our communities also face funding cuts, and threats from the Government of Canada (ie. Federal response to Attawapiskat state of emergency was to cut funding and place them under third party management in an arrangement that would force the community to pay $1,300 to a white consultant appointed by PM Harper). Our communities face energy and resource companies encroaching on lands to profit from natural resources – often without including our communities or only giving us a pittance for compensation then leaving our communities with environmental disasters and chronic health problems.

Our communities face unilateral decisions by the Conservative Government of Canada that erode rights and safeguards of community lands and resources. Programs, organizations, communities are all facing continual funding cuts under the current government, all while emergency states and third world conditions are ignored.

The challenges before us are great. However, we can learn something from the characters I described above.

1.       We must fix in our minds a vision of what success looks like. What are we trying to achieve in our communities?

2.       We must hang on to that vision and find people who will support and encourage us – surround ourselves with those people.

3.       While it is important to be aware of the challenges before us and the tactics of the “Saurons” we face, we must not lose ourselves, our hope, and our vision, by meditating too deeply on them.

a.       Thinking of the entirety of the challenge can be discouraging and cause us to lose focus. Be aware of the overall challenge, but begin to determine the immediate legs of the journey before you.

b.      What can you tangibly do today, to bring you one step closer to the vision you hold onto?

4.       We need to ensure we balance ourselves between focusing on the challenges and on finding enjoyment where we can in this life.

5.       We need to remember the words of Samwise: “there's some good in this world... and it's worth fighting for.”

So as we proceed to apply our skills and minds and hands to raising up Indigenous communities, we need to fix a vision of what the end goal is. The smile of a healthy child, a well-maintained home, a family playing and spending quality time together, a community cleaned up of debris and litter, community events filled with laughter and joy, a beaming graduate holding their diploma, a smiling tradesperson holding their Red Seal certificate, etc.

I leave you with a real life example of someone who has exemplified much of these thoughts: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/this-teacher-is-on-a-mission-to-educate-first-nations/article2289480/

Michelle Durant-Dudley, a teacher who kept a vision of success fixed in her mind. Even endured hardships, personal sacrifice, and physical assault could not deter her from her focus and her hope and vision.

Let us resolve this year to have the same dedication to a future vision full of hope.

Resolutions and measurements

It’s a new year. With a new year comes the inevitable focus on resolutions and goals and measurements. Most resolutions focus on fitness and the losing (or gaining) of a few pounds. Our resolutions don’t have to be only personal ones, however. We can apply the same principle to our economic or community development goals.

What do you wish to accomplish this year in your community? More importantly, how will you measure your community’s economic waist line? There are a number of tools available to assist you in this:

-          Community Information Database

-          MyPeg (Specific for Winnipeg, but may offer a great example for other cities and communities)

-          Community Economic Development Capacity Index. Sorry I do not have a link for it, you will have to email me to request a copy. You can either subscribe to my blog through email (see the text box on the right). Or you can leave a comment with your email address. Since I moderate comments, I will not be post any comment with your email since I do not wish to expose your email address to potential spammers.

Using tools like these, you can establish a baseline and measure your progress as you go through the year.

Happy resolution making!