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INDIGENOUS HUMOR AND TRANSCULTURAL IDENTITY SHIFTS AND MIX-UPS...
which is an explicit reference to the contemporary politician Pierre Cadieux,
whose callousness is the subject of the play. Interestingly, the obvious switch
of forenames is all Taylor was willing to do to maintain the authenticity of
the theme. In Canada, the years 1984 to 1993 were the era of the progressive
conservatives under the leadership of Brian Mulroney as prime minister. Due
to a cabinet shuffle, Pierre Cadieux was appointed Federal Minister of Indian
and Northern Affairs between 30 January 1989 and 22 February 1990. His
appointment lasted merely a year as his decisions concerning educational
cuts were rejected by the Aboriginal population so passionately that political
marches were organized to Ottawa. Furthermore, several young Natives chose
to go on a hunger strike to express their rejection. Neither the minister nor
the government revoked the decision, however, the incident illustrated that
the Native Peoples of Canada were able to unite their forces, and they showed
a greater presence and voice then expected, not to mention the fact that any
future political concerns and decisions made by the Federal government
cannot exclude their opinion anymore.
Education is our Right is a youth drama which closely follows the Dickensian
structural layout and has a temporality of past, present and future that is
illustrated through the appearance of ghosts and visions. The images and
mental pictures portrayed highlight frightening incidents from the past and
present which are linked to cultural, traditional and language appropriation.
This provides the story and the issue at stake with greater dramatic range and
irony. There are altogether four spirits that appear in the play, as in Dickens’
story, and their aim is to show and confront Cadieux with the other side
of life, reality. The first ghost is the Spirit of Knowledge, “the keeper of all
knowledge,” who explains that “in that knowledge, salvation can be found.
Salvation not only for the soul, but of the mind and spirit.” This implies
the survival of the Native Peoples. The second ghost is Education Past, in the
form of a traditionally dressed Indian male (a stereotypical image), whose
aim is to confront Cadieux with the past by presenting traditional methods of
teaching, hence storytelling by elders, and the residential schools. The effects
of the latter meant that “entire generations of culture, spirit dead, because
of government decision about our education [sic].”°° From the past we move
to the next spirit, Education Present as a young Native girl dressed in a
contemporary powwow dancing outfit, whose task is “to help my people regain
everything we’ve lost over the centuries.”’’ Her task is to show Cadieux how the
Native Peoples react to the cutback by organizing a march from Manitoulin
Island to Ottawa and also allows the youngsters on a hunger strike to express
their opinions, in the form of an interview, to the outside world. The final
55 Ibid., 86.
56 Ibid., 98.
57 Tbid., 116.
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