The "Idle No More" Movement: Paradoxes of First Nations Inclusion in the Canadian Context

Abstract

Idle No More, a recent protest movement initiated to draw attention to concerns by Indigenous people and allies about changes in Canada's environment and economic policies, has also raised awareness about social and economic conditions experienced by much of Canada's Indigenous population. While discourses and policies oriented to social inclusion are not as prominent in Canada as in Europe and several other contexts, these conditions and the strategies adopted by governments to address them are consistent with narrowly-framed inclusion policies. We provide an overview of what these conditions represent and how they have come to be framed in the context of the Idle No More movement. However, we extend our analysis to understand how the Idle No More movement and discourses of inclusion and exclusion alike have often been framed in ways that further limit solutions to the problems that they are oriented to resolve by stigmatizing and distancing Indigenous people, especially when they ignore or undermine distinct Indigenous rights and the foundations of formal Aboriginal status. We draw upon Indigenous concepts of justice and critical analyses of power relations in order to explore the contradictory locations and experiences associated with Indigenous inclusion in the Canadian context. We conclude by exploring the movement's contributions to broadened conceptions of inclusion that build upon alternative conceptions of socioeconomic participation and success.

“Indigenizing” Food Sovereignty. Revitalizing Indigenous Food Practices and Ecological Knowledges in Canada and the United States

“…The movement is rooted in ancestral knowledge and the understanding that it is our moral duty to protect the water and land for the future generations. As Terry Wotherspoon and John Hansen assert, Idle No More marked "the re-awakening of an Indigenous tradition and culture grounded in respect for the environment, fostering resistance to the kinds of exploitation of land and water conveyed through many of the terms of Bill C-45" ( [33], p. 23).…”

Elders' Teachings about Resilience and its Implications for Education in Dene and Cree Communities

“…Indigenous knowledge is holistic knowledge, which shapes the current models of most Indigenous adult education programs available today (Hansen & Antsanen, 2015;Silver, 2013 While all types of new and innovative research arrives in classrooms and on university bookstore shelves every year, Indigenous knowledge has always been in the Indigenous community. Some scholars claim that Indigenous knowledge will not fade away as long as Indigenous peoples continue to exist as Indigenous peoples (Adams, 1975;Ermine, 1995;Wotherspoon & Hansen, 2013).…”

Reforming Multiculturalism in a Bi-National Society: Aboriginal Peoples and the Search for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada

“…An overarching emphasis on shared goals and values gives way to "a dualistic constitutional order involving a compact across a deep divide" and recognizes "the necessity to stand apart before the possibility of belonging together differently" (2005:275-76). All of this is already guaranteed under the treaties, and has been affirmed by the 1982 Constitution and the Charter (Wotherspoon and Hansen 2013).…”

“…(Alfred and Rollo 2012) The movement makes continual and explicit references to colonialism, and stresses the need for nonviolent resistance to a federal government that is violating the treaties, destroying the environment, and refusing to consult with First Nations. Both colonialism and racism are seen to be active and pernicious elements in Canadian life (Wotherspoon and Hansen 2013).…”