The many times I drove by Vancouver’s downtown eastside (DTES) I have committed the” unforgivable but not unprecedented oversight” as Blomley states in his book. This week’s readings has allowed me to think about the different aspects of colonialism and its remaining impact on urban land use conflicts as well as the array of social, economic and cultural issues that have resulted from it. Of the many creative pieces, I personally found the Painted Tongue to be the most touching and thought provoking short story as I have discussed in the previous blog posting.
Another creative work of a completely different genre has also caught my attention. 8th Fire is a CBC production of television series that focus on amending the relationship between Canadians and First Nations. In the episode Indigenous in the City, the idea of urban space conflict is presented in a completely different light in comparison to Boyden’s work. The episode starts off by stating the fact that more and more indigenous people are living in the city instead of on the reserve and it is time to “get to know your neighbors”. The rest of the episode is composed of interviews from well accomplished middle class working professionals and artists of indigenous ancestry. Dr.Evan Adams, a physician, Kent Monkman, celebrated visual artist and Taiaike Alfred, a professor at University of Victoria just to name a few. The take away message from the elite representatives is that education in their own history, bridging divide between cultures and allowing cultures to flourish are important. While in reality, the majority of aboriginals does not live in a loft studio in the city or even have a job. The rampant poverty, crimes, HIV, drug abuse and social injustice are the real problems and these issues are barely touched on in the episode. The space conflicts that resulted from dispossession to displacement are the main concern for many of us, but the portrayal on TV deliberately avoided the harsh confrontation of these issues. This inevitably conforms to the taste of middle class, or in order word, a form of gentrification. Painted Tongue on the other hand, describes a homeless aboriginal person wandering in the city while exposing through his own eyes the numerous social problems and juxtaposition that exist in the present day downtown Toronto. Painted Tongue is a classic case of double displacement as stated in the course notes. Even though both of the creative works convey the important issues about urban space conflicts, they have taken very different approach.