THE INDIAN ACT

     I found out about Steve Sanderson through the CBC show the 8th fire. I loved his story of how people were always so shocked that an aboriginal person was making and drawing comic books. I also love how he made native superheroes. While I was researching stuff about him, I kept seeing one title pop up; Darkness Calls. I looked on the vpl website and it was checked in at the central branch. It was perfect, since I was going to the downtown library anyways to work on the computer there. 

     I had a lot of trouble finding the book. I looked 3 or 4 times through all the YA graphic novel section and did not find it. I asked the librarian who was shelving books for help too. She couldn't find it either and she said it probably means someone has it in the library but hasn't checked it out yet. I was a bit disapointed but I had found a book by Cherie Dimaline (another aboriginal author). I was browsing through some other shelves, when the librarian came up and tapped me on the shoulder. She had found the book. Like so many too many of first nation issues, we had passed over the issue. The reason we had missed it was because it was so thin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      I read the story in the skytrain on the way back home. It was a short read but it was good. It was about a native kid called Kyle that loved to draw. He always drew during classes and his teacher always got mad at him. He was also a victim of bullying from other kids. One day a first nation elder comes to give a presentation to the classes in the gym. Kyle is inspired by the story that the elder starts to weave and takes out his pen and notebook to draw the characters the elder is talking about. His teacher catches him and kicks him out. As he heads home he feels like a failure that will never amount to anything. As he walks through a field and thinks of all the other natives that killed themselves, the elder that was giving the presentation drives up. He finishes the story he was telling in the gym. Kyle starts daydreaming of an epic battle between Wihtiko the evil demon spirit and Wesakecak the good healer. The evil guy is winning and Wesakecak says the only one that can stop the confusion and darkness that Wihtiko is spreading is Kyle. Kyle is taken completely by surprise. He looks into the face of complete evil and utters the words "I don't want to die". He becomes more and more confident and yells at Wihtiko that Wihtiko has no power over him. He keeps shouting over and over, 'I don't want to die!" until suddenly the darkness goes away.

     I read that aboriginal people are 5 times more likely to commit suicide than other Canadians. When we went to listen to native speaker in the auditorium, she said suicidal thoughts were something she had to deal with. And her brother committed suicide. I think suicide and depression are part of the consequences of the Indian Act and the government's assimilation policy. I like how Steve Sanderson uses art to fight these kind of black ideas.

 

     I really felt like the story could have been something about Steve's teenage experience. From what I have seen, I know that he loves to draw. I have e-mailed him, not only asking him about the Indian Act, but also if there are connections. But I realize this could be quite personal, so I do not know if I will get a response.

 

 

 

I got a response! He clearly thought a lot on what he would write and the e-mail made me slow down and think, so I will include his whole response:

 

Hello Eloise,

 

Sorry for the late reply but I've been reluctant to respond due to the heaviness of the question (the former not the latter).

 

I'm reluctant because, aside from the fact I honestly don't know a heck of a lot about the Indian act of 1867, but because what little I do know is that it's a very complicated (Not just in lawful terms but in regards to how it affects my life as an Aboriginal), personal and highly political subject. 

 

I wish I could bang out a quick answer but to be honest there is no quick or easy answer. I can tell you that, yes, the Indian act affects my everyday life but in many ways that are not quantifiable or that can be explained without having gone through the experience of growing up Aboriginal in Canada yourself (I'm sorry to assume, but I am guessing that you're not of Aboriginal ancestry).

 

I hope that didn't come off brusque and I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable for reaching out and asking questions, but the questions about how the Indian act affects my life do make me uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable because what I do know about the Indian Act pains me. It pains me because of the laws created were done so with the intent to destroy Aboriginal people, not just physically but spiritually and emotionally.

 

I'm sorry if this is not what you expected when you decided to reach out to a First Nations person with the intent of gleaning some firsthand insight into your law assignment, I hope you know it is not my intent to upset you or to be truculent but as I said it is a highly personal and political subject.

 

Another reason I'm reluctant to respond with any clear answer is that it is difficult to be the ambassador for an entire people, let alone to answer to the effects of the Indian Act when it has affected different generations of First Nations peoples in varying degrees. I, and my cousins, were the first generation of Aboriginal youth not mandated by law to attend residential school, which is it's own separate, painful subject matter. The older I get the more that realization weighs down on me and the more I realize how unbelievably difficult my father's childhood was, as well as all my aunts and uncles, let alone the previous generations of my grandparents.

 

I don't mean to turn this into a history lesson of the traumatic effects of residential school but unfortunately the two subject matters are interlocked and thus affect my response to the question.

 

 

I do not want to make any statements in regards to abolishing the act or changing it. As I said, I don't know a heck of a lot about the deeper legal ramifications of the many, many laws that make up the Indian Act and so I don't want to put myself in a position where I'm being quoted on something I do not have the full understanding about and can have what I said being the sole representation of the entirety of the First Nations population of Canada.

 

Now, in regards to you other questions; 

 

Yes, drawing was a huge help in dealing with fear in my youth. I was a very extroverted person (In contrast to the character of Kyle in DC) but was rife with anxiety and self doubt. I drew to escape the boredom of school work but also to deal with the fidgeting anxiety that was inside me at all times. My art skills also became a way of getting positive attention from my peers and the adults in my life.

 

As for the connection to DC and my experiences in high school; there are some aspects that are directly related although Kyle is an amalgamation of my cousin Kyle (whom the character is named and designed after) and myself. I didn't grow up on reserve, my cousin did but I did attend an all Aboriginal high school throughout the majority of my high school days.

 

My First Nations heritage did not affect my art style as much as it effects my story telling. My art style is a very western, comic book/anime/Disney style. I had no interest in "traditional" Aboriginal art styles but I was and still am very influenced by traditional stories and storytelling. 

 

Finally, I love creating comics because I get to tell stories with pictures. A true fact is that I never wrote DC or any of my subsequent comic books, I told them out loud, then I would draw them, then I would sit down and think of the characters names, their dialog and lastly the title. A very unconventional way of writing but it works for me.

 

I hope that answers your questions and I wish you all the luck with your assignment.

 

Regards,

 

Steven Keewatin Sanderson

 

I really appreciated his e-mail. I think it shows how complex the Indian Act is, and how deep and confusing the wounds are. His hesitancy to respond is a response in itself that shows how much the Indian Act still affects him today.

 

Check out more of Sanderson's art here