Look who's helping who clear up the "mess"

Page 5

Dear Editor:

The Windspeaker article "Who's hurting, who's helping, who's cashing in?" reminded me of an Indiana Jones scene. You remember when Indy had to choose which chalice was the one Christ used in the Last Supper and the old soldier told him "choose wisely." Well, the Holy Grail was chosen wisely by Indy, but most of us don't always choose wisely, especially when it comes to word choices.

The unwise word choices I'm speaking about are in this article, like "vehement anti-Catholic church article," "only seeking out [Cheryl's] own culture is saving her," "[Cheryl] blames the government and churches," and lastly, "doesn't blame her parents for her loss of culture and language." The word choices in this article are a gross misrepresentation of my life and who I am, so I am here to rectify and reiterate further on this discourse.

I'll start with a narrative about my grandfather Kakinawapamiht. My grandfather spoke many languages-Cree, Saulteaux, Lakota and English. He could read and write in English and he used Cree syllabics because he did not want the Indian agent to know he was writing to John Tootoosis about the pass and permit systems. My grandfather was a political maverick along with those big guns in the early years of Indigenous resistance. The oral history of Kawacatoose First Nation relates many narratives about the meetings that were arranged on this reserve in support of Indigenous resistance. These Indigenous people risked going against the government and the probability of arrest and jail time. They were not allowed to voice Indigenous concerns if those concerns went against the status quo, namely the state or government. But that did not stop them or stop my grandfather. They wanted things to be better for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren so they continued with their resistance. Those great people were resisting oppression of Indigenous ways of knowing and living.

"Indigenous Being (worldview and life-world)," a term borrowed from an Indigenous scholar, was assaulted by foreign institutions and in documents-the Canadian government, the Indian Act, Indian policy, the creation of reserves, the written versions of the treaties, Christian religious denominations, and residential schools.

These foreign institutions and documents are devices of colonialism. Colonialism is the forced political, economic, cultural, and social institutions of the colonizer upon the nation of another and the destruction of Indigenous life. My grandfather, Kakinawapamiht, was not anti-Canadian because he did not believe in the pass and permit systems that were forced upon Indigenous peoples; rather, he was resisting colonialism. So if anything, Kakinawapamiht was anti-colonial. My point being is I am not anti-Catholic because I disagree with Catholicism and residential schools. These foreign institutions were forced upon Indigenous peoples so like my grandfather, I am anti-colonial.

Catholicism and residential schools are meant to oppress Indigenous Being and that is what I will not tolerate or stand quietly on the roadside and let anyone perpetuate colonialism within my community or to the entire Indigenous populace. In addition, my vehemence stems from the fact that my article was the first time I faced what happened to me as a child. More importantly, I want those poor Indigenous children who attended residential schools, or those who faced ethnic intolerance like me, to know it's okay to talk about our bad childhood experiences and that it was not our fault those things happened.

My second point goes to the statement that "only seeking out her own culture is saving her". Well...I am a 39-year-old mother of eight and soon to be a Kookum in September. My children all have the same father and I've lived with the same man for the past 24 years. I never had an alcohol or drug problem (never did it for a living anyway), I don't gamble (don't even go to the bingo), and I don't smoke cigarettes. My life is fre of addictions and I never used addictions as an excuse for my bad childhood experiences. I am a third-year Indian studies major and hopefully after I've completed my biology this spring, I will be allowed to enter the honors program at the University of Regina. I hope to get my masters and PhD in Indian studies in the near future. For recreation and enjoyment I do quillwork, beading, play hockey, golf, and teach my younger kids the Indigenous version of history. We have termed it "brown Canadian history." They learn about their many grandmothers and grandfathers, Big Bear, the unjust hanging of Wandering Spirit, the trouble of 1885, Almighty Voice, and we will be starting on the oral history of the treaties very soon. I have listened countless times to the many narratives that the older people speak about, like our creation stories, the lives of our ancestors, the life histories of the narrator, and so on. I do this to understand my place in the universe and some day I hope to pass this information on to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Lastly, I participate in tribal ceremonies and believe in Indigenous ways of knowing...now that you know the most important aspects of my life, I would like to ask this question: Does my life look like it needs saving? Not! Enough said about that.

My third point goes to "she blames the government and the churches." If your readers would re-read my article, I stated the genocide my parents faced was and is the responsibility of the government and the churches. To use the word blame puts me in an accusatory position of an unhealthy individual who has yet to deal with her issues. But the word responsibility tells the world that cultural genocide and spiritual exile (borrowed terms from the same scholar as stated earlier) is at the doorstep of the federal government and the churches. In addition, blame is a childish word like pointing your finger at someone and saying, "he did it first!" Let's get real here. As adults in situtions we are responsible for the outcome of the events of our lives. Furthermore, responsibility goes so rightly with the crimes that were perpetrated by those nuns and priests, and the genocidal actions of the government and the churches are crimes against humanity.

My last point goes to this, "Cheryl said she doesn't blame her parents for her loss of culture and language." Bad word choice. Loss implicitly implies Indigenous peoples were careless or absentminded with their culture/language and misplaced them along the bush or roadside. This is not so. Our cultures and languages were stolen by the genocidal actions of the federal government and those Christian religious orders. Stolen not lost. . . there's a huge difference between those two words.

In conclusion, I hope I've cleared up this mess of unwisely chosen words. I am not anti-Catholic, only anti-colonial. I do not need saving; save that for the unfortunate people of the world. I am beyond childish word games that blame others but I do see the need to single out the responsibility of the government and the churches for their genocidal actions. Those genocidal actions stole Indigenous paradigms and we have to relearn our Indigenous ways of knowing and living amidst the taint of foreign institutions and values. Choose wisely people.

Cheryl Ewenin