Warning: This story contains a racial slur that some readers may find offensive.
A small, peaceful rally for the Idle No More movement outside the Prince George Civic Centre was briefly interrupted Sunday afternoon by a heckler.
About 30 minutes into the three-hour rally a middle-aged woman strolled past and suggested the 21 people at the gathering "get a job" or "have a drink."
Shalane Pauls, a third-year biochemistry student at UNBC and a member of the Kitsumkalum First Nation in Terrace, was unfazed by the passerby.
"We can't let people like that woman impede us," said Pauls. "When we responded in song instead of anger it just diffused the anger she was trying to create."
The drummers stood and serenaded the woman who responded by flipping a penny towards the group before moving on.
It wasn't the first time Pauls experienced that kind of "open racism" in Prince George.
Pauls said when she arrived at UNBC it surprised her that people were open with their negative opinions and pointed out it's important to educate people and give a larger promotion to the numerous First Nations students studying at the university to try and change perceptions.
"We pay our taxes," she said. "We don't get a free education."
Michael Houg grew up in Prince George and has travelled across Canada from St. John's, Nfld., to Haida Gwaii and agreed about the attitudes in his hometown.
"Prince George is one of the most racist and bigoted places that I've ever been in," said the 24-year-old construction worker of European descent. "My girlfriend, and mother of my child, is half South African and I've been called a nigger lover in a workplace in Prince George and that was OK. This has happened quite a number of times."
He said he believes the racism in Prince George is often overlooked because people use it to get laughs.
"A lot of it is excused because the majority happens as a joke or people pass it off as humour,"
he said.
Houg said he attended the rally to show his support for Idle No More because silence won't help change issues.
"It's interesting because a lot of times there's something to be gained for being that critical of something but if you look at it from an ignorant standpoint - when you say something and don't actually [have facts] to back it up - then not only do you hamper improvements being made, but you also create new problems as well," said Houg.
