Howard Adams (Métis)
1921-2001
Revolutionary Métis Marxist scholar and professor Howard Adams grew up in a Métis community in Saskatchewan. He was a leader in the struggle for Indigenous rights, self-determination, and socialism.
Excerpt from Prison of Grass – Chapter 14 “The Failure of Native Leadership”
All actions of the colonizer manifest his need to divide in order to facilitate the preservation of the oppressed state. There are ways of dividing the colonized in order to preserve the system that favors the ruling class. There are forms of action that exploit the weak point of the oppressed, their basic insecurity; they are insecure because they come to believe that the oppressor is omnipotent, and the system invincible. Under these circumstances, the oppressors take advantage of these weaknesses and perpetuate divisive action. This basic insecurity is thus directly linked to their oppression. […]
Every move by the colonized towards unity indicates other actions; it means that sooner or later they will perceive their state of powerlessness and depersonalization. They discover that as long as they are divided they will always be easy prey for manipulation and domination. Unity and organization can make it possible for them to change their weakness into strength.
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