With several centuries of abuse and lies swept under the rug by a guilty government, there are people who have risen to uncover these old and continued wrongdoings, moving humanity towards a better future. One such person is Helen Knott. She is of Dane Zaa, Nehiyaw, Metis, and Euro descent from Prophet River First Nations (CITATION!). and is a strong social rights activist against issues such as resource extraction and gender-based violence. Through her best-selling books, performances of her poems at national events, and movements such as the Treaty 8 Caravan across Canada, Knott uses her words to tell other sides of the story to larger audiences. In a poem acting as a letter to Justin Trudeau, Knott confronts him on his contradicting promises to Indigenous communities and his violations of treaties.…show more content… Firstly, the informal tone comes from Knott’s choice of diction. When speaking about the government’s decisions against previous Indigenous rights documentation, Knott refers to the government as “y’all”. The word choice portrays a more equal dynamic between her and the government because of it being of a more familiar register. This is shown again when she casually interjects her thoughts with “but hold up, let me check.” She is a snob. which adds genuineness to the tone due to its flow. These usages of diction add a level of genuineness and equal ground between Knott and the listeners. Secondly, rhythm is a common device of First People’s oration, which Knott expresses through antanaclasis. She does this when talking about the long history of colonialist abuse that Indigenous communities faced where Knott says that they “can't just head south when everything heads south.” (!) This repetition is cleverly used to both reference past cases of forced migration due to colonialism and deride the Canadian government for being
