This August 9, International Day of Indigenous Peoples, we must demand indigenous peoples’ inclusion, participation and approval in the constitution of a system with social and economic benefits for all.
“As long as us men and boys fail to respect indigenous women and girls, not because we have mothers, sisters or daughters but as human beings deserving of respect; then we share responsibility for our community’s pain.” - Ricky Mawunganidze
“These women, girls, two-spirited people were all once part of a community across this country. All these individuals were once part of a family, they were a loved one. They might have attended the same school, and they might have been a neighbour.” - Georgette McLeod
Living in Canada gives every person who is not Indigenous the responsibility of taking time to learn and unlearn.
“Two-Spirit is a contemporary English term to reflect gender diversity that Indigenous nations have always had. As Indigenous people, we’ve always had gender diversity and sexual diversity in our Nations before colonization existed on Turtle Island (North America). With the imposition of colonization, Christianity, residential schools and ‘the Sixties Scoop,’ a lot of those teachings of gender diversity have been lost and a lot of people are searching for their identity as Two-Spirit people and the roles and responsibilities that come with that.” - James Makokis
“Two-Spirit is a contemporary English term to reflect gender diversity that Indigenous nations have always had. As Indigenous people, we’ve always had gender diversity and sexual diversity in our Nations before colonization existed on Turtle Island (North America). With the imposition of colonization, Christianity, residential schools and ‘the Sixties Scoop,’ a lot of those teachings of gender diversity have been lost and a lot of people are searching for their identity as Two-Spirit people and the roles and responsibilities that come with that.” - James Makokis
- Posted in Connection
- Tagged world indigenous peoples day, indigenous, first nation, inuit, metis
Roundup of useful links curated by Dawson Women’s Shelter.