#CancelCanadaDay with ICA
There is a growing call from a broad sector of Indigenous peoples and settler society of so-called Canada to cancel “Canada Day” celebrations this year in the wake of the recent findings of over 1300 unmarked graves outside of residential schools across the country. Many are calling for this year's celebrations to cease and the day commemorated as a day of mourning.
It’s time for settler society, and our own communities, to question what is being celebrated and what we are condoning when we participate in the pomp and circumstance of what is now known as Canada Day.
Calls to Cancel Canada Day, or host Anti-Canada Day celebrations, is not new and isn’t just because of the recent findings of unmarked graves but rather a call to end the celebration of colonial rule and power in general. For decades different iterations and forms of Anti-Canada Day events have been held and profiled. Many have used this day to highlight the historic abuses of settler society and governments; publish essays from Indigenous peoples and settlers about why they don’t celebrate the day or how colonial governments are responsible for the genocide and annihilation of Indigenous peoples; and to acknowledge that many Indigenous peoples don’t recognize the colonial state as valid or legal given centuries of Treaty violations and broken promises.
This movement to denounce the celebration of colonial power is not unique to so-called Canada. In Australia, Indigenous movements have been calling for a rebranding of Australia Day to Invasion Day and for the day to be recognized as a day of mourning as opposed to celebration; and in the USA, the movement to rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day goes back to 1992. Global Indigenous peoples movements are founded often on challenging colonial structures by denouncing them, asserting their sovereignty and self-determination, and calling on allies to join them in exposing the historical and lived abuses at the hands of colonial structures. The call to Cancel Canada Day is no different.
Canada Day celebrates a history that actively committed genocide against Indigenous Peoples. It celebrates a country built on racist policies that robbed Indigenous women of personhood; sanctioned the kidnapping and murder of Indigenous children; sanctioned the starvation of entire nations to make room for settlements and businesses; criminalized our languages, ceremonies and cultural practices; and a system that still actively criminalizes Indigenous peoples at large.
In addition to a laundry list of human rights abuses targeted at Indigenous peoples, Canada utilized indentured workers (a form of slavery) to build the infrastructure of the country for the use by white settlers, and then subsequently created countless roadblocks for People of Color to be recognized as full citizens. In the case of Japanese people during WW2, Canada gathered, and in some cases separated, families and placed them in internment camps where they were forced to create roads and perform other physical labour simply because of their race. All of these policies and practices were developed to enforce a system of white supremacy that looked at non-white people as undesirable or less than. The white supremacist foundations of Canada continue to maintain a stronghold that is so visceral that as an Indigneous person I am regularly asked where I come from, based on the assumption that only white people belong in, or are from, the country. This ideology further erases Indigenous peoples, our culture, our languages, our economies, our education systems and governance systems that existed for thousands upon thousands of years pre-colonization.
Once colonial power and rule was firmly in place, the Canadian government went to work to parcel out Indigenous lands and territories without our consent, a violation of Treaty agreements, for extractive and capitalistic industries. The extractive roots of this country have and continue to decimate our lands, waters and lifeways in order to uplift colonial power and economic systems. These industries are responsible for climate instability and are creating devastating climate consequences and exacerbating the climate crisis while violating human rights and the rights of Indigenous peoples.
The culmination of these genocidal and oppressive systems has resulted in a skewed and white washed perception of the history of this country. This isn’t some dark chapter in the history of Canada, Canada is a country founded on the active murder, erasure, and exclusion of Indigenous peoples and other People of Color. Celebrating Canada can be, and is, a painful reminder to many Indigenous peoples and People of Color that we are not welcome here.
While so-called Canada claims to want to engage in a process of Truth and Reconciliation, we have to recognize that this is not possible until we address and undo 153 years of racist, white supremacist and genocidal policy and governance. This can start by canceling Canada Day celebrations and begin building back reparations through LAND BACK. Not just another payout, we want, demand, and need land back to begin to build power back, our culture back, our communities back. We Want It All Back. Otherwise there is no substance behind buzzword filled apologies.
We also can’t just denounce Canada Day this year but we need to be re-evaluating what this day means in the years to come and find ways to acknowledge and celebrate decolonization, not colonization.
This year we welcome you to join Indigenous Climate Action and other Indigenous grassroots organizations as we offer an alternative to colonial celebrations. There are currently many cities, municipalities and communities that are canceling Canada Day celebrations and you can join this growing movement. There is no pride in 153 years plus of organized genocide.
Upcoming events to participate in:
June 30, 2021: ICA’s Executive Director, Eriel Deranger is scheduled to discuss the importance of canceling Canada Day on CBC’s Canada Tonight with Ginella Massa (5:00pm -7:00pm MST).
July 1, 2021: Starting at 11:00am MST, join ICA for an Instagram LIVE conversation with Idle No More’s Amy Smoke and Shawn Johnston as they discuss the problematic nature of Canada Day and why we should cancel the celebration of colonialism and genocide.
July 1, 2021: Idle No More has compiled a list of #CancelCanadaDay actions across so-called Canada on their website. Find an event near you.
Support Indigenous-led grassroots organizations:
Make a symbolic donation of $153 to Indigenous Climate Action to support our Decolonizing Climate Policy work and our Solidarity Fund that goes directly to frontline groups.
Donate to Idle No More to support amplifying community voices across Turtle Island.
Follow and support your community’s local Indigenous leadership and events.
Eriel Deranger
Executive Director
Indigenous Climate Action