OPINIONS

RECONCILIATION ON CAMPUS Land acknowledgments at the start of classes are still performative

Actions speak louder than words

MAYA BENINTESO // PEAK ASSOCIATE

Content warning: mentions of graphic violence towards Indigenous peoples in the second paragraph As another semester dawns upon us, it means another semester of empty words and abysmal attempts at reconciliation. The use of land acknowledgments, whether at the beginning or throughout the semester, lacks a key component: action.

While important, land acknowledgments are the bare minimum. In a world where Indigenous peoples lack clean drinking water, continue to end up missing or murdered, were confined and killed in residential schools, and comprise a disproportionate percentage of the foster care system, words uttered in a monotone fashion are purely performative. This chapter in Canada’s “dark history” is not closed — nor has it ever been — and SFU can do much better to act on Canada’s ongoing genocide.

It seems as if Canada’s “engaged university” continues to lack engagement with respect to reconciliation. In my experience, land acknowledgments are met with a sigh by some faculty members — as if acknowledging we are indeed on stolen land is a waste of their breath. The attitude towards land acknowledgments may be a contributing factor to why Indigenous peoples see these utterings as superficial. In the words of the Algonquin elder Claudette Commanda, land acknowledgements are simply “a brownie point on [the] Truth and Reconciliation Commission report card.” Land acknowledgments are just the beginning of the work. PHOTO: Adam Madojemu

Notably, the education system continually fails to address its colonial curriculum at every level. Education must expand its horizons beyond textbooks written by white cisgender heterosexual men with a Western lens. It often lacks Indigenous histories and perspectives but has been reinforced as “education.”

Students, like the rest of our society, should be learning from an Indigenous lens within post-secondary institutions. They would gain invaluable knowledge from people who can share history from their own experience, instead of a colonial perspective. On top of that, this would fulfill Call to Action 63, which suggests education should integrate Indigenous knowledge and history into its curriculum.

Faculty members need to be provided with the proper education in order to teach students on Indigenous ways of learning and knowledge. For instance, Indigenous knowledge has been recently consulted for matters pertaining to environmental protection. Faculty members can also invite Indigenous leaders and experts to share knowledge while retaining the integrity of their roots and paying them for their labour. Incorporating Indigenous knowledge, along with sincere land acknowledgments, is the bare minimum.

The world of academia has historically been, and continues to be, composed of cisgender white men and SFU is no exception. There is a white bias towards white men that exists in the world of academia, wherein these candidates seeking research opportunities receive a response at significantly higher rates than any other intersectional identity. This reinforces systemic barriers that marginalized communities face.

One way to combat this discrepancy is to add more diversity to educational institutions. In the Final Report of SFU’s Diversity Meter, a mere 3.7% of SFU’s faculty identified as Indigenous — a statistic which SFU claims is “proportionate” to the general population. However, according to the Government of Canada, 4.9% of Canada’s population identified as Indigenous as of 2020.

SFU’s inaction doesn’t mean you cannot participate in reconciliation. Though I’m not an Indigenous person, there are a myriad of ways in which one may support reconciliation and Indigenous peoples. Namely, you can start by educating yourself on Indigenous history, culture, languages, and ways of learning. If you truly want to make a significant impact, you may further organize a fundraising event for a charity that supports Indigenous peoples.

Reconciliation doesn’t end with teaching Indigenous ways of learning and acknowledging we’re on stolen land. It means removing systemic barriers that Indigenous peoples face, listening to them, and platforming their voices.

THE DARKEST TIMELINE Why are we so obsessed with the multiverse right now?

Pop culture is always a sign of the times

YASMIN VEJS SIMSEK // STAFF WRITER The multiverse is a cross-medium phenomenon in 2022. SCREENSHOT: Walt Disney Studios

The multiverse. It’s understandably on everyone’s lips right now. When it seems like our own reality is becoming increasingly nightmarish, we want to check-in on an alternate self to see who has it worse. Simply put, the multiverse is everywhere thanks to our increasing desire for escape and comfort.

That’s not to say the multiverse is a 2020-era invention. The idea of multiple parallel universes started circulating over 2,500 years ago in Ancient Greece. Flash comics and Michael Moorcock’s The Sundered Worlds helped re-introduce the concept to readers in 1961 and 1963, respectively. You’re probably familiar with the concept thanks to Marvel’s billion-dollar, movie-length meme. Marvel is not the only one exploring the multiverse. In the multiverse we also find comics such as DC, novels like His Dark Materials, and TV series like Rick and Morty. Undoubtedly the multiverse is most profitable capitalistic venture for show business. So, why are we hooked on the multiverse right now?

The best answer is the most obvious: COVID-19. These last two years have felt like the longest in living history and a lot of people wish there was a real end in sight to this pandemic. With Shanghai going back into lockdown, the finish line seems further and further away. Who doesn’t fancy an escape? A great escape would be to walk to another world, a parallel universe where there is no pandemic, no wars, no anti-vaxxers — just magic, heroes, and more Benedict Cumberbatches.

With the multiverse, there’s a diverse array of escapist options. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 movie that makes absolutely no sense (humans have hotdogs for fingers at one point), but is a comedy about how the main character is struggling in our world and needs to connect with parallel universes to make sense of it all. If I didn’t convince you to watch it with hotdog fingers, it stars Michelle Yeoh, who we should watch every day, but especially during Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage month. We all need a laugh these days, so watching a comedy about the multiverse is exactly the escape we need.

It’s not just speculation. There was a huge surge in superhero and disaster movies in the ’00s. Just as we needed superhero movies after 9/11 to feel hopeful, we now see a need for several universes to feel there is a way out of the current state of the world. The reasoning was explicit in movies such as Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Both movies also revolved around terrorism — domestic and abroad. Despite increasingly problematic portrayals of muslims, the media and political landscape allowed audiences to fulfill a desire for protection. Similarly now, humanity has plenty to gain safety from, so we seek it out in parallel universes.