Awakening a necessity

Page 4

Arriving somewhat late for the annual Sunday walk from Saskatchewan's Back to Batoche grounds to the church cemetery, my partner, Clem, niece-daughter Alicia and I found ourselves a fair distance away from the rest of the group. As we hurried to catch up, Alicia - fascinated by the many people who followed the colorful wind-blown Metis Nation flag - innocently queried "Aunty, why are all those people walking?" Momentarily, I was stunned as I struggled to find the most appropriate words to explain the significance of the walk to a mere four-year-old child.

How do I begin to explain culture, the situation of the Metis both historically and now, or the importance of symbolism and ritual in terms of nation building, I wondered. Alicia's warm little hand nestled securely within my own as we journeyed down the gravel road triggered a long-forgotten memory of my own political awakening.

I remembered walking down a similar gravel road, my own four-year-old hand safely enveloped in my Metis grandmother's comfortable grasp. Thinking back to that moment I realized that I certainly wasn't aware of the peculiar differences between my maternal Metis relatives and my paternal Indian relatives. Like many other Native peoples I guess, we just knew that we were not like the White majority.

I was reminded that anger-laden words like "dirty half-breed" or "stupid Indian", too often venomously spat from the mouths of the local Whites, did little to affirm my own two distinguished cultures.

I began to understand that to many ignorant people, "half-breeds" were merely the poor bastard offspring of a White and an Indian parent. And while Indians could at least claim some legitimacy in terms of nationhood, the Metis (half-breeds) were too often rejected by both their Indian and White relations.

Forced to fend for themselves, the Metis survived despite incredible hardships. I remember my mother's pain-filled eyes as she recounted the extreme poverty of her youth or the senseless deaths (because they could not afford medical care) of her two siblings. Poverty also intruded upon her education, forcing her to quit school in grade three and lend a most needed hand to a desperate household.

That Sunday, however, as I stood beside the contemporary Metis warriors circled around the mass grave at the Batoche cemetery, I was profoundly inspired by their strength, enthusiasm, and seemingly unending reserve of energy.

Offering prayers for the fallen heroes of the 1885 Resistance as well as words of encouragement for each other, Senators and political and community leaders described the procession and gathering as rejuvenating, empowering, spiritually strengthening and politically important. I realized then that Alicia's political consciousness would be awakened just as mine had been, out of necessity!