Onkwehonwe week in review, December 17 2014
Elderly Aboriginal woman is forcefully taken down by RCMP officer SMITHERS, BC – A 61-year old Irene Joseph, 61, from the Wet'suwet'en nation, was forcefully knocked…
Columns
We won’t be choked – we’re right and you know it
Now that the NYPD has literally been caught on video choking a man to death for defying the most oppressive taxation scheme in the United…
I’ll have some Spirituality with my Decolonization, thank you very much
I was at this presentation the other week, and I listened to this doctor give his medical opinion on how to treat addicts and help…
Onkwehon:we week in review Dec, 10
Leona Aglukkaq and Nutrition North come under fire OTTAWA – Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq has come under fire from critics after she was caught on camera…
Soar above the storm like an eagle
This weekend as I was daydreaming and looking out my window the sunny skies suddenly began to change and a huge storm rolled in. Black…
A quiet and snow-covered gift
One of my favorite visualizations of the Rez is how quiet it gets in the winter. Close your eyes for a minute and dream it.…
When non-native people are afraid of the rez…
When I was in high school I became friends with this Iranian kid named Pej. He was first generation Canadian. His parents fled Iran because of religious persecution and somehow they ended up in Brantford. I was the first real native person he’d ever met from Six Nations.
Overcoming lateral violence through love
My daughter is going through a phase of being afraid to fall asleep on her own. Every night for the last few weeks she has…
‘Huron Honeys?!’: Hallowe’en flavoured racism in Canada against indigenous women
What was probably the most disturbing though was the costume offerings for women. Scantily clad white women in faux leather miniskirts and bouffant hairstyles beckoning you in to touch their exposed skin with titles like ‘Reservation Royalty’ and ‘Huron Honey’. Even worse was the costume entitled ‘Wild Frontier’, worn by an alluring white girl donning a come hither stare – cementing the ever-racist “dark and forbidden” sexual fantasy – that women of indigenous heritage are here for the consumption and satisfaction of everyone’s sexual appetites. Barf.
The House We’re Building
This weekend I was a part of some extensive renovations at my father-in-law’s home. Sadly, there were no sledgehammers involved. But I did get to…
I write because I’m free
One of my favorite singers of all time is Mahalia Jackson. For those of you who have never heard her do yourself a favor, hop…
For the love of Zombies
Last weekend I witnessed something amazing – a community fundraiser for a little girl battling leukemia. It started as a random Facebook status from a…
Don’t be strong – just endure
When facing a mastectomy, doctors typically give patients two options: undergo breast reconstruction, or live without breasts at all. The choice is very personal. Every…
“Brothers we will not pick a side” – my thoughts on war and history
I’m not one to just totally believe everything that I read especially when it comes to Haudenosaunee history. Especially on the internets. (And yes I…