Unenlightened Senator’s remarks repugnant

As a part-time university Indigenous Studies instructor, I teach students about the concept of colonialism. Terms such as eurocentrism, epistemological diffusion, and universalism are all terms that are

colonial constructs brought to the Americas by early Europeans. The question that many would have is this; Are these European colonial

constructs currently present within the fabric (including the Political fabric) of Canada as we enter the new millennium?

Aside from being a thought-provoking question, this

question was thoroughly answered by Senator Lynn Beyak in her open letter on her Senate website on Sept. 1.

The Senator’s xenophobic rant suggested that Indigenous people renounce their Indigenous status including Indigenous rights and assimilate into Canadian society. Indeed, Indigenous people are familiar such political rants. In 1969, the federal government, under Pierre Elliot Trudeau, had attempted to do the very thing that Senator, Lynn Be

yak, was suggesting in her Sept. 1 open letter. Many

Indigenous students would recognize Beyak’s racially charged statements as the federal government’s failed 1969 White Paper Policy. Indeed, today, colonialism is alive and well in the Canadian Senate relative to the statements made by Senator Lynn Beyak.

As many would know, Indigenous people and Canadians have lived side by side for more than 500 years and still there is this lack of understanding between Euro-Canadians and Indigenous people. This is due to the overall educative process in Canada. Indeed, it appears that Ms. Beyak has grown-up in this historic unenlightened educative vacuum.

It may be prudent for the Senator to enroll into the nearest Indigenous Studies program, if only to remove her self from a state of unenlightenment and digression!

Ms. Beyak is totally unaware that Indigenous people are the only minority in Canada who have treaties with Canada. No other minority group can claim such a position. Thus, Indigenous people have a binding treaty relationship with the “Nation State’”

As an Indigenous grassroots cultural insider, I would like to inform Lynn Beyak that Indigenous people are not going anywhere and that her repugnant remarks are unwelcome and reflect the xenophobic sentimen

ts present in the United States and around the world. Such deplorable remarks do not represent true enlightenment and consciousness expansion as we all forge ahead into the new millennium. Patrick Corbiere Havelock