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Expanding Internationalism - A Conference on ... - Mary Jane Jacob

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operating with devastating effect in their own territory, land over which<br />

they have been involved in a 40-year dispute with the local and federal<br />

government.<br />

"You d<strong>on</strong>'t feel," an interviewer from an Alberta magazine asked<br />

Lubic<strong>on</strong> Cree Chief Bernard Cmniayak, "that the viewer will get an insight<br />

into c<strong>on</strong>terrporary Indian culture through the historical references"<br />

"No," he replied. "There's a great difference between the past and<br />

the presently. What's happening now is that our people are slowly being<br />

killed, I think a lot of times our people would be better off if some<strong>on</strong>e<br />

came up to them and got rid of them instantly. Anything so we wouldn't be<br />

dying a slow death."<br />

"Is this really just a show for white people in the city" the<br />

interviewer asked.<br />

"That's right. And again it's glorified by the same people who are<br />

doing the damage to the Native people in our area. "<br />

In what way is the ec<strong>on</strong>omic power of the oil company associated with<br />

a noti<strong>on</strong> of culture as an ideal space in which the producti<strong>on</strong> of every<br />

people is given its place am<strong>on</strong>g the "masterpieces of world art" In what<br />

way is the Native American resistance associated with a noti<strong>on</strong> of culture<br />

as taking resp<strong>on</strong>sibility for the whole, with refusing the separati<strong>on</strong> of<br />

phenomena<br />

The title "The Spirit Sings," instead of being uplifting,<br />

suddenly becomes sinister, a sign that we are being duped.<br />

When it came to "Magiciens de la Terre," the organizers chose to<br />

ignore all the c<strong>on</strong>siderable body of work by Native Americans which both<br />

stands within the internati<strong>on</strong>al c<strong>on</strong>text of m<strong>on</strong>demism and deals with<br />

"spiritual values" in terms of the historical c<strong>on</strong>flict between Native<br />

-39-

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