We want to do a better job of covering the Indigenous world within Canada for CanadianCrossing.com. We start out with a couple of stories that slipped through the cracks from earlier this year. Then we have a big announcement at the end.
Come learn with me? I’ve signed up for a (free) course through the University of Alberta called Indigenous Canada. 12 lessons that explore Indigenous histories and contemporary issues from an Indigenous perspective.
— dan levy (@danjlevy) August 18, 2020
This little video explains it all. Sign up via link in my bio! pic.twitter.com/LccboMO8X2
We have been intrigued as to how much Indigenous issues come out in Canada (unlike the United States where the Indigenous population is truly invisible) yet most Canadians don't seem as interested in learning more about their Indigenous neighbours.
Dan Levy, who is a rather famous Canadian these days, spent part of his COVID-19 pandemic isolation time to take a free 13-week online course on Indigenous history and issues at the University of Alberta. Levy's fame likely drew people into taking the course with him, though they were likely curious on their own.
Levy encouraged people to come along for the ride. He wanted them to make donations to the program, offering to match all donations up to $25,000. Levy did donate to the program since the fundraising goal was reached.
Searching for a good lobster roll in Nova Scotia
Celebrating advantages of the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market
CanadianCrossing.com Nova Scotia coverage
The R v Marshall 1999 Supreme Court of Canada ruling upheld the Halifax Treaties. The Mi'kmaq were allowed to make a "moderate livelihood" in lobster fishing. Despite the court's ruling, no one established what exactly that meant.
Earlier this year, the Mi'kmaq, after 21 years of indecision, set out to lobster fishing mainly in Saulnierville and Middle West Pubnico, Nova Scotia.
The reaction from non-Indigenous fishers was swift and vicious. Traps were taken in the water. A lobster pound was burned to the ground. The RCMP officers would stand there and not respond to the destruction.
The non-Indigenous fishers argued that the Mi'kmaq fishing would lead to overfishing. That argument proved quite weak, given how few boats the Mi'kmaq had compared to the commercial fishers.
A lobster boycott developed to support the Mi'kmaq in their efforts.
The kicker to the story that you might not have seen coming is that Mi’kmaq communities the Membertou and Miawpukek First Nations bought Nova Scotia-based Clearwater Seafoods in a deal worth $1 billion Canadian.
The Mi'kmaq had these rights for generations; those rights were validated in 1999 by the Supreme Court of Canada. They finally tried to take advantage of those inherent rights and were subject to violence and racism.
We talk about buying fair trade for chocolate; there should be something along the lines of fair trade lobster as well.
Montréal chef Chuck Hughes travels north to learn more about Indigenous food traditions in Chuck and the First Peoples' Kitchen. The show premiered this fall on APTN.
Hughes is the host yet he is there to learn from the people who doing the cooking.
Hughes has experience with food television in Canada and the United States. His warm and humble nature is helpful in these parts of Canada that most Canadians know very little of first hand.
The show is available in English and French. The first season had 13 episodes. This would be a great show to have in the United States.
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
The Trudeau Government has introduced Bill C-10 to amend the Broadcasting Act to require broadcasters to fund Indigenous productions and provide content in Indigenous languages. The current act mentions Indigenous programming but doesn't require them.
While we have seen a number of Indigenous films, the TV offerings have been limited to shows such as Mohawk Girls and Trickster.
Little Mosque on the Prairie showcased Muslim characters. People need to see themselves on screen in films and television.
Mohawk Girls ran on OMNI Television and APTN during its run. The CBC showed the program this past summer and is available to Canadians on CBC Gem.
Canadian Museum of Human Rights needs a CEO who really understands human rights
Canadian film review: Angry Inuk
CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage
We are launching a category on the right side of the blog for our Indigenous coverage.
Years ago, the question would occasionally come up: Is Canada a racist country? Your humble narrator didn't really have a sense of that back then. The English and French. White people and Indigenous people. Those were rather obvious. My standard answer was that there was racism but more subtle than what we have seen in the United States.
Now, we know a lot more about racism in Canada than we knew back then. Most of what your humble narrator has learned about the Indigenous population has been through Canadian films as well as visiting the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. That curiosity led to podcasts on topics, including racism, police conduct, clean water, food costs and food insecurity, and missing girls and women.
We talked about promoting Indigenous travel in our Thanksgiving 2020 notebook. That is a good way to learn about their culture. Understanding and curiosity is only the beginning of a better relationship between the Indigenous population and settlers from other parts of the world within Canada.
Twitter capture: @danjlevy
photo credit: me; Chuck and the First Peoples' Kitchen/APTN
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