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'Getting Back Our Dignity'
BC's new lieutenant-governor on what Aboriginals want.
Steven Point at Coast Salish gathering last January.
[Editor's note: The Honourable Judge Steven L. Point has been appointed British Columbia's new lieutenant-governor. Point, whose Stó:lō name is Xwelixweltel, served as an elected chief of Skowkale First Nation, and as chief commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission.
This piece is drawn from a forward written by Xwelixweltel (Hon. Steven Point) for A Stó:lō-Coast Salish Historical Atlas, published by Douglas and McIntyre and Stó:lō Heritage Trust.]
Just a few years ago I went to meet with the mayor of Chilliwack, because city workmen had come onto our reserve at Skowkale to build a flood control device and widen the interception ditch. Our reserve is only 66 hectares, and it has one of Chilliwack's main roads running through it. The city wanted to dig a drainage ditch for the people who were living in a housing subdivision opposite our reserve. The city sent big trucks and heavy equipment to haul dirt off of our reserve and dump it on an adjacent farmer's land.
I was the chief at the time, and I went up and put my arms out and stopped the trucks and asked, "What are you guys doing?" To which they replied, "Well, we are moving dirt because we have to build this ditch." And I said, "Who said you could do that?" The driver answered, "Well, the City." I said, "You can't do that." He responded, "We take our orders from the city engineer, so you'll have to talk to him." So I went to speak with the city engineer and he said, "I can't help you. We take our instructions from the mayor. You'll have to talk to him." So I asked, "Where the heck is the mayor?" He said, "He's over there having a meeting." They were having their council meeting that night and they were all sitting around.
Mayor Simpson was a rather stout guy with not much hair. He was a nice enough fellow and he let me come into the meeting. I said, "Mr. Mayor, I have a question for you. Why are you hauling dirt off of Skowkale Indian Reserve? Don't you know that it's federal Crown land held in trust for Indian people and it's not within the District of Chilliwack's jurisdiction? It's not even within provincial jurisdiction. You have no authority coming onto our reserve. Don't you know that we have a band office with a telephone? You can call me or write me a letter -- I'm the chief. Why didn't you ask? I wouldn't do that to your city. What are you doing?"
He looked at me and then asked, "What do you want?" I thought, What do I want? How about a little respect?! You can't come onto your neighbour's property and begin hauling our dirt without some sort of authority. Then, as though we Aboriginals were invisible, he asked, "Well, how many Indians do we have around here anyway? Who are they?" In his mind, we didn't even exist; that's how far we had been marginalized.
'A collar on my whole life'
Do you know what it is like to be an Indian? I saw a film in a psychology course while I was at university. It was about racism. Half a class of students wore collars, and the other half did not. The kids with collars were designated the bad kids -- no good, not worth anything, lazy, stupid, in every way different from the kids without collars. The film documents the behavioural changes of the kids with collars. They start hanging their heads down. They start acting up and being bad. They do not want the collar on any more. The kids without collars snicker: "Ha, ha, look at you kids! You are bad, you have a collar on!" They point fingers at them, they throw things at them, and they laugh.
As an Aboriginal person, I have had a collar on my whole life. There were times when I prayed to have it taken off. It kills me when my kids come home and tell me that they do not want to be Native. This is what we have to live with in our own country. We have not only been marginalized physically, but also psychologically and emotionally. A great man from the United States once said, "You can't break a man's leg one day and blame him for limping the next." Is it our fault that we drink too much, our fault that we are poor, our fault that we are in jail more than anyone else? People come to me and say: "Why are we giving all of these Indians all of these services? Why don't they pay taxes like everyone else? There should be one law for all. Let's have some equality around here. This isn't right!" When I hear these things, I think, My God, if we had only had equality since the time Aboriginal people met Europeans, then maybe we would still be people in our own eyes and not "Indians."
'If we set up roadblocks'
When I look at young Aboriginal people in the street today and talk to them, I find they don't even know what is wrong with them. All they know is that they do not like who they are, they are angry, they are poor, and they are a minority in a country that treats them as though they get privileges that others do not. Well, I'm tired of apologizing for being Aboriginal.
As someone who has been placed in a leadership role, I think to myself, If we set up roadblocks and start pounding on people, is that going to resolve things? Is that what will bring a better way of life? Look at other parts of the world -- Northern Ireland, Liberia, Bosnia and other areas where there is violence. There isn't a country in the world that does not have a litany of violence in its history. The Scots, for one, have never forgotten what the English did to them. Violence begets violence.
'What do you want?'
Do you know what they are trying to do to us Natives in court? As Aboriginal people, first we have to prove that we are the descendants of the "real" Aboriginal people. Then we have to prove that we were here first -- that we were even here.
Many of our Aboriginal people do not want to use the system, but what can you do if you cannot fight and you want justice? The answer -- you negotiate.
When two people are fighting after a marriage has broken down and they are arguing over the Mercedes, the savings bonds, the kids...they always know what the fight is about. They always have a clear understanding of the battleground and what is being fought over. When I sat across a table from federal negotiators, they didn't admit that we have Aboriginal title to the land, that we are here and we own the country. They were not coming to the table to negotiate that. No, instead they simply asked, "What do you want?" It's the same question that Mayor Simpson asked. "What do you want?" You know that the same answer is applicable. The same answer that every nation in this world has given. The same answer the Scots gave, the same answer the Irish gave, the same answer that is given by every group of people with legitimate claims to a territory. We want our ownership respected. We want it to be recognized and understood that we are here and the country was ours. That is where the negotiations begin.
It is not surprising that the Stó:lō were not interested in negotiating on the premise of their title being extinguished. It has only been in the past five years that the provincial government has come to Native people and agreed to negotiate Aboriginal rights, but they still will not admit that title exists. It's been an interesting history that we have lived, and we are only beginning to understand one another.
We know there are no boats waiting in the harbour to take all of the non-Natives back someplace. We know people are not going to get on planes and say, "Oh well, we didn't get this country so we will go somewhere else." The non-Natives are all going to be here after negotiations. And so are we. What I want to leave behind is the injustice. I wish that we could start again. When two people start dancing, they step on each other's toes. Well, my feet are getting very sore, and I am sure that yours are, too. I would like for us to start again. That is what the negotiations are about.
'A simple recognition'
Recently, an unfortunate article appeared in a local newspaper discussing treaty money received by Stó:lō Nation. That same day, someone spray-painted "tax burden" on the Stó:lō Nation sign outside the office. The next day, our kids were being suspended from school because they were fighting for their right to be respected. Other kids were calling them "welfare people."
How do I get back my dignity? Non-Natives arrived here with their dignity; we would like our dignity back. That does not cost any money and does not take any land. It takes a simple recognition that Aboriginal people were here in their territories when Europeans arrived and they continue to have an unextinguished interest through the treaty process.
I love this country, Canada. A few years ago, I accompanied a Stó:lō dance group representing Canada to France, and the French came up to me and asked if we would mind carrying the Canadian flag. "All right," I answered. "I'll carry the Canadian flag." My uncle died for this country in the Second World War. Our people fought for this country. This country has a tremendous history. But it did not start in 1871 and it did not start in 1867. It started thousands and thousands of years ago when the Creator put us in our own homeland. The governments know we are still here. We have changed a little bit -- we eat pizza on Friday night, we rent videos, we play country music, and I go to church on Sunday and to the longhouse on Saturday -- but we are still here. We are not invisible.
We have a wealth of knowledge passed down to us that we would love to share with non-Natives. About 10 years ago, I put on a four-day course at a high school for the Grade 10 and 11 students. I told the stories about the local mountains, the history of Mt Cheam and the meaning of "Chilliwack." We discussed how the Stó:lō once lived in longhouses and sqémél (pit houses). For four days those students sat listening. The teacher stood at the back of the room shaking her head the whole time and afterward remarked, "I have never heard these kids so quiet for four days in my life." They were learning history that was relevant to them. Three years later, when I myself had gone back to school, I ran into a young university student who said, "Mr. Point, you were one of my teachers. I looked, thinking. "Who the heck are you?" He said, "You taught me history when I was in Grade 11."
'Differences'
The Stó:lō are developing government structures and negotiating them into a treaty. An Elders council has been formed. People say to me, "What's an Elder?" I tell them if you wake up in the morning and your teeth are in a glass, you are an Elder. I am only teasing, of course. It has to do with knowledge, respect, wisdom and love -- that is an Elder. There is also a council of Stó:lō chiefs. In the old days leaders were referred to as siyá:m. The term is seeing a revival. It takes a lifetime to earn that title but only a minute to lose it. There is a Stó:lō Council of Youth as well. These things are together called the Stó:lō Government House. Some of the Elders and some of the chiefs are also part of a Council of Justice and are developing a Stó:lō police force and a justice program. This is necessary because we know that the justice system does not work for Aboriginal people. There must be other ways of dealing with deviant behaviour. The deputy chief commissioner of the RCMP in the province of British Columbia is very interested in supporting the development of an Aboriginal police force. We call it a "peacekeeping force," though -- people who can help solve community problems.
Our Stó:lō Government House is built on Aboriginal values. One of the strongest values we have is humility. When a siyá:m walks into a gathering, he automatically sits in the back: if the others invite him to sit in front, then he moves. That is humility. I watch Canadian politicians and I wonder if they have ever heard of that principle. Our leaders are expected to serve the people and be there for them. Our values and our systems are not European. However, the more I study Europeans and the more I learn about my own history, the more I find that in fact we are the same. You love your Elders, you love your God, you cherish your young people, and you have a strong sense of justice, just as we do. In fact, if you look long and hard enough, you will find that there are probably more similarities than there are differences.
I remember the year before I entered high school -- Grade 7. In Grade 7 you have a lot of friends and a lot of people are good to you. You play Lone Ranger: one day you are Tonto and the next you play the masked man. In Grade 7, though, kids become aware of differences. I can remember one of my friends coming up to me and saying, "I can't play with you any more." I asked, "Why?" He said, "Because my mom said I can't play with you any more." And he never did. He never sat with me on the bus, he never walked home with me any more, we never played marbles again. That is where it begins -- this wall that is built up between people.
We have both paid too much attention to the differences between us, and I want to see that change. I hope that you do, too.
Related Tyee stories:
- Reconciling with First Nations
A Tyee Solutions Reporting Fellowship series. - Campbell: 'No More Excuses'
BC Premier to Conservatives: reverse 'century of betrayal' in dealing with First Nations.
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36
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G West
4 years ago
Thank you for this David
I hope a lot of people read it... especially the ones who are posting comments about how there's nothing wrong with Bruce Allen's kind of straight talk.
I think I prefer Steven Point's kind of straight talk. I wish him luck at the same time that I fear his accepting this ceremonial role will silence his voice and end the good work he's been doing for his people.
Tom Lal
4 years ago
and it continues
Tansi
My congratulations to Mr Point. I do worry that G West may have hit on something though. This is a figure head position and there are traps that come with it. But I guess time will tell if it silences that very wise and passionate man. For now I say good luck and may the creator guide you in your new found role
ME2
4 years ago
Maybe they're US imports?
Masterful move - even better than the ALR scam.
Carole should seek out Gordo's handlers, offer them more money, and then learn how political strategising is REALLY done.
Jeffrey J.
4 years ago
Praying for Integrity
Steven Point expressed himself with wisdom and compassion. Perhaps, coming from another culture, he can withstand the insidious forces from white, elite society to change his character and sell out. I hope he suceeds in resisting this. Being co-opted is the danger in "joining" the elite. It takes a unique strenght of character to stand firm, as well as having the knowledge of what the elite stand for and do to others. I truly hope he continues to remind his new colleagues of the systemic injustice being inflicted on many of BC's citizens. Great article Tyee.
alive
4 years ago
Me too
A very well written article pointing out how difficult it is to live in this society if you are “different”!
There will always be a “them and us” syndrome, that is human behaviour.
As a young man I decided to leave a well organized society where I fitted in and had a good job, It is called “wanderlust” I believe? No specific reason for me to want to live in Canada, just that it was possible to do so.
I learned fast that anyone who was not born and had lived here (in the white society) all their lives, automatically were looked upon with suspicion.
Some had a bit of tact, others blurted out “DP” immediately assuming that the government had paid my fare as a displaced person.
It was frustrating to have the people I worked with question how I, at such a young age, could possible have earned the credentials to the position I occupied, and many obviously felt I had come here and taken their job right under their noses.
Some of my friends who also suffered this discrimination labeled us “the white Negroes” I think that is self explanatory?
We eventually learned to communicate better in English and as long as the accent was not too thick we managed to assimilate........somewhat.
However, we were also aware that any display of our ethnicity immediately brought back the suspicions of what kind of foreigners we were.
My in-laws liked to mail clothing for our kids, and if we insisted on them wearing it, they were ridiculed at school for looking different.
We never spoke in our mother tongue outside the house, never in any way indicated that we are from a different background in other words we never provoked.
To this day more than fifty years later I am reluctant to open my mouth in groups because my heavy accent immediately indicates that I am not “one of us” and the reaction is obvious!
I write all this to point out that perhaps the natives who hate to be considered natives, could learn a bit from my experience?
You are not going to win this test! The best you can hope for is to blend in and if you behave like everybody else your life will be endurable.
That may be a hard pill to swallow in your own country and all I can say is that in Denmark, the country I left, the “natives/danes” have a similar problem as they are flooded with refugees who act a lot like the Europeans have done in this country.
We are a melting pot, for better or for worse!
It is up to you if you want to adapt or to fight!
Personally I often wonder why I did not use my return ticket when I encountered hostility here, perhaps I wanted to prove that it is possible to assimilate?
Yammer
4 years ago
Dignity and "us"
It's interesting that Mr. Point refers to the First Nations as though they were a unified group prior to their defilement by western colonization. It's ironic that the invasion of the Europeans appears to have retroactively settled their differences.
This is the power of nostalgia. It creates yearning for an age where things were better. And were they better? European contact has certainly harmed First Nations culture and autonomy, but in terms of life expectancy and hardship, I'm not sure today's Indians would swap places with their ancestors. While Mr. Point makes a very good, um, point about the figurative collar, what of the literal collar of the slaving days when the Tlingit would conduct their vicious raids? Where was the dignity there?
The other contention I have with his perspective is the analogy of the man limping the day after his leg is broken. It is not the day after colonization. It has been four centuries.
"We" are a people and an idea, but not actually the same persons who lived and died long ago. Under Mr. Point's perspective, I (as an ethnic Japanese) share responsibility for Pearl Harbor, the rape of Nanking, Unit 731, the slavery of the comfort women, the Bataan Death march, and Pokemon. And that's just from the last 60 years! What else from "our" history binds me in the present?
Answer: nothing.
Stump
4 years ago
living conditions
FYI, on the West Coast at least, life expectancy among the native population was on a par with that of the Europeans who were 'discovering' them. The illusion of savagery and hardship is as much an inaccurate representation as that of noble savages living in harmony with the environment and each other.
Who among us would swap the living conditions for those of our forefathers?
What a terrible comparison.
G West
4 years ago
I wonder how someone who spent their childhood
I wonder how someone who spent their childhood (late 1930s and early to mid 1940s) in a Japanese internment camp on the Chinese mainland would respond to your "clear conscience" Yammer. There's a lot more to the idea of historical cultural baggage than your testimonial acknowledges.
I know several families who did...and it marks them to this day - they tend to look at Japanese Canadians a little differently than I do, by the way. Now I suppose you'd just respond that that is just 'their' problem but I'm not so sure. There is a real tendency in Japan to this day to avoid the implications of the past...that doesn't mean it didn't happen and that the resonances aren't still echoing through the generations. I think you need to rethink your analogy a little more clearly and perhaps recall that there is a good deal of bitterness in First Nations communities that the payoff for Canada's shocking behavior toward Canadian Japanese during the last war came before, long before, there was any real acknowledgment that the people who owned this land had been cheated out of both the land and their culture and traditions.
I think it may be legitimate for someone within a native community to say 'get over it' - I think it's just utterly crass for someone from outside that community to say it.
Just my view...
realisticman
4 years ago
Well said West
Good to see you, finally, quoting Chief Clarence Louie;
Yammer
4 years ago
Getting over it.
GWest, you don't have to tell me about residual disgust for the Japanese. I took martial arts from a Korean school and they kicked my ass extra-hard for my surname.
So, of course I don't expect any group to forget its historical grievances, or members of that group to cheerfully countenance the descendents of their former adversaries.
However, I see no particular benefit in maintaining that attitude, socially and especially politically.
The descendents of the Stolo Nation that was invaded have genetically and culturally interbred with "westerners" (and easterners, for that matter), which in my view renders the claim to being an autonomous racial entity absurd, if not moot. We can either go forward or not, but which ever path we choose as a nation, it will be as a mingled, mixed people.
As for the resentment of Japanese redress: (a) it was a far from universally agreed-upon solution within the Japanese-Canadians, lots of us (or "us") didn't want it and (b) the issue which should be resented is the timing, First Nations grievances being far older in duration. The actual resolution -- apology and payout -- seems highly apt, and vastly preferable to the kind of nation-to-nation treatymaking that is absurd for the reason articulated above.
G West
4 years ago
R'man - and Yammer
As I said, what a particular First Nations leader says is his business.
The implication that Calvin Henin and Chief Louie - for reasons that have much to do with their own 'personal' situation - cut much ice with the rest of the First Nations' population and leaders like Steven Point, Bill Wilson and Phil Fontaine (to name just three obvious examples) is pretty much irrelevant to the actual situation on the ground and in the reserves. As is usual in such things, the fact that there are so few exceptions tends to underline the truth of what Steven Point is saying in his essay above here.
I don't expect too much from you though r’man, coming here as an immigrant doesn't give you the proper perspective nor the depth of experience necessary to appreciate the actual conditions the vast majority of First Nations families have lived and are living in.
I think, Yammer, with all due respect, the same thing probably applies to you. Whether you like it or not, our prosperity is built upon the degradation and marginalization of these people and no honest man can avoid this.
As to the nation-to-nation aspect of this:
It seems to be working quite well in places like Arizona and New Mexico as well as in New Zealand. In the final analysis, as much as you and r'man don't like it, that's the route this country has decided to go and the final decision rests with the FIRST NATIONS. If they decide they must bring the economy of this province (or this country) to a screeching halt to settle this - so be it.
You two may well decide to take up arms against such an eventuality - I know there are lots of members of the European immigrant community who'd like to.
If it ever comes to that, I know where I'll be lining up - and it won't be with my European brethren.
dr evil
4 years ago
Cape Mudge
On the Cape Mudge Quadra Island reserve there is a Federal Museum dedicated to returned previously confiscated potlatch pieces..ceremonial masks etc;
One of these masks really stood out and the image stays with me over these many years now.
The face of the mask was white with a large red nose. The accompanying written explanation told how the mask was of a drunken white man. Further down a quote from one of the village elders " We would be at ceremony in the longhouse, when the door would bang open and in would stumble these drunken white men. These people seem to have trouble with keeping their pants up".
lynn
4 years ago
Positions of Real Power
Steven Point's writing reveals a man of integrity, honesty and strength. I would have wished for him a more deserving position - one that holds real power instead of one that it is designed to serve the mere pretence of it.
Why not Human Rights Commissioner, Ombudsman or Auditor General? And instead of decreasing the funding to these positions as the BCLiberal government has done why not fund these much more powerful positions to the hilt (positions that embrace our human and legal rights, "service to the citizenry" and the principle of "right-to-know")....and allow Mr. Point to bring some real integrity to this government.
Better still appoint Mr. Point as head of the Freedom of Information Department. He seems the perfect person for it...his words echo the principles FOI was established on: "our leaders are expected to serve the people and be there for them."
(But no, once again, what we get is just more evidence of PretendBC (and the premier's ever vain eye on "2010"... and his, er... "legacy")...but then no real surprise here in that the government of Gordon Campbell has raised pretence to an art form...and a cheesy, commercial, privatized, and running-on-empty art form at best.)
And speaking of "collars" and what they do to the human spirit - the corporate policies of the BCLiberals have tied more identifying "collars" around the necks of vulnerable citizens in this province than any other government in our history.
Still, I wish Mr. Point well. Hopefully, he will employ some real imagination and innovation to overcome the restrictions of of this powerless position. I also wish him "cunning" - he will need it.
Life... I guess, is at heart, a series of choices:
As James Joyce expressed through the words of the character of Stephen Dedalus in "The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man":
"I will not serve that in which I do not believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can..."
While greedy corporations and those who represent their interests continue to dictate the day - "I will not serve" seems a very good idea....for all of us.
Umslopogaas
4 years ago
The Irish Band
The Irish were treated in a similar way for generations and have only recently have managed to re-embrace their own roots and their own culture and regain their pride as a people.
They did this by embracing education and making it a priority for their people. Now Ireland has an economy that is the envy of Europe and a Gaelic Cultural Revival that has made Irish People all over the world proud of their heritage.
Politics aside, any people that learn to read and think for themselves and value education for their children cannot be held back. No one can can give you your dignity you have to take it one page at a time.
James Burns
4 years ago
Comparing Potatoes to oranges
"They did this by embracing education and making it a priority for their people."
They also got an enormous amount of money from the EU, as well as very favorable trading status into that market. The Irish also own most of their land, and they aren't huddled into little reserves.
IAMC
4 years ago
It's so easy
It's so easy for our Premier, and the like, to placate the existing situations, on whatever matter demanding resolve, to the next bunch of gutless politicians to sort out.
With regard to settling land claims, and settling treaties it will take us 450 years to complete.
There is no end game here.
It's just a constant guilt trip we will have to endure for generations.
This is not fair.
I suggest enacting the notwithstanding provision provided in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to suspend all existing Supreme Court interpretations regarding Aboriginal Rights ( of which they have none anyway ) and having Parliament appoint a Truth and Reconciliation Council, like they did in South Africa, with the goal of seeking a permanent, fair integration of our second nation peoples into a contract with the First Nation peoples, that would bring about one class of citizens, equal under the law to have all the rights and freedoms , without of exception whatsoever,
no superior race, no special rights to make up for past transgressions, a final solution, an end to this all.
An end to the endless guilt trip.
A binding vote in Parliament, that would put an end to this misery forever.
I don't expect any takers.
I already know that the money and power that is at stake, will not allow gutless politicians to enter this, nor do I expect any of you to speak out.
We are free, you know.
We can speak.
We have the right to free speech.
We have a vote.
We have a say.
Say it!
dirk
4 years ago
Point said "When I look at
Point said "When I look at young Aboriginal people in the street today and talk to them, I find they don't even know what is wrong with them. "...
I have many First Nations friends going back a couple decades.And one thing I can say the majority of youth I know are proud of who they are Many seem to understand quite well,that looking to the Band Council or AFN for leadership is futile.
They understand that these entities get legitimacy and power from the Indian Act( racist piece of trash),not from the grassroots
These entities are beholding to the government,(bought & payed)
Mr Point said.."Many of our Aboriginal people do not want to use the system, ...
Well the system doesn't work and is stacked against First Nations.Government use the courts to confuse and stall.
Indigenous peoples know voting courts are not going to get them any where,never have.
God knows FN peoples have spent enough time attempting to do exactly that.
Things only change,when FN peoples stand up using their own traditions and strategies.
Again change will only come when FN use their own traditions and governance models.
Widespread rejection of Band Councils by many many FN peoples proves as much.These orgs are co-opted by corruption,nepotism and inaction
Now perhaps I am "naive"but I have yet to figure out how adopting or giving legitimacy,to settler law/governance is going to change anything
Mr Point said..."We have both paid too much attention to the differences between us, and I want to see that change.
Excuse me ,but it seems to me everything is the result of settlers screwing over First Nations and trying to force assimilation on First Nation.
When FN take actions in their own defense they are met with racism double standards.From the government the police and the media
In fact the same government that appointed you to your job have done nothing but show disrespect for First Nations
The same system you represent is itself responsible for much injustice oppression
Whatever change has come to date is due to the actions of Indigenous peoples themselves
That you would accept a position from the very government which rejected the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,is just ?.
The Gov rejected your rights as FN Your rights are trumped by the rights of settlers.What does this to do with Human Rights or democracy for that matter.
Now you are giving legitimacy to that same government??
G West
4 years ago
Ron
We've been through this before.
You don't understand the notwithstanding clause, the Charter, or the way the courts work.
How many times must it be explained to you?
As an aside, did you hear about Fred Dunn's report from Alberta today? About the $1 billion/year that your buddy Klein left on the table for the oil companies since at least 2004?
Maybe we could use some of that wasted money to solve the problems of Alberta's First Nations people - especially the ones being harmed by the tar sands.
Deal?
IAMC
4 years ago
one billion dollars each
If Garth can get FN to accept one billion dollars each, to get rid of this endless guilt trip that some of us have for not preventing endless generations of Canadians from the consequences of the British not soundly conquering the Indians, rather than negotiating useless treaties, that we will have to live with for 450 years, I will bow down to him or her ( it).
Until then, please at least you acknowledge that we are in a hopeless, stupid, death by a thousand cuts situation, that you may enjoy, but I dare say most of all of us don't.
G West
4 years ago
Obviously I don't agree
What the people who are being poisoned by the Tar Sands operations need is for your famous Albertans to stop dumping crap in their water Ron.
That would be a start.
I'm glad you feel guilty though - that's at least a start.
IAMC
4 years ago
Guilt
Are we not all innocent until proven guilty?
Apparently not in Canada.
I don't know what to name non Aboriginals.
To say us, Canadian, regular, white, normal, caucasian, what are we, them , you, us?
Language is supposed to be clear.
Why is this debate so unclear?
I still say we have to unite into an agreement, even if it kills us, you, them,
or whoever.
I am not supposed to be guilty of absolutely heinous crimes against another race, when I am going on record as willing to support extraordinary methods to achieve equality in Canada.
G West
4 years ago
This is what you wrote Ron, remember?
...to get rid of this endless guilt trip that some of us have...
And since you're prepared to pay billions to get rid of that guilt I'd have to say it's pretty serious....(your words, not mine Ron)
This debate isn't unclear at all Ron - it's really quite simple.
Actions have consequences...that's about it.
Stump
4 years ago
poor poor IAMC
I didn't realize you were a First Nations person.
Oh wait. You meant non-natives. Oh yeah, we're really oppressed. Poor whiteys
gimme a break.
dorothy
4 years ago
but, but...
"While greedy corporations and those who represent their interests continue to dictate the day - "I will not serve" seems a very good idea....for all of us."
However, how is their dominance of the picture ever going to change, if we all go into our corners and sulk? Must we not take up our perhces, get down and dirty, albeit surreptitiously, and sneak in our own influence where we can? I believe the only weapon that work is the subcutaneous, you know, the one you jab in, while smiling and saying 'this won't hurt a bit'. Would be a neat turning of the tables, too. As in 'two parties can play that game'...
No, really, the trick is to go with the flow, where this does not hamper your true objective: to save this planet's corrupt, shortsighted main ape from itself, despite its kicking and screaming and resisting. You are dealing with the 800-pounder - confrontation will not be wise. I believe Mr. Point's choice is very much 'to the point'. Here's my wishing him all possible success and a keen memory on his objective. We are looking at you! A lot of palefaces don't get any respect around here either...
kootcoot
4 years ago
Let's Play Pretend
I'm gonna nominate Yammer for the IAMC/robin/r'man designated nonsense spewer of the day, maybe. At least he includes in the following statement "I'm not sure," which at least demonstrates some honesty or nascent understanding.
Aside from the fact that most ethnic English would most likely rather live today than under the threat of Viking attack or Black Plague and few would choose to grow up in Charles Dickens London, unless they were of the elite. I think many First Nations people would be better off in life expectancy AND hardship before contact.
I myself though of European stock, was born on the West Coast of this Continent, but somewhat to the south and if I had a chance to be born again, in the same place only sometime before the Spanish came to turn the locals into slave labor and converts to Catholicism I would snap it up in a hot second.
The local tribe where I was born were so spoiled by the ease of their life style, plenty of easy to access high quality food and benevolent climate that they wound up being wiped out by the Spanish and their disease and explotation in a very short time. Indeed by the time other Europeans had more or less run out the Spanish, nobody really could even say much about the original inhabitants, they disappeared almost un-noticed and little is known about them to this day, except that the Spanish Occupation didn't really agree with them.
And Yammer, if you were surprised about the Koreans being "not nice" to you in martial arts class, then you haven't been paying much attention. I'm Scottish and we tend to be somewhat displeased with the English, for the same reasons - centuries of abuse and exploitation. BTW, yammer, don't call somebody from Georgia a Yankee, unless you really did well in your martial arts classes - why? Well do I need to repeat myself.
lynn
4 years ago
On the Rocks
I understand your point, Dorothy. I think I could have expressed it better, if I worded it , "when greedy corporations and those who represent their interests come a-calling, and continue to dictate the day - "I will not serve" seems a very good idea....for all of us." Other than that I'm not changing my stance. I believe in total non-participation with these bastards.
Someone.... somewhere.... somehow needs to stand up and say, out loud, with BOOMING VOICE;
"I will no longer participate or cooperate at any level with the subterfuge that is selling out this province, First Nations.... and this country. I want no part of it."
As I wrote above I wish Stephen Point well - I wish him imagination, innovation , cunning and courage - he will need all those qualities in order to not become one of the many that has been co-opted by the corporate pirates who now steer our provincial and federal pilothouses and who have set this province.... and this country.... and all of its people on a disastrous course.
lynn
4 years ago
just to add.....
just to add... "to not participate" with traitorous bastards does not imply you "go in your corner and sulk".
kootcoot
4 years ago
Serendipity?
Lynn, you perhaps accidentally or maybe on purpose chose to use an appropriate word with:
Anyone who has followed the Basi/Virk excuse for a trial knows what I mean!
For those who found value in Judge Point's comments above and would like to educate themselves about these issues instead of merely regurgitating reich-wing, Fraser Institute and frankly racist cant a short and easy to understand article can be found here:
The Real Reason People Fear Evo Morales
The "money shot" of the article may be when the author says:
They fear him not only because he is indigenous, not only because he is a leftist in the presidential palace with a massive base of support across the entire insurgent continent; they fear him because his public and private persona, his gentle charisma and ethical approach forces them -- and us -- to look at the long history of violence and hate buried in our individual and collective subconscious, our top-down notions of political -- and personal -- modernity. He forces us all to look at the inner Conquistador -- and the inner Indio.
We are ill-prepared to deal with someone who can say without blinking, "I think that indigenous people are the moral reserve of humanity."[/quote]
/my bolding
lynn
4 years ago
Just more PretendBC PR
..btw, extremely good piece by dirk, asking some really good questions:
Mike deJong, who is BCLiberal House Leader and also Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation refused to allow any meaningful debate in the BC legislature on this UN declaration. Yes, silence all round by the BC Liberals. (And no surprise federally either, Harper voted against it at the UN).
lynn
4 years ago
Hi kootcoot
Hi kootcoot, there are no accidents. ;-)
Your "House of Infamy" site is a great site by the way, well worth visiting.
Yammer
4 years ago
Ooh, tough guy
"You two may well decide to take up arms against such an eventuality - I know there are lots of members of the European immigrant community who'd like to.
If it ever comes to that, I know where I'll be lining up - and it won't be with my European brethren."
LOL. Gwest fantasizes that he will be the brave freedom fighter! Do you have your black bandana picked out yet? You should put in on and practice making your "intense noble warrior" face in the mirror.
G West
4 years ago
for anyone who didn't see
Evo Morales on the Daily Show, it is well worth watching, here:
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=103275&ml_collection=&ml_gateway=&ml_gateway_id=&ml_comedian=&ml_runtime=&ml_context=show&ml_origin_url=/shows/the_daily_show/videos/most_recent/index.jhtml%3Fstart%3D16&ml_playlist=&lnk=&is_large=true
Morales says that we all have rights, not just professionals and intellectuals - other people, including working people and people with other kinds of experiences, including indigenous peoples, can become president and accomplish change – at least in Bolivia.
Stewart says it's rigged - it doesn't work that way in America.
Morales replies: 'Then it's time to change that.'
Anyway, have a look.
G West
4 years ago
I dunno yammer, it's funny but
I sense a fair bit of anger under that 'I'm so cool' carapace of yours - I think there are lots of my fellow Canadians who actually wish our fathers and grandfathers had done a better job of 'dealing' with these pesky natives...
As a matter of fact I heard a lot of that kind of talk a few summers ago right here in BC and a few summers before that at Oka not to forget of course the classic from Mike Harris: “Get those fucking Indians out of the park.”
Perhaps you're a little too young to remember that.
I'll skip the black bandana though - not really my colour
dorothy
4 years ago
assimilation - hello!
Alive wrote:
"Personally I often wonder why I did not use my return ticket when I encountered hostility here, perhaps I wanted to prove that it is possible to assimilate?"
Why on Earth assimilate? The folks here are running in our direction! When I came here thirty-odd years back, you couldn't get a decent goose down quilt, asbestos wasn't banned, and light a live candle, and you had branded yourself as a devil-child, who were set to burn down the house.
Well, I still haven't seen a slide barette that works, but they got a constitution now, and some of them are reading it. We're going places and becoming more and more 'Dannede'. Just be patient.
Taler du Dansk, mand?
dorothy
4 years ago
Crossing boundaries and upsetting the applecart
No, seriously – let us just agree that disrespect really doesn’t have a brand name, but runs across all borders. When I was handing out lunch-bags over the counter somewhere on the Island many years ago, I was impressed not only with the lightning-fast computations of my indigenous customers, young and old (catholic imposition notwithstanding – some of these people had gotten far better education than my kinds ever had in the big city!), but also with their refraining from ‘taking it out’ on a young, scared whitey who had obviously arrived very recently. I was treated with every bit as much respect as if I had been one of them.
Conversely, I am sad to say, later as maid in a hotel, I went every day and procured the free drink for an indigenous colleague,along with my own drink from the hotel parlor, for else she would not get it, as she were loath to suffer the remarks and veiled threats from – yes - drunken white men.
But I also want my esteemed fellow posters to understand, that you don’t ‘have it all’, just because you’re white. You also have to be fair-haired and blue-eyed. Some have suggested that I don’t know what racism is, because I have my ‘caucasian looks’ in the bag. Hee, hee. I don’t think those class-mates of mine who spent years dissing my ‘mean eyes’ knew that. In accord with viking genetics, our children were very fair when small, and going darker later, in varying degrees. But only some of them were blue-eyed. I vividly remember an elderly gentleman (jerk?) at a fast food outlet, clad in tropical linens and black topboots and carrying a cane – you get the picture – walking up and inspecting my offspring and observing that there was a non-nordic note, and I was clearly the culprit. That really made my day!
Then there is the whole cultural thing. I mean what I say and say what I mean. I was brought up to do so. Ironically, I believe Canada needs people right now, who have the courage of their convictions, but for many years, I was a good deal ostracized due to the impossibility of putting one over on me and bullying me into keeping silent. I have also been the unwilling stepping-stone for better bootlickers in the belief that I was, or ought to be, working in a cooperative setting. Until I decided to make it co-operative. Yes, one person can make a difference, provided he/she dares to run the risk of moving out on a thin branch now and then, or making a major ass of themselves. Which is why I say hats off and bottoms up to Mr. Point. May he make a difference where others have not!
Brenda L Norris
4 years ago
Excellent Article
Mr. Point
Well done and congratulations on your new "job". I know from reading this article that you will do much to educate not only British Columbians but the rest of Canada on who Aboriginal people are. I think that BC and Canada are ready for it. We human beings are all similar in one way, ...we want to be accepted.