The Public

            This action intends to call in people accessing beautiful, nature spots in ‘Victoria’ and inform them about the real history of the land they are standing on. By putting up posters in places that are popular for people wanting to access the outdoors in Victoria, the audience will be forced to engage with the history of these places that colonial Victoria has tried to hide and erase. These posters will also be in spots frequented by tourists. As someone who has worked in Victoria’s tourism industry, I have experienced first-hand the ways tourists come to Victoria with an expectation of the “Noble Savage” but tend blissfully ignore the multi-dimensional histories of Lekwungen and WSANEC peoples. These posters intend to inform locals and tourists alike about the realities of the places they consider to be ‘Victoria’s’ iconic landmarks. 

Indigenous Feminist Principle 

            This action relies on the Indigenous feminist principles that strongly connect Indigenous women to the land. Specifically, one principle that is named by Aikau, Arvin, Goeman and Morgensen is that “we must localize the struggle before scaling up the analysis to a regional or global scale” (p.85, 2015) which I believe strongly correlates to the need to be fully aware and connected to the physical land we are doing our work on. If we do not have a full understanding of the ways that this land holds colonial violence, and the ways it was and is so instrumental to Lekwungen and WSANEC peoples, we will never be able to understand the need for Land Back in Canada and transnationally, places like Palestine. The connection and importance of the land is inherently connected to Indigenous feminisms because “[t]his knowledge system, like the women’s mind, is also intricately connected to a relationship with the land” (Doxtator, 1997, p.7).  If we can fully understand the ways that Indigenous women are connected to the land than we can understand how violence perpetrated to the land inherently affects Indigenous women. 

Action

            For our action we created three posters for three iconic places in Victoria: PKOLS (‘Mt Doug’), Meegan (‘Beacon Hill Park’), and Sungyaka (‘Cadboro Bay’) and placed them around these locations. The posters contained information about how these places were used and then how they were violently colonized. This enacts the principle that we must be aware of the harm perpetrated on the lands we currently live and play on before we can begin to look outward. 

Ethical or Other Considerations 

            The first thing that struck me is that nothing was really at stake for me when committing this act. I am a white settler woman who grew up on this territory and have access to many resources. If I were to get caught putting these posters, I am quite confident that the penalties I would face would be nowhere as harsh as if I were an Indigenous woman. 

The second thing I took into consideration was the asking myself if it was really my place to be putting up posters informing people about the cultural significance of these places when I am not a part of this culture? I really had to grapple with the idea that I am not entitled to Lekwungen or WSANEC culture and that these cultures are something I feel honoured to learn about when it is shared with me. I think based on this, these posters focus on the ways that these lands were violated and colonized by Europeans to ensure that we are not sharing information that is private. I feel as someone who has essentially lived on these lands my whole life it is my duty to learn about the history of the places, I have frequented for the last 20 years. This is what ultimately led me to the conclusion that sharing the histories of these places would be helpful, not harmful. 

Group Relations

            I think it was really meaningful to work together in a group for this action because working in solidarity with others can make your voice feel stronger. We all got together to make our posters. I primarily did the research for PKOLS and Meegan. Alanna did all the poster formatting, as well as the support numbers information. Abby and Maddy worked on the information for Sunagyaka as well as the creation of the Indigenous feminist statement that is on all our posters.  We all went together to put them up, which felt safer and more special, working together in community. 

Images of our Action

 

Bibliography

Aikau, H., Arvin, M., Goeman, E., & Morgensen, S. (2015). Indigenous Feminisms RoundTable.  Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies, 36(3), 84-106. Doxtator, D. (1997). Godi’