White vs Native Morality

Someone near and dear to me has accused me of the following thinking:

White = Bad
Native = Good

This is an odd notion at best, inflammatory and devious at worst.

There have been and are many whites who help Native peoples, whites who care about the environment, whites who fight for justice, etc. I am white. I am not bad, flawed certainly, but not bad. Therefore, it follows that white can't equal bad. At least not all the time.

There are also examples of Natives who don't respect the environment, Natives whose self-interest harms their people, Native communities where violence against women is a big problem and so on.

But what is the value or goal of this trajectory? In my view, it serves one purpose only and that is to take attention away from the real issues that must be addressed. Native poverty, education, health, land rights, self government, restitution, reclamation, among others.

Sidelining the discussion by debating inconsequentialities achieves nothing more than foot-dragging and carries the depredations of the past and present into the future.

So, let's agree to not waste any more time on such nonsense.

When Euro-Canadians and Americans look around the globe at the atrocities committed against other country's aboriginal peoples, we are appalled and often driven to action. Why then, do we hunker down allowing our sense of what's right to shrivel up when these same things are happening in our own backyards?

It's easier to point the finger at someone else, isn't it?

It's easier to read something in the newspaper and fire off a cheque to the Red Cross or Amnesty International or some other non-profit, than to try to figure out what the hell we can do here. (And keep sending those cheques to the non-profits, they do good work and need whatever help we can provide.)

We can make a difference here too. Here's a list. Pick one thing off it, and do it.

1) Get educated. Stop complaining about Natives getting free graduate education without knowing the facts or the context. Stop complaining about inadequate housing despoiling your view as you drive down the highway before you understand why.

Here are some resources:

Check out the links to the right for the American Indian Movement, The Assembly of First Nations, the Aboriginal People's Congress.

Read: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, considered a classic by any account; and I Have Lived Here Since the World Began by historian Arthur Ray.

From there, you may wish to expand your reading to include, among others: Iskwewak: Neither Indian Princesses nor Easy Squaws by Janice Acoose, We Were Not the Savages by Daniel Paul, and Native America: Portrait of the Peoples by Duane Champagne.

If you get through even some of these references, you'll be better educated about history -- past and and current -- than most non-Native people.

2) Follow the news. Find out what's happening today. Here's a great link to the CBC where information is organized and easy to find on Ipperwash and Caledonia, as well as Native rights and health care. You will also find information at the links to the right.

3) Get active. Start talking. Share your knowledge. Write letters and let your MP and MLA, your Governor, Senator, or other representative know that you care about his or her voting record on Native issues. Believe me, when you care, they'll care.

4) Don't give up. Keep at it. Native peoples have been fighting this battle for hundreds of years, mostly alone.

Let's see if white morality and stamina is up to the challenge.

Colleen