As written in The Conversation by Dr. Frank Deere, professor, Faculty of Education.
As Canada marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we are called not only to remember the colonial policies that sought to eradicate Onkwehón:we (Indigenous) cultures and identities, but also to recognize, affirm and celebrate Onkwehón:we peoples and their perseverance.
With this important day of acknowledgement and remembrance, a question merits consideration: What might be meant by Onkwehón:we identity?
As universities across Canada develop policies to address erroneous claims of Onkwehón:we identity, and as recent cases of, misrepresentation of Onkwehón:we identity are scruntinized, this question reverberates in challenging ways.
Knowledge, heritage, consciousness
Identity may be best regarded as that which makes a person or thing remain the same over time. For philosopher John Locke, personal identity rests primarily on continuity of consciousness, rather than simply having the same body or soul. We remain the same person insofar as our present consciousness connects us with our past experiences.
Reflecting on Onkwehón:we identity, education scholar Marie Battiste and lawyer and educator James (Sa'ke'j) Youngblood Henderson focus on the unique manifestations of Onkwehón:we knowledge, heritage and consciousness. These aspects of Onkwehón:we identity are passed down through intergenerational transmission.
Ancestry matters within this understanding of Onkwehón:we identity, but it’s important to acknowledge that ancestry is not simply a genetic claim.
Citizenship, kinship
However, an emerging reliance on citizenship or membership as the principal means of verification presents another problem.
Citizenship may be an important aspect for some, but it should not be understood as a central aspect in the verification one’s Onkwehón:we identity.
Kim TallBear, whose research examines Onkwehón:we Peoples and discourses around identity, science and race, has argued that Onkwehón:we understandings of identity emphasize both biological and cultural kinship that are embedded in longstanding relationships.
Similarly, Chris Andersen, who has researched Métis nationhood and peoplehood and Onkwehón:we data sovereignty, has argued that genealogy cannot establish Indigeneity by itself without ongoing Onkwehón:we relationality and kinship.
Onkwehón:we identity, then, might be understood as the intersection of direct ancestral connections and continuing cultural and relational belonging through which Onkwehón:we knowledge, heritage and consciousness may be understood and celebrated.
The intersection of ancestral connections and continuing cultural and relational belonging can occur in community — whether that be a First Nation or other place in which Onkwehón:we people reside or assemble. Although not fundamental to this intersection, the role of citizenship in such a community can be an important way of fostering belonging.
But citizenship (a term that relates to political relationships within a community or nation as well as within other polity) and identity are not the same thing. As sociologist Christian Joppke puts it, citizenship is “ineradicably political.”
Read the full story at The Conversation.
