[Wamvan] Jessica Yee: Marginalization Doesn’t Happen by Accident

[Meenakshi Mannoe]

FYI - From Redwire Media. So very pertinent. Every day. Especially as
we approach the Women's Memorial March, this Tuesday @ noon. Carnegie
Centre.

Jessica Yee: Marginalization Doesn’t Happen by Accident



Jessica Yee, Mohawk from Akwesasne, founder of the Native Youth Sexual
Health Network and first Chair of the National Aboriginal Youth
Council, addresses Colonialism and Violence from the State.

    On January 27, I had the privilege of attending a talk given by
Jessica Yee. However talk cannot properly describe the event that took
place. Jessica Yee challenged the lecture form as she coaxed the
attendees from being a passive audience into active participants.  The
energy in the room was definitely alive. She left no room for
dispassion and her strength was infectious, asserting from the
beginning that we must “learn to be comfortable with being
uncomfortable”. She didn’t ask, or bade us into this process gently,
Yee commanded it of us and it was assumed we were naturally capable.
With these sentiments she set forth exposing us to a series of very
uncomfortable and painful truths.

    It’s important to note that before she began she acknowledged the
land she stood on and that she came as a visitor, as an ally,
recognizing that the subject of violence against women in this
territory in particular is of the utmost urgency. She paid tribute to
the importance of recognizing the efforts of local women working
towards their aims. “I bring the spirits of my ancestors here with me”
were her words exactly, and she described a time when the Mohawk came
to the aid of the people of this territory when they were in need, how
she came with this same disposition, upholding the importance of
Indigenous people standing in solidarity with one another’s
communities.
“I’m not here to talk on some lofty theories on violence against
women, I want to know what you plan on doing once you leave this room,
because this isn’t about just going to a talk, I saw Jessica Yee speak
and wasn’t that nice!”

    Projected on the wall behind her were a series of illustrations,
all demonstrating oppression resulting from colonization. They were
well done, in comic book style and one featured a woman on the phone
with the words “I’ve been raped/ My boyfriend beat me” to which a
police officer replied “Native, go figure…” All of the images were
equally candid and forthright. Shortly after Yee began speaking she
revealed that these drawings were in fact done by an 11 year old.
There was a quiet yet strong reaction from the audience, impressed
that an 11 year old possessed such strong social awareness, they also
seemed filled with a kind of urgency. The hope of age creating a
shield of ignorance and thus protecting younger generations from
unfortunate realities did not apply here. Jessica Yee stressed that we
needed to listen to what the voices of our children are saying, adding
that “Often its not what we say, but what we listen to.”

    With this Yee set the tone for the evening by keeping the voice of
this young person in our minds.

    Marginalization doesn’t happen by accident was precisely the
subject at hand. She reminded us that we must start at the beginning
to have the strength to go forward by reasserting “Mother Law”, with
“woman as the first environment”; the values of womanhood as a source
of power and strength are embedded in Indigenous society. She
explained the tenants of Mother Law as the highest potential for
social change, where we must come together to reassert this law,
keeping in mind that we do not need permission to do so. Reasserting
Mother Law is something fundamental to ending violence against women.


    Grounded in these ideas she carried forward to colonization where
she displayed the image above of dogs eating women and two spirited
males alive. How does a society effectively colonize and conquer
another she asked? By attacking their source of power, in this case:
our sexuality and our women.



Conquest by Erin Konsmo

    She then went over the Indian act and its many blatant
discrepancies directed towards women. This included the removal of
status, effectively taking away their ability for women to pass down
any Aboriginal rights and title. Despite the illusion of Bill C31 as
remedying this problem it only restored 30-40% of Aboriginal women’s
status. Another tactic used to revoke the ability for women to pass
down their Indigenous heritage was the sixties scoop, when the
government declared Aboriginal women unfit for child rearing and
forced sterilization. She also pointed out that while Aboriginal
people only make up 4% of the population Aboriginal women make up 30%
of the population in prison. Our women being locked up in the prison
system is not an accident, she asserted.

    With this information in place she moved on to the topic of
missing and murdered Indigenous women. “Women going missing is not a
recent phenomenon,” she explained, “ our women have been going missing
since Canada became Canada. Why would we only be hearing about it
now?” she asked. Voices chimed from the audience. “We’re comfortable
with it being a recent phenomenon, to acknowledge that it has been
occurring for a long time we would have to acknowledge an dark
reality.” She answered after allowing room for discussion to take
place.

    The direct translation for Kanata she explained is “settlement”
not village as so many are brought to believe, acknowledging the true
origins of this word Canada would have to admit that it is in fact a
settlement, and its inhabitants are in fact, settlers.


“Canada just being Canada is violence and it takes violence for Canada
to continue being Canada.”

    After this she displayed some disturbing images of cultural
misappropriation, including Miss Canada 2011 (above), and Ke$ha
wearing a headdress, explaining that the public is desensitized to
these acts of violence. (Native Appropriations wrote an article on
Miss Canada 2011). “Imagine if everyone spoke up and said this is not
okay!”

    She then took time to acknowledge Patricia Monture, activist and
her mentor. Monture was the first Aboriginal woman to attribute the
state as a source of violence. She related a story from the age of 12
when Patricia brought it to her knowledge that she did not know the
traditional name of the territory Toronto stood on because Canada did
not want her to know. Until that moment she had been lead to believe
that Canada loved her, she had sang the national anthem that reassured
it was a place of camaraderie so many times.

    Colonialism must be incorporated in feminist analysis. The women’s
movement has never taken as its central and long-term goal, the
eradication of the legal oppression that is specific to Aboriginal
women.
-Patricia Monture


    Addressing the audience she spoke of how often she is approached
by non-Natives unsure of what to do. She explained that it wasn’t her
job to take the time to tell people what to do, rather her response
was: “What can you do in your own communities to make it less
difficult for me?”

    When she had finished she invited the Missing Women’s Memorial
Committee to the front of the room to express their sentiments to the
audience. This was a particularly powerful moment as the audience.
Students removed from the topic at hand by a comfortable distance,
engaging due to interest perhaps, were forced to face the close
reality of the concerns being presented. Realizing that their SFU
campus in Gastown is only blocks away from the epicenter of
gentrification in the DTES, where women have been going missing for
years. It was now brought to everyones attention that the growing
trendiness of the area has led directly to an increase in homelessness
and vulnerability. Stella August, member of the Committee and
activist, emotionally implored the attendees to look the residents of
the downtown eastside in the face and acknowledge their existence,
instead of brusquely strolling through the downtown eastside going
from one trendy new spot to another. Harsha Walia asked that we do not
commodify women in death with this year’s Women’s Memorial March,
while it’s important to show support in attending, she asked the
candid question, “What are you doing the other 364 days of the year?”

    In closing, Yee emphasized that we must not assume that the
visibility of resistance is a reflection of our efforts, as there is a
conscious effort in part of the media and the government to downplay
the good work being done by our communities. Rather we must bring our
stories of resilience to the forefront to share with one another and
strengthen our community ties.


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Missing Women’s Memorial March

TWO EVENTS: MON FEB 13TH and TUES FEB 14TH

Murdered Women, Missing Justice
Monday February 13th from 9:30 am till 2 pm.
Rally outside Sham Inquiry 701 West Georgia (Georgia and Granville)

followed on Tuesday by…

21st Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March
At noon, we meet at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main
Street where family members share personal stories. At 1 pm, the march
begins. Stops will be made throughout the DTES where women were last
seen or found and a smudge and cedar ceremony will commence. Speeches
by community activists takes place at the police station. At 3:00 pm,
a healing circle & candlelight vigil will be held at Oppenheimer Park.
The day will end with a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall.

http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/

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Following this lecture Jessica had agreed to be interviewed and she
asked that her closest friends be included, insisting that she had
said what she needed to say. This group interview turned into a
talking circle, where we all participated as equals, it was powerful
and wonderful. Unfortunately the product of this is 39 minutes of
silence on my audio recorder. More importantly, I wanted to mention
this since I feel like this is an example of challenging traditional
forms of journalism that are eurocentric in nature with new values.

I’d like to acknowledge those who participated in the experience:

Anna Soole- Metis of the Cree, Ojibwe, Iroquois Nation and French, Celtic, Dutch
Queer Indigenous Sexual Health, Forum theatre Facilitator

Ivo Haggerty– Cree, Ojibwe, Italian, Kenyan, Scottish, Irish
Aboriginal Youth Program Outreach Educator, spoken word poet,
activist, radical-bad-ass, Queer/two-spirit

Bambie Tait– Gitxan Nation

Sarah Hunt- Kwakwaka’wakw
PHD student SFU
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Native Youth Sexual Health Network
http://www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com

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Chandra Melting Tallow, Siksika Nation
Arts Outreach Coordinator
Redwire Native Youth Media
http://www.redwiremag.com