What are Pretendians? | NDN POV | TVO Today

00:07:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IawrSg5u1S8

Summary

TLDRO concepto de 'Pretendians' refírese a individuos que falsamente declaran ser indíxenas, un fenómeno que rouba espazo e recursos destinados a verdadeiros membros das comunidades indíxenas. Esta práctica non só implica unha apropiación cultural senón tamén unha usurpación de identidade. A crítica reside na apropiación colonial e na explotación de beneficios sen testemuñar as dificultades enfrentadas polas comunidades orixinais. Mentres algúns falsos reclamos son resultado de historias familiares erradas, outros son intencionados e buscan escapar da culpabilidade occidental sobre a opresión histórica dos pobos indíxenas. Estos actos dificultan o recoñecemento e pertenza auténtica dentro das nacións indíxenas, e incitan a reflexión sobre por que os colonos seguen a apropiarse das identidades indíxenas como xa fixeron coas terras.

Takeaways

  • 🕵️‍♀️ 'Pretendians' reclaman ser indíxenas sen evidencia.
  • ⚖️ Rouban oportunidades e recursos aos verdadeiros indíxenas.
  • 🧠 Falsas afirmacións poden ofrecer alivio psicolóxico.
  • 🌿 Historias familiares erróneas levan a confusión.
  • 🔍 Comprobación comunitaria valida identidade indíxena.
  • 🎭 Exemplos famosos inclúen personaxes na cultura pop.
  • 📚 Problema amplo en numerosos sectores profesionais.
  • 🔄 Representa outra capa de colonización cultural.
  • 🎬 Exposición mediática crece coa atención pública.
  • 🔗 Desconexión histórica difire de apropiación intencionada.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:07:55

    O termo "Pretendian" refírese a persoas que falsamente afirman ser indíxenas sen proba algunha. Esta práctica vese agora como unha extensión perigosa da apropiación cultural cara á apropiación de identidade. Os "Pretendians" explotan os beneficios de identificarse como indíxena, como oportunidades de traballo, bolsas de estudo e papeis nas industrias artísticas, sen facer fronte á discriminación ou violencia histórica que sufriu a poboación indíxena real. Esta usurpación de identidade aproxímase cando as vantaxes de ser indíxena en Canadá aumentaron, e prexudica ás comunidades indíxenas ao arrebatarlles recursos destinados á súa mellora.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Que significa o termo 'Pretendian'?

    'Pretendian' é unha abreviatura de 'pretender ser indio', referíndose a persoas que falsamente afirman ser indíxenas sen poder demostralo de xeito significativo.

  • Cales son os perigos de identificar como 'Pretendian'?

    Os 'Pretendians' atopan vantaxes como oportunidades de traballo, bolsas de estudo e papeis en televisión, mentres rouban espazo e beneficios aos verdadeiros indíxenas.

  • Como afecta o pretendianismo ás comunidades indíxenas?

    Os 'Pretendians' apropian traballos, axudas e espazos destinados ao avance e empoderamento dos pobos indíxenas, perpetuando a violencia colonial.

  • Por que algunhas persoas fan falsas reivindicacións indíxenas?

    Ás veces orixínase de contos familiares sen verificar. Pode ofrecer un alivio psicolóxico ao non sentirse cómplices da colonización.

  • Hai exemplos famosos de 'Pretendians'?

    Si, Iron Eyes Cody é un exemplo famoso dentro das comunidades indíxenas.

  • Cal é a diferenza entre un 'Pretendian' e alguén tratando de reconectar coa súa herdanza indíxena?

    Un 'Pretendian' fai reclamacións falsas sen conexión real, mentres que alguén que busca reconectar provén de liñaxes reais que foron desconectadas por forzas coloniais.

  • Como se valida tradicionalmente a identidade indíxena?

    A validación da identidade indíxena inclúe comprobacións comunais, onde se pregunta sobre as túas conexións familiares e a túa responsabilidade dentro da comunidade.

  • Como se expón a problemática nas conversacións actuais?

    As exposicións de 'Pretendians' están a converterse en escándalos a nivel nacional, co crecemento do interese polos temas indíxenas na principal corrente de comunicación.

  • Cal é a perspectiva crítica sobre a identidade dos 'Pretendians'?

    A cuestión radica nos problemas dos colonos brancos e o seu continuo interese en apropiarse de identidades indíxenas ao igual que as terras.

  • Que motiva a apropiación de identidade indíxena?

    A apropiación vén coas vantaxes persoais que se poden obter sen enfrontar a historia de opresión e perda de privilexios que sufriron os indíxenas.

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  • 00:00:04
    They've been called wannabes...
  • 00:00:05
    ...identity thief...
  • 00:00:07
    ...uh, race-shifter.
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    They have been called Indige-nots.
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    Oh, "playing Indian" is another one as well that we use.
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    Pretendians.
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    (Men singing in Indigenous language)
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    "Pretendian" is short for "pretend Indian,"
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    meaning someone who falsely claims to be Indigenous
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    but can't prove it in any meaningful way.
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    They first tried to get rid of us, right?
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    And then, they tried to assimilate us.
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    And when all of those things failed,
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    they said, "Well, if we can't get rid of you,
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    we'll just become you."
  • 00:00:43
    "Pretendian" is a controversial term.
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    Some people have decided that "pretend"
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    is too gentle of a word,
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    that they're actually doing something a lot more dangerous
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    than just playing pretend.
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    Cultural appropriation has moved on
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    to actual identity appropriation.
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    There's always been Pretendians.
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    I think a really famous example in Indigenous communities
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    would be Iron Eyes Cody.
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    (Static crackling)
  • 00:01:07
    ANNOUNCER: People start pollution.
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    People can stop it.
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    I feel like we've seen such a higher frequency
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    in recent years, because now,
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    the benefits that people can reap
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    from claiming an Indigenous identity
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    have increased tenfold.
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    For the first time in Canadian history,
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    there are advantages to being Indigenous.
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    And in an act of colonial violence,
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    Pretendians are exploiting this moment,
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    stealing much-needed space, opportunity and benefits
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    from actual Indigenous peoples.
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    People can get job opportunities.
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    They can get scholarships and bursaries.
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    They get roles in television and film.
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    You know, applying for grants.
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    In many cases, you apply for a job
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    in the government or a big corporation.
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    There's a box there that says,
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    "Are you Indigenous, Métis, Inuit," et cetera.
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    You tick it off, and nobody follows up.
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    That means you have a head start in getting a good job.
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    Industries where you can capitalize on
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    an Indigenous aesthetic are particularly vulnerable,
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    I think, to Pretendian claims.
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    There may even be psychological relief
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    for those making false claims.
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    People do not want to feel complicit in colonialism,
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    in the kind of violence that has been done to Indigenous peoples.
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    They want to feel that they're the good guys,
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    that their ancestors were the good guys.
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    There's a real incentive to say,
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    "I am part Mi'kmaq." "I am part Cree."
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    "I am part Cherokee."
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    And then, people don't have to feel like they are literally
  • 00:02:30
    living in these lands and benefiting
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    based on the dispossession and violence that happened
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    to Indigenous people in the theft of Indigenous land.
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    False claims aren't always intentional or malicious,
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    at least in the beginning.
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    They're often the result of unchecked family lore
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    and wishful thinking.
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    You hear from your uncle, your grandparents,
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    that yes, supposedly, Great Uncle So-and-So
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    was part Native,
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    and it gets passed down through the generations
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    so that basically, people just believe it
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    without taking the time to accurately assess its validity.
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    Pretendians should not be confused with people
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    who are trying to reconnect with their Indigenous heritage
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    in the aftermath of cultural genocide.
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    There's a big difference between somebody
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    whose parent left the reserve or the community,
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    or whose grandparent was forcibly relocated
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    or went to residential school,
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    but you still have cousins, aunties, uncles, grandparents,
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    and somebody who is looking back to 1640.
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    The number of our ancestors increases exponentially
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    the further that we look back.
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    We all come from two parents,
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    four grandparents, eight great-grandparents,
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    16 great-great-grandparents, and so on.
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    If you go back 20 generations,
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    we're talking thousands
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    of ancestors.
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    Today, there are cases of people scouring historical records
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    claiming to be Indigenous
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    based on ancestors many generations ago
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    who may or may not have been authentically Indigenous.
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    So, what does it really mean to prioritize one ancestor
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    in a family tree
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    that's otherwise filled with Europeans?
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    You've got many generations of your family and ancestors
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    living as white people, not subject to the laws
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    that Indigenous people were subject to:
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    the oppressive, racist hierarchy laws.
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    And then you're going to claim one ancestor among all of those?
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    It's really a way of disowning one's white privilege
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    and the experience of many generations of one's family.
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    Pretendianism harms Indigenous peoples
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    and communities in numerous ways.
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    They're taking grants.
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    They're taking monies designed for Native advancement,
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    Native arts, Native business,
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    and using it for their own expenses.
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    We think of some of the classic cases
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    that we've seen in the last few years:
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    a famous writer, a famous director, a famous attorney.
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    We see people that are
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    normatively attractive and intelligent
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    according to settler white standards.
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    They look and move and talk
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    the way that settlers want people to talk, right?
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    They don't want to have to work hard to relate to people
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    who they are actually really uncomfortable relating to.
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    And so, it allows them to say that they're doing inclusion,
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    that they're making substantive changes,
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    when in fact, they're just bringing people in
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    and holding people up and putting people on platforms
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    that are just white people, basically.
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    But they're maybe dressing up as an Indian
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    or putting on a story of historical trauma,
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    showing that they have overcome.
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    The implication being,
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    "Why aren't all these other Indigenous people overcoming?"
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    When in fact, these people haven't overcome anything
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    that Indigenous people have had to overcome,
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    because they're white people.
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    It's extremely frustrating, as I,
  • 00:05:36
    like, I think, every Indigenous person
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    who has lived through trauma, generational trauma,
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    ongoing colonialism--
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    We don't get to just pick up
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    and put down Indigenous identities
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    when it benefits us.
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    And it makes me angry that anybody--
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    Any actual Indigenous person also has to feel like
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    that they have to prove themselves in this way now.
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    Determining somebody's belonging to an Indigenous nation
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    is a matter of Indigenous sovereignty.
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    It's about our ability to choose who our people are
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    by whatever means we see fit.
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    Unfortunately, proving that somebody isn't Indigenous
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    is pretty complicated.
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    But proving that you are Indigenous
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    can be pretty straightforward.
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    People will say, "Oh. You're Indigenous.
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    "Where are you from?
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    Maybe I know your grandpa," or something like that.
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    And then, this exchange happens where yes, we're chatting
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    and we're getting to know each other,
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    but through that, also, I'm telling them who I am,
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    who I'm accountable to,
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    where my knowledge comes from.
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    Those are all, I think, parts of that exchange,
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    and I think some people would call that protocol.
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    Indigenous issues are taking up space in the mainstream
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    more than ever before.
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    Pretendian exposés are now nationwide scandals,
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    and they seem to be happening more and more.
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    There could be hundreds, if not thousands, of cases
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    yet to be uncovered.
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    When we're having these conversations,
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    it's also important to check in
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    not just with Indigenous people writ large,
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    but displaced people,
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    people who have those complex histories
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    who have been raising alarm bells
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    for a really long time that we could be hurting
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    some of our own people
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    when we don't have these conversations with care.
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    In the common framing of the problem of Pretendianism,
  • 00:07:11
    people are often talking about identity,
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    and what does Indigenous identity mean.
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    I don't think that's really, fundamentally,
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    the question at play here
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    or the problem that we are confronting.
  • 00:07:21
    It's white people. What is their problem?
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    Why are they intent on appropriating our identities
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    in the same way that they have appropriated the land?
  • 00:07:30
    They have disrupted our governance systems, right?
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    It's one more act of colonization.
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    We really need to turn the camera back onto the settler.
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    Why are they continuing to appropriate every last thing?
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    And take the gaze off of Indigenous people,
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    'cause we are not the problem in this issue.
Tags
  • Pretendians
  • Identidade Indíxena
  • Apropriación Cultural
  • Colonialismo
  • Falsas Reivindicacións
  • Beneficios Indíxenas
  • Espazo Indíxena
  • Autenticidade
  • Comunidade Indíxena
  • Pertenza