Indigenous poet faces online backlash for calling out Nhl-themed totem poles

Halifax’s former poet laureate says she has received unprecedented online backlash for asking a drugstore chain to remove NHL merchandise that appropriates West Coast Indigenous culture.

Rebecca Thomas, who is Mi’kmaw, tweeted a photo of two garden statues designed in the style of totem poles with NHL logos, asking Lawton’s Drugs why the culturally insensitive items were being sold.

Lawton’s responded to say the products would be pulled from stores, but days later Thomas is still receiving a stream of negative and racist messages, some saying she is mentally ill and that Indigenous people are too sensitive.

Thomas said the deluge of comments speaks to the knee-jerk reaction often seen when the country’s history of colonialism is pointed out.

“Some of the comments have been pretty harsh that have come out of that, which I find to be very telling, I think, of a public concern or understanding of Indigenous struggle and oppression in Canada,” Thomas said Thursday.

Some comments negatively targeted Thomas’ Indigenous identity; others complained about “stupid natives” being offended over the products. One user told her to “climb back in your cave.”

Thomas was Halifax’s poet laureate until last spring. One of her poems prompted regional council to reopen debate over how the city commemorates its controversial founder, Edward Cornwallis; his statue was later removed from a downtown park.

Thomas said her tweets about the NHL merchandise have drawn more online ire than any of her previous criticism of governments or her comments on missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

The items called “Tiki Totems” come in a range of NHL and NFL team styles.

REBECCA THOMAS / CP Toronto Maple Leafsthemed “Tiki Totems” are shown at Lawton’s Drugs.