In the last days of February, the weather has kept me
inside more than usual and so I have been taking the opportunity to learn. Books, videos, YouTube, on-line courses and
audio books have allowed me to hear from all kinds of people. One of these teachers came in the form of Professor of Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria, Larry Borrows in Demystifying
the Doctrine of Discovery. This wonderful 2 hour webinar was cohosted by Conservation
Through Reconciliation Partnership and West Coast Environmental Law and included
Elder Larry McDermott and Indigenous lawyers Aimée Craft, Larry Innes and Rayanna Seymour-Hourie.
Borrows started off with a short history of the Doctrine of
Discovery. As far back as the Middle Ages during the Crusades, the Pope gave
justifications for Christian leaders to take land from Muslims because they
were not Christian. In other words, if
Christians “discovered” land where there were no Christians, then they could
take control of it. This doctrine
continued through the time of the Portuguese
and Spanish “discoveries” of the “Americas” so that they could take any land
that was “empty” (Terra Nullius) of Christians.
Later, the British kings took up this idea as well. So, from about 1000 -1600 AD there was this
prevalent idea of superiority of Christian nations and the inferiority of
anyone else.
Borrows and the other lawyers explained how this idea is
still finding its way through Canadian law to this day as the courts speak of
the Crown's assumed right to title of the land now called Canada. In fact, they go on to say, even in the absence of a treaty Indigenous peoples have to prove that the crown doesn’t own land in
order to get title instead of the other way around to this day. And so this notion of superiority is still alive and well.
You may wonder why I am writing about this ancient doctrine
at this time. Well I learned about this doctrine of superiority that enabled land grabs just before I learned about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week. There is no question that it is wrong to
simply take land away from people and occupy their territory. Almost everyone would agree. And yet, this is exactly what the country of
Canada is founded on.
So why are Canadians horrified at this current invasion and
not so interested in the one that their ancestors took part in a few hundred years ago? Perhaps, sensibilities have changed and we
are more aware of what is going on everywhere in the world. We can see live images and imagine what it is
like to be there. And of course this is happening now, not in the past. Unless you are Indigenous and then it is happening now.
Here in Canada, it is hard for non-Indigenous people to grasp that the same
story happened here not so long ago.
Millions of Indigenous people died from disease, starvation and other
means as the Europeans flooded in, creating laws to take land, limit the
freedom of Indigenous people and take away their children in efforts of
assimilation. The systems in place perpetuate
these wrongs to this day. the Indian Act still controls the lives of Indigenous people here in Canada.
This is a challenging task.
Watching something which is so horrifying on media and empathizing not only with
the people of Ukraine but also with those people on whose territory we live isn’t
easy. But, there is much healing to be
done. And who will do it if we don't? The structures that condone this
kind of action can only be undone in the hearts of people. We can’t wait for those “at the top” to
change their minds.
Someone sent me this YouTube video in which Martha Beck gives a very clear
metaphor of what this healing might look like. See what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment