Volume 50, Issue 4

The Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Toronto Mississauga since 1974

themedium.ca

Issue 4 Volume 50 October 2 2023

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NEWS

Editor | Larry Lau news@themedium.ca

U of T commemorates the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation U of T hosted a commemorative event for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, with both in-person and online attendance options.

Vanessa Bogacki Contributor

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n September 30, we all came together as a nation to remember the many Indigenous children who were forcefully removed from their families and taken into the Canadian residential school system. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is also sometimes called Orange Shirt Day to reflect residential school survivors like Phyllis Webstad, who was stripped of her brand-new orange shirt when she entered St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School at only the age of six. Webstad went on to become a founder of the Orange Shirt Society, sparking a social movement within Canada that we recognize to this day.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation acknowledges and honours survivors of the Canadian residential school system. Canadians are encouraged to listen to these difficult stories, learn from the past, and act in ways that promote healing for and reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

the Warden of Hart House. He also hosted the commemoration. Alexandra Gillespie, the Vice-President and Principal of UTM, and Rose Patten, the Chancellor of U of T, both gave their remarks as well.

This was followed by a panel discussion featuring Grant Hurley, Canadiana Librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Mikayla Redden Information Services & Instruction Librarian at the D.G. Ivey Library, Desmond Wong, Outreach Librarian at the OISE Library. The panel was moderated by Angela Henshilwood, Head of the Engineering & Computer Science Library.

UTM encouraged students to wear an orange shirt on September 29 and 30 to support reconciliation. The OII colAURORA PICCIOTTOLI/ THE MEDIUM

The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) recognizes the injustices that Indigenous individuals continue to face.

The Office of Indigenous Initiatives (OII) has a list of resources that can be used as a starting point to learn more and start conversations about Indigenous experiences.

Additionally, on September 29, 2023, U of T hosted a commemoration for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The event was made possible through partnership with the OII, Hart House, and Indigenous Student Services First Nations House.

The event began with opening remarks from David Kim,

Artist Statement Laura Tovar Design Editor

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was excited and a little nervous when tasked with illustrating a cover for this year’s Indigenous Week. As with anything, representing an entire culture through art can be quite a challenge, and not being Indigenous myself, I felt a little lost in my knowledge. So, I began researching. As I fell down a Google deep dive, I learned an incredible amount about Indigenous history, art, and stories. Each group had its own richness and celebrated their own culture through art. I highly recommend you fall down your own rabbit hole and discover some of the many amazing Indigenous artists. Some who inspired me are Germaine Arnaktauyok, Jacqueline “Jackie” Traverse, and Ayla Bouvette.

What really caught my eye, though, was the mythology. The stories were exciting and beautiful and rich with history. The one that inspired this piece specifically was the story of Sedna, the Inuit sea goddess. In her story (though various versions exist), she falls in love with a beautiful foreigner wearing fur. She becomes infatuated with him, and they get married, but her life is not as expected. Sedna ends up alone on an island where her husband is revealed to have been an angry bird spirit, hidden in human disguise to lure in the beautiful Sedna. She spends days calling out to her father, hoping he will be able to hear her and rescue her. Finally, her father takes his unhappy daughter away, but the bird spirit becomes enraged upon finding his missing wife. He chases after them, and the sky and sea become angry. Afraid, the father knows he must sacrifice his daughter to appease the spirit and throws her overboard. She attempts to swim and even can hold on to the canoe when her father cuts her fingers off. Drowning, Sedna’s fingers become the first sea creatures, and she becomes the goddess of the sea, ruling over all marine life and the fate of fishermen.

laborated with the UTM Bookstore to supply orange t-shirts that students could purchase to showcase their support. The shirts were designed by MJ Singleton, a two-spirit Ojibwe UTM student from the Migisi Sahgaigan First Nation. $10 from each shirt will be used to support the “reconciliation events and activities” of the Orange Shirt Society.

In the words of Phyllis Webstad; “The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing.”

By wearing orange on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Indigenous community and its allies used a colour that once represented oppression to show support, recognition, and solidarity with residential school survivors and Indigenous communities across Canada.

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UTM raises Tipi and Teaching Lodge for peacemaking and reconciliation The newly raised Tipi and Teaching Lodge at UTM will serve as a location for gatherings, ceremonies, and learning.

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Shreya Joshi Contributor BEATRIZ SIMAS/THE MEDIUM

n the morning of September 13, 2023, the Tipi and Teaching Lodge was raised on Principal’s Road at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) campus. The Medium reached out to the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (OII) through email to learn more about how the Tipi was raised, its significance, and the duration it will stay raised for.

According to Jessica Tabak, the OII Special Projects Officer, three poles are structured at the heart of the Tipi with others surrounding it. The Tipi is shaped like a spiral, as each pole is placed atop the previous to “direct water out of the Tipi.” The cover is then “laced up using lacing pins.”

The Tipi has historically served as a shelter for Indigenous people because it is “portable, durable, water resistant, and easy to disassemble and erect.” The Tipi also serves as a space for ceremonies and gatherings. There are customary rules to follow when using the Tipi—especially when it relates to the sacred fire inside. Tabak expects that the Tipi will remain for around two years. “During this time ceremonies, programming, events, and classes will take place in the Tipi,” she ex-

plains.

As for the Teaching Lodge, it will be utilized as a teaching environment akin to a classroom. The Lodge contains a wooden stove for heating during winter.

The Tipi and Teaching Lodge are part of the peacemaking and reconciliation efforts between the Canadian Indigenous communities and U of T. Tabak references U of T’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Report, Answering the Call: Wecheehetowin Report, and UTM’s Strategic Framework, both of which reaffirm the university’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

As a concluding thought, Tabak states: “The Tipi and Lodge mobilize meaningful reconciliation efforts here on campus, support our roadmap for change set out in our Strategic Framework, and also enable UTM’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives to conduct operations in spaces that are reflective of Indigenous community.”

Canada’s Indigenous communities left vulnerable by Meta’s news content block Bill C-18, the Online News Act, is severely curtailing the Indigenous peoples’ primary source of potentially lifesaving information in times of emergencies.

Angelina Jaya Siew Contributor

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ill C-18—the Online News Act—received royal assent on June 22, 2023, and will take full effect by December 19, 2023. The purpose of this Act is to “[regulate] digital news intermediaries,” with the aim of “[enhancing] fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace” and supporting the long-term viability of all Canadian news businesses. In essence, the Act seeks to ensure that Canadian news agencies are compensated for the use of their content by intermediaries such as Meta (the owner and operator of Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms) and Google by creating a “bargaining framework to ensure that platforms compensate news businesses fairly.”

According to CBC News, the federal government estimates that Google would need to compensate Canadian news outlets with C$172 million in compliance with the Online News Act. Meta would need to provide Canadian news outlets with approximately C$62 million.

In July 2023, the Associated Press reported that “106 wildfires have affected 93 First Nations communities this year, and there have been 64 evacuations involving almost 25,000 people, according to Indigenous Services Canada.” Furthermore, Linda Powless of Turtle Island News, a weekly Southern Ontario publication dedicated to informing the native communities, expressed her concerns over the blocking of news content on Meta-owned media platforms. She confirmed the financial losses that her news outlet has been subjected to through this act and stresses that local news outlets are especially important in getting urgent information to remote Indigenous areas very quickly. This dispersion of information is especially crucial considering the rapid spread of life-threatening wildfires.

While Powless hopes that Meta will end its ban, the technology giant has taken steps to end news availability on its Canadian platforms. In response, the federal government has suspended all advertising on Facebook and Instagram from July onwards—when the government deemed Facebook uncooperative. Chiming in on this issue, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in an interview with CBC that the conflict with Facebook and Google over C-18 is a “dispute over democracy,” reaffirming that the government had no intention to repeal Bill C-18 as of July 2023.

The Online News Act concerns nearly every Canadian citizen, though its impact is liable to be more intense amongst the more than 1.8 million Indigenous people living in Canada.

As many Indigenous communities are located in isolated regions, Meta’s ban on sharing news content due to Canada’s Bill C-18 makes it more difficult for such communities to access timely news reports.

Social media has long been an important tool used to inform the Indigenous community.

The ban imposed by intermediaries has led to not only a decrease in news content creators’ revenue streams but has also reduced the efficacy of rapid dissemination of information— including those related to urgent, emergency situations. One such example is the sharing of critical information required to protect property and life due to risks posed by wildfires.

In an open letter to Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, dated August 22, 2023, Catherine Tait, President & CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada called for an end to the technology giant’s news ban for communities threatened by wildfires. She referred to over 600 wildfires in the Northwest Territories and part of British Columbia—a region home to many Indigenous people. In light of this, she appealed for an exemption on Facebook for accounts specific to alerting and communicating with wildfire-affected communities on humanitarian grounds.

BEATRIZ SIMAS/THE MEDIUM

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September News Briefs Larry Lau News Editor

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation across Canada

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s we came together to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, many events were slated across Canada to support and recognize Indigenous communities and experiences. From September 30 to October 1, buildings across Canadian cities were lit up in orange in efforts to recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) broadcasted various special programs honouring residential school survivors and their families. An example includes “Every Child Matters: Reconciliation Through Education,” where survivors of residential schools, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and others explored how reconciliation can be facilitated. Together with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, the APTN hosted the Remembering The Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. The gathering was also broadcast live.

In various areas across Canada, individuals could find local public events organized for this day of acknowledgment. In Mississauga, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) raised their flag at Celebration Square on September 30. Screens at the square displayed messages for reconciliation. The clock tower at the Civic Centre was illuminated in orange for Orange Shirt Day.

Indigenizing Health Symposium

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o be held between October 25 and 27, 2023, the Indigenizing Health Symposium: Nations Gathering on the Land will bring together researchers to discuss Indigenous health issues and methods to promote healing. The symposium, organized by the Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health, will include many keynote speakers from various First Nation communities, as well as discussions led by Elders, Knowledge Keepers, scholars, and students. Participants can partake in a ceremony during the symposium and learn about various Indigenous Knowledges. The symposium’s presentations and workshops will be held at the Hart House Farm’s teaching lodge. Interested individuals can register for the event, with tickets at C$81.21 for students and community members, and at C$161.08 for academics and professionals.

Wake the Giant Music Festival

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UTMSU Fall Byelection voting begins soon The UTMSU will be holding its Fall Byelection to elect representatives for the Board of Directors, who will meet monthly to contribute to the UTMSU’s future initiatives.

Hannah Grace Wang Contributor

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he 2023 University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) Fall By-Election will be taking place from October 3 to 5. Members can run for one of the four eligible positions on the Board of Directors for the year. These include two First-Year Representatives, one Part-Time Representative and one Professional Faculty Representative.

Candidates are not obligated to provide a statement on the UTMSU website, which is “simply one manner of campaigning that the UTMSU offers forward to candidates as one location to advertise,” explains Owens.

The Medium reached out through email to Greg Owens, Chief Returning Officer, to ask about the election process. “Each fall, first year students are given the opportunity to put their names forward to become representatives on the highest decision making body of their student union as a way to ensure first year students do not need to wait until second year to have representation on the Board,” says Owens. “If successfully elected, the new representatives will join the Board of Directors in their role of meeting monthly to receive an update from the executive, provide governance oversight and discuss future initiatives of the organization.”

Keerat Bhatia did not provide a statement.

According to Owens, “There was a plan to hold a by-election for a Division III (PartTime) and Division IV (Professional Faculty) Representative, however, no candidates completed the nomination process. These roles will remain vacant until their standard elections in the Spring of 2024.”

n September 16, 2023, many came together at the Thunder Bay Waterfront to participate in the 2023 Wake The Giant Music Festival. The festival was originally created as a movement to support Indigenous students who left their First Nation communities and came to Thunder Bay to pursue education. Singers and dancers performed various songs and dances, including traditional ones such as jingle dress dancing, in front of a roaring crowd. Performers have described the experience as “cool” and “emotional” when they saw the crowd resonating with their performances. Details about the 2024 iteration of the music festival will be released on the Wake The Giant website in due time.

As for safeguards to ensure a fair voting process, Owens says, “Students will have the opportunity to vote in person from 9 AM - 6 PM on October 3rd, 4th and 5th across the UTM campus at one of our six polling locations.” Voters will need to bring their T-card for verification, and voting will be conducted in person only.

U of T removes tuition requirements for nine First Nations

“We utilize Elections Canada voting screens and ballot boxes, which are sealed and stored in a secure location only accessible to a limited number of senior election staff for the duration of the election period.

Ballot counting occurs in a systematic manner by certified election staff under the supervision of the Chief Returning Officer and individual candidates may identify a scrutineer to represent them and observe this counting process as well,” explains Owens.

The election follows the Elections Procedure Code, which clarifies rules related to fair play and delineates the process to appeal and file complaints. Candidates can request re-counts and contest the election’s validity if they are concerned about its fairness.

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ffective from October 11, 2023, U of T will be waiving tuition from students belonging to nine First Nations to promote allyship with Indigenous communities and improve inclusivity of Indigenous students. As explained on U of T News, the First Nations include: “Alderville First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Nation Huronne-Wendat/ Huron-Wendat First Nation, Mississauga First Nation, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (Tyendinaga Mohawk) and Six Nations of the Grand River.” This will apply to most programs for current and future Indigenous students across all three campuses.

The following candidates are running for the first-year representative position on the Board of Directors:

Aryaman Chopra’s candidacy centres on inclusivity, transparency, and the representation of international students. Chopra states that “[inclusivity and transparency] will be at the forefront of my agenda, ensuring every student feels represented.”

Lujayn El Shobokshy’s candidacy focuses on mental health, including making “[student] mental health a forever priority and [giving] them a sense of control over their lives.”

XingYi (Freya) Gao’s candidacy focuses include “transportation for off-campus students, safety, [and] diversity” to ensure every student feels “valued, safe, and empowered to excel.”

Saba Halabisaz’s candidacy focuses on listening to student concerns and bringing them “to the rest of the board and make sure that the UTM Student Union is acting in alignment with its laws, policies, and goals.”

Albert Pan’s candidacy goals are to “advocate for recorded lectures, since life happens and going in-person may not be an option” and “to represent every opinion and idea equally and fairly to the Board of Directors.”

Owen Zhang’s candidacy goals include lowering international student tuition costs or calling for a tuition freeze, improving food option flexibility across campus food providers, increasing the quantity of equipment in the RAWC’s gym, and pushing for better Wi-Fi services in the school residence.

MASTHEAD EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Juliana Stacey editor@themedium.ca Managing Editors River Knott & Aidan Thompson managing@themedium.ca & managinginternal@themedium.ca News Larry Lau news@themedium.ca Opinion Kareena Kailass opinion@themedium.ca Features Prisha (Maneka) Nuckchady features@themedium.ca A&E Alisa Samuel arts@themedium.ca Sports Omar Khan sports@themedium.ca Photo Samira Karimova photos@themedium.ca Design Laura Tovar design@themedium.ca Copy Ricardo Jaroslav Valdes jaros@themedium.ca Maja Ting maja@themedium.ca Social Media & Online Belicia Chevolleau social@themedium.ca

Video

Nikolas Towsey video@themedium.ca

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OPINION

Celebrating Indigenous Voices

Join us as we uplift, stand with, and celebrate Indigenous voices.

The Medium

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e have two main intentions with this issue on celebrating Indigenous voices: the first is to provide a platform for Indigenous writers to voice their opinions, thoughts, and feelings on matters that concern them and their communities; the second is to raise awareness on Indigenous issues, successes, and histories that are important to understanding and contextualizing the current political and social landscapes within Canada— particularly as they pertain to Indigenous Peoples.

The latter intent was easier to realize in sections where we could maintain a sense of objectivity in our reporting. For example, in Arts and Entertainment we could discuss the various projects and achieve-

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ments of Indigenous artists, musicians, and creatives.

We felt that we could research and report on these topics with a sense of objectivity that would allow us to raise awareness of Indigenous voices without overshadowing those voices.

When we originally pitched articles for the Opinion section, we implored Indigenous authors to sign up. We wanted people who were intimately familiar with the unique experiences of Indigenous life to write their opinions on matters that concerned them and their communities. In recognition of the long and enduring absence of Indigenous voices in mass media, we wanted to reserve this space for Indigenous opinions on Indigenous issues.

As days passed, all pitches

remained unclaimed. We emailed our associates and spoke to classmates in hopes of finding an Indigenous writer who was willing to contribute, but as we approached the deadline for printing, our pitches remained unclaimed.

You might have noticed that there was a gap in our publication schedule last week—this was not our original intention.

We were hoping to publish this issue on September 25.

However, on the afternoon of September 23, our management team sat down and discussed the reality of our situation: publishing this week would mean publishing empty pages. We contemplated writing extra pieces ourselves, but later realized that rushing these pieces was not going to help us put out an issue that we were proud of. A quick reaction to our predicament would only lower the quality

of our work, which was counterproductive to our goal for this issue.

Therefore, we made the difficult decision to postpone publication to this week. As non-Indigenous people recognizing the historical absence of Indigenous voices on political and social matters in Canada, we did not see it as constructive to publish our own opinions on issues that we have not experienced. Instead, we thought these pages would be better served promoting Indigenous Peoples, artists, and activists in the Greater Toronto Area. We encourage you to go beyond these pages and continue to celebrate these voices.

Land acknowledgments: Canada’s moral exhibitionism The performative nature of land acknowledgments must be Yasmine Benabderrahmane Contributor

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eople have finally started criticizing the traditional “small talk” that takes place during the first week on campus. As a third-year student, I’ve considered handing out a business card to avoid any more introductory conversations.

And yet, there is one “talk” that bothers me most:

TO CONTRIBUTE & CONNECT:

Editor | Kareena Kailass opinion@themedium.ca

“I (we) wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.”

Land acknowledgments— the performance preceding

official events where administrators name the Indigenous Peoples whose genocide bared the land on which our institutes sit—have become ubiquitous and hollow. Often, land acknowledgments are routinised. They are performed without the intention of returning the land—receipts of theft, documentations of an ethnic cleanse.

This summer, I witnessed the most insulting examples of land acknowledgments at a high school graduation. The acknowledgment preceded the Canadian national anthem.

An anthem written by settlers, for settlers, claiming their “indigeneity” to a land that they had confessed to be stolen only seconds prior.

The issue with land acknowledgments rests in their nature. They are used by settlers to avoid threatening their existence on stolen land. A means of momentarily managing “white guilt” until their next official event. A cycle of moral exhibitionism and

performative activism. Land acknowledgements should be practiced, not performed.

They must be followed by action.

When we perform land acknowledgements without action, we paint the colonialism of Indigenous Peoples as a mere thing of the past, something that happened and for which nothing can be done.

Land acknowledgements are the first step in recognizing the ongoing colonialism in this country, but they remain just that—a first step. It is a shame that land acknowledgements, the brief and bureaucratic mention of Indigenous communities, has become a point of victory for the dispossessed.

Land acknowledgments create a poor standard for activism. When our institutes continue to perform the bare minimum, while simultaneously echoing the practices of their preceding colonial government, it produces a level of normality within our communities. It is inappropriate to

call the slightest of actions an effort of reconciliation.

Our school, an institute and product of colonialism, has a focal role in the next steps for reconciliation. It should necessitate courses, taught by Indigenous professors, about Indigenous communities—and not restrict such courses to historical material. Transparency about the Indigenous communities on our campuses should be mandatory. Funds must be dedicated to the Indigenous communities, whose land currently acts as a mere allocation granted by a thriving colonial government. Research on the Indigenous Peoples needs to evolve beyond a past-time hobby for students.

It is time we gain true consciousness—time to criticize the performance of land acknowledgements in Canada.

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Disproportionate suffering: Indigenous children and ongoing discrimination Indigenous children are overrepresented in the child welfare system because of poverty and historical discrimination.

Blake Douglas Contributor

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or 13 years my family has fostered children, including my two little siblings in the process. After all these years of caring for dozens of children, one thing is apparent: the system is flawed. One huge historic flaw in the child welfare (fostering) system regards the Indigenous community. It seems coincidental that as residential schools started to close in the ’80s and ’90s, there was an increase in child welfare implementation and children being brought into the system around Canada.

supervise the children, or refusing to provide medical treatment when needed. When I was just starting my research on children in the welfare system, I was mortified by this.

How could a parent not take care of their child? How could they not love their kid?

Well, the story is often more complicated than that.

What causes this overrepresentation?

Although there are cases of terrible parents who choose to not take care of their children, neglect often occurs because the families simply do not have the financial means to be a good parent. When families do not have the money to buy food, clothes, medicine, or let alone a place to live, it is not possible to take care of a child. This neglect happens not because the parent doesn’t love their child, but rather because the parent does not have financial means. One in four Indigenous peoples live in poverty, which means it doesn’t matter how much love or care the parent has for their child, one in four will be far more likely to have their children taken into the system due to claims of neglect. This poverty can be traced back to colonialization, residential schools, and the continued trauma that Indigenous communities have and continue to face.

In 2018, neglect represented 21 per cent of maltreatment cases in child welfare. Neglect occurs when the child’s guardian does not provide the child with the basic needs of living. This includes failing to feed or clothe the children, ignoring their responsibility to

These are appalling statistics, which is why the Canadian federal government has made strides in helping Indigenous communities. One of the most important steps has been giving the mandate—or the right—of child welfare services from the provincial

Today, Indigenous children are extremely overrepresented in the foster care system. In 2021, Indigenous children only accounted for 7.7 per cent of the child population, yet 53.8 per cent of children in the foster care system were Indigenous. In 2016, 30 per cent of Indigenous children in Ontario were in foster care, while the Indigenous child population was only 4.1 per cent of the total children.

governments to the Indigenous communities through Bill C-92. This bill allows Indigenous communities to build their own child welfare services buildings, hire social workers who will consider the historic discrimination, and give greater power to the Indigenous communities to help families the way they feel is best.

However, there are still many problems.

Indigenous communities can choose to either build their own services headquarters or continue to use the already governmentbuilt Children’s Aid Society (CAS). However, if a community wishes to build such a building, the building must have accessible clean drinking water. Although the Liberal government promised years ago to end the long-term drinking water advisories in Indigenous communities, there are still 19 communities in Ontario that have them today. This means that there are 19 communities unable to independently run their own child welfare system.

Another problem is that there is simply no equality between the economic means of Indigenous communities and the majority of Canada. If neglect due to poverty is the root problem of why Indigenous children are extremely overrepresented, then we need to solve it.

I was asked to write this piece for Orange Shirt Day. There is no doubt that this day and the many other awareness and remem-

brance days throughout the year are a positive thing. However, I believe that there is more action that needs to be done if we are to achieve reconciliation. This may receive some disagreement, but I believe economics are directly tied to social issues. The connection between poverty and overrepresentation in the foster care system is proof. So, we must provide economic solutions to prop up Indigenous communities. It is a common thing to do. The administration of how to do this, I am unsure of—there are a variety of ways to go about it.

I could continue to write more about specific solutions, other flaws in the child welfare system, and much more on the topic, but I am closing in on my word count. So, I will leave you with this: it is not possible to make things 100 per cent right. Children were already killed because of Canada. It’s our history, and our history is unjust. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do the right thing in the present and the future. As a straight white male, I know it can be perceived as problematic that I am discussing this issue as I can never truly understand the discrimination that marginalized groups go through.

Despite this, I believe that we all must strive for a better future. Which means advocating for and standing by marginalized communities, because although I or you might not benefit from it, it is simply the right thing to do.

The forced sterilization in Indigenous women is genocide

Surgical interventions in the reproductive capacity of Indigenous women is a practice not yet confined to the past.

Paige France Contributor

Trigger Warning – mention of genital mutilation

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aking away a person’s ability to reproduce without consent, or through coercion, is called forced or coerced sterilization.

This process is often done through surgical interventions. According to the International Justice Resource Center (IJRC), forced sterilization in Canada “disproportionately, and possibly exclusively, targets women of ethnic minorities.” A heinous practice that is still not confined to the past—dating back decades and even into 2018—Indigenous women in Canada have been forcibly subjected to this torturous act of gender-based violence and discrimination.

The breadth of the issue remains unknown, as there is a both a lack of publicly available data and a lack of in-depth investigation. Synonymous with the data for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls that have yet to be properly and reliably documented, there is limited data

concerning the sterilizations that have been conducted. However, since the 70s, at least 12,000 women have been affected by sterilization.

It was the mid-70s when Morningstar Mercredi was impregnated from a rape. She chose to keep the child, as her community condemned abortion, but later she slipped on ice and began spotting. Mercredi went to an emergency room where she was admitted. She was 14 when she woke up from surgery, only to discover her fetus had been removed. An incision spanned across the length of her lower pelvic region. She later learned that the surgery had also removed her left ovary and fallopian tube.

This is just one of many similar stories.

Many Indigenous women were forced into sterilization because they were deemed “unfit” and not in the right circumstance to have a child by the standards of health care professionals. A parallelism to past events, like the Sixties Scoop—the removal of Indigenous children from their birthparents— this pattern of discrimination of ethnic minorities with different styles of living is

entrenched in Canada’s history.

Alisa Lombard, a legal and policy matters lawyer from Maurice Law, the first Indigenous-owned and operated firm in Canada, represents many of these women. She stated in The Guardian that “[t]hese are people whose choices were taken away and they are choices based in fundamental human rights.

The very intimate and personal decision to have children—or to not have children—belongs to the individual. It’s not something that can be influenced or coerced or forced.”

The IJRC is working with Lombard and other Indigenous rights lawyers who are engaged in litigation and advocacy to end the practice of forced sterilization of Indigenous women in Canada. Since November 2017, IJRC has partnered to secure multiple advocacy opportunities before bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations (UN) Committee against Torture.

This advocacy collaboration has resulted in numerous powerful statements from human rights organizations, the Canadian government’s final acknowledgement of its responsibility in the matter, and most significantly, increased public awareness and

campaigning.

The issue of forced sterilizations will be raised at the United Nations’ Committee Against Torture. The United Nations (UN) sees this plainly as an act of genocide that should not be labeled as anything less, in accordance with Article II of the UN Genocide Convention, which prohibits “imposing measures intended to prevent birth within [a] group.”

As a non-status Cree Indigenous woman, I view this act of coercive sterilization upon Indigenous woman as a serious violation of human rights that sheds light onto the systemic discrimination and racism that Indigenous people face within the health care system. Issues like these disproportionately impact Indigenous women due to lifestyle differences and perceived inadequacies in rearing children to the post-colonization Canadian standards. These women were not in a position to make any permanent decisions regarding their reproductive organs and abilities, they were betrayed by the Canadian medical system, as these healthcare recommendations came from professionals.

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features

Editor | Prisha (Maneka) Nuckchady features@themedium.ca

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Seeking truth Bestselling author Bob Joseph dives into the lasting impacts of the Indian Act and how we can move toward reconciliation.

Prisha (Maneka) Nuckchady Features Editor

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eptember 30 marked the International Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. This day serves as a reminder of the historical conflicts that have impacted Indigenous nations. It honours the victims and survivors of the residential school system brought forth by the government in an inhumane effort to assimilate Indigenous children into Western culture.

The Indian Act was established in 1876 to further the government’s assimilation goal.

This involved not only stripping kids away from their families and cultures, but also subjecting them to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Since 1998, efforts have been made towards reconciliation, but many of the atrocities that took place still remain uncovered, and understanding how these consequences still manifest themselves today is an ongoing process.

Bob Joseph, founder of Indigenous Corporate Training, certified master trainer, and author of the bestselling book titled 21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act depicts the various ways in which the legislature contributed to long-lasting harm and stereotypes of the Indigenous communities in his book. But it also paves a way forward.

While the book attracted immense success, it all began as a blog post. Having worked with the government and numerous organizations to train them on working with Indigenous peoples, he wanted to touch a broader audience.

“I could see the impact that those learners experienced as part of the training and the feedback they gave me. And I was thinking one day, ‘Gosh, it would be nice to be able to reach out beyond,’” shares Joseph in an event organized by Rotman Commerce. After learning that readers tend to favour lists, he put together a list of 21 things people might not have known about the Indian Act, reaching over 50,000 readers within the first month. As of now, it has attracted over 500,000 views.

this was a dying race of people,” explains Joseph. “They weren’t fitting in militarily and economically anymore. And so, this idea started to creep into the body politic [that] as deaneries of people, we’re going to help them assimilate—we’re going to make them like ‘everybody else.’”

The British North America Act was then passed in 1867 with section 91(24) handing over control of Indigenous land to the government. “The idea was eventually they would assimilate and once they’d assimilated, there’d be no need to do new treaties. There’d be no need to honour historic treaties—the Indian Act would disappear,” he notes. Their intentions, however, were never fulfilled.

Since then, the government has initiated conversations about transferring property rights of Indigenous lands back over to the Indigenous Peoples and abolishing the Indian Act, seemingly in an effort to be just. But to the Indigenous communities at the time, Joseph shares, what they heard was, “You’re just going to cut us loose now at our worst point in history ever, with no ability to pick ourselves up and look after ourselves? No… we’re not letting you out of your 91(24) relationship.’”

With the way the act was set up, the federal government had a duty to act in the best interest of the Indigenous Peoples. As such, Joseph explains that the Indigenous community pointed out that for them to be let out of their legal obligation, the government must provide their communities with the means and resources to sustain their lands as well as some decision-making ability. These efforts culminated in an amendment of the Constitution in 1982 to recognize Indigenous Peoples and their treaty rights. “So, 1982 from a legislative assimilation policy perspective marked the beginning of the end for forced cultural assimilation,” explains Joseph.

In 1793, after the Battle of Quebec and before the Indian Act was forged, he notes that King George III recognized Indigenous peoples as both military and economic allies with proprietary rights to their lands. Joseph shares that treaties concerning how to purchase land from Indigenous communities were even discussed. The king’s vision was one of peaceful coexistence. But by the time of confederation, the directives being taken for Indigenous policies changed.

That said, he stresses that it isn’t the end, “because the Indian Act is still here. We haven’t got rid of it yet, and it still actually does a lot of what it was designed to do, which is to try to get people off of reserves and make people non-status [Indigenous].”

Joseph explains that what we’ve come to know is reserves were in fact created by the government following the Indian Act for Indigenous Peoples as a territorial acknowledgement, acting more as a holding camp since the policy prevented them from leaving these areas. In fact, they had to obtain written permission before leaving; the federal government had control over the use of the reserves. Reserves then, could be used for many public works like railways and so on—uncultivated lands could be leased out to private individuals for farming.

“The thought process had emerged that

Joseph notes that reserves were not subject

to seizure under the law, making it hard for them to build successful economic communities. “It makes it really tough for them to participate in the economy. They can’t borrow money against the land or the houses they live in. And Canada didn’t want them doing that, […] because if they built thriving economic communities, they were not going to want to leave those reserves,” he remarks.

Instead, the government wanted to encourage voluntary and enforced enfranchisement—the termination of one’s Indigenous status. Simply put, part of the reasoning from the government’s perspective, Joseph explains, was that if the Indigenous peoples sought to have more opportunities, they simply had to give up their status and assimilate, thereby reducing the number of Indigenous peoples that government would be financially responsible for.

Joseph highlights that the Indian Act was particularly harsh on Indigenous women.

For example, before 1985, if an Indigenous woman married a non-Indigenous man, she and her children would lose their status. On the other hand, if Indigenous men married non-Indigenous women, both he, his wife, and their children would keep their status.

Losing status would mean that they lost their right to live on reserves. “The Indian agent would come around [and] make sure those non-status women had to leave the reserve that they were a part of,” elaborates Joseph.

In addition to not being allowed to purchase alcohol or ammunition, they were forbidden from voting, speaking their native language, practicing their religion, and many were renamed.

With all these injustices specifically aimed at Indigenous peoples, it is clear why such drastic inequity persists. While Joseph thinks that breaking out of the cycle is possible, he stresses that the system was built to prevent Indigenous peoples from success. “It’s designed to keep you poor so that you want to leave and go try to get rich somewhere else. It’s kind of a core value,” he

elaborates.

The Indian Act was a project of gradual assimilation, not unlike genocides. While the act has not yet been abolished everywhere, some communities have been successful in their negotiations. For example, Joseph notes that the Nisga’a from British Columbia entered an agreement to get rid of the Indian Act and make their communities more selfreliant. They can now pass their own legislation so long as they do not conflict with general provincial or federal laws. “It is a great model of the kinds of things, the range of things that we can do. It really tackled a whole range of issues. Legislative authority, taxation, housing, fee simple ownership,” explains Joseph.

While reconciliation will be a long process, Joseph remains optimistic that it will become a reality over time and that we are going in the right direction. “I think the [Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada] opened the mind of Canadians to the issue,” Joseph explains, “and the Kamloops 215, Orange Shirt Day opened the hearts of Canadians to really confront the truth and reconciliation work that we’re doing here today.” As such, a crucial part of continuing the work on reconciliation is recognizing the truth to effect change.

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Unveiling truths and hope: Dr. Taiaiake Alfred’s vision of Indigenous resurgence Kahnawà:ke Mohawk philosopher and political strategist Dr. Taiaiake Alfred discusses his newest book It’s All About Land.

Karine Alhakim Contributor

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n the realm of Indigenous academic leaders, Dr. Taiaiake Alfred stands as a luminary: a Kahnawà:ke Mohawk philosopher and political strategist with a career spanning more than three decades. Beyond his impressive academic tenure and numerous accolades, Dr. Alfred has dedicated his life to empowering Indigenous nations, fostering political activism, and preserving cultural heritage.

As the author of his book titled It’s All about the Land: Collected Talks and Interviews on Indigenous Resurgence, published in August 2023 by the University of Toronto Press, Dr. Alfred presented his work during an event organized by Ventura Collective. Surrounded by a diverse audience eager to engage with his ideas, the atmosphere was charged with anticipation. Dr. Alfred’s speech was a blend of scholarship and advocacy and articulated his vision of a brighter future for Indigenous Peoples.

Dr. Alfred’s journey is a testament to his unwavering dedication and passion. As a Kahnawà:ke Mohawk, he has always been deeply connected to his roots and the struggles of Indigenous communities. Growing up in Kahnawà:ke, a Mohawk territory located near Montreal, he witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

After completing his PhD at Cornell University, Dr. Alfred embarked on a career that would bridge the academic world with his practical activism. He spent over 25 years as a professor, during which he not only educated students but also nurtured a deep understanding of Indigenous issues. At the University of Victoria, he founded the Indigenous Governance Program. His work as a scholar provided him with the platform to voice his concerns and advocate for change.

Throughout his career, Dr. Alfred has garnered several prestigious awards, including a Canada Research Chair, a National Aboriginal Achievement/Indspire Award, and the Native American Journalists Association award for best column writing. These accolades recognize not only his intellectual prowess but also his tireless efforts in advocating for Indigenous rights.

However, Dr. Alfred’s impact extends far beyond the walls of the classroom. He chose to work directly with Indigenous nations, helping them realize their visions of self-determination. His decision to step out of academia and into the heart of Indigenous communities speaks volumes about his commitment to action. When asked about what inspired him to write this book, Dr. Alfred shared, “In the end, we decided that the most effective strategy of getting these messages out and presenting the material would be through a book.”

It’s All About the Land serves as a powerful voice in the discourse surrounding Indigenous rights and identity. Dr. Alfred’s book is more than a collection of academic arguments, it is a passionate call to action. At its core, the book champions the concept of Indigenous resurgence—a pathway toward justice that emphasizes reconnecting with authentic cultures and values.

The book’s title itself is a declaration of its central theme. Dr. Alfred contends that the struggles of Indigenous Peoples against the Canadian state are fundamentally rooted in issues of land and territory. He argues that racism, often insidious and systemic, underpins and shapes Indigenous-settler relationships in Canada.

He dissects the reconciliation agenda put forth by the Canadian government, revealing it as a new form of colonization—one that, despite its good intentions, is destined to fail. The author’s perspective challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the ongoing struggles faced by Indigenous communities. When Dr. Alfred asked his father for his opinion on the book, he described it as being aggressive. “It shows a growth in myself as a thinker, I believe, and as a person, and bringing in different capacities for self-reflection which weren’t there at first,” added Dr. Alfred.

He argues that Indigenous resurgence is not just a choice—it’s a necessity for the survival of Indigenous cultures and communities. “Indigenous people are sick of hearing about reconciliation and land acknowledgements unless it’s directly tied to some sort of action on the part of the government or whoever’s offering those land acknowledgments to make some real, systemic changes, and not just acknowledge the harms of the past without doing anything about it,” he adds. His message is a rallying cry for Indigenous Peoples to reclaim their ancestral spirit, knowledge, and governance.

During the discussion, Dr. Alfred eloquently highlighted the pressing issues addressed in his book. He emphasized the importance of recognizing and dismantling systemic racism as the foundation of meaningful reconciliation. His words struck a chord with the audience, prompting reflective silences and passionate applause. “Reconciliation is about making Canada a better place for everyone; it’s about acknowledging the crimes and the harms of the past,” he stressed.

Dr. Alfred’s work carries profound implications for Indigenous communities worldwide. It is a stark reminder that the choices faced by Indigenous Peoples are not confined to national borders. The question of whether to reconnect with ancestral cultures and values or continue down the path of gradual assimilation and annihilation is one that resonates universally.

Indigenous resurgence, as advocated by Dr. Alfred, offers hope. It is a path that draws strength from ancestral wisdom, knowledge, and law; a path that promises justice, self-determination, and cultural revival.

In a world where Indigenous cultures are at risk of being eroded by the sands of time, this resurgence serves as a beacon of hope. His message is a reminder that the pursuit of justice and the revitalization of Indigenous cultures are collective responsibilities. By embracing Indigenous resurgence, we can move closer to a world where every culture is valued, and every voice is heard.

It’s All About the Land is an illuminating facet of a greater movement—an awakening of Indigenous voices and resilience. Dr. Alfred’s extensive experience, combined with his passionate advocacy for Indigenous resurgence, challenges us all to reconsider our role in fostering justice and cultural preservation.

As we reflect on the event and Dr. Alfred’s work, let us remember that the path toward justice and cultural preservation is a journey that requires understanding and action. It is a journey that Dr. Alfred has undertaken with unwavering commitment, and one that invites us all to join in the pursuit of a brighter future for Indigenous Peoples.

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Arts

Editor | Alisa Samuel arts@themedium.ca

Out of oblivion: Evan Redsky’s musical exploration of Indigenous stories The Mississauga First Nation artist advocates for Indigenous causes and highlights the ongoing Mahera Islam Contributor

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van Redsky, a former member of the Juno-nominated punk rock band Single Mothers, left to pursue a solo career in music that draws not just on his personal history, but also the history of his Indigenous heritage. His great grandfather James Redsky, a World War I veteran and residential school survivor, wrote the novel Great Leader of the Ojibway, which was published by the University of Toronto Press in the early 1970s.

he was exposed to thanks to his grandparents and mother.

On music community website Bandcamp, Redsky notes that Oblivion is a “meditation on the struggle of the alcoholism and addiction I’ve dealt with throughout my life.” It also reflects his experience working with Indigenous youth in Toronto, and how he has witnessed many of them wanting an escape from their struggles “in exchange for oblivion.”

In addition to music, Redsky is also committed to raising awareness toward the injustices his community faces. He has hosted fundraising events for the clean water crisis in his family’s reservation in Northern Ontario.

At first, Redsky struggled to find his creative footing as a solo artist. However, once he focused his songwriting on his background, he said in a 2018 interview that “ it liberated me to write dozens of songs.”

His first solo EP, titled “Danny Wolfe” & Two Other Stories, was released on February 2, 2018. The EP gets its name from the leader of the Indigenous street gang, the Indian Posse, Daniel Wolfe. Two mellow tracks on the record, “Kala-Ann” and “The Kid,” are inspired by the survival stories of Indigenous people Redsky encountered in the Northwest Territories.

Redsky grew up in Blind River, Ontario. He would often hitchhike from Blind River to Toronto to be close to the city’s music scene. Passionate about storytelling and acting from a young age, Anishinabek News reported that Redsky studied theatre arts at Fanshawe College. Now residing in Toronto, he told the CBC the growing wave of Indigenous creativity across Canada “inspired me to tell my stories.” He hopes his music can be a tool for healing and understanding.

On October 20, 2022, Redsky released his debut full length album, Oblivion, a blend of country and americana. The seventh track “Now & Then,” is a romantic ballad based on the sounds of acoustic guitar and harmonica. He credits his Americana style of music to his upbringing. He grew up listening to Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Blue Rodeo—artists

There There by Tommy Orange: Fiction that feels real For the Indigenous characters in Orange’s 2018 debut novel, America’s colonial past takes root in their present lives as they struggle with generational trauma.

Sierra Peca Contributor

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Stray bullets and consequences are landing on our unsuspecting bodies even now,” writes Tommy Orange in the epigraph following the prologue of There There, foreshadowing what readers soon learn from the novel: the bullets are not only literal but also metaphorical, as they symbolize the effects of European colonialism that continue to damage Indigenous lives in North America.

There There follows 12 characters as they struggle to understand who they are and what it means to be Indigenous in the 21st century when cultural identities are being rediscovered and when search itself has become a part of the contemporary Indigenous story. Orange masterfully introduces the novel with a prologue that forces readers to witness the ways in which Indigenous identities have been neglected throughout

history. He later tells the stories of the current people that spend their lives searching, finding, and embracing that which has been neglected as they reconcile with the effects of generational trauma.

The opening essay connects Indigenous imagery with years of brutality. The “Indian head,” as the author puts it, is the focus of this essay and is just one of many symbols used to represent the abuse, trauma, and outright brutality that Indigenous Peoples endured and continue to endure. Orange uses the wrenching reality of the past to hurl readers into the present. With vivid descriptions and historical references, readers open the novel to a world they may not know existed—or at the very least, have not seen written in a way that only an author with Orange’s literary talent is capable of.

Each character in this novel is connected to one another through childhood experiences, familial relationships, or friendships, though they do not realize it. They are even

further united through their individual quests to understand their cultural identities. Each character finds themselves at the Big Oakland Powwow by the end of the novel and struck by a tragedy that strips many of them from reclaiming their identities.

These characters suffer the cyclical nature of trauma in a story that you will want to finish alone, in your room, with tissues.

Orange writes a dozen individual stories in one novel, uniting them all with ease. The stories do not feel artificial. The collection lives and breathes in details of everyday life, so much so that in the first sentence of “Part 1: Edwin Black,” the narrator starts with “I’m on the toilet.” Though a work of fiction, There There feels as real as any piece of creative non-fiction, probably because each of these characters exist in some capacity in the real world. Sure, they might vary in some way, but each one tells a version of the Indigenous experience.

Though this novel is interesting in plot

alone, the author’s writing style, above all, is captivating and would impress any accomplished writing professor. It is a novel that one would expect to find on syllabi in writing classes, Indigenous studies classes, and sociology classes. Well-written, informative, and quite honestly heart-wrenching, There There is a novel that should be on everyone’s To Be Read lists.

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Knowing land, living water Anishinaabe like her late mother, Professor Maria Hupfield discusses the Indigenous thought and culture that drives her art career.

University.”

Yusuf Larizza-Ali Contributor

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s an alumna of the art and art history specialist program at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), Professor Maria Hupfield developed a youth media literacy program called ‘7th Generation Image Makers’ along with an art and mural program at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto. Her goal was to improve the visual presence of Indigenous Peoples.

“I believe there are many ways to be an artist,” Professor Hupfield says. “The biggest impact of my career comes from a balance between my relationships in the visual artworld and the culturally specific knowledge I have learned through the Anishinaabe nation with community and family. Living in New York really opened my eyes as did having a husband who is Native American and also an artist.”

When asked about the Anishinabek cultural knowledge that informs her art, she shares that “the land and water have all the knowledge we need to live a good life.”

Since beginning her work at UTM, Professor Hupfield’s nature-based knowledge of the campus has grown her understanding of it. “I find by focusing on my relationship with the plants, I am able to understand my own responsibilities in a direct and immediate way,” she says. “When I learn about how plants socialize and what it takes for them to thrive in Mashkiki Gitigaan (“medicine garden” in Anishnaabemowin), I apply and contrast it to what I see within the

Mashkiki Gitigaan can be found between the Communication, Culture, & Technology and William G. Davis Buildings at UTM. Visitors are not allowed to harvest anything from it, unless they first introduce themselves to the Indigenous Creation Studio, a Native-led group of researchers who run the garden project with Professor Hupfield as one of its members. Professor Hupfield remembers that someone once picked all the sunflowers that were being grown for a teaching lesson. “It is important to our work that people practice relationship-building with the studio and the plants,” she explains. “We have a protocol handbook on the website that folks can check out.”

art is a visual mnemonic device and that it is integrated into culture, often worn on the body, holds knowledge about land and water, and is a living part of the human experience.”

Professor Hupfield would like people to keep an eye out for the online launch of the Living Archive, a curatorial project she is working on as the Inaugural ArtworxTO Legacy Artist in Residency during Ravine Days on October 1, 2023.

More information about this can be found on the City of Toronto website.

GREĚGOIRE FEĚRON

A Canadian Research Chair in Transdisciplinary Indigenous Arts at U of T, she also believes that “art is expansive and how it is defined is a western construct.” Professor Hupfield draws people’s attention to how they learn and internalize the history of the Americas, referencing the work of archaeologist Paulette Steeves: “[Steeves] has uncovered racist thinking that historically dismissed historical sites that proved Native Peoples have long standing connection to land that predates the Bering land bridge 12,000-14,000 years to as far back as 250,000 years before present day.”

“With technology and the global climate catastrophe, we are in a time of rapid speed with huge shifts in how mainstream society is understanding the world and our role in it,” she explains. “Transdisciplinary Indigenous art is no different; it requires practitioners and people working in the art profession to understand that the rules we think we apply to art are different, that historically for Anishinaabe people

Indigenous Canadian Films at TIFF 2023 With guidance from the Indigenous Advisory Group, the festival continues to showcase stories of a marginalized community.

Kuicmar Phot Contributor

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he North American film industry has historically underrepresented Black, Indigenous, and people of colour in various production mediums such as acting, directing, and writing. In light of this, the prestigious and well-attended Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) continues to diversify its selection of screenings with the implementation of its Indigenous Advisory Group.

The TIFF Indigenous Advisory Group is “composed of some of Canada’s most recognized and respected Indigenous voices,” according to the organization’s website.

The group decides how TIFF selects and presents Indigenous films, supports Indigenous film creatives, engages Indigenous audience members, and supports their own Indigenous staff. This year’s TIFF events will include several screenings of films from Indigenous Canadian creatives.

Hey, Viktor! (Dir. Cody Lightning)

Lightning is a Samson Cree Nation member and former child actor who starred in the well-received Smoke Signals (Dir. Chris

Eyre). He directed, co-wrote, and starred in Hey, Viktor!, a mockumentary that follows him as a struggling Indigenous actor who tries to revive his acting career by attempting to create a sequel to the 1998 film.

Tautuktavuk (What We See) (Dir. Carol Kunnuk and Lucy Tulugarjuk)

During the Covid-19 pandemic, two sisters—one from Montreal and the other from Nunavut—seek to deepen their connection from across the country. The film is mostly told through a series of video chats throughout the beginning of the pandemic.

The film touches on subjects such as culture, childhood abuse, trauma, and healing. The film won the TIFF Amplify Voices Award.

Boil Alert (Dir. Stevie

Salas and James Burns) This documentary follows activist Layla Staats as she explores personal stories from Indigenous communities affected by water toxicity. According to the Government of Canada, there are 28 long-term water drinking advisories affecting 26 different communities. The use of plastic bottles as a solution to the lack of safe water access has led to an abundance of unrecycled plastic polluting these communities.

Telling Our Story (Dir. Kim O’Bomsawin)

A four-part documentary that explores the Indigenous cultures and resilience of 11 First Nations communities in Quebec.

The film moves through the past, present, and future using the traditional circular storytelling method of the First Peoples to explore their perseverance and resilience.

O’Bomsawin visited more than 30 communities and hired an all-Indigenous crew to ensure that the film was surrounded by Indigenous voices, beliefs, and values.

6 Minutes per Kilometer (Dir. Catherine Boivin)

This short film focuses on Boivin as she retraces the footsteps of her Atikamekw ancestors during her morning runs. The film is entirely narrated in Atikamekw.

Redlights (Dir. Eva Thomas)

From the Walpole Island First Nation located in Southwestern Ontario, Thomas is an Indigenous director, writer, story editor, and producer. Her short drama follows two Indigenous women (Kaniehtiio Horn and Ellyn Jade) endangered by an encounter with law enforcement at night. The film

draws from the issue of “Starlight Tours,” when police officers arrest an often intoxicated Indigenous person and drive them out to the remote wilderness, leaving them in freezing temperatures with no way to get home.

Baigal Nuur/ Lake Baikal (Dir. Alisi Telengut)

In this nine-minute animated short film, Telengut relates the forming of a sacred Siberian lake to the decline of Indigenous history and language. The film is in the Buryat Mongolian dialect. Telengut is a Mongolian-Canadian filmmaker who specializes in various art forms such as experimental animation, animated short films, hand paintings, and contemporary art. She utilizes her talents to tell stories about traditional Mongolian culture and other Indigenous communities.

Through these various full-length and short films, audiences have the opportunity to take a deep dive into Indigenous traditions, stories, and issues in a way that is informative, true-to-life, and respectful. TIFF films can be viewed through the Digital TIFF Bell Lightbox online.

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sports & health

Editor | Omar Khan sports@themedium.ca

The indigenous history of Canada’s national sport Long before lacrosse was played for championships and titles, it belonged to Indigenous communities of North America.

Aidan Thompson Managing Editor – Internal

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n 1637, a Jesuit Missionary from New France named Jean de Brébeu wrote in his journal about an Indigenous sport he had encountered, which he called “crosse.” The game required players to carry, pass, and shoot a rubber ball using a wooden stick with a small pouch. The players were awarded a point if they could hit the opponent’s target.

Sound familiar? Even in the 17th century, “crosse” was quite similar to its modern iteration—and only a couple of letters away. In the centuries since, lacrosse has gained popularity. It is now played in high schools, colleges, and universities across Canada and the United States. The sport has dozens of recreational and competitive leagues, and in 1944, Canada named lacrosse its official summer sport.

To the Mohawk, however, the game was known as tewaarathon. Before its European appropriation, the sport sometimes involved thousands of men—often from opposing villages or communities—and the match would be played on large open fields, sometimes stretching up to 9.7 km in length. These games could sometimes last several days, with players running up and down the field from sunup to sundown.

According to Donald Fischer, the author of Lacrosse: A History of the Game, “[it] was middle-class Anglo-Canadians from Montreal and Mohawk[s] [...] from the nearby Caughnawaga reserve whose cultural exchange led to the birth of modern lacrosse.” Although immediate responses to the sport were not entirely positive, particularly because of its Indigenous origin and role in training men for war, the sport’s settler community slowly grew.

Importantly, Fischer notes that “[t]he Anglo-Canadian appropriation of Mohawk lacrosse was a peculiar event in the history of the New World, since it was usually the colonizers who were seeking to force the Indians to accept their culture.” He also explains that, despite the polite phrasing of a “cultural exchange,” Canadian settlers believed it was a “‘primitive’ native game” that “could be sanitized and made to serve young men facing the challenges brought on by industrialization and urbanization…”

In Indigenous communities, lacrosse was played for a variety of different reasons. The sport often settled disputes between communities, serving as a less violent and more enjoyable alternative to war. It also conditioned and strengthened young men, marked the celebration of festivities, and served as a source of gambling, the latter of which generated significant interest in the sport from both Indigenous and settler communities.

It’s often the intent of people discussing the history of lacrosse to simply note that the sport is enjoyable because it is old and its Indigenous history makes it unique in some mythical way.

What is often left undiscussed is that the European colonization of the sport was an act of appropriation in many ways. In 1856, William George Beers established the Montreal Lacrosse Club. He later modified the sports’ rules to require shorter games, fewer players, a redesigned stick, and a rubber ball.

By the 20th century, lacrosse had spread throughout the continent, and several leagues had developed, ranging from the recreational to the collegiate level. In the 1930s, a different type of lacrosse diverged from the traditional field of lacrosse. This new sport, box lacrosse, was played on a smaller court, which was “boxed” in with walls. Today, there are several professional lacrosse leagues. The most popular field league is the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), and the most popular box league is the National Lacrosse League (NLL). In the past decade, participation in the sport has increased by almost 35 per cent; however, attendance at professional matches had been dwindling before the establishment of the PLL in 2019.

The First Nations Lacrosse Association is Canada’s leading governing body for Indigenous lacrosse players and lacrosse teams. The association directs five different teams: the Iroquois men’s national team, the Iroquois men’s national under-19 team, the Haudenosaunee women’s national team, the Haudenosaunee women’s national under-19 team, and the Iroquois national indoor lacrosse team. Each of these teams competes internationally and is sanctioned by World Lacrosse, which means they are the only officially sanctioned Indigenous national teams for any sport in the world.

BEATRIZ SIMAS/THE MEDIUM

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Celebrating Indigenous athletes and their accomplishments Join The Medium in recognizing and celebrating the achievements of Indigenous athletes who have made large, lasting impacts on the Canadian athletic landscape.

Juliana Stacey Editor-in-Chief

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uring a week dedicated to celebrating Indigenous voices, it is vital to understand the long and rich sporting history of Indigenous peoples, amplify their voices and impacts within their respective games, highlight their achievements, and foster a deeper understanding of diversity in sports.

Tom Longboat Regarded as “one of the first celebrity athletes in Canada, with his athletic successes known across North America and overseas,” Tom Longboat was a long-distance runner whose training regiments made a lasting impact on his sport.

In 1887, Longboat was born “on the Six Nations Reserve,” close to Brantford, Ontario.

“While still a young teenager, he ran away from the Mohawk Institute Residential School (twice).” He began his running career by “training at Toronto’s West End YMCA (still there today).” By 1907, only “two years after he started running competitively,” Longboat won the Boston Marathon, making him “the first member of a First Nations community to win” the race; he also completed the race five minutes faster than the existing record. Longboat would go on to be one of the representatives for Canada in the 1908 Olympics.

Longboat is widely known throughout Canada as the country’s “greatest long-distance runner,” and has been commemorated in many ways. He is now part of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, and the province of Ontario has even allocated June 4 as “Tom Longboat Day.” His legacy has also made a lasting impact on the sport of long-distance running. According to a feature article about Longboat in TIME Magazine, “Longboat pioneered a training technique that alternates days of intense workouts with days of lower-stress exercise and rest.” To this day, athletes follow Longboat’s methods, and he is remembered as someone who “helped establish marathon running as an international sport.”

Shirley and Sharon Firth Fixtures of the Canadian national cross-country skiing team “for an unprecedented 17 consecutive years,” Shirley and Sharon Firth were “among Canada’s first Indigenous athletes” to participate in the Olympic games.

The twins—born in 1953 in Aklavik, Northwest Territories—were highranking skiers from the beginning of their careers; Shirley and Sharon placed second and third, respectively in their “national debut at the Canadian Junior Cross-Country Championships in 1968” when they were just 15 years old. Throughout their careers, Shirley and Sharon went on to win almost 50 Canadian championships and were awarded 79 national medals in total. The twins hold the title of being “the only female Canadian skiers to have competed in four consecutive Winter Olympic Games.”

The twins’ athletic accomplishments and their impact on the Canadian sports world, have been widely recognized, with Shirley and Sharon becoming the “first Indigenous women inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.” The twins also gained the prestigious distinction of being Members of the Order of Canada, “inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame,” and were awarded the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

Mary Spencer Born on December 12th, 1984, boxer Mary Spencer, “an Ojibwe from the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation near Owen Sound,” Ontario, “is one of Canada’s premier boxing champions, holding eight national titles, five Pan-American titles, and three world titles.” However, Spencer’s athletic career did not just start with boxing.

Spencer participated in many sports during her time in school, including “basketball, volleyball, soccer, track and field, and cross country.” She started boxing when she was 17, joining the Windsor Amateur Boxing Club. After just a few months, Spencer trained under Charlie Stewart, a “three-time Olympic coach.” Spencer won her first Canadian championship less than two years after she began boxing, winning in the 66kg category in 2004. She was part of the Olympic Canadian Women’s boxing team when the sport premiered for the first time at the 2012 London Olympic Games, where she placed fifth overall.

Spencer has continued to be an inspiration to young Indigenous and female athletes, both inside and outside of the boxing ring. Spencer was placed on the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity’s “Most Influential Women” list in 2011. “In 2013 she became one of six elite athlete mentors with the CIBC Team Next program, which provides funding and mentorship to young athletes who hope to represent Canada on the world stage.” Additionally, Spencer was the recipient of a 2014 Indspire award, given to her for her accomplishments both within the sport and her community. Also included among her accolades are a 2017 “meritorious service decoration from the Governor General” and the Randy Starkman Award from the Canadian Olympic Committee—an award given to an athlete who demonstrates an interest in using their athletic talents for the benefit of the communities around them.