{"id":804,"date":"2020-10-30T18:57:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T18:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gened.org\/?p=804"},"modified":"2021-09-28T16:19:18","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T16:19:18","slug":"kenneth-deer-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gened.org\/2020\/10\/kenneth-deer-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenneth Deer Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” bg_color=”#33b44b” scene_position=”center” text_color=”light” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none” enable_animation=”true” animation=”fade-in-from-left” delay=”300″][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”125″][vc_custom_heading text=”Interview with Kenneth Deer” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:center|color:%23000000″ google_fonts=”font_family:Oswald%3A300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1604086268055{margin-bottom: 10px !important;}”][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”125″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”none” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” bg_color=”rgba(242,242,242,0.74)” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”1%” constrain_group_1=”yes” bottom_padding=”1%” text_color=”custom” custom_text_color=”#000000″ text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-2-percent” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/3″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][image_with_animation image_url=”704″ animation=”Fade In” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”75%” max_width_mobile=”default”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”padding-4-percent” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”top-bottom” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”2\/3″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none” enable_animation=”true” animation=”fade-in-from-left” delay=”300″][vc_column_text]Kenneth Deer is from the Bear Clan of the Mohawk Nation of the Kahnawake territory. He is an award-winning journalist, an educator and an internationally-known Indigenous rights activist. He was also an active participant in the development of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which took 25 years to draft and was adopted in 2007 by 144 states, with the exception of Canada and four other states. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Concordia University and was the 2010 recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”none” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”custom” custom_text_color=”#000000″ text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-4-percent” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”top-bottom” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” constrain_group_1=”yes” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none” enable_animation=”true” animation=”fade-in-from-bottom”][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”50″][vc_custom_heading text=”The True History of First Nations in Canada” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:left|color:%23000000″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1604085634605{margin-bottom: 10px !important;}”][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”6″ divider_color=”accent-color” animate=”yes” custom_height=”10″][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”10″][vc_custom_heading text=”Written by Alexandrine Royer” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:20|text_align:left|line_height:50px” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none” enable_animation=”true” animation=”fade-in-from-bottom” delay=”200″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1604086336194{margin-top: 30px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;}”]\n
1. In an interview back in 2015 with Just in Canada, you mention that the reason why people don\u2019t know about Indigenous people in Canada is \u201crooted in the education system\u201d, adding that \u201cCanadians are not educated about Native people and we are invisible in the system\u201d. What do you think Canadians still fail to know and understand about the history of the First Nations?<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I think there is a lot that Canadians still don\u2019t know and understand about the history of the First Nations. The results of the Truth & Reconciliation led to a series of recommendations in education to address the legacy of the residential schools. But the education in our Canadian schools is still woefully inadequate. Schools have to be adjusted to take into account the history of Indigenous Peoples. This includes the history of indigenous people and their relationship with Canada before the first contact and up until the present.<\/p>\n The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a call to action which a lot of post-secondary institutions have taken that to heart. Colleges and universities are putting more materials and courses about Indigenous People in Canada. Since I made that statement back in 2015,\u00a0 there have been improvements, but we still have a long way to go.<\/p>\n History books mention Indigenous People were here during the first contacts and colonization, but\u00a0we then disappear and nothing is said about us after Confederation. Indigenous People were not invited in the Charlottetown meetings that created Canada, the people in government at the time were not interested in having Indigenous people involved. It was a European settler institution and continues to be so today.<\/p>\n Today you hear about the clearing of the plains (see the book by James Daschuk) and how John A. MacDonald negotiated land treaties, what they did was starve the Indigenous People in the prairies into submission. These events are well-documented and should be in the history books but are not.<\/p>\n One of the fundamental racist issues goes back to the whole era of discovery. The doctrine of discovery refers to the papal bulls that were issued after Columbus stumbled onto the American continent. European kingdoms asked themselves, what do we do with all these people that are there. In 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued a papal bull that decreed that if you find any new people, and if they are not Christian, you can claim all that land for your king. This papal bull gave the political, legal and moral justification for Spain, Portugal, France and England to claim the American continent on behalf of their king. This is the underlying relationship that is the basis of all Indigenous exploitation and disempowerment. It also explains why everything is called crown land- even today-, it was claimed for the French king or the English king.<\/p>\n These papal bulls are still in effect and they have not been revoked by the Vatican, despite contestations. In courts today and in recent history, Canadian and American governments have used the doctrine of discovery to state that they own the land. It may have taken place hundreds of years ago, but this history still has contemporary implications, governments have continued to use it as a legal defence in court cases against Indigenous people. It is a fundamental racist position because it states because we (the First Nations) are not Christian, we have no more rights than the animals. Racial superiority and European supremacy are at the basis of this relationship.<\/p>\n When I was in elementary school, I was educated under the Indian Act and the goal was to assimilate us. The only thing I remember learning about the Mohawks is that we burned Jesuits at the stake and were responsible for the Lachine massacres. When you are an impressionable kid, this can have a big effect on you. What they were forcibly teaching us was not our history, our culture and our language. We were taught that Jesuits were the martyrs and heroes and we (the First Nations) were the bad guys, especially the Iroquois. In actuality, all we were doing was to defend our territory, we were not willing to come under either the French or English king.<\/p>\n