This Canada Day feels very different for me. I'm certainly still celebrating, but this year I celebrate the contributions and culture of the Indigenous peoples here like never before. And of course I grieve with them for the discovery of what they knew all along, those unmarked graves around residential schools (or were they indoctrination centres?). What school needs a cemetery?
Still I'm celebrating. I celebrate because I've seen a tiny slice of the rich culture Indigenous peoples have contributed to this country. Those enormous totem poles at the Royal Ontario Museum that I saw as a child of perhaps 8 still stick in my mind, as well as other west coast art that we've seen since.
It has been quite different this year.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, and celebrate Canada Day from south of the border! I wish I could get there, but it's still closed (the border, that is).
ReplyDeleteI usually have a huge flag out but I will save it for another year.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a good Canada Day.
ReplyDeleteHappy Canada Day to you too. We have much to learn and much to do when it comes to relations with aboriginals. Many knew where their relatives were but they did not have specific spot.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I hope yours went well too however you spent it.
ReplyDeleteIt was a day of mixed feelings for sure.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are right about the future, FG.
ReplyDeleteI have never been a big celebrator of the national holiday (I liked Dominion Day much better as a name for it). Too much flag waving and prideful breast-thumping quickly leads to jingoism and xenophobia it seems to me. Just cast your eyes south of the border. So you would never have seen flags waving at my house, but this year people seem to be heeding the message of the residential school horrors. On my whole street only two houses had flags out front. One house had three and the other a tasteless battery of flags of every size, and little things that whirled around in the wind. If there was a space on their lawn they filled it, and every planter was bedecked. It verged on obscene to tell you the truth, both as a display and in the context of the times.
ReplyDeleteIt's been quite a year. We need to listen to people. Hear their stories.
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Canada Day! My hope is that we continue to learn from the past and take the appropriate steps to ensure all Canadians have the respect they deserve and opportunities to be all they can be.
ReplyDelete