Thank you to my friends for helping me build this on-going list: Tamara Smith, Claire Kreuger, Dani Driver, Jade Ivan, Nicole Strandlund, Michelle Sanderson, Dr. Valerie Mulholland, Dr. Michael Cappelo, Dr. Shauneen Pete, Steve Krause, Kate Hersberger, Sue Bland, Mary Muirhead, Jessica Gordon, Ron Cyr, Lorianne Edwards, Michael Koops, Bernadette, Andre Boutin-Maloney, Sandy Pinay-Schindler, Michele Schwab, and SherryAnn Thom.
A big shout-out to Shelagh Rogers and Amnesty International Saskatchewan for retweeting and joining the unsettling conversation.
Another big shout out to Jessica Gordon a local community member and one of Idle No More founders. Thank you for your leadership and for joining this conversation.
Over 150 "Unsettling" Things: An Unwieldy and Never-ending List
1.
Learn
your Treaty # or Peace and Friendship Treaty Name.
2.
Study a
Treaty Map of Canada.
3.
Read
any Treaty between First Nations and the British Crown (Peace and Friendship
and the Numbered Treaties).
4.
Read
the biography of Treaty Commissioner Alexander Morris http://www.otc.ca/bios/12
5.
Examine
the Pasqua Pictograph by Chief Ben Pasqua from Treaty 4 as show in Treaty
Essential Learnings published by the Saskatchewan Office of the Treaty
Commissioner or read this paper by Bob Beal http://www3.brandonu.ca/library/CJNS/27.1/05beal.pdf
6.
Listen
to testimony (at least three) from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of
Canada (TRC) http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3
7.
Consider
your own history of coming to Canada. Sue writes, “Most difficult for me
personally has been exploring, re-viewing my own family story and seeing how I
was brought up by loving, kind people who also believed that white people,
especially Anglo Saxon protestant white people were superior to other peoples.
Then to explore how deeply this was imprinted on me and see evidence of this
each day. Noticing is the first step to change.”
8.
Ask
your MLA his or her stand on Implementing Treaty.
9.
Ask
your MP his or her stand on Implementing Treaty.
10.
Examine
the symbolism on the Treaty Medallion.
11.
Listen
to First Nations leaders discuss Treaty responsibility (Check out Chiefs' Forum
on Treaty Implementation 2012 CD http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/10/dan-bellegarde-overview-of-forum.html)
12.
Talk to
someone who attended Treaty 1-11 Gathering in 2014 http://www.trcm.ca/wp-content/uploads/NTG-Poster-April-2014.pdf
13.
Attend
the 2015 Treaty 1-11 Gathering.
14.
Participate
in an "Unsettling" conversation.
15.
Take a
Treaty Walk in your home community http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/10/treaty-walks-for-kids_11.html
16.
Go to a
pow wow.
17.
Go to a
ceremony when invited.
18.
Read a
book like The Orenda or Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden or Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese and
consider the complexity of unsettling.
19.
Ask a
Kindergartener what it means to keep a promise, then apply that wisdom to
keeping treaty promises.
20.
Do
inventory on Treaty promises from your side of the handshake: have your Treaty
rights been met?
21.
Make a
list of Treaty promises which you have benefitted from.
22.
Consider
the impact of broken Treaty on those who were cheated.
23.
Make a
list of broken Treaty promises.
24.
Advocate
for First Nations content within curriculum.
25.
Consider
how you can help indigenize your school curriculum http://www.mfnerc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Section6_Decolonizing-Our-Practice-Indigenizing-Our-Teaching.pdf
26.
Walk in
a march.
27.
Show
solidarity with Treaty partners.
28.
Read a
good, recent article discussing racism in Canada (Winnipeg Free Press, Ottawa
Citizen, Regina Leader Post, Maclean's Magazine)
29.
Retweet,
Facebook, become an ally with Amnesty International Stolen Sisters http://www.amnesty.ca/our-work/issues/indigenous-peoples/no-more-stolen-sisters
30.
Research
Idle No More.
31.
Read a
good, local Thesis: Chauntel Baudu's Anti-Oppressive Education Through
English Language Arts: A Recollecting Journey or Tamara Smith's An
Unsettling Journey: White Settler Women Teaching Treaty in Saskatchewan.
32.
Join an
anti-racism coalition.
33.
Try
"The Blanket Exercise" from Kairos http://www.kairoscanada.org/dignity-rights/indigenous-rights/blanket-exercise/
34.
Contact
Prairie Valley School Division and order "Kitoskayiminawak Pikiskwewak:
Our Young People Speak -- The Holistic Edition".
35.
Thank
an Indigenous friend for sharing the land.
36.
Rethink
the building of Canada through the Treaty lens.
37.
Dream!
How could Treaty be fully implemented within my lifetime?
38.
Contact
Chief Acoose to see if you can contribute to Bringing the Treaty 4 Medal home http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/rare-treaty-four-medal-returns-to-sask-first-nations-1.2782061
39.
Raise
money to build memorial at Lebret Residential School.
40.
Attend
a memorial at a Residential School Cemetery.
41.
Attend
a feast or funeral when invited.
42.
Learn
about the Indian Act.
43.
Follow
activists on Twitter.
44.
Watch 8th Fire with Wab Kinew.
45.
Learn
basic tipi teachings.
46.
Consider
how Canada might change if Settler Descendants considered First Nations
peoples' as relatives.
47.
Consider
where you stand on stereotypes like Pocahontas and Indigenous Mascots http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/cowboys-and-indians-cheerleaders-photo-sparks-regina-furor-1.2574979
48.
Order
"100 Years of Loss: The Residential School System in Canada" free
from the Legacy of Hope Foundation www.legacyofhope.ca info@legacyofhope.ca
49.
Check
out Stephen Harper's apology: https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100015644/1100100015649
50.
Read
"So You've Just Decided You're Not Okay with Unbalanced Treaty
Implementation"
51.
Read
"So You've Just Found Out You're a Treaty Person"
52.
Learn
about the Royal Proclamation of 1763 http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/files/html/McKennaMcBride/royalproc1763.htm
53.
Attend
a SAFE conference #safe2014 in Saskatchewan or join this Special Subject
Council https://sites.google.com/site/sasksafe/
54.
Check
out UofR Education initiatives http://issuu.com/urfacultyofed/docs/fall2012winter2013finalweb
55.
Read
Paulette Regan's Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools,
Truth Telling and Reconciliation in Canada.
56.
Consider
this quote by Regan (2010): "...without this unsettling, little will
change" (p.19).
57.
Consider
Settler mourning: http://astheworldburns.net/2015/01/02/death-to-settler-identity/ (Thanks Val!)
58.
Recognize that
naming was and still is part of the process of colonization. Be critical and
aware of the names of things around you. (Thanks, Tamara, and for the next one,
too.)
59.
Seek out historical
truths surrounding the names of things (streets, buildings, etc.) in your local
area. For example, if you live in Regina and/or have ever driven down Dewdney
Avenue, do you you know much about the history of Edgar Dewdney?
60.
Thanks for the
Tweet, Shelagh Rogers, “To help get to 100, here are a few. Follow
@CBC_Aboriginal, RT @GregoryScofield’s Name a Day #MMIW, Follow
@WitnessBlanket”
61.
See the Witness
Blanket or at least visit the website and watch the video and read the news
articles. (http://witnessblanket.ca/) (Thanks, Claire for ten strong Unsettling ideas!)
63.
Send a Have a Heart
Valentine to Prime Minister Harper (http://www.fncaringsociety.com/have-a-heart)
64.
Watch the Horizon
School Division's We Are All Treaty People video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HbAr5PC4pY)
66.
Read the Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King and Clearing the Plains by James Daschuk.
67.
Talk to an 8
year-old about the Columbus story and enjoy their complete disbelief that an
adult could make such colossal mistakes.
68.
Have a discussion
about the name of the Washington NFL football team and talk about
"honouring" aboriginal peoples with sports names.
69.
Follow the twitter
hashtag #treatyed.
70.
Have ten
conversations in which you refer to yourself as a settler (if applicable)...
throw in "unsettled" for extra points.
71.
Learn about White
Privilege (thanks Dani for the next three points, too). (https://www.isr.umich.edu/home/diversity/resources/white-privilege.pdf
72.
Look at a Treaty
monument and think about the story it is telling. http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/07/day-one-hundred-ninety-nine-treaty.html (See pictures of Treaty Four Monument at beginning and
end of Fort Qu’Appelle walking tour.)
73.
Learn about the
Medicine Wheel.
74.
Listen to an Elder.
75.
I think learning
about the land is really important. Spend time on the land. Build a
relationship with the land and learn from the land. Learn about the place names
before they were re-branded with colonial English or French names. What do the
original names tell us about the land we live on? (Thanks, Nicole for the next
three, too.)
76.
Read Keith Basso's
book Wisdom Sits in Places and talk
to Elders about the land...while on the land!
77.
LISTEN LISTEN
LISTEN. There is so much to learn from all of the amazing people around you.
Build a network of people and have conversations with them about Treaty
education and Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppressive practices.
78.
Look at your own
settler history (if you are a settler) and look at the privileges/opportunities
presented to your ancestors and yourself that were directly denied to others.
79.
Learn to name and
locate all reserves in Saskatchewan (Thanks, Bernadette)
80.
Connect with Human
Rights Activists at http://amnesty.ca/our-work/issues/indigenous-peoples (Thanks Amnesty Saskatchewan @aisaskfws)
81.
Work at being an
ally. Dr. Lynn Gehl's work is very helpful if you want to know more about what
it can mean to be an ally: http://www.lynngehl.com/ (Thanks Tamara for the next two points as well.)
82.
ALWAYS be open to
learning more. There are many amazing resources, whether it's people, books,
lectures, etc. Dr. Shauneen Pete once talked about accepting these
opportunities to learn as gifts. Be thankful for the gifts.
83.
Unsettling is a
journey and it doesn't necessarily have an "end point." Try to
respect that all people are at different places on their journey. In her
thesis, Susan Lang argues that we need to reframe the way we respond to others
who are at different places in their journey; reframing is the process of
“…finding the opportunity to support change, in any given situation, rather
than being part of the negativity. It involves the ability to shed the common
reaction of being offended, or being judgmental, towards someone else’s
ignorance or cultural inappropriateness” (p.114). http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/BVIV/TC-BVIV-3360.pdf
84.
Visit a blockade
(thanks Kate for the next six, too.)
85.
Read alternative
news.
86.
Make art.
87.
Start a discussion
about Treaty.
88.
Start a discussion
group about Treaty.
89.
Attend speaking
opportunities in your community such as recently in Regina, Cindy Blackstock
from the University of Alberta, Executive Director, First Nations Child and
Family Caring. http://www.extension.ualberta.ca/research/professoriate-directory/blackstock/
90.
Read “Why Don’t You
People Just Get Over it? Here’s Why at… http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/.../Why-dont...
91.
Research
and learn about the “Trust fund” established at the time of the Treaties if you
think it is taxpayers who support FN endeavours. See A Short Note to Correct
Canadian Misconceptions About Indians Living Off “Taxpayer Monies”… http://westcoastnativenews.com/a-short-note-to-correct.../ (Thanks Sue).
92.
Watch,
collect, and share some of the incredible stories of settlers who were rescued
from and taught how to overcome the harsh realities of the Canadian winter. I
saw a documentary about some Icelanders. I believe they were essential left
adrift on Lake Winnipeg by those supposedly taking them to their new home. They
were, however, rescued. (Thanks, Mom!)
93.
Consider how the world has benefitted from First
Nations’ medicine (upwards to 80% of modern medicine). One story, at the end of
this blog post, tells of my Grandfather, as a little boy, being cured from ring
worm by a Medicine Man, Frank Bamagezik. http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/01/day-eighty-eight-all-nations-healing.html
94.
How
about “Participate in an Unsettling conversation” but NOT participate, because
you feel un-empowered? (Thanks, Steve, and for the next eighteen, too.)
95.
Challenge
yourself to see peoples’ differences and acknowledge them, appreciate them.
Understanding that not seeing differences is detrimental.
96.
Watch
Kevin Annett “UNREPENTANT”. A minister’s struggle with colonization and
residential school system in isolated northern community.
97.
Compare
and contrast Apartheid in Africa to First Nations history in Canada. Did you
know the system is based on the Canadian system? Or learn about Apartheid.
98.
Go to
the Saskatchewan Legislature and take the tour the government has on First
Nations people/chiefs. What does their perspective denote on Canada’s
(Saskatchewan/First Nations) peoples’ history? Perspectives?
99.
Acknowledge
that many Canadians have the view “What happened to Indians 100 years ago has
nothing to do with me, why should I pay for it, why don’t they get over it?”
(tie with 13 and 90).
100.
Understand
or discuss the “noble Indian” persona. Ask yourself who that serves.
101.
How did
early 50s and 60s media of the “savage” Indian contribute to today’s view of
First Nations people?
102.
Do
impoverished First Nations youth glorify rap and gangsta lifestyles? Why do you
think so?
103.
Discuss
how First Nations veterans were treated differently during and after the war.
104.
Compare
and contrast the rights and expectations of women and the First Nations people
prior to the 1960s. Try and include experiences from your parents/grandparents.
If you don’t know any, ask yourself, why?
105.
Ask,
can you put a price tag on sacred lands?
106.
What is
the historical significance of the phrase “to take the Indian out of the child?”
What ramifications has that had. (Wow, big question, I know, says Steve.)
107.
How did
the lawyers benefit from Residential School Claims? Is it right to profit off “genocide”?
108.
Where
did the term “genocide” originate?
109.
Unsettle
yourself by discussing the Steven Cumberfield/Alex Ternowetskiy murder of
Pamela George. Also the Marshall case.
110.
Is the
funding of schools on and off reserves fair?
111.
Why are
reserves funded differently? How is the process different?
112.
Ask
local colonial people to talk about when they were young. Compare to Indigenous
stories listened to in person or as collected in a book like Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan.
113.
Listen
to the stories of Indigenous peoples when they are followed in stores, renting
an apartment, speaking to police, in school as the only brown face, applying
and interviewing for a job, having their children enter competitive sports;
then, share these stories with other settlers. (Thank you Jessica Gordon for
this and the next three points.)
114.
Help
the Indigenous peoples of the territory find/record/protect their sacred sites
and traditional areas of ceremony, harvesting, gathering and hunting.
115.
Know
the difference between written text and the spirit and intent of Treaty. Hear
the oral history of the negotiations from Indigenous and Elders.
116.
Compare
residential schools to today’s foster care and child protection system and keep
in mind that poverty doesn’t equal neglect. Remember the effects of
colonization.
117.
Consider
the Justice System. How it keeps Indians in it. Why are so many young Indian
men getting Dangerous Offender designation on the prairies while rapists,
molesters and murders in other provinces aren’t? (Thanks Ron for this and the
next three Points)
118.
Why is
the IRS School education process BS? How was it only good PR for the
government?
119.
In
Foster Care, why do they take the kids instead of structuring a process to keep
families together?
120.
Ron Cyr
says racism is alive and well in Saskatchewan, individually and
institutionally. What is your experience with racism?
121.
Explore
delays and lack of response from NIHB on repairs to medical equipment. (Thanks,
Lorianne)
122.
Consider
the latest report from CBC about how First Nations people are receiving
substandard Healthcare (Thanks Michael). http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.2942644
123.
Wear a
shirt with four samples of fleshtone “Unlearn” (thanks Andre and for the next
three points too). http://www.unlearn.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=16
124.
Research
the Blackfoot influence on the work of Abraham Maslow. Look at the 12 part
presentation of the Itsinikssiistsi Project research by Ki’naksaapo’p (Narcisse
Blood) and Akayo’kaki (Ryan Heavy Head) which tells the story of the Blackfoot
influence on Maslow. http://blackfootdigitallibrary.com/en/asset/blackfoot-influence-abraham-maslow,-presented-narcisse-blood-and-ryan-heavy-head-university-mo
125.
Watch “One
Big Hapa Family” which Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival artistic
director Healther Keung says is “one of the most thorough, fun and open-ended
pieces I’ve seen about how young people perceive their mixed-race identities”. http://s410571204.onlinehome.us/One_Big_Hapa_Family/Welcome.html
126.
Watch “Between:
Living in the Hyphen” by Anne Marie Nakagawa which “examines what it means to have
a background of mixed ancestries that cannot be easily categorized… offers a
provactive glimpse of what the future holds: a departure from hyphenated names
towards a celebration of fluidity and being mixed.” https://www.nfb.ca/film/between_living_in_the_hyphen/
127.
Ask Dr.
Valerie Mulholland about the Kitchen Table Pedagogy which she learned about
from Russell Fayant.
128.
First
Nations children have a right to the same health care services as any other
child in Canada. Check out http://www.fncaringsociety.com/jordans-principle
(Thanks Sandy for this and the next point.)
129.
Follow cases
like Dr. Cindy Blackstock taking the federal government to the Supreme Court of
Canada for racist treatment and underfunding of First Nations children’s
services.
130.
Check
out 7 Free Ways to Make a Difference http://www.fncaringsociety.com/7-free-ways-make-difference
131.
Examine
the protests that are going on, such as tar sands, mineral rights, land in
northern Sask. (Thanks, Michele for this and the next three points)
132.
Compare
protests today with Oka from 1990 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oka_Crisis
133.
Tour
and explore FNUC (First Nations University of Canada). Understand their programs
and courses are for everyone, shared, the original intent of Treaties. http://fnuniv.ca/
134.
Seek
out a First Nations role model, display posters and watch interviews. In
Balcarres, we have ours on a YouTube channel.
135.
Tour
and explore the All Nations Healing Hospital in Fort Qu’Appelle and consider
how this Indigenous lead institution is honouring Treaty. http://www.fortquappelle.com/anhh.html
136.
Support
and care for elders when they lose their short term memory and sometimes find
themselves reliving long term memories from residential school days. Try to
understand what they went through, way back then and even still happening
today. We need to be the change we want to see. It’s not easy, but one day
everyone will live in harmony. (Thank you, SherryAnn for your support of elders.)
137.
Go
Forth and Be Awkward in these Unsettling Times. (Sheena) Expect to be sometimes uncomfortable.
138.
Consider
“unsettling” Action Research with the McDowell Foundation for Research into
Teaching.
139.
Use the
Action Research cycle of questioning, acting, reflecting over and over as you
unsettle your practice.
140.
Support
Indigenous leadership within our Canadian institutions.
141.
Practice
hand shaking when entering a room or welcoming a guest into a room in honour of
the Treaty Handshake.
142.
Whisper
a confession of your privilege, identity, activism as a “liberal white girl”
and consider the cost, the choice, the privilege of choosing the cost.
143.
If you
are a settler descendant, acknowledge your own sacred teachings and cultural
ways of being and find bridges of deep connection to Indigenous sacred
teachings and cultural ways of being.
144.
Problematize
standardized testing.
145.
Watch
CBC program “Up Where We Belong” starring Buffy Sainte Marie. Consider her
monologue on “guilt and bitterness”. Here she has used it for her Cradleboard
Project http://www.cradleboard.org/curriculum/powwow/supplements/guilt.html
146.
Support
acts of cultural resurgence including language classes, storytelling, art,
drama, ceremony, teachings etc.
147.
Read “Tips
for Teacher Resurgence, Idle No More Style” http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2013/03/tips-for-teacher-resurgence-idle-no.html
148.
Watch Blue Eyes Brown Eyes with Jane Elliott. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQAmdZvKf6M
149.
Confess
the temptation of being a bully, Lady Bountiful and self-white-tiousness in the
name of anti-racism. (Sheena)
150.
Look at
the land you live on through “unploughed eyes”. As a child I used to wonder,
who were these people who walked this land? (Sheena)
151.
Listen
to an Indigenous women tell about her children’s experiences in education
(thank you Michelle for the next six too).
152.
Listen
for the threads of outsider status, racism and colonialism in education.
153.
Ask
whether First Nations students and families feel welcomed in their classrooms,
in their schools, then think about ways to improve that relationship.
154.
Go
watch a First Nation student’s hockey game.
155.
Find
out about etiquette at round dances and pow wows or ceremonies in the community
and show up (accept an invitation or ask if you need an invitation). Bring your
blanket, shake hands and sit with a family from your school.
156.
Have
separate engagement meetings with First Nations families or school community
council meetings so that their voices and concerns aren’t lost amongst the
loud, priviledged, and often white families.
157.
Sit
with First Nations families and LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN. Don’t redirect, and
say, “I’m not sure that’s true.” Think, this is their thoughts, feelings and
knowledge, and it’s a gift. What you do with it, is your work.
158.
Make a
feast bag complete with bowls with lids, utensils, plastic bags.
159.
Practice
wearing a long skirt to pow wows, feasts, and other sacred events.
160.
Take
off glasses and jewelry during prayer as a sign of respect.
161.
Take
soup, chilli, buns, or whatever your specialty to a feast, wake, or funeral.
162.
Consider
these two questions from University of Regina Professors Dr. Shauneen Pete and
Dr. Michael Cappelo presented at the SAFE 2014 Conference Keynote address in
Regina:
a.
What do
you need to do to begin to accept the gifts that First Nations and Metis people
offer you?
b.
How
will you let those gifts change your assumptions about anti-racism work?
