Beyond Acknowledgment: Challenging Settler Colonialism

RITUAL AND ART ON AND ABOUT THE LAND TO CHALLENGE SETTLER COLONIALISM

Article by Venta Rutkauskas

Single file, ten women snake the trail above the ‘Fraser’ River. They move along the dirt track up ‘Desous’ Mountain in Esk’etemculucw in the unceded territory of the Northern Secwepemc First Nations. They are mothers, friends, they are white women of European descent, they are climbing, and they are learning. I am one of them, raised in Canadian privilege, a white body with blue eyes, granddaughter of displaced persons from World War II. I put one foot in front of the other, moving towards something intangible on the mountain. I am thinking about decolonization.

I was taught by Curandera Grace Alvarez Sesma to make an offering of tobacco to the guardians of the land when a walk begins—at times, I forget to do so right away, and remember only when I am halfway along the trail. Other times, like this day on ‘Desous’, among community, I can feel foolish or shy, doubting that I should be the one to initiate the practice. The doubts are shallow. Truly, it is such a small gesture made to the land that holds and feeds us, the land that excites and inspires us. The offering doesn’t feel like enough, but I will continue because it is an embodied practice catalyzing a paradigm shift.

As we ascend, eyes scan the river valley: The beauty of the spring landscape is a song of nourishment. Green has bubbled up through the winter’s crust, and it stills our breath. We coo over wildflowers, naming them like our kin, sharing stories and scientific facts about the species. The ten women climb the mountain to offer gratitude, to gather and heal on the earth’s body, to remember that knowledge leaps out from canyons and rivulets, mosses, and old trees.

Social justice movements have taken decolonization beyond the concept of removing an imperial ruler from an occupied land. Today, current ideology recognizes the existing and ongoing psychological, economic, and cultural inequities in settler-colonized nations like Canada. It centres and defends Indigenous voices and rights because they are the Peoples most affected by the colonizing regime and its extracting appetite. Scanning the colonial system uncovers swathes of the population relegated to marginalization. Who has not been touched by a colonized mindset and encouraged to consume, conform, and disengage from land-base, culture, and ancestry? The reach of our current systems of economies and governance can be as unfathomable as the canyon we come upon as we hit the mid-point of the ascent up the mountain—sheer cliffs of brilliant stone drop deeply to the canyon floor, carved out so long ago and seemingly permanent. But rock and water hold teachings of change. Though we are living with systems that serve a powerful tier of society, the wisdom of the land, held by Indigenous Peoples as law, indicates that sustainability and reciprocity are the only path for survival.

It is easy to dismiss the group of women gathering stones, ribbons, and flowers for ritual on the mountain. Hippies, or witches, what impact can their actions have? I have a cultural memory: my Lithuanian ancestors were some of the last pagan Europeans to be Christianized in the 14th century. The state ordained a system that divorced land and spirituality and shunned land-based practices that informed intelligence and interconnectedness with place. The whole of Europe crept towards materialism, and now we are witness to another cycle, tearing the land away from Indigenous ‘Canadians’.

Our practice on the mountain is a remembering that we know alternative ways of being. Art and ritual carry the multi-dimensional awareness that material is more than matter—it is energy, webs of relatedness and relationships. In my work with the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake, we practice decolonizing by collaborating on upcoming projects like ‘We Acknowledge’, where local settler artists will engage with Secwepemc mentors to create work around the question: What is my role and responsibility as a visitor to Secwpemculucw?

Rocks wrapped for ritual. Photo: Allison McAssey

Mentors, like Floyd Dick of Esk’etemc, extend a hand to the artists and individuals willing to learn and explore the protocols of this territory. Our aim is for the artists to analyze the stories the predominant culture narrates, attending to the knowledge that these stories have served a purpose, and often, the truth was not readily revealed.

It can be uncovered. Take in work created by BIPOC voices, learn. Enroll in University of Alberta’s free ‘Indigenous Canada’ course, or a Deyen’s ‘Canadian History Through the Lens of Indigenous Women’. Read from a growing body of Indigenous authors, like Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass) and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (As We Have Always Done). Open to story that has been flowing beside the information superhighway all along.

Ten women descend ‘Desous’ mountain, alert to the networks of reciprocity. I know many of you are mountains ahead of me. Many are walking the path, divesting step by step. -GG

Venta Rutkauskas is an arts organizer, integrative energy healing practitioner, and writer living on unceded Secwepemc territory near T’exelc. To learn more about We Acknowledge and other arts-based reconciliation projects, contact her at williamslakearts@gmail.com.

Climate Change and the Next Generation

THE MOTHER'S PLEA

Article by Jessica Kirby

Community-funding music video project in Williams Lake asks individuals to take action against climate change.

Mother Earth stands on a frozen lake holding an hourglass. Her expression is stern, but her eyes are kind. “Hey, hey you … what the hell are you doing? … Times running out … this house is burning …” The lyrics from “The Mother’s Plea” beg us to pay attention and take action for the planet in this community-funded music video project created in Williams Lake.

The video features singer-songwriter Shannon Zirnhelt, several children from the Williams Lake area, and Shannon’s neighbour Susan Lovejoy as Mother Earth. Its creation was a collective effort between Shannon, the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society (CCCS), and a youth-led club from Williams Lake called Third Planet Crusade. Third Planet Crusade is co-run by Ella Kruss (13) and Julia Zirnhelt (13), both of whom appear in the video.

Shannon wrote “A Mother’s Plea” in the fall of 2019 after the federal election when she felt the urge to speak up because of the way climate action is so often part of campaigning platforms but tends to fall silent once the votes are cast.

“I came up with the melody and the song came from the perspective of Mother Earth needing our help and being a mother myself,” Shannon said. “I feel that songs come through me, rather than thinking of them as my own. This song was gifted to me so I could share it with others.”

Creating a music video to accompany the song was always part of Shannon’s vision, and when she was able to access community grants from the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society, the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake, and in-kind donations from community sponsors, suddenly her vision became a reality.

“Julia Zirnhelt is my niece, and I have joined her climate strikes, so I thought it might be a good fit to do the video with them,” Shannon said. “I think it really worked to include the generations."

As a community outreach project, the video serves as an invitation to encourage additional community-based support for the important work of climate change mitigation and adaptation. As a youth-involved project, the endeavor was to strengthen youth’s understanding of the connection between arts and culture and communicating ones' passions and beliefs.

“It was important to include children in the video because they are taking on the problems created by the generations that came before them,” Shannon said. “I really believe the change will come from them. They will provide leadership, and we can follow them.”

Ella says youth are an essential part of climate justice because they are the future and the next generation to inhabit the earth. “If we don’t act now, we won’t have a future,” Julia adds.

“We can bring a different perspective to the world, a perspective of climate action and justice,” Ella says. “Our future is being destroyed by climate change, and it is important we talk about that and let people now just how drastic climate change is.”

Ella and Julia recently held a panel discussion with local teachers to discuss ways to better present climate change education to youth. On the panel, Ella and Julia discussed their experiences as youth in the climate movement and explained to teachers how they struggled learning climate change. “Our hope was that our experience will help them expand their outlook on education and climate change,” Ella

Julia Zirnhelt and Ella Kruss of Third Planet Crusade. Photo submitted by Shannon Zirnhel

said. “We also talked about how they can support youth in the climate movement and what the bigger picture of climate justice looks like.”

“The teachers were really into it and I felt heard,” Julia said. “The main point that I was trying to get across was that teachers need to be brave and take a stance so they can talk to their principals or whoever is above them about getting better resources for teaching about climate change.”

Third Planet Crusade has important plans brewing for the rest of 2021, beginning with more climate strikes, the first of which is planned for June. The group is also planning a climate sit-in June 18 in front of the school board office to demand better climate education in the school district.

Looking to the future, Ella and Julia have important messages for their community:

“It doesn’t have to be a battle between the climate activists and the resource industry workers,” Julia stresses. “If we start moving away from those kinds of jobs, there will be other jobs to replace them, like work at solar or wind farms.”

“Let your voice be heard,” Ella said. “Come out to actions and talk to people about climate change. It is something we need to be discussing every day, something that is pressing. I still have hope that this issue can be fixed but not without people all on the same page.”

Locally, the resources for change are readily available. Shannon recommends contacting an organization like the CCCS or the Potato House to find out how to connect and engage. “Either of those places could probably give you a list of 20 things you can do today,” Shannon said. “People see this as insurmountable so they choose to do nothing, but there are so many little things we can do—buy food with less packaging, eat local, take up gardening, ride a bike once a week, educate your kids.”

Shannon intends to apply for another grant next year and is considering another video project, again working with Third Planet Crusade and CCCS, but this time expanding the project to include environmental education at Big Lake School and song writing projects with children. “Keep it simple, and lead by example,” Shannon said. “That is the best way to evoke change.”

Check out the video at: youtube.com/watch?v=P5XtkMIthm0

Learn more about Third Planet Crusade at facebook.com/thirdplanet. crusade

Discover Shannon Zirnhelt’s music at: shannonodonovan.bandcamp. com/