A new course offered by RAVEN, Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs, a Vancouver-based nonprofit, aims to help non-Indigenous people learn about some of the hard-to-digest aspects of the history of the… country, and with humor to soften the blow. RAVEN is an organization that raises funds to help indigenous communities with legal defenses, primarily in environmental cases.
Titled Home on Native Land, the course is a self-paced course on indigenous law, colonial history, and environmental injustice that is broken down into 10 modules. Users can browse videos and cartoons starring prominent Indigenous thinkers, scholars, and legal experts, all with lots of laughs.
The host of each of the 10 videos is Anishinaabe comedian Ryan McMahon.
“When something is told in a funny way, you can kind of open up and adjust and process things that you normally react to negatively,” says project manager and filmmaker Leena Minifie.
“That belongs in science, but also in indigenous traditions. We always use humor to tell stories and share anecdotes about how to lovingly correct people… We always tease or poke fun and bring light and lightness to the situation,” she said.
Home on Native Land begins with a module entitled Who Owns the Land Anyway? and then moves through nine more lessons with clever titles like Trick or Treaty, The Indian Act or Act Indian, Your indigenous legal history sandwich”. ‘ and ‘The Big S Words – sovereignty, self-determination and self-government’.
The course explores a range of topics including the importance of treaties; traditional land claims; hunting and fishing rights; the relationship between the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and historic, ongoing attempts at genocide and assimilation; environmental law; and the intersection of multiple legal systems, particularly indigenous law, and how it can slip between the chinks of provincial and federal law.
Though the subject is serious, McMahon cracks his first joke just minutes into the first module, discussing Manifest Destiny, the idea that colonizers were “blessed by God to expand territory.”
“Do you think God would buy me a mansion in Vancouver?” McMahon asks, turning to a crew member standing next to him.
He gets a disapproving look from the crew member and continues. “Oh no? Stick to the script… that’s fine.”
His first guest on the show is Jeff Corntassel, an academic and comedian. Corntassel is Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Victoria.
“Terra Nullius sounds like a bad name for an emo band,” McMahon tells Corntassel.
“Or like a virus… I’m infected with Terra Nullius,” jokes Corntassel.
For readers whose curiosity has now been piqued, terra nullius was the colonial idea that the land was “empty” because it was not being used for practices such as agriculture.
“It boils down to this whole notion that you have to mix your work with the soil in order for it to be your land. And what it really meant back then… back in the 1490’s and to this day, is this idea that these are non-Christian people in this land,” Corntassel says in the video.
Terra Nullius is one of the concepts used by colonizers to justify the occupation and takeover of indigenous lands, along with the doctrine of discovery and manifest destiny.
powerhouse teacher
There are a number of knowledgeable speakers in the learning modules. These include Karen Pugliese, Professor of Journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University; Glen Coulthard, a UBC professor of indigenous studies; dr James Makosis, an Indigenous doctor and clinical professor at the University of Alberta (and reality TV star from The Amazing Race Canada); Kukpi7 (leader) Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith Indian Band; and John Borrows, Professor of Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria.
“Every single one of them is some kind of powerhouse,” Minifie said of the 10 speakers who attended the course.
RAVEN CEO Susan Smitten said the idea for the course grew out of frequently asked questions about RAVEN and their work – questions that are complicated to answer and that require a great deal of time and education to answer well.
At one point during their research, RAVEN hosted a live stream event where callers’ questions were answered.
“People were literally calling with questions like, ‘What do I tell my uncle if he shows up for Thanksgiving and he’s a racist?'” Smitten said.
“John Borrows sat there and was like, ‘Well, I would use that as an opportunity to get curious. How come he has that opinion? Where did he get that opinion?’ So we took all of what we learned and some of the questions and the thought-provoking answers,” she said.
A special collaboration
Based on the questions and feedback, the RAVEN team spent three years creating the course.
That team includes a graphic designer, Warren Leonhardt, who has worked for Disney, Smitten said. Leonhardt contributed all of his work free of charge because he felt it was so important.
The course also features a special collaboration between artists that now has a certain sentimental value. Heiltsuk artist Mervin Windsor and Dene artist John Belton collaborated to design the logo for the course, which consists of an image with the shape of Canada but with artistically rendered animals to fit within each province and territory. The map has been adapted from Windsor’s earlier work.
“John and Mervin worked together and digitally restored his map, and then Mervin and his family gave us permission to use it. And then, sadly, Mervin died unexpectedly last year. We believe this is an opportunity to honor him and his artwork,” said Smitten.
Anyone looking to brush up on their knowledge of Canada’s colonial history and relationships with Aboriginal, Inuit and Métis people – including anyone who is about to have a family dinner with a racist uncle – can access the course on RAVEN’s website. ![[Tyee]](https://thetyee.ca/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
