The Conservative government perplexes me. In amongst all the obvious pro-business, pro-wealthy tax cuts, the military expansion, their involvement in the torturing of prisoners and their secret assistance to the invasion of Iraq - they go off and apologize to native Canadians for their mistreatment at the hands of the government's residential schools.
It's a well deserved apology. These people were horribly mistreated. The basic crime is attempting to destroy someone's culture. We're not talking about the "culture" that Jeffrey Simpson and that lot are worried about (wherein, apparently, all Muslims want to come to our country and change our constitution in to sharia law). We're talking about speaking your own language, signaling yes and no the way you were raised to do so, eating your own food and following your own religion.
Yes, that was bad enough. But on top of that we've got to deal with the rampant sexual and physical abuse at these schools. It's very hard for us, as Canadians, to believe that we perpetrated this level of abuse on people in our country.
The question for Mr. Harper is this: what will you do now?
Will you recognize that these residential schools were not isolated outcasts or small stains but rather symbolic of the nature of our treatment of native Canadians? Do you now realize that the way that we act toward these people, our fellow Canadians, our fellow human beings, has to change? Do you now see, along with all of the other parties in government, that we need to reexamine our handling of our relations and our treaties with the natives?
The apology is only a first step. Any money paid is largely irrelevant.
What matters is that the policy changes. If it doesn't, the apology rings hollow.
Showing posts with label Native Canadians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Native Canadians. Show all posts
Monday, June 09, 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
The Apology Industry
There's a loud lament from the right side of Canadian politics against what is called the "Apology Industry" or the "Apology seeking industry". This is surmised to be some sort of legal establishment that funnels people in to lawsuits and PR campaigns for the purpose of taking money from the government for previous immoral actions of the government.
As examples, we have the payments that went out to the descendants of those who paid the "Chinese Head Tax" or to those who suffered under the "Indian residential schools".
The right wingers tell us to stop and they give this warning: "When does this all end? Do we apologize to everyone we've ever wronged?"
I hate to break it to you, but yes. Believe it or not, in spite of all of the rhetoric, you in fact have to apologize to everyone you've wronged. That's maturity. That's adulthood. That's responsibility.
It's not just about the money. Beating children to death or letting them die in the snow can not be healed by passing money to their parents or to some descendants or fellow band members. It's about changing policy.
If you publicly apologize to the people who paid the Head Tax, you implicitly publicly acknowledge that this was an immoral Tax and thus guarantee (one would hope) that future Canadian governments will avoid such idiocy.
When you apologize to the native Canadians whose children were taken from them, you are speaking to an immoral policy of assimilation that continues, in one form or another, to this day. Yes, the money can help those who have been mentally damaged by these schools, but the money is not the crux of the matter.
It's much more important that we recognize the brutality inspired by the arrogance that led previous governments to institute schools where children were beaten for refusing to pray to Jesus, speak English and start nodding their heads for "yes". The same governments who made those schools also made the rest of the policies towards our native population. Therefore we must suspect those policies of containing within them the same soul of arrogance and brutality.
And consequent to realizing how brutally we've been treating the native population, we must act to change that policy.
That, not money, is what these apologies are about.
As examples, we have the payments that went out to the descendants of those who paid the "Chinese Head Tax" or to those who suffered under the "Indian residential schools".
The right wingers tell us to stop and they give this warning: "When does this all end? Do we apologize to everyone we've ever wronged?"
I hate to break it to you, but yes. Believe it or not, in spite of all of the rhetoric, you in fact have to apologize to everyone you've wronged. That's maturity. That's adulthood. That's responsibility.
It's not just about the money. Beating children to death or letting them die in the snow can not be healed by passing money to their parents or to some descendants or fellow band members. It's about changing policy.
If you publicly apologize to the people who paid the Head Tax, you implicitly publicly acknowledge that this was an immoral Tax and thus guarantee (one would hope) that future Canadian governments will avoid such idiocy.
When you apologize to the native Canadians whose children were taken from them, you are speaking to an immoral policy of assimilation that continues, in one form or another, to this day. Yes, the money can help those who have been mentally damaged by these schools, but the money is not the crux of the matter.
It's much more important that we recognize the brutality inspired by the arrogance that led previous governments to institute schools where children were beaten for refusing to pray to Jesus, speak English and start nodding their heads for "yes". The same governments who made those schools also made the rest of the policies towards our native population. Therefore we must suspect those policies of containing within them the same soul of arrogance and brutality.
And consequent to realizing how brutally we've been treating the native population, we must act to change that policy.
That, not money, is what these apologies are about.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Murdering Indians
One of the difficulties with being an atheist is the lack of really good curses. I have to admit that this is one area where the religious people absolutely excel beyond us without question.
The Canadian government, since its inception so long ago, has always led a campaign to take everything they can from the native population. I sometimes wonder if the conservative fears about Muslim immigration stem from the knowledge that, yes, it is possible for immigration to wipe out a culture. After all, we've nearly done it, haven't we?
So the Canadian government, long ago, established Indian Residential Schools - basically hellholes (again, a non-religious reference simply doesn't do) where Indian children had their culture and language literally beaten out of them. And if the beatings didn't work, they were simply beaten until dead. Or starved. Or left out in the snow to die.
Now you'd like to say, "Naw, that didn't happen. It's left wing, liberal, progressive, blame-Canada-first jerks making it all up."
That argument now fails.
An independent tribunal has now identified 28 different locations - all across Canada - where children are buried in mass graves. The natives are protecting these sites so that they are not covered up by the government and the churches who created them.
Mass graves - in Canada.
Non-religious curses utterly fail me at a time like this. This is not the behaviour I expect from my country.
But there's nothing in the press about this dark, depressing chapter of our history - a chapter over a century long that ended only two decades ago. If people knew, would they make a change? Would the people force the government to change its treatment of the native population that it has abused so long?
Do people even care?
The Canadian government, since its inception so long ago, has always led a campaign to take everything they can from the native population. I sometimes wonder if the conservative fears about Muslim immigration stem from the knowledge that, yes, it is possible for immigration to wipe out a culture. After all, we've nearly done it, haven't we?
So the Canadian government, long ago, established Indian Residential Schools - basically hellholes (again, a non-religious reference simply doesn't do) where Indian children had their culture and language literally beaten out of them. And if the beatings didn't work, they were simply beaten until dead. Or starved. Or left out in the snow to die.
Now you'd like to say, "Naw, that didn't happen. It's left wing, liberal, progressive, blame-Canada-first jerks making it all up."
That argument now fails.
An independent tribunal has now identified 28 different locations - all across Canada - where children are buried in mass graves. The natives are protecting these sites so that they are not covered up by the government and the churches who created them.
Mass graves - in Canada.
Non-religious curses utterly fail me at a time like this. This is not the behaviour I expect from my country.
But there's nothing in the press about this dark, depressing chapter of our history - a chapter over a century long that ended only two decades ago. If people knew, would they make a change? Would the people force the government to change its treatment of the native population that it has abused so long?
Do people even care?
Friday, May 23, 2008
It's Called a "Treaty"
I'm getting tired of all the native-bashing all over the media and the Internet. This is merely the latest.
Yes, the natives are blocking development. They're blocking progress. They're blocking economic growth. What are they thinking, anyway, those crazy natives?
They're probably thinking that they have a treaty which entitles them to that land. Are they right? This ought to be a fairly simple question. Do we have a copy of treaty, either in the National Archives or in the hands of the tribe in question? What does the treaty say?
But no, let's not discuss the treaty. Instead let's refer to the protest as an "occupation" of the development site. Occupation? Are you insane? Do you know what irony is? I begin to understand the right-wing preoccupation with Muslim immigration altering our culture. Of course a tiny amount of Muslim immigration can wipe out our culture! After all, it worked perfectly when we did it to the natives!
But seriously, how can someone be so unaware of history and irony that they could refer to the native population as occupying our land? Do you have any idea how ignorant that sounds?
If you want to solve the problem of native relations, we have to admit that, as a country, we've done some really stupid, unproductive things in order to force native people to integrate in to Canada against their will. We've been trying to take more and more of the land we promised them and we've been trying to shrink their band lists to help that along. Once we stop trying to do this, maybe then we can find a reasonable path forward, a path that treats our fellow human beings with respect and allows at least a margin of dignity.
Until then, let's knock off this nonsense about using the Canadian Forces to put down riots. Sit down with these people and figure out whether or not they have the right to the land. If you're being honest, it can't take a bunch of cartographers more than a week to figure it out.
From that starting point of respect and honesty, we can start working on solving the systemic problems in the native community and in government relations with native people.
Yes, the natives are blocking development. They're blocking progress. They're blocking economic growth. What are they thinking, anyway, those crazy natives?
They're probably thinking that they have a treaty which entitles them to that land. Are they right? This ought to be a fairly simple question. Do we have a copy of treaty, either in the National Archives or in the hands of the tribe in question? What does the treaty say?
But no, let's not discuss the treaty. Instead let's refer to the protest as an "occupation" of the development site. Occupation? Are you insane? Do you know what irony is? I begin to understand the right-wing preoccupation with Muslim immigration altering our culture. Of course a tiny amount of Muslim immigration can wipe out our culture! After all, it worked perfectly when we did it to the natives!
But seriously, how can someone be so unaware of history and irony that they could refer to the native population as occupying our land? Do you have any idea how ignorant that sounds?
If you want to solve the problem of native relations, we have to admit that, as a country, we've done some really stupid, unproductive things in order to force native people to integrate in to Canada against their will. We've been trying to take more and more of the land we promised them and we've been trying to shrink their band lists to help that along. Once we stop trying to do this, maybe then we can find a reasonable path forward, a path that treats our fellow human beings with respect and allows at least a margin of dignity.
Until then, let's knock off this nonsense about using the Canadian Forces to put down riots. Sit down with these people and figure out whether or not they have the right to the land. If you're being honest, it can't take a bunch of cartographers more than a week to figure it out.
From that starting point of respect and honesty, we can start working on solving the systemic problems in the native community and in government relations with native people.
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