i was just wondering…

And there it was being discussed at Newspaper Rock – a whole lot of stuff about the old Indian Head B&W test pattern that used to appear on TV after or before the sign off.

I remember CBC-TV used one of their own with a CBC/Radio-Canada logo. But I’m certain CBC used the Indian Head at one time as well.  Anyway, always interesting, thought-provoking, and very pro-Indigena over there. Thanks.

harper’s… you know

More outrage at Stephen Harper’s ignorance of Canadian history. More to the point, though, outrage in the Queen’s University Journal at the Canadian media, and at Canadians in general.

harper’s revision quest (part deux)

This is a re-hashed statement (via news release) from the New Democratic Party’s Aboriginal Affairs critic, Jean Crowder. She read the statement during Question period in the Canadian House of Commons.

harper’s revision quest

First, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper gets all squishy – almost channelling Sally Field’s Oscar speech -  in a speech before the G20 about how everybody loves Canada. They love us, they really REALLY love us. (sigh)

mouse chronicles (interrupted)

I was smack in the middle of writing about my misadventures with live mouse traps and female overlords when my morning was sidelined by an unwelcome intrusion. The incident caused me to re-examine my reasons for writing some of the things I do. It also made me consider yet again whether my blog is doing what it should. The internal debate continues whether Shmohawk, the personna and the blog, are heading in the right direction.

This I know: a lot of people, and a lot of journalists, will never understand or agree with my views on public affairs or life. It’s a free country. There are lots of people who prefer safe confines and walled communities to exploration. It’s easier to reject something than to put yourself out there and try to understand other peoples and their perspectives. Believe me, because I find it so hard to get out of my realities and attempt to understand yours.

As a journalist, I found that other journalists read less about life, and more about what they needed for that day. They don’t make time or feel the need for grand ideas which tend to be shoved out the back door while bureaucratic reports jam the front one. It isn’t that they don’t want to be better informed, but daily journalism is insular. Lost focus and intellectual wandering may lead to fuzzy thinking. This, I think, is why so many try to negotiate time to tackle larger issues with bigger stories. These are gross oversimplifications, stereotypes which are the stock-in-trade of journalism.

I know as well that the body reacts, at first, to anything it considers foreign or even dangerous. Ideas, for example, especially powerful ones, can be infectious. Some ideas may be beneficial but new ideas are almost always attacked. The body may eventually use the idea to develop an immunity to more destructive illnesses. At least that’s how I like to think about information, and journalism, and why I decided to get into the game. That’s right. I wanted to infect as many people as possible with ideas. I wanted to use them to counter racism; the dreaded “r” word that shall not be spoken in polite company. But I know racism to be a destructive illness that needs to be confronted. Ignored or avoided, race hatred can infect and even destroy the host.

It isn’t completely selfless. I’m just as worried about my welfare as anyone else’s. You see, racism is an everyday fact of my life. Race and racism are unfortunate side effects of being an Indigenous person today. I cannot pretend it doesn’t exist. I can try to pass, and hope no one notices. I can dye my hair, bleach my skin, insert tinted contact lenses to change the colour of my eyes. I have friends who have been told to change their accents. Cut their braids. Stop being so damn Indian! I know some Mohawks who have done it all in order to try to fit, to escape, to survive. But I know a whole lot more who are prepared to stand and fight, if necessary. Bring it.

Getting back to ideas, I’m going to post Article 8 of the UN’s Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I sense that most people in Canada haven’t a clue what it states, what it means or might mean for the average Canadian. I suspect it’s because they’ve depended on news people to explain the Declaration to them. Never a good plan.

I hope anyone reading this gets a little more curious about why Canada is one of only four nations in the world that refuses to sign it. Go, find it and read it for yourself. A Canadian mind is a terrible thing to waste.

I hope this helps explain a little behind Shmohawk, the personna and the blog. It won’t reveal everything, but it may help me decide whether to continue down this path or, as Bugs Bunny put it, take that left turn at Albuquerque.

Article 8 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples deals with assimilation and forced integration:

1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.
2. States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for:

• Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;
• Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources;
• Any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights;
• Any form of forced assimilation or integration;
• Any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic discrimination directed against them.

why dawg rules

Few others notice and then publicize

the Dr. is in

abuses of privilege or power and violations of the rights of Canadians as consistently and accurately as the good Doctor.

you decide

This is a tale of two publications. Which to believe or trust? Which to keep or kill? It’s time for you to make your choice, press the appropriate button, and send one to a swift but painful death. Our candidates today?

1. the National Post, a Canadian daily newspaper and and example of it’s on-going war-against-the-Indian campaign.
2. the Lancet, a medical journal based in the United Kingdom.

shallow thoughts

Is that the right to offend for fun and profit?

I cherish my right to have ideas, especially dangerous or unpopular ones. I constantly fight to keep my right to express those ideas, even if no one is listening or reading. As a writer and former journalist, I find most of my material comes from instances where people have been wronged or victimized, powerless to protect themselves, have few options to do anything about it afterward. In fact, as a journalist feeding the daily beast, most of my stories were about the powerless and voiceless. Here are a few examples.

hmmm… which one do i like?

There are five candidates confirmed, set to run against each other and eventually replace Phil Fontaine at the Assembly of First Nations. Two are considered front runners, possible or likely to win. Two others are considered never-minds; not even also-rans. And one is a bit of a dark horse with a slim chance of moving up to serious contender. Their names are here, and you can decide for yourselves who fits my three categories.

Clue? Which candidates does Indian Affairs consider the least offensive. That, sadly, is one of the prerequisites for the job, and the band council chiefs with an AFN vote know it. Don’t believe me? Remember how quickly Ovide and Matthew found themselves on the government’s shit list, leading to cuts to programs, which precipitated grumbles within the ranks. It’s called a pattern of behaviour, behavioural conditioning, and some other much less polite terms that I can think of.

welcome to canada

I read a story by Thomas King awhile ago about a Plains Cree or Sioux mother and son trying to get back into Canada after attending ceremonies in the United States. A Canadian border guard asks the usual questions: Where do you live? Where are you coming from? What is your citizenship or nationality?

Welcome to Canada, eh.

If I remember the story correctly, the mother tells the border guard that she is Sioux or Cree from some place in southern Alberta. This isn’t what the caucasian border guard wants to hear. It’s not on his list of officially acceptable answers. What is her citizenship or nationality, he repeats? The mother says again: Sioux (or Cree).

This begins a day-long standoff with this woman and her son, suddenly rendered stateless refugees, stuck in a no-man’s-land between U.S. and Canada customs sheds, victims of typical Canadian bureaucratic idiocy.