Acimowin: To Tell a Story

(TW for video and linked article: sexism, racism, sexual assault, murder)

Megan Bertasson  (Whitebear Woman, Wolf Woman; Cree woman) gives a talk on the importance and impact of Cree storytelling – including storytelling as resistance – and proceeds to tell a horrifying story about the treatment of Cree people, especially Cree women. Delivered at TEDxYorkU 2012. 

The talk is a powerful reminder of the abysmal of First Nation/Native American/aboriginal women in the past – and today. On this topic I can also recommend this Guardian article on how today, 1 in 3 Native American women report being sexually assaulted at least one in their lives – mostly by Non-native men. 

As the USA celebrates Thanksgiving today, a holiday inextricably linked to the initial contact and ensuing violence between European settlers and Native Americans, it is important to remember the past and current condition and treatment of aboriginal people in America. It’s a situation that quite frankly leaves me feeling powerless, speechless and terrified. And I’m a European white male outsider. I can’t even  begin to imagine how it must be for the women (and men) affected. The video above might give a glimpse into how that feels. 

 (via  / by TEDxTalks)