Injustice at Home and Abroad: Holding Multiple Truths at Once
The Continued Urgency of Indigenous Sovereignty, Land, and Freedom
Hi friends,
I want to kick off this month’s newsletter by acknowledging that it’s a heavy time in the world. But saying that feels a bit like the now overused “we are in unprecedented times” refrain. After all, when has it not felt heavy in the last couple of years? And even before then, who did it not feel heavy for?
As the headlines fill our feeds and our conversations with news about the invasion of Ukraine and the deplorable display of power by Russia, I want to challenge us not to forget about what’s been happening right here in our own backyards. As we begin to open up our borders to refugees who are in need of our support, care, and solidarity, it’s imperative that we continue to practice holding multiple truths at once. It’s imperative that we think about whose land we are on and the history of our place here as we open borders, controlling who stays and who must go.
At the end of May 2021, those of us who live in what we now know as “Canada” were rocked by the news that 215 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School were discovered in Kamloops, British Columbia on the lands of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation.
Since then, we’ve been hit by many more horrific numbers.
On June 4, 2021, 104 potential graves had been located at the Brandon Indian Residential School in Brandon, Manitoba on the lands of the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.
On June 25, 2021, findings from a preliminary survey indicated that as many as 751 unmarked graves were near the former site of Marieval Indian Residential School in Marieval, Saskatchewan on the lands of Cowessess First Nation.
On June 30, 2021, 182 unmarked grave sites were identified in Cranbrook, British Columbia at the site near the former St. Eugene's Mission Residential School on the lands of Ktunaxa Nation.
On July 12, 2021, at least 160 unmarked graves were located on the grounds of the former Kuper Island Indian Industrial School, off Vancouver Island on the lands of the Penelakut First Nation.
On January 25, 2022, Williams Lake First Nation announced finding 93 unmarked graves at the St. Joseph Mission Residential School.
On February 15, 2022, 42 potential unmarked graves were found around Fort Pelley and another 12 on the former grounds of St. Philip’s Indian Residential School in Kamsack, Saskatchewan on the lands of the Keeseekoose First Nation.
On March 1, 2022, 169 potential unmarked graves were found on the former Grouard Mission residential school near Edmonton, Alberta on the lands of the Kapawe’no First Nation.
That’s just what’s been found in the last 10 months. There have been more unmarked graves found in previous years with a total of 2,156 graves. And that number will only grow with some ~20 more investigations still underway.
Are you still with me? Or have I lost you in the enumeration of dates and statistics?
When the news about the unmarked graves in Kamloops first hit the news last year, there was an undeniable shift in conversations around reconciliation between Indigenous communities and settlers on this land, and an urgency to act in solidarity for Indigenous sovereignty, land, and freedom.
Yet as the months roll by, as the numbers continue to pile on, and as new developments around the world take precedence in the media, that initial interest, outrage, and commitment to solidarity with Indigenous communities are no longer as palpable. I’m afraid that we’ve become desensitized, distracted, disengaged.
But it is nevertheless as urgent. It has always been urgent.
For you dear readers who may not be based in Canada and who might not be familiar with this country’s colonial legacy, you should know that between the late 1800s to the 1900s, the Government of Canada forced more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children to attend residential schools as part of the solution to “The Indian Problem”. The government worked to systematically assimilate Indigenous people into the Euro-Canadian culture in what amounted to cultural genocide. These children were forcibly separated from their families, stripped of their languages and culture, and subjected to psychological, physical, and sexual abuse.
Thousands died while attending these institutions; the bodies of many we are now just uncovering. Those who survived continue to suffer immense trauma from the experience and are continually retraumatized by recent news and the ongoing violence by the colonial government.
Reconciliation Requires Action
I share this with you as a reminder of the historic injustices that continue to play out to this day and the ways in which we continue to uphold these systems. I share this with you so as not to forget the injustices that have occurred and continue to occur on this land. I share this with you as a firm but gentle push towards action.
Learning about and understanding Indigenous history in what we now know as “Canada” has been a journey for me, and one that I’ve only just begun. Like many Canadians, I did not learn about Indigenous history in school. That part of our history was very deliberately hidden from us. It’s only thanks to Indigenous community leaders and other racialized activists that I’ve come to understand my role and responsibility as an immigrant settler.
At the beginning of this year, I shared a new project with you called I Was Wrong(ed), a decolonizing space where I acknowledge, reflect on, and learn from my failures as it relates to social justice and anti-oppression. The first piece I’ve written is about the first time I ever performed a land acknowledgment. And it was very much that: a performance without any knowledge of the history I was referencing or action to follow it up.
It’s not a story I’m proud of, but it is a story that’s true.
This experience was a spark that jump-started my decolonization journey — this journey of unlearning the many narratives, tools, and practices that colonization and white supremacy have ingrained within me through my formal education in the public school system and academia, mainstream media, and other major influences and institutions.
I share it with you here today to show you that the journey is long and convoluted and challenging. I share it also as a way to remind you that you will likely make mistakes on this path. I urge you to listen to the information that is being shared with you when you do make these mistakes. That is what it means to be an ally; that is what it means to act in solidarity.
As Jesse Wente so eloquently put it:
“How do you be a better ally? By listening instead of talking. By learning. By making space not taking it. By humbling yourself and acknowledging the limits of your understanding and empathy. By understanding your role in the movement, as well as the role you may have had in what caused the movement to begin with.”
May we commit ourselves to exactly that.
With love and in solidarity,
Justine
Additional resources on Indigenous Allyship
Dive into Living Hyphen’s Indigenous Allyship resources, a dedicated resource hub that is an ongoing work-in-progress.
Follow @xhopakelxhit, @indigenouspeoplesmovement, @indiginews, @torontoindigenousharmreduction, and @nanookfareal just to start!
Listen to Code Switch’s podcast on “Playing Pretendians” and “It’s Not Just About the Blood”.
Explore the National Film Board’s online collection of Indigenous-made films.
Do you have resources to share? Drop a line and share it with me so I can pass it along too!
What’s happening in my world:
I’m facilitating another virtual anti-racism writing course in May called Distances Within & Between Us through Living Hyphen. This four-week course aims to be a brave and reflective space where we can turn inwards to decolonize our minds, while also working towards actively disrupting systems of oppression. We’ll examine the complexities of our identities and how that impacts how we move through the world through writing prompts, storytelling exercises, and critical but caring conversations. I’d love for you to join me. Use the promo code 3DR for 15% off. Learn more and register here.
I just finished reading Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. The book tells the legacy of the Sackler family, who made and marketed the painkiller OxyContin that was the catalyst for the opioid crisis and that has killed countless of people around the world. It is a masterpiece of investigative journalism that carries with it such narrative force, it’s impossible not to get swept away. It is truly an epic story of a dynasty that has irreparably damaged our society by their endless greed and gross indifference to human suffering. I’ve been recommending it to everyone I talk to - which now includes you!
I hope it humble to mention when suggested a local UNODOC office set up inspired by book 150 years of betrayal and lack of trust by First Nations ofpolice was told not in charge of U.N. so perhaps local ballots to vote on issues as way to counteract problems with U.N structure a and vetoes as membership in U.N. csn be said dual by Indigenous and Canada both are members. Can there be an First Nations UNODOC office on Reservations UNODOC is United Nations Anti Crime Anti Corruption office and as U.N. Charter based either that or UNOPOL an option.
The UNIDRIP Indugenous recognition intiatiative could be more I see from your article that a U.N investigation into genocide perhaps from an independent First Batiins UNOPOL team would require building. Political parties have said emowerment of Indigdnous peoples in Northern Ontario is required. So I would like to hear your thoughts on tge independent banking system perhaos suppressed by corporations. A First Nations bank card abd independent banks which would be free from problems of inflation a pretext fir more genocide. I dui read about the issue if attempts to tax cigarettes on Mohawk land. From all the reports on missing and indigenous women and investigations demanded from NDP tge though is a UNOPOL investigation and U.N Monitors to investigate police violence which is an ongoing issue. Tye sane across U.S,A allocated with direct wire transactions through IRS tax offices and Canada Revenue Agency when individuals file taxes and direct deduction from sales tax at Walmarts. 600 billion us available from credit card companies so eniugh to build indigenous pesce keeping operations sent abroad abd also perhaps to ask why no mention if U.N 1492-2022 as in South Anerica do to existence of rubber possibi,ity if advanced civilization abd a United Nations was there.
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A talk show radio host says the shooting has roots in the exploitation of black people so then tge question arises of a nation built on interests of workers and how l
Police are put to use to control labour to enrich the rich. Also that UNODOC or UNOPOL of use in that tax eevdnue from Cleveland directed to to train UNOPOL monitors as falls under prevention if genocide as argument has root in exploitation of labour. With U.N Charter stereotypes if drug addiction hold less sway as poor areas not affluent portrayed as being near that.Also in the documentary Trial 4 a out an innocent black man on trial.
Also note how crimes of state such as C.I.A with its death squads from1949-1989 in tge same time frame were ignored. As with the book The American Injustice ststem in which Stare Bureau Investigators did not include either the state or C.I,A in investigation despite being about investigation of state crimes not individuals . The F.B.I might investigate an individual through the Serial Killer Task Force . Also the law books do have conspiracy listed in context of a group conspiring to committee a crime.