Drew Hayden Taylor admires the quest for knowledge but sometimes finds it overwhelming.Sara Cornthwaite/Supplied
Times and issues can change in a scant few years. So do perceptions. For obvious reasons, I work quite a bit in the Indigenous community and frequently I find myself in the position of acting like an information kiosk at the shopping mall known as the dominant culture. Of course, I can only answer for myself, but over the many winters, questions about why Indigenous people do this, or act like that, or want this, seem to always be thrown at me like I’m a politician in a scrum. I always admire the quest for knowledge but sometimes it feels overwhelming.
In the past century, I remember constantly answering old classics such as “As an Indigenous person, what did you think of Dances with Wolves?”
“I preferred the lesser-known sequel, Polka with Porcupines”.
If this sound snarky, that’s because it is. When you’re asked the same questions repeatedly, your enthusiasm kind of wanes. Witness Harrison Ford’s answer to the oft-asked Star Wars question, “Who shot first? Han or Greedo?”
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“I don’t know and I don’t care.”
In today’s world, that search by the dominant culture still exists, but its via different questions. Ones born of today’s changing political and social environment – but still the repetition continues. Let me give you some examples in the hopes of establishing some level of prevention:
1. “What do you think about land acknowledgments?”
Sigh … acknowledgments are fine. But there’s a lot of baggage involved. It’s a beginning … if those applying the balm of appeasement mean it. It could be simply be empty words. It’s what happens after the apology that’s important. Make us believe. “We’re sorry we took your lands, your children, assaulted you physically, sexually, culturally, and broke your hearts. But yeah, you used to occupy this chunk of land where this event is taking place. In the spirit of this social gathering, have a mini-quiche.”
2. “To you, what is reconciliation?”
When I was a young teenager, some other slightly older boys were trying to embarrass me by asking, “Drew, what’s masturbation?”
I looked at them and said, “A noun.”
They paused at my unexpected answer, then looked at each other saying, “Well, he’s not wrong.” And in the social quicksand that was youth, I lived to fight another day.
Reconciliation is a noun, but beyond that it gets a little difficult to explain. It can mean different things to different people and it usually does. Some say it’s the return of all the land. While generally supportive of that idea, I can’t help but feel that’s rather idealistic. Knowing this country as I do, there’s a better chance of the Israel-Gaza conflict being peacefully worked out over a game of Boggle. To me, reconciliation is a Rorschach test. People will see what they want to see. Sometimes it’s pretty, and sometimes it’s not.
3(a). “Were you surprised by the whole Buffy thing?”
I think everybody was surprised. And hurt. There are still some out there who still maintain a belief in her domestic DNA. I like to think all things are possible. But to many it’s like combining Elijah Harper, Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin, then finding out they were the bastard children of Milli Vanilli and Rachel Dolezal.
3(b). “But she’s done so much for the Indigenous community, can’t you cut her some slack?”
Despite what some may believe, Indigeneity is not Heaven. You can’t achieve it through good deeds. It’s not a points system. Regardless, I still listen to her music. Musicianship is musicianship.
4. “I just saw this Native-themed shirt. Now, I’m not Indigenous, but if I buy it, would that be cultural appropriation?”
If you use chopsticks, are you Asian? If you surf, are you Polynesian? If you wear cowboy boots, are you a cowboy? If you kayak, does that make you Inuit? Cultural appropriation is taking something without that people’s permission. Buying an indigenously designed shirt/shoes/jacket etc. from a recognized First Nations designer helps promote the culture and the fashion. In fact, they want you to do that. Ordering dim sum is not an act of cultural theft. When I was in the Yucatan, I came home with a Mayan-designed coffee mug from a Mayan collective. I am fairly sure it was not stolen by grave robbers from an archeological site.
It’s no different than reading a book written by an Indigenous author. Hey, it’s your language and your alphabet. Go nuts.
5. Can non-Native authors use Native characters in their work?
Of course. Indigenous people pop up in all aspects of society, and as a result, they should be represented in all aspects of Canadian literature. Just make sure it’s not an Indigenous story told from an Indigenous perspective. I have Jews, African-Canadians and somebody from China in some of my stories. But none take place from the viewpoint of a Black rabbi living in a Shaolin temple. Actually, that sounds kind of interesting. Maybe I could ... no, just walk away.
These are politically volatile times. One of these days I’m going to write my book on how to deal with all this, A Settler’s Guide to First Nations People. Maybe that will help.