Sororities and fraternities can be a contentious part of campus life.
Some people agree with them, some think they should be abolished, and everyone else doesn’t care because the campus groups other people join don’t affect them. I subscribe to the third mindset. If you want to join a society, group, or club on campus, go ahead.
But the thing with identifiable groupings, such as a sorority, is that in society there are “groups” of people that have continually been oppressed.
Many people enter these groups at birth—they do not have a choice. They are born into the oppression and discrimination their ancestors have faced for many years. For the Indigenous Nations in Canada, this mistreatment started with the colonization of their traditional lands.
Many mechanisms and effects of this colonization still exist in Canada. While colonial legislation like the Indian Act directly binds Indigenous people to the confines of colonialism, the language Canadians use can perpetrate colonialism as well. I realized just how damning a singular word choice can be when I saw the following Facebook post from Carleton-founded Alpha Pi Phi Sorority:
“We are very excited to announce that Alpha Pi Phi has two new colonies! Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Delta colony at Trent University & Zeta colony at McMaster University! We cannot wait to see you become successful chapters of our organization xo”
The connotations brought about by using the words “colonies” and “colony” to refer to newly-implemented sororities on Canadian campuses is completely disrespectful and shows a lack of cultural and social awareness within the sorority. While the sorority supports women with fundraisers, such as “bra pong” in support of breast cancer awareness, it is troubling that the words they have chosen to use continue the cycle of colonialism, which still affects Indigenous women today.
According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Indigenous women, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, are more than eight times more likely to be killed by their intimate partner than non-Indigenous women.
The Canadian government reports Indigenous women are 3.5 times more likely to be victims of violence compared to non-Indigenous women.
The recent death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine of Sagkeeng First Nation has initiated an investigation into two Winnipeg police officers, and continued the nationwide push for an inquiry into the tragic disappearances and deaths. Colonization is still very real in Canada and the repercussions for Indigenous people, specifically women, can be quite severe.
Sororities like Alpha Pi Phi are an important part of campus life and do important work.
This includes its participation in the International Day of the Girl, where according to Alpha Pi Phi Facebook page there is an effort to “raise awareness about all issues concerning gender inequality in the world.”
But colonial language has no place on our campus regardless of where it comes from. Carleton sits on the unsurrendered, traditional lands of the Algonquin Nation and as a place of higher learning, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard if we want to initiate positive changes in the relationship between settler society and the Indigenous community.
