BY SIMONE J. SMITH
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
On June 21st, 2022, Canada celebrated National Indigenous Day, and though to some this was a day to recognize the achievements of the Indigenous People of Canada, it still does not sit very well for individuals who see exactly what is happening in this country.
I received an email from the Canadian Congress on Inclusive Diversity & Workplace Equity, and what it did was shed light on a topic that is spoken about only when necessary. This article is going to look past the traditions of the colonizers, and dig deep into enslavement, and injustice that the Indigenous People of Canada are still facing
I want to start by being very clear about something; Canada exists, as we know it today, because of colonization.
Colonization is what set the DNA, or pattern of North America. Culture is connected to history. The way something begins (such as a country), sets the direction for centuries to come. It is one of the reasons why the damage of colonization continues to this day.
The colonization of the Indigenous People in Canada was both a cultural and literal genocide. Residential Schools and the Sixties Scoop are perfect examples of this.
The Indigenous People of Canada had their basic human rights taken from them. They were enslaved and considered property that could be bought and sold. Little is known about the lives and experiences of enslaved individuals. In general, they were used primarily as manual labourers and domestic servants.
Although the dominant mode of slavery for the final 40 years of slavery in Canada was African, Indigenous slaves made up two-thirds of the slaves in Canada over the course of about 150 years. Overwhelmingly, for most of Canada’s history, the majority of slaves were Indigenous.
Now, let’s bring it to modern times. It is disheartening that about 4.9% of the population of Canada identified themselves as Indigenous and yet they make up 37% of the men in Canadian prisons? It is disheartening that a jaw-dropping 45% of women prisoners in this country identified themselves as Indigenous?
Before you think this may not be your concern, let us look at an independent oversight panel reviewing Correctional Service Canada’s new prisoner isolation regime, called structured intervention. They indicated that:
“Indigenous Peoples make up half of all prisoners subjected to the harshest form of federal detention, an indication that problems persist under the federal government’s new model of inmate isolation.”
Almost half of the prisoners held in isolation are Indigenous, according to the panel.
Whether you are in Jamaica where some historians believe the Indigenous Arawak-speaking Taino tribes were extinct since 1602, or in Australia where the existence of the Aboriginal Australians who some historians consider “The oldest population of humans living outside of Africa” is equally threatened by colonialism, we should all be concerned.
We should be concerned that a group of people can leave the shores of their nations to seize the land and resources of another ethnic group and even more so continue to enslave them despite declaring that slavery has ended.
Every year, the Canadian government pats themselves on the back for declaring a National Indigenous Peoples Day, but, technically, it should be the other way round. That is, the Indigenous Peoples should be the one granting the European settlers a day to celebrate their culture … for every day in Canada should be Indigenous Day.
