History, Truth, and Indigenous Diaspora

1. My story is nestled within my mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, & ancestral stories. Stories are tied to land. #Beyond150CA

2.“Place implies belonging,...and is imbued w/ memories that give life direction.. place establishes identity” Windsor&McVey #Beyond150ca

3. Land + Stories = History = Present = Future . The land is a bridge that connects us. #Beyond150CA

4. I am Dane Zaa, Nehiyaw, & mixed blood from Prophet River FN. Indian band 544. My maternal lineage is #Bigfoot #Beyond150CA

5. The Chief from 1911 to 1930 is listed under the name of Bigfoot, No. 6 Siccanni Bands. Bloodline signed #treaty8 #Beyond150CA

6. I didn’t learn my history in a classroom. I learned the real one on the land from my elder’s mouths. #Beyond150CA

7. If anything the history I learned in classes created divisions amongst peers. #Beyond150CA

Read more: “Those Who Win The War Write The History”

8. One sided history that dominates creates dichotomies. A continual “Us vs. Them” that plays out in policies #Beyond150CA

9. Dane Zaa territory is continually being reconfigured and reshaped via oil and gas extraction & reservoirs #Beyond150CA

10.The continued colonization of lands is a denial to Indigenous history, present, and futures. #Beyond150CA

11. Respect & reconciliation requires unflinching truth bearing historical accounts #Beyond150CA

12. Understanding and respecting ways of being and knowing is nothing short of necessary #Beyond150CA

13. Remember: Land + Stories = Past = Present = Future. Time is not linear #Beyond150CA

14. Land contains and maintains who we are. When landscapes change dramatically, what does that mean? #Beyond150CA

15. Erasure & obliteration of landscapes is a continued refusal of right to history/right to futures 

See the Atlas of cumulative landscape disturbance in the traditional territory of Blueberry River First Nations, 2016

16. “to live in a land of strangers in a place where their past & ours do not cross – we have no history” Windsor & McVey #Beyond150CA

17. Some of our stories are beneath roadways, under reservoirs & tailings ponds, under drill pads and lease sites #Beyond150CA

18. Resource extraction & development further stops us from creating new stories on land via access blocks & contamination #Beyond150CA

19. There are places my grandmother took me I can only tell my son about now. #Beyond150CA

20. Indigenous Diaspora = To be out of place/in place. You don’t leave ancestral land, it shapeshifts. 

Read more: “Indigenous Diaspora: Out Of Place In Place”

21. I watch history repeat itself. I am only 29 but 1867 leaves a bitter taste in my mouth #Beyond150CA

22. Indigenous “activists” work for past, present, and future. They are our historians and ensure our futures. #Beyond150CA

23. We can work towards new futures with righting slighted history that favours understanding #Beyond150CA

24. We all have versions of the truth, mine just happens to come from my elders. #Beyond150CA

25. They say it takes 3 generations to heal trauma. Ethnocentric mindset healing would take the same or more #Beyond150CA

26. Revolution has always been a long term endeavour. Plant seeds. Water them. Trust. #Beyond150CA

27/27. Truth tell history like you smash patriarchy. #Beyond150CA #thatsallshewrote

If you would like to see the comments and questions shared in response to Helen Knott’s presentation, please explore the Storify. You can follow Helen Knott on Twitter @helen_knott