"The National Inquiry named the crisis genocide, moving beyond the language of culture to recognize a pattern of destruction enabled by both action and inaction. This naming matters because it demands a response proportional to the harm." If Canadians really thought this was a genocide, the police/justice system would have commenced arrests, charges, trials, sentences, and accountability. This hasn't happened. Why? Because this was a terrible, heinous time in our history but it doesn't rise to the level of true genocide.
We cannot talk about violence against Indigenous women without mentioning even once that the main perpetrators are Indigenous men. Avoiding naming the source of the violence only helps to ensure the pattern continues. And, if one wants to argue that Indigenous men are violent because of colonialism, then we're saying they're not responsible for what they do, unlike any other group in society. This is a form of soft racism - the soft bigotry of low expectations.
There seems to be this false binary belief that citizens of Indigenous nations have ether been "fully assimilated" into Canadian/British culture, or they are "fully protected".
Mysogyny and Androcentrism is built into Canadan/British worldviews and culture (and economic theories, and ....), so disenfranchising and dehumanizing women who don't merely conform to Anglosphere worldviews is part of the policy goals of the Canadian project.
Imposing the foreign ideology of Individualism is also part of the Canadian project, and to try to use Individualism to excuse the harm caused by Individualism is to miss the point entirely.
The person you were replying to also has a common Western misunderstanding of the difference between the terms homocide and genocide. This battle to impose Western ideologies exists within the ICC/ICJ and other fora, not only as part of ongoing Canadian settler-colonialism.
This issue is Huge for Canadians. The Truth and Reconciliation work must be carried through and concluded with genuine sincerity. This continual sweeping under the rug of real demands and needs of the First Nations is a true embarrassment for us all. Although I admit to not knowing enough, I believe that the Indian Act must first be abolished, and then from there, real self determination for First Nations can begin.
This piece was about ripping off Indigenous heritage by non-Indigenous: cultural appropriation. Disguised racism (euphemism: colonialism) discovered as a money-making endeavor.
Thank you for writing on this topic. Addressing indigenous rights and standing in society is the most important internal challenge facing Canadians right now. We must acknowledge the truth and move forward in reconciliation. Indeed, reconciliation is the only viable path forward, otherwise like our southern neighbours we will break apart because of the racist misogynist lies and privilege built into the foundations of our nation.
You mentioned that the Gladue principles haven't stopped the over-incarceration of Indigenous people. The federal numbers show just how bad it has gotten. Dr. Ivan Zinger, the Correctional Investigator, recently reported that Indigenous women now make up almost 50% of the federal female inmate population. That is despite representing only about 4% of women in Canada. It seems the justice system is still operating exactly how the colonial structures designed it to.
This is important for people, especially loyal/proud Canadians, to notice!
This incarceration rate doesn't indicate a failure of the Canadian system, but a reminder that the Canadian system continues to operate as designed. Folding all citizens of pre-existing nations into the Canadian body politic, eradicating what is described by the Greek word genos, is part of the design.
Contrary to those who believe things are magically fixed through the passage of time, the original policy goals are current -- actual systemic change is required, and not performances such as what we see out of the BC NDP governments (Passed a bill promising to change laws to conform with UNDRIP first of any jurisdiction in Canada, but has done nothing substantive on that policy).
MMIWG and the high incarceration rate of females isn't accidental, as in most pre-existing (meaning Indigenous) nations the jurisdiction for land/water/etc (what Europeans think of as "natural resources") fell to females. Disenfranchising women, and criminalizing them for any attempt to enforce the laws of this land, has been an ongoing Canadian project since the modern state of Canada was imposed on this land in 1867.
—
Interesting article that came into my feed around the same time this article did.
“The Achilles Heel of Canadian Good International Citizenship: Indigenous Diplomacies and State Responses in the Twentieth Century.” Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 13/3 (2007). 99-119. (With Andrew F. Cooper.)
"The National Inquiry named the crisis genocide, moving beyond the language of culture to recognize a pattern of destruction enabled by both action and inaction. This naming matters because it demands a response proportional to the harm." If Canadians really thought this was a genocide, the police/justice system would have commenced arrests, charges, trials, sentences, and accountability. This hasn't happened. Why? Because this was a terrible, heinous time in our history but it doesn't rise to the level of true genocide.
We cannot talk about violence against Indigenous women without mentioning even once that the main perpetrators are Indigenous men. Avoiding naming the source of the violence only helps to ensure the pattern continues. And, if one wants to argue that Indigenous men are violent because of colonialism, then we're saying they're not responsible for what they do, unlike any other group in society. This is a form of soft racism - the soft bigotry of low expectations.
Yes because the current process protected the men against the women
This is not really the issue.
There seems to be this false binary belief that citizens of Indigenous nations have ether been "fully assimilated" into Canadian/British culture, or they are "fully protected".
Mysogyny and Androcentrism is built into Canadan/British worldviews and culture (and economic theories, and ....), so disenfranchising and dehumanizing women who don't merely conform to Anglosphere worldviews is part of the policy goals of the Canadian project.
Imposing the foreign ideology of Individualism is also part of the Canadian project, and to try to use Individualism to excuse the harm caused by Individualism is to miss the point entirely.
The person you were replying to also has a common Western misunderstanding of the difference between the terms homocide and genocide. This battle to impose Western ideologies exists within the ICC/ICJ and other fora, not only as part of ongoing Canadian settler-colonialism.
https://r.flora.ca/p/i-am-not-my-body
This issue is Huge for Canadians. The Truth and Reconciliation work must be carried through and concluded with genuine sincerity. This continual sweeping under the rug of real demands and needs of the First Nations is a true embarrassment for us all. Although I admit to not knowing enough, I believe that the Indian Act must first be abolished, and then from there, real self determination for First Nations can begin.
Yes we need to stop holding them back with weird bureaucracy
See also my Substack post: https://johanna49.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/184902023?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fposts%2Fpublished
This piece was about ripping off Indigenous heritage by non-Indigenous: cultural appropriation. Disguised racism (euphemism: colonialism) discovered as a money-making endeavor.
It is a real problem despite not being discussed much online or outside of Indigenous discussions
Thank you for writing on this topic. Addressing indigenous rights and standing in society is the most important internal challenge facing Canadians right now. We must acknowledge the truth and move forward in reconciliation. Indeed, reconciliation is the only viable path forward, otherwise like our southern neighbours we will break apart because of the racist misogynist lies and privilege built into the foundations of our nation.
Thanks and much work needs to be done as sad as it sounds
Canada has not yet faced it racism, which is at the bottom of it.
If you want a commission into whether we need more haircuts, don't put barbers in charge.
The way our country is dealing with Indigenous Issues sometimes makes the USA and Australia look like a multicultural utopia in enough instances.
Not really. They do not have the protection. Why do you think the USA is in the racist mess of Trump and his action to expell diverse people?
You mentioned that the Gladue principles haven't stopped the over-incarceration of Indigenous people. The federal numbers show just how bad it has gotten. Dr. Ivan Zinger, the Correctional Investigator, recently reported that Indigenous women now make up almost 50% of the federal female inmate population. That is despite representing only about 4% of women in Canada. It seems the justice system is still operating exactly how the colonial structures designed it to.
This is important for people, especially loyal/proud Canadians, to notice!
This incarceration rate doesn't indicate a failure of the Canadian system, but a reminder that the Canadian system continues to operate as designed. Folding all citizens of pre-existing nations into the Canadian body politic, eradicating what is described by the Greek word genos, is part of the design.
Contrary to those who believe things are magically fixed through the passage of time, the original policy goals are current -- actual systemic change is required, and not performances such as what we see out of the BC NDP governments (Passed a bill promising to change laws to conform with UNDRIP first of any jurisdiction in Canada, but has done nothing substantive on that policy).
MMIWG and the high incarceration rate of females isn't accidental, as in most pre-existing (meaning Indigenous) nations the jurisdiction for land/water/etc (what Europeans think of as "natural resources") fell to females. Disenfranchising women, and criminalizing them for any attempt to enforce the laws of this land, has been an ongoing Canadian project since the modern state of Canada was imposed on this land in 1867.
—
Interesting article that came into my feed around the same time this article did.
“The Achilles Heel of Canadian Good International Citizenship: Indigenous Diplomacies and State Responses in the Twentieth Century.” Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 13/3 (2007). 99-119. (With Andrew F. Cooper.)
By Whitney Lackenbauer
https://www.academia.edu/222197/_The_Achilles_Heel_of_Canadian_Good_International_Citizenship_Indigenous_Diplomacies_and_State_Responses_in_the_Twentieth_Century_Canadian_Foreign_Policy_Journal_13_3_2007_99_119_With_Andrew_F_Cooper_?email_work_card=title
Jesus fucking Christ thanks for the update and it is a bigger problem than non-Indigenous people realize.