Dozens of people filled the sidewalk outside Penticton鈥檚 courthouse Monday afternoon to speak out against injustices faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada, while showing support for the families of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine.
鈥淵ou just want to share your thoughts about it. You want to let people know that you鈥檙e standing with them and do something to get rid of the anger and the sadness,鈥� organizer Laurie Wilson said.
She added the Okanagan Nation Alliance wants to do another rally in about three weeks鈥� time, with hopes of going bigger than the approximately 50 attendees on Monday, to keep Indigenous issues present in the conversation, though it鈥檚 unclear whether that will happen in Penticton or 91大黄鸭.
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The rally was planned in reaction to the not-guilty separate verdicts of both Raymond Cormier and Gerald Stanley in the homicides of two Indigenous youth in the prairies just weeks apart. Both stirred discontent across the country over a system critics say perpetuate inequalities of colonialism.
| A member of the Sak膩withiniwak First Nation in Alberta sings at a rally put on by Penticton Indian Band member Laurie Wilson in solidarity with the families of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine. Dustin Godfrey/Western News |
Wilson took aim at a lot of the rhetoric surrounding Stanley鈥檚 trial, which largely surrounded the fact that Boushie and his friends had been drinking.
鈥淚t just says to me that you鈥檙e guilty of being Indian first. If you鈥檙e an Indian and you鈥檙e drinking, you鈥檙e guilty. If you鈥檙e an Indian and you鈥檙e in somebody鈥檚 yard, you鈥檙e guilty. The mentality that allows that is absolutely, pure, 100-per-cent racism,鈥� Wilson said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so many people who wrote in and said these white boys do that all the time. They鈥檙e going out and stealing gas, they鈥檙e going out stealing stuff, they鈥檙e drunk and racing through people鈥檚 fields and nobody shoots at them.鈥�
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But the rally became a forum more broadly on issues facing Indigenous Peoples, including missing and murdered Indigenous women, underfunded education and a lopsided justice system.
鈥淥nce they barely touch the surface of one issue, there鈥檚 a whole gamut of things that have just gone sideways,鈥� said Denise Lecoy, descendant of the PIB鈥檚 hereditary chief.
鈥淪adly, I鈥檓 guessing it鈥檚 going to happen again, but I know at the community level our grandmothers, people, our elected leaders, they鈥檙e working hard every single day. That鈥檚 why we need to raise that awareness and education.鈥�
| Coun. Joan Phillip of the Penticton Indian Band joins in the singing and drumming at end of the rally. Dustin Godfrey/Western News |
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鈥淚 have a representative from our hereditary leadership, pre-colonial, who represented our community, our land, our kids,鈥� Eneas said, pointing to Lecoy, while noting his own position as an elected chief is another example of the settler government imposing systems on Indigenous communities.
鈥淯s standing here together is a part of that reconciliation, along with our non-Indigenous people here. It can鈥檛 solely happen in isolation, and fundamentally, we have to do it together.鈥�
Eneas decried 鈥減aternalism鈥� from the federal government 鈥� rather than making decisions together or allowing self-governance among First Nations, he said the government鈥檚 only advances toward Indigenous representation has been to consult, but not include in the actual decision making.
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Wilson showed some skepticism toward recent promises from the federal Liberal government to put in place another new framework for a new look at Indigenous rights.
鈥淚鈥檓 really disappointed that we鈥檙e still at this stage,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had a look at the MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the Okanagan Nation and the federal government that they鈥檙e trying to kind of sell, and all it is is 鈥榯hey need to be involved in the decisions that we鈥檙e making for them.鈥�
鈥淪o they don鈥檛 get it. They don鈥檛 get what reconciliation is. It鈥檚 like 鈥榳e鈥檝e got to treat our Indians better,鈥� and that鈥檚 all, and it鈥檚 not OK, so don鈥檛 use the word reconciliation when we鈥檙e talking about this kind of racism and injustice crap. It鈥檚 not OK.鈥�
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Dustin Godfrey | Reporter
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