In addition to the rape chants used during University of BC’s frosh week, it has now become known that a racist and misogynist anti-Aboriginal chant was also used during the welcome-back-week activities.
Reports say the chant of “white man, steal our land” was used by a team of Commerce Undergraduate Students called “Pochahontas” as they were sitting in a circle, imitating playing drums. Pocahontas has become a romanticized Indigenous figure and is often used to justify white men’s entitlements over Indigenous lands and Indigenous women.
This mocking chant is just one instance of the racism Indigenous students experience daily on campuses, in the workplace, and in the community. Our focus shouldn’t be on the individuals who participated in this chant, but on the fact that this ignorance and lack of education regarding Indigenous people breeds the racism that runs rampant on our campuses across the nation.
With the last residential school closing in 1996, the violent, colonial history of Canada is more recent than people think. The effects of residential schools are still felt today by our Indigenous students and the intergenerational trauma is estimated to be felt for seven generations.
This nation has been built on the exploitation of Indigenous people’s lands and natural resources and promises that are repeatedly broken by the Canadian government. Understanding this history is in an important component in Indigenous ally-ship.
This frosh week incident reveals a major weakness within both our primary, secondary, and postsecondary education systems, and our society as a whole. Institutions need to do more to make campuses safe(r) spaces for Indigenous students. Education of Indigenous issues and history needs to be prioritized in order to create a healthy, respectful environment for all.