Halifax names new poet laureate
Mi’kmaw woman Rebecca L. Thomas, Halifax’s new poet laureate, talks her new position, cultural appropriation, and missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Halifax has recently picked their newest poet laureate: Slam Poet and Mi’kmaw woman Rebecca Thomas. The 30-year-old poet will become the sixth person to take over the role, and the first Aboriginal woman ever pointed. She takes over the position from outgoing poet El Jones on April 1, 2016.
Thomas’s resume reflects her intensive involvement within her community’s poetry scene. She is currently the serving captain—otherwise known as slam master—of the city’s adult team. Thomas has also organized workshops and volunteered for the Halifax youth team.
The Ontarion spoke to Rebecca Thomas via email about her new position and issues facing Aboriginal people today.
The Ontarion: What do you hope to achieve in your term as your Poet Laureate of Halifax?
Rebecca Thomas: So much of what I’m passionate about is creating a sense of community and a place and space where people, particularly young people, feel like they are being heard and that they matter. As poet laureate, I hope to grow these spaces. There is so much pressure on young people these days. Add social media and the Internet to capture those flaws, failings and screw-ups, and you’ve got a recipe for mental health issues, low self-esteem, and an environment ripe for bullying. I have some other “pie in the sky” dreams like changing the name of Cornwallis St. On the corner of it and Gottingen St. sits our Friendship Centre. If you aren’t familiar with Edward Cornwallis, he founded the city of Halifax and he also issued a scalping proclamation where the scalps of Mi’kmaq men, women, and children would earn a bounty. That proclamation is still on the books today, though null and void.
ON: It seems residential schools and other issues facing Indigenous peoples are not at the forefront of Canada’s mind. Could speak about the importance and urgency of writing from an Indigenous perspective.
RT: I think Indigenous issues are in a spotlight in Canada at the moment, but how they are showcased is problematic. Things that are worth celebrating or worth a deeper look are often glossed over while the tragedies that are more “sexy” or stereotypical are what’s highlighted. For instance, Mrs. Universe was an Indigenous woman in 2015, Ashley Callingbull-Burnham. She wore traditional regalia during parts of the competition and really showcased some beautiful Indigenous culture. There are great stories of an Inuit woman turning and adapting [pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Systemic racism, generations of abuse, and cultural pain factor into this.[/pullquote]
traditional sealskin into contemporary fashion and Indigenous music and arts are flourishing; giving hope to communities struck by hardship. But that’s not what we have thrown out to us by the media on the day-to-day. We read about suicides, we read about drug addictions, we read about poverty and when we, as Indigenous people, stand up to a system that disadvantages us or assert treaty rights we’re branded as thugs and hooligans. I think we get plenty of coverage but not on the right things.
ON: J.K. Rowling was in the news recently for the cultural appropriation of Native culture and history. What is your opinion on a popular culture where the largest voices speaking on Indigenous peoples are, in fact, not Indigenous at all?
RT: Well that just gets me going. If you’re going to use Indigenous identity and stories, get it from us. I have many lines in my poems where I talk about this very issue. I get so frustrated that I can be in tears trying to get my point across, and yet time and time again we are dismissed as not being a good enough “expert” on our own stories. Our agency as people is constantly undercut. I think you can incorporate Indigenous stories and identities in mainstream media, but there is an apparent lack of effort in doing so. Throwing some feathers, leather and beads at a tanned actor is an insult to our diverse and rich cultures. I think what really takes the cake is that the concept of “Red Face” isn’t seen as offensive. Time and time again, Hollywood and the music industry among others either appropriate our culture directly or they have non-Native people play Native parts! Johnny Depp played Tonto, and Roonie Mara played Tiger Lily. To be very frank, it pisses me off and it hurts. It makes me feel invisible as an Indigenous person. That is a really shitty feeling to have.
ON: Do you agree with the new Liberal government’s response with missing and murdered Indigenous women? Why or why not?
RT: Bottom line I am relieved to have some movement and action into an inquiry into MMIW. Can it be done better? Always. I do empathize a little bit with the Liberals in that whatever the outcomes are for this inquiry—they will not meet the expectations of all the communities and there will be families who are not satisfied. Is a very emotionally visceral topic. I only caution the government in that this is an ongoing issue. If they think they are absolved from all responsibility once the inquiry is concluded, they are sorely mistaken. So much of this stems from overarching and greater issues surrounding this. Systemic racism, generations of abuse, and cultural pain factor into this. It’s so much more complicated than what it appears to be.