Pope Francis in a headdress that was gifted to him during a visit with indigenous peoples in Maskwacis, Alberta. Photo / Eric Gay, AP
Pope Francis in a headdress that was gifted to him during a visit with indigenous peoples in Maskwacis, Alberta. Photo / Eric Gay, AP
Opinion
OPINION
As an indigenous academic, I am privileged to be where I am in the world.
I have survived the settler colonial education system and have come out on top in research fields that allow me to critique and speak back to power.
I thought I had seen it allin regards to white people. However, this week on behalf of the indigenous world I have to ask the question, and this is putting it politely – what the hell?
If you have not been keeping up with the news in the indigenous world, the pontiff and leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis is touring Kanata (Canada) in the wake of serious political pressure. This is mainly related to the deaths, rape, abuse and overall mistreatment of indigenous children that were taken from their people and placed in "residential schools" better described by me as death camps similar to those used by Nazi Germany.
Their purpose was to further the goals of the two invading settler colonial forces, being the white possessive state and the white possessive church.
In terms of cultural appropriation, the act by the Cree to offer the pope a war bonnet places all of our efforts on this subject into question.
Pope Francis adjusts the headdress during his visit with indigenous peoples in Maskwaci at the former Ermineskin Residential School. Photo / Eric Gay, AP
Frequently, we see complaints from the indigenous Turtle Island Americas every Halloween about white people's interpretation of indigeneity purchased on amazon.com.
Additionally, this comes with significant criticism about war bonnets because of what they represent to indigeneity. They show leadership and are given as a sign of "mastery" of war.
Long have natives complained about their use during commercialised holidays, particularly by white women.
This gifting is like saying to the Shoshone and Ute when the Mormons arrived in your land, now is not a time to grieve your loss and oppression but let's celebrate your demise. Or to Aboriginal Australia, you deserve to be called "fauna". Yipee.
I too am conflicted deeply in the giving of cultural items to white people of rank.
In my mother's iwi, Ngāti Whakaue, this happens every time a royal shows up in Rotorua. We don them with significant feathered cloaks. Large-scale welcoming ceremonies take place as my eyes roll profusely.
Hemopereki Hoani Simon. Photo / Supplied
As an indigenous person that was raised Catholic, I struggle significantly with the actions of the church worldwide, particularly its cover-ups.
Significant change is required towards indigenous peoples. In this space, the conservative and flawed Ratzinger approach with a political apology is not enough.
The Catholic Church is responsible for legitimising colonisation. Fundamentally, this must carry compensation and a commitment to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery as voiced by the singer, Buffy Saint-Marie.
For church leaders to concede that in the indigenous world they are an invading force and that indigenous peoples are actually humans would be a start.
What is needed is balance to restore indigenous nations towards an agenda of decolonisation.
Reconciliation is a Christian-derived philosophy and does not reflect what is needed in the indigenous world. We require more than an apology. How is the church contributing to decoloniasation and cultural restitution around the world?
The Pope can apologise until the cows come home but the church still maintains the infallibility of every Pontiff and the actions taken to date, whether it be in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia or Canada.
If you're giving war bonnets away for community leadership and for its traditional purpose on behalf of your children, then where is mine and that of every indigenous academic that fights to provide a better future for your grandchildren? Are we not eligible?
Just because our collective colonial wars are over does not mean that the war with settler colonialism and its structures is.
Where are the war bonnets for those that stand on the line at places like Standing Rock, Ihumātao or Mauna Kea?
The most questionable and disturbing aspect of gifting a war bonnet to the Pope is that it, in reality, celebrates the church's war against the indigenous world since 1492.
With respect to the Cree on behalf of your indigenous brothers and sisters everywhere - but what the actual hell?
• Hemopereki Simon, Te Arawa and Tainui, is a former RJI Research Fellow at Mills College in California, based in Taupō. He is a research expert in indigenous politics and Te Tiriti.
