Tim Knight writes the regular media column Watching the Watchdog for HuffPost Canada.
It's 21 years ago. January 1992. Winnipeg. Bitterly cold.
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is about to be born and I'm leading a team of trainers tasked with coaching the new network's journalists.
Morale in the newsroom is incredible. After all these years during which Canada's First Nations, Métis and Inuit have been mostly ignored by other Canadians, the nation's original people have finally found their own voice. APTN is the world's first TV network dedicated to news about aboriginal people and staffed by aboriginal journalists.
One of the most interesting of the journalists is Ken Williams, Cree from Saskatchewan, already a video journalist, and good-guy-to-have-a-beer-with. Also, a good guy with words. After the workshop he writes "This has been the most challenging and most fun month in my life." Which, in spite of the cold, more or less sums up our trainers' attitudes too.
Flash forward these 21 years and Ken Williams, APTN video journalist, has turned into Kenneth T. Williams, eminent award-winning playwright. Author of Gordon Winter, Thunderstick, Bannock Republic, Suicide Notes, Three Little Birds and now Café Daughter, playing here in Toronto last week.
Café Daughter is based on the life of Williams' own cousin, Senator Dr. Lillian Eva Quan Dyck, who's a neuroscientist born of a Cree mother and Chinese father. She's played by the splendid Yvette Wong, herself a mixture of Cree, Saulteaux, French, Métis and Scandinavian.
Just for the record, I'm a white, English-born Canadian.
But enough of this triumph of the Canadian mosaic. A couple of days after I see the Kenneth T. Williams play (I laugh some, learn some, mist some, enjoy greatly) my old friend Ken Williams and I go for beers at my local tavern.
He hasn't changed much since we meet back there in the APTN newsroom 21 years ago. Still boyish, with now-greying spiky hair, an easy laugh, and the confidence that comes from doing what he wants to do which is writing plays which, in Canada, is only slightly more likely to bring fame and fortune than writing poetry or being unemployed.
BLOG CONTINUES AFTER SLIDESHOW
Loading Slideshow
A native dancer looks on during an 'Idle No More' gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Native dancers rally during an 'Idle No More' gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Idle No More Mall Protest
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/630755180/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell">LJ Henshell</a>:<br />A First Nations Drummer plays during a protest at Intercity Shopping Center in Thunder Bay, Ontario
It's about the future
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/630755180/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/LJ_Henshell">LJ Henshell</a>:<br />A child protests in Thunder Bay, Ontario
United we stand
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Doug_Cleverley"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/805699678/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Doug_Cleverley">Doug Cleverley</a>:<br />At the #IdleNoMore rally in Owen Sound (Saugeen Ojibway Nation territory), during a spontaneous round dance at the main downtown intersection.
Killer Whale Dance
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Idle No More actions, Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC
Idle No More #J11
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC
Idle No More #J11 March
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC
Tla'Amin Prayer Song #J11 Idle No More
Tla'Amin Prayer song on #J11 2013 Idle No More, Coast Salish Territories, Powell River BC
Tla'Amin Killer Whale Dance, #J11 #IdleNoMore
Tla'Amin Killer Whale Dance, #J11 #IdleNoMore, Coast Salish Territories, Powell River, BC
C45 affects all Canadians! Join the fight.
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Eleanor_Kure"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/840875359/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Eleanor_Kure">Eleanor Kure</a>:<br />At the Idle No More protest in Halifax Nova Scotia. with an eco-justice article in pocket, spreading the word that Bill C45 affects every Canadian, not only First Nations. Thank you FN, for beginning this movement.
Piyesiw Awasis
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/mizzren"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/3183681.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/mizzren">mizzren</a>:<br />Thunderchild First Nation @ Lloydminster Flash Mob. January 16, 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/16/idle-no-more-queen-elizabeth-2-highway-blockade-alberta_n_2490009.html">Idle No More supporters jump onto a truck</a> as they are pushed by a driver trying to pass, as the protesters block Highway 2 as part of a planned national day of action, in Edmonton, Alberta on Wedneday January 16, 2013.
Aboriginal protesters march down Huron Church Road towards the Ambassador bridge in Windsor Ontario, Wednesday, January 16, 2013. About 1000 demonstrators disrupted traffic to the country's busiest border crossing for several hours.
Aboriginal protestors pray at the end of their blockade of a CN railroad track just west of Portage La Prairie, Man., on Wednesday, January 16, 2016. They ended their protest without incident.
Aboriginal protesters demonstrate at the base of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor Ontario, Wednesday, January 16, 2013. About 1000 demonstrators disrupted traffic to the country's busiest border crossing for several hours.
Idle No More demonstrators block a CN east-west track just west of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba Wednesday, January 16, 2016.
Mississaugas of the New Credit support INM
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Vicki_King_Jamieson"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/750500023/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Vicki_King_Jamieson">Vicki King Jamieson</a>:<br />New Credit Youth supporting INM
Montreal Idle No More
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Caillum"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Caillum">Caillum</a>:<br />Thousands of people, both Native and Canadian, show their support at an Idle No More protest in Montreal on January 11th, 2013.
#Denendeh #J11 #IdleNoMore #YZF #NWT Yellowknife "Northwest Territories"
Video of the Global Day of Action rally in downtown Somba K’e (Yellowknife)on the Akaitcho territory of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation in Denendeh (Northwest Territories).
#IdleNoMore March and Round Dance in Yellowknife Denendeh NWT
"Today (Friday, December 21, 2012) in Denendeh and across the globe, we made an impact, a statement for true justice to be brought forward and acknowledged. But it will not stop, for the 8th fire has been lit and will only grow. Mahsi for all who showed up and united, we felt the support....we felt the fire!! And there's more to come in the new year."
On Facebook By Lawrence Nayally, Melaw Nakehk'o and Eugene Boulanger
https://www.facebook.com/events/112403725595655/
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, wearing a headdress, takes part in a drum ceremony before departing a Ottawa hotel to attend a ceremonial meeting at Rideau Hall with Gov. Gen. David Johnston in Ottawa, Friday January 11, 2013.
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, centre, departs a Ottawa hotel to attend a ceremonial meeting at Rideau Hall with Gov. Gen. David Johnston in Ottawa, Friday January 11, 2013.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with First Nations leaders in Ottawa on January 11, 2013.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with First Nations leaders in Ottawa on January 11, 2013.
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence makes a brief statement on Victoria Island near Parliament Hill Friday January 11, 2013 in Ottawa. Spence is speaking out for the first time about how her reserve spends government money, saying most of what flows to her isolated James Bay reserve actually gets spent outside the community.
Aboriginal Chiefs stand at the main gate to Parliament Hill during a protest Friday January 11, 2013 in Ottawa.
Idle No More protesters listen to speakers during a rally on Parliament Hill Friday January 11, 2013 in Ottawa.
Gordie Odjig of Wikwemikong stands at the west gate to the Langevin Block during the aboriginal meeting in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.
Idle No More at UBC Vancouver
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/100001602753648/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray">Randall Gray</a>:<br />
Idle No More at UBC Vancouver
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/100001602753648/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Randall_Gray">Randall Gray</a>:<br />
Los Angeles Rally In Solidarity with First nations
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/hp_blogger_Melinda Gopher"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/contributors/melinda-gopher/headshot.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/hp_blogger_Melinda Gopher">HuffPost Blogger Melinda Gopher</a>:<br />Brock Conway, Blackfeet activist,
with Saulteaux Actor Adam Beach and companion. Photo: Morning Star Gopher
Native protesters march up Wellington Street in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.
Four-year-old Phoenix Sky Cottrelle,from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, holds a sign as aboriginal protestors gather on Victoria Island before they march to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.
Aboriginal protestors hold signs as they march from Victoria Island to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.
Gordie Odjig, an aboriginal protestor from Wikwemikong, shouts as he marches from Victoria Island to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, January 11, 2013.
Woman's Voices
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4441016.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Courtney_Harrop">Courtney Harrop</a>:<br />Idle No More event Dec 30th,2012. Tla'Amin Nation Coast Salish Territories Powell River, British Columbia.
Idle No More Edmonton
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AUPELOCAL6CHAIR"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/twitter_profile_img/4411530.png" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AUPELOCAL6CHAIR">AUPELOCAL6CHAIR</a>:<br />Planned overnight and what a turn out!
IdleNoMore March, Dauphin, Mb
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Phyllis_Racette"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/1354341984/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Phyllis_Racette">Phyllis Racette</a>:<br />#IdleNoMOre Dauphin, Mb
Chicago Idle No More @ the Canadian Consulate
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Jolene_Aleck"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/644015258/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Jolene_Aleck">Jolene Aleck</a>:<br />Chicago's Idle No More 1.5.2012 rally @ the Canadian Consulate
VancouverC Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC
A man waves a flags as aboriginal protesters and supporters in the Idle No More movement block the Blue Water Bridge border crossing to the United States in Sarnia, Ont. on Saturday, January 5, 2013.
VancouverA Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC
VancouverB Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC
VancouverD Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC
VancouverH Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC, January 2, 2013.
VancouverF Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC
VancouverE Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC
VancouverG Jan 2 2013
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/gerrybates">gerrybates</a>:<br />Idle No More at Waterfront Station, Vancouver, BC
Flag Planting
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/seawaytoday"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://s.huffpost.com/images/profile/user_placeholder.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/seawaytoday">seawaytoday</a>:<br />Akwesasne Idle No More att Cornwall, ON
Dec 21st 2012 Idle No More Ottawa: Berdine
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Gail_Chicky_Gallagher"><img style="float:left;padding-right:6px !important;" src="http://graph.facebook.com/535670179/picture?type=square" /></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Gail_Chicky_Gallagher">Gail Chicky Gallagher</a>:<br />
We order and I ask Ken about Idle No More.
Tim: Is the protest going to last?
Ken: It will change. It will alter. What we can hope for is that there's a fundamental shift in Aboriginal and government relations in this country. What has shifted is that there are more people who are becoming more aware of the role of indigenous people in this country and the relationship we're supposed to have -- and they're on the side of indigenous people.
Tim: Let me quote another famous playwright, a fellow called Shakespeare: 'There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.' Is Idle No More at the flood for Aboriginal people in Canada?
Ken: I think it's the beginning of the flood. This is a long process. We're not gonna fix this in one meeting, two meetings, or a year. We can't rush it. We have to build on the history we're presenting and overcome a lot of ignorance.
Tim: I'm fascinated by the very, very strong female presence in all this. In fact, it's one of the columns I've written for Huffington Post. Almost everything [in the protests] seems to be female-driven now.
Ken: You're seeing what exactly is there. Speaking from a First Nations male point of view, they've carried the burden of keeping First Nations together far more than First Nations men. First Nations women ... if it wasn't for them ... we would have been done for. If they'd given up a hundred years ago it would have been over. It's just that men are now listening [laughs]. It's not a cliché, unfortunately, that First Nations men have abrogated their responsibilities in a lot of ways.
Tim: Give me an example.
Ken: They consider fatherhood [to be] how many children they have and not how many they raise. They become members of gangs, addicts. Of course, there's a huge range of societal reasons why that is. But First Nations women have suffered those things too ... and even worse because they've been abused by First Nations men. And yet they're the ones who had the strength and wherewithal to dig through that and rise up. I think what happened is that the men finally figured out 'we've been doing this all wrong' [laughs].
Tim: It's taken a long time ...
Ken: We've screwed this so badly. And finally the generations of youths who've been raised by single moms and aunties has figured out who the leaders truly are in the community.
Tim: They've been raised by the women.
Ken: Yes. This generation and the generation before that.
Tim: Georges Erasmus [then Assembly of First Nations national chief] said 25 years ago ... hey wait for the next generation. They're not going to take this crap. Although that wasn't the word he used. This is the next generation he was talking about.
Ken: And it seems to me perfect sense that it's women leading this. Women who've finally had enough. And I'm more than willing to listen to them.
Tim: Is there much male resistance?
Ken: Not so much resistance as accusations of usurpation.
Tim: Two years from today, what's the situation?
Ken: What I feel is going to happen is that the conversation about First Nations and the treaty relationship in this country must reconcile itself. The power of what Idle No More did is that it maintained a very strong presence in the media despite the fact hockey came back. Because us damned Indians aren't giving up.
Tim: How will it end?
Ken: This is not going to end until Canada comes to grips with its responsibilities as a treaty nation. This nation was not conquered. This nation was not built on war or on blood. It was built on an agreement between First Nations people and the settlers. That cannot be ignored. And the reason why we get uppity is because of that. And we're not going to let you forget it.
Knight edited and condensed the interview.
Follow Tim Knight on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/TimKnight6
When the women get the men motivated, the combined power will be able to change things. What the FN have to do as a group is to become a group that represents the whole of the Native people in the country. The Assembly of First Nations is a step in that direction but has to become recognized as the voice of all Indigenous People and able to negotiate on their behalf.
Will be working on a APTN news column soon. Anything you want to contribute in the light of its coverage of Idle No More?
http://youtu.be/5jcYq668M2w
The word "Indian" comes from the word IN DIOS, spanish for 'in the image of god' A far cry from "Dirty Indian"
Hiltler killed some 6 million Jews in the 1900(s) Western Europeans killed off over 19 million Indians in the 1800(s)
There is so much of history ignored, we continue to repeat it.