White Settler Colonialism: Canada and Postcolonial Resistance
Perhaps, at this point, it is appropriate to discuss the relationship between indigenous identity and postcolonial resistance. Despite some opposition to the idea of indigenous activism teaching identity, it is well-documented through postcolonial studies how important resistance to colonial authority has been to the development of identity. Dissent against colonial authority is learned and handed down through generations. Although lacking in their specific attention to Canadian indigenous experience of post-colonial resistance, Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin’s postcolonial critique, The Empire Writes Back observes that post-colonial societies hone their identities in relation to their colonial past and “against international postmodernism” (164). In applying this statement to these indigenous sites of dissent, I will demonstrate how the voices expressed in Idle No More, Yinka Dine Alliance are shaped by post-colonial relationship. Specifically, in relation to Canadian aboriginal dissent, it is imperative that we acknowledge the continuation of colonialism in Canada as pressure has increased to deny indigenous rights and displace indigenous peoples in order to access their resources (Preston 43). Preston argues for increased consciousness about the harmful effects of “white settler colonialism” in Canada: “In the Canadian context, for example, ‘resource’ extraction projects billed as ‘ethical’ economic opportunities for all Canadians obscure and normalize ongoing processes of environmental racism, Indigenous oppression and violence” (43). Further, Preston acknowledges the Idle No More formed in reaction to colonial pressures: “Aided by social media and by Twitter in particular, and in response to the omnibus budget bill, #IdleNoMore was born—a diffuse and flexible call to action” (54). The digital writing environments of Idle No More and the Yinka Dine Alliance are significant examples of post-colonial resistance and the formation of Indigenous identity. Both movements are involved in active indigenous education to raise consciousness about threats to Indigenous survival, and eco-destruction.
Returning again to Ashcroft, et al.’s quote from The Empire Writes Back, I want to draw particular attention to the mention of postcolonial resistance to “international postmodernism” (164). Canada’s controversial extraction of bitumen from Tar Sands and subsequent proposals to build trans-Canadian pipelines, thwarting safety warnings by climate experts, Indigenous gatekeepers, and infrastructure experts has become a shining example of our most recent form of postmodernism—a form that Zygmunt Bauman argues has moved from “. . . the ‘solid’ to a ‘liquid’ phase of modernity” (1). Bauman’s “liquid” modernity is characterized by “a condition in which social forms … can no longer (and are not expected) to keep their shape for long, because they decompose and melt faster than the time it takes to cast them …” (1). One of the Canadian First Nations concerns is that little consideration is being made at this time for the effect bitumen extraction will have on the future generations. They resist postmodernism’s lack of future responsibility. In fact, Bauman characterizes “liquid” modernity with “the collapse of long-term thinking, planning and acting, and the disappearance or weakening of social structures in which thinking, planning and acting could be inscribed for a long time to come” (3). Both Idle No More and Yinka Dine Alliance have criticized both political and industry leaders’ lack of concern for consequences of their decisions, demonstrating resistance to the changes occurring in today’s postmodern society.
Bringing this renewed understanding of the context of postcolonial resistance and indigenous identity formation into the consideration of digital writing environments, I find that the examination of indigenous digital dissent to deserve special consideration for the chasm between composition scholarship and scholarship on cultural literacy. The digital medium fosters certain challenges that require consideration. Getto, Cushman, & Ghosh cite a “need for scholarship that unites research on computers and composition with scholarship on community and cultural literacies” (161). Further, they argue that websites such as Idle No More and Yinka Dine Alliance demand different analysis because they represent a community: “a community website is not simply a text but a bridge between popular and local understandings of what the medium ‘community website’ should represent and how it should work both within the community and outside it” (Getto et al., 164).
Works Cited
Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-colonial Literatures. New York: Routledge, 1989. Print.
Bauman, Zygmunt. Liquid Times. Cambridge: Polity, 2007. Print.
Getto, Guiseppe, Ellen Cushman, and Shreelina Ghosh. “Community Mediation: Writing in Communities and Enabling Connections through New Media.” Computers and Composition 28 (2011): 160-174. ScienceDirect. Web. 17 Feb 2014.
Hoang, Linda. “Hundreds of Natives Across Canada Attend ‘Idle No More’ Rallies.” Warrior Publications. 10 Dec 2012. Web. 14 April 2014.<http://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/hundreds-of-natives-across-canada-attend-idle-no-more-rallies/>
“Idle No More.” Idle No More. n.d. Web. 3 April 2014. <http://www.idlenomore.ca/>
Preston, Jen. “Neoliberal Settler Colonialism, Canada and the Tar Sands.” Race Class 55.2 (2013): 42-59. SAGE. Web. 11 March 2014.
“Yinka Dene Alliance.” Yinka Dene Alliance. N.d. Web. <www.yinkadene.ca>
Digital Dissent and "Indigenous Becoming" 