Resilience and resistance

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/06/2023 (1172 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Elder Mary Courchene, the founding principal of Children of the Earth High School, Seven Oaks School Division elder and perennial advocate, activist and champion, often offers four small yet powerful words when speaking with and to Indigenous youth: “This is our time.”

In the early 1990s, Elder Mary was at the forefront of educational resistance. Together with other Indigenous teachers, she would be part of a powerful group, the Aboriginal Circle of Educators (amongst other organizations), that would push back against the policies of colonial education systems that had marginalized, and continue to marginalize, Indigenous youth and families.

The grassroots political advocacy for an all-Indigenous high school is one example of the resistance demonstrated by Indigenous peoples in Winnipeg throughout the past century. And that is the primary goal of Shauna MacKinnon and Kathy Mallett, who have edited a history of this movement in Indigenous Resistance & Development in Winnipeg 1960–2000.

MacKinnon, a stalwart within the University of Winnipeg’s Urban and Inner-City Studies department, and Mallett, a community organizer and former executive director of the Community Education Development Association (CEDA), curate a critical deep dive into the resistance and resurgence which has been systematically erased from the annals of western history.

Stemming from the Indigenous Archives Project — an initiative to preserve the rich history of resistance — Indigenous leaders, activities and scholars have focused on capturing the voices of leaders who can illuminate us on what community activism and development looks and feels like. Through contributions from the late John Loxley, Lawrence Dean, Mallett, MacKinnon, Josie Hill, Doris Young, Annetta Armstrong, Chantal Fiola and Albert McLead, Indigenous Resistance captures the oral and intellectual history held by the likes of Vern Morrissette, Mary Courchene, Marion Meadmore and Mary Guilbault.

For MacKinnon and Mallett, “This book offers a glimpse into the history of Indigenous resistance and resilience during the latter part of the twentieth century. Through the voices of those involved, it tells little-known stories behind the organizing and development of Indigenous institutions in Winnipeg that many are familiar with, if only by name.”

From the Indian Métis Friendship Centre to Children of the Earth High School to Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, Indigenous Resistance makes the argument that Indigenous people in Winnipeg have been at the forefront of social change as a reaction to the racist and genocidal policies of governments since contact in this territory. The book is an attempt to push back against the hegemonic erasure that too often occurs.

As Indigenous people began to migrate into the city in the 1950s, the Indian Métis Friendship Centre (IMFC) not only acted as “a friendly and welcoming place where people would visit,” but also “many involved in the Friendship Centre were also front and centre in the resistance movements that emerged in the 1960s and continued through the 1970s.” The IMFC provided critical resources for displaced people while focused on significant advocacy work for those who faced systemic racism and oppression.

The IMFC closed in 2018, but is set to open its doors again soon as the Winnipeg Indigenous Friendship Centre.

Similarly, the story of the emergence of Children of the Earth and Niji Mahkwa schools is directly tied to the energy and focus of community activists resisting decades of the impact of residential schools and inadequate education for Indigenous children. Through collectives of Indigenous teachers and the Thunder Eagle Society, Children of the Earth was born in the early 1990s despite initial hostility from the Winnipeg School Division.

Kinew Housing, Neeganin and Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata all represent powerful moments and movements of resistance in Winnipeg’s history. Be it housing, economic development or the child welfare system, Indigenous peoples throughout the 20th century have been firmly resisting colonial control. This volume captures this energy from those who were in the trenches — powerful women, youth and elders.

From the Indigenous Women’s Collective to the Aboriginal Centre, the resistance marks “an important story of grassroots organizing — an example of local Indigenous resistance to settler colonial genocide on Turtle Island, and ‘an amazing example of activism… the catalyst’ for future Indigenous development networks.”

It is the time for Indigenous youth. The pathway has been forged from those who have come before, as powerfully evidenced in this critical book.

Matt Henderson is assistant superintendent of Seven Oaks School Division.