Good Friday 470;

As I read my way through your blogs I like to capture some of your passages that strike me as particularly interesting or insightful, passionate or provocative.

Take note of the excellent hyperlinking in this quote: “A nation brought together through myth- terra nullius, empty wilderness, the Canadian Pacific Railway, a national government imposed to diminish and disappear already functioning systems of Indigenous governance, a nation imposed to bring civility to those perceived as savage through strategies such as the Indian Act, residential schools, the 60s scoop, the ongoing crises of Indigenous youth in care, away from their communities and cultures (see work by Cindy Blackstock). Indigenous communities and cultures, which, today, are still diminished and discriminated against by the RCMP, the Supreme Court of Canada, provincial education systems, Justin Trudeau, Gerald Stanley, the manager at McDonald’s, Brayden Bushby, and that nice white lady who taught you (a convoluted and flawed) history in second grade.

“Moments of silence and stillness in the face of epic beauty, offer a homecoming of sorts. A remembrance of the interconnectedness of all life and form. My being, in all its complication and simplicity, was and is part of the big play – Life, Earth, Death, Universe, Sun, Moon, everything, nothing.”

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You preface your question withe statement “we are all our own people”. I am not sure this is completely accurate. I believe that we have free will but that it is far less absolute than many of assume. As you suggested, our culture, upbringing, experiences (not to mention personality) all remain strong determinants of our general worldview and the choices we will make. In my opinion, for better or for worse, western culture is heavily influenced by individualist, capitalist, materialist understandings of the world. That worldview , I believe, is passed on through the education system, media, and society in general. This , in turn, tends to highlight and grow certain human traits that, unless one is very self aware and works consciously to overcome, will naturally manifest in their thoughts and actions. This , I believe, is the legacy of the Colonists. I grew up in a world where those racist, selfish and dangerous ideas were able to flourish and now I must work at uprooting them (not only from the education system and media around me ) but also from my thoughts and perspectives within.

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King acknowledges that he spends more time focusing on the Earth Diver story, largely because the majority of the audience is not working from a place of existing knowledge of this creation story. However, in approaching it this way, King also draws the audience’s attention to the fact that they do know the story of Genesis. Regardless of their own religious beliefs, King makes the audience question how the Genesis story became so pervasively known within our culture. Without directly asking the audience this question, King demonstrates an alternative by choosing to examine the Earth Diver story more thoroughly. King chooses which story to privilege, modeling his argument regarding how the dichotomous representation of the stories necessitates declaring one as sacred and one as secular. As King writes, “we are suspicious of complexities, distrustful of contradictions, fearful of enigmas.” Dichotomies are easy. Choosing is easy. Challenging the dichotomy is hard, and changing your mind is even harder.

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The asado stayed in South America until my grandfather brought it to Belgium. It was the only time his father ever said he was proud of him. He then showed his sons and son-in-law how to make an asado with steaks and merguez from Spain. There was never a need for salad, maybe the occasional tomato. My father then brought it to Canada. A land where the soul of the animal was destroyed by gas BBQs. As the indigenous people of the land, my father knew the power of wood and smoke. We began to use North American cuts and Italian sausages that we covered in curry sauce, blending cultures but holding onto what is sacred. The coals and the people.

Asado. It’s where we talk for hours about food, throw in some sociopolitical discourse, drink, dance, tell dirty jokes, and unite our friends from all over the world. The asado is my home.

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“”The idea that the violent , destructive, and shameful history of Colonial history in the Americas could be understood through the story  of a disordered and morally corrupt younger brother , in my mind, opened up the possibility of compassion for the mistakes of our past rather less useful emotions such as  anger or bitterness (or worst, guilt).

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“Or Robinson’s direct engagement with the listener, through questions or assertions which, maybe with Wickwire, were responded to with nods or gesture. He asks, “do you know what the Angel was? Do you know? The Angel, God’s Angel, you know,” (Robinson). And, admittedly, I don’t know. This is a loss from reading his story in a book. In person I might’ve furrowed my brow, and Robinson would’ve known to elaborate. Or maybe he would’ve left me to fill the details.”

To Home and Back

I can’t help but to reflect on this line “To me, home is IN my heart. I carry my home with me through my experiences and the relationships I have with the people who have shaped me. My home is in me.”

“ — which is so beautifully expressed throughout your blog – while this is such a loving and uplifting expression of home, in context  with our course this makes me think about the contagious suicide rate among young First Nation’s in Canada. I can’t help but to contrast this with and their experiences of homelessness, that extends to entire communities, indeed – entire Nations. As described in my link, at the root of First Nations’ suicide rates lies: “a condition characterized by long-lasting feelings of intense sadness and hopelessness” (Brandy Joe, Suicide: A permanent solution to a temporary problem).

” I think that we are already in a time where we can achieve ME across Indigenous and Western cultures. There has already been a shift in psychology where researchers realize that most studies are done with a WIERD demographic. WIERD = Western, Industrialized, Educated, Rich, and Democratic. This is still a huge problem, but I think that research is slowly heading in the right direction.”

What a powerful expression of your feelings toward living on Stolen Land – thank you for an insightful read this morning, and your excellent engagement with our course.

 “I will repeat what nearly all of us have said: home is very difficult to define, and it is going to be different for each and every one of us. As a Canadian of European descent, it is especially difficult. The truth is, if I am to use the more general of definition of home (“the place where I come from”), I have to tell people that my home is a stolen land. I have my home because people stole it from others. I was not responsible for these actions, and growing up as a child who knew little of our country’s harsh past, I had no reason not to proudly say, “My home is Canada”, in the same way that a child riding in a car that was, unbeknownst to the child, stolen by her parents, would proudly say, “This is my car”. I did not choose my past. I did not choose the country in which I was born. But here I am. And now it is my responsibility to be an Indigenous ally and to make amends for the actions of those who came before me, so that I can make Canada a place that my children can say- with deserved pride- is their home.

• Thank you. When I was growing up in the 60’s it was common to hear people say and write – “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” – and, of course we even sang a nursery rhythm: “one little, two little, three little Indians ….. they all end up dying. So, it is uplifting to experience such a shift in perspective that your generation is (finally) bringing to bare on reality.

“However, this assumption is rather fair, as there are several stark differences between European and Indigenous culture. Personally, I take Lutz’s assumption as an indicator that there was a strong belief that Indigenous cultures would willingly adapt well to European ways of life, as implied in the sense that he believes it is harder for it to be the other way around.”

• An excellent succinct and on the nail answer to my question!

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So, while I would argue that the meaning behind Judge McEachern’s comment is that it was one of disdain, belittlement, fear, or ignorance, I am choosing to value and bolster Don Monet’s interpretation of the roaring map and experience it as a metaphor for the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan peoples determination, grit, and integrity in manipulating a colonialist system and winning (even though it took a disgustingly long time for the government to accept and honour their land claims).

I was really interested in this subject and looked into what the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Nations look like today, and if there have been more conflicts around land claims as a result of economic expansion in BC, and I found some interesting articles related to the TransCanada Corp.’s Coastal GasLink pipeline project and how it’s challenging both Western and Indigenous law and dividing Wet’suwet’en leaders. The conflict highlights tensions within Indigenous groups, where “painful trade-offs between economic development and ancient obligations of land stewardship” must be discussed (Hunter et al.).

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“When King places the Native story and Christian story in binary opposition, he is not polarizing us vs. them; he is making it possible for the reader to get a sense of someone else’s culture. King mentions that “creation stories are relationships that help to define the nature of the universe and how cultures understand the world in which they exist.” (King 10). The Christian story causes us the view ourselves as detached from the world and better than other creatures. The Native story gives us a sense that we are part of nature and that animals share similar souls to our own. The Native story seems to have a better outcome for the environment, but King doesn’t dismiss the Christian story altogether because we can learn it’s authoritative rhetoric and why it has influenced so many cultures. By contrasting two stories in a way that is easy to understand, he shows us that there are different ways to view our world and that these beliefs affect our behaviour and culture. It doesn’t seem that he is saying one story is better than the other, but that viewing the world from one belief system can normalize a lot of destructive behaviour. After all, “a person who knows only one country knows no countries,” Seymour Lipset.” https://blogs.ubc.ca/nolanjanssens470/

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