In Chamberlains last chapter, he states:
“When we sing our national anthems, we use words, phrases about people and places that we would almost certainly question in any other context. We say we believe when maybe we really don’t…except right at that moment, the ceremonial moment, when we reach the border.” (25-26)
It’s quite a grand statement to say that we don’t believe in the words of our national anthem… or is it? I never truly thought about whether or not if I believed in the words to our national anthem. Like any other patriotic Canadian, I just sang the words to song and would have an immense amount of love for my country while doing so. Now that Chamberlain made me remove my patriotism, and maybe a little Canadian ego, from the equation, I now see what he meant! I mean on disrespect when I say this, but I do not trust in God to keep our land, glorious and free. Why? Well I am not religious, of course! And if I don’t believe in the words, then there must be others out there, of different religious beliefs or like mine, who sing along like me. If I am not religious, then why do I sing along with words that I do not believe in or agree with? Because this song is OUR song; it belongs to every person that sets their foot onto our land, our home, Canada. These words bring us together as a nation. We are one. We belong.
The last two significant points that piqued my interest was:
“Let’s get serious. That past is where we live with the settlers’ story anyways.” (41)
And,
“And the descendants of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Americas, the native American peoples, would do what their ancestors have done for millennia: work out new ways of living together with strange people who have strange habits and speak strange languages.” (46)
At first when I read the first sentence, I agreed wholeheartedly. But as I took a step back and let the words sink in, I couldn’t disagree more! Sure there are institutions, such as the Indian Act, that are present day forms of colonization. However there are more and more groups, parties, individuals, schools, and whole bands that are standing up for their rights. Working out new ways of living together with the settlers just goes to show how adaptive aboriginal people truly are. Contrary to belief, aboriginal people are a very strong and resilient group of people. We accept we cannot change the past, but we look to a better future. And some have been very successful, such as my own band, the Gitxsan. We claimed our land as our own and fought tooth and nail to get it back from the government. The Inuit in Nunavut have their own government and run their lands how they see fit, such as education systems, municipal systems, and many more. The Idle No More group has become a world-wide movement, fighting for not only aboriginal people, but for the safety of all people.
The following links are but two examples to aboriginal movements aiding and fighting for rights, the environment, and humanity.
http://nationsrising.org/about/
Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. AA. Knopf. Toronto. 2003. Print.