Thursday, February 28, 2019

treaty acknowledgements and redwashing


Hayden King, an Anishinaabe writer and educator who works at Ryerson University, was involved in the writing of that university's territorial acknowledgement. He now regrets what he wrote, and says:
Photo of Hayden King, supplied by Hayden King (to CBC for article related to interview. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/i-regret-it-hayden-king-on-writing-ryerson-university-s-territorial-acknowledgement-1.4973371
I'd like to move towards a territorial acknowledgement where you provide people with a sort of framework and then let them write it themselves. The really important aspect of a territorial acknowledgement for me, anyway, is this sort of obligation that comes on the back end of it.

It's one thing to say, "Hey, we're on the territory of the Mississaugas or the Anishinaabek and the Haudenosaunee." It's another thing to say, "We're on the territory of the Anishinaabek and the Haudenosaunee and here's what that compels me to do."

[Treaty acknowledgement] effectively excuses them and offers them an alibi for doing the hard work of learning about their neighbours and learning about the treaties of the territory and learning about those nations that should have jurisdiction.




Mr. King makes a good point. Institutions and people are acknowledging whose land they are on, but not what that actually means. And there is rarely mention of us all being treaty people and what that might mean...

Is this like companies putting "Environmentally Friendly" stickers on their products without changing anything about the product? Or churches with "Everyone Welcome" signs out front, when the reality is various people would not at all be welcome?

Are treaty acknowledgements often "redwashing?"



Cartoon. Left side shows two people in atrium of office building. One of them, pointing to upper floor that has green, white and red stripes, asks, "is that your Mexican Division?" The other person answers, "Yes." Right side of cartoon is the lobby on the fifth floor. There is a red door labelled "Redwashing", a white door labelled "Whitewashing", and a green door labelled "Greenwashing" Cartoon by rob goetze


Redwashing is an attempt by a corporation to paint itself as "benevolent" — a good neighbour — through sponsorship schemes for Indigenous education, art and culture. It is the process of covering up the detrimental effects of corporate initiatives with friendly slogans and lump sum donations to Indigenous communities.
(Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/corporate-redwashing-1.4030443)



On a related note, NorQuest's Treaty 6 Acknowledgement (Indigenization Strategy 2017) ends with the following statement that indicates more than just acknowledgement of the treaty per se:
NorQuest College is dedicated to ensuring that the spirit of Treaty 6 is honoured and respected.
I'll be interested in seeing how this works itself out over the next years...

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