I’m back in the US but not without a story to tell yet again from what it was like to cross the U.S. border as a Native-black-haired-darker skinned-young-woman-travelling-alone.

To give you some background, I have been stopped and questioned repeatedly in higher security levels when I bothered to tell the whole truth about why I was crossing. And let me tell you, they sure don’t like fighting for reproductive freedom or working for Native American rights.

In fact, last year when I actually said that I was going to do some work with the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center, I was told to move to the next security level where I was fingerprinted, photographed, and had to explain my ancestry and why I would want to do “work like that”.

So I’ve learned to say the lesser activist reasons as to why I’m going to be in the US.

This time around I’m driving, and what do I see when get down to the long lineups for border crossing but 3 border patrol officials who are standing around amongst the plethora of cars, looking all stern and serious. This is new to me, I thought if you were going to be “randomly searched” it would happen when you at least get to the official in the booth.

Not anymore.

(more inside…)

Update: This post originally stated that June 13th was the initial date of National Aboriginal Day and that it was later moved to June 21st. It has been updated to read that June 21st was the designated date from the beginning.

Governor General Roméo LeBlanc signed the proclamation formally on June 13, 1996 designating June 21st as National Aboriginal Day. This date was chosen for its cultural significance - it marks the summer solstice, which is the first day of summer and the longest hours of sunlight we see during the year.

Every day to me is National Aboriginal Day; I’m a proud Native woman when I wake up every morning and when I go to sleep every night. I sort of equate it to the whole celebrating love only on Valentine’s Day kinda thing, but it’s good to take a moment to reflect on the rich heritage of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of this land.

Are you doing/thinking/reflecting on anything for this year’s National Aboriginal Day?

Click here for a full listing of events across Canada.

My sister and I, proudly representing the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations, Iroquois peoples)

This is racist food for thought from the Vancouver Courier:

“Mass immigration, mainly from the Third World, threatens to irrevocably alter the culture of western nations. In his article, Steyn compares shrinking western populations with exploding birthrates in Muslim countries. “Islam has youth and will,” he writes, “Europe has age and welfare.”

So, if changing demographics sweep Canada’s dominant Euro-centric culture into history’s dustpan, why should we care?

Here’s why. European culture spawned the now-universal tenets of democratic rule, personal freedom and Christian-based virtue—not to mention many of civilization’s greatest scientific and technological achievements. Immigrants flock to Canada not because it resembles the land from which they flee, but because of our liberating Euro-centric society.

Quebecers understand. Last year’s “reasonable accommodation hearings” officially acknowledged widespread anxiety in la belle province. Quebecers lined up to voice their concern about foreign influence on Quebec culture, thus demonstrating that the altering affects of immigration should be discussed openly—for the benefit of immigrants and residents alike.”

As the full article will tell you, the author is referring to immigration rates in Canada and actually talks about the lawsuit against the oh-so-right-wing Maclean’s from the Canadian Islamic Congress. In 2006 Maclean’s published an article by Mark Steyn entitled “Why the Future Belongs to Islam”, which they correctly allege discriminated against Muslims on religious and racial grounds contrary to Section 7 (1) of the B.C. Human Rights Code.

(For the record, that whole situation in Quebec I personally think unfairly represented what is also true in the rest of the provinces and territories)

Last time I checked, EVERYONE IS AN IMMIGRANT, and unless you are Aboriginal, the differences lie a few generations away from each other. And even then our First Peoples have varying stories of where we came from.

I’ve been remiss in not posting this sooner, but tomorrow night is the relaunch of Piece of my Heart: A Lesbian of Colour Anthology. Thanks to contributor Dianah Smith for the heads up on this great event!

This is an official Pride Toronto event.

Matters of the Heart: A celebration and relaunch of Piece of My Heart - A Lesbian of Colour Anthology

Thursday, 19 June 2008 (7 p.m.)
The Revival Bar
783 College Street West
Toronto ON

Piece of My Heart was edited by Makeda Silvera and published by Sister Vision Press in 1991. It was the first North American anthology of literature by lesbians of colour and was a finalist for the the American Library Association, Gay and Lesbian Book Award.(more inside…)

In the light of all this Hillary being a woman supporting, I’m wondering why we haven’t blogged about the blatant racism that Obama has faced.

So I found a good one from West Virginia, in case you had any doubts about racism being alive and real and that this has everything to do with having REAL feminism in office.

Today seems like a good day to post Buffy Sainte-Marie‘s heartbreaking song My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying. It’s a brutally honest and powerful comment not just on First Nations history but on how that history has been censored, covered up, and just plain ignored. This version was performed in the 60s on Pete Seeger’s show Rainbow Quest; Buffy Ste-Marie is playing at the Montreal Jazz fest this summer along with various other fests across the country. She is amazing.

Today’s the day that Stephen Harper is scheduled to apologize for the horrors of the residential schools where Aboriginal peoples in Canada were imprisoned for decades, creating generations of abuse and also of survival.

The apology is scheduled for 3pm today in the House of Commons and you can watch it online livestream on the CBC here.

For me, the government’s apology comes too late to be meaningful. It isn’t happening in concert with acknowledging the multiple thefts of land and culture that are still ongoing in land claim disputes, cultural appropriation, and lack of basic resources like clean water, culturally-relevant and sustaining education.

If I can find any hope today, I want this apology to galvanize and influence white settler folks. Sadly, I think that white folks are more likely to respond and react to white people talking about racism and cultural genocide than the survivors themselves. Will hearing Stephen Harper apologize start the unlearning?

For many, it will do nothing. For others, it will mean something. What does it mean to you?

I’m in the midst of some amazing and emotional youth work up here in northern British Columbia that I’ll fill you in about later, but for now I want to refer you to a tasty sample of the incredible, barrier-busting voice of Native youth.

May 29th was the First Nations National Day of Action, called for by the Assembly of First Nations to show our discontent with federal treatment of Aboriginal Peoples.

Many events took place around the country, but I picked up on this story about Ojibwe youth in North Bay, Ontario who are actively educating their peers about the long-standing oppressive effects of the Indian Act, and switching it into modern terminology for today’s generation to understand.

“Section 1: All Whites must carry a card identifying that they are white.”

“Section 3: No White is allowed to leave the reservation for longer than six months or else he/she will no longer be White … regardless if the White has gone to fight in World Wars, found work off the reservation or going to university, they will lose their status.”

Imagine if that was really the case. What would it look like?

Shameless writer Zahra Rasul just sent me a link to this article about Dunkin Donuts pulling a TV ad with Rachael Ray. The celebrity donut-hawker is wearing a scarf that looks “too Palestinian.”

Rachael Ray lectures us on the evils of American imperialism. Solution to this problem? Buy Dunkin Donuts!

And here I was worried that once Mary Kate Olsen wore one, the keffiyeh became a depoliticized and empty symbol of vapid celebrity! I guess it still has symbolic power when it is draped around the neck of someone whose doesn’t look quite as white as the Olsen twins.

Of course it all started with the conservative Michelle Malkin calling it “the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.”

But the question remains: is it, or isn’t it a keffiyeh? And what the heck does a keffiyeh really symbolize, America?

Stay tuned for the next print issue of Shameless to find out, where Zahra will take a look at the keffiyeh’s history. And of course, check out Thea’s blog post on keffiyeh too.