The following is truth of the Canadian melting pot of equality. Could it be that the facade that has been pushed on Canada for so long has created a settler/police state that is even more bloodthirsty now, more than ever, that Indigenous Peoples have been breaking their way out of the colonial shackles for the past Sixty to Seventy years. Have things reached a tipping point? You decide:
“Just run them over.”
“Plow through them with the trains.”
“Bunch of welfare bums should be working not protesting.”
“Everybody protesting better shut off their heat and stop driving.”
“Let’s have kill an Indian day and get rid of them once and for all.”
“Bunch of criminals should just be arrested! I have the right to go from A to B! They’re infringing on my rights! They’re violating the law!”
“Kill them!”
“Shoot them!”
“Bring back scalping!”
This is Canada. This is your Canada. These are the words of your fellow Canadians. These are the words and the dangerous acts of ongoing genocide that Indigenous people have to live through every single day. This is racism, it’s hate, and it’s division. And it needs to stop. When you hear someone spreading hate, put a stop to it. Tell your friends the truth that this is not ok to act like this. It’s unacceptable. But most of all their hate is founded upon ignorance and fear.
If you think these protests are about pipelines then you’re profoundly wrong and ignorant. Wet’suwet’en gave CGL three alternative routes to put their pipelines through their land that would be the least damaging to the areas they value the most such as the rivers for the salmon that feed their people. CGL refused those options because they would cost more and take longer to build. So now they’re trying to divide the country and force a pipeline through a land that doesn’t belong to them nor does it belong to Canada. So this is about Indigenous sovereignty. I repeat, the protests are about INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY!!! The right to govern our own lands as we see fit.
Most of Canada is unceeded Indigenous territory. Meaning it does not belong to Canada. And the parts of Canada that have treaties were under the agreement that we would share this land so that the settlers could have the opportunity to give their families healthy long lives for as long as the rivers run clean, the grass was green, the air was fresh and the Earth was respected. It was upon those agreements that the settlers made the treaties, the laws that predate Canada, and it was under those laws that both sides knew that if the agreements were broken then that was the end of the treaty, we would no longer share our land and war would begin.
Since Canada began, those treaties have been broken over and over and over again. The genocide of Indigenous people has gone on for over 150 years. Yet, we still remain peaceful. Sure, we are blocking up railway and roads and making a big ol’ stink but we are doing so peacefully as we always have and you, you’re continuing colonialism, genocide and hatred instead of putting that energy towards something that really matters and that is CHANGE!
Use your privilege and demand the government respect Indigenous sovereignty. Write to your MP. Call your governments. Educate your friends. Be an ally!
I get it, you fear losing jobs. You fear losing land. You fear losing your identity. And this is the hard part. It’s time for you to change. Canada cannot be Canada anymore. Canada can’t continue along this genocidal path. Canada needs to do better and needs to change. And that change means things need to decolonise and follow the laws that have been here since time immemorial. The Indigenous laws that kept Turtle Island healthy, free, safe, abundant, and equal for thousands of years worked for a reason. Don’t you want to be a part of that? Your ancestors sure did.
Now you can sit there in the past, letting the government divide you and direct all your hate towards a people who’ve done nothing to you but allow you to share in their land so you can live long healthy lives. Or you can be a better Canadian, learn about Indigenous people, learn the true history of Canada and realise that you too hold a sacred place in our medicine wheel. You too are a part of Turtle Island. You too have within you the 7 Grandfather Teachings that we live by: Truth, Humility, Honesty, Courage, Respect, Wisdom, and Love.
So Canada. This is your challenge. You either grow as human beings and begin your decolonisation journey towards a better and healthier future for all living beings on Turtle Island. Or you stay stuck in this cycle of hatred and genocide. We’ve waited over 150 years. We’ve got generations of patience. And we will continue to be your Indian Problem, until you realise that we are the Indian Solution to everything that’s messed up in this country.
Comments