There was an article in the Toronto Sun on the 22nd, that detailed First Nations in Northern Manitoba and their request for adequate sanitation infrastructure. The Island's Lake First Nations requested running water and long term sewage solutions. Long story short: they were sent 5-gallon buckets (toilets) and 45 gallon drums (above ground septic tanks). In some instances "15 people were sharing one 5-gallon bucket as a toilet". Not at the same time, obviously. This is shameful of Ottawa. How have issues like this not received more attention during the campaign? Even the more socialist parties, the NDP and Green, have not mentioned aboriginals issues, in any depth, at any of the rallies or debates I have seen. Locally or Federally. People in the audience have not asked questions about it either. We were all too busy worrying about people getting ejected from rallies.
To make matters worse, people post ignorant and distasteful comments on the Sun's article message posting. Reading some of the racist dribble people post while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet, makes me sad :( If you read below the article, and look through some of the previous comment pages, the negative comments become more clear. Why do people express so much anger at the money given to First Nations?
Here is the Article: Natives Asked For Toilets, Got Pails. Toronto Sun, April 22
A friend of mine, of mixed Ojibwa and Caucasian descent wrote an apt response to the Sun's article, and many of the racist and distasteful comments made by posters to the Sun's online forum. Her views are her own, while I may not agree with all of them, she makes some very valid points, and combats some of the stereotypes placed on aboriginals.
THE FOLLOWING NOTE IS BASED ON THIS ARTICLE, BUT MAINLY ON THE RIDICULOUS COMMENTS PEOPLE POSTED IN RESPONSE
I find it very disheartening that many of you can’t seem to develop a more in depth perspective of native societies. Recently, I went on a Canadian Roots exchange to the East Coast native communities and got to see and hear first hand some of their issues and accomplishments.
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Yes, there is corruption on some reserves due to ill-natured chiefs (just as there is corruption in our own government.)
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Yes, some natives are alcoholics or drug addicts (just as there are of any race, but more prevalently so because of the long-term psychological and societal damages caused by the residential schools natives were forced into.)
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No, former African-American slave descendants may not be asking for assistance the way natives are, but they also came to Canada to gain freedom whereas natives are still fighting for that freedom (and let us not forget that African-Americans have also been forced to internalize the image of being an under-educated, lower class where kids feel the need to adopt “gangster” behaviour because our media portrays rappers or basketball players as the only means of making it out of Ghettos - especially in the states where sports scholarships seem like the only way most of these families can afford to send their child to post-secondary.)
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Also take note that reserves are necessary for traditional survival by means of hunting grounds and natural resources. Unfortunately, there are reserves whose jurisdictions were assigned to the most barren land and were pretty much meant to be a death sentence. Not to mention our whole society’s view towards bastardizing the environment. We can sell our fresh water to the states, but we can’t pay for a reserve to have a functioning sewage system –open buckets of festering urine and feces doesn’t seem very sanitary; there is a reason why we don’t throw buckets of human waste into the streets like 14th century England. For native people it’s not simply about going to a mosque or church and praying on Sundays; the environment is our church. We view the animals and elements of nature more as our sisters and brothers than our commodities. A study was done which indicated that children that don’t get enough interaction with the outdoors actually develop severe health issues, namely depression. Now extrapolate that to an entire society whose entire history has been based on nurturing close bonds with nature.
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Not all native societies are playing the blame game however, and it is important to mention these groups. It seems as though they don’t get enough media attention because no one wants to gossip about happy news. Bear River reserve, for instance, has taken active steps to encourage young members and females to participate on council, have developed good rapport with local fishermen (after much conflict however), are working hard with the ministry to foster such programs as salmon rehabilitation in the wild rivers and other things of the sort. In Eskisoni, angry parents and families protested drug abuse through a walk that ended up on the front door step of a known drug dealer. Many aboriginals have become excellent entrepreneurs and are creating businesses that not only pay taxes, but attempt to develop a bridge between reserves and the rest of Canadian society. Also, reserves as protected land can be misleading, if the government wants to put a highway through a reserve then in the end, that’s what they’ll do so the negotiations between the two parties are merely to save some face (this happened a couple years back with the Iroquois)
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One thing that must be kept in mind is that it’s hard for a people, as whole, to overcome the stereotypes thrust upon them when those stereotypes still exist. African-Americans, natives and even immigrants alike begin to internalize the view that they can’t do it when it is repeatedly rammed down their throats. Government funding is necessary for these communities to build the infrastructure and skills required to be on par with the rest of Canada. I can see how so many people can overlook the 3rd world status of natives in our own country – out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes, and when they are in sight it’s not for their accomplishments, it’s for their strife.
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As a mixed aboriginal (Ojibwa, English, Irish and Scottish) who grew up visiting my grandmother’s reserve, but growing up in the GTA, I think we need to stop viewing ourselves as native or non-native and start viewing ourselves as Canadians. And as Canadians, we have a duty to our fellow Canadians to offer them the equality to such basic elements of life as food, shelter, education and health care. We are only as strong as our weakest member, and as it stands our native communities are, as a whole, our weakest member.
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Just in case you didn’t get it:
You wouldn’t like it if I came to your house, removed all your landscaping; killed all your pets; removed your fridge and pantry; forced you to live with all your relatives because the entire extended family couldn’t afford their own house; stole your kids and forced them to learn my religion in a dialect they didn’t understand – which when they rebelled I would beat them to a pulp and maybe rape the cute ones; shake hands over some promise to let you keep your backyard, then laugh at my promise as I remove your fence and build a new one giving you half the yard space as before; throw a wad of cash at the problems and hope the green of the $20 bills resembles your land close enough that you forget this whole thing ever happened.
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And surprisingly, after all of this, natives are ready to forgive as long as they get a little respect. No one wants to shit in a bucket every day, it’s just degrading and furthering the rift between us. Give them some fucking port-a-potties in the meantime for god sakes (which is what they were asking for) – it’s not like they’re asking for your souls... though it would be nice if you gave them some of your heart.
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