#resist 150

Romeo Saganash is a residential school survivor and NDP MP in Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou, Quebec

I lose sleep most nights.

It started when I was young. Now I have a whole regimen of supports to help me sleep: exercise, healthy eating, music, darkness, relaxing tea, books of poetry. When it gets really bad: mandatory time off, writing, sleeping under the stars beside white pine trees, near a lake, on the land of the Eeyou, my people.

How colonization affects an individual is difficult to explain. How deep the tentacles reach. How vast the expanse of jarring totalitarian domination extends. Someone said to me recently that they like to have friends with different political and social points of view because it broadens their experiences and teaches them to refine arguments. For the past seven generations, in order to adapt to and accommodate the colonizer’s values, goals, institutions and society, I have learned to see so broadly that my eyes tear up.

You see, for us, nearly everything around us represents colonial domination and genocide and is an example of Indigenous resiliency. Except that I’m really tired of constantly having to fight to prove that I have the right to exist.

And I can’t sleep.

What does it mean to be safe and free in the context of a colonial state when it is celebrating its sesquicentennial? The front lines of Indigenous struggle are everywhere, now: from the prairies, boreal forests and rivers to city streets, in classrooms and in the buildings of Parliament. In a world where our very existence is criminalized and our presence is defiance, Indigenous people are forced every day to live in a world built by their colonizers.

Settler colonialism demands Indigenous erasure for the purpose of claiming Indigenous land. It is the symbolic and real replacement of Indigenous peoples with settlers who attempt to claim belonging.

The real problem with Canada 150 celebrations are the stories that the state is attempting to tell itself and everyone else. Specifically, that it has legitimate authority to make laws and policies, or even imagine a future, without Indigenous partnership. Any celebration of the state, the nation with its assumed sovereignty, stories of expansion and settlement or nation-building in general, replicate settler colonial narratives and are an insult to my ancestors, to my people, to me.

I have intentionally not told you the stories that you may have heard before. I have not given you a list of all the reasons that Canada 150 is a ridiculous concept to Indigenous people because this isn’t only a political and social reality: it is deeply cultural, spiritual and personal as well. I could list a thousand reasons why celebrating Canada 150 hurts and why it is just a magnified and compounded example of what every single day feels like. Instead, I will tell you a story because it is the clearest, most personalized example of settler colonialism and Indigenous erasure that I have found.

We never had family names. We were, and still are, connected by clan, community, band and tribe. Many of the surnames we use were written into treaty lists by priests or Indian Agents, the names distorted or assigned by the colonial representative. A friend of mine from Treaty 9 territory has the last name Nothing. When I first met her I thought that she was resisting and, like Malcolm X, had chosen to use a name that highlighted how, for a period, we weren’t even allowed to name our own children.

Anawtin is an Anishinaabe word that means Calm Wind. My friend’s grandfather was one of the signatories to that very problematic Treaty 9 and when it was his turn to add his name to the document, the Indian Agent heard him say “nothing.” With that one act, a name that was given in ceremony, one that would have connected her grandfather to his community, identified his character and attributes in stories and painted a beautiful image full of meaning and beauty, was reduced, literally, to Nothing.

The only appropriate way to respond to the narrative of the state whilst celebrating 150 years of genocide – the only way you can do it without losing your mind – is with a single-line press release reading, “Indigenous people are normal people deserving of the same respect afforded to anyone else and the recognition of their inherent rights – but they are rarely given that due to the machinations of settler colonialism.”

So I use the night to count how many different ways I can find to say that I am a human being, I am Indigenous and I am still here.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler says Canada’s 150th birthday is not a cause for celebration for many of the country’s Indigenous people.

In a statement released on Friday, Fiddler said while much of Canada has prospered since Confederation, most First Nation communities remain impoverished, under-educated and its people continue to suffer.

Fiddler’s full statement follows:

“Canada will celebrate 150 years of Confederation this weekend, but for many Indigenous people there is no cause for celebration. This country has prospered, but our First Nation communities remain impoverished; our youth are denied their rights to education, and our people continue to suffer.

"The government of Canada wastes millions of dollars fighting legal battles to deny justice to our people through the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the Sixties Scoop class action, the St. Anne’s Indian Residential School hearings, and took no position on joint slate of recommendations put to the jury at the Seven Youth Inquest into the deaths of our students in Thunder Bay. The landmark Tribunal ruling in January 2016 found that First Nations are discriminated against in the delivery of child welfare services. But instead of complying with the order, the federal government continues to fight the decision in court.

"This government has made strong commitments to healing and reconciliation, and we are disheartened this is not reflected in the actions of its lawyers and bureaucrats.

"It is unacceptable for the Prime Minister to blame Indigenous communities for the failures of his government, and those before it, in the delivery of services to our communities. Our leaders have always accepted the responsibility for the wellbeing of their communities, but it’s Ottawa that holds the purse strings.

"The prime minister’s suggestion that our leaders have failed to lead or articulate their needs is incorrect and insulting. We have presented countless proposals to improve the delivery of services in our communities – the majority of which are ignored or denied for what Ottawa often claims is a lack of funding. For example, prior to the recent suicide crisis in Wapekeka, leadership identified at-risk youth and submitted a compressive suicide prevention strategy to Health Canada. It was denied by the bureaucracy because it came at an ‘awkward time’ in the funding cycle.

"Similarly, the prime minister’s claim that Indigenous communities don't have the capacity to use the money he’s prepared to provide is condescending and incompatible with his message of reconciliation. How can our communities develop capacity when our federal Treaty partner refuses to collaborate with us on a nation-to-nation basis?

"NAN First Nations know the services and support they need, and we have institutions in place to articulate and address these needs. We are more than ready to develop and control our own programs and services. Where there are gaps in capacity, it is the result of discriminatory under-funding by Ottawa.

"First Nations aren’t failing, the government of Canada is.

"Looking back on the past 150 years it is obvious that much of Canada’s history is a fabrication, written by European settlers celebrating the colonization of land inhabited for centuries by our ancestors. Indigenous Peoples were the first to govern this land, long before Confederation. They were self-determining Nations with distinct cultures, languages, laws, traditions and a unique understanding of our land and environment.

"This government has missed a great opportunity to confront its colonial past and the injustices inflicted on our people. If Ottawa was serious about its relationship with Indigenous Peoples, it should have included a national effort to promote reconciliation during this sesquicentennial.

This story is part of a series from CBC North looking at Canada 150 through the eyes of northern families.

Larry Audlaluk was two years old when he and his family were uprooted from their home in Inukjuak, Que., and dropped off 2,000 kilometres away, on Ellesmere Island.

They are High Arctic exiles; part of a group of 87 Inuit who, in 1953 and 1955, were persuaded by the Canadian government to leave their homes with promises of better hunting and the option to return to Inukjuak in two years.

But promises were broken, and Inuit were forced to stay and form the communities of Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay.

Audlaluk says the government's relocation plan was billed as an opportunity for Inuit of northern Quebec to live more traditional lives in the High Arctic.

But there were underlying motivations, such as stopping Greenlandic hunters who were poaching polar bears, and exerting Canadian sovereignty.

"It was the time of the Cold War, and Americans were getting a little bit too close," says Audlaluk. "They wanted a civilian component up here."

The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians have called for calm in regards to a recent demonstration on Parliament Hill by Indigenous people. AIAI says it prays the situation remains peaceful.

On June 28, an attempt to raise a tipi on the Hill became heated with several arrests made. The tipi installation was part of a ceremony to bring attention to the ongoing plight of Indigenous peoples in light of the upcoming Canada Day 150 celebrations

“The mood escalated with the arrival of the RCMP who began to handcuff some of the youth,” reads a press statement from AIAI, “and would not allow the tipi to be set up where originally planned on Parliament Hill. The youth arrested were later released and were able to rejoin the group, but the RCMP barricaded access to Parliament Hill.”

The purpose of the demonstration was to create an awareness that while Canada celebrates 150 years, to the Indigenous people it is a mark of 150 years of oppression, discrimination and ignorance. Their only wish is to educate the public on what has happened behind Canada’s flag and what continues to go on today.

“We applaud the leadership of our youth who are once again at the forefront showing us the way, and implore all Canadians to listen to their message and consider the meaning of Canada Day 150 from a different perspective,” said Grand Chief Joel Abram.

“Reconciliation begins with understanding, and understanding begins with listening with open minds and hearts. Indigenous peoples in this country are not in the mood to celebrate their own genocide on July 1st, and people need to hear that.”

AIAI said it supports the youth’s peaceful efforts and will continue to do so.

Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day did show up to the demonstration yesterday evening. He too released a statement today on the Canada Day 150 celebrations occurring on July 1.

For First Nations in Ontario, the 150th anniversary of Confederation is little cause for celebration, as it represents 150 years of assimilation, genocide, neglect and marginalization, reads part of that statement.

Victoria, BC - Oh! (Decolonize) Canada 150

**This event is being held on the the unceded land of the Lekwungen speaking people now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.** In answer to Idle No More's Unsettling Canada 150 call for a national day of action ( see posted below) in honour of the late Secwepemc leader Arthur Manuel, in support of Indigenous self-determination over lands, territories and resources and celebration of the pride and resiliency of indigenous peoples please come commemorate 150+ years of indigenous resistance to Canadian colonialism! At this D150 counter-celebration event, we will gather in a good way, July 1st at 4 pm at the Mungo Martin House on the grounds of the Royal BC Museum and will proceed from there in the spirit of peaceful and respectful witness, unity and resistance to the scourges of colonialism; in honour of indigenous lands and cultures; and solidarity with indigenous resurgence, culture and language revitalization! Share the songs, stories, bring the drums, food for a picnic and join the Circle! Come show your support of frontline First Nations communities in resisting on-going colonial/capitalist assaults on indigenous lands, lives and communities, standing up to Kinder Morgan, SiteC dam, LNG expansion and other destructive resource extraction industries on stolen land, without consent. Show support for the human rights of communities who continue to resist child apprehensions, systemic poverty, sexualized violence, missing and murdered women and lack of access to safe drinking water and traditional lands and resources. No environmental and indigenous justice, no reconciliation! This event, from 4- 11 pm, July 1st, will include: All-Nations Drum Circle and Round Dancing Open mic, story-telling, speakers Potluck Food-sharing, Food Not Bombs serving

The uncomfortable disparity between the idyllic vision of Canada celebrated Saturday and the lived realities of many in Indigenous communities was on sharp display in Toronto this afternoon.

A contingent of activists, as well as many Indigenous people who are simply angry at the state of the country, showed up to a Canada Day picnic hosted by Carolyn Bennett, federal minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, at the Spadina Museum.

They came from all over Canada to confront the minister about what they say is a government long on public relations and lofty promises, but short on anything resembling progressive policy change.

"We came to share our narratives and our point of view. And what we see all the time and consistently with the Liberal government is political rhetoric and photo opportunities," said Tori Cress.

"We're out here dispelling those myths that everything is OK in the Trudeau government ... because nothing is happening," she added.