Our JEDI (Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion) Team welcomes you to their selection for the Rainbow of Reading Program: Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Metis and Inuit Issues in Canada by Chelsea Vowel.
The JEDI Team chose this book because it provides an Indigenous perspective on the history and current struggles of Indigenous peoples in Canada. They trust you will find it informative, but acknowledge that it is one writer’s point of view (albeit, an informed one). If you want to continue exploring this topic, they provide a list of other good books on the JEDI web page.
About Indigenous Writes:
What are the 8 Principles (Concepts) of the Inuit Culture, and how do they compare to our CUC Principles? What makes a person in Canada Métis? What is the problem with the US practice of defining Indigenous identity based on blood quantum? And what is the problem with our Canadian way of defining “Indian” status? What is cultural appropriation, and how can I avoid it? What are the most prevalent, erroneous myths about Indigenous Peoples in Canada?
Chelsea Vowel is a Métis writer, teacher and legal scholar who tackles these questions and more in Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Metis and Inuit Issues in Canada. JEDI has two copies of Indigenous Writes to lend out to Rainbow of Reading participants. Contact Janni to borrow one of these books.
Reading this book:
5 broad themes are covered in the book:
1. The terminology of relationships
2. Culture and Identity
3. Myth-busting
4. State violence
5. Land, learning, law, and treaties.
Each reading group will choose how quickly they want to move through the book. For example, you could discuss 5 chapters each month, taking 6 meetings to cover all 31 chapters. It's also up to you to decide how often you'd like to meet (e.g. once or twice a month), when to start and when to finish. We are not going to give you specific questions for your reading group to answer, but as you read each section, here are some questions you may wish to explore with your reading group (in addition to the questions in the previous section).
Was there a passage that particularly spoke to you? What was it that resonated with you?
What (if anything) did you find new or surprising?
Has Vowel’s book changed your understanding of Indigenous Peoples in Canada? If yes, how?
Have you heard the stereotypes about Indigenous peoples that Vowel discusses in Part 3? Did you hear any of these stereotypes when you were growing up? Did you believe them? Do you think differently now?
How is the history of colonialism in Canada impacting Indigenous peoples today? What would you like to see changed?
Given what you are learning, what do you think the role of Unitarian Universalists could be to dismantle harmful colonial systems in Canada? Is there a role you can play?
Vowel is not expecting us to agree with everything she says in Indigenous Writes; she is simply presenting her point of view about these issues as a Métis woman. In her words “I am trying to make myself understood, and it is entirely up to you to evaluate this information as you will.” She invites the reader to use the extensive citations to dig further into the topics she raises. “Sometimes, we will simply have to agree to disagree. At the end of the day, we are all still going to have to figure out how to relate to one another. We begin that process by understanding the fundamental issues. “
If you find the first sections of the book, on terminology and culture, a tough slog, our JEDI Team encourages you to persist. Jacky Coates said, “When I got to Part 3 on Myth-busting, I was fascinated by how many stereotypes I had unconsciously bought in to about the First Peoples of this land.”
Watch the e-bulletin for opportunities to discuss this book with a larger group during Spirit Zones in May/June.
Robyn Newton & Jacky Coates,
Co-Chairs of the JEDI Team