INDIGENOUS IDENTITY

The power and privilege of being Indigenous

VICKI GEORGE, AMBER BEDARD, SOFIA VITALIS AND KIM VAN DER WOERD

Since settlers came to Canada, Indigenous identities have been confronted, challenged and co-opted in order to assert claim, right and dominance over original peoples, who have been stewards of the land since time immemorial.

Canada often stands by the narrative that it was a new nation, built on notions of prosperity, plurality and inclusivity; but our history demonstrates dispossession, and the taking of Indigenous land, body and identity.

As the late Indigenous activist Sarah Robinson asserted, post-contact interactions between Indigenous Peoples and settlers in Canada were premised on Euro-Christian judgements and assumptions about the roles and identity of men and women. Robinson noted that, “the subjective has become truth, or what is perceived to be truth goes on to shape an emerging country’s ideology, institutions, legislation and the future.” These assumptions and narratives form the building blocks of policy and law that have silenced and subverted Indigenous identities into something that is palatable, consumable, extractable or erased entirely. This historical legacy continues today in public and private domain — we see the impact of these assumptions in workplaces, academia, institutions, on the street and in our own personal lives. We see this in reporting and research. Heather Krause at We all Count notes: “Without a direct relationship with the people of whose identity data you are collecting, we are replicating extraction, and likely oppression.... To use a set of names or categories that are developed by people without Indigenous heritage, is a continued co-opting of Indigenous identity.” Identity, and assumptions about identity, are complex and complicated, and there is not one clear path to navigate these tensions. Recognizing the complexity and diversity of Indigenous Peoples, identity looks different to each nation and individual. Simply, identity is who and what a person or thing is. Yet identity is deeply personal and there can be trauma and barriers attached to identifying as one way or another. Throughout history, Indigenous identity has been used as a commodity to tokenize, to divide, to misinterpret or reinterpret. Prior to contact, Indigenous Peoples tied their identity to land, cultural beliefs, kinship, water, animals and all creation. Settlers based identity on who they considered human and worthy of taking up space, often defined through patriarchy. This worldview results in an entirely different interpretation of what ‘land’ is and the relationship it should have with human beings. For Indigenous Peoples, identity has been highly visible within colonial systems, where the identity of whiteness has been conveniently invisible. An example of this is the implementation of “Indian Status,” which the Canadian government uses as a tool to classify, categorize and unilaterally decide who is legally “Indian” and who is not, according to Indigenous Foundations. This hyper visibility leads to othering and the further exploitation of identity by settler Canada.

For Indigenous Peoples, the ability to assert who we are has been taken away with colonialism and with the imposition of Eurocentric value and belief systems. We see this in many forms, like the changing of our names and the names of places if they could not be pronounced easily by the English and French tongue. The right to rename, extract and take away identity was premised on the need to assert and uphold dominance. The continued colonial need to civilize and tame was transmuted into structures

Kim van der Woerd is principal of Reciprocal Consulting Inc.

• ASHLEY DRODY

A photo taken by lawyer and advocate Jeffrey Nicholls, a columnist in this issue of Mákook pi Sélim • JEFFREY NICHOLLS

and oppressive systems. This can most tangibly be understood through the intricate web of policy and law created by the Indian Act.

THE INDIAN ACT

Since 1876, the Indian Act has divided and controlled Indigenous Peoples’ identities. Section 2(1) states that “Indian means a person who pursuant to the act is registered as an Indian or is entitled to be registered as an Indian.” The government sets out its requirements for “Indians” to prove their “Indianness.” There is no piece of legislation that similarly controls the identity of any other group of peoples in Canada. The Indian Act continues to divide Indigenous Peoples with colonial labels: Indian, Status Indian, Non-Status Indian, On-Reserve Indian, Off-reserve Indian, Indigenous, First Nations and Native people. The resulting division has manifested in many forms, including who has access to funding for healthcare and education, and who can live on reserve or in designated housing.

The Indian Act has had multifaceted impacts on Indigenous identity by dividing nations’ and communities’ identity through Indian Bands, which include a chief and council. Indigenous Peoples had their own laws and governance systems in place prior to European contact. Some are referred to as hereditary systems, unique to their respective identities. Today, Indian Act systems and hereditary systems are divided regarding land and governance.

The Indian Act has resulted in division amongst many Indigenous Peoples, nations and communities. The colonial damage extends to many Indigenous Peoples losing their “Indian” identity via legislation. The Indian Act was meant to assimilate Indigenous Peoples and rid them of their identity. It allowed colonizers and European settlers to remove Indians from their lands, and it laid the groundwork for colonial rule. Sadly, this reality continues today. As we have seen in recent news regarding unmarked gravesites at Indian Residential Schools, Canada is finally beginning to face its truthful legacy of genocide.

To complicate colonial labels further, section 35 of the constitution uses the colonial phrase Aboriginal peoples of Canada to refer to Indians, RECOGNIZING THE COMPLEXITY AND DIVERSITY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, IDENTITY LOOKS DIFFERENT TO EACH NATION AND INDIVIDUAL

TOP: Sofia Vitalis works with

Reciprocal Consulting Inc. • SUBMITTED

BELOW: Heather Krause is the founder

of We All Count • SUBMITTED Metis and Inuit. Today, Canada has begun incorporating the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which uses the term Indigenous.

EVOLUTION OF INDIGENOUS IDENTITY

Understanding this history allows us to fully understand the evolution of Indigenous identities, and the naming and renaming of those identities. We were called many things — “Savages,” “Indians,” “Injuns,” “Natives,” “Status,” “Non-status,” “Aboriginals” and now “Indigenous.” These names have been used as blanket terms to describe masses, and not through how we prefer to identify — through our own familial lines and nationhoods. This systemic pattern of naming and renaming has not afforded Indigenous Peoples equity. We enter spaces and systems at a disadvantage — of having to explain and defend who we are and our inherent rights (something white people do not have to do). This continues with the co-opting of Indigenous identity, with others speaking on behalf of or taking up space that should belong to Indigenous Peoples.

Today, we see this manifesting through “Pretendians:" people who falsely claim Indigenous heritage and ancestry. Today, there are non-Indigenous people in a number of sectors who use Indigenous identity for personal gain. This has impacted Indigenous Peoples, communities, institutions and businesses.

PRETENDIAN DAMAGE CONTROL

Through co-opting Indigenous identity, "Pretendians" take space, jobs, tenure positions, income, awards and funding from Indigenous Peoples. They have done this without the lived experiences of colonization, genocide and racism. They pretend that they know how Indigenous Peoples think and feel, with little to no consequence. They have earned the trust of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. They are frauds. They have set a bar of what success is for Indigenous Peoples, without the reality of lived experience, according to Ginger Gosnell-Myers, an Indigenous fellow at Simon Fraser University's Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue. "Pretendians" work with leaders and communities. They have been trusted with Indigenous creation stories, ways of knowing and being and research. When a "Pretendian" is discovered, the fallout with Indigenous Peoples and communities results in further colonial pain, trauma and injustice. Indigenous Peoples and leaders in Canada are in the early stages of exploring ways to mitigate the damage caused by these experiences, and are trying to find appropriate mechanisms and processes for identifying and resolving issues around the misuse of Indigenous identity. Indigenous leaders are clear in their conclusion — Indigenous Peoples must identify the process and path forward.

As Robinson put it: “If the truth about stories is that's all we are, every person is a character and an author in the chapter that we are sitting in. If our stories become history and we are history, then we can help make it better.”

Vicki George is associate director of the office of Indigenous strategic initiatives at the University of British Columbia. Amber Bedard, Sofia Vitalis and Kim van der Woerd are from Reciprocal Consulting Inc.

THEY PRETEND THAT THEY KNOW HOW INDIGENOUS PEOPLES THINK AND FEEL, WITH LITTLE TO NO CONSEQUENCE. THEY HAVE EARNED THE TRUST OF BOTH INDIGENOUS AND NON-INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. THEY ARE FRAUDS