Wasáse FAQs
COMPILED BY WENDY HART-ROSS (ININEW) AND DEBORAH SIMMONS (SETTLER)
Since the formation of the new Wasáse movement and the publication of the Indigenous Resurgence issue of New Socialist magazine, Wasáse members and supporters have been asked many questions about the movement and its principles. Here are our responses.
What is Wasáse and when was it formed?
The word Wasáse is the Kanienkeha (Mohawk) word for the ancient war dance ceremony of unity, strength and commitment to action. The Wasáse movement is inspired by the book of that name by Kanien’kehaka scholar and activist Taiaiake Alfred. The book seeks to capture and convey a new “warrior” spirit: an attitude, a way of being in the world. The movement was formed to enable indigenous peoples to live authentic, free and healthy lives in our homelands. At the Indigenous Leadership forum in June of this year, a gathering of people discussed the ideas of Wasáse and developed a Statement of Principles, the basis of unity for a new radical indigenous movement. There were 32 people from across the continent who made a formal commitment to building the movement. As we go to press, 86 indigenous people from 26 indigenous nations have registered public support for Wasáse principles.
What is the relationship between Wasáse and the New Socialist Group?
The Wasáse movement invites the support of non-indigenous people and organizations who share its principles and commitments. The struggle for self- determination can only be strengthened through solidarity among people who oppose the Canadian colonial-settler state and the global capitalist system of which it is an imperialist component. The New Socialist Group supports the autonomous organizing of indigenous peoples for self-determination. In working to renew socialism from below as part of today’s struggles, socialists have much to learn from Wasáse’s principled and transformative struggle for freedom from colonialism and the other forms of oppression intertwined with it.
What is the role of youth in the Wasáse movement? How does Wasáse address the high rates of suicide and addictions among indigenous youth?
The Wasáse movement taps into the widespread frustration and anger of young indigenous people, and provides a framework for turning this to disciplined action. The core leadership of Wasáse consists of youth; in fact, it can be called a youth movement. Many young people have recognized that the institutions imposed by the colonial system, including band councils and the Assembly of First Nations, are not able to deliver on their promises for a better future. Exploitation of the land for profit is leading to the permanent destruction of the resources inherited from our ancestors. Youth are left to drift in communities, without any sense of identity or direction. The Wasáse movement aims to restore indigenous traditions and engage in political action that can give a sense of empowerment to our youth.
What is the focus of Wasáse organizing and action?
Wasáse is engaged in the development of ideas through public discussion, and it supports direct action. Our starting point is our responsibility to address issues affecting our own communities, and to raise awareness and build grassroots action at a local level. Our most important source of power is the knowledge drawn from our own language, our traditional governance systems, our elders and our relationship with our traditional territories. In building solidarity among the nations, we build upon our diverse strengths, and come to understand the struggles we have in common. We also aim to address the violence that affects our families, and relationships between women and men. This division caused by colonialism weakens our communities and is an obstacle to liberation. We defend our territory from further appropriation and destruction, and we defend our traditional harvesting rights.
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JOIN THE WASÁSE MOVEMENT
For information on upcoming Wasáse events, check our website, www.wasase.org . Email contact@wasase.org with your full names, indigenous affiliation and/or place of residence, and email address to register support for the movement. Supporters are listed on the Wasáse website, and can request to be subscribed to the To:ske listserve, a forum for information-sharing and discussions related to the Wasáse movement.
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WASÁSE ACTIONS TO DATE
. Speakout against the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in conjunction with the AFN Assembly, Vancouver, July 12.
. Support for actions organized by Inter-Tribal Coalition to Defend Mato Paha (Bear Butte, South Dakota), August 7-13.
. Speakout on “The Spirit and Intent of the Treaties” in conjunction with the National Indian Treaties 1-11 Gathering, Vancouver, August 2.
. Wasáse On the Prairies, Saskatoon, October 26.
. Wasáse Radio, www. aboriginalradio. com (in progress).
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Wasáse COMMUNIQUÉ #1
JULY 11, 2006
On the occasion of the Assembly of First Nations Election, July 10-11, 2006.
TO ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Sisters and Brothers:
The Assembly of First Nations and other “national aboriginal organizations” are not the true voice of the original people of this land. The National Chief of the AFN and the other band council chiefs who participate in the Indian Affairs system are not our leaders. They exist and function under the authority of the Government of Canada. They do not speak for our people.
The band councils have divided our communities, corrupted our culture, and spread white-minded thinking among the people. They have weakened our nations and have served as tools for the Settlers to steal our lands and impose their rules on us. The loss of land and the denial of nationhood is the root cause of the suffering among our people. They are threatening our existence as nations.
Band councils and the national aboriginal organizations are funded by and answer to the Settlers. The role of band councils is to administer moneys and to manage programs and services that are funded by the colonial government. Band councils and national aboriginal organizations are parts of the Indian Affairs system. They are Canadian institutions accountable to Canadians, and they do not answer to us. They are not our governments.
Brothers and Sisters:
We reject the authority of the AFN and other national aboriginal organizations and the band council chiefs, and we deny the legitimacy of the Indian Act. The time has come to rebel against the colonial system and its leaders, its structures and its power. We call on you in the spirit of the ancestors to join with us in a rebellion of indigenous truth so that our people and the land may survive.
From sacred land in all four directions of Turtle Island. Angela Grier, Piikani Nation, Blackfoot Confederacy • Dianne Buchan/Anuatin, Oji-Cree • Brock Pitawanakwat, Anishnaabe • Chiinuuks (Ruth Ogilvie), Tla-oqui-aht & Checlesaht Nuu-chah-nulth • Darlene Rose Okemaysim, Beardy’s & Okemasis First Nation • Glen Coulthard, Yellowknives Dene • Jackie Price, Inuk, Nunavut • Jusquan (Amanda Bedard), Haida • Kawenniyohstha (Nicole Martin), Kanien’kehaka • Kowennakon (Bonnie Whitlow), • Kanien’kehaka • Menetia (Elisha Elliot), Wjolelp, Wsanec • Michelle Daigle, Ininew • Hupaltheatuk (Sandra Howard), Mowachaht • Ha’wilth’ap (David Dennis), Nuu-chah-nulth • Na’cha’uaht (Cliff Atleo, Jr.), Ahousaht & Kitselas • N’xwuxqpt (Robert Sterling), N’siskt • Sahonwese Elijah, Kanien’kehaka • Sakej (James Ward), Mi’kmaq • Sarah Dickie, Dene & Stó:lo • Sunka Wakan Num Obnajin (Chris Standing), Dakota • Taiaiake (Gerald Alfred), Kanien’kehaka • Tala Baawaating (Estrella Whetung), Mississauga Nishnaabekwe & Lucbanin • Tizot (Georgina Olsen), Wsanec • Wendy Hart-Ross, Ininew, Kinosao Sipi & Pimicikamak • Xumthoult (Nick Claxton), Tsawout, Wsanec • Yadultin
(Marilyn Jensen), Dakaa Tlingit & Tagish Kwaan
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From issue 59 of New Socialist:
THE RETURN OF RED POWER
Celebrating the Wasáse Movement
By David McNally
IT IS A MOMENT FOR CELEBRATION, reflection, nurturing and debate. Such were my initial reactions to the special issue of New Socialist on Indigenous Resurgence.
Celebration, surely, for the emergence of the Wasáse movement represents for the first time in decades the development of an autonomous, radical, dynamic new voice of indigenous resistance. The Wasáse movement is the rightful heir of the Red Power movement of the 1970s. At the same time, it has already taken significant steps beyond that movement, particularly in its embrace of indigenous feminism. To have confronted the issue of sexual violence is testimony to the courage of the movement’s originators.
More than this, the movement’s willingness to identify with anti-capitalism puts it in synch with the most important movements for global justice today. And its readiness to learn from and adapt tactics of ungovernability from indigenous struggles in Ecuador, Bolivia and Mexico signifies an inspiring transnationalist impulse. The same is true of the willingness to identify issues of class inequality and working class interests within indigenous communities.
What a potent mix: the anti-colonial theorizing of Frantz Fanon, radical socialism, indigenous feminism, class and anti- racist analysis. If the Wasáse movement can bring these into a theoretical synthesis and a practical politics, it will emerge as a real force to be reckoned with.
And this is where reflection will come in. Real movements need an enduring commitment to deepening analysis and popular education. As new challenges of theory and practice emerge, perspectives must be refined, early formulations revisited and reworked. The crucial idea of “critical traditionalism” gets right to the heart of this. The Wasáse movement embraces crucial indigenous traditions, but in a critical spirit in which tradition is reworked as a living force in the present.
Then comes nurturing. Living, breathing radical movements need patient encouragement and attention. Individuals need to find hope and energy through their participation. They need to know that their contributions are valued. And everyone involved needs inspiration derived from collective work. Authentic movements need the energizing effects of solidarity in struggle. They need to test what alliances work, and which tactics fortify activists.
And debate underpins all of this. After all, every individual activist brings their own partial experiences to the movement. These experiences, leavened by memory, history and analysis, contribute to the picture of the world with which the movement operates. But how these pieces fit together, what can best be learned from them requires an unceasing conversation and debate. And none of this is possible without open, democratic, participatory processes.
I offer these initial reflections as someone utterly inspired by this collection of articles, interviews, reviews and statements. The spirit of liberation is at work in the Wasáse movement. Seeds of revolt are being planted, winds of change stirred up. A new politics of indigenous resurgence has emerged. Long live the Wasáse movement.
