In the Edmonton Journal on Friday, May 20, 2011, Bill Curry described the life of Peter Penashue, the first Innu man to be appointed as President of Queen’s Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. He titled his article, “Penashue’s dramatic journey from civil disobedience to political power.”
Here is the link to Bill Curry’s article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/penashues-dramatic-journey-from-civil-disobedience-to-political-power/article2030578/.
Journey from civil disobedience??? I did not realize that Penashue’s life involved acts of “civil disobedience”. When I read Curry’s article, I saw an Innu man who was attempting to protect his peoples’ rights through the assertion of sovereignty!!
Journey from civil disobedience??? When I read Bill Curry’s article, my immediate thought was that Bill Curry does not have a clue about First Nations and sovereignty, and that he thinks of us as savages and terrorists whom he will praise when one of us has been reformed, assumed the “white man’s” way of life, and joined federal politics.
Recently, controversy was created when President Obama called his unjust mission to execute Osama Bin Laden, an evil terrorist, without a trial, “Operation Geronimo”. Indigenous peoples were insulted by this racist slandering of Geronimo by the implicit reference to him as a terrorist like Bin Laden. Bin Laden is not anything like Geronimo. Geronimo was not a terrorist.
Message for Bill Curry: Peter Penashue is not a reformed Osama Bin Laden and we are not terrorists! Stop calling our acts of sovereignty “civil disobedience”!! I may set up shop outside your office carrying a sign that states, “Bill Curry is a terrorist”. Would you like that???
Geronimo was a hero to his people and to me. His actions were that of protecting the sovereign rights of his people, much like the actions of Louis Riel, Poundmaker, and Crazyhorse. Penashue’s earlier assertions of sovereignty are admirable qualities.
What Penashue was lacking at the time of his assertions of sovereignty (or as Bill Curry calls it “civil disobedience”) was the support of his fellow First Nations leaders across Canada. If Penashue had their undivided support, ALL of our communities would be prosperous and look very different today.
First of all, let me congratulate Penashue on his appointment to such a prestigious position in Cabinet and for overcoming the obstacles in his life. I am proud of Penashue for his accomplishments and I hope he does something positive for us. However, time will tell. Will the rest of Harper’s Cabinet allow him to make decisions that actually benefit his people? I do not think so.
Does anyone want to bet $100 that the Innu and Inuit are going to get “screwed big time”??? It is an easy $100 for me! Pardon my language but I am trying to make a point.
Just because an Innu or Inuit person is in Cabinet does not mean that major change is going to occur. Penashue is a Cabinet Minister of a racist State with racist federal departments underneath him.
Let us examine President Obama’s situation. He is an African American President. What has he done for his people who live in poverty in the United States? Nothing. President Obama cannot do anything for his people because, like Angela Davis said, Obama is the head of a racist state with racist departments underneath him. The colour of Obama’s skin is not going to change anything. The same principle applies to Indigenous peoples. I love Angela Davis!
I am sure that Penashue and Aglukkaq would love to implement positive changes for us but their hands are tied by the machinery of the racist federal government of Canada.
History has shown us that Cabinet Ministers or Ministers who advocate for our interests are quickly shut down by the rest of their team. Leona Aglukkaq has had experience as the Minister of Health and she has done nothing for our people. In fact, she is doing the opposite. She is cutting health care services and programs for our people and dumping jurisdiction to the provinces through “tripartite” agreements. Why is Penashue going to be any different?
The most important fact of all in Bill Curry’s article is that Penashue’s “pro-development approach is not even universally accepted among his own community – or family. His mother has said that while she’s very happy for her son’s victory, she will continue to oppose the Lower Churchill hydro project due to its impact on area wildlife.” Need I say more?
I view Peter Penashue’s appointment to Cabinet as part of Harper’s plan to economically develop the northern Inuit and Innu communities according to the policies of the federal government and not Innu/Inuit policies. Instead of Harper developing the north and taking the vast majority of the revenues from the resources on and under their lands, he is going to make Leona Aglukkaq and Peter Penashue do it. I also see Penashue ‘reconciling” First Nations interests with federal and provincial interests and then dumping jurisdiction of First Nations issues to the provinces. Why should a “white man” do it when he can get an Inuit and Innu person to do it? Throughout this process, the Aboriginal industry (lawyers, business consultants, accountants, miners, etc) will benefit tremendously off the backs of the Innu and Inuit. I wish I was wrong and I hope Penashue proves me wrong. Time will tell.
Now, let’s move onto Clint Davis and company...
Bill Curry quoted Clint Davis in his article. “He realized that civil disobedience or protest can certainly bring attention to an issue,” said Clint Davis, an Inuk from Labrador who is president of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. “But real change comes from business activity and business development in a way that was respectful of their culture and respectful of the environment. So I have high expectations of him.”
Clint Davis is certainly entitled to his views and I am not judging him at all for his views. I do not know him and I have not been privy to his facial expressions while making this statement in order to fully grasp the context behind it. However, I think that he is advocating for municipality style governance as opposed to governance that actually acknowledges and respects sovereignty. Take your place in Canada as a town, set up a business, and govern yourself like a municipality through the election of Chief and Council, much like a Mayor and his Councillors. Although we do not officially call ourselves “municipalities” that is exactly what we have become, whether we like to admit it or not.
I think we need to make a choice on what path we are going to take in life: municipality-style governance or sovereignty, which can be accomplished if all First Nations people united and demanded MAJOR change. Professor T. Alfred was right when he said we need to stop complaining if we are going to choose to live according to federal rules. We are getting the same treatment as municipalities and nothing more! This is not sovereignty nor does it respect our treaties. We need to make a clear distinction between sovereignty and government-led municipality-style “self-government”. What is taking place today is government-led municipality-style self-government, not sovereignty.
A First Nations leader told me yesterday that “First Nations peoples live in two worlds. By working, earning an income in one world, it does not mean that we give up our identity or the world that we were born into.” I have to respond to this statement on my blog because I absolutely disagree with him. Yesterday, I told this same leader my view about Penashue being a role model for us and he judged me harshly in return. He is entitled to his opinion and I am not shaming him for that. He has the right to speak as everyone else and should not be judged for it. Learning and growing is a continual process.
First Nations people do not live in two worlds. We live in one world where we define ourselves and live according to the Indian Act and federal government rules even though we may say that we do not practice or acknowledge the Indian Act or the federal government. Just because one states that they do not acknowledge the Indian Act, does not mean that one has not internalized the Indian Act. One’s actions are evidence of this phenomenon. Actions speak louder than words. Of course, this internalization is through no fault of anyone but the federal government. The residential school era and the discriminatory status provisions in the Indian Act, which denied many of our people the right to live and practice their culture with the rest of their community, almost destroyed us.
The Indian Act and residential school era did a good job in interfering with our ability to identify, think, and govern ourselves according to our cultures and traditions. We have internalized mainstream society values whether we like or not. Only you, yourself, can make the change in your value system to reflect your culture’s values. The question is, “do you want to”?
By living in the “first” world, we are living according to the “white man’s way” and ignoring our identity and cultures as First Nations people. In the “second” world, we are practising our culture on a land base specified by the federal government and practising our “identity” according to the Indian Act and excluding many of our citizens who were purposely left out of the Indian Act. The Assembly of First Nations and Native Women’s Association of Canada’s acceptance of Bill C-3, the amendments to the Indian Act status provisions, is STARK EVIDENCE of the internalization of the Indian Act. We have now taken over the role of colonizing and oppressing our people.
While Penashue may be put forward by Bill Curry and others as a role model for Indigenous peoples, Penashue is one of many role models with varying backgrounds and beliefs. I am proud of Penashue for his accomplishments in fitting into mainstream society, overcoming abuse, and climbing to the top. I am not attempting to take anything away from him.
I have something to say to the people who criticize me for stating my personal and political opinions regarding Penashue’s appointment to Cabinet or other issues that I have commented on. I am a Registered Nurse, a lawyer with a Masters of Law in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy, and a Fulbright Scholar. I also accomplished these feats as a single mother of three children. I have overcome many obstacles in my life, just like Penashue, in order to get where I am today. Do not judge me just because my views are different from yours. We all have our own story.
My role models are Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, and Martin Luther King Jr., because they sacrificed their own personal interests for the interests of their people and created major change in the process. Although Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, that time was short considering the benefit it achieved for his people and each generation to come: freedom.
First Nations are not free and sovereign anymore. It is a thing of the past because we choose to make it a thing of the past. Some First Nations people may think we are free and sovereign but they have internalized the Indian Act. They think that we are free and sovereign because we “negotiated” agreements based on one-sided federal policies that do not meet the needs of our people. Remember that.
My Indigenous role models are Crazyhorse, Geronimo, Louis Riel, and Poundmaker because they set aside their personal interests, asserted sovereignty, and died fighting for the rights of our people. They died with integrity.
Integrity, which means living with moral and ethical principles such as truth, faith, greater good, and justice, is the rule or value that I live by. If you do not have integrity, what do you have? Do you as an Indigenous person or leader live with integrity? Only you can answer that question.
Did you as a First Nations “leader” give your non-Aboriginal spouse a very important contract that earned the both of you approximately $6 million dollars or some other amount? Did your people benefit from it like you did? Is that integrity?
If you read this blog and find yourself upset at my opinions, ask yourself “why” and take a good hard look at yourself and your values. The truth hurts and people do not like to acknowledge the truth.
WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND OUR CHILDREN?
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