From Trent University to Wet’suwet’en Territory, Respect and Understanding Needed
I completed my undergraduate studies in economics at Trent University, a small research-focused school situated on the banks of the Otonabee River, just outside of Peterborough, Ontario. Trent University is known primarily for both its beautiful campus and world-class professors. However, Trent University also has the well-earned distinction of hosting one of the world’s oldest Indigenous Studies undergraduate programs – in fact, the oldest in Canada – the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies. As such, a very strong relationship has grown over the decades between the university and the Indigenous Peoples of the Peterborough region, many of whom are of Anishinaabeg heritage. The university’s commitment to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada is evidenced throughout its campus and curriculum – which was notably one of the country’s first post-secondary curricula to require a mandatory class in Indigenous studies following the call to do so found in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s “Calls to Action” report. Further, Trent University is home to one of the largest populations of Indigenous students of any post-secondary campus in the nation, and likewise, attracts Indigenous students from a diverse range of backgrounds (from those who live off-reserve or on-reserve locally to Inuit students who often have to fly in and out of the communities they hail from in our country’s far north). These students form the backbone of Trent University’s campus life, and together with their non-Indigenous peers, have created a uniquely Canadian campus experience for anyone who is lucky enough to study at the university.
With all of this said, I imagine the reader now has a very rosy and idealistic image of Trent University as a safe-space for Indigenous Peoples and students, and as a beacon light of hope and optimism in a country that has forever struggled with its dark past of mistreatment, oppression, and genocide against this land’s First Peoples. While this is all somewhat true, I am terribly sorry to share that this is not the entire story. Unfortunately, like so much of our country, the colonial legacy of the recent past hides just under the surface on campus – that is, if it is hidden at all.
Trent University organizes itself using the Oxbridge college system of student-college affiliations for both academic and extra-curricular functions. Of the four primary colleges at Trent University, there is one that stands out amongst the others in terms of prestige, history, and excellence. That college, the college of which I am an alum, is the royal red-and-blue waving Champlain College, named after the renown French explorer and colonist Samuel de Champlain.
As we know, Mr. Champlain established and founded the colonies of Quebec and New France in 1608. This was only a few short years before he travelled through the land that would one day become the city of Peterborough on an expedition in 1615 – even paddling by the shores of what is now Trent University’s Peterborough campus. By most accounts in mainstream literature, Champlain had strong relationships with the Indigenous Peoples he encountered on his early 17th century expeditions West (into modern-day Ontario). However, these accounts often overlook the fact that he and his colonist compatriots were the very catalyst in a number of inter-Indigenous conflicts in the Great Lakes region (generally fought over various aspects of the fur trade) at the time; the most well-known being the Beaver Wars fought between the French supported Huron-Wendat confederacy and their cousins to the south, the Haudenosaunee (the Iroquois). These conflicts, of course, would contribute in part to the dramatic decline in numbers in Indigenous populations in the region over the subsequent 100-year period. In addition, French colonists like Champlain inadvertently introduced a number of “old world” diseases to the Indigenous Peoples of the Great Lakes – such as smallpox and measles – which would further devastate their populations. All told, Champlain’s expeditions into the region are widely seen to have created the conditions, whether intended or not, that led to the eventual formal colonization of the Great Lakes and the Canadian-interior by the British Empire in the 18th century.
Thus, the use of the name “Champlain” invokes a complicated history and itself is symbolic of the conflicting truths we tell ourselves as a country. One of the most progressive post-secondary campuses in the nation with regards to Indigenous issues and education also places in a uniquely prominent position one of history’s most consequential colonists. A man, who to some represents the birth of a nation, to others represents the “beginning of the end” to a way of life.
It is these conflicting truths and realities, whether on-campus or in the country at large, that presently make reconciliation so difficult. Where one may see a glittering city on the shores of Lake Ontario, another may see a grotesque and obscene desecration of a formerly awe-inspiring meeting of rivers and waterways. Where one may see a campus (or a government) dedicated to Indigenous issues, another may see constant and ever-present reminders of the injustices of colonization and its legacy. And where one may see unlawful protestors standing in the way of tens of billions of dollars of economic activity, others may see an illegitimate government imposing its will through force on innocent people only defending their land and sovereignty.
It’s obvious that until we square this circle, nothing much will change. It is hard to come to any reasonable agreement between conflicting parties when neither party fundamentally believes in the same set of realities and truths as the other. It is clear that whether it is some of the hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Peoples or some of the Mohawks of Tyendinaga, there are a considerable number of Indigenous Peoples in Canada who question the fundamental legitimacy of the Canadian state. If the Canadian state has no right to enforce its laws over Wet’suwet’en territory, unceded or otherwise, then it is fair to conclude that the Canadian state has no claim to sovereignty over such territory, and thus, the territory itself is sovereign. This is effectively the position (specific to this territory) of the land defenders of Wet’suwet’en and their allies. Contrast this with the view of the Canadian government that it holds sovereignty over all Indigenous territories – with treaties or without. Both cannot be true. Unceded Wet’suwet’en territory is either under Canadian jurisdiction and subject to enforceable Canadian laws and legislation (including court-ordered injunctions), or it is sovereign and is not.
I’m not an expert on Indigenous treaties, land claims in British Columbia, Indigenous issues at large, or constitutional issues as a whole. However, what I am is someone who has experienced first-hand the conflicting truths we tell ourselves as a country with regard to our Indigenous Peoples. Much like it isn’t possible for two sovereign states to have sovereignty over the same territory, it is likewise impossible to reconcile with and pay tribute to our nations Indigenous Peoples while celebrating and honouring a man who played a vital role in the loss of their way of life.
However, this doesn’t mean that the only way forward is discord and conflict or that this is a zero-sum affair. What it does mean is that there is a need for a greater recognition of what the actual issues are. The Canadian state and many in Canadian society believe that this is an issue solely over territory measured in acreage or compensation measured in dollar amounts. However, what we ought to do is listen instead of assume. Take the controversial protests at Canada 150 events across Canada during the summer of 2017. What was demanded at that time? Land? Money? No – what was demanded was an understanding among Canadians that the country wasn’t born 150 years prior. It was born much, much earlier, and not by the Fathers of Confederation but by a multitude of diverse Indigenous Peoples, virtually all of whom still exist in the country today. It is okay to admit that and it was okay for Indigenous Peoples to demand that this truth be acknowledged.
In my view, it is this recognition of the realities of the creation of the modern Canadian state that will bring non-Indigenous Canadians closer to a place of understanding with Indigenous Peoples. It doesn’t begin to fix the many issues that there are – as evidenced by the situation we now find ourselves in – but it does begin to put us in a place where all sides can at least agree on a common mutual respect for one another and for a common mutual understanding of the history that led us here.
Further to that point are the operative words respect and understanding. These two words, more than any other, have been common among comments made to the media and the public from those supporting the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. Respect and understanding. Not too much to ask. But my name is Corey LeBlanc, and that’s just my opinion.