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The Theatre Centre
1115 Queen St W, Toronto ON M6J 1J1
We acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
We acknowledge that before colonization, the First Nations had their own governing systems, many of which were based on consensus. It's important to note that the current system of bands and chiefs was imposed by the federal government, and does not fully represent traditional Indigenous governing, which included women’s voices.
On May 24, 1918, most of the women you see in this play were allowed to vote federally. This “privilege, not a right” as one early Prime Minister labelled it, did not extend to First Nations women.
If an Indigenous woman wanted to vote she had to give up her status and treaty rights. So the right to vote was not extended as a long overdue redress, but rather another aggressive tool in the colonial toolbox. It held the basic rights of Indigenous women (and men) hostage, the promise of their release incumbent only on becoming enfranchised, which meant giving up all their Indigenous rights.
Withholding basic rights, then dangling them at a high price, was a common government tactic designed with one intent, the eradication of all Indigenous culture and peoples.
Finally in 1960, all Indigenous men and women were granted the right to vote federally without giving up their status. (The Inuit were granted the right to vote in 1950, but as ballot boxes were not delivered until 1962, there was no way for them to exercise this.) And while Indigenous women may have received the right to vote in federal elections, there were provincial holdouts. It was not until 1969 that Indigenous women received voting rights in all provinces.
There is still a long way to go until this land’s diversity is reflected in our political representation. Neither Indigenous nor non-Indigenous women do well under the current patriarchal system of governance.
But I am always hopeful for a better world, so I would like to finish this acknowledgement with a recognition of the political achievements of Indigenous women, both as official representatives, and through their continued political activism and leadership. They are change-makers, and we all need them.