![\"gixtsan_map\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sarkeleng470\/files\/2016\/09\/Gixtsan_map-300x293.jpg\")
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The last chapter of J. Edward Chamberlin’s “If This Is Your Land,Where Are Your Stories,” discusses how there can be multiple equally truthful versions of a single event in history. It all depends on the culture in which one is raised, and how they look at the world, for which version of a story that one wants to believe – or even multiple versions. An example that Chamberlin uses is the story of a large angry bear who tore half a mountain with him when the Gitksan people of the North West of British Columbia got too comfortable in a valley and no longer respected the land or the animals in the way that they once had. After geological analysis, it turns out that there had been a massive earth quake that tore the mountain away in the same time frame that the bear story took place. The Gitksan believe both stories because of their culture, especially since the oral story had been around thousands of years before seismology existed. The land claim court that the Gitksan took both stories to, however, could not use the bear story as evidence because it was not understood in colonial terms. Perhaps the two stories having the same time frame and setting was coincidental. I find this interesting because it make me think that oral histories should be taken more seriously than they have been – even if they are told like a story with elements of religion and spirituality.<\/p>\n
The story of land title connected to Aboriginal title is another interesting topic of Chamberlin’s last chapter. Chamberlin explains that land title is a completely fake notion, that people take for granted. This made me think of Vancouver where large sums of money are transferring hands for houses<\/a>, condos, and the rare commodity of bare land. Likewise Aboriginal title<\/a> is a made up thing, and rather pan-indigenous, as what makes someone indigenous is as much cultural, as it is genetic, but these days post-colonial governments seem to base Indigeneity on genetics mostly. Before colonists arrived in what is now called Canada, Aboriginal title did not exist. The difference from band to band existed, the stories that they passed down did, and their cultures did – even if those are all made up as well. Just people grouping themselves as they tend to.<\/p>\n The third part of the final chapter that I found interesting is connected to the other two parts of this chapter that I touched on in this post. It is Chamberlain’s idea that knowledge is made up of stories – from science, to religion, to national anthems, to laws. Thus scholars cannot be as objective at they try to be because they read and write with the knowledge that they had before they started writing. They have to choose between stories, and what to believe. Who is ‘barbaric’, who is ‘the other’ are chosen too. Chamberlin says, “Like home, it is at the centre of contradiction,” because there is no ‘home,’ (Chamberlain, 240.) \u00a0That is made up too.<\/p>\n This book has really made me question what I know and my place in the construction that is Canada. I think that it is a good step on the path the reconciliation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cited works:<\/p>\n 2. CTV News. Will Vancouver’s Real Estate Bubble Burst?<\/em> http:\/\/bc.ctvnews.ca\/video?clipId=875918 , Accessed September 15, 2016<\/p>\n 3. Indigenous Foundations. Aboriginal Title.\u00a0http:\/\/indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca\/home\/land-rights\/aboriginal-title.html, Accessed September 15, 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n 4. Gitxsan_map.\u00a0http:\/\/www.nativemaps.org\/files\/images\/pictures\/Gixtsan_map.jpeg Accessed September 16, 2016<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The last chapter of J. Edward Chamberlin’s “If This Is Your Land,Where Are Your Stories,” discusses how there can be multiple equally truthful versions of a single event in history. It all depends on the culture in which one is … Continue reading \n