You're married, not Mohawk

Page 10

Not long ago, I read in a Native newspaper a brief biography of someone I have known for going on two decades now. For most of those two decades, this Torontonian had identified herself as being white, with a mild interest in Native issues. More recently, I was surprised to learn that since she married a Native gentleman, and had a child by him, she was now referring to herself specifically as an Anishnawbe-qua, an Ojibway woman. Suddenly out of nowhere, she has a completely different ancestry.

You know, you hear in the news all the time about scientists experimenting with genes and DNA swapping, but you never think it will come into your own neck of the woods. Or maybe I just shouldn't have taken her to that Billy Jack Film Festival in he '80s. Or that dammed Dances with Wolves film again!

Seriously, this is a delicate topic to explore, one that could get me in a lot of trouble, depending on who reads this and where they stand in the minefield I call spousal cultural appropriation, otherwise known as SCA. I refer, of course, to individuals who have married people of Aboriginal persuasion, and now repeatedly identify themselves as having the same status (no pun intended) in that same community.

In many cases, this practice is referred to rather vividly as being "Indian by ejaculation." God knows I've done my share of passing out citizenship. It sure beats the hell out of all the Bill C-31 paperwork and that pesky lineage requirement.

And to be fair to the other sex, I know of a similar case in Six Nations involving an Iroquois woman who took her non-Native husband to several clan mothers in a desperate attempt to get him adopted into one of the nations. Eventually she was successful and he now successfully identifies with one of those nations.

Technically, this is not all that new of an idea. Marrying somebody for her nationality has been an age-old immigration scam for years. I was once asked by a friend to marry a woman from Czechoslovakia so she could become Canadian. Needless to say, I didn't jump at the chance or I'd be writing this from jail.

But of the women I have been lucky enough to date over the years, and those exceptional ones I ended up having special relationships with, I can't help wondering if my "familiarity" with them makes me a member of the Filipino, Irish, Delaware, Cree, Puerto Rican, Micmac-and this was just my Vegas vacation last year-nations and proud representative of their cultures?

More recently, I have been blessed to find myself living with a marvelous Mohawk woman and though I have great respect and honor for her people and culture, I haven't as yet felt the urge to "become" Mohawk. My lacrosse skills are just not up to it yet. So that's what puzzles me about the SCA issue. At no time yet during my current or past relationships did the thought of ever wanting to call myself a Mohawk man, Filipino man, or the host of other cultures I was privileged to briefly be exposed to, occur. Granted I have Metis belt, a Micmac sweater and a Salish painting, but I drew the line there.

I don't believe it's like becoming Jewish where you can take certain classes, get something snipped off, and then convert, and finally be legitimately called a Jew. I am curious at what it currently takes for a non-Native to call themselves a Native person. Must you take Ojibway 101? Show a marked preference for French braiding your hair? Learn how to kill a deer with a corkscrew? Make bannock with your elbows? Maybe we've allowed it to be too easy to join the Aboriginal bandwagon. Perhaps if we snipped something off, the interest might wane.

In the end, I am somewhat mystified by this constant fascination and obsession many non-Natives have with our culture. I just find it a little odd and slightly annoying that thousands of years of culture and tradition can be appropriated for the cost of marriage licence (if that).

Perhaps it's the fact we have one of the highest suicide rates in the civilized world and I do use that term loosely). Maybe it's the fact our life expectancy is substantially lower than the national average. It could be the constant turmoil with the various levels of government over land claims, hunting/fishing rights, reparations, etc. Possibly it's that the standard of living on most reserves is a national disgrace. Conceivably it's the fact that in the next 30 years, of the over 50 Aboriginal languages once spoken in this country, it's estimated only three will be left-for possibly another 30 or 40 years.

But hey, we got cool hair and funky powwows.