I was thrilled when I was first apprised of the Idle No More movement.
Finally, I said to myself, they are going to be “idle no more.” It has been a genuine concern of mine to see the massive unemployment rate that pervades the First Nation culture, a problem on the reserves since their inception.
You, my readers, along with millions of Canadians, of course, are aware that the Idle No More is the farthest thing from my initial (mis)understanding. Only people who are still idle (as in doing nothing constructive on a regular basis) would be free to plant themselves on national and provincial highways, border crossings, and train tracks, in order to make their so-called plight known.
At the point of writing, there have been no arrests, no overtures, and in fact, no discussions.
In a world that has turned upside down in these past forty years, I am not surprised. However, decades after decades of mismanagement and misinformation has produced a spirit of entitlement and disillusionment, and Idle No More is the (direct) result. A generation ago, these people would be arrested and hauled off to court, rightly or wrongly. I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere.
If I did it, for whatever possible legitimate cause, I would be arrested. Even places where they butcher unborn babies, there's such a thing as buffer zones—a territory set apart where people who care for the lives of innocent victims are disallowed. In fact, when I was at one of the two rallies for parental rights at the Legislative Building last winter, we respected where and how we could protest our indignation.
Civil protests are not only allowed in a democratic society, they are encouraged. But Idle No More has crossed the line (and there could be a pun in there, if you want) too many times.
There's no way that my advice would be sought—wrong skin colour, wrong gender, wrong genetics—but if it was, I would give a couple of sincere suggestions:
One, talk to your chiefs, your elders. Press them to interface with the government and its agents (also known as ministers and bureaucrats). You are directing your venom at the wrong people. There is a process in place, as part of the Indian Act, whereby money and rights are passed along to the reserves by parliament—not newspapers and common citizens. In a civilized culture, where we dialogue (even with those with whom we disagree) and discuss our differences. There is no place for public defiance and disruption. Disturbing the peace is cultural terrorism and it doesn't work.
Two, talk to your chiefs, your elders. Again, if the first attempt doesn't work. Ask them, politely yet pointedly, where is all the money that has been earmarked for employment, education, and health. Hold those elders accountable for the money they've received. For that matter, I'd like to know, too.
You see, there's a lot of money being deposited into every reserve in Canada. As a taxpayer, I like to know why it isn't producing positive results; and as an educator, I am very alarmed at certain classroom trends.
I think that could sound racist, but it's not: These are first-hand reports and have nothing whatsoever to do with anti-native sentiments.
But my Idle No More friends, please don't take your anger, frustration, and anarchy out on the ordinary common citizens of Canada. I never wrote the Indian Act; I never put your forefathers on reserves; I have never told a racist joke; and I have no power to improve your situation.
I humbly posit that you have been fed a pack of lies from your leaders, who got them from their leaders, and so on. Trashing the land and threatening the economy will get you nowhere, whether you're on or off the reserve. We don't; that's just not how a civilized culture works.
As a student of history, by the way, I would like to sit down with those who have presented you with a revisionist form of history, and discuss with them the other first nations that may have preceded you—the Irish, the Phoenicians, Scandinavians, and the Egyptians, for starters. Bet you never learned that in Socials 10.
If you really don't feel you've been given a fair shake, please cross over to my world. I would welcome you with open arms. We'd have a better Canada if we operated as one voice, one unit, yet respecting the many varied cultures that make up its mosaic.
Just don't be “idle” no more, please. It doesn't, uh, work.
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