Ryan Bellerose: Indigenous people win with truth on our side

It’s an interesting time to be indigenous.

Not because we don’t still have coloniser oppressors intent upon continuing to dominate the discourse; not because we have challenged the narratives; but because we are winning. I do not say this lightly, but we are winning because we have the just cause, the moral cause, and we are in the right. Whether you believe in God, the creator, karma, or good luck is irrelevant. We are winning because when the truth is on your side, people intuitively understand that. More and more people are not only speaking up for indigenous rights, but also trying to understand them.

To rephrase it, indigenous people are winning, not because we suddenly have all regained our ancestral lands and removed the colonising occupying forces, but rather, because we are able to openly speak and teach people the truth without repercussions. Even 30 years ago this was impossible. For some of us it’s never been about “getting rid of white people” but has only ever been about protecting the things we hold sacred and inviolate, protecting our lands and waters for the future instead of raping them for quick cash.The fact that we are alive, that we and our cultures are still here, is a win; and the fact that we are starting to get the word out, that’s a win, too.