Who is colonized? Indigenous reflections on colonialism in Quebec
“Quebecers are a colonized people.” La Converse discusses Quebec colonial history and many of its consequences with an Innu, a Cree and a Mohawk.
“Quebecers are a colonized people, we were colonized by the English.” These are words spoken in journalism courses, in academic conferences or by Columnists. What do Aboriginal people who live in Quebec say? On this National Indigenous Peoples Day, La Converse discusses Quebec colonial history and many of its consequences with an Innu, a Cree and a Mohawk.
“Our existence is a constant reminder that they are not at home”
Gabrielle Paul is Innu from Mashteuiatsh, a community that speaks French and Innu-aimun, near Roberval. The young woman is a former journalist for Indigenous spaces and is now working as a policy advisor for governmental and strategic relationships for her band council. Did she hear people tell her that Quebecers are a colonized people and what does she think?
“Yes, it's a speech we hear frequently. I think this is something that is being taken up a lot by the Quebec political class. It is often something that comes back, that they can “relate” to what we, the Aboriginals, have experienced, because in their heads, since they were colonized by the English, they [think that they] cannot have reproduced the same thing with us... I cannot comment on how Quebecers feel about their history, but that does not prevent the fact that they act, acted and act again with a colonial attitude,” she tells us in an interview on the eve of National Indigenous Peoples Day.
“I cannot deny the fact that Quebecers have experienced situations throughout history that resemble colonialism in relation to the British Empire. On the other hand, I cannot say that it is at the same level as what we, the Aboriginal people, experienced, whether with the British Empire or with the French,” she adds.
She believes that the territorial dispossession of Aboriginal people by the French is not comparable to the Quebec experience under English rule.
“Everything is linked to the territory. Our language is the sounds of the territory, then our culture is really an expression of our way of life in this territory. So territorial dispossession is the dispossession of everything, in fact it is probably what bothers Quebecers when we talk about Aboriginal people: we are at home, but our existence constantly reminds them that they are not at home, since they have taken territory from other people.”
Taiaiake lives in Kahnawà:ke, the reserve that borders Montreal's South Shore. The Kanienkehà:ka (Mohawk) man is nearing sixty, which is obvious from his vast knowledge, but the energy that drives him resembles that of an enthusiastic young university professor. He has been involved in politics since the 1980s. A specialist in Kanien'kehà:ka politics and history, he has published several books on these subjects. In his latest book, It's All about the Land, it addresses racism and settler colonialism. What does this scholar think of the idea that Quebecers were colonized by the English? “I have often heard this in the media and from politicians but no white Quebec person has yet dared to tell me this,” the historian tells us.
“I think that even the most ardent Quebec sovereignists must still recognize that their name is Charlevoix or Fournier, surnames whose roots do not come from here. It's coming from somewhere else. It would be very difficult for someone to hold on to the status of a victim of colonialism when there is an indigenous person that you colonized right in front of you.”
He recalls that the province was built on the taking of Aboriginal lands. “The fact that the French language in North America is something that people want to preserve and defend is beautiful. But you cannot use the fact that the French were the first colonizers here, and that they suffered under English rule afterwards, to justify, in perpetuity, the erosion of the rights and humanity of anyone else who lives in this territory, which is what Quebec is doing,” adds Taiaiake.
La Converse spoke to Chris Brown, a Cree street worker, about his perception of this issue. We met him at the Atelier Tlachiuak, an art center that welcomes Aboriginal people without a fixed home in Montreal. Chris is from Saskatchewan and has lived in Montreal for the past decade, where he has experienced homelessness in the past. The man with long hair, wearing a T-shirt with the image of a rock band, says he has found more calm with age, which is reflected in the way he expresses himself. He has never heard Quebecers present themselves as “colonized,” but has heard the expression “pure Québecois” — that is, descendants of the first European arrivals in New France. However, in his opinion, this expression implies that these “pure wool” could have an aboriginal right to land.
“Francophones say, “We weren't the 'bad guys', it's the [British] Crown that's responsible for all this!” But for us [the Aboriginals], it's the same. It's a very European way of thinking,” he concludes.
Chris Brown learned about the philosophy that initially justified colonialism in Canada. He feels that it is ignored by some Quebecers.
“I ask them, “Have you heard of [the Doctrine of Discovery]?” And they say “no” to me. I explain to them that it is the statement of the [Catholic] Church that states “What we find in these lands, we will keep in the name of God, because it is his will.” When they discovered that, they were quite shocked. They realize that Canada's history is not simply based on the signing of treaties.”
Decline of French, indigenous languages on the verge of extinction
Last April, the Legault government announced a $603 million plan to “reverse the decline of French in Quebec.” Gabrielle Paul, Chris Brown, and Taiaiake fear that these measures and the accompanying political and media discourse will overshadow the preservation of Indigenous languages.
According to Statistics Canada, from 2016 to 2021, the proportion of Quebecers who had French as their mother tongue fell by less than 3% (from 77.1% to 74.8%) and the proportion of Quebecers who could conduct a conversation in French fell by 0.8% (94.5% to 93.7%). As for 70 Indigenous languages spoken in Canada, they are all assessed as languages in danger of disappearing by UNESCO.
Taiaiake believes that talking about the French language as a “threatened” language is a “rhetorical strategy” on the part of the government. “If [politicians] continue to impose this idea that [French-speaking Quebecers] are victims and that there is a global force trying to eliminate them, any measure will be justifiable because it will be about self-preservation. When we assume that the French language is threatened with extinction by Anglophones or the English language, it is a commonly accepted idea that relieves the government from thinking about its decisions in terms of the common good and the benefits for society,” he argues.
“As long as we think that, the Quebec government will be able to do anything it wants and will be supported by these people who have been told, since childhood, that they are victims,” he explains.
He cites as an example the Law 96. Passed in 2022, it aims to protect and promote the French language, but also restricts the services available in English. Indigenous leaders accuse this law of provoking” An historic setback ” in terms of reconciliation, especially for the English-speaking First Nations of Quebec who prioritize the revitalization of their Indigenous languages. According to APTN, this law has already made post-secondary education less accessible to Aboriginal people. At issue: the new requirements to favour French.
Chris Brown believes that it would be best to use a collaborative approach to promote the French language — and therefore hopes that the government will consider the state of Aboriginal cultures.
“I think they just want to protect [the culture] that they had, that they still have. They don't have to protect it in such a hostile way. I understand that they are losing their language and their culture, but what do you think we [Aboriginal people] are feeling? Because that's what happened to us, so what can we learn from it? It is up to our young people, the next generations to come, to fix all this,” he believes.
However, Chris Brown decided to learn to speak French in order to participate more easily in Quebec society.
“It is essential in Quebec to speak French. Before, I was very resistant to learning it. I didn't want to talk to him. But it was above all a youthful ignorance. As I got older, I realized that I needed this language to talk to a lot of people. Without it, I lost several opportunities, even the possibility of friendships with some people. So I spend more time with French-speaking people and I practice the language,” he explains.
Taiaiake prefers to speak in English. Although he recognizes that the government has granted some exceptions for Aboriginal people as part of measures to preserve French, he believes that on the ground, Quebecers are not accommodating to those who do not speak their language.
“Everyone knows that living in the Montreal region means dealing with an aggressive French-speaking environment. There is very little tolerance in Quebec for people who don't speak French. And not only those who don't speak French, but who don't speak French according to their standards,” he said.
Learn about Aboriginal realities
Gabrielle Paul, who speaks French, believes that her mastery of the language does not always facilitate communication with non-native Quebecers.
“Even if we speak the same language, well, we have ways of looking at the world that are not compatible,” she notes. In fact, she considers that many Quebecers are not open to indigenous knowledge, to differences that are particularly expressed at the political level, for example concerning the importance of the collective or the concept of private land.
She regrets the “patronizing” attitude of the Quebec government towards the First Nations. “As we can see in the discussions we have with the Quebec government, this idea of superiority comes up all the time because they always try to impose their way of doing things, to impose their vision of things, to ensure that Quebec laws can always be applied on our territory. The question of self-determination, they are not there at all.”
These thoughts were given to us a few days before National Indigenous Peoples Day. A great opportunity to come together, believe Taiaiake, Gabrielle and Chris, who do have some reservations.
“I don't really need a special day to celebrate with my friends. Every day is Aboriginal Day for me. But it's good, I suppose, to have a special day for us at the National,” admits Chris Brown.
Taiaiake, on the other hand, thinks the day is too superficial to really celebrate Indigenous people.
“I think [National Indigenous Peoples Day] would be important if all Indigenous people had a day off, if it was a holiday to recognize the injustices and colonialism that has taken place in our cultures, nations, and lands. But I think the way it's presented in terms of a national event is too much like a celebration of our assimilation into Canada's larger culture,” he adds.
Gabrielle Paul also thinks that there should be greater awareness among non-Aboriginal people on this day. “It should be a day of awareness for everyone, you know, to see and then recognize Aboriginal cultures. But you know, I feel like we Indigenous people are really celebrating more, not at the national level.”
Despite the lack of recognition of colonialism in La Belle Province by some Quebecers, Taiaiake, Gabrielle and Chris perceive that this attitude is becoming less and less common among young people.
Taiaiake notes that young Quebecers are more open to the history of their country and challenge the idea that they are a colonized people.
“The idea that they were colonized has evolved, now we are no longer referring to marginalization or oppression experienced in a capitalist society. An oppression caused by the dominant group in economic and political terms, which identifies itself as an Anglophone. I recognize that, and I think a lot of people recognize that as well. The younger generations are sensitive to it, think that it is unfair, this imbalance of power [between Francophones and Anglophones]”, specifies Taiaiake.
Chris Brown says he has met more open-minded non-native friends.
“A lot of my friends say, “We're sorry your land was stolen. It wasn't us, it was our ancestors.” I think that younger generations are increasingly open-minded about the challenges we faced with colonialism. And I hope, in a few years, that there will no longer be such a big division between the French, the English and the Aboriginals,” he muses.
To really move forward, Gabrielle Paul advocates the recognition of colonial dynamics in progress: “The fact that colonialism is not something past, that it is something that is perpetuated over time and then repeated, like. I think that the population could really better understand our issues if that were really better understood.”
The office of the minister responsible for First Nations and Inuit Relations refused La Converse's request for an interview about colonialism in Quebec, saying that Minister Ian Lafrenière “does not seem to be the best interlocutor for this kind of subject.”
Note: The interviews with Chris Brown and Taiaiake have been translated from English.