Sask. Indigenous leaders want members to vote; others say they shouldn't in colonial systems

Most Indigenous people in Canada weren't allowed to vote in provincial and federal elections until 1960, a little over 60 years ago. While many now exercise that right, others choose not to take part in what they consider colonial systems.

Andrea Landry is an instructor at First Nations University of Canada, freelance writer, life skills coach and mother to two daughters. She is Anishinaabe from Pawgwasheeng (Pays Plat First Nation) in Ontario, but currently resides on Treaty 6 territory in Poundmaker Cree Nation.

Landry wrote an article for This Magazine in 2019 entitled "Why I don't vote in colonial politics." She said she maintains that position today.

"I know a lot of Indigenous peoples have a similar stance, in that we are of our own sovereign nations and it really doesn't make any sense to vote in provincial or national elections," Landry said.

"The colonial state of Canada and even the province of Saskatchewan has really placed within our peoples that we are of these colonial systems, when in actuality we're not."

Landry said she understands why many people feel it's important to vote, as provincial and federal governments play a large role in things like funding for Indigenous communities, but said that shouldn't be necessary.

"When we originally signed treaty with the Crown, it was to ensure that we're supposed to receive that kind of support because they are living on our lands and territories, regardless of if we're a part of their governments and their political systems."

Landry said Canada has made Indigenous people rely on these systems.

"Today's candidates can say that they're pro-reconciliation. They're pro-Indigenous peoples," she said. "They say, 'If you vote for us, you know, this is all the things you're going to receive,' and you look four years down the line and nothing's changed or things have gotten even worse."

She pointed to First Nations communities lacking clean drinking water and housing.

"All these things that have been going on for generations, since the colonizers came to our lands."

Landry said she would like to see Indigenous communities work on healing their own families, and dealing with grief or trauma within their own systems. 

"We can support ourselves in our own ways with our own systems. That's what our people originally wanted when they signed the treaty. It was for us to continue to live under our own governance systems, under our own social systems, under our own family systems," she said.

Cadmus Delorme, the former chief of Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, said it's important for First Nations people to vote in the upcoming elections, although he understands those who choose not to.