[Indigsol] Sat/Sun: G20 rally / Decolonial Study Group (film)

[ipsmo at riseup.net]

TWO UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sun July 18 - Decolonial Study Group

Sat July 17 - Day of Action for Civil Liberties

see below for details (Sun first, then Sat)


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Decolonial Study Group
Qallunaat! Why White People Are Funny

===============
Sunday, July 18 at 2pm
Exile Infoshop
256 Bank St. (2nd Floor)
Everyone Welcome!
ipsmo at riseup.net
http://www.ipsmo.org/
Bring snacks!!!
The movie has subtitles
===============

The Decolonial Study Group (DSG) is a project of the IPSM Ottawa. We will
be deepening and broadening our understanding and analysis of indigenous
struggles for decolonization, social justice and revolution. We will be
doing this through readings, workshops, oral presentations, movies and so
on.

For the DSG on Sunday, July 18 we will be watching the film "Qallunaat!
Why White People Are Funny". After the movie there will be a discussion.

There are no assigned readings for this study group.

Optional readings:
* Nunavut: Inuit Self-Determination Through a Land Claim and Public
Government
http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/system/files/Seminars/presentations/HicksJ_WhiteG_2000.pdf


Qallunaat! Why White People Are Funny

Funny? What's so funny about white people, otherwise known as Qallunaat to
the Inuit? Well, among other curious behaviours, Qallunaat ritualistically
greet each other with inane salutations, repress natural bodily functions,
complain a lot about being cold, and seem to want to dominate the world.

This docucomedy is collaboration between filmmaker Mark Sandiford and
Inuit writer and satirist, Zebedee Nungak. Zebedee is CEO and head
researcher of the mythical Qallunaat Studies Institute (QSI). According to
Nungak, "Qallunaat ought to be the object of some kind of study by other
cultures. The more I thought about the way they have studied us over the
years it occured to me, why don't we study them?"

In its use of archival clips, Why White People Are Funny pokes as much fun
at the illustrious history of NFB documentaries as it does at society in
the south. Of course, well before the NFB came into existence, and at
least as early as the classic 1922 feature "Nanook of the North," white
society has been fascinated with native subjects, studying them as exotic
specimens, documenting their cultural and social behaviours. That tendency
to frame a world of Eskimo "others" dominated both film Why White People
Are Funny brings the documentary form to an unexpected place. Those who
were holding the mirror up to Inuit culture finally have it turned back on
themselves. The result is not always pretty, but it sure is amusing. From
the Inuit point of view, visitors from the south are nothing less than
"accidents waiting to happen."

Filmmaker Mark Sandiford's extended time in the Arctic has resulted in a
fresh and long overdue "study" of Qallunaat from the Inuit point of view.
Not surprisingly, these "Qallunologists" find the ways of white culture a
bit peculiar. Consider their odd dating habits, lame attempts at arctic
exploration, their overbearing bureaucrats, need for Police, and curious
obsession with owning property.

Why White People Are Funny is a humbling portrait of what it must feel
like to be the object of the white man's gaze. Fresh and orginal, this
documentary has that rare ability to educate with wit.

2006, 52 min 05 s

There will be note taking for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Contact us if you have mobility issues and want to attend.


~~~~


Day of Action for Civil Liberties
Human Rights Monument
Saturday, July 17 @ 1 p.m.
Mass rally & march

During the G20 Summit in Toronto on June 26 and 27, more than $1.2 billion
was spent on a reported 20,000 police and security officers, a 5 metre
fence, and new weapons designed to stifle dissent and silence public
opposition.

Despite threats of new crowd dispersal weapons and dubious claims that
police were granted extraordinary powers of search and arrest, over 25,000
people peacefully marched to question the legitimacy of the G20 and call
on Canada to take action on the economy, jobs, public services, global
poverty, climate change, Indigenous rights, migrant and undocumented
workers’ rights, women’s rights, human rights, peace, inequality and
social justice.

The police descended upon peaceful protesters and confused passers-by with
a force that was disproportionate, arbitrary and excessive, and included
raids, rubber bullets, tear gas and pre-emptive detentions.

In total, more than 900 people were detained based on dubious charges, in
the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

Demonstrate your opposition to the excessive use of police force and the
unprecedented curtailment of civil liberties. Demand an independent public
inquiry. Join the Ottawa action for Civil Liberties on July 17, 2010 at 1
p.m.

Community members and organisations in other regions have organised
similar actions across the country, to pressure all levels of government
to support civil liberties.

For information or to endorse, email: CivilLibertiesNOW at gmail.com

ALSO NOTE:

For anyone who was in Toronto for the G20 protests and who was a subject
of or witness to police mistreatment, the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association is collecting testimony/complaints. They may be filing a class
action lawsuit, so please send them what you saw/experienced. THEIR
DEADLINE IS JULY 16 - so get your report in ASAP!!!
http://ccla.org/2010/06/29/resources-for-g20-related-complaints/