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"Idle No More" Movement: Paradoxes of First Nations Inclusion in the Canadian Context

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Article The "Idle No More" Movement: Paradoxes of First Nations Inclusion in the Canadian Context Terry Wotherspoon and John Hansen Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0E8, Canada; E-Mails: [email protected] (T.W.); [email protected] (J.H.); Tel.: +1 3069666925 (T.W.); Fax: +1 3069666950 (T.W.) How to Cite this Article Wotherspoon, T., & Hansen, J. (2013). The "Idle No More" Movement: Paradoxes of First Nations Inclusion in the Canadian Context. Social Inclusion, 1(1), 21-36. Acknowledgement This Article was published by Librello, Social Inclusion’s former publisher. About the Journal Social Inclusion is a peer-reviewed open access journal which provides academics and policy-makers with a forum to discuss and promote a more socially inclusive society. The journal encourages researchers to publish their results on topics concerning social and cultural cohesiveness, marginalized social groups, social stratification, minority-majority interaction, cultural diversity, national identity, and core-periphery relations, while making significant contributions to the understanding and enhancement of social inclu- sion worldwide. www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion Editor-in-Chief Professor Ulf R. Hedetoft, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Managing Editor Mr. António Vieira, Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, Portugal Social Inclusion | 2013 | Volume 1 | Issue 1 | Pages 21–36 DOI: 10.12924/si2013.01010021 Research Article The "Idle No More" Movement: Paradoxes of First Nations Inclusion in the Canadian Context Terry Wotherspoon* and John Hansen Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0E8, Canada; E-Mails: [email protected] (T.W.); [email protected] (J.H.); Tel.: +1 3069666925 (T.W.); Fax: +1 3069666950 (T.W.) * Corresponding author Submitted: 14 April 2013 | In revised form: 2 June 2013 | Accepted: 27 June 2013 | Published: 18 July 2013 Abstract: Idle No More, a recent protest movement initiated to draw attention to concerns by Indigenous people and allies about changes in Canada's environment and economic policies, has also raised awareness about social and economic conditions experienced by much of Canada's Indigenous population. While discourses and policies oriented to social inclusion are not as prom- inent in Canada as in Europe and several other contexts, these conditions and the strategies adopted by governments to address them are consistent with narrowly-framed inclusion policies. We provide an overview of what these conditions represent and how they have come to be framed in the context of the Idle No More movement. However, we extend our analysis to under- stand how the Idle No More movement and discourses of inclusion and exclusion alike have often been framed in ways that further limit solutions to the problems that they are oriented to resolve by stigmatizing and distancing Indigenous people, especially when they ignore or undermine dis- tinct Indigenous rights and the foundations of formal Aboriginal status. We draw upon Indigenous concepts of justice and critical analyses of power relations in order to explore the contradictory locations and experiences associated with Indigenous inclusion in the Canadian context. We con- clude by exploring the movement's contributions to broadened conceptions of inclusion that build upon alternative conceptions of socioeconomic participation and success. Keywords: Indigenous people; social exclusion; social inclusion; social inequality 1. Introduction flash mobs, marches, and occasional blockades that disrupted highway and rail traffic. Media exposure and News media in Canada and many other nations were public interest in the movement known as "Idle No replete with images in late 2012 and early 2013 of Indi- More" (sometimes also referred to as "Canada's Native genous people and their allies engaged in public rallies, winter" in a nod to the "Arab spring" events) reached its © 2013 by the authors; licensee Librello, Switzerland. This open access article was published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). peak in mid-January with events leading to high level movement as both a response to processes of exclu- talks between a delegation of First Nations leaders and sion that have posed historic and contemporary limits the nation's Prime Minister and senior cabinet mem- to the opportunities available to much of the Indi- bers. These events became the focus of international genous population to become fully incorporated into attention, drawing support and media coverage of envir- Canadian society and as a struggle by diverse groups onmental and Indigenous issues around the world and interests to redefine and re-establish the bases while encouraging parallel rallies and protests in the on which such inclusion may be achieved. United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and several It is crucial to locate processes of inclusion and other places. While the outcome was somewhat anti- exclusion, in these respects, within a framework that climactic—entailing a commitment by government takes into account practices and legacies associated leaders to hold further talks to recognize and mod- with colonization as well as the struggles to define ernize the terms of historical treaties signed between and realize the distinct legal status and rights of Indi- First Nations and the crown (represented by Canada's genous people. This means that, while attention Governor General, who met separately with members needs to be given to problems associated with full from the First Nations delegation)—the entire scenario inclusion of much of the Indigenous population with played out as political theatre that alternatively captiv- respect to conventional indicators such as education, ated and puzzled much of its audience. housing or employment, several distinctive features of These events, and the debates and controversies the Indigenous experience require a more nuanced surrounding them, drew attention to many profound understanding than can be offered through conven- issues associated with the status and conditions of tional discourses and objectives related to inclusion. Canada's Indigenous people. Adding to a long series of Full and equitable inclusion within Canadian society grievances and frustrations about inattention to long- cannot occur without fulfilling the nation to nation rela- standing problems, concerns were mounting that tionship between Indigenous people and Canadian gov- recently announced government policies that could fur- ernments outlined in historic treaties and subsequent ther undermine conditions in many Indigenous com- legislation. In presenting our analysis, we draw from munities were implemented without measures to and contrast alternative discourses presented by Indi- secure adequate representation and dialogue with genous scholars, elders, and community representat- members of these communities. In the tense and ives, government documents, and representations of uncertain build-up to the top level meetings, attention Indigenous people and Idle No More in mass media was focused especially on a high profile hunger strike and popular accounts. We adopt elements of Pierre led by Theresa Spence, a Chief from a northern Ontario Bourdieu's analytical framework, highlighting espe- First Nation community seeking action to address poor cially how the diverse places occupied by Indigenous housing conditions, lack of running water, inadequate people within Canadian society are influenced by sym- sewage, and other major and longstanding problems. bolic violence and interactions influenced by unequal While the media focus and surrounding public conver- allocations of social, cultural and economic resources sations about the movement heightened awareness of and power. Inclusion, understood in this way, requires matters about which many Canadians had little know- awareness of the diverse and often contradictory real- ledge, they also drew attention away from or distorted ities and significance associated with the Indigenous and misrepresented many of the core issues as parti- experience within the Canadian context. We acknow- cipants with diverse interests came to position them- ledge the contemporary dimensions of Idle No More selves through attempts to set the agenda or steer as a fluid, dynamic social movement which is, at the developments in ways that aligned with their own same time, deeply connected with the quest to val- interests. The specific origins of the movement called idate and realize longstanding notions of Indigenous Idle No More lay with concerns about broader contem- justice and law. We begin with a description of the porary fiscal and environmental issues relevant to Indi- roots and aims of the Idle No More Movement, under- genous and non-Indigenous people alike, but the roots stood from Indigenous perspectives, before pro- of the movement extended back several generations. ceeding to more detailed analysis of the various forms The Idle No More movement is significant for giving of social exclusion and struggles for inclusion in the focus to the complex phenomenon of social inclusion Canadian context. and its implications for Indigenous people in the Cana- dian context. In particular, the challenges to define and 2. Idle No More Roots and Aims achieve what it means for Indigenous people to main- tain Indigenous rights (formally defined as Aboriginal The Idle No More movement
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