<< . . . activists claim indigenous feelings have been hurt by a settler with a colonial mindset. >>
So it seems that the indigenous “mindset” (or “ways of knowing”) is SACROSANCT and must never be questioned; whereas the “colonial mindset” is to be automatically reviled and repudiated.
Not indigenous? To show your allyship, you must acknowledge and accept that your colonial ways of knowing are invalid and immoral.
But let it be understood that indigenous people respect all things in nature, whether animate or inanimate . . .
Thanks for a very entertaining, enlightening and humorous article that exposes the eccentric foibles of certain adults in the terminal stage of cognitive dementia, compliments of mercury exposure from the former paper mill. Or, alternatively, it may simply be a case of hollow bells ringing the loudest in a frenzy of incendiary gossip about a subject they are too illiterate to understand. As Mark Twain once famously said, "He gossips habitually; he lacks the common wisdom to keep still that deadly enemy of man, his own tongue"
"The best ammunition against lies is the truth, there is no ammunition against gossip. It is like a fog and the clear wind blows it away and the sun burns it off." ~ Ernest Hemingway
There's no aversion to capital letters in some west coast indigenous languages (see, for example, SENĆOŦEN in its "written" form). In BC, some FN languages have multiple writing systems and there isn't always consensus on whether to use the International Phonetic Alphabet, the North American Phonetic Alphabet, or some other orthography.
A late EDIT for language nerds: Sliammon, the language of the Tla'amin Nation, is written using the International Phonetic Alphabet. There's some interesting history on their language revitalization efforts here: https://www.tlaaminnation.com/home-page/language/
I see they got considerable assistance from a few kəˈɫoʊniəɫ ˈɫɪŋɡwɪsts (colonial linguists). Damn those colonial mindsets, though.
This is the mission statement of the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board, in SENĆOŦEN (the alphabet for SENĆOŦEN is unique to that language, having been developed by a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, the late Dave Elliott).
Let’s see if this will crash Substack:
ĆSE LÁ,E TŦE XAXE TŦE SḰÁL ȽTE. U,DOT OL TŦE SENĆOŦEN ÁȽE E TIÁ W̱SÁNEĆ. W̱UĆIST TŦE SKÁLs I, TŦE Ś,X̱ENAṈs ĆSE LÁ,E TŦE ÁLEṈENEȻ TŦE W̱SÁNEĆ. ṮI TŦE S,YESES SU ŚTEṈIST ȻENTOL E TIÁ ÁNEȻ I, ȻE,ȻÁĆELES E TŦE ŚW̱,ḰÁLEȻEN E TIÁ W̱SÁNEĆ. SNINU SE TŦE I,TOTELṈEW̱ I, SIÁM,SET SE TŦE EȽTÁLṈEW̱. SIÁM ŚW̱ELO₭E SU NIȽ.
I actually know Dave Elliott and went to school with Charles and others in the family. That was 40 years ago when we all got along and were friends. We all hung out together in Brentwood Bay. The fact that we aren't now has nothing to do with anything except activism.
Here is the name of the newest library in Victoria: sxʷeŋxʷəŋ təŋəxʷ
Yeah, I once placed a call to the James Bay branch just to see how they answer the phone (one has to go through the main branch and get redirected). They did indeed answer with "s-hweng hw-ung tongue-oo-hw". I abandoned my plan to ask about something I might have left there and instead said, "Oh, I must have the wrong number, sorry" (and hung up). First prank phone call I'd made in more than 50 years : )
The Esquimalt branch also has Lekwungen on its signage now (sxʷiméɫəɫ təŋəxʷ , meaning "Esquimalt land"), but they still call it the Esquimalt library. Maybe they learned something from the James Bay naming, or maybe they recognized that Esquimalt is already an indigenous word.
Because writing itself is a 'colonial' import to First Nations languages that had no written form, isn't changing a place name in writing cultural appropriation? And isn't cultural appropriation a sign of colonialism? So doesn't advocating for this high crime of cultural appropriation make anti-colonial advocates colonial advocates?
Yes and we often hear from the 'activists' the term decolonize. What the heck do they even mean other than word magic. What does it mean? Returning to the bush and removing all written language and mathematics. Who knows...Me thinks this term 'decolonize' has never really been thought through and if we were to ask the 'activists' what it means they would be unlikely to explain it !
It means that you can get a Ph.D. by writing a thesis -- any thesis -- with the word "decolonize" in the title. And never have to explain what it means : )
If all the decolonizations have been 'done to death' and you want to innovate, you could go with something on "cognitive decolonization." (Oh wait, that might be getting old already too.)
Brilliant, and I agree on your take. I am seeing more and more Pretendians getting busted and having to pay back education grants, school loans and other such things they are scamming. I recently distanced myself from one, who we are quite sure she is not an Indian, but has gotten education grants to UBCO for psychology etc and claims to be a 60's scooper and plays off of that also to get $$. Never met an Indian that didn't have a status card at age 54. When I asked her about it, she said I am working on it. Hmmm. She has received funding for expensive educational trips etc that we are aware of, but can't seem to pay the rent or water bills, and has a constant turnover of room mates. She likes to die her hair black and where and 'orange' blazer. Too many grifters out there...
It's the Indigenous women (of all ages, it seems) who dye their dark hair blonde and sport false eyelashes, acrylic nails and "filled" lips along with their ribbon skirts that truly puzzle me.
<< . . . activists claim indigenous feelings have been hurt by a settler with a colonial mindset. >>
So it seems that the indigenous “mindset” (or “ways of knowing”) is SACROSANCT and must never be questioned; whereas the “colonial mindset” is to be automatically reviled and repudiated.
Not indigenous? To show your allyship, you must acknowledge and accept that your colonial ways of knowing are invalid and immoral.
But let it be understood that indigenous people respect all things in nature, whether animate or inanimate . . .
Thanks for a very entertaining, enlightening and humorous article that exposes the eccentric foibles of certain adults in the terminal stage of cognitive dementia, compliments of mercury exposure from the former paper mill. Or, alternatively, it may simply be a case of hollow bells ringing the loudest in a frenzy of incendiary gossip about a subject they are too illiterate to understand. As Mark Twain once famously said, "He gossips habitually; he lacks the common wisdom to keep still that deadly enemy of man, his own tongue"
"The best ammunition against lies is the truth, there is no ammunition against gossip. It is like a fog and the clear wind blows it away and the sun burns it off." ~ Ernest Hemingway
qathet is pronounced KA-thet.
There's no aversion to capital letters in some west coast indigenous languages (see, for example, SENĆOŦEN in its "written" form). In BC, some FN languages have multiple writing systems and there isn't always consensus on whether to use the International Phonetic Alphabet, the North American Phonetic Alphabet, or some other orthography.
A late EDIT for language nerds: Sliammon, the language of the Tla'amin Nation, is written using the International Phonetic Alphabet. There's some interesting history on their language revitalization efforts here: https://www.tlaaminnation.com/home-page/language/
I see they got considerable assistance from a few kəˈɫoʊniəɫ ˈɫɪŋɡwɪsts (colonial linguists). Damn those colonial mindsets, though.
Meegwetch, Joan.
This is the mission statement of the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board, in SENĆOŦEN (the alphabet for SENĆOŦEN is unique to that language, having been developed by a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, the late Dave Elliott).
Let’s see if this will crash Substack:
ĆSE LÁ,E TŦE XAXE TŦE SḰÁL ȽTE. U,DOT OL TŦE SENĆOŦEN ÁȽE E TIÁ W̱SÁNEĆ. W̱UĆIST TŦE SKÁLs I, TŦE Ś,X̱ENAṈs ĆSE LÁ,E TŦE ÁLEṈENEȻ TŦE W̱SÁNEĆ. ṮI TŦE S,YESES SU ŚTEṈIST ȻENTOL E TIÁ ÁNEȻ I, ȻE,ȻÁĆELES E TŦE ŚW̱,ḰÁLEȻEN E TIÁ W̱SÁNEĆ. SNINU SE TŦE I,TOTELṈEW̱ I, SIÁM,SET SE TŦE EȽTÁLṈEW̱. SIÁM ŚW̱ELO₭E SU NIȽ.
I actually know Dave Elliott and went to school with Charles and others in the family. That was 40 years ago when we all got along and were friends. We all hung out together in Brentwood Bay. The fact that we aren't now has nothing to do with anything except activism.
Here is the name of the newest library in Victoria: sxʷeŋxʷəŋ təŋəxʷ
Yeah, I once placed a call to the James Bay branch just to see how they answer the phone (one has to go through the main branch and get redirected). They did indeed answer with "s-hweng hw-ung tongue-oo-hw". I abandoned my plan to ask about something I might have left there and instead said, "Oh, I must have the wrong number, sorry" (and hung up). First prank phone call I'd made in more than 50 years : )
The Esquimalt branch also has Lekwungen on its signage now (sxʷiméɫəɫ təŋəxʷ , meaning "Esquimalt land"), but they still call it the Esquimalt library. Maybe they learned something from the James Bay naming, or maybe they recognized that Esquimalt is already an indigenous word.
Interesting that you knew the Elliotts.
I'm just waiting for the forced renaming of the Emily Carr branch, if that hasn't already happened. She was a "settler" too, right.
This makes me thankful that I live in southern Ontario.
Calling 911 is such a colonialist thing to do; why would they even think of doing it?
An excellent essay James that so clearly elucidates the facts of this important matter. Keep up the great work !!
Because writing itself is a 'colonial' import to First Nations languages that had no written form, isn't changing a place name in writing cultural appropriation? And isn't cultural appropriation a sign of colonialism? So doesn't advocating for this high crime of cultural appropriation make anti-colonial advocates colonial advocates?
My head hurts.
Yes and we often hear from the 'activists' the term decolonize. What the heck do they even mean other than word magic. What does it mean? Returning to the bush and removing all written language and mathematics. Who knows...Me thinks this term 'decolonize' has never really been thought through and if we were to ask the 'activists' what it means they would be unlikely to explain it !
It means that you can get a Ph.D. by writing a thesis -- any thesis -- with the word "decolonize" in the title. And never have to explain what it means : )
If all the decolonizations have been 'done to death' and you want to innovate, you could go with something on "cognitive decolonization." (Oh wait, that might be getting old already too.)
Brilliant, and I agree on your take. I am seeing more and more Pretendians getting busted and having to pay back education grants, school loans and other such things they are scamming. I recently distanced myself from one, who we are quite sure she is not an Indian, but has gotten education grants to UBCO for psychology etc and claims to be a 60's scooper and plays off of that also to get $$. Never met an Indian that didn't have a status card at age 54. When I asked her about it, she said I am working on it. Hmmm. She has received funding for expensive educational trips etc that we are aware of, but can't seem to pay the rent or water bills, and has a constant turnover of room mates. She likes to die her hair black and where and 'orange' blazer. Too many grifters out there...
It's the Indigenous women (of all ages, it seems) who dye their dark hair blonde and sport false eyelashes, acrylic nails and "filled" lips along with their ribbon skirts that truly puzzle me.
No secret here, Joan, they have all been cosmetically influenced by the recent Barbie movie.
Sounds like the Buffy St. Marie syndrome.
Exactly !!