Her death is undeserving of worldwide mourning: Nancy Kelsey She wrote a letter to James Smith Cree Nation on behalf of the monarch expressing the condolences to the families, the friends, to the community and to rest of the world,” said Chief Burns.Ĭ: Queen Elizabeth II was the modern face of colonization. “Today we found out the monarch that served Canada has passed. She wrote a letter expressing sympathy for the tragic deaths of eleven people in the largest mass stabbing in Canadian history. The older people have a very different opinion about the crown’s relationship with treaty but the younger leadership doesn’t seem to have that same thought.”Īfter a very difficult week in his community, Chief Wally Burns of James Smith Cree Nation released a statement about the passing of Queen Elizabeth. Littlechild says there are differing opinions about the Queen in different generations. “I am wondering if with her death there will be an impact on our treaty relationships with the crown,” he said. “Condolences to the royal family first of all,” said Littlechild. Like many Indigenous people, Littlechild thinks of First Nations and the Crown as having a special, even sacred agreement between them. “Reactions from prominent Indigenous Australians and on social media spanned from sorrow to mockery spurred on by her family’s historically destructive influence on First Nations people.”ĪPTN National News: Indigenous community pauses to reflect on the death of Queen Elizabeth: Mixed feelings about the Sovereign and First Nations relationship with the CrownĪPTN News spoke with Chief Wilton Littlechild, former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission who was on his way to a funeral for a friend in Calgary about the passing of Queen Elizabeth. National Indigenous Times: Indigenous reactions to Queen Elizabeth II’s death from Australia and around the world “Sandy O'Sullivan, of the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University in Sydney, posted a Twitter thread on Friday morning to say that expecting Aboriginal people to react respectfully to the news is 'outrageous'.” "If there's any change comes to us as Aboriginal people in this province it will come directly from the government of the day," Miawpukek Chief Mi'sel Joe shares with the CBC.ĭaily Mail: Indigenous professor is slammed for rant attacking Queen as an 'architect' of colonialism who built her wealth on 'pain and suffering' just hours after monarch died "The Crown has perpetrated terrible abuses against us as a people - been a part of stealing our lands, been a part of passing horrendously racist legislation," Niigaan Sinclair, a professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba, tells the CBC.ĬBC News: After Queen Elizabeth's death, Indigenous leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador reflect on her legacy Natives from countries she reigned over, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia and others have already widely weighed in within the press (selected links and quotes below):ĬBC News: Indigenous groups share condolences after death of Queen Elizabeth, but colonial past leaves some conflicted How she personally treated Princess Diana is a much more popular idea to ponder in the mainstream - even in this moment of international grief - compared to, say, how many Indigenous peoples and nations were destroyed as a direct result of actions of the British Crown. While some people view these reflections as inappropriate given her very recent passing, Indigenous peoples, Africans and others are widely saying that that is precisely the point : She represented an ongoing colonizing force that many blindly and faithfully pledge allegiance to - without ever wanting to examine the negatives behind that same colonizing force and all of the deep, dark policy and transgressions toward Indigenous peoples and others that helped lead to its seemingly everlasting power, prestige and riches. Indigenous peoples worldwide are using the death of Queen Elizabeth II to remind everyone that her own monarchy and many others throughout history have been devastating for Natives of most regions of the globe. Statues of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria were toppled in 2021 as part of protests against the Canadian government’s treatment of Indigenous peoples in residential institutions.
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