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.