Indigenous Culture and the Blindness of Capitalism

In the January 25, 2013 edition of HuffPost Politics (Canada), you will find a blog by Diane Weber Bederman entitled, "The Left's Betrayal of the First Nations".  It is a classic example of how certain destructive forces in our society are attempting to totally distort and deceive the public about positive, Aboriginally driven movements such as Idle No More.  Although the views contained in this article are without any merit and warrant our contempt, I include the link to this article for two reasons: 1) it is an education in itself in that it demonstrates the flim flam and incomprehension of Conservative attacks; and 2) HuffPost censors refused to print my rebuttal to Bederman's blog in their comment section.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/diane-bederman/idle-no-more-left_b_2546243.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Based on her article, this author does not have a clue about either indigenous world views or left wing ideology. She defines neither, and instead uses a Tea Party-like peppergun approach to villify anyone who questions capitalism, colonialism, globalization or simply stands up for and with Aboriginal Peoples in their quest for justice and fairness. I'm sure Paul Martin, our former PM and a successful capitalist, now devoting his energies to Aboriginal causes, would be amused to find himself in the company of left wing ideologues.  According to Bederman, if you are concerned about socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal people and try to exercise some some responsibility for those conditions, you stand in the way of capitalism and are betraying Aboriginal people.  And you are a "left-wing fundamentalist" (which is sort of like military intelligence, or more accurately, cognitive dissonance).

First of all, Bederman's assumption that traditional indigenous culture is so weak and primitive that it is open to manipulation by either the left or the right has to be thoroughly and completely denounced.  She is presenting a pseudo-analysis that is entirely based on the Eurocentric notions which are at the heart of the malaise we find ourselves in with settler/immigrant and Aboriginal relations.  Idle No More, and certainly traditional indigenous perspectives, are neither left or right, nor are they centrist.  Aboriginal world views belong to a totally different paradigm as to how to understand life, the earth, society, relationships or even what we know or don't know.  For instance, First Nations culture does not distinguish between the planet and the people that live on Earth.  Neither do many environmentalists, as Bederman suggests.

It is true that there have been many well-meaning attempts to do something about unacceptable socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal Peoples by those who may be reasonably considered as "left" leaning or actual self-confessed left-wing activists.  Many projects and programs have been initiated but they have not been sustained nor have the multitude of these attempts made a marked improvement in the socio-economic conditions being addressed. Just as their right-wing counterparts, many on the left have failed to understand the strength and essence of indigenous culture.  I could write a longer essay on the disconnect between the left and traditional Aboriginal culture, which makes the Bederman blog all the more specious.

But where the strength and uniqueness of indigenous culture is seen most starkly is in its resilience in the face of the most concerted onslaught of obliteration imaginable at the hands of capitalists and colonialists. And they have not quit - we do not yet live in a post-colonialist age as clearly demonstrated by the hunger strike of Chief Theresa Spence and the growing Idle No More movement. Indigenous culture is still here and growing despite centuries of attempts by capitalism and colonialism to assimilate, acculturate, decimate, isolate, alienate or annihilate.  Despite my critique of the left in relation to Aboriginal issues, they were just trying to clean up the mess created by capitalism, colonialism and globalism.  Capitalism has not worked, and never will work, within the context of indigenous culture.  

There are many more critiques that could be made about the Bederman blog but it is ironic that she ends her vitriol with a reference to the play, "Waiting for Godot", suggesting that Aboriginal people will be trapped in the past if she and her lot can't drive a wedge between Aboriginal people and anti-capitalists.  The men who were waiting for Godot were visited by a slave-trader, Pozzo, and his slave whom he had singing and dancing for the men waiting.  The next day the same slave-trader again came by the two men waiting for Godot but this time the slave-trader was blind.  Seems like Pozzo is still with us.