Today I took some time to look online at historical information about the First Nation I'm from. As I was reading over the creation stories and accounts of how our communities came to be, it struck me that there were a number of differing perspectives being shared. In fact, in one story there was a disagreement among our chiefs about the original Kwakiutl people, but there is no attempt to say who was right or wrong. Instead, the origin story becomes that of diverse perspectives and recollections, which seems a much more realistic account of human experiences.
It is rare that concepts of history allow for this type of diversity. I started thinking about how mainstream culture in general has a huge focus on "truth" rather than situated knowledge. This is very closely linked to the power given to written and documented history, as well as institutions of knowledge creation and dissemination (universities, publishing houses, etc). Diverse worldviews have been renamed, claimed and reshaped to suit the needs of mainstream society, and through this process, many people today forget that indigenous perspectives still exist alongside what we have learned as "truth". Everyone who lives in "the Americas" resides on the traditional territories of indigenous people, but how many of us know the stories of the land on which we live? Obviously indigenous people have always had names for the lakes, rivers, settlements, mountains and other aspects of our territories, but these have been written out of the dominant worldview. Taken from the website:
Since contact, some of those names have remained but for the most part, the European settlers have taken the liberty, without consultation with the First Nations to rename all of the significant geographical landmarks for themselves as self-proclaimed explorers and discoverers of this land. (edited for spelling)
This makes me think about how little I know about the land on which I'm currently living, and the diverse perspectives on Coast Salish history. How many of us bother to look beyond the truths we're told about the cities in which we live? How can we make room for the diverse histories of these cities, beyond just the official "truths" we are fed? How might we account for differing perspectives in recollecting both indigenous and colonial pasts? If we were to map out the differing histories of the lands on which cities have been built, how might it impact our use of public space?
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i am very happy to hear about a history that includes diverse stories and voices. that makes a lot of sense to me, as a way to acknowledge complexity and to proceed without hierarchies of experts. it reminds me of a concept i just ran into in a book about creating relationships across personal differences. the idea was to work for alignment rather than agreement, to figure out common goals or intentions rather than agreeing on "true" facts or beliefs. i guess that's not an uncommon idea, but the word alignment seemed useful.
ReplyDeleteat one sex ed exchange event, a few people were talking about a workshop they participated in where they marked places and buildings around the city with chalk, noting affordable housing closures, sites of strikes, things like that. i liked that idea. i wonder if it would be interesting to mark indigenous names and knowledge onto local sites, or even to have regular walking tours to talk about it. it makes me realize how little i would know, how little i would have to mark down.
I've thought about this a lot, too. When I moved to James Bay I can remember walking through the neighbourhood looking at the old trees that remained from times long before colonizers ever settled on this island. I remember hearing sometime that the area now called James Bay was once a sacred place where the First Nation (would it have been the Songhees?) had raised their dead up into the trees. There is so much history here that's been erased, but I think what's left of the landscape still holds the memories. I want to know those stories too -- I love the idea of searching them out and somehow re-inscribing them into our lives.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Sarah. When I'm reading Endgame, I feel like I can't stop to play guitar until I've blown up a dam. And then Sarah reminds me that Revolutions that don't include dancing aren't worth having. It's a difficult thing to balance responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteYour post reminded me that I often don't allow myself time to do what I love because it doesn't make me any money. I have to work pretty hard to remember that a fulfilling artistic practice makes my life more wonderful, regardless of any external measures of its "success."