THE WAY OF PEACE: PART TWO 500 YEARS FROM AN INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVE Carleen Elliott is an Anishinabequa who belongs to the Saugeen-OjibwayBandonthe Bruce Peninsula. Her Ojibway name is Neepitaypinayseequa which, in English roughly translates to Walking Partridge Woman. The name is a 'concept' about a particular aspect of the character of the Partridge mother.

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue .... and discovered paradise. But paradise was inhabited by a race of human beings who occupied the continent from shore to shore. The race was not a war-making people, and in their tradition of hospitality, greeted the adventurer Europeans. The peaceful manner of the indigenous people was interpreted as ignorance akin of idiocy; that negative regard laid the framework for 500 years of exploitation and threat of annihilation of indigenous culture. The framework continues, and is the basis for a complex, problem-ridden relationship between the North American indigenous people, and successive governments.

The only contemporary defense that aboriginal people in Canada have against purposeful erosion of their existence is International Law, which defines a "People" as those groups who have a land base, language and culture. This definition of "People" provides entitlement to Canada's aboriginal people to consideration as legal Nations. The Treaties are the legal documents that ensure a land-base for aboriginal people, and the bi-lingual legislation assures freedom from further attack on aboriginal language. Given the successive Canadian governments' history of a paternalistic relationship with Native people, aboriginal people continue to guard against arbitrary abrogation of those legal standings. In spite of the seeming advancement of aboriginal right to land and language, aboriginal culture remains under constant threat. The reason is that aboriginal culture continues to be regarded as a culture without worth. The belief is a result of the persistent attitude that, upon "discovery", the indigenous inhabitants of North America were dirty savages who were doing nothing while awaiting salvation from their ignorance.

There are aboriginal people who were raised within the culture and tradition of indigenous people. It is difficult for these people to witness the philosophical and political diminishment of a culture that is truly unique on the continent. The uniqueness is a result of the belief in, and practice of The Way of Peace.

The Way is applied at conception, with the recognition that the child in the womb is a living being, and is conscious. Whatever happens to the mother is experienced by the child, and the experience of birth is the beginning of the child's ability to make sense of the world into which she is born. Everyone is born into a family and a community. It is the responsibility of the community to provide an environment for the children that encourages a set of philosophical standards and values to follow throughout their entire lives.

Within traditional Native culture, the birth of a child is anticipated with great joy. A child is considered to be a gift from the Great Creator, who is a further addition to the completeness of life, and who represents the eternal circle of life. In recognition of the brevity of childhood, and given the potential longevity of adulthood, a Native child is not told what to do, but is only protected from harm. As a child grows, her particular interests are observed, and thus her individual contribution to the community is noted, and is then encouraged.

The enforced assimilation policy that began in the mid-1800's, and was a legal manoeuvre against which aboriginal people had no defense, included removal of children from their families and from their communities. This seriously damaged the stability of aboriginal family and community structure. Adoption, in particular, of aboriginal babies away from their communities became a profit-making venture for private groups well into the 1970's. Such ventures were lucrative because underlying racism was strongly appealed to, and appealing to racist belief was effective. The reasoning was that the babies' chances of having a good and normal life depended on their being removed from the reserves.

Reserve conditions were deplorable, and pervasive racism prevented further exploration into the reasons for the existing conditions. It was assumed that sub-standard conditions existed because Native people did not know how to live any other way. In reality, the legislation that was created completely undermined Native economic stability, and set into motion a domino effect that affected every aspect of aboriginal life. The traditional social structure of Native people revolves around family and community. When the children were removed, into residential schools or adopted or fostered out of their communities, the assimilation process had its greatest impact on Native culture.

All youth enter an emotional and psychological phase of establishing self-identity, which is a very normal process. But Native young people who were adopted away, more often carried a double burden, as they also had to contend with a search for cultural heritage. Both of these situations are times of emotional upheaval. Within traditional Native culture, there are ceremonies of celebration around leaving childhood and entering adulthood. The rituals simply have to do with much story-telling for the purpose of developing understanding of the responsibilities of being an adult.

For youth who are raised outside, and so usually have no exposure at all to their culture, the element of racism is a terrible obstacle to be overcome. Racism against, and the perpetuation of stereo-type about Native people is very much a part of this society. Children who are raised within such a negative atmosphere about their own people face a terrible conflict. They want to participate in their culture, but at the same time general society holds aboriginal people in such contempt that the sense of shame at being a Native person is very strong, and the youth who have been essentially isolated from their culture face great personal turmoil.

Intact Native families and communities are able to withstand negatives about their people, and are now beginning to develop ways to heal the social, emotional, and spiritual damage that was brought about by the assimilation process. The healing ways are based solidly within aboriginal culture, and have proven to be the most effective. While it is recognized that the culture has undergone erosion, it has survived !

This article was originally published in Cross Cultures Magazine in Volume 1 - Issue 4 - 1992. Unauthorized copying, distribution or other usage without express written permission of the publisher is prohibited.