{"id":6,"date":"2012-12-02T18:21:49","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T01:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/?page_id=6"},"modified":"2012-12-02T18:42:29","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T01:42:29","slug":"about-the-author","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/about-the-author\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Author"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you up for the journey?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I’m a white-bred red-blooded fair-skinned Indian<\/p>\n

Here to offer you my caffeine-fuelled response to the hegemonic discourse<\/p>\n

The colonized, educated, know-it-all, patronizing, positivist discourse<\/p>\n

Learned in English since I was less than six, how to write the right way<\/p>\n

Not the Red way<\/p>\n

I never learned to speak my language<\/p>\n

Instead I followed all the rules, every day at school<\/p>\n

Graduated, convocated, relegated<\/p>\n

To the right path, the White path, the well-read road<\/p>\n

Not The Red Road<\/p>\n

Then I stopped to listen<\/p>\n

To the old ways with a new voice<\/p>\n

Compromised, criticized and dissected by the scholars of a new millennium<\/p>\n

Inspired by the grandfathers, ancestors, grandmothers<\/p>\n

Here for community, for our people: Indigenous, Metis, Inuit, Tribal, First Nations, Aboriginal<\/p>\n

Status, Non-status, doesn’t matter…Even white-bred fair-skinned Indians<\/p>\n

Even Bill C-3 – don’t get me started<\/p>\n

I’m half Cree, don’t need no paper to tell me who I am, where I come from<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s my father, my relations and why it matters anyway<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell you why<\/p>\n

Because I look around and all I see<\/p>\n

Is destruction: oil spills, suicides, pesticides, nuclear reactors \u2013 making messes, claiming lives, no respect for our relations<\/p>\n

I can only stand to hear the sound bites and the little bits<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s hope rising up from within us<\/p>\n

We hold the fire[1]<\/p>\n

Education, in a new way: the old ways with a new voice<\/p>\n

Keep on learning, keep on teaching, keep on searching<\/p>\n

In a good way, with a purpose,<\/p>\n

\u201cSelf-determined definitions of what is real and what is valuable\u201d[2]:<\/p>\n

The Sacred Tree[3],<\/p>\n

Medicine, Circle, Oral Histories and Stories<\/p>\n

Told to us by the grandfathers, ancestors, grandmothers, Elders<\/p>\n

Community, Ceremony, Family, Language[4]<\/p>\n

Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual and Physical[5]<\/p>\n

There are some issues to consider well<\/p>\n

Listen carefully: to your inner voice, and the cosmos<\/p>\n

Consider Family, Community, All My Relations<\/p>\n

Self-determination. [6]<\/p>\n

Creation.<\/p>\n

Celebration.<\/p>\n

Revitalization.<\/p>\n

Rehabilitation. [7]<\/p>\n

Education.<\/p>\n

With this new discourse, we\u2019ll plot our own course: for survival, revival and for our children.<\/p>\n

All the yesterdays and tomorrows join together to tell us.<\/p>\n

If you listen you\u2019ll hear the whispers in the circle[8]<\/p>\n

And ask yourself one question: \u201cAm I up for the journey?\u201d [9]<\/p>\n

References:<\/address>\n
[1] King, Cecil (1989), cited in Ermine, Willie. (1995). Aboriginal epistemology. In Battiste, Marie and Barman, Jean (Eds)\u00a0First Nations Education in Canada: The Circle Unfolds<\/em>, pp. 101-112. Vancouver: UBC Press. \u201cThe Indians have fire\u2026. It is our responsibility to preserve the flame for humanity and at the moment it is too weak to be shared but if we all are still and respect the flame it will grow and thrive in the caring hands of those who hold it\u201d (p. 111).<\/address>\n
[2] Brant Castellano, Marlene. (2004): Quotation on page 102: \u201cFundamental to the exercise of self-determination is the right of peoples to construct knowledge in accordance with self-determined definitions of what is real and what is valuable.\u201d<\/address>\n
[3] Brown, L., Lane, P., Bopp., M. & Bopp, J. (1984).\u00a0The Sacred Tree.<\/em>\u00a0Lethbridge, AB: Four Winds International.<\/address>\n
[4] Brant Castellano, Marlene. (2004): Ethical codes within Aboriginal groups are well-developed, diverse, and may be transmitted through language (stories, songs), family, community and ceremony. In any discussion of research ethics, these distinctive ethical codes must be considered.<\/address>\n
[5] Brown, L., et al. (1984).<\/address>\n
[6] Brant Castellano, Marlene. (2004): Knowledge and research are inextricably linked to self-determination for Indigenous peoples around the world.<\/address>\n
[7] Brant Castellano, Marlene. (2004): \u201capplied research, going on spontaneously and autonomously in Aboriginal communities and organizations, is demonstrating that when learning, healing or rehabilitating is aligned with traditional ethics and values, it takes on astounding energy. The leaves of a tree, connected to their vital\u00a0 source, display health and vigour\u201d (p. 112)<\/address>\n
[8] Tababodong, Rebecca, cited in Baker, Emerance (2008). Locating ourselves in the place of creation: The academy as Kitsu’lt melkiko’tin.\u00a0Canadian Woman Studies, 26<\/em>, p. 15<\/address>\n
[9] Kovach, Margaret. (2009). Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations and Contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. (quote from page 38)<\/address>\n
Hambler, 2011, Unpublished poem, shared on Facebook May 2, 2011 (https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/notes\/patty-hambler\/are-you-up-for-the-journey\/10150180182733676<\/a>)<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you up for the journey? I’m a white-bred red-blooded fair-skinned Indian Here to offer you my caffeine-fuelled response to the hegemonic discourse The colonized, educated, know-it-all, patronizing, positivist discourse Learned in English since I was less than six, how to write the right way Not the Red way I never learned to speak my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12329,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/indigenous2point0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}