An opportunity to ‘learn and unlearn’: National Indigenous Peoples Day

NIPD should act as a starting point to educating oneself on Indigenous culture and history year round

On Monday, Canada celebrated the rich and diverse cultures, heritage, and histories of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples for National Indigenous Peoples Day (NIPD).

NIPD was first established 25 years ago by former governor general Roméo LeBlanc. Various Indigenous groups provided consultations and statements of support upon the day’s establishment. June 21 was chosen as the date because of its proximity to the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. For generations, the summer solstice has been recognized as a day of cultural celebration by multiple Indigenous communities.

This year, NIPD came at both a horrific and transformative time in Canada when 215 Indigenous children’s bodies were unearthed at the site of a former B.C. residential school near the end of May. The discovery has prompted various First Nations groups across Canada to demand more searches for unmarked graves.

If they didn’t before, non-Indigenous Canadians now find themselves tasked with answering compelling and challenging questions. What does the discovery say about the country Canada used to be and what it is today? In what ways has the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples  persisted even after the closing of residential schools? How do we, as non-Indigenous Canadians, contribute to the ongoing systemic racism and mistreatment of Canada’s Indigenous peoples? How can we become allies to the Indigenous and help end their ongoing mistreatment?

For some, it may have been easy to ignore problems that originated during an era in which they didn’t exist. For this reason, an out of sight, out of mind mentality developed and has accompanied our own ignorance of Indigenous struggles. Many people overlook Indigenous mistreatment and explain it away as something far removed from racism. For example, those uneducated on Canada’s Indigenous history may view the lower life-expectancy rate of Indigenous peoples as the result of poor dietary choices, rather than the obvious outcome of a centuries-long system encouraged and designed to oppress Indigenous Peoples — a system which, even today, allows for Indigenous communities to live without clean drinking water.

Overlooking anti-Indigenous issues ultimately silences and sugar-coats systemic problems, making the fight against Indigenous inequalities in Canada a slow and difficult process.

However, as Matt Vasili, a U of G history graduate who identifies as a settler ally, says, “just because we weren’t alive in 1534 or 1876 does not mean that we have no part in the ongoing genocide that occurs.”

According to Vasili, the Canadian government and churches were always aware of the mass burial grounds beneath residential schools, and it was their way of systematically committing genocide against Indigenous peoples.

“It has been known since the beginning that children often ran away (many died and were not accounted for), were abused in every sense, experienced ethnic cleansing, and were malnourished on purpose,” Vasili said. “These ‘schools’ were never designed to care for and educate Indigenous children.”

Such details put the number of 215 into an even darker context and showcase exactly what the Canadian government was hoping to sweep under the rug ever since the closing of the last residential school in 1997.

Two of the many goals set in 2008 by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was to produce detailed documentation of residential school survivor’s stories and procure a list of Calls to Action for the Canadian government.

An approach for uncovering the mass graves was identified in 2015 by the commission.

“I am grateful that these headlines are finally resounding with Canadians, but at the same time I am frustrated that it has taken this long for people to care,” says Vasili in reference to the mass graves having gained national attention just this year.

According to Vasili, the most important thing that non-Indigenous Canadians who care about this discovery can do, if they haven’t already, is educate themselves.

“The goals should be to learn and unlearn,” he says.

This includes learning about Indigenous culture and the history that precedes colonialism, and then unlearning the idea that we have had no role in the Indigenous struggle simply because we were not around when the atrocities began.

If we choose to learn more about the history of Indigenous peoples and residential schools, the banning of spiritual practices, the Sixties Scoop, forced relocations, police violence, and the ongoing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls crisis, we will be better equipped to challenge and call-out systemic anti-Indigenous sentiments when we see them.

Though NIPD provides the perfect opportunity for non-Indigenous folk to begin their educational journey, Vasili says that “this learning shouldn’t be limited to a single day or month. Support Indigenous artists – buy Indigenous authored books, or workshops, or visual art. Support Indigenous owned stores, businesses, and entrepreneurs as much as you can.”

As Vasili reminds us, taking an active stance and ensuring a safe and beautiful future for all Indigenous peoples around Canada is “a constant ongoing duty that we, as Canadians, have to Indigenous peoples.”

 

 

Cover image ‘Orange Metal Abstract’ courtesy of Darren Hester/Flickr under CC BY-NC 2.0.

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