Kent Monkman, “The Scream.” Etching copper plate, 2017. Courtesy Kent Monkman Studio. On May 23, 2023 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police celebrated its 150th anniversary and kicked off a series of #RCMP150 initiatives. To counter the uncritical mythologizing of the Mounties we are seeing—from the prime minister to the RCMP
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Canadian Dimension: Black and Indigenous Solidarity: An Oral History of Maestro Fresh Wes’s “Nothing At All”
Maestro Fresh Wes. Still image from YouTube. Before artists such as Drake and The Weeknd became global ambassadors for Canadian hip hop, Wesley Williams (better known as Maestro Fresh-Wes or Maestro) was holding it down in the music industry. Known as the “Godfather” of Canadian hip hop, Maestro Fresh-Wes rose
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Decolonizing the Zombie Apocalypse: An Interview With Jeff Barnaby About His New Film Blood Quantum
Promotional artwork for writer-director Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum. Illustration by Chippewar. With people sheltering in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are turning to their TVs for comfort and binging disaster movies. Teaser poster by Chippewar If you’ve already watched popular choices like Contagion and Outbreak and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Coronavirus Colonialism: How the COVID-19 Crisis Is Catalyzing Dispossession
This image from a transmission electron microscope shows a sample from a case of COVID-19. The spherical viral particles, colored blue, contain cross-sections through the viral genome, seen as black dots. Image provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What a difference a month makes. In February,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Might is Not Right: A Historical Perspective on Coercion as a Colonial Strategy
Full-dress mounted parade by members of the North-West Mounted Police near Calgary, September 1901. I, like many Canadians, watched in horror as the RCMP’s invasion of unceded Wet’suwet’en territory in early February was livestreamed over the internet. In real time, we saw heavily-armed RCMP officers, accompanied by snipers and attack
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Putting the RCMP raid on the Wet’suwet’en in historical perspective
Protesters and land defenders erect a barricade in Vancouver in support of the Wet’suwet’en, who are blocking a pipeline from being built on their land. Photo by Sally T. Buck (Flickr). The recent RCMP raids of Wet’suwet’en land defenders in northwestern British Columbia have left many Canadians shocked and angered.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: An Oral History of Propagandhi’s “Oka Everywhere”
Frontman and guitarist Chris Hannah of the Winnipeg-based thrash-punk band Propaghandi during a show in Brisbane, Australia, May 29, 2011. This summer will mark 30 years since the start of the resistance at Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawá:ke, commonly referred to by Canadians as the 1990 “Oka Crisis.” In the leadup to
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Trudeau Called on to Stop Land Fraud as Kanehsatake Hunger Strike Ends
Al Harrington, an Ojibway man from Shoal Lake 39 at the Ontario/Manitoba border who resides in the Mohawk community, was on a hunger strike since Oct. 11 at the Kanesatake. Photo courtesy of CBC Radio-Canada/Laurence Niosi. On 11 October 2019, Al Harrington, a member of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: All Eyes on Kanehsatake: What You Need to Know about the Hunger Strike to Stop Colonial Land Fraud
Mohawk flags are placed at the border of the Kanasatake Mohawk territory and the town of Oka, Que. Friday, July 19, 2019. Photo by Ryan Remiorz/CP. On 11 October 2019, as many Canadians made plans for thanksgiving feasts, a Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) member of the Kanehsatà:ke community in what is today
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Kanesatake Resident Begins Hunger Strike to Protest Ongoing Colonial Land Fraud
Photo by Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC On 21 August 2019, Ellen Gabriel and other Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of Kanehsatà:ke held a press conference in the Pines, the site of the so-called “Oka Crisis” that took place in the summer of 1990, to address the ongoing land fraud in their homelands. They gave Justin
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Trudeau Refuses to Stop Land Fraud: Press Release of the Mohawks of Kanehsatake
Ellen Gabriel at a July 2013 demonstration against Enbridge’s Line 9 on Kanehsatake traditional territory. Photo by Tim McSorely. On 21 August, the Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of Kanehsatà:ke held a press conference in the Pines, the site of the so-called “Oka Crisis” that took place in the summer of 1990, to
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada Must Stop Land Fraud: Press Release of the Mohawks of Kanesatake
Photo by Jessica Deer/CBC On 21 August 2019, Ellen Gabriel and other Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of Kanehsatà:ke held a press conference in the Pines, the site of the so-called “Oka Crisis” that took place in the summer of 1990, to address the ongoing land fraud in their homelands. They are giving
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: ‘This is Our Land’: An Interview with Ellen Gabriel about Ongoing Land Fraud at Kanesatake
Land back is land back. For the Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of Kanehsatà:ke, the return of stolen land – fraudulently sold first by a religious order and then by the municipality of Oka, Quebec and the Government of Canada – has been at the heart of their demands for 300 years. Mohawk
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The legacy of ‘Oka’ and the future of Indigenous resistance
Photo by Ellen Gabriel In the summer of 1990, Ellen Gabriel (Katsi’tsakwas) was chosen by the People of the Longhouse and her community of Kanehsatà:ke to be their spokesperson during the infamous “Oka Crisis,” a 78-day standoff to protect ancestral Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) land in Québec. Mohawks had erected a small
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Thrashing Colonialism: Skateboarding, History, and the Power of Education
Micheal Langan, owner of Colonialism Skateboards • Photo by Troy Fleece Most skateboarders have a least one good story about a security guard. Micheal Langan, who is of Cree and Saulteaux ancestry, a member of the Cote First Nation in Saskatchewan, and the founder of Colonialism Skateboards, is no exception.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Indian Horse is a Film All Canadians Must See
Indian Horse Stephen Campanelli Elevation Pictures, 2017 Indian Horse, a film based on the late Richard Wagamese’s bestselling novel, opens in theatres nationwide on April 13th. Wagamese was a masterful storyteller as well as a long-time columnist for Canadian Dimension; however, people (especially settler Canadians) should gather to watch and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Kent Monkman’s Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience
Kent Momkman, The Daddies (2016) 60ii X 112.5ii, Acrylic on Canvas Kent Monkman’s Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience may not be the art exhibit Canadians wanted during Canada 150, but it is undoubtedly the one they deserved. The touring installation confronts the country’s sesquicentennial celebrations from an Indigenous
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Our Land: 150 Years of Colonialism
The Graphic History Collective (GHC) has launched a new activist art project: Remember | Resist | Redraw: A Radical History Poster Project. The collaborative project will be an ongoing poster series that aims to intervene in the Canada 150 conversation. We hope to encourage people to critically examine history in
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Popular Front: An “Alternative Year in Review” of 2016 Pop Culture
Photo by Geoffrey Gallaway 2016 was quite the year. As the calendar winds down, some people are talking about 2016 as one of the worst years in human history, or at least in recent memory. Indeed, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver captured this popular opinion in the show’s year-end
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Clear the Way for the Prophets of Rage
When a friend first told me that members of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, and Cypress Hill were joining forces to “Make America Rage Again” with a musical “super group” called the Prophets of Rage, I was suspect. Of course, I love these bands and their politically-charged music, but
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