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We are not that different, says local Indigenous leader

There are differences between our cultures that make us different from one another - 'different, but still human, just like you,' says local knowledge keeper
Jeff Monague_IMG_2390
Jeff Monague is hoping people will take time to understand what it means to be an Indigenous person in Canada.

Jeff Monague is a former Chief of the Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island, former Treaty Research Director with the Anishnabek (Union of Ontario Indians), and veteran of the Canadian Forces. Monague, who taught the Ojibwe language with the Simcoe County District School Board and Georgian College, is currently the Co-Manager at Springwater Provincial Park on behalf of the Beausoleil First Nation in partnership with Ontario. He is an elder and knowledge keeper for the Indigenous community. His column will be published every other week.

Upon witnessing the steady stream of acidic comments hurled toward the Indigenous community during the Wet'suwet'en protests in British Columbia and the subsequent rail blockades here in Ontario, I can only pick myself up again and continue on the path of positive reflection.

Before everyone forgets that we, as Allies to the British Crown, once saved what eventually became Canada from invasion.

Although we are thought to be different from the larger society, we are only marginally different.

First of we are all human beings. All of us, that live here on our Mother the Earth. And, if we had tried to understand one another in a better way from the point of first contact, we would not be at the place we find ourselves today, once again, in our human history together.

Next, the Anishinaabek (Ah-nish-in-aw-beck) have a deep connection to the land. It comes from our language, Anishinaabemowin (Ah-nish-in-naw-behm-oh-win), which classifies everything in our world as being either animate (living/with spirit), or inanimate (not living/without spirit).

So everything, from the smallest creatures like insects, to birds, all the way to fish, and moose, have spirits. But so do trees and plants.

In Anishinaabemowin, when we say tree, we say Mitig (Mih-tig). When we pluralize that as trees, we say, Mitigook, (Mih-tig-ohk). When a word for a thing is pluralized and it ends in a K or a hard G, it means that the thing we are speaking of is alive, animate, with spirit. So, trees, are living things. I grew up knowing that.

That is why we would protest the clear cutting of the forests, or the potential polluting of our waters by Industry and pipelines. The Anishinaabek were given a mission by the Creator to look after our Mother the Earth and we are taught that from a young age.

Of course we don’t have a monopoly on that way of thinking and find like minds in the larger society who ally with us and participate in much of our forced activism.

Our worldview is further shaped by the knowledge that everything in life is circular. Anishinaabek understand that we rise into this world by entering through the Eastern doorway and like the sun, we traverse the world in a circle, throughout our lifetime, before our spirit leaves through the Western doorway.

There is no word for goodbye in Anishinaabemowin, because we believe that we will always see one another again, when we return to the spirit world.

Also, Anishinaabek will never look directly at someone unless they are being disrespectful or they are angry.

When I was growing up in my community on Christian Island, my father would never look directly into my eyes unless he was angry. Whenever he sought to look directly at me I knew I was in trouble.

Inversely, within the larger society, it is considered suspicious if one doesn’t give direct eye contact. Throughout my life as I try to walk between these two worlds, this is one of the things I have struggled with the most.

In the world of the Anishinaabek there is no such thing as an uncomfortable silence. We are taught to speak only if we have something to say. So, if you were riding transit in my community, there would be no small talk.

You would never remark, “Nice weather we’re having huh?” Mostly because the person you’re speaking with already knows that but also because we respect each other’s space.

I didn’t know what uncomfortable silence was until I was made aware of it by my non-Indigenous friends. I like my silence, and prefer to speak only when I have something to say, just as I was taught.

As Anishinaabek we won’t point with a hand or finger as this is seen as being too direct. So, we will point using our chin.

If you are in Orillia, and someone asks you for directions to Walmart, you would point with your finger the direction the person needs to go and advise that person of the various streets they can take to get to the Walmart.

If you are on a First Nation community and you need to find a certain person’s home or the community hall, the Indigenous person you asked directions from, would simply point with their chin and say “that way.” That’s it.

Of course, this varies from community to community depending on the level of assimilation that has occurred over time but generally, that is who we are. Not that much different really.

Most Canadians would expect that all First Nation communities are the same and that we are monolithic in our thinking. But we are not. Firstly, we are all separate Nations with separate cultures.

Ontario is mostly Anishinaabek territory. That is what we call ourselves. The English and the French placed other labels upon us depending on what Geographical region they encountered us. They came to call us Chippewa, Chippaway, Ojibway, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Algonquin, Mississauga…the list goes on!

But we are, and have always been the Anishinaabek. I am Anishinaabe [(Ah-nish-in-aw-beh), the singular form of Anishinaabek. That is who we are.

In Canada, legislation known as the Indian Act put all First Nations under one umbrella. But historically, we have been separate Nations with separate laws and governance that flowed from our understanding as stewards upon this land since time immemorial.

Until Britain, and later Canada, imposed its will and governance upon us, we were self-governing Nations, each with our own cultures. That is what made us different from one another; different, but still human, just like you.