Monthly Archives: March 2015

In our ASTU class this term, we’ve discussed the importance of archives in conjunction with  silences,voices, and whose lives matter. In a Globe and Mail article published March 16th, an internal investigation revealed a gap of 266 people in the national database of missing individuals within Canada. Given that, “Indigenous women are far more likely to disappear or be killed than non-aboriginal women” (Carlson and D’Alieso), the reality of these numbers is hard to conceive. This void in the RCMP national database suggests a silencing of the marginalized lives Aboriginal women, and their families, across Canada.

In the same Globe and Mail article, one interviewed woman, Ms. Williams, shares that her aunt, Belinda Williams, went missing in 1977 and her whereabouts is still unknown (Carlson and D’Alieso). Ms. Williams’ cousin, Tanya Holyk had also gone missing, but her DNA was found on the Pickton farm; where many other Aboriginal women remains were found.

One of the many other victims was named Sarah de Vries. Her ethnicity of “black, Aboriginal, Mexican Indian, as well as white” (de Vries 1) combined with her living in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver made her a vulnerable target. As required reading for my ASTU class, Missing Sarah: A Vancouver Woman Remembers her Vanished Sister,  opened the dialogue of ethical representation. Maggie de Vries, sister of Sarah de Vries, created a space for Sarah to occupy an authentic voice within the frame of  non sensationalized reality.

As additional stories of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada are told, media outlets, the RCMP, as well as the government of Canada have ethical roles and responsibilities to attend. I’m left wondering who will monitor that progress? and how will such institutions be held accountable?

Carlson, Kathryn Blaze, Renata D’Alieso. “Substantial gap discovered in RCMP database of anonymous dead.” Globe and Mail. Web. 16 March 2015

de Vries, Maggie. Missing Sarah: A Vancouver Woman Remembers her Vanished Sister. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2003. Print.

In exploring Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill this term in ASTU 100, I was introduced to the concept of the “hyphenated” (31) identity for the first time. In this biotext, Wah reinforces his experiences with lifelong social constructs through ethnicity, recipes, and the restaurant layout (white English speakers in the front and Chinese in the back).

Ever since this introduction to lives inside the hyphen, I’ve noticed it in every other one of my classes.

In one of last week’s Geography readings titled Identity Crisis by Allan Gregg, Canadian culture and “hyphenated citizenship” (2) was in discussion and the historical societal impact of immigration.

In Sociology, guest speaker Dr. Donna Lester-Smith shared assimilation testimony from First Nations residential school students. These stories along with the powerful before and after images of Thomas Moore left a clear image of how drastic identities can be changed and at such an young age.

In African Studies, Professor Kofi discussed European powers “slicing” Africa into pieces, like a cake waiting to be divided. With these divides came values and belief systems the Africans were forced to adopt. The lecture left me left me thinking of these new, socially constructed hyphenated identities that Africans were forced to assimilate to.

Diamond Grill is the first book I’ve read at university with an applicable message of hyphenated identity that can span multiple disciplines while remaining equally important across the board.

As I continue with the last two ASTU assigned readings Missing Sarah by Maggie de Vries and Cockeyed by Ryan Knighton, I’m curious to see if these texts will have the same impact, and if the recurring “hyphenated” identity concept will continue to emerge.

Citations:

Gregg, Allan. “Identity Crisis: Multiculturalism, a 20C Dream Becomes a 21C Nightmare.” (2006). UBCLIB. The Walrus. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

“Thomas Moore Image.” Yahoo. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A86.JyPiWflUd18AXpcnnIlQ?p=before and after thomas moore&fr=&fr2=piv-web&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001>.

Wah, Fred. Diamond Grill. Edmonton: NeWest, 1996. 2-31. Print.