And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 20:53:49 -0500 (EST)
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From: Dan Smoke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Story by Lac Du Flambeau author
Not just beadwork and
powwows
Gail Valaskakis
National Post
In his first three years of life, Ishmael Haimerl has
generated more
controversy than most people do in an entire lifetime.
Since his
birth, he has been at the centre of an interracial
custody dispute so
thorny it was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of
Canada. In rendering its judgment last week, the court
rejected
Ishmael's mother's claim that her child should be raised
in an
aboriginal environment. As a result, many observers are
worried the
decision will be used to undermine the struggle of
Canada's First
Nations to preserve their distinctive culture.
Ishmael was born to an aboriginal mother and a black
father. When
his troubled parents gave him up, custody was sought by
both his
mother's biological father, who is aboriginal, and his
mother's
adoptive parents, who are white. For the past two years,
Ishmael
has lived with his aboriginal grandfather, first in
Vancouver, and
then on a reserve in Manitoba. Because the Supreme Court
awarded custody to his adoptive grandparents, however,
Ishmael
must leave the reserve to live on their farm in
Connecticut.
For Canadian aboriginals, the Haimerl case awakens deep
seated
sensitivities. The historical context of the policies at
issue extends
back to the 1950s and 1960s, a time when as many as 15,000
aboriginal children were moved to non-native homes. One
of these
displaced aboriginals was Ishmael's own mother, who does
not
want her son subject to the same alienating experience.
This outdated policy was originally conceived as a benign
hedge
against aboriginal poverty and isolation, and was
consistent with the
then-predominant assimilationist approach. One early
commentator
described the strategy this way: "The solution to the
[aboriginal]
problem lies in a natural and human absorption of the
Indian into the
common conditions of American life -- annihilation for
the Indian
race, but a new life for the individual Indian."
To our modern ears, ideas like this sound absurd. Our
ideological
world has rotated in the past few decades. We now
support the
aboriginal struggle for cultural development. Our
sensibilities are
reflected in modern policies, such as those implemented
in British
Columbia and other jurisdictions, where the prevailing
legislative
trend is to provide aboriginal children with a culturally
supportive
environment.
In the case of Ishmael, there were practical arguments in
favour of
assigning custody to his white adoptive grandparents. A
lower court
found, for instance, that Ishmael's adoptive grandparents
offered a
more stable family environment. But the Supreme Court
did not
give any reasons for its decision, so it is unclear how
broadly the
judgment should be read. Given this ambiguity, it would
not be
surprising to see courts use the precedent as an excuse
to reverse
the hard-fought policy of keeping aboriginal children in
aboriginal
households.
Such a policy reversal would be greatly damaging to the
self-image
of adopted aboriginal children. Where native adoptees
grow up in
white homes, alienation often follows. In cities across
Canada,
many such adoptees are trying to trace their roots to
rediscover the
personal past they have lost. They speak of being loved and
nourished, educated and supported in a world that always
seemed
out of sync. They express the confusion of not knowing
who they
are, the uneasiness of being uncomfortable in their own
skin.
Canada's history reflects many well-intentioned efforts
to dislodge
aboriginal peoples from their culture, language, and
lifestyle. These
efforts to acculturate and integrate aboriginal peoples
are, and
always have been, a double-edged sword, as the aboriginal
experience of residential schools attests. Culture and
identity are not
just about beadwork, powwows, and bannock. Being
aboriginal is
grounded in a distinctive way of knowing and relating to
reality that
can't be taught by outsiders.
We recognize this today in the discourse supporting
cultural
diversity and aboriginal empowerment. But we are caught
in a
confusing mix of historical repercussions, personal
experiences, and
academic uncertainties. As regards the question of what
makes
native peoples unique, we have never definitively settled
the issue of
nature versus nurture. We have not untangled the
complexities of
blood and belonging. We may all be rooted together in our
sense of
a common reality. But, in the end, a person's identity
and culture
cannot be whisked away nor a new one willed into
existence.
Despite the Supreme Court's decision, Ishmael's future is
still
uncertain. He may enjoy a comfortable childhood in
Connecticut
but, one day, he may also join the many aboriginal adults
across
North America who are desperately searching for their
native roots
in a white world.
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis is the former dean of Arts and
Science at
Concordia University. She is now the Special Advisor to
the Rector
for Aboriginal Affairs.
All My Relations
Dan Smoke - Asayenes & Mary Lou Smoke - Asayenes Kwe
Producers/Hosts "Smoke Signals" First Nations Radio Program
Radio Western, CHRW, 94.7 FM
(5l9) 659-4682 fax (5l9) 453-3676
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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