Got Land? : Indigenous humor in all its forms
“I Stole the White Man's Suit Cuz He Stole My Land” (“I stole the white man's suit because he stole my land”), says Janelle Niles, wearing a purple suit and tie at a restaurant in Kahnawà:ke in front of a mostly Indigenous audience. The Afro-Indigenous comedian performs in a show called Got Land?.
Accompanied by several Indigenous actors and an allochthone actor, the troupe offers skits and numbers on Bill 96, colonialism, racism, fake Indigenous people, stolen lands and two-spirit realities and Queer. Sitting around a table before heading back on the road to visit other nations on Turtle Island (an expression used by some indigenous peoples to refer to North America), the actors explain the need for positive and humorous initiatives such as Got Land?.
The uniqueness of aboriginal humor
“Aboriginal humor is unique, funny, and informative. But hey, some of us are just saying jokes,” can we read on The collective's website. Anchored in Aboriginal culture and manners for decades, humor is often a way to denounce injustices or to give life lessons. La Converse discusses it with the group of comedians. “Humor is part of our culture, it's so unique! In our communities, we tease each other all the time, it's as if we were all actors. We're always laughing and it's a lot of fun,” explains Janelle Niles, sitting at the table with La Converse after her show.
His colleague Randy Schmucker, the youngest member of the troupe, adds: “It's something I've studied and discussed with a number of people. Humour is part of our tradition and it is part of our history. We have jokes about society; there are people who are there to make jokes or simply to cause trouble,” reports the Anishnabe actor. In an allochthonic context, this humor is not always understood. So don't be surprised if you're often teased by your native friends.
Changing the image of Aboriginal people through humor
Through humor, Got Land? wants to change the image of indigenous communities throughout Turtle Island. The founder of the collective, Janelle Niles, came up with the idea in 2019. Originally from Nova Scotia, she now lives in Ottawa. During her first open mic show in Ottawa, the actress quickly realized the lack of diversity on the stages of the Canadian capital.
“I realized that there was only one black or indigenous comedian in the whole show. I said to myself, “That can't be, there must be more Aboriginal people here!” ” says the Mi'kmaq comedian. Inspired by Toronto comedian Kenny Robinson, who created a comedy collective with a black comedy collective, The Nubian Disciples All-Black Comedy Revue, Janelle decided to create her own troupe. At the beginning of her career, when she appeared on stage in white spaces, the audience didn't listen to her. “When we did this kind of Aboriginal comedy at open mic parties and I dressed normally, people didn't laugh, didn't pay attention to me,” Janelle reports. I said to myself, “People listen to black comedians all the time, they share the same stories as me, but I don't get the same welcome.” So I started wearing a jacket-and-tie and boom! I started getting the laughs I deserved. Because now that I'm smart enough to be listened to, I'm no longer a threat.”
On stage, Janelle talks about her relationship with French, her education, her relationship with her parents, and her identity as a Black and Aboriginal woman. Her skits are political. “I was born black and indigenous, so I was born political. Every day, every second, I have to fight. I have to say what we are going through, because that's how I grew up,” explains the actress, adding that her mother often talked to her about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
“When I take back control of my Indigenous identity, it becomes more important for me to be able to do that kind of humor because we've been trying to be humble and quiet for too long, but not anymore!” Janelle hammers with a smile. His colleagues agreed.
An inclusive troupe
In the show, we hear actors from several nations: Janelle Niles who is Mi'kmaq, Jenn Hayward who is Métis, Randy Schmucker who is Anishinabe, and Mike Bombay who is Ojibwe.
It also includes Trevor Thompson, a white, English-speaking man. In his number, the comedian discusses racism, conspiracies and the media. “Is Canada racist? We asked 25 white people the question,” he said about polls in the Canadian mainstream media, in front of a welcoming crowd. For each of its shows, the group invites an allochthone actor on stage. Creator Janelle Niles explains this approach to us. “During our first show, we had a special guest who was not Aboriginal. The audience liked it so much that we decided to invite a non-Aboriginal actor to each of our shows. They're not always the same people,” she says. And this decision is not trivial, insists the troupe. “Given the rise of the extreme right, doing a show like ours with a troupe that is only Aboriginal can be perceived as reverse racism. What we don't do,” Janelle wants to make it clear.
“It's how we hire diversity,” she jokes. I want to make sure my show is as inclusive as possible in Indigenous communities.” Young comedian Randy Schmucker is Anishnabe and European. “I'm Indigenous, but I'm also gay and vegan. It also makes me a threat to my traditional white family,” he says in the introduction to his issue. He goes on to talk about “Pretendians” (the usurpers of indigenous identity) and of his identity Queer. “I discovered that I was gay by watching Pocahontas. There was something about John Smith,” the comedian said to a hilarious audience. “All my life I've been trying to find the answer to an old question: what makes the red man red? And I realized that when I have a Date with a white man and correcting me on my knowledge of First Nations history and culture, that's what makes the red man red. And I guess that's a bit how I feel when I'm at one Date with my teacher,” Randy continues in his number. For the actors in the cast, with his raw humor and humor, Randy represents the future of Indigenous humor and decolonization. “I would say that I represent a face of the intersection, not necessarily the face of decolonization,” nuances the principal.
“I have a lot of unique experiences as a person Queer Aboriginal person who grew up in an urban environment.” In Got Land?, the actor says he feels appreciated for who he is. “I don't have to prove my Aboriginal identity and Queer To no one,” he confides to us. Is Jenn Hayward there “auntie”, the aunt, the group's mentor. In her number, the Métis actress from Saskatchewan discusses her relationship with her children and her husband, as well as her privileges and French. “I am a Métis woman from Saskatchewan, I grew up in a city and there are some privileges that I have that others don't.
So, I don't go on stage to represent something that I am not, especially with the current of Pretendians ”, explains the actress. “I know several things related to culture from my background, but that does not make me a First Nations person, I always remain A mixed race. And I think that's an important distinction, especially In Quebec ”, she tells us. The troupe's mentor has been practicing humor for several years. For her, being a comedian is a way of getting her voice out. “Part of that voice is the one that's angry, but I'm not at that stage anymore. I have been a victim of so many things in my life.
I'm at a stage where I just want to make jokes, and that's where I went in my career as a comedian,” she explains candidly. The mother of three feels it is important to show the diversity of voices in the show. With each of their performances, the actors represent a part of their community, which is why the diversity of their experiences and the nations of which they belong is important.
The language
Throughout the show, the actors, who come from the rest of Canada, talked Of Bill 96 and talked about how they perceived it as Aboriginal people. On stage, Janelle Niles explains that she grew up in Nova Scotia, where French was not taught until grade 4. Once she arrived in Ottawa, where it was taught earlier, she did not understand the language. So she finished high school without getting any credit in French. The actress resisted and in fact learned Japanese for three years, which allowed her to finish her studies.
“We have to resist. We don't even know our own language, Mi'kmaq is dying,” she told the audience, expressing her solidarity with the Mohawk nation, which is in disagreement with the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French. In an interview, the actress explains her position to us. “Francophones have immigrated here and they are not on their land, they are guests on our land. Why do they include us in this issue? We have other issues to deal with, such as intergenerational trauma and the loss of our own languages. [...] I understand that they want to protect their culture, but they need to remember that they are guests on our land and that means listening to us first,” she said. Jenn Hayward explains why Bill 96 is a part of the show.
“We had not heard about the law until we put on the show in Quebec a month ago. People here told us that it was important to talk about it, so we informed ourselves. We're not here to offend people; we're not coming from here. But it's okay to laugh at Bill 96, it's humor.” Coming from Western Canada, Jenn Hayward says she understands the purpose of Bill 96. “You don't learn anything about the history of Quebec, and I come from a place where you don't learn much about Quebec,” she admits. But language remains an important aspect of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and, according to her, Bill 96 ignores it.
“You can protect your rights, but you don't have to erase the rights of others, and that's what this law does. However, if we, the actors, went on stage and said that we fuck white people, it would no longer be funny. They would react negatively. If you don't do anything with kindness and love, you can't do anything,” says Jenn Hayward.
Making room for others
With Got Land?, the collective wishes to pave the way for Aboriginal actors and change the perception of the nations of Turtle Island. The oldest member of the troupe, Jenn, praises Janelle, without whom this project would not have been possible. What does the troupe recommend to aspiring Aboriginal comedians?
“It was not easy for me and many of us to do this work, and that's why we exist.
Today, we are here to help each other. Contact us, we want to hear your voices, I will do everything to help you,” concludes Janelle Niles.