By Susan Hickman
Kahente Horn-Miller, Carleton University’s New Sun Visiting Aboriginal Scholar in the School of Canadian Studies, introduced herself at a Research Works luncheon in the traditional Mohawk manner. She is, she said, Kahente of the Bear Clan and she comes from the place of the Mohawk.
In her April 21 presentation, Identity in Dialogue: Evictions, Politics, Citizenship and Belonging in Kahnawá:ke, Horn-Miller clarified that her research attempts to answer issues important to Indigenous peoples and that she includes herself, her family and her community in her studies to make it real.
“I cannot separate myself from my research. I am part of a community that is suffering. What we do here in our universities has real-life implications for my family, friends, and fellow community members. My responsibilities as a mother, community member, researcher and educator have much larger implications, seven generations down the line, as my people say.”
Indigenous peoples cannot be relegated to the past, said Horn-Miller, who has focused her post-secondary education on learning about her ancestors who came from the Mohawk Valley in New York State. “We are still very much alive and present in modern-day dialogues taking place here in Canada.”
Her master’s work in anthropology, which delved into the history of the Mohawk Warrior Flag, and her subsequent doctoral work with the women of Kahnawá:ke grounded her, she said, and urged her to examine the issue of Mohawk identity in greater detail.
“It has shaped me,” she explained, “not only as an academic, but also as a Kanienkehaka woman.”
A significant issue facing Kahnawá:ke, a Mohawk community on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, is the eviction of members who become involved with non-native individuals, Horn-Miller’s sister among them.
“This brings to mind the question of the researcher who does work from an insider perspective. I am always cognizant of the fact that I am an insider writing about some very difficult and powerful issues. It places me in a very unique situation where I (can) step back from the issue and develop what we call skin ‘seven spans thick.’”
Horn-Miller admitted that her research has resulted in a backlash and she has received hate mail from those who don’t want her to question certain policies. Nevertheless, Horn-Miller considers herself a solutions-oriented person, and believes she can “make things right” within her community by drawing on traditions and other aspects of her culture.
“You need to know your past, your history, your culture and from there you will have a good sense of self in the present – who you are, where you belong, what drives you, and what healing you need to do.”
The current eviction crisis, she said, stems from the conflict between traditional conceptions of identity and ideas imposed on Indigenous peoples by the Indian Act.
“The Indian Act,” said Horn-Miller, “has been the most harmful piece of legislation on all First Nations peoples in Canada. We have learned to subjugate and marginalize each other through the dominant institutions and mechanisms put in place by the Indian Act.”
A legacy of the act is that “we now measure our worth in blood and use it as a measurement against each other. We wield it like a weapon.”
Beyond interviewing Kahnawá:ke members – mostly women who have married non-natives – on the evictions list, Horn-Miller is examining the rhetoric of evictions as well as photographing community members in places that speak to them of home to create visual representations of belonging and identity.
“The ultimate goal is to build something that other disciplines can draw on as a foundation by having them juxtapose their own perspectives against the Kahnawá:ke issue.
“The impetus for my work has been my love for my people. I am a descendent of some pretty interesting and strong people and I am motivated by my love for my family members and a desire to see my community whole again.”
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