Vowel - Indigenous writes: a guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit issues in Canada

Delgamuukw. Sixties Scoop. Bill c-31. Blood quantum. Appropriation. Two-Spirit. Status. TRC. RCAP. FNPOA. Pass and permit. Numbered Treaties. Terra nullius. The Great Peace. The Daniels decision

Are you familiar with the terms listed above? In Indigenous Writes, Chelsea Vowel, writer, lawyer, and intellectual, opens an important dialogue about these (and more) concepts and the wider social beliefs associated with the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada. In 31 essays, Chelsea explores the Indigenous experience from the time of contact to the present, through five categories Terminology of Relationships; Culture and Identity; Myth-Busting; State Violence; and Land, Learning, Law, and Treaties. She answers the questions that many people have on these topics to spark further conversations at home, in the classroom, and in the larger community.

2016 by Chelsea Vowel

Excerpts from this publication may be reproduced under licence from Access Copyright, or with the express written permission of HighWater Press, or as permitted by law.

All rights are otherwise reserved, and no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording, or otherwise except as specifically authorized.

HighWater Press gratefully acknowledges for their financial support the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage & Tourism.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Vowel, Chelsea, author

Indigenous writes : a guide to First Nations, Mtis, and Inuit issues in Canada / Chelsea Vowel.

Includes bibliographical references.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-55379-680-0 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-55379-689-3 (epub)

1. Native peoples--Canada. I. Title.

HighWater Press is an imprint of Portage & Main Press

Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens

Cover and interior design by Relish New Brand Experience

100-318 McDermot Avenue

Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3A 0A2

Toll free: 1-800-667-9673

www.highwaterpress.com

Dedicated to ninpm, Jos Toms Daz Valenzuela, kiskihitin mistahi.

Contents

In addition to all the amazing people I have cited as sources and resources in this book, I have some specific acknowledgments to make.

I want to start by thanking Darrel Dennis for giving me the motivation I needed to finally sit down and get this book done. ay-ay.

To my husband, kinanskomitin mistahi. The only reason I got this book done in three months with a newborn in the house is because he is an amazing and present father. I have been writing and teaching and speaking and travelling for a few years now, none of which would have been possible without my husbands help. He will downplay his role, but this work took a village, and ncimos is the reason the village didnt burn down around our ears.

ninanskomwak all our amazing daughters: Isidora, Arlis, Emily, Neve, and skoww. They are the light and joy of this life.

ninanskomw my fellow otipyimisiw-iskww kihci-ksikohk, Molly Swain, for reading the whole manuscript as I produced it, helping me to avoid classist and ableist language (two areas I continue to really struggle with, as ingrained as these things are), and asking me the questions that helped me go back and make things a little more clear when necessary. Also, Molly is my cohost on Mtis In Space, honorary okwiya (auntie) to my kids, and, basically, an all-around mood-lifter. Her visits during the course of my work on this book kept my mood positive, and my humour intact!

ninanskomw Shauna Mulligan for organizing my endnotes. That might sound underwhelming, so let me clarify how important this was! As I point out in the Introduction, I didnt just want to present readers with a bunch of my opinions and the digested portions of my research. A huge part of this book, perhaps the most important part, is the curated resources Ive included with every chapter. Making sure those resources are properly cited, and as accessible to readers as possible, was absolutely vital. I was doing a very poor job of this, so having Shauna step in was a huge reason this book actually got completed.

ninanskomw Romeo Saganash for being the catalyst of sorts for my writing on these issues. He is the one who first tweeted out my article on Attawapiskat, and things havent been the same since!

ninanskomwak Chris Andersen, Jennifer Adese, Adam Gaudry, Zoe S. Todd, Rob Innes, and Darren OToole all of whom are brilliant and hilarious Mtis scholars. Their vital feedback and thought-provoking conversations (and rants) have been wonderful sources of inspiration and energy.

And, of course, ninanskomwak my parents for their love and support, my sister, Cathleen, who always has my back, and my brother, Teagun, who is out there in the world doing exactly what he wants to be doing.

After teaching in the Northwest Territories and Alberta for a few years, I applied to law school at the University of Alberta. Education has always been my passion, but I felt I needed additional skills to be able to better understand and articulate some of the problems I was dealing with on a daily basis in the classroom. I wanted to be able to advocate more effectively for my students most of whom are Indigenous and I wanted to know how to go about making institutional changes. I thought studying law would give me insights I lacked.

I was right, but the most valuable education I received was not the one Id been expecting.

I began law school in 2006. To say it was difficult is an understatement. Oh, it wasnt the crushing workload or the competitive peers, and it wasnt even studying law while raising two daughters. It was the world-view that informed every course. I thought I was prepared for this after all, I had spent 17 years in the Canadian system of education. I had forced myself to read all the great European philosophers, and I thought I already understood the world-view. Yet, as I squirmed uncomfortably through each Property Law session, it dawned on me that although I had been exposed to these ideas before, they had never been laid before me so clearly and concretely and boy, were they different from the way I had been raised to see the world!

I didnt know how to process any of this until, one day, I went to get a pint with a couple of classmates. It sounds like the beginning of a joke: A Mtis, a Liberal, and a Conservative walk into a bar. Well, they actually were members of these political parties and were the first people Id ever met who knew that much about Canadian politics. By now, Ive mythologized these conversations because they had such a profound impact on me, but, at the time, it was just three people debating topics theyd learned in class.