Blog # 158...October, 2024
"There' is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in." How often poets manage to capture a feeling and lead us into our deepest thoughts. These days there seem to be cracks appearing everywhere. I keep waiting for the light to come through and am so grateful for the occasional glimmer.
One day last April, I had a wonderful surprise when I happened to walk by the British Columbia legislature building in Victoria. People of the Haiaa nation were in full regalia celebrating the third reading of the bill giving them title to the land they had occupied lovingly for centuries. Indigenous languages have no word for landscape, the distance from nature that it implies has no meaning when they live within it. They have much to teach us as we struggle on many fronts with our environment.
We've all become used to land acknowledgements at every public event, evidence of a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations issued almost a decade ago. Confrontations over land rights continue to occur in most parts of the country, a strange counterpoint to the public statements being made. The Haida agreement heralds a shift to an era of collaboration rather than confrontation; discussions around a table rather than battles in court.
As I'm getting ready to post this, it's the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. As well as sitting through the land acknowledgements, many of us have wondered what else we can do, how to match words with deeds. First we need to have an understanding of where we are and how we got here. There is a wealth of material to introduce contemporary indigenous culture. CBC has documentaries, music programs and Indigenous people reading news and hosting shows. Among my favourite reads are Michelle Goode's Five Little Indians and Who Are We by Murray Sinclair. I always love anything by Richard Wagamese or Drew Hayden Taylor and I'm looking forward to The Knowing by Tanya Talaga, both a book and a four part series on CBC Gem.
For an unbiased exploration of the history from before the arrival of Jacques Cartier in 1534 to the present, your best bet is the University of Alberta's free online course in Indigenous History which I've taken once and intend to repeat: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/native-studies/programs/continuing-education/index.html There's one whole session near the end on art and artists that is brilliant. It's a major miracle that so many cultural forms and practices have survived our concerted efforts to extinguish them.
Knowing how the past shapes the future and becoming familiar with the rich linguistic and cultural history of Indigenous Canada is the key to reconciliation. We all have much to gain from walking alongside each other, watching for the light to appear through the cracks.
So, it'll be November when next we meet, time flies while life unfolds.
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