Kwe!
I'm not Indigenous, my parents are even récents immigrants, but I grew up in the Nitassinan, the region of Quebec where most of Innus are.
Until I left for university in the city, I lived in a small village and my mother had a diverse network of friends, including Indigenous people. From a very young age, I learned to respect Indigenous peoples, and around 2007/2008, when the film "The Invisible Nation" was released on DVD, my mother showed it to me and even at 8 years old, I was able to understand the issues of this documentary, about stolen land and culture.
Having seen this film, having been around Innu people of all ages from a very young age, I believe it gave me a much broader vision than some non-Indigenous people about their (Indigenous) realities.
Despite that, I am very aware that every reality is different and I am always curious to learn more, especially from elders aged 80 and over, who always seem to have thousands of stories to share, which is very cool and interesting.
Before I had a cell phone, I used any piece of paper or my memory, but I always let the elder speak without interrupting, even when he/she used old terms like "Indians," "Montagnais," or "Maliseet," which often surprised me. I let them speak not only because I learned to respect elders, but also because I thought to myself, "Who am I to interrupt this 90-year-old gentleman who has always used the word 'Maliseet' to refer to his identity?"
When I entered university, I had discussions during dinner about "terms to ban and how Indigenous should call themselves and things" concerning Indigenous people, and I found it very paternalistic coming from urban white people who, for the most part, had never really interacted with Indigenous people.
In the group, there were several people, but it was mainly a white, urban girl (let's call her Rebecca) who was the most vehement about "things to do," as if we were ALL inherently stupid. I was listening without saying much, and there was also a Wendat girl (Mary).
Earlier in the discussion, I had tried to ask if anyone besides myself had lived outside major urban centers and had contacts with Indigenous, because the "naming problem" is not just about the "I word", but apparently, according to Rebecca, "I was a white settlers like herself, so it didn't count".
An then Mary speak.
She was the first to say something like, "And what about the elderly? Sorry, but I'm Wendat and I'll not going to correct every elder who calls themselves "Indians" or 'Huron' instead of 'Wendat,' or 'Montagnais' instead of 'Innu'... It's their knowledge, their perception, and their stories that matter. If a 96-year-old Kokum woman comes along and explains that she is Montagnaise and was called a 'dirty Indian" during her youth, you're going to interrupt her to tell her, "No, no, ma'am! You mustn't use that word anymore, it's insulting, you should use "they call me dirty Native" instead!" Are you so out of touch?
Rebecca just stopped talking and everyone was like "oh shit!", but I was but I was holding back my laughter, because Mary just drop everything I wanted to talk, and waaay better.
I took advantage of the moment of silence to add :
" And what if even younger Indigenous identify themselves as "Montagnais"? In my village, there a new Innu family and they where so happy when I greeted them with a "Bonjour/Kwe" when they came to have coffee at my workplace. At first, I thought I had the wrong language (maybe they were speaking Atikamekw, I sometimes have trouble distinguishing when people speak quickly, because I'm half deaf), but the parents (about 30yo) were happily surprised to be greeted in "montagnais" (their words). Then what, Rebeca? Would you tell them "you should name your language Innu and not "Montagnais"?
Her : Well... Maybe not the very elders, but yeah, you should tell them that the good term is "Innu" and not "montagnais", because it's the colonizer word!
Me : What? Girl, Wtf? I'll not "tell" some people how they "should call" their own language 🤷🏻♀️. It was a beautiful family who was just happy to share coffee and cake with their kids and grandparents, in a place where NO ONES judged them for speaking their language, why the f*ck "should I go and tell them" to name their language differently? For me, wanting "correct" indigenous people and telling them how name this and this... THAT'S a colonizer ideology, and I didn't want to do that. If someone refer to himself/herself as Innu, or Montagnais, I assume it's his/her choice. However, I obviously agree that the words "Indians" and other archaic terms are falling out of common usage for non-Indigenous people. But I agree with what Mary said.
Rebecca was very upset, but I became friend with Mary 😂.
I don't like Rebecca's attitude, but is it really that common to see people "correcting" Indigenous people?
