Building solidarity among indigenous peoples
Building solidarity among indigenous peoples
VERNIE Yocogan-Diano (right) spoke at the “Women of Courage: Gendering Reconciliation” panel at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in Montreal.
By Beatrice Paez
Indigenous activist Vernie Yocogan-Diano said she started as a late bloomer. Early in her career she pursued human rights work, but her commitment and passion grew with time.
“I was doing the work, but I felt more of an employee,” she recalls. A decision to volunteer with the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, a coalition of organizations dedicated to defending the ancestral lands of indigenous communities, changed her perspective.
Since then, she has been at the forefront of campaigns waged in the name of self-determination for indigenous people. This spring, she is embarking on another leg of her advocacy journey in Canada, with a focus on building linkages with the First Nations people in Canada.
Yocogan-Diano spoke at the “Women of Courage: Gendering Reconciliation” panel at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in Montreal, at Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth. The TRC was established in 2009 to record the systematic abuse faced by aboriginals who were torn from their families and sent to residential schools.
As part of the Canadian government’s policy of assimilation, more than 130 church-run residential schools were set up across Canada. Over 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were placed in these schools to sever ties to their cultural heritage. In many instances, students were often prohibited from speaking their mother tongue and carrying out cultural traditions.
The schools were in operation from the 1870s until the last one was shut down in 1996. Residential school survivors from Quebec and their families were in attendance at the national event to tell their stories.
The “Women of Courage” panel was co-sponsored by KAIROS, an ecumenical aid organization to build international linkages with indigenous communities.
At the event Yocogan-Diano expressed her solidarity and illuminated the similarities in their struggle to defend their culture.
“Congratulations to you for having the courage to fight for your dignity, pushing the Canadian government to apologize for the injustices caused by the residential schools,” she said. “My ancestors resisted colonization. The Spanish used the sword and the cross, and were followed by the Americans who used the cross and welfare.”
The ancestral land of the Igorot people is as rich in natural resources as the land on which Canada was built, and is what drew foreign interest then and is what is driving economic development now, she noted.
Mining operations that blanket the land now have come at an unrecoverable cost, and threaten their sustainable practices. Indigenous women have been displaced from their primary source of livelihood, agricultural production and resource management, she explained. “We’re told [by the government] to sacrifice for the majority.”
Foreign resource development corporations, many of which are Canadian-run, have plotted out projects that cover 60 per cent of their land. Fierce resistance and opposition to these developments have been met with militarization, she told her audience.
The Philippine government, she argued, has not made a concerted effort to protect their rights and interests ahead of the investors’ agenda. Similarly, she noted that much work lies ahead for the Canadian government and its citizens in efforts to give First Nations a more prominent voice in politics and society.
With respect to the reconciliation process, she said, it cannot be defined on the government’s terms, but needs to be based on respect and grounded in the principle of self-determination.
“Canadians need to recognize this as part of the history of Canada, all Canadians should know about the residential schools and be involved in rectifying this [historical wrong],” she told the Philippine Reporter in an interview.
She first learned about the residential schools scandal in Canada through her organization, Innabuyong’s partnership with the United Church of Canada and KAIROS.
Her ties to these organizations have provided an invaluable experience in learning and connecting with other indigenous groups, to hear their testimonies and gain a broader perspective of the varying issues they face.
The activist hopes that Filipinos will also take an interest in understanding the impact and legacy of the residential school system, and that they do more than simply trace their roots.
“There are common issues. We need to build solidarity with indigenous people all over the world,” she said. “The voice becomes stronger when indigenous people come together.”
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