Wasase author looking for a political crisis

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Taiaiake Alfred wants to start a movement to throw off the yoke of oppression wrapped around the neck of Indigenous people by colonial or settler politicians and the government of Canada.

Wasase is the Kanienkeha (Mohawk) word for the ancient war dance ceremony of unity, strength and commitment to action. And it's the name of the University of Victoria professor's new book Wasase: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom.

Wasase, said Alfred, connotes a warrior or someone with a warrior's spirit, and he wants warrior people to unite and change the way Indigenous people govern themselves and deal with governments in Canada.

Wasase: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom attempts to capture an attitude and a way of being in the world. It conveys the outline of a new movement for change among Indigenous peoples that is rooted in traditional philosophies and values.

Wasase draws from different social and political strategies to challenge the colonial or settler society's dominance over Indigenous people and land, and tries to alter the balance of political and economic power. The ultimate goal is to create new space for Indigenous people to be free and control their own destiny.

Alfred said he wrote the book from a place deep inside himself and asked the question, What is it to be a real Native or Indian?

Authentic culture is lacking or non-existence in mainstream Canadian society, said Alfred, and he is disappointed in what may be the loss forever of a true Native way if Indigenous people continue to rely on mainstream thinking and process and current political leadership.

"Submission and cooperation, which define politics as practiced by the current generation of Onkwehonwe politicians, are, I contend, morally, culturally, and politically indefensible and should be dismissed scornfully by any right-thinking person and certainly by any Onkewhonwe who still has dignity," writes Alfred in Wasase.

Onkwehonwe is a Mohawk word meaning the original people, referring to the first peoples of North America.

Alfred said he is looking for Indigenous people to rise up against the effects of colonization.

Alfred said "you must be committed to the truth at all costs."

Alfred uses the word warrior throughout Wasase and he says the term is often taken out of context.

"A warrior confronts colonialism with the truth in order to regenerate authenticity and recreate a life worth living and principles worth dying for. The struggle is to restore connections severed by the colonial machine. The victory is an integrated personality, a cohesive community, and the restoration of respectful and harmonious relationships."

"A warrior knows how to use words," said Alfred when describing the tools a modern warrior needs in order to bring about change and protect the interests of the people.

Wasase advocates political activism in order to bring the change Alfred sees as necessary to the survival of the true Indigenous way.

"The politics of contention, withdrawing consent from the colonial system, invoking a social movement that will draw non-Native society into the problems of Native people and force an awakening on the part of non-Native and Native people, so that there needs to be the development of an alternative form of government," said Alfred.

Wasase seeks to create a political crisis that will change the way Indigenous leaders deal with colonial government in order to develop a better system for Native people.

Alfred said Native people had to be pacified in the past to survive the colonial invasion or be wiped out, but now is the time to question this relationship and build a new system based on traditional Native values updated for life in current times.

Dr. Taiaiake Alfred is from Kahnawake, the Mohawk Nation located in the province of Quebec. He holds a PhD from Cornell University and he is a professor in the University of Victoria's Indigenous Governance Program. Alfred has authore two previous books, Heeding the Voices of Our Ancestors, and Peace, Power, Righteousness.