Omar Siddiqui is a first-generation Muslim Canadian. He’s also a Sundancer.
“Being able to sundance and hear the teachings from this territory and how those teachings have helped me connect stronger with my teachings,” he said.
While participating in ceremony, Siddiqui has witnessed countless acts of solidarity between Indigenous and Muslim peoples.
But there’s one that stands out.
I was at a sundance in Peguis [First Nation] and the time for prayer came, and one of the sundance helpers said we could pray our way at the tree,” he said. “So we pray to the tree and I saw somebody looking at me, one of the sundancers, and I thought I was gonna get the typical question: ‘what were you doing?’”
“All he said was thank you. It hit me so deeply.”
Siddiqui is one of over 150 participants who attended the first National Muslim-Indigenous Solidarity Conference in Winnipeg on the weekend.
Bringing Indigenous and Muslim communities to the roundtable over bannock and biryani, the goal was to emulate what Siddiqui experienced at sundance: a sense of mutual understanding and respect between two distinct, yet in many ways similar communities.
A labour of love
The conference was presented by the Islamic Social Service Association (ISSA) and funded by the Winnipeg Foundation and Canadian Heritage.
It’s a labour of love made possible by three grandmothers: Shahina Siddiqui, the executive director of ISSA, Diane Redsky, the CEO of the Kekekoziibii Development Corporation and Sandra Delaronde, the project lead with Giganawenimaanaanig.
“This conference is about bringing people together to learn more about what we share,” Redsky said. “Muslim women, they also come from matriarchial societies, they are really the centre of families, communities and nations, very similar to us.”
While building cross-cultural connections, they also challenged misconceptions.
“We really have some harmful stereotypes and systemic discrimination and racism rooted in colonial power that we really need to address,” Redsky said. “We can do that together, collectively.”
Shared histories
Leah Gazan, the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, was invited to speak on a panel titled “Legacy of Colonialism: Historical Analysis and Impacts” with Dr. Ingrid Mattson.
“Both Indigenous women and Muslim women are often marginalized, not so much in our identities, but through stereotypes and racist tropes that have been perpetrated upon us by colonization,” Gazan said.
Over the past few years, Omar Siddiqui has educated himself on the shared colonial histories impacting Muslim and Indigenous peoples.
Garnet Wolseley, a British general who led the 1870 reign of terror against the Red River Metis, also waged imperial violence during India’s 1857 War of Independence.
“Those who were trying to tear us apart see the similarities between us. We’re not them,” Siddiqui said. “But we certainly aren’t them. We have a different way of looking at the world. We want a world where people live together, where they’re allowed to be who they are, where our children come together and live together in harmony.”
The next generation
With participants from as near as Winnipeg and as far as California, the conference’s turnout warmed Shahina Siddiqui’s heart.
She plans to host the gathering bi-annually and hopes others will follow suit.
“I’m encouraging other cities to follow our example and do it, so we spread it across Canada,” Siddiqui said.
She hopes it will empower the next generation to build kinship and heal together.
“As a grandmother, I think we are leaving behind a legacy for our grandkids, not to be silent when there’s injustice, to join hands and carry on, and never, ever lose hope,” she said. “They want us to lose hope. We won’t.”
