{"id":24249,"date":"2019-07-11T19:10:53","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T23:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=24249"},"modified":"2019-07-11T19:11:01","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T23:11:01","slug":"brocks-banter-the-more-you-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/brocks-banter-the-more-you-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"BROCK’S BANTER: The more you learn…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowledge is power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can equip us for the\nfuture, impart ways of dealing with challenges even before they arise, and help\nus suss out fact from fiction, a powerful tool in this era of so-called \u201cfake\nnews\u201d which has become pervasive in just about every corner of our lives; and\nit hits from just about every angle, from social media to  friends and colleagues eager to share\nunattributable and unsourced \u201ctruths\u201d they gleaned from a video posted by some\nguy from what can only be described as a dank and dingy basement-cum-recording\nstudio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But knowledge can, to some,\nbe a double-edged sword. While, at the end of the day, it is a good thing, it\ncan sometimes be distressing in putting into perspective just how much we\nactually know about what has been going on around us, and how we may or may not\nhave the power to make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, we have seen\nthis phenomenon unfold many times, particularly when it comes to issues facing\n\u2013 or issues that have been faced by \u2013 our Indigenous peoples and the lingering
\neffects that are a part of it today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, when the\nreports of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada came out in the\nearly years of this decade, many people were shocked and dismayed by its\nfindings, and some even felt embarrassment that the Residential School System\nhad persisted without their knowledge into 1996 with the final closure of the\nlast remaining facility in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite no shortage of\nsurvivors willing to face the difficult task of sharing their stories, the very\nsystem as a whole was news to a great many Canadians and the horrors committed\nwithin their walls, particularly abuses suffered by children and the high rate\nof childhood mortality \u2013 stunned those who had been previously unaware. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With increased coverage not\njust within newspapers, but on televised documentaries, podcasts and other\nmedia, I\u2019ve been surprised by the number of people who are learning about the\nSixties Scoop for the very first time, that is the practice by the government\nto remove Indigenous children from their families against the will of their\nparents, and adopt them out to non-Indigenous families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, survivors\nhave shared their experiences of having their familial links severed and the\nherculean efforts they have taken on to reconnect the fragments of these bonds,\nbut, for some people, the very fact this practice existed was an unwelcome,\nuncomfortable, and difficult-to-comprehend reality check. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As recently as last month,\nthis disconnect has been evident in many pockets, including the recent Pride\ncelebrations in Toronto. No stranger to controversy and tough questions, Pride\nToronto found itself under fire for their non-traditional take on traditional\nland acknowledgement, posting at the festivities: \u201cTake a moment to connect\nwith the land that you are currently standing on. Now introduce yourself\nspiritually; build a relationship with Mother Earth that provides for all our\nrelations. No matter what part of Mother Earth our family originates from, we\nall have a relationship and a responsibility to the land. Let\u2019s build a healthy\nrelationship together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sounds like a positive\nmessage on the surface, but a superficial scratch reveals the obvious: there is\nno mention of Indigenous peoples whatsoever. Pride Toronto\u2019s assertion that the\nacknowledgement was penned by an Indigenous individual, however, merely fanned\nthe flames of controversy with criticism that penning a land acknowledgement\nshouldn\u2019t be left to the Indigenous, rather it should be carried out by the\nnon-Indigenous to recognize the traditional stewards of the land they stand on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This issue cropped up mere\nweeks after the release of another national reality check: the release of\nReclaiming Power & Place: The Final Report into the National Inquiry into\nMissing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was released to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lengthy document that lifts\nthe lid on the full extent of systemic and other issues that have contributed\nto such a national scandal, it seems much of its findings, and its prescribed\npath towards reconciliation have been drowned out by just one key finding. It\u2019s\na key finding that has spurred no small degree of national soul searching:\ngenocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe violence and National\nInquiry heard about amounts to race-based genocide of Indigenous Peoples,\nincluding First Nations, Inuit and Metis, which especially targets women,\ngirls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people,\u201d the report finds. \u201cThis genocide has been\nempowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the\nSixties Scoop, residential schools and breaches of human and Indigenous rights,\nleading directly to the increased rates of violence, death and suicide in\nIndigenous populations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As has been previously\nexplored in this space the G word has been a bitter pill to swallow for some,\nwith government and opposition leaders shying away from giving the word their\nrecognition. Indeed, this one word has taken up so much airspace and column\ninches that the recommendations contained within the report have been lost in\nthe shuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, and in coming weeks, I\nwould like to take the time to explore some of these recommendations,\nparticularly those that can be addressed at our local, community level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first of these, as simple\nas it is, is to educate ourselves on the issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the Final Report has\nshown, and within every encounter, each person has a role to play in order to\ncombat violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people,\u201d says\nthe report in their first recommendation to all Canadians. \u201cBeyond those calls\naimed at governments or at specific industries or service providers, we\nencourage every Canadian to consider how they can give life to these calls for\njustice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such methods we can carry out\nin our every day lives, according to the experts, is to \u201cdenounce and speak out\nagainst violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people;\ndecolonize by learning the true history of Canada and Indigenous history in\nyour local area. Learn about and celebrate Indigenous peoples\u2019 history,\ncultures, pride and diversity, acknowledging the land you live on and its\nimportance to local Indigenous communities, both historically and today;\ndevelop knowledge and read the Final Report, listen to the truths shared, and\nacknowledge the burden of those human and Indigenous rights violations, and how\nthey impact Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsing what you have learned\nand some of the resources suggested, become a strong ally. Being a strong ally\ninvolves more than just tolerance; it means actively working to break down\nbarriers and to support others in every day relationships and encounters in\nwhich you participate; [and] confront and speak out against racism, sexism,\nignorance, homophobia and transphobia and teach or encourage others to do the\nsame, wherever it occurs \u2013 in your home, in your workplace, or in social\nsettings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, so achievable \u2013 and\nthere is much more where that came from. <\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir Knowledge is power. It can equip us for the future, impart ways of dealing with challenges even before they arise, and help us suss out fact from fiction, a powerful tool in this era of so-called \u201cfake news\u201d which has become pervasive in just about every corner of our lives; and it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6j7","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 00:03:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}