When we think of peace, many different conceptions of the concept may pop into our minds. Peace can mean settling a dispute with your loved one; a confrontation with a co-worker that still needs to be worked out; or the many of the global issues that plague our world today, such as the numerous conflicts in the Middle East or tensions with North Korea. Very rarely do we think of peace on the micro level. For the most part, we only think of peace in an outward sense and rarely within ourselves.
Danielle Boissoneau comments on peace and conflict and how the two can be resolved as part of her job, as well as in her blog, Sken:nen. Danielle’s academic background is from McMaster where she was a student of Indigenous Studies and Political Science. Danielle is an Annishnaabeq of the Old Turtle Clan, from the Garden River First Nation. She and I recently met up so I could get her perspectives on peace.
Q. Where are you employed right now?
A. I’m working for an NGO: the Canadian Centers for Teaching Peace. [I work at] The Hamilton Centre for Teaching Peace [which] is located in the Skydragon Centre, we call it the Peace Café. Specifically my program is called Indigenous Peace Education.
Q. So what is it exactly that you do?
A. It is a lot of workshops, dialogue sessions, and sharing information with people in different ways. I am putting on a conference on November 11th called the Indigenous Peace Education Conference. It is in correlation with the National Peace Education Conference from November 12th-15th. The whole thing about the conference is that you learn about making peace with yourself and with your community and then take that to the global level. One of the sayings of the conference is about finding peace within yourself, something I think is important.
Q. How has your background influenced your job?
A. I think the current definition of the peace dogmatic, where peace only comes from non-violent resistance and peace outside the thing that is unreachable, is problematic.
We watch on the news that 100 people died today, and that thousands of others are killing people, but all of that is good because we get money from that. My work is part of the counter-sphere education. It’s kind of like Peace Studies: you might as well call it war studies because it is not bringing peace or changing the impact of what is going on.
The things I teach are kinda airy fairy but those are the kinds of things I know. Kind of like the movie What the #$*! Do We (K)now?: It’s about a paradigm shift; the documentary kind of examines that concept through quantum physics, but proves that changing the way you think can have dramatic effects. That’s what I try to share with the work that I do.
Q. How has your degree influenced your job choice?
A. I became very angry and bitter [during] my time at Mac, learning about power relations between state and citizen, the narrow definitions and seemingly twisted diabolic of contemporary society. Instead of feeding into the bitterness and anger, I became proactive; instead propagating the mainstream system, I decided to change the information that was being shared about Indigenous peoples and the narrow definition of peace. My experience through my education taught me that ideas and information are very important facets when discussing power relations.
Q. Do you feel that your background has influenced the way you see the world?
A. Definitely. Because I’m Native I was looking for reassurance for why things were the way they were. The political science degree explained to me who has the power and why they maintain it. All things – background, education, job – compiled together to make me who I am now. I’m kind of living resistance I guess, because instead of settling and being in this angry hole in the ground, I’m sharing info with people. It makes me happy [to do this], instead of dragging me down spirit and soul. I’m awesome.
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