Taiaiake: Recent Episodes
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The original 1995 book description:
This book is the first comprehensive study of the driving force behind Native political activism, and the only scholarly treatment of North American Indian politics which integrates an explicitly Native perspective. With a broad historical scope rich in detail, and drawing on the particular experience of the Mohawks of Kahnawake, it offers an explanation of Indian and Inuit political activism focusing on the importance of traditional values and institutions in shaping Native responses to the state.
The book explains the recent rise of a militant assertion of sovereignty on the part of Native people in terms of three major factors: the existence of alternative institutions in the body of the nation’s traditional culture; the self-conscious development of an alternative identity; and a persistent pattern of negative interaction with the state. It differs from other analyses focusing on similar factors in that it views nationalism not as a movement which activates in response to external factors, but as a persistent feature of political life which manifests itself in either a latent or active form in response to the interaction of the three factors discussed in the model.
Alfred – Heeding the VoicesDownload
To contribute to the debate on decolonization from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples, we present the notion of Resurgence elaborated by Taiaiake Alfred, one of Canada’s most important Indigenous thinkers. Alfred proposes his notion of Resurgence as a strategy for breaking away from colonial power relations that focus on Indigenous Peoples’ ability to live and develop according to their own thinking systems. We will see that, besides questioning colonial domination, the notion of Resurgence, anchored in the millenary experiences and wisdom of Indigenous Peoples, shows how to prepare the way and create the necessary conditions for a true decolonization.
[Paper written and published in Portuguese]
Link: http://portal.amelica.org/ameli/journal/815/8154373016/
Zema Drummond Pataxo – Resurgence PaperDownload
The Superior Court of Quebec announced its decision on November 1st, 2023 in the White & Montour tobacco trade case. It is a major legal victory for the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke, and the Haudenosaunee, recognizing The Covenant Chain as an unextinguished meta treaty and affirming our people’s right to conduct trade within and between our territories under the terms of ten treaties Kahnawà:ke entered into with the British Crown. The decision also re-defines Reconciliation, expanding it beyond enforcing tolerance or mandating consistency, and requiring the Crown to engage us as “peoples” to reconcile with our sovereignty, law and jurisdiction on a nation-to-nation basis.
The final judgement, in English:
R v White and Montour – jugement finalDownloadThe notice of appeal by the Attorneys General of Canada and Quebec (unofficial English translation):
Notice of Appeal – Canada & Quebec – R. v Montour & White – Richards & Carney unofficial translation)Download
Iontkahthóhtha’ (A Place To Look) is an annual event put on by the Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center in Kahnawà:ke showcasing contemporary and traditional artwork created by Onkwehón:we.My photographs from the 2023 edition of the event…
My photographs from the 2022 edition of the event…
- All photographs are copyright Gerald Taiaiake Alfred and may not be reproduced without permission.
Full colour versions of photographs in the book, It’s All about the Land, published in 2023 by the University of Toronto Press. All images are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission.
Illuminating the First Nations struggles against the Canadian state, It’s All about the Land exposes how racism underpins and shapes Indigenous-settler relationships. Renowned Kahnawà:ke Mohawk activist and scholar Taiaiake Alfred explains how the Canadian government’s reconciliation agenda is a new form of colonization that is guaranteed to fail.
Bringing together Alfred’s speeches and interviews from over the past two decades, the book shows that Indigenous peoples across the world face a stark choice: reconnect with their authentic cultures and values or continue following a slow road to annihilation.
Rooted in ancestral spirit, knowledge, and law, It’s All about the Land presents a passionate argument for Indigenous Resurgence as the pathway toward justice for Indigenous peoples.
Listen to Taiaiake’s August 24, 2023 interview about the book on K1037 Mohawk Radio:
Read an Excerpt and Order the Book from the University of Toronto Press
I was honoured to contribute to a special edition of Recherches amérindiennes au Québec by writing a critical reflection, three decades post-facto, on my first ever academic publication, which was an article about the political situation in Kahnawà:ke in the immediate aftermath of the 1990 Crisis. The new critical reflection as well as the original… Continue reading A Critical Reflection on “From Bad to Worse: Internal Politics in the 1990 Crisis at Kahnawake” →
This paper is a type corrected version of the report I submitted as an expert witness on the question of the sovereignty of the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke in the case of R. v DEREK WHITE AND HUNTER MONTOUR currently before the Superior Court in Montrèal.
This report was produced in support of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s Indigenous Advisory Committee in the development of advice for the Agency on collaboration agreements with Indigenous Peoples in Impact Assessment. Under the direction of the Indigenous Advisory Committee’s collaboration sub-committee, I conducted research on past agreements and arrangements with the intent of… Continue reading Report: Indigenous Collaboration in Impact Assessment →
In this conversation with host Ian MacKenzie I share stories of growing up Mohawk, fatherhood, the demands of leadership and the question of toxic masculinity, naming the necessity for the soil of rooted community to live true accountability – as there is no good man without the health of the land. The Mythic Masculine Podcast… Continue reading No Accountability Without Community →
In this interview with host Chris Swietch, I share my experiences of living and confronting colonialism and striving for decolonization of myself and this land. Light of Success Podcast, Episode 60
Listen here to the extended interview with host Pam Palmater in June, 2020 about the the development of the idea of Indigenous resurgence, and striving to live as an Indigenous resurgent.
Listen here to the extended interview with host Qwaxw of 91.1FM in Nuxalk Territory / Bella Coola, BC on June 21, 2020 about the chapter I wrote for the collection of essays entitled, Whose Land is it Anyway: A Manual for Decolonization.
This lecture tracing the evolution of Indigenous activism in North America was presented at Simon Fraser University’s Institute for the Humanities’ “Then and Now: 1968-2018 Conference” in Vancouver, BC on November 2, 2018: From Red Power to Reconciliation
Video (CUTV): Reconciliation as Recolonization – Concordia Univ., September 2016 Audio Highlights (CKUT Radio): Reconciliation as Reconciliation – September 2016
KEYNOTE ADDRESS National Native title Conference – Darwin, Australia Thursday, 2 June 2016 The presentation details the shortcomings of land claims processes and the limitations of “reconciliation” in Canada as a framework for advocating for justice and decolonizing the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the state. It outlines an alternative vision and set of strategic… Continue reading Land Claims, Reconciliation and Resurgence →