All the king’s men

King Charles III opened his speech in Ottawa this week, to the House of Commons and the world, with a vapid land acknowledgement.

The problem with land acknowledgements, as we all know, is they are peppery and sound noble and nice, but they are anything but.

It’s like saying, “I understand and acknowledge you baked this pie, and it’s great, but I’m going to eat the majority of it and leave you with crumbs. I’m sorry, I’m really hungry. You can bake another one.”

Except we can’t make more land.

And that’s exactly what these land acknowledgements have come to represent to anyone who is closely following the political discourse and structure of this country, as it evolves (sideways and backwards, when it comes to our issues) and attempts to move forward in a modern context, still stuck with their collective “Indian problem.”

Some see hope in them, and we did too at first, but when the Bell Centre is playing one before each game while the Molson family, who are worth billions, barely gives crumbs to Native communities, we can hardly take it seriously.

They have gotten more than their share of the pie by utilizing our Indigenous homelands for generational wealth, while we are still trying to figure out how to feel normal, saddled forever with generational trauma.

Reconciliation is supposed to come with these acknowledgments, which disguise themselves as soothsaying proclamations; but truth without action is just another lie.

The king coming to Canada and throwing words towards us as a king, a showing of support and recognition just means he has speech writers who know they can’t ignore this issue smack-dab in the middle of unceded Algonquin land.

It’s not like he’s going to give any of it back, or advocate for that on our behalf, and we don’t really know what he thinks, even if we watched The Crown intently.

So, the colonial system perpetuates in this country and the king is admitting it’s unceded land. Maybe that’s our in, is to take those words, and gather who is saying it and where, and bring it to the courts.

Sue them at their own game with the politicians and the orgs and the sports teams, and even the king, as witnesses for our case.

After all, they are openly admitting it is unceded (and un-deeded) territory, so they are either lying outright as a farce to their own people, or they’re admitting they’re in possession of stolen lands, and therefore, open to be prosecuted in their own justice system, and finally follow their own rules and laws, treaties, and agreements.

We won’t even get into the lip service he paid to us or any other groups in his speech because, well, it’s a speech made of pomp and pageantry. It’s supposed to make enough people feel just good enough and then it’s over.

There’s nothing in it that will make one iota of difference.

At all. Ever.

It’s not meant to be made up of anything tangible, like land back or actual reconciliation with a heavy dose of truth. It is just flowery words for a figurehead to fill time. That’s all it is.

But boy oh boy did the colonialists, the loyalists, and everyone sucking up to the king think it was the best. Wow!

You couldn’t get more of a polar opposite take than ours versus the old boys’ club of Canada.

The only way forward is to work together, of course, because we will never disappear and they are here to stay, but the hard part is getting the real recognition that comes with being sovereign nations.

We are, sadly, nations that have been so decimated by colonial policy, we happily carry out assimilationist plans against our own people.

To move forward we must simultaneously call out the government’s inaction and fight for our future, while holding our own accountable for colonialist misdeeds.

If we don’t reconcile with that reality, it won’t matter how much truth is out there.

No one will listen.

Steve Bonspiel

The Eastern Door