Author: kwetoday

Those Dayum Indians!

Aboriginal education, Dave Chapelle, Education, First Nations, PMO Leave a comment

I write this post after reading a book about racial language in the English free press. It was interesting. It opened up my eyes to a lot of things that I read in the print/televised media and not just those that concern First Nations. I also write this post after watching Dave Chapelle’s recent radio interviews online.

Here you can watch it here:

Yeah, Dave Chapelle was apparently boo’d off stage in Miami at a Charity event held at the Casino that apparently belonged to the Seminoles. And apparently Dave Chapelle points out in the interview that the reason security didn’t help him out at the casino was because the front row was packed with the Seminoles. So, Dave didn’t do his show. I understand nobody wants to be on youtube or have his show recorded while at a charity event. C’mon Dave, you can’t be blaming the Indians just like everyone else out there 😉

Here you can watch Dave being boo’d off stage–very bad video I might remind you:

I feel bad for Dave. Really I do but really Dave… blaming the Indians?! Taking the easy way out.

Even a recent editorial in the Globe and Mail on the issue of Caledonia had blamed the Natives. True Costs of Caledonia editorial states:

Many simplistically say Caledonia is only about native protesters and peaceful non-aboriginals. There’s more to it than that. Some non-aboriginal protesters say it demonstrates “two-tier justice” in Canada, where first nations get away with mayhem and non-aboriginals are victimized. There’s also truth to that, but it’s not the whole story.

I don’t think this editorial can cover the entire story in one sitting. I don’t think that this editorial properly portrayed what really went down. In fact, the way this editorial was premised automatically puts a negative light onto the Natives. One cannot comment on the complexity of First Nations issues, let alone write an editorial, if they do not fully understand First Nations’ history/treaty rights. Really, they can’t.

Then in another Globe and Mail article titled National Education Panel in Jeopardy as Native Leaders Withdraw Support the picture of a confrontational Indian was painted again. The article starts out by saying that this panel was supposed to be a historical turning point between Aboriginal leaders and Ottawa but one by one more and more First Nations backed out.

I am proud of those First Nations that backed out. Those that stood up for what they believe in and what they truly want. What I am most proud of is that at the end of the article is Chief Day’s comments:

But Isadore Day, the chief of the Serpent River First Nation in Northern Ontario, said he does not see the point of having a panel to tell native communities what they already know: that investment spending and effective delivery of kindergarten to Grade 12 on reserves need attention.

The one thing this article fails to talk about is what the panel was actually meant to accomplish? I mean really do First Nations leaders need to sit around a table and discuss what, as Chief Day states, what First Nations already know.

It will be a historical turning point when Ottawa actuals take action when it comes to First Nations issues rather than holding panels where the First Nations leaders and Ottawa can sit around the same tables, eat the same food, and drink some tea.

All I have to say is time for action and time to stop talking Ottawa.

Oh, and remember peeps, this is just the newspaper and its articles/editorials we are talking about here. If all your opinions on a topic are formed because you read one or two newspaper articles/editorials, then we have a bigger issue on our hands here 😉

Summer Reading

book, Reading Leave a comment

This past summer I made it my own personal goal to read more. Read anything I could get my hands and read as much as I could, when I could.

I had some light reading, heavy reading, readings that made me think, required very little thinking… a variety.

Here is a quick list:

  • Tomson Highway’s play “Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing”
  • Tomson Highway’s play “The Rez Sisters”
  • Candace Bushnell’s “Trading Up”
  • Terry Fallis’ “The Best Laid Plans” Thanks Neechie for this recco!
  • Edward Benton Banai’s “Mishomis Book”
  • Collection of essays/authors: “Restoring the balance : First Nations women, community, and culture”
  • Frances Henry and Carol Tator’s “Discourses of Domination: Racial Bias in the Canadian English-Language Press”
  • Drew Hayden Taylor’s “Funny Me”

I know that if I was a bit more committed to this personal goal that I probably could have read much more but as I finished my last book, I thought to myself, “Man, I am going to be starting classes soon with a lot of reading to do, I better give my brain a break” 😉

Updated August 25, 2011 Well, I decided to do some more reading after completing this list and I came across some very good plays all written by Drew Hayden Taylor. I like his plays and that is because I can say that there is a lot of truth to them. His plays use a bit of humor added into the seriousness of issues that First Nations people face. My favourite play was “AlterNative” which takes place in a dinner-party setting and the characters are 3 Aboriginals, 1 Jew, and 2 White Vegetarians. Yeah, the groups that you would least expect to be sitting down at dinner together. It’s comical, eye-opening, and honest. I could relate to a lot of the topics that came up for discussion among the dinner guests like “What tribe are you from?” And I know that a lot of other Aboriginals out there today have these similar experiences. It is a really good play for both Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals. And if you are a non-Aboriginal and you think you won’t get the humor….there is something for everyone in there.

Here are some of the other books/plays I read/currently reading:

  • Indian School Days by Basil Johnston What is interesting about this book to me personally is that I read this book back in High School and I did a book report on it. I remember my teacher said to me that she wasn’t sure if this book was “appropriate.” I asked her why it wasn’t and she couldn’t really give me answer. I ended up doing the book report on this book anyways. What is more appropriate than a First Nations person’s own story about the residential school system? I know that my high school textbooks weren’t appropriate because they didn’t even say anything about the residential schools.
  • Two one act plays: Education is Our Right and Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock by Drew Hayden Taylor
  • Just Another Indian by Warren Goulding This is a story about John Martin Crawford and the fact that he was considered as horrible as Clifford Olson but did not receive as much media or police attention until it was too late. I cried. A lot. While reading this book.
  • News: A Collection of Essays by Drew Hayden Taylor
  • Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman by Rudy Wiebe and Yvonne Johnson (This book is about Yvonne Johnson, a Cree Woman who is a serving a life sentence for murder. It tells the story from her perspective and from her eyes. I guess I will comment more on this book after I am done with it. It has already spoken to me in a way that I cannot explain right now, being that I am not done the book).

Anyways, just thought I’d give a bit of an update. I took a bit of a break from blogging, Facebook, and twitter for a while and this is what I did. I just read. I cannot stress the importance of reading or being able to read to anyone but to put it plainly, the ability to read and write gives you a power over your own self. A professor came into Indigenous services at my university and I just so happened to be sitting there talking to a counselor when she walked in. She asked if Indigenous services had a list of “essential readings on Indigenous peoples.” There was no list but because I just finished these books/plays written by Indigenous peoples on Indigenous issues, I was able to give her some feedback. Feedback that I would not have been able to give had I not chosen to read these books/plays. So, go out and read. Get a library card, take out some free books and read, and read a lot!

Tales of Kwe’s Adventures in the Forest City

Forest City, London ON Leave a comment

Yesterday I went on a little adventure. Okay, it wasn’t really an adventure it was more a walk on a paved bike bath in the bush over behind these soccer fields. I live in the city but not just any city THE Forest City aka London ON. You might ask yourself why it is called “Forest City”? Okay, maybe not. I didn’t even know it was called Forest City until 3 years after I lived here and I asked someone why it was called the Forest City. They just laughed at me and said “Look around you.” I looked around. I personally think it should be called “Tree City” or “City with lots of Trees, Bad Public Transit, and Sink Holes Downtown every 3 years-City.” Okay, maybe just Tree City. Really, there is no forest anywhere. That bush behind the soccer field isn’t really a real bush. I mean what kind of bush has a paved bike path in it?

What does this have to do with my adventures yesterday? Well, I went for that walk on that paved bike path in the bush behind those soccer fields located in Forest City looking for cedar. Cedar. What did I find? No cedar. Okay, I am lying a bit about that but you would think in a city also known as Forest City might have at least ONE cedar tree. Nope. It didn’t. Did I want to venture off the paved bike path and search for cedar. You would think that a Native girl who grew up on the rez and played in the bush (yes, the kind of bush with no paved bike paths) would be brave enough to go into the city bush. No, I am smarter than that. Really, I think city bush is more dangerous than rez bush. You have to watch out for REAL people who might be lurking in the city bush waiting to pounce on their next victim. Rez bush you just have to watch out for bears, wolves, and cougars… Oh my! And no, not the kind of cougars that you find in some city bars.

What did I lie about earlier? Well, there is cedar in this city and the only cedar I found was in my neighbours’ yards. I called my sister who lives in a bigger city and asked her if she thought it would be weird if I knocked on one of their doors asking if I could pick their cedar. She just laughed. Yeah, bad idea. Someone else just told me to just pick. WTF! Can you imagine the headlines on that: Local Indian Girl Caught Stealing Cedar From Neighbour’s Yard And Tries To Repay With Tobacco. Then Arrested. Yeah. Not. Good. I did notice that one neighbour had a cedar tree that sort of grew into the city bush and hung a bit over the fence. I thought to myself, “Maybe if I just take what I need by pulling that tree just a bit over the fence.” Still, a bad idea.

Then I remembered growing up on the rez back home that even the sage we used to pick didn’t even grow in our own yard. It grew on our non-Native, Christian’s neighbour yard. God bless him for letting 4 little Native girls go into his yard and pick it. On my walk, I noticed the only sage growing was in the local garden in the school yard.

Then I thought, “heck, not only did Canada colonize Native people, Canadians are now colonizing our traditional medicines.” Colonization, can you just stop it with the Native people please!

So, if you are reading this and live in London ON and you have cedar in your front yard, be on the look out for a Native girl coming to your yard to pick it… just kidding 😉 but if you do have some cedar in your yard and you’re not using it, can you kindly let me have some. I promise not to take the whole tree **teehee**

TIPS

bartending, hospitality, serving, tip jars, tips, tips jar Leave a comment

Recently there was an article in LFpress titled Here’s a wise tip: pass on that tip jar.

I don’t like tip jars. So I agreed with the article. I agreed that if you should tip someone who goes out of their way (meaning above and beyond what is required of them as an employee) it is nice to tip them. I also agreed with that you don’t have to tip your coffee barista.

“Tips” jars are just tacky.

Imagine if servers and bartenders and other people you normally tip carried around a “tips” jar on their tray. I am almost certain you wouldn’t tip them then. I almost never leave tips in a “tips” jar. I just give it to the employee or if there is no “tips” jar, I tell them “thanks for that extra help” and make sure that their boss knows what they did either by telling their boss or by sending their company a quick email (if possible). That tip is probably worth more than the .50 cents you will leave them with for the day. In fact, I don’t even think .50 cents is much of a tip anyways. You might be thinking “man, this girl is tacky for just saying that.”

I used to bartend and serve both food and drinks. In fact, I worked some jobs just for tips. I probably made more money on working just for tips than I would have just working for minimum wage elsewhere.

I started out serving food at an Italian restaurant. I sucked at serving food. I never saw more than $100 dollars in tips. It was frustrating because I would see some servers leaving with more than $300. I eventually was fired. Not in a conventional “you’re fired” or “we are letting you go” kind of way. The manager just stopped giving me shifts. This is typical for the hospitality industry. People are just **dying** to find a waitress/serving/bartending job because of the money to be made on the side in tips. Okay, well not **dying** and not everyone wants a job like this. It takes a certain type of person/personality to be able to do this: work for tips.

Anyways, I ended up finding a waitressing job when I was 18. In a local bar. In my first interview with them, I was asked if I could tell the difference between “rye” and “rum.” I lied. I said yes, but in fact I never had a drop of alcohol in my life (then anyways). I ended up working for this establishment for a while and eventually became a bartender. I loved serving drinks. Yes, alcoholic drinks. It was much more fun serving drinks than it was serving food. If you effed up a drink order, people didn’t really care much….they were just happy to be out drinking! Food on the other hand….you can’t mess with people’s food orders.

So what does this all have to do with the LFpress article? Well, the other day I had a quick chat with a girl from back home who moved to London ON and was working here in a coffee shop, and she told me about her coffee-shop job and it slipped out that her boss is horrible and only pays her minimum wage. 10.25/hour. Servers/bartenders are in fact paid less than minimum wage. Why? Well, they work for tips. They go to work for sometimes 12 hour shifts, on their feet the whole time, working for less than minimum wage and working for tips. This is why it takes a certain person/personality. You have to be people-friendly and able to handle disgruntled customers when they become irate.

Your coffee-barista is being paid minimum wage. Yes, minimum wage sucks but you know what sucks even more is that “tips” jar.

In fact, I hate these “tips” jars so much that when I volunteered to help serve drinks at a fundraising event someone asked where this jar was. There wasn’t one but a girl put one out. I honestly thought it was tacky. When I was handed $25 dollars in tips at the end of the night, I thought that the money should have went back to the fundraising event. I felt bad. Seriously. But I didn’t give it back, I ended up using it for my cab ride home (because it was after 1:00 am and the public transit wasn’t running anymore).

Have I tipped anyone who gave me bad service? That’s a yes-no answer. Yes, I still leave tips for servers/bartenders (not as much as I would left for exceptional service) but still a tip. When I hear people say “I didn’t tip that waitress because she gave me bad service,” I think that is just as tacky as the “tips” jar. I even urge family and friends to leave a tip when I am out with them and we have bad service and I explain to them that they work for less than minimum wage and that if they don’t want to leave a “great tip” at least leave a “little-less than great tip.” And mostly those who have worked in the industry would understand what I am saying and usually those that have worked in the industry can tell who has worked/is working in the industry by the amount of tip you leave (yes, we can usually tell by the amount of tip you leave). So yes, I tipped people in the industry regardless of whether it was bad service or not. It’s just a straight “no, I don’t tip bad service” for those in other industries. Depending on the level of bad service. (if it’s rude, racist, discriminatory, I usually tell the boss/owner/company)

Have I tipped anyone who didn’t work in the industry? Yes. I have tipped the shoe-fixer-upper (don’t know correct name of that guy who fixes my shoes). I have tipped the dry cleaners, the seamstress, the flight attendant, the gate keeper…. the list goes on. But only because the employee went above and beyond of what is required as them as an employee (who am I to judge what is required of them as an employee but you can generally tell when someone is going out of their way to make you happy as a customer/client. So tip them). I have even been tipped by a client when I worked for one organization where you don’t normally tip the employees. Then, I turned that tip away because I didn’t feel right taking it.

So, do I tip coffee-baristas? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. And if I do it’s only because they have done something to make me happy/comfortable as a customer in their coffee shop that day.

SLUT

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When I was in high school, I was called a slut. Also a whore. I was tripped in the hallway and the stairwell. I wore skirts. I was a virgin. I never dated anyone. I don’t know why I was called a slut or a whore. I don’t know why I was tripped. I don’t know why teachers didn’t stop it. I don’t know why teachers didn’t say “don’t call people names” when students called me a slut or a whore in their own classroom. Maybe I was called these names because of the way I dressed. I don’t know why it happened. I don’t know why those girls and boys called me those names or tripped me when they didn’t even know who I was. It’s still confusing to me today.

Seek Justice!

International Justice Mission Canada, Job Opening, London ON Leave a comment

Today on my way home, I saw a girl wearing a shirt that read “Seek Justice” on the front and then on the sleeve was this website www.ijm.ca. So out of curiosity, I visited the site.

I found something very interesting and something that I am happy to have “accidentally” come across this site. Not happy in sense that what I read was “good light” reading but rather introduced to a bit of information when it comes to what goes on in other parts of the world especially when it concerns other young people (I knew that such items/topics/issues that this site discuss occurred but to read about the work being done and stories of success brought to me a level with a bit more awareness)

I found this article and this job posting on the site:

Things I learned this summer…so far.

Life lessons Leave a comment

So this past summer, I have been very thankful for all the opportunities that either I sought out or was presented with. Seriously. Even the ones that didn’t work out in my favour.

Some of the things I am thankful for were my summer job and my regular job, scholarships, public speaking opportunities, meeting new like-minded youth, making new friends, being able to volunteer, and being able to live here in London ON albeit on my own & sometimes a little rough but hey that’s life…can’t be all cookies and cream 😉

Anyways, I am writing this post because there are a few things I learned about myself and about life, in general, this summer (so far). Some of which include:
1) I need to trust my gut when it comes to people
2) I need to trust those that mean well (sometimes hard to tell the difference especially when people like to take advantage of others–all too much I let that happen in my life…)
3) It’s ok to cry.
4) It’s ok to say “No” to a friend and those that are true friends will accept it
5) It’s ok to tell people how you feel and what you think but be aware either one may not be well-read or interpreted as you meant (Just don’t be rude, disrespectful, and insulting).
6) And if you are going to say anything about anybody, make sure it’s only good things (seriously).

I learned these things not necessarily by making all the mistakes myself. Rather, being my hyper-sensitive self, I usually paid attention to other people’s reactions or actions to myself as a person or to other people in the same room as I.

And, yes I wouldn’t call myself perfect, yet I wouldn’t call myself the worst person on the planet.

The one thing I learned, especially about scholarships, is that sure you can apply for all the scholarships in the world but the ones where you don’t meet all or some of the requirements you most likely won’t win. Yup, it’s true, you really can’t win em all 😉 but the most important thing is not to feel defeated. Just try harder and work harder to win next year. Don’t be bitter about losing. You know how that saying goes, “when one door opens another one closes…” oh crap, I mean, “when one door CLOSES, another one OPENS” Really, it holds true but don’t wait for that one door to open…sometimes you have to give that one door a big push!

I remember when I wasn’t hired on from my co-op placement in Toronto. I was a bit bummed (okay, maybe a lot bummed) but you know what, if I was hired on that means I would have never gone to UWO, never been hired at the law firm I work with now, never spoke at the youth gathering, never been… I am sure you get my point. All the good things that happened from not being hired on would have never happened or perhaps different positive things would have happened in my life if I had been hired on? Who really knows! All that I know that today, I am thankful for all the things that have happened in my life today, positive and negative. Yup, I said it negative things too. I would have never learned the lessons I learned to date (trust me there are a lot more lessons that I have learned since returning to London ON in 2010 than I have since my first breathe in 1986). And, without both positive and negatives experiences of myself or experiences I witnessed of others, I would have never learned what I needed to learned to get me to where I am today.

I hope that those that read this blog that they understand, whether their life is peachy-keen or they are having the worst day of their life, it really is true: When one door closes, another one opens & it also helps to learn from the experiences of others (as the saying goes–because you can’t possibly live through all life experiences yourself).

Note: The last saying I can’t credit to myself but rather my mom & her cuteness of posting sayings all over the bathroom mirror so all her girls could see them at the start of the day. My mom is so cute ❤ oh and I don't know where my mom got the saying but the correct version of it goes: Learn from the mistakes of others because you can't possible live long enough to make them all yourself.

Wind Talkers Code Talkers

Adam Beach, Code talkers, First Nations, History, Wind Talkers Leave a comment

I am writing this post after reading this article titled Code Talkers Have Served The Military Well–And Often Secretly and not long after I purchased (by chance) one of my favorite movies titled “Wind Talkers.”

I never heard the term Wind Talkers before until this movie came out. The movie came out in 2002. The correct term is “Code Talker.” I am not sure why or how Hollywood came up with the title “Wind Talker” but nobody ever said Hollywood articulately and correctly portrays history 100% of the time. I thought about why this title was chosen and I came up with 2 possible reasons:

1) They weren’t allowed to use “Code Talkers”
2) The irony with the Code Talkers is that they were not recognized/honored for their work from 1989 until 2008 (where according to the above article link, the US just passed a Code Talkers Recognition Act to honor remaining Code Talkers of both World Wars). So maybe, the title signifies that their service/work was just figuratively speaking “blown” away (in other words, unrecognized). (Hmmmm I don’t know but if anyone who reads this has another interpretation–by all means share in comments below)

But this movie, Wind Talkers, is a good movie. I mean, besides the title, it shows the inner-conflict between the Native and non-Native marines and some of the obstacles that both possibly had to overcome. What I like about it best is that it shows Adam Beach’s character (one of the Code Talkers) being somewhat of a comic but serious all at the same time. It’s sort of a subtle humor without taking away of the seriousness of the actual bigger story line of the importance of the Code Talkers during the World War II yet the little recognition or respect that they failed to receive. (This movie highlights the Code Talkers of WWII; however, Code Talkers were used in both World Wars.)

Not too many people know about these Native men and their important contributions to both World Wars. The “code” that Code Talkers had spoken/developed was never cracked. According to the Official Site of the Navajo Code Talkers, it was also considered a “secret too important” to divulge. The Navajo Code Talkers were also sworn to secrecy, as noted in the initial article mentioned. The Navajo code was developed by 29 Navajo men known as “The Original 29,” where 600 words were used within the code. On the Official Site of The Navajo Code Talkers, you can visit their page called The Code to view some of the Navajo words used and their English translation.

I did a search of Navajo Code Talkers at my university library (online of course) and I was able to find an entire Navajo Code Talkers’ Dictionary. I don’t know if anyone without an account to this library can find this dictionary online but I suggest you at least try to. It was interesting to see some of the words and what they translated to in the Navajo language but what they were used during the War. Some of the words that I found interesting were:

Navajo Word in English Translation Code word
Dog is patch Dispatch
Deer ice strict District
Small dummy Dud
Big dummy dummy

You can see that they had to know the English Language, or at least develop words that would make sense or sound like the English word for the Code. Like the word “District” when translated from the Navajo language, it’s literal translation is “Deer ice strict.” Say “Deer ice strict” really fast 3x and you will eventually come up with “district.” Interesting.

I know that this history is mostly part of American History, but I wish they would teach it in Canadian History. These Code Talkers had their land first taken from them when white settlers arrived, then forced to live on reservations and then just like in Canada, denied the right to continue to speak their language or practice their culture. Then, after all that, it is their own language (the same one they were denied to speak) that saves the very same country that stole their land from losing a World War a million miles away. Ironic or no?

I hope that one day that stories of history are taught in classrooms, whether they are American or Canadian classrooms, so that others are more aware of the contributions that First Nations people have made to significant historical events. Even though original Code Talkers were sworn to secrecy and some have them have honored this, as noted in the same initial article, schools are not sworn to secrecy of historical contributes of First Nations people–in fact they should at least start telling the real truth regarding the history of North America.

You can see in this picture that I taken at the last youth gathering I attended, one of the youth whose name is seen in the picture (Quinn Meawasige) wrote the following words,

Incorporate an accurate history in Ontario/Canadian curriculum about the true history of Native peoples to create awareness among non-Native students. This way there will be a better understanding of First Nations people.

All I gotta say is, “Well put Quinn!” and I completely agree!

Check out the following links to read more about the Code Talkers

A poem I wrote…

Abusive relationships, Poetry Leave a comment

This is a poem I wrote after I started counseling after being in an abusive relationship. In this poem, I describe (briefly) the nightmares I was having.

Untitled

Flying through the air
Superhero powers
Small doors monster people
Dreaming to see nothing
Upon awakening
Broken sweat dry tears
All by myself
In the dark
Save me from my dreams
My life is a nightmare