Living the Indigenous myth

Page 5

About a year-and-a-half ago, my Mohawk girlfriend and I, a fellow of proud Ojibway heritage, found ourselves in the history-rich halls of Europe, lecturing at a university deep in the heart of North-eastern Germany. Our talk dealt with issues about being Native (or Red Indian as we were often referred to), the propaganda versus the reality, how our two different nations viewed life, just to mention just a few of the thousands of Aboriginal topics discussed that day by an interested crowd.

Then this young lady, a student at this former communist university, put up her hand and asked a puzzling, though oddly naive question. It went something like "Do Indian women shave their legs and armpits like other North American women?" It was not the most anthropologically inquisitive question I have been asked, but unbeknownst to me the shaving of the lower extremities and armpits in Europe is a largely unexplored area of female hygiene and evidently this topic warranted some investigation as to its Aboriginal application.

Other than the obvious follicle-oriented aspect of the question, it presented a rather obvious example of the same issue that troubles the people in Canada. While Canadians were thousands of miles away in distance, but also language and culture, they were not that far away in perception- the myth of Pan-Indianism. As stated, this young German lady began her question with "Do Indian women...?", a common beginning for many Canadians, though First Nations/Native/Aboriginal/Indigenous might be substituted for Indian. There is a persistent belief that we are all one people. These are obviously people who have never compared a Blood with a Naskapi.

Somebody with a lot of time on their hands once estimated that within the borders of what is now referred to as Canada, there were over 50 distinct and separate languages and dialects, and distinct and separate cultures. So I began telling this woman, there is no answer to her question because technically there is no "Indian/First Nations/Aboriginal...", nor could we speak for them all. To us there was only the Cree, the Ojibway, the Salish, the Innu, the Shuswap, etc.

I find myself explaining this concept annoyingly frequently, not just in Europe, but here in Canada-at the Second Cup, Chapters, the bus station. The power of that single myth is incredible. When people ask me or the government or God, "What do First Nations people want?", that's a tough question to answer (but then I can't speak for God). Some of the Micmac want to catch lobster, some of the Cree want to stop flooding and logging of their territories, the Mohawk want the right to promote their own language, and I know bingo is in there somewhere.

That is why every time I see a newspaper article or news report talking about the plight of the Aboriginal people, I find myself screaming at the offending method of communication. "Which people? Be specific!" That is why I never watch television in public.

That is the power of myth. By the very definition of the word, they are wrong and incorrect. That is why we as Native people (see, I do it myself) prefer not to use the term myth when referring to the stories of our ancestors, as in "The myths and legends of our people." There is just something inherently wrong about starting a traditional story with "This is one of the myths that were passed down from our grandfathers..." Literally translated it means "This is a lie that was handed down by our grandfathers..."

The correct term preferred these days is teachings-as in "our teachings say..." It's certainly more pleasant and accurate because it recognizes the fact that most myths exist for a purpose. Once you put aside the "lie" aspect, there is usually some nugget of metaphor or message within the subtext. And in the Native (there I go again!) way, we like to accentuate the positive and reject the negative.

However, the word legend can also be used instead of myth or teachings, provided you have oral perission from a recognized Elder, or written permission from an Aboriginal academic (any nation will do), or the thumbs up from any Dene' named Ted.

And if you're still curious about whether Indian women shave their legs and armpits...you'll have to ask a woman because it's an arcane secret, conceived in antiquity and relegated to the chosen wise few.