Lynne Davis - Alliances: Re/Envisioning Indigenous-Non-Indigenous Relationships

ALLIANCES

Re/Envisioning Indigenous-Non-Indigenous Relationships

Edited by Lynne Davis

When Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists work together, what are the ends that they seek, and how do they negotiate their relationships while pursuing social change? Alliances brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders, activsts, and scholars to share their experiences of alliance-building for Indigenous rights and self-determination and for social and environmental justice.

The contributors, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, come from diverse backgrounds as community activists and academics. They write from the front lines of political and personal struggle, from spaces of reflection rooted in past experiences and from emerging theoretical perspectives, to shed light on contemporary meanings of alliance. Some contributors explore methods of mental decolonization while others use Indigenous concepts of respectful relationships to analyse present-day interactions. Most important, Alliances delves into the complex political and personal relationships inherent in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous struggles for social justice to provide insights into the tensions and possibilities of Indigenous-non-Indigenous alliance and coalition-building in the early twenty-first century.

LYNNE DAVIS is an associate professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies at Trent University.

Re/Envisioning Indigenous-Non-Indigenous Relationships

EDITED BY LYNNE DAYIS

University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2010

Toronto Buffalo London

www.utppublishing.com

Printed in Canada

ISBN 9781-44264023-8 (cloth)

ISBN 9781-44260997-6 (paper)

Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Alliances: re/envisioning Indigenous-non-Indigenous relationships/edited by Lynne Davis

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9781-44264023-8 (bound). ISBN 9781-44260997-6 (pbk.)

1. Indigenous peoples. 2. Native peoples Canada. 3. Indians of North America. 4. Cooperation. I. Davis, Lynne, 1951

PE77.A55 2010 305.8 C2009906663-7

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).

This work is dedicated to the memory of Sam George, whose steadfast pursuit of justice after the killing of his brother, Dudley George, set a very high bar for all who strive for a world of justice and peace. May our work benefit future generations and all life.

LEANNE SIMPSON

Introduction
LYNNE DAVIS

JAKE SWAMP

WILLIAM WOODWORTH RAWENO:KWAS

GKISEDTANAMOOGK

CRAIG BENJAMIN, JENNIFER PRESTON, AND MARIE LGER

JUDY DA SILVA

TOM KEEFER

RICK WALLACE, MARILYN STRUTHERS, AND RICK COBER BAUMAN

PAULA SHERMAN

MERRAN SMITH AND ART STERRITT

VICTORIA FREEMAN

LAURA REINSBOROUGH AND DEBORAH BARNDT

JUSTIN B. RICHLAND AND PATRICIA SEKAQUAPTEWA

SAMUEL R. COOK AND KARENNE WOOD

THIERRY DRAPEAU

LILY POL NEVEU

BEENASH JAFRI

CAITLYN VERNON

TANYA CHUNG TIAM FOOK

ADAM BARKER

LYNNE DAVIS AND HEATHER YANIQUE SHPUNIARSKY

KEVIN FITZMAURICE

MARILYN STRUTHERS

DOROTHY CHRISTIAN AND VICTORIA FREEMAN

DAYSTAR/ROSALIE JONES AND NED BOBKOFF

First, I acknowledge and offer thanks to the Mississaugas in whose territories I reside. Here on the shores of Pigeon Lake and on the Otonobee River at Trent University, this book has unfolded through their generous sharing of beautiful waters, rolling hills, forested landscapes, and valued friendships.

I am immensely grateful to the authors of this volume. They responded promptly to numerous editorial requests with unfailing good humour and diligent attention to detail. Their enthusiasm for this project and their messages of encouragement made the editing process a true honour. Gchi miigwech to them, to Anishnaabe scholar Leanne Simpson for writing the books first words, and to Anishnaabe-kwe artist and scholar Rene Bedard for offering the photo of the twig bundle for its cover.

This collection would not have come about without a Standard Research Grant (41020041404) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, which enabled the launch of the Alliances Project and the 2006 Re/Envisioning Relationships conference, from which many of the chapters in this volume derive. The conference was organized through the efforts of an extraordinary group of individuals, who combined vision and depth of experience in designing a gathering that could bring together the diversity of Indigenous/non-Indigenous leaders, activists, and scholars engaged in working together and thinking through the complexities of Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationships in the areas of Indigenous self-determination and social and environmental justice. The members of this organizing working group included Marilyn Buffalo McDonald, Victoria Freeman, Joan Kyek, Ann Pohl, Dan Smoke, Merran Smith, and Rick Wallace. An army of graduate and undergraduate students brought the conference to fruition under the superb leadership of Mara Heiber. Sincere thanks to Heather Sphuniarsky, Karyn Drane, Frost Centre MA students, and wonderfully enthusiastic students in the Indigenous Studies 305 class of 20062007.

The seed for the Alliances Project was first planted when Trent colleagues Kiera Ladner, Leanne Simpson, and I received a small internal research grant from Trent University. After their departure from Trent, the project grew with the assistance of a number of doctoral research associates and assistants. Vivian ODonnell and Heather Shpuniarsky provided significant contributions at the conceptual stage, and Heather continued with the project over a number of years. Karyn Drane helped with community research, and Adrian Edgar worked on transcription and analysis. Mara Heiber, Chantal Fiola, and Eliza Tru attentively assisted with the preparation of the manuscript over three years. Their efforts have been exemplary.

Colleagues in Indigenous Studies at Trent, including Joeann Argue, Marlene Brant Castellano, Mark Dockstator, Vern Douglas, Chris Furgal, Rosalie Jones, Dan Longboat, Edna Manitowabi, Don McCaskill, Neal McLeod, Marrie Mumford, David Newhouse, Brenda Maracle OToole, Barb Rivett, Paula Sherman, Skahendowaneh Swamp, Christine Welter, Doug Williams, and Shirley Williams, have offered an encouraging and inspiring environment in support of this work.

Virgil Duff at University of Toronto Press understood the vision that inspired this work from the outset, and encouraged its realization. Anne Laughlin of UTP and copy editor Patricia Thorvaldson offered excellent advice and infinite patience in polishing the text. I also acknowledge the contributions of several anonymous reviewers whose comments have helped to strengthen the collection as a whole.

This volume was born out of an immense collective effort that stretches through a number of decades. Mentors, teachers, colleagues, fellow activists, and friends, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, have profoundly shaped the conceptual world that I have brought to the editing of this work. My first attempt to list all of your names, from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic, was simply overwhelming, so I can only say, simply, you know who you are and you have my profound gratitude.