Thread by @Norlaine

All over social media and MSM we see cries for someone to DO SOMETHING. I was just watching @PnPCBC while folding laundry and the host was demanding to know of Caroline Bennett what the federal government to was going to Do about the 215 children's bodies in Kamloops. 1/23

Then National Chief Perry Bellegarde was interviewed and he was asked what the federal government needs to DO to fix this. Caroline Bennett tried to explain working with the communities. Perry Bellegarde tried to explain that there is a process going on. 2/23

We are all shocked and hurting right now. Many are imagining what we would do if they were our children who were taken away to school and never came home. It is a distinctly European, and maybe even North American settler thing to want to see something DONE, immediately. 3/23

We show, again and again, that we are not a contemplative culture. We don't like delays to consider options or conduct due process. We want ACTION. But this is totally not up to us. This is not about us. Not this time. 4/23

We need to be respectful of the processes, rituals, and conversations that need to happen within communities that are culturally appropriate. We might want to rush in and exhume bodies and run DNA tests and put a little tag on each body so that everything is orderly. 5/23

We might want to rush out to former residential schools & run scans to see if there are more burial grounds & exhume & DNA test & label everything. We might want to hunt down priests and nuns and administrators and haul them into court, quick, before they die of old age. 6/23

We might want to DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW. But this is not our grief and it is not our place to say what or when things should happen. We settlers would probably be more comfortable right now if there could be a massive forensic operation and everything could be exposed and 7/23

Blame placed squarely on those responsible for these atrocities. We like to alleviate our generational guilt by putting things in boxes, giving them labels, tying a nice "justice" bow on it all. 8/23

Then we could go back to "normal", right? Like before our eyes were opened. Heads up! We can't go back to "normal" We can never go back to "normal". Because "normal" was the continued suffering of people who make up an important part of the population of this country. 9/23

"Normal" was systemic racism and discrimination. "Normal" was murdered and missing Indigenous Women and Girls. "Normal" was a grossly disproportional incarceration of Indigenous people and Indigenous youths in care. 10/23

"Normal' was a woman being mocked & suffering racial slurs & abuse as she lay dying in hospital. "Normal" was Indigenous people being shot by property owners & it being treated as justified. "Normal" was Indigenous children having to fight in court for needed medical care. 11/23

"Normal" was indigenous youths taking their own lives in Thunder Bay and elsewhere because they still had to leave their communities and families for high school, where they faced isolation, loneliness, and racism. 12/23

We can never go back to "normal". We cannot push to have everything tidied up to our satisfaction as quickly as possible. The process that began with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and continued with the Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls 13/23

Is uncomfortable. And if it is uncomfortable for those of us with the privilege to have not had to live through it, just imagine how uncomfortable and painful and heart-wrenching it is for those whose stories are being told. 14/23

We can't go back to "normal". And we can't make things happen fast. These communities are reeling with their losses. They want to follow their traditions & beliefs. And it is their right to do so. This tragedy, this horror, is theirs. We can have empathy, but not ownership. 15/23

White guilt isn't useful. It makes some people angry and resentful. It makes some people try to excuse themselves. "I didn't do it, why should I be feeling blamed for this?" I'll tell you why. 16/23

We have gotten rich and fat on the poverty and oppression of the original occupants of this land. That's why. We had treaties (aka contracts) about land use and compensation and our ancestors reneged on those contracts, and the debt is due. Now. 17/23

Chief Bellegarde said governments could provide resources & manpower as needed. That is what is wanted. Indigenous communities can & will decide for themselves what needs to be done, in their own good time. Then it is up to our governments to give them everything they need. 18/23

So, yeah, put a teddy bear on your front porch and leave the light on at 6 pm, if you like. It's a nice gesture. I will do it to show my support. But don't for one second imagine it will make anything better, or normal. 19/23

Which provincial governments have an official policy of recognizing treaty rights before any official announcement? That is the very least and most basic thing that can be done. Some won't even do that. If you want to be an ally, pressure local and federal governments 20/23

To put politics aside and be ready to be there with funding and human resources and education, and let Indigenous communities lead in what comes next. 21/23

Things are going to be different. Things need to be different. Don't be afraid of it. We can't keep doing the same things and expect to not be going through this white guilt shitshow again and again. We need to change. 22/23

Our attitudes and understandings and beliefs need to change. Because we have been so wrong in the past. Let's be a united power for good. Let's make the future better for all of us on Turtle Island. 23/23 #cdnpoli #215children