“A lot of talk about racism has been
floating around lately. There were comments from FSIN Chief Bobby
Cameron recently saying racism is a daily reality for indigenous
people. It is for everyone.”
So begins the column appearing
recently, then retracted, written by the regional managing editor of the Melfort Journal, Greg
Wiseman.
The column goes on to equate the racism Bobby Cameron decries with
the ethnic joke; somehow the Newfie joke becomes the equivalent of
the systemic discrimination that’s made it hard for indigenous
Canadians to prosper in this country.
Wiseman
is right when he says, in effect, that we are all potentially bigoted
(including indigenous people) and all eligible to feel the sting of
some kind of prejudice in our lives. But the racism that Cameron is
talking about isn’t anything like the bite of an ethnic or personal
slur. The “Ukrainians [] women, Newfies, athletes, gays, bikers and
so on” Wiseman claims to be the recipients of “racism” similar
to that of indigenous Canadians are all members of the settler
portion
of the population: they fall under no special set of laws like the
Indian Act imposes on indigenous peoples.
Case
in point: when my ancestors settled on Treaty 6 territory in 1893,
they very soon had a school built nearby with qualified teachers so
that every child could reasonably live at home with family and get an
education. The residential school system that was the federal
government’s provision of education to indigenous people saw their
children picked up by force and hauled off to boarding schools run by
church denominations. It was a patronizing, colonial mentality
driving a system that ran over culture, community and family life
with heavy boots.
That’s
what racism looks like.
Case
in point: decimated by the small pox for which they had no immunity
and the disappearance of the bison on whom their economy depended
historically, the indigenous people of Treaty 6 territory were forced
into a bargain that basically said that in exchange for rights to
over 90% of their land, the crown would provide for their food,
health, and economic needs. The deplorable conditions under which the
indigenous people thereafter lived for generations resulted from the
failure on Canada’s part to honour both the spirit and the letter
of the deal to which all the signers agreed in 1876. (To explore the
content of Treaty 6, click HERE.)
That’s
what racism looks like.
In 1932, Edward Yahyahkeekoot had to get permission from the Indian agent in order to tend his trap line and to "hunt for food."
This is what racism feels like.
I
could go on and on with examples. Suffice it to say that in order to
write such a column, Wiseman had either to be uninformed about the
history and content of treaty making . . . and keeping, and/or was just being very
sloppy with the English language. Although withdrawn and an apology
published in its place, it echoed the sentiments of many Canadians,
unfortunately, and the publicity around it reinforced views that
indigenous people should just “get over it,” that we’re all
just as hard done by as they.
I’ve
pilfered a copy of Wiseman’s original column from CBC
Saskatchewan.
