Control Comics - Me, I just like playing pool

In the Imagine… cover I highlight the aspect of having freedom to choose, whatever that may be. I like that the character is still choosing to play pool. He really encapsulates the quiet dignity I have encountered in my family and community over the years.

Yun wha nilh ni – Yun Wha nohl ni means in your lifetime, enjoy your life on this earth!

I wonder, what if such sentiments had been part of the Indian Act all along?

Title: Me, I Just Like Playing Pool

There is one part of the Indian Act that encapsulates the frustration and confusion I often feel when I explore this part of our canadian history. In 1927 the superintendent of indian affairs was given the unusual power to regulate the operation of pool rooms, dance halls and other places of amusement, and the following 1930 amendments allowed for pool room owners to be fined and imprisoned for allowing Indigenous people into their establishment.

I both understand and am confused by these policies. I understand that they are systems of control. I just cannot understand why we want these systems, and this is more apparent when it relates to limiting pleasurable and even mundane activities like pool.

This policy of control led to further racism and the advent of signs that stated things like “No Indians or Dogs allowed.”

My dad remembers these signs.