If you live in Canada, you would have to be void of any senses or in a coma to not know of the movement Idle No More. But knowing of it is not the same as knowing what it is actually about; I'm afraid there are a lot of ignorant things being said about First Nations in Canada, and what's worse is that the ignorance comes from both sides of the issue. It's so harmful, and it reveals shameful intolerances.
I'm stuck in the middle of it. My ancestors were both settlers and indigenous peoples. My mother is a white woman, my father is an Aboriginal man. The discourse...
No. This is not a discourse. There are certainly very smart, well-considered conversations going on about Aboriginal treatment in Canada, but there is also diatribe and outright racism on both sides. So much misunderstanding, willful ignorance, and misinformation has caught the media's attention and they are running with it, conflating issues without connection to Idle No More with the movement itself.
All of this is straining my mental well-being by aggravating my depression. But I can't ignore it because I have a big stake in the actions and outcomes of Idle No More. Not just as a Status Indian, but as a Canadian.
Today, I'm forced to live with disrespect for no good reason.
A cure for Ignorance...
...Wish you were here.
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