Year: 2010

That is both an easy question and a tough one all at the same time. It is an easy question because identity is generally about self-identification – i.e., you are who you say you are. It is also a tough question because one’s identity can also be reinforced or damaged by whether one’s identity is also legally and/or politically recognized. That is to say, if one identifies as Mi’kmaq, but the Mi’kmaq Nation does not recognize that person, this makes the continued assertion of one’s identity more difficult. Similarly, the Indian Act’s status provisions have been imposed on Aboriginal peoples for so long that even some Aboriginal people question an individual’s Aboriginal identity “credentials”, if they don’t hold a status card. Yet, it is important to remember that legal recognition as a status Indian has absolutely nothing to do with Aboriginal culture, heritage, traditions, customs, or practices. It is an administrative tool used by Canada to determine who can have access to their programs and services. It was originally designed to eliminate the “Indian problem” and ensure the eventual assimilation of all Indians. But, if status was only about programs and services, it would not be as significant as it actually is. Because status as an Indian also determines, for the majority of bands in Canada, who can be a member of a band and therefore who can live on reserves; access band programs and services and sometimes cultural activities, then status carries more weight than the government is willing to acknowledge. It is for this reason, that status has such significance in determining Aboriginal identity. In my opinion, Aboriginal identity should be first and foremost about self-identification. There can be no greater sign of loyalty and pride in one’s Aboriginal Nation than to publicly proclaim to the world one’s identity as Mohawk, Cayuga, Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and so on. There are a great many people who never give a thought to their identity or who take their identity for granted because it is not threatened in any way. Part of rebuilding our Aboriginal Nations is to rebuild pride in who we are and that includes celebrating those who embrace their Aboriginal identities. We should also be mindful of the fact that not everyone has the same basis for asserting their Aboriginal identity. For example, some Aboriginal people who live on reserve are secure in their identity as Aboriginal peoples because they live on the same land as their large extended families and friends who share a common history and culture. These on-reserve Aboriginal may not know how to speak their traditional language, participate in their traditional practices and customs or even know much about their common history. Their connection to their reserve land can be enough for some to be secure in their identity. There are other Aboriginal people who do not live on a reserve, but who live on their traditional territories. They may also hunt and fish and know a great deal about the history of their vast territories. Their connection to their traditional territory is not limited by reserve boundaries and can be passed on to their families and others who also live on their traditional territories. That connection to their traditional lands that were shared with their ancestors can be all it takes to secure their Aboriginal identities. There are still other Aboriginal people who, for school, work or otherwise no longer live on a reserve or on their traditional territories. But they may know their culture, can speak their traditional language, partake in traditional practices and ceremonies and honour traditional values. That cultural connection gives supports their identity security despite being off a land-base. They may also contribute to their community through employment or advocacy activities for example. This sense of loyalty and pride in who they are and their community may also add to their identity. Aboriginal children who were taken away from their parents at a young age and adopted out of the family and even out of their communities may have no ties to their community. They may not know their birth parents, their culture, treaties, land, language or traditions. But they know where they came from and may be determined to learn more and re-establish a connection with their community. They may only have a familial connection to their identity, but for them that might be enough to sustain their identity as an Aboriginal person until they can learn more. Who is to say that any one of these individuals is “more” Aboriginal than the next? Why can’t identification as a Mohawk, Cayuga, Mi’kmaq or Maliseet include any combination of the factors noted above? I would think that given our Nations’ need to rebuild, that welcoming all those who are proud to publicly assert their identity and proclaim some degree of loyalty for their Nation is a great deal more valuable than what is offered by those who take their identity and their community for granted. Instead of reducing Aboriginal communities to clubs based on blood quantum or status; we should allow the possibility that our communities are something more than races waiting for inevitable extinction. If that is the case, and we, as communities of Aboriginal peoples assert our Nationhood and even our right to be self-determining or sovereign nations, don’t we also require legal and political recognition as such? If we deny legal and political recognition to our own citizens because they do not fulfill blood quantum levels or they don’t have status cards, how can we expect Canada or any other country to see our people as the Nations? Not only does exclusion of our rightful citizens speed up our own legal extinction, we will be excluding the very citizenship base which has shown pride and loyalty in our Nations. We need proud, loyal, passionate citizens to dedicate their time and energy toward rebuilding our Nations and maintaining our collective identities for our future generations. If we rely on those who take their identity for granted, we create an uncertain future for our children. Perhaps we need to think more objectively about what it means to identify as an Aboriginal person and not be so quick to exclude our own. We may be excluding our future leaders.

On Tuesday, January 19, 2010, I attended a breakfast event at the Toronto Board of Trade (BOT). The purpose of the event was to hear Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo speak about how we can partner to improve First Nation economies. The event was hosted by the BOT and emceed by Clint Davis, the President and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). Clint Davis is from Nunatsiavut (Newfoundland and Labrador) and Chief Atleo is from Ahousaht (British Columbia). Chief Atleo gave a moving speech that one would not expect given the topic of Aboriginal business. He referred to the many life lessons he received from his family growing up and especially those of his late grandmother. Listening to Chief Atleo make the connections between the traditions, teachings and current issues faced by First Nations, reinforced in my mind the need for Aboriginal communities to not be so quick to abandon traditional values, ethics and lessons for the lure of economic development and quick settlements. Economic development is important for most, if not all Aboriginal communities, but its importance cannot be seen in isolation from other goals which are important to Aboriginal peoples like: climate change, conservation, protection of traditional territories, community healing and wellness, education, maintaining the integrity of families, the education and security of our children, self-determination, and respect for our treaty relationships, for example. If a singular focus is made on economic development, then there would be no issue with the environmental destruction that comes with oil sand projects, hydro dams, gas lines, and diamond mining because the local Aboriginal people would be employed and this generation might enjoy some financial benefits. However, given that economic development is only part of a bigger picture for self-determining Aboriginal Nations which are healthy, vibrant and thriving, a proper balance must be made. In my opinion, Chief Atleo is not only aware of these other issues, but he ensures to include those in his priorities which are reflected in his speeches. It is his ability to turn a negative into a positive or to tackle politically sticky issues and offer hope for the future that he makes him a unique leader. When Chief Atleo spoke at the BOT, he didn’t focus solely on economic development, he explained that concern and action on the crisis of climate change is also necessary. Similarly, he argued that while education was used in the past to disempower and assimilate our people, we can now use education to empower our people, relearn our languages and traditions, and build capacity within our communities to revitalize our Nations. In so doing, Chief Atleo was also cognizant of the other pressing social issues that we have to address related to housing, health, treaties, land, murdered and missing women and so on. Overlaid on top of all this are the hurtful divisions which we: both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples alike, have inherited. He told the audience that none of us enacted the Indian Act, but we are left with very real divisions like Status and Non-Status Indians and on and off-reserve people. He acknowledged that these divisions were imposed upon us and that we have to find a way to address these inequities as we move forward. At the same time, he also said that some of things we consider divisions, could actually be considered strengths. For example, having Aboriginal people living, working and succeeding both on and off-reserve can be a significant strength for Aboriginal communities and we should be looking for ways to work together on that basis. I was at the United Nations headquarters in New York last week at an Indigenous Experts meeting of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The topic was how state development impacts indigenous identity and culture, what the key issues are and how to resolve some of them. Indigenous peoples from around the world were generally of the mind that economic development can proceed so long as we remember that it is not our sole focus: i.e., increasing our salaries or our bank accounts for this generation can never be more important than protecting our wildlife, our rivers and water sources, and the integrity of of the land within our territories. Chief Atleo appears to be in sync with international indigenous objectives as he balances our social needs (economic development, relations with Canada) with our core values as Aboriginal peoples (protecting the land and natural resources). Perhaps by refocusing on the traditional values that made us Mi’kmaq, Cree, Nuu-chah-nulth, or Mohawk Nations, and aligning our priorities with rebuilding and revitalizing those Nations, we will have respected what our ancestors fought so hard to protect and leave a strong legacy for our future generations that they will be proud to carry forward. I think Chief Atleo offers just that kind of hope for all Aboriginal peoples – on and off-reserve, and status and non-status alike – and I, for one, will be watching his progress in the coming months/years.