At the Edge of Canada: Indigenous Research is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Indigenous researchers and shedding light on the invaluable work being done to support Indigenous peoples and communities. Through interviews, discussions, and current affairs, this blog serves as a platform for Indigenous scholars and researchers to share their insights, experiences, and expertise.
In this musical conversation, hip hop artist Chase Manhattan speaks
with guest interviewer Liz Przybylski. He shares how he puts together
his music, and also talks about how family and place influence him. We
listen to his track "For My Natives"
together, and Chase offers thoughts about how hip hop can speak to
social issues of importance in Native communities. And of course, there
is a little beat boxing to round out the show.
Chase Manhattan
is a Hip Hop/ Rap performing artist, and CEO of Shanob Ent. based out
of the Twin Cities Minnesota. His music is influenced by his big brother
and his Native American roots( Pine Ridge Oglala, Leech Lake
Anishinaabe, and Muscogee Creek).
Chase's work has been nominated for a number of awards, 2009's "The
Backside" was nominated for Best Hip Hop/Rap Album at the Northern
American Indigenous Image Awards (NAIIA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It
was also nominated for the 2009 Native American Music Awards (NAMA) in
the category of Best Hip Hop/ Rap Album. In 2010/2011 he worked with organizations such as First Nations Composers Initiatives (FNCI), to develop community and culture though music.
The Indigenous Revolution will be a long and slow event that will take many years and incredibly it will not be a violent revolution. It will be a revolution of the mind. It seems that Aboriginal peoples in Canada may have attained a critical mass in their demands for Human Rights. As Louis Riel said it will be the artists who will awaken my people. This song is not about Cree people, Anishnaabe people, Inuit or Métis but the common cause of all Canadians. The philosophy of Indigenous peoples offers a means to all peoples to create a better world. Vine Deloria wrote the Western world would not face defeat in war or battle, but the philosophy which guides the west will be defeated by the holistic Indigenous thought. It will be the Indigenous thought which will allow the flowering of all human beings as valuable members of society.
All revolutions take a spark, something to ignite them; to push them forward. While song is not the usual spark I hope that it will offer words of comfort. I suspect that it must be a charismatic individual that will offer self sacrifice. This individual must be above reproach so when they are attacked those attacks will ring hollow.
Aboriginal authors for the past forty years have been writing about colonialism and its devastating effects on Aboriginals. Among the first books was one that profoundly impacted the way Aboriginals and Canadians see themselves and their condition: The Only Good Indian (Waubageshig, 1972).
This was a revolutionary book. Waubageshig, in an effort to force Canadian society to wake up to the terrible suffering of Aboriginals in Canada, wrote about the works of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), which have become the “handbooks of revolutionaries throughout the third world.” Waubageshig explains Fanon’s theory of decolonization in stages.
According to Fanon, the first stage of colonization-decolonization is traditional Aboriginal culture. It is conservative, and innovation in both technology and society generally moves very slowly. Social values and norms are in accordance with the natural environment (Waubageshig, 1972, 65-66).
Stage two comes with the arrival of the settlers. Their arrival creates a very volatile social structure with the introduction of a “new breed of men” and technology. For the settlers and Natives, it is a time of great innovation although generally the Native loses out in any power struggles over the long term. These power struggles often involve violence between Natives and settlers, as Natives attempt to maintain their status and culture. Settlers attempt to impose their culture and create status for themselves in this new land. Over time, more and more of them arrive, giving more weight to their culture and military/economic power (Waubageshig, 1972, 66).
With stage three, there is a dichotomy in relations between Natives and settlers. The new economic and social power is in the hands of the settlers. Natives are often exploited legally, economically, and politically. They are not seen as being human, but as the “Other.” They have become rejected as inferior and forced to occupy low-status positions. Violence is less pronounced, but often takes verbal and socially structured forms. In the third stage, a Native bourgeoisie has also developed and is given multiple responsibilities in administering and controlling other Natives. This bourgeoisie assumes most of the outward appearances of the settlers, except for skin colour (Waubageshig, 1972, 67).
The fourth stage is the use of violence by the Natives. This stage is perhaps the most difficult to reach. According to Waubageshig, prior to decolonization, there is a noticeable increase in the crime rate and violence among Natives. The Native culture also enjoys a revival with traditional dances and songs, as rites of the Native’s religion are performed more. Eventually, this idea of the “Other” takes hold among the Natives, whereby the settler becomes the Other. It is not the Native bourgeoisie who is the prime instigator of decolonization, but rather the peasants. The peasants have almost nothing to lose through violence and much to gain. Eventually, the bourgeoisie’s intellectuals identify with the peasants, their own people. The latter will lead the revolution towards “its nationalistic outcome; which is stage five of the theory” (Waubageshig, 1972, 67).
Waubageshig then lays out how the Canadian situation meets many of the requirements of Fanon’s theory, thus providing a wake-up call to the 1970s system of treating Aboriginals. Waubageshig says: “Indians will have the opportunity to adequately gauge the limits of peaceful negotiations. Then it will be possible to discern if decolonization will occur and if so, whether or not it would be a violent process” (Waubageshig, 1972, 67). Under the Canadian system, many Aboriginals (but not all[1]) have been unwilling to use excessive violence when demanding their rights over the past 40 years. Instead, very pragmatic Aboriginal leaders have used public desire for justice and fairness to make political and economic gains against colonialism. Many Aboriginals still believe this process has not gone fast enough and have advocated concrete action against the Canadian state (Chief Gilbert Whiteduck, personal communication, February 7, 2007). At the same time, Waubageshig does not believe that Canadian Aboriginals are willing to use any large-scale violence to achieve their ends (p. 83). Perhaps, this is due to their philosophy of life or because they see the benefits of negotiation and talking within an increasingly pluralistic society that is more and more willing to allow difference.
The need to decolonize Aboriginals and their communities is widely accepted by almost all Aboriginal philosophers and leaders. Battiste and Henderson have suggested that acceptance of Eurocentric thought process will eventually result in a single world centre (2000, 21). They feel, as do others such as Kennedy (1989) and Dimont (1962), that even North America wholly relies upon Europe for much of its knowledge and understanding. The problem for Battiste and Henderson is that “as a theory it [Western worldview] postulates the superiority of Europeans over non-Europeans. It is built on a set of assumptions and beliefs that educated and unusually unprejudiced Europeans and North Americans habitually accept as true, as supported by “the facts,” or as “reality” ”(Battiste & Henderson, 2000, 21). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights demands difference of opinion and life.
Tapwe
[1] May 18, 2010 there was a firebomb attack by “Native radicals” (FFFC-Ottawa) on a Royalbank in the Ottawa region before the G8 and G20 summits to be held in Canada that summer denouncing the stealing of land by “colonial British Columbia and the RBC” for the winter Olympics (FFFC, 2010).
Winston Wuttunee & Robert-Falcon Ouellette University of Manitoba
Cree Elder Winston Wuttunee was in the studio and completed a series of interviews about music, spirituality. Here is a discussion of his early life as a musician and the events which shaped him as a human and allowed him to grow spiritually as a human being.
Resume: Winston initially talks about music and how young Aboriginal Cree youth traditionally would learn music in the family in his time. Winston's father was the farm instructor at the local IRS. A place that Winston refused to say the name out loud. Winston's father was born in 1892 and was well educated having earned a grade 12 education at the IRS. His family was eventually moved to Battleford when Winston was only 2. The family did not speak English at home for they only spoke Cree, but he sure did learn English quickly. His father soon started a business of a livery stable (horse repair shop). After that he created another Business selling water and delivering water from house to house for 75¢ a barrel. Whenever he would come home after work he would empty his pockets full of coins and Winston's uncles Bill and Noel would then come over and help him count the coins. The family become quite well off and eventually Winston's father would start selling and delivering ice from house to house.
Winston and my father (James Ouelette as recorded on the birth certificate and with Indian Affairs but he always used Ouellette) would fight side by side against the other Moonyas children. They were very smart because they needed to be. They were able to run extremely quick. They would place rock piles around the streets in corners in order to defend themselves against the Moonyas (white) children. I asked if there was some racism at that time period and Winston there was just some racism Robert but a lot. Even though there was racism in the town from the RCMP and others, still members of the family were popular in school and they were able to take roles of responsibly like speaking at assemblies, music or defending fellow Neechi, brothers and sisters. “We were able to take these roles because we are Wuttunee descended from chiefs, it is in our blood.” Wuttunee means Golden Eagle Feather.
Winston also told more stories about North Battleford and the old times when he was growing up. Winston also discussed the environment and the role that Moonyas culture has taken in destroying the land that we live on and air we breathe!
Winston is a 2013 winner of an Indspire award for his work as an elder and in spirituality. This is for many the Noble prizes of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
