Ayer’s Cliff totem sparks debate
Alocal restaurant’s choice of décor in the lead up to the Ayer’s Cliff Rodeo sparked a discussion about respect for First Nations’ cultures on the weekend. Ayer’s Cliff resident Kassandra Norrie took to Facebook with her concerns on Thursday night, saying that she felt “so disappointed” in the fact that the Chez Maurice Restaurant chose to set up a fake totem pole and teepee in front of their business on the corner of Main and Tyler streets.
“The rodeo is in a couple weeks and they have a competition for businesses to decorate in a Western theme to get the town in spirit. One business played on that theme and went with "Cowboys and Indians," Norrie explained. “I saw the pictures and knew they were just getting in the spirit and unaware of the cultural appropriation, so I shared the pictures with expressing my disappointment and included a link to an article defining cultural appropriation.”
The Ayer’s Cliff resident explained that her concerns were rooted in the fact that the restaurant was using indigenous culture and traditions as a form of decoration without thought of what the
items, in particular the fake totem pole, might symbolize.
“If they took the totem pole down it would make such a huge difference,” Norrie said. “I understand why they did it, it seems like a fun play on the western theme, but they’re not thinking about the position of power that they are in. They’re just trivializing a culture that their ancestors basically tried to take away from others.”
Jean Alexandre, who co-owns Chez Maurice, said that the restaurant meant no disrespect with the decorations.
“When we were children everyone played cowboys and Indians and cops and robbers,” Alexandre said. “It was just a decoration to remind us of childhood.”
The restaurant owner explained that Chez Maurice puts out decorations regularly and for them, this was just another opportunity to have some fun with a throwback to childhood. He strongly emphasized the fact that the restaurant has nothing against First Nations people or any other particular cultural group, and said that he has received a lot of positive comments about the decorations.
“If it had been a police event, we would have decorated as robbers,” Alexandre said, “that was the sort of idea. We didn’t want to disrespect anyone.”
Loretta Robinson, a Naskapi woman from Kawawachikamach from Northern Quebec who attended Bishop’s University and now works for the First Nations Education Council, said that the problem with using another’s culture as a decoration is that it reinforces false stereotypes and helps to silence the realities for indigenous communities today. Taking things outside of the specific situation, she spoke to the idea of someone wearing a headdress as a part of a costume as a similar example.
“Not just anyone can wear a headdress. You have to get to a certain stage to be able to wear a headdress,” Robinson said, explaining that like a totem pole, a headdress has a very specific set of ceremonial meanings. “When people wear things like headdresses without any knowledge of their significance and not seeing it as inappropriate, that’s racist.”
This is true, she added, regardless of whether a person meant offense by the action or not.
“When someone says it’s fun and games, to me that’s insulting because it’s a part of who I am,” Robinson continued, acknowledging that, “it’s not until someone stops you and makes you think that you realize why it is wrong.”
The Naskapi educator said that people are being raised surrounded by images of indigenous peoples that are stereotyped and just wrong, and said that the time has come to look back at what society thinks it knows about indigenous peoples.
“It’s time for us to educate ourselves and ask ourselves what message am I sending when I do this?” Robinson said. “No one ever stops to ask us. When something like this happens and we’re not approached to ask, then you continue to silence us and ignore us.”
Robinson stressed that the road to reconciliation is not a one- and-done conversation, either. Speaking to one person from one First Nation one time, she said, does not mean that a person understands all indigenous peoples.
“You need to engage in dialogue,” She said, expressing gratitude for Norrie’s facebook post and the ensuing conversation because of the way that it offered people a chance to see the issues from a different perspective.
“This won’t stop unless people bring it up,” Robinson said, “and there are so many resources out there. You just need to ask, who is the best person to help you?”
Having been the focus of both praise and criticism for her post, with some community members saying that she should have spoken directly to the restaurant about her concerns rather than sharing them in an open forum online, Norrie explained that her intention was not to attack Chez Maurice and its owners, but to open peoples’ eyes to the bigger issues.
“I fully believe there was no malicious intent,” the resident said. “I really just thought it was a chance at knowledge mobilization.”