Are White People 'Indigenous'?

Hello! Before anything else, I would like to answer the above question with a resounding no! However, in today's episode of Cherry Picking, we'll dive into the opinion of someone who might disagree. To start off we'll discuss the concept of racialization, the process of developing and attributing features to a group of people on the basis of race with the intention of justifying a specific form of treatment. We'll be piggybacking off of some content from last week for this, so if you want to, check that out first! It isn't necessary though. 

Then, we'll apply this concept to Indigenous people and the Canadian state, and how the social construction of race was used to differentiate Indigenous Peoples from the rest of Canada. This was done in order to apply them to a system of civic stratification, or the conditional application of rights and privileges based on one moral and legal social standing in society. 

Finally, we'll close the episode off with a reading of one of the most interesting Instagram captions I've ever read. Yes, this is where the title of the episode comes from, and yes, it's because a white woman feels left out and wants to be Indigenous. This caption provides an excellent case of white privilege and the entitlement and ownership that many people express towards Indigenous identity and culture. Yes, these are sensitive topics to engage in. But it is valuable work to do and there is so much to learn from perspectives that are different from yours, even perspectives we may write off as wrong or bad. 

Additionally, I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who regularly listens and downloads the podcast supporting me and my creative pursuits. We've had over 400 downloads of the podcast now, and I am so happy and grateful to have each and every one of you here <3 Without you, this is nothing. 

Cheers,

Alexia

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