What's in a word? Plenty

Page 9

It seems Native people are everywhere in the media these days, be it in a political, social, economic or entertainment context.

Linguistic terms often used in relation to Canada' Indigenous people are fast becoming words of everyday use. But sometimes these words have a specific and contextual meaning, above and beyond their accepted use.

To help cut down on potential misuse and misunderstandings, I have put together a small list of contemporary Aboriginal buzz words to help facilitate the proper dialogue. Please use them with care.

Assembly of First Nations: Political organization claiming to represent all status and reserve Natives except those that have decidedly opted out, like the Iroquois Confederacy and certain Western tribes. Sort of like the situation in the former Soviet Union.

Blockades: Pre-ordained trump card. Why else would the Creator have located a large portion of necessary and needed roads on Native territory?

Dreamcatchers: Aboriginal merchandising at its best. They are everywhere.

Government (1): Source of all evil.

Government (2): Source of all funding, allowing various Native organizations to criticize government (1).

Indian giver: A case of saying one thing but reversing it and doing the opposite. Like in the treaties.

Kashtin: Simon and Garfunkel with a tan.

W. P. Kinsella: Aboriginal enemy #1, or the second coming of Shakespeare if you have anything to do with the new television series based on Dance Me Outside called The Rez.

Land Claims: Native equivalent of Karma.

Minister of the Department of Indian Affairs: Person who has no real grasp of what's going out there but acts like he does. See U.N. Peacekeepers.

Native/Quebec Relations: An oxymoron.

Oka: Where past treatment met current reality. See Malcolm X's comment concerning the assassination of JFK, "A case of the chickens coming home to roost."

Pocahontas: In film Tonto in drag; in reality, a 12-year-old with a fabulous publicist.

Quebec: Province that wants to separate from Canada but is unwilling to allow Native communities the same from Quebec. A case of "do as I say, not as I do."

Self-Government: Self determination or the right to have our own Trudeau or Mulroney.

Tobacco: Sacred ceremonial herb or cursed addictive plant, depending on how long your family has been in this country.

Treaty Rights: Not to be confused with hunters and anglers, logging, mining or government wrongs.

Wannabe: Elements of mainstream society suffering from culture-envy. The Anti-Apple.

White People: Politically incorrect term for those of European descent. More currently acceptable terms are People of Pallor, Color Challenged, or the Pigment Denied.

Wine/Beer/Liquor: Tasty recreational beverages or cursed addictive intoxicant, depending on how long your family has been in this country.