Mind Map!

I have finished off my term project. It’s a “mind map” that visulaises some of the different manifestations of identity as levels and sub-levels, specificaly in relations to First Nations and aboriginals. Obviously it represents an incomplete view (mine), because I am still in the process of examining these issues for myself and forming ideas around them.

These were the LOIs I started out with:

How do various categories and sub-categories (i.e. gender, status vs. non status, sexual orientation, disabled, visible vs. non-visible minority) affect aboriginal populations?

How does being a member of several sub categories contribute to a sense of belonging to a community, and what issues are paramount to aboriginals who belong to different categories in advocacy and lobbying efforts?

Ina community of people who are often perceived to be “others”,  what is the effect of being part of another societal group that is either in a minority or treated differently?

In compiling the map itself I was left with more questions than answers. I feel pretty comfortable with this, since I don’t think at this point I know enough or have thought enough about the issue of identity that I can proffer answers. However, I have provided myself with some questions that I can use when I am considering identity to delve deeper into the issues. 

I welcome feedback or comments- you wont hurt my feelings. The link is in my blogroll!

On a False Dichotomy(and my uncertainty on what to do about it)

In reading Jennifer Kelly’s article “You Can’t Get Angry with a Person’s Life” from the rotating reading room, I was struck by several of her statements:

” Ideologies of autobiography as a denigrated form (as biased and/or personal)” (150)

“Abhorrence of anger (these are codes of gender and class as well as of whiteness)” (150)

“interrogation of emotional responses is a constitutive feature of the pedagogy, and is located in a larger institutional context that is likely to read the pedagogy derogatorily as “therapy” and “”anti-intellectual”" (152-3)

These three in particular, though there were several others, really rang true with me for a couple of reasons. In light of several experiences I have had in the past few weeks, I think they are helping me represent and give shape to a frustration that I am feeling with binarism of several types, though the “Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal” case described by Kelly is one of them.

I felt a very strong emotional response of disgust after reading a letter to the editor in the Gauntlet the week before last. Initially I brushed my own response off as defensiveness because the article was highly critical of the Students’ Union, which I am a part of, and was unfair. However, after reading Kelly’s article I thought it might be a good idea to look at the article again, see if I could unpack some of my initial reactions and understand them better, and try to figure my reaction out. After reading the article again, two lines in particular struck me:

“To say that CPL should turn their signs inward is entirely based on the content of the posters and is a PURELY EMOTIVE ARGUMENT.”

and…

“Let us appeal to REASON, people, or we are doomed to value things we shouldn’t and devalue things that have true meaning and inspiration.”

O.K. So, my issue with these lines, is that I have a highly emotional response to the “Genocide Awareness Project Display” for personal reasons, and I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of. The author of this letter to the editor characterises emotion in a way that is opposite to reason, placing them on a continuum of validity that clearly prizes what he feels to be “reasonable” over the emotional. This is completely wrong, in my opinion. What is wrong with getting angry about something, and having strong feelings? Nothing, in my opinion. So is the argument he is making that to be emotional is unreasonable, or that we should “overcome” our emotional responses to things? It’s a cold and robotic perspective in my opinion.

In the same way that arguing that aboriginals who have not “directly” faced residential schools (as in generations removed from actually attending them) should “get over it” and “be reasonable” with their demands for some sort of reconciliation (this is something I was told by a colleague of mine when I described this course) the writer of the letter to the editor reveals that he is in a position of privilege that is preventing him from understanding, or being willing to understand and value the feelings of others.

Wow.  That was a run-on sentence and a half.

I get really frustrated when confronted with statements like these, because I don’t know how to combat them. What do you say to somebody who doesn’t value your emotions, or consider them a valid contribution to debate on contentious subjects? Should you “reason” with them, or is that arguing on their terms and accepting that your emotions are not valid? I just want to walk away from this type of argument, but that doesn’t feel right either…

I’m really not sure. Any advice anybody?

Here is the link to the letter:

http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/story/13484?qt=purely%20emotive%20argument

“The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House”

This quote is by Audre Lorde, and it refers to her belief that operating within a patriarchal system to try to create change will not challenge the inherent biases and flaws of the system, and will only perpetuate these. It’s frequently used, but I don’t think I agree with it. Applying this to the topic of our course, I gave it some thought, and came up with an example that I think refutes this type of statement. I just finished a book called “The Night Wanderer: A Native Gothic Novel” by Drew Hayden Taylor. It’s Young Adult Fiction, and I was very impressed by it. The thing that struck me about it initially was the “Gothic” designation, since gothic novels fit a fairly specific mould and era; that is, English- European at least, medievalist in tone, romantic, fainting heroines battling mysterious and malignant forces etc. etc. For Hayden Taylor to take this mode of writing and shape it to reflect the cultural reality of his people (Anishinaabe/ Ojibwe) in a current way is an excellent example of using “the master’s tools”, or a form of writing that is from a colonial culture to dismantle cultural stereotypes. I think I’ll probably look more closely into the themes of the book with relation to the Gothic tradition, but I feel that he has very cleverly reinvented a traditional genre for his own purposes, and picked an excellent audience for the novel.

On the Subject of Education

Belatedly, I thought I would address “I Just Want to Be Myself: Discovering What Children Bring to School ‘in Their Blood’” by Lisa Delpit, because I thought it was a fantastic reading and it reminded me strongly of some of June Jordan’s feelings on education, and the “hidden curriculum” that is taught in schools. That is, how children are socialised to behave, act, and think in certain ways that conform to societal expectations (and homogenise them) at school, although this behavioural curriculum is not obvious. Jordan analysed language usage and identity, and explicated the need for language that reflected the reality of African American students in the classroom. I feel that this is similar to what Delpit talks about when she refers to adult judgments on children’s stories that take a non-linear form. 

I do think that there is a need for marginalised populations to be empowered to take their education into their own hands to make the curriculum in schools relevant to the experience of students. This is definitely so, in my opinion, with Native populations in Canada. I think that the way education is conducted should help to build identity. It seems clear that residential schooling alienation generations of Native students from their culture and identity, and this aspect is what needs to be injected into schooling today. I was listening to CBC this morning, and there was a discussion of monetary incentive systems being implemented in schools in the States and Canada to encourage student success. There was an interviewee on the show discussing the negatives of this, and I totally agreed with him; the essential issue is that schooling needs to be developed in a way that intrinsically motivates students to come to school and to learn because they see themselves reflected in the curriculum, and see how what they are learning will help them achieve their aims in the future.

3 down, in the midst of another.

So, I have finished “Where the Pavement Ends” and I really enjoyed it.  The perspective was journalistic, and I liked that it included a wide cross-section of stories from canadian Natives  from the East to the West coast, as well as governmental and social-service officials working with native populations in Canada. There was also some description of issues in New Zealand tha contextualised the Canadian experience and provided a sense of a common struggle that enhanced the book overall quite a bit for me. I also appreciated that, at the end of the book, the author provided suggestions for “where to go from here”. I really appreciated having concise conclusions and recommendations at the end of my reading, and it tied things together well nicely.

One confusing issue I do have with the book is whether I support harm reduction or total abstinence as a way of preventing or controlling substance abuse in Native communities in Canada. In theory I prefer the idea of harm reduction, because I think that abstinence can promote isolation on the part of people who are not abstaining, and being part of an out-group could do more harm than good. However, I also think that more opportunity for reserve populations in terms of employment and education would go a long way. Several of “Where the Pavement Ends’” case studies provided excellent examples of strong aboriginals and natives who have made positive impacts in their communities.

On the other hand, it was discouraging to read about the bureaucratic hoops put in place by the many agencies in Canada dealing with native Affairs that put such a strain on resources and make it difficult for bands to formulate programs and policies that are agile and adaptable to their particular situations.

“The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No-Horse” was a fantastic novel and I couldn’t put it down. It was a good change in pace to read a novel, and it brought up some excellent questions about the role of religion and zealotry in shaping Native issues and struggles. The central character in the novel is a priest who, it turns out, is a woman in disguise, who has devoted himself to the service of God as a missionary but discovers at the end of his life that, although well intentioned, his activities may have been destructive to the sense of identity and community of his adopted band. At the end, Father Damien/Agnes swears off  her Judeo-Christian God and adopts the band’s belief system, which I thought was a satisfying way to close out the novel- a realization that blind service can cause incredible harm.

Three Generations

I’ll start with my grandmother’s parents, who moved from the canton of Berne in Switzerland, to Alberta with their large family. My grandmother, Marguerethe, was the first child to be born in Canada. They set up a farm in Northern Alberta, and, unfortunately, lost most of their possessions to fire on two separate occasions, once because my grandmother’s sister, Olive, left an oil lamp burning in the barn. My great-grandmother Reusche, or “Grandma Rooster” as we called her, was a bright-eyed and spunky little lady who loved Pavarotti and was fiercely independent. She always kept a separate bank account from her husband, and managed her own money- something to be proud of for her time, I think.

My parents met when my mother was working at Carlton cards in TD centre downtown. He was a security guard, and she resisted his many advances until he stood at the bottom of the ladder she was using to hang decoration above the shop and refused to let her down until he could buy her a pop. She said she didn’t drink pop… so he got her an orange juice. They got married when my mother was 19, and my father 26, and had graduated from college with an aviation degree. My mother finished her degree at night school with two small daughters at home, and went back to school for an MBA several years ago- I really admire her commitment to education and self advancement.

My sister Ashley and I are the third generation of my family that I want to discuss. My parents (ill advisedly) allowed me to pick the name for the new baby when I was 3. I was feeling pretty creative and proposed “Choo-choo-baah-baah”, unfortunately, my parents weren’t ok with such an inventive name, so I proposed Ashley, and they accepted. Despite the fact that we are almost polar opposites as far as looks go- she’s 5 feet tall, I’m 5″8, she’s blonde, I have auburn hair, she’s tanned, I’m pale, I’m right-brained, she’s decidedly left… the list goes on- we are have lots in common. I like to think of us as two halves of a whole, and we balance each other out nicely, although our differences make for some pretty spectacular screaming matches.

Books, books, glorious books!

I visited Chapters in Shawnessy (which is the closest mini-mall metropolis to my house) and found the dearth of any good prospective reading material a little dismaying. I ended up picking up two books- “Where the Pavement Ends” by Marie Wadden, and “First Nations, Second Thoughts?” by Flanagan. The former is a really good introduction to the topic, I think, and I’m really enjoying it so far- it strikes an excellent balance between hope and the reality of the situation for a lot of communities in Canada, and isn’t too intimidating for my first foray into the topic. The latter I don’t really expect to enjoy, since I dislike Flanagan’s political beliefs and attitudes, but since it’s pretty widely talked about, I thought might be worth reading. We’ll see how that goes.

After visiting Westlands bookstore (and having more pie than is good for a person at the Homequarter), I came home with a veritable treasure trove of materials, and a good feeling about the owner, George, who is crotchety, but also super knowledgeable and friendly underneath the slightly crusty exterior. This is my inventory as it stands:

Two Novels: “The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse”, by Louise Erdrich, and “The Heartsong of Charging Elk”, by James Welch.

One book of short stories: “Same Truck Different Driver”, by Mel Dagg

“The Anthology of Australian Aboriginal Literature”

Two books focusing on women: “Firekeepers of the Twenty-First Century”, by Cora Voyageur, and “Finding My Talk: How Fourteen Native Women Reclaimed Their Lives after Residential School” by Agnes Grant.

One book of prose poetry: “The Centre of the World: A Plains Journey” by Murdoch Burnett

aaaaand “The Truth About Stories” by Thomas King.

Apprehension

A blog is not something I ever expected to create, and so this has me feeling a little bit uncertain. Aside from the viral contagion that is Facebook, I try to keep my interaction with user-generated content mediums minimal, so this is quite the advancement for me! This means, of course, that I will have to practice what I preach and become an inquiry-based millennial type student. Oh, the newness of it all…

Hello world!

Welcome to UCalgaryBlogs.ca. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!