Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2018-05-07 16:20:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Professor Andrea Bear Nicholas (Professor Emeritus, St. Thomas University, As an Individual)",
        "fr": "Mme Andrea Bear Nicholas (professeure \u00e9m\u00e9rite, Universit\u00e9 Saint-Thomas, \u00e0 titre personnel)"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p class=\"procedural\" data-HoCid=\"5415702\">[<em>Witness speaks in Maliseet</em>]</p>\n<p class=\"procedural\" data-HoCid=\"5415703\">[<em>English</em>]</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415704\" data-originallang=\"en\">My name is Andrea Bear Nicholas. I am from the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, and I've been teaching as the St. Thomas University chair in native studies for 20 years. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to speak with you.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415705\" data-originallang=\"en\">As chair in native studies at St. Thomas, I began working over 25 years ago with a group of Maliseet families to publish nearly 5,000 pages of stories in our language, which had been recorded by a non-indigenous academic between 1970 and 1983. From 1994 to 2004, we worked with the collector to publish these stories. When he offered to sell the 37 original, large, double-sided tapes to the families for $4,000, they agreed to pay him, but only on condition that he surrender copyright to the families, otherwise they wouldn't be able to use them.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415706\" data-originallang=\"en\">He signed such an agreement and was paid his price, but subsequently changed his mind. Since Canadian copyright law gives copyright to those who record stories rather than to those who tell them, he refused to allow the families to publish the stories except under his sole copyright. For the families this would have been tantamount to surrendering claim to the oral traditions of their elders, and they could not bring themselves to do it. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415707\" data-originallang=\"en\">I and the families subsequently spent three years and $30,000 in legal fees trying to negotiate with the collector. The families were even willing to publish the stories under a joint copyright with the collector, but he refused even that. In the end, his lawyer stopped responding to our lawyer. Consequently, the families made the difficult decision not to publish the stories at all, fearing the real possibility of being sued under section 18 of the Canadian Copyright Act.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415708\" data-originallang=\"en\">A moment is needed here to explain how detrimental this has been for my language, Maliseet, which is said to have only 60 lifelong speakers out of nearly 7,000 people. Like most indigenous languages in Canada, ours is in fact deemed to be critically endangered, which is the last category before becoming extinct according to UNESCO's <em>Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger</em>. When I received a sizable SSHRC grant in 2010 to investigate the effectiveness of adult immersion in revitalizing an endangered language, we were prohibited by Canadian copyright law from using both the tapes and the transcriptions that we had made from the tapes.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415709\" data-originallang=\"en\">When the Canadian Association of University Teachers, CAUT, learned of this appalling situation, they helped us to publish the first volume of stories and promised to provide legal support in case we were sued. We now actually look forward to being sued, so that the matter might be settled in court. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415710\" data-originallang=\"en\">We are aware that songwriters do not lose rights to their songs when someone else records them, and we ask only for the same right to be guaranteed to storytellers, particularly indigenous storytellers, who are the keepers of our intellectual and cultural heritage. For anthropologists, linguists, and others, however, Canadian copyright law has served as the perfect tool for stealing and exploiting our intellectual and cultural heritage, rather than for protecting it and promoting the survival of indigenous cultures. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415711\" data-originallang=\"en\">One of the calls to action in the 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called on the federal government to fully adopt and implement the 2008 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and in 2016 the Government of Canada declared its intention to do so. Article 11 of the declaration declares that indigenous peoples must have the right to \u201cpractise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs\u201d, including \u201cthe right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures\u201d.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415712\" data-originallang=\"en\">There can be no question that the oral and written versions of our stories are manifestations of our culture, and there is no question that the theft of these traditions has had a destructive impact on our ability as Maliseets to revitalize our language and culture.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415713\" data-originallang=\"en\"> The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission declares that reconciliation \u201crequires constructive action on addressing the ongoing legacies of colonialism that have had destructive impacts on Aboriginal peoples' education, cultures and languages....\u201d</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415714\" data-originallang=\"en\">Residential schools may no longer exist in Canada, but many destructive legacies of colonialism still exist and actually reinforce each other. That our language is in such a critical state is not so much the consequence of residential schools, since very few of our children were actually sent to one; it is the consequence of being forced, generation after generation, to send our children to schools conducted in the medium of English rather than in the medium of our own language. Since section 18 of the Canadian Copyright Act effectively legalizes the theft of our stories, the right of our children to the oral traditions of their people has been, and still is, doubly denied. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415715\" data-originallang=\"en\">Unless this country moves quickly to remove these legacies of colonialism in its laws and policies, our language and most other indigenous languages in Canada will soon be extinct, and the promise of truth and reconciliation will be meaningless. I sincerely hope this will not be the case.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415716\" data-originallang=\"en\"> <em> Woliwon</em>. Thank you.</p>",
        "fr": "<p class=\"procedural\" data-HoCid=\"5415702\">[<em>Le t\u00e9moin s\u2019exprime en mal\u00e9cite.</em>]</p>\n<p class=\"procedural\" data-HoCid=\"5415703\">[<em>Traduction</em>]</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415704\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je m\u2019appelle Andrea Bear Nicholas. J'appartiens \u00e0 la Premi\u00e8re Nation Tobique, au Nouveau-Brunswick, et j\u2019enseigne depuis 20 ans comme titulaire de la chaire d\u2019\u00e9tudes autochtones de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 Saint-Thomas. Je vous suis tr\u00e8s reconnaissante de me donner l\u2019occasion de m\u2019adresser \u00e0 vous.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415705\" data-originallang=\"en\">C'est \u00e0 titre de pr\u00e9sidente des \u00e9tudes autochtones \u00e0 Saint-Thomas que j\u2019ai commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 travailler, il y a plus de 25 ans, avec un groupe de familles mal\u00e9cites pour publier pr\u00e8s de 5 000 pages d\u2019histoires dans notre langue, qui avaient \u00e9t\u00e9 enregistr\u00e9es par un universitaire non autochtone entre 1970 et 1983. De 1994 \u00e0 2004, nous avons travaill\u00e9 avec le collectionneur pour publier ces histoires. Lorsqu\u2019il a offert de vendre les 37 bandes originales, de grande taille et recto verso, aux familles pour 4 000 $, elles ont accept\u00e9 de le payer, mais seulement \u00e0 la condition qu\u2019il leur c\u00e8de les droits d\u2019auteur, sans quoi elles ne pourraient pas les utiliser.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415706\" data-originallang=\"en\">Il a sign\u00e9 l'entente et a \u00e9t\u00e9 pay\u00e9, mais il a chang\u00e9 d\u2019id\u00e9e par la suite. Comme la Loi canadienne sur le droit d\u2019auteur accorde le droit d\u2019auteur \u00e0 ceux qui enregistrent des histoires plut\u00f4t qu\u2019\u00e0 ceux qui les racontent, il a refus\u00e9 de permettre aux familles de publier les histoires, sauf en vertu de son droit d\u2019auteur unique. Pour les familles, cela voulait dire renoncer aux traditions orales de leurs a\u00een\u00e9s, et elles n\u2019ont pas pu s'y r\u00e9soudre. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415707\" data-originallang=\"en\">Par la suite, les familles et moi avons consacr\u00e9 trois ans et d\u00e9pens\u00e9 30 000 $ en frais juridiques pour essayer de n\u00e9gocier avec le collectionneur. Les familles \u00e9taient m\u00eame dispos\u00e9es \u00e0 publier les histoires en vertu d\u2019un droit d\u2019auteur conjoint avec lui, mais il a aussi refus\u00e9 cette solution. Finalement, son avocat a cess\u00e9 de r\u00e9pondre \u00e0 notre avocat. Par cons\u00e9quent, les familles ont pris la d\u00e9cision difficile de ne pas publier les histoires, craignant la possibilit\u00e9 r\u00e9elle d\u2019\u00eatre poursuivies en vertu de l\u2019article 18 de la Loi canadienne sur le droit d\u2019auteur.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415708\" data-originallang=\"en\">Il faut prendre un moment pour expliquer \u00e0 quel point cela a nui \u00e0 ma langue, le mal\u00e9cite, qui ne compte que 60 locuteurs de longue date sur pr\u00e8s de 7 000 personnes. Comme la plupart des langues autochtones au Canada, la n\u00f4tre est effectivement consid\u00e9r\u00e9e comme une langue en p\u00e9ril, c'est-\u00e0-dire qu'elle en est au stade pr\u00e9c\u00e9dant la disparition selon l\u2019<em>Atlas des langues en danger dans le monde</em> de l'UNESCO. En 2010, lorsque j\u2019ai re\u00e7u une subvention importante du CRSH pour \u00e9tudier l\u2019efficacit\u00e9 de l\u2019immersion des adultes dans la revitalisation d\u2019une langue en p\u00e9ril, la Loi canadienne sur le droit d\u2019auteur nous interdisait d\u2019utiliser les bandes ainsi que les transcriptions que nous avions faites \u00e0 partir des bandes.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415709\" data-originallang=\"en\">Lorsque l\u2019Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d\u2019universit\u00e9, l\u2019ACPPU, a appris cette situation \u00e9pouvantable, elle nous a aid\u00e9s \u00e0 publier le premier volume d\u2019histoires et a promis de fournir un soutien juridique au cas o\u00f9 nous serions poursuivis. En fait, maintenant, nous esp\u00e9rons \u00eatre poursuivis, afin que l\u2019affaire soit r\u00e9gl\u00e9e devant les tribunaux. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415710\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous comprenons que les auteurs-compositeurs ne veulent pas perdre leurs droits sur leurs chansons lorsque quelqu\u2019un d\u2019autre les enregistre et nous demandons seulement que le m\u00eame droit soit garanti aux conteurs, particuli\u00e8rement aux conteurs autochtones, qui sont les gardiens de notre patrimoine intellectuel et culturel. Cependant, pour les anthropologues, les linguistes et d\u2019autres, la Loi canadienne sur le droit d\u2019auteur a \u00e9t\u00e9 l\u2019instrument id\u00e9al pour voler et exploiter notre patrimoine intellectuel et culturel, plut\u00f4t que de le prot\u00e9ger et de promouvoir la survie des cultures autochtones. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415711\" data-originallang=\"en\">L\u2019un des appels \u00e0 l\u2019action du rapport de 2015 de la Commission de v\u00e9rit\u00e9 et de r\u00e9conciliation demandait au gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral d\u2019adopter et de mettre en \u0153uvre int\u00e9gralement la D\u00e9claration des Nations unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones de 2008 et, en 2016, le gouvernement du Canada a d\u00e9clar\u00e9 son intention de le faire. L\u2019article 11 de la D\u00e9claration atteste que les peuples autochtones doivent avoir le droit \u00ab d\u2019observer et de revivifier leurs traditions culturelles et leurs coutumes \u00bb et, notamment, de \u00ab de conserver, de prot\u00e9ger et de d\u00e9velopper les manifestations pass\u00e9es, pr\u00e9sentes et futures de leur culture \u00bb.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415712\" data-originallang=\"en\">Il ne fait aucun doute que les versions orales et \u00e9crites de nos histoires sont des manifestations de notre culture et il ne fait aucun doute que le vol de ces traditions a eu un effet destructeur sur notre capacit\u00e9, en tant que Mal\u00e9cites, \u00e0 revitaliser notre langue et notre culture.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415713\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Le rapport final de la Commission de v\u00e9rit\u00e9 et r\u00e9conciliation affirme que la r\u00e9conciliation \u00ab exige des mesures constructives pour rem\u00e9dier aux s\u00e9quelles permanentes du colonialisme qui ont eu des effets destructeurs sur l\u2019\u00e9ducation, les cultures et les langues des peuples autochtones... \u00bb.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415714\" data-originallang=\"en\">Les pensionnats n\u2019existent peut-\u00eatre plus au Canada, mais de nombreux legs destructeurs du colonialisme subsistent et se renforcent mutuellement. Le fait que notre langue soit dans un \u00e9tat aussi critique n\u2019est pas tant la cons\u00e9quence des pensionnats, puisque tr\u00e8s peu de nos enfants y ont \u00e9t\u00e9 envoy\u00e9s; c\u2019est la cons\u00e9quence d\u2019\u00eatre oblig\u00e9s, g\u00e9n\u00e9ration apr\u00e8s g\u00e9n\u00e9ration, d\u2019envoyer nos enfants dans des \u00e9coles dirig\u00e9es en anglais plut\u00f4t que dans le m\u00e9dium de notre langue. Puisque l\u2019article 18 de la Loi sur le droit d\u2019auteur canadienne l\u00e9galise effectivement le vol de nos histoires, le droit de nos enfants aux traditions orales de leur peuple a \u00e9t\u00e9 et est encore doublement ni\u00e9. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415715\" data-originallang=\"en\">\u00c0 moins que notre pays ne bouge rapidement pour \u00e9liminer ces legs du colonialisme dans ses lois et ses politiques, notre langue et la plupart des autres langues autochtones du Canada dispara\u00eetront bient\u00f4t, et la promesse de v\u00e9rit\u00e9 et de r\u00e9conciliation n\u2019aura aucun sens. J\u2019esp\u00e8re sinc\u00e8rement que ce ne sera pas le cas.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5415716\" data-originallang=\"en\"> <em> Woliwon</em>. Merci.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/industry/42-1/106/professor-andrea-bear-nicholas-1/",
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    "source_id": "10111220",
    "document_url": "/committees/industry/42-1/106/",
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}