If I had been asked to write about home six years ago, I would have far exceeded the word requirement. Back in high school I thought I knew exactly who I was and where I came from. I had so much pride in my hometown that I did not miss a moment to let everyone I passed know that I was different. Identity is something that most teenagers try to find. Who am I? What are my likes? Dislikes? What are my quarks and personality traits that make me who I am? These questions dominate our minds at a young age. For me, being from a town called Wahnapitae made me special and different. I moved to Peterborough and needed an identity I told teenage self. Wahnapitae is a small town, “deep” in northern Ontario. This meant that I was a small town kid with a heart for the outdoors. I had to like country music, drive a four-wheeler and wear cowboy boots and jeans. The small town also meant that I was grittier hockey player. I grew up in old hockey arenas and coaches wanted me to hit and force my body along the boards.
That is what home meant to me.

As a twenty three year old, I could not be more different. Home is a concept that is much harder to define.

Wow, this course is very self reflective.

Well, let us take this moment to figure out what home is.

-It is the physical place that brings comfort?

-Is it the region where one is familiar?

-Is it an idea of the self within the surrounding?

-Is it family, friends and loved ones?

-Is it traveling?

-Is it finding challenge and pushing comfort zones?

Maybe home is all of these, one of these, or none.

Since I was ten years old, I have never lived in a place for more than two years. I have not even stayed in one spot for more than eight months at a time. I enjoy the comfort of finding a routine, but I also hate getting complacent. I always feel the need to move on from a place once it has become stale. Home has always been where family is, however I have spent the last ten years of my life living on my own.
The list that I compiled is mostly from my own experience. Everyones experiences home differently and from that perspective, I would like to think about why.

From the multicultural Canadian context, the idea of “home” is even more convoluted. This country had europeans colonize and wipe out huge populations of indigenous peoples who had called this place home for centuries. Contemporarily, refugees risk their lives and their homes for a new one in Canada. These concepts of home have literally meant life and death. Something that I am lucky enough to have never had to deal with. Having the land, wildlife and families taken away is awful. Wars have forced people from their homes. Children have been brought to residential school, taken from their families and stripped of their identity and language. These are traumas that cannot be undone.

Another student in this course wrote an introduction post that mentioned Gord Downie. It was something I hoped to touch on in future blog posts. The Tragically Hip are my favourite band of all time. When Gord was going through his diagnosis of terminal brain cancer, he did something special. Instead of taking his last years on earth doing something for himself, he sent a powerful message instead. It is important to note that Gord was really sick and the tumour affected his memory. Despite that, he wanted to spread the message of indigenous rights, residential school and understanding. He met with many Indigenous people to try to listen and understand. It was important to him that he raise awareness of the trauma that indigenous people are still living with to this day.

Perspective, is a powerful tool. This blog post has forced me to look inward at what home means to me. I have also put into perspective what others have gone, and are going through.

It is great that we are asking ourselves these questions, but it is more powerful when we read and understand each others differences. These blog posts are written from the heart which is why it seems we are getting great responses.

I hope this blog post does not seem too corny or forced, but it was truly an exercise in humility. I have worked my thoughts and ideas on to this page and it is quite evident because it jumps around a lot.
Thank you,
MM

The bear was always solitary. He knew his land, and each aspect of it. He had an amazing memory of each pebble, each rock. He knew the trees the bushes. He also know the streams and the rivers. The bear would be able to walk many kilometres of his land and know exactly were he was. The bear knew where the best berry bushes were. He knew which strawberries were the ripest and which blueberries were the sweetest. He even knew which eddies had the biggest fish. Walking everyday, strolling through the bush and along the river bank there was pride in his land. Even as his feet thrashed through the bushes he felt secure and content. There was nothing else the bear wanted or needed.

The muskox was always solitary. He moved about his land with curiosity. He did not know the land well and travelled about with a sort of blind discovery. The muskox did not care to remember where he had been or where he was going. Each direction brought on a new discovery and surprise. The muskox would find a fresh batch of fireweed flowers and would eat through the field until he ended up somewhere else.

The raven was always solitary. She knew her land as she flew through the clouds and over the tree tops. The raven was above all a trickster. She could fly anywhere she wanted and see the world from the sky. It was not enough for the raven and she knew that if she wanted to live off the land without worry, she would need to do something about it.

The Raven went to the muskox and said
“Hello muskox. I have heard dangerous stories and I am here to protect you. All you need to do is listen to me. Do not anger the bear, if you eat from his special blueberry bush that looks like every other blueberry bush on the tundra. Do not eat from his special fireweed patch that resembles every other fireweed patch on the tundra. If you do, he will kill you and eat you.”

The Raven went to the bear and said.
“Hello bear. I have heard dangerous stories and I am here to protect you. The muskox is planning to destroy everything you know about the tundra. He wants to stomp on every bush until it is gone. He wants to knock over every tree, and dam every river and stream. The muskox wants to destroy everything you know about the tundra so that you no longer know where you are or where you are going.”

The muskox was so frightened that he was not able to eat. He did not go anywhere near the blueberry bushes. If the muskox happened across a fireweed patch, there was no choice but to turn away. He eventually grew so weak that he could no longer walk or move. He was starving, he was terrified.

The bear continued to walk through the forested tundra that he knew so well. Keeping an eye out for the muskox. In that moment the Raven swooped down and with a flap of her wings, trees started to fall down. The Raven flew over all the bushes and destroyed them all with the force of her wings as she flew overhead. The raven then swooped over the river and streams and damed them all.

The bear grew frightened as he noticed everything he knew was disappearing. What the raven had told him was coming true. he became angry and furious. He stomped the ground and searched for the muskox.

Once the bear saw the muskox in the distance, he slowly moved in let out a huge growl and took down the weak and tired Muskox. After he had killed him, he noticed that the muskox was weak, and tired. He could not have done the damage to his forest. The bear knew in that moment that he had been tricked by the Raven. He grew sad because his forest was gone and he had killed the muskox.

This is the story of how evil and trickery came into the world, why there are no more tress on the tundra and why muskox travel in packs. The story has been told, and now it cannot be taken back.

Reflection
I am not the creative type, therefore this was a little more difficult for me. I tried to come up with many ideas but I do not have much imagination beyond what I already know. This story was adapted from a fable called the Lion and the Ox from Kalila wa Dimna an ancient Muslim text. I adapted my own characters and changed the story but it still has a similar premise. Two animals being tricked by another.

In terms of writing goes. It was difficult to write a story that is also meant to be read aloud. It was tough starting out the sentences without using He, she or the animal. I Would like some feedback and advice for that. Some research had gone into story telling, but I knew I just had to start writing.
I used the same sentence at the start of many paragraphs several times to convey a storytellers voice. I thought it would read aloud better when there is some consistency but I am willing to take advice on how to work that better.

Thank you.
MM

Sources

Atıl, Esin. Kalila Wa Dimna: Fables From a Fourteenth-century Arabic Manuscript. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981

Charles Parrott. “On Telling Tales and The Art of Storytelling.” Storytelling, Self, Society, vol. 10, no. 2, 2014, pp. 258–262. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.13110/storselfsoci.10.2.0258.

Lunde, Paul. Kalila wa Dimna. Muslim Heritage.http://muslimheritage.com/article/kalila-wa-dimna

Hello my name is Maxwell McEachern 

That is me, on the left.  I have a bit of a tradition. Every time I am able to hike to the peak of a mountain or hill, I take a photo of myself with the Canadian flag. I guess I saw others doing the same thing on summits like Everest and K2 and decided, what the hell.

I am proud to be Canadian and always have been. Growing up watching Canada compete on the world stage in international hockey events or the olympics might have grown that pride in me. Where I was born seemed to be a strong identifier or gave me a sense of identity.

Even though I will still hold up the Canadian flag, adorn a patch my backpack, or cry into my team Canada jersey as the junior team loses with 40 seconds left, I have taken a step back. Stepping away from a blind sense of national pride to really wonder what Canada really is.

In the photo above, I am with clients of mine as we end our canoe trip down the Horton River. The Horton River lies within the arctic circle in the Northwest Territories and it is a place I have been lucky enough to travel to the past four summers. Northern Canada seems like a completely different place than it’s southern counterpart and It has led me to confront the idea that Canada is a perfect place. I have been able to meet and work with Indigenous people who have shed some light on what their idea of “Canada” is. The northern part of Canada faces misconceptions just as much if not more than southern indigenous people

Many Canadians are unaware of the issues and racism faced by indigenous people and there are a lot of misconceptions about taxes, sexual violence, reserves and residential school.

As we move forward as citizens of this country we must really try to understand and create awareness for indigenous voices and issues. I look forward to the next few months working and reading through the blog posts while cultivating good discussion.

MM

Sources

Barker, Joanne. “Gender, Sovereignty, Rights: Native Women’s Activism against Social Inequality and Violence in Canada.” American Quarterly, vol. 60, no. 2, 2008, pp. 259–266. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40068533.

McIntyre, Sheila. “The Supreme Court of Canada’s Betrayal of Residential School Survivors: Ignorance Is No Excuse.” Sexual Assault in Canada: Law, Legal Practice and Women’s Activism, edited by Elizabeth A Sheehy, University of Ottawa Press, OTTAWA, 2012, pp. 151–172. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcb92.11.

Nair, Roshini “‘Call a spade a spade’: fighting racism depends on honest conversation, expert says.” CBC News. February 9th 2017.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/call-a-spade-a-spade-fighting-racism-depends-on-honest-conversation-expert-says-1.3971977