Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair is Anishinaabe (St. Peter's/Little Peguis) and an Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba. He is a Paul Harris fellow sponsored by the Selkirk Rotary Club via Rotary International and a former District 5550 Rotary exchange student (1993-94 to District 9270 in South Africa). He is an award-winning writer, editor and activist who was named one of Monocle Magazine's "Canada's Top 20 Most Influential People" and one of the CBC Manitoba's "Top Forty Under Forty." He is a regular commentator on Indigenous issues on CTV, CBC, and APTN, and his written work can be found in the pages of newspapers like The Guardian and online with CBC Books: Canada Writes. His first book on Anishinaabeg literary traditions will be coming out with the University of Minnesota Press in 2018.
Niigan obtained his BA in Education at the University of Winnipeg, before completing an MA in Native and African-American literatures at the University of Oklahoma, and a PhD in First Nations and American Literatures from the University of British Columbia.
Niigan started by saying that "I owe the work I do today to Rotary". He grew up in Selkirk as a typical teenager concerned only with girls, sports and friends when he met Del at his high school. Del was someone he had seen in the halls before. This time Del challenged him: "What are you going to do with the rest of your life?" He then invited Niigan to the Rotary club meeting. A free meal was all the convincing he needed. Soon he was hanging out with the "cool" exchange students and became very interested in Rotary. The following year he found himself headed to South Africa as an exchange student.
The timing of his exchange was transformational. It was 1993 and South Africa was newly free of Apartheid and about to hold its first inclusive election. Niigan was sponsored by a Rotary club in Limkomaas which (unlike most others in the country) was truly inclusive with both women and non-white members. His first culture shock was at his host family's house where there was a Zulu maid. Having her serve him was uncomfortable to Niigan but rejecting it was insulting to her. She even came to work one day carrying a baby on her back. When Niigan asked if she were baby-sitting, she replied that she gave birth the day before. Race relations in the community were very different also. It wasn't acceptable for Africans to live there and the only mixture he saw was in his Rotary meetings. When the election came Niigan was fortunate to have a Rotary member who was able to get him party credentials so he was able to be at a polling station as an official observer. The government thought there were 26 million eligible voters; 32 million showed up to vote. He witnessed as a very old man had been carried for four and a half hours so that he could vote for the first time in his life. And for but a few isolated events, the election was peaceful. He witnessed the power of education and the power of peace. His time there made him truly understand racism and he came back to Canada with a new focus on his own people’s challenges.
Niigan related his own family story. In 1850 Chief Peguis and his band settled near Selkirk and converted to Christianity. After asking who the leader of the whites was, he took the Christian name "King" as he was the leader of his people, and his sons took the name "Prince" for the same reason. The band was very successful and was the most economically progressive community in Western Canada. In 1907 they were removed from their land (in some cases at gun-point) and "re-settled" to Norway House. Then in 1940, his grandfather lied about his age to escape the residential school and go fight in the war instead. This action led to the family being denied status and they became residents of Selkirk. They were not re-enfranchised until 1983.
Niigan says that "It is of tantamount interest to me that the issues around indigenous peoples are at a critical juncture in the country, and it really looks like this:"
"Canada's economic and resource agenda on the ground is becoming very contentious". He says that of all future resource projects planned in Canada, 100% of them involve in some way First Nations lands. That means that every issue in Canada must have indigenous people at the table as equal partners. Right now, this doesn't happen until after a legal challenge which then forces it. This costs us all. As an example $45 million and 15 years just to fight Kapyong.
It's also prevalent in our media. When Maclean's magazine stated that Winnipeg was the most racist community in the country, Saskatoon challenged it with "what about us". He says that if you want to see racism, go to the lower East side of Vancouver. "I recommend you drive through and don't stop". "It's all indigenous people in rampant poverty, facing difficult choices in their life". And how about Toronto? They won't even talk about racism.
White Canadians have been taught for generations (with usually good intentions) that the native "savages" needed their help to conform to society. This led to a general attitude of superiority. He says that we have three challenges. 1 - To recognize the history of Indigenous trauma, 2 - That white Canadians are experiencing trauma too and 3 - We must all have courage to confront the challenges. He believes that education is the most powerful tool to accomplish this.
Indigenous people are the fastest growing population in the country. 50% of indigenous people are under the age of 40 and 50% live off of reserve. And where are they living the most? Saskatchewan and Manitoba have the largest percentages, but Ontario the largest numbers. And where is the biggest concentration of indigenous people in the country? Right here in Winnipeg. "Okay MacLean's magazine, are we the most racist city in the country, or does Canada have a racism problem and we see it more in Winnipeg?" "In the racism Olympics, there are no gold medals." Saskatoon, Vancouver and Toronto have their challenges. He says that "people in this community come up with more solutions, confront the issues more bravely, and more importantly we talk about it. What are we doing right now? We're talking about it. They don't do that in Toronto, they don't do that out on the West coast."
And what is the kind of world that Niigan wants? He wants to see the world that Rotary showed to him. He saw that every Tuesday night, they would sit together and have a meal and a conversation. It was a world of comradery, of family and of togetherness.
We had time for a couple of questions. Ed Thompson asked if Niigan was in favour of integration. He replied that until 1961, indigenous people were not allowed to vote. Who changed this? The legions did. The Indian Act is the wall to ensure indigenous people are segregated. To which Nancy asked if we need to simply get rid of the act. He said there are two things preventing this from happening. One, there are hundreds of laws tied to the Indian Act, so it's removal would have to be preceded with amending all of those laws. And two, there is no legal relationship with indigenous people. The treaties, enshrined in the act are the sole source for this relationship currently and these would have to be redefined.
Niigan was thanked for his talk by Paul.
