Question #5 (part three)

The conversation covers the importance of non-Indigenous people connecting to Indigenous issues, understanding ongoing Indigenous-settler relationships, and the practical aspects of decolonization beyond just a buzzword. It emphasizes honoring Indigenous sovereignty, dismantling Western knowledge hierarchies, and the need for true reconciliation that respects traditional teachings. Discussions include Indigenous child protective services, community involvement in raising children, and the importance of keeping Indigenous families together. The focus is on understanding and respecting Indigenous ways of knowing and working towards self-governance in child protective services. I really liked where we ended off that last conversation. I think it's important to acknowledge that as non-Indigenous people, we can still connect to these issues, and especially when we start to think about Indigenous-settler relationships and what that means to us and our actions on a day-to-day basis. I found that this class really helps me have a deeper understanding of Indigenous-settler relationships, not just as static or historical, but as ongoing, living relationships shaped by worldview clashes, colonial institutions, and differing relationships to land. It really complemented some previous learning I had on what settler colonialism means to us today, and what the term decolonization actually means in practice, not just as a buzzword. It really brought out a reading that I had done in a previous class called Decolonization is Not a Metaphor by F. Tuck. It was about the idea that decolonization is not a metaphor. The reading was about the idea that decolonialism is not just a land acknowledgement, or including Indigenous content in our learning. It means actively working to unsettle Western hierarchy of knowledge, honoring Indigenous sovereignty, and centering Indigenous ways of knowing as strong and complete systems. It also involves reciprocity, relationship building, and recognizing Indigenous peoples as knowledge holders. While this wasn't a reading that we did in class on Indigenous ways of knowing with Dr. Beattie, it was something I thought a lot about while discussing ways of knowing and worldviews, because in the class that I had done the reading in, we talked about how decolonization can be used as kind of a buzzword to say, we're going to decolonize the way we do things, we're going to decolonize the way we do that, but we're not really thinking about what that means in practice for our ways of knowing and the greater structures and worldviews that shape that, which we talked a lot about in the class with Dr. Beattie. In the previous class, I also learned that true decolonialism means land back, and that it's not just an action of our ancestors, but a constant action of everyone who continues the settlement and enforcement of Westernized worldviews and systems. So that was a really interesting discussion we had on whether or not we descended from initial colonizers and how that impacted our complicitness in decolonization and taking those actions. It was interesting to come to the conclusion that because we were still participating in active systems and ways of knowing that are more Westernized and are colonial themselves, we are contributing to colonization that way, and we're all responsible for decolonization. So learning more about these ways of knowing means we realize that our worldviews and knowledge structures are one of those systems that we really need to dismantle if we're going to truly take decolonization beyond just the buzzword status. I think that's a really interesting perspective, Kaya, and I really like that you brought in decolonization and kind of, what are we doing to actually do that? It's more of an action. It's not just... Did I fucking say it wrong? No, no, you did. We're just proud of you. What? I was like, shit, I couldn't remember anything. Okay, well, I'm going to restart that. Yeah. You were so good, though. Sorry. It's because I thought I said it wrong, then. I was just laughing at Rachel for trying to be quiet, and she was squeaking. Anyways, okay. Sorry. Thank you so much, Kaya. I totally agree. I think that's a really cool perspective of talking about decolonization and kind of breaking it away from that buzzword and making it on action items. It really makes me think about reconciliation and the 94 calls to action that have been put out, and really what reconciliation means and how we're doing our reconciliation. I think something that stood out to me in a lot of the different sources that we've read was how relational and deeply individual healing and knowledge is. I really thought this was prevalent in McCabe's discussion of the medicine wheel in the mind, body, emotions, and spirit reaching to the ancestors for healing. I thought that this was really interesting to tie everything together to see how it is connected in that healing journey, and it really reinforces that everyone connects with their teachings differently based on their lived experience. I think this also reflects more of a reconciliation towards... What the fuck are they called? Who? I think this also really reflects a reconciliation towards residential schools and the mental impact and generational trauma that that has created. I think that oftentimes Western science tries to implement different reconciliation tactics and pushes their science to try and fix issues that were started due to Western pushing of ideologies in the first place. I think it's really important to take a traditional teaching method, which was talked about by Nevegan in The Wise Practices, Integrating Traditional Teachings with Mainstream Treatment Approaches. A quote from them was, traditional teachings cannot be used as if they were a medical prescription or an empty container to be manipulated for gain or appearance. I think that this really reflects how to really achieve reconciliation, we need to have a deep understanding and a deep respect of traditional teachings. And while they could be integrated, Western and traditional, it has to be done in a manner that both respects and understands both approaches. Yeah, those are excellent points by both of you. I really like how you tied in how the Western philosophy is that we go in and we're trying to save these Indigenous children from issues that have been created by previous Western governments or peoples. And I think that this philosophy is sort of from a saviour perspective rather than more trying to consult with what these Indigenous peoples want. I think an important aspect that I remember from this course about how current settler and Indigenous peoples' relationships is sort of the talk with Kirby Manyfingers, which it resonated with me greatly and it sort of, he discussed how he's the chief of the Blood Tribe and they're currently trying to work with the Alberta government to try to find a compromise regarding child protective services. For our listeners, I'm just going to quickly go about saying that currently the Indigenous people represent a majority of the children in child protective services in Alberta, despite making up a small fraction of the population. And I think that this is a very important point because a lot of these children who are taken into the child protective services, they are then brought away from the reservation and then they are brought to different foster homes all across the province. And part of Kirby Manyfingers, their initiative is to try to keep children who are taken away from their families, foster homes in the community. I think that sort of ties into a lot of what you were talking about, Kaya, where sort of, sorry, that was you, this is them. That's okay. And part of this, part of their initiative is keeping foster homes within the community and within the Blood Tribe. And I think that's very important because it ties into what you were discussing, Ella, where sort of recognizing the sort of relationality of Indigenous culture. And I think it sort of ties into a quote by Cathy Absalon, which discusses how circles are a central piece of Indigenous ways of knowing. And I think that as this quote goes where circles represent a level of being and illustrates the reciprocal interconnectedness of self, individual, family, community, nation, society and creation. And I think sort of the idea that if you keep these children within their community, they are then raised by their community. That was echoed greatly by Dr. Beatty and by Kirby Manyfingers when he was discussing In traditional Blackfoot teachings, the entire community works together to raise these children, where elders teach them things along with, besides simply their family. And I think keeping these children within this sort of reflects how this initiative is important because it helps these children stay within their community where they can be raised by their community. Furthermore, I think that this also ties into another one of the teachings which greatly resonated with me, which was, you already mentioned it was the study by, I think it was Pazurka, which focuses on the sort of the Cree teachings. And I think that an important part of the initiative that Kirby is sort of championing is that they're trying to focus on keeping these Indigenous families together. So they're trying to get financial support to ensure that families are not broken up or kids are not taken away due to neglect. And so I think keeping these families together is incredibly important because, as Pazurka states, Cree teachings highlight the need for the mother, the rest of the family to connect with the child. And I think that it's very important for these, I think this initiative sort of brings to mind, for myself, current settler and Indigenous people's relationships because they are fighting with the Alberta government to gain, they're trying to establish a sectoral self-government agreement where they are in charge of their own child protective services. And I sort of, this brought to mind for myself how there's many current issues which are being, there's many current issues which I'm not entirely aware of because I was not entirely aware of this before his very impactful talk. And I think that this could be true for either one of you. Do you, what did you guys think about this and did you know about this before? I think those were some great points you made, Sam. And yeah, to answer your question, I didn't know about the initiative itself before. And I had heard kind of the statistics on the amount of Indigenous children in foster care system and such and the amount of children who have displaced from their homes starting kind of from the 60s group to our current foster care system. But I never asked the question of why so many children end up there and kind of what assumptions maybe our government systems are making or what actions they're taking that don't necessarily reflect the needs of those communities. So I think this was such an amazing discussion to have with Curvy Running Fingers because we really got to kind of understand that perspective on it of it comes from such a more like upstream place that we need to be taking action from. If we're making efforts to decolonize, we need to understand the water system and the originating intentions behind them, as well as how some well-intended interventions can have very negative impacts when we don't consult Indigenous people properly. And going back to our Pan-Indigenous Native conversation, not just Indigenous people in general, but the people who this matters to and impacts daily. I totally agree, Kaya and Sam. I had no idea the severity of the issue before talking with Curvy Running Fingers. I think also going back to the point of ignorance, I had heard of the number. I had heard that there was a high or over-represented population of Indigenous youth in this system. I, again, as Kaya said, I'd never really asked why or tried to find out anything more than just accepting it as a fact. And I think it's really important to not just judge and accept, but really ask those questions. It was a really great experience learning from Curvy Running Fingers. And I think it's so important to learn from those with lived experience. And it reminded me that every Indigenous person has their own experience and beliefs, not only inside their own culture and between different tribes, but also looking how we can't just generalize perspectives within a group. It's really so individual. I think that this also reflects when we were doing the reading by Pepion, An Introduction to Indigenous Ways of Knowing a Blackfeet Perspective. It really talks about their own learning through Blackfoot ceremony. And it's illustrated that how someone, even within their own culture, has different learning tasks and a different way of gaining knowledge, which taught me that there's no single correct Indigenous experience. It really helped me see how the assumption that consulting one Indigenous perspective is not going to be the same as engaging with a whole community. I think overall, to summarize a lot of this, the course really taught me about respecting Indigenous settler relationships and how that means recognizing that each person's lived experience is valid on its own terms, and broad generalizations flatten the complexity and richness. I'm going to re-read that one. Overall, I think this course taught me that respecting Indigenous settler relationships means recognizing that each person's lived experience is valid on its own terms, and broad generalizations flatten the complexity and richness of Indigenous cultures.