Oh Canada, Our Home ON Native Land
Like many Canadians right now I find myself struggling to navigate between feelings of deep appreciation for a country that has enriched my life and the lives of so many people I know, while also acknowledging and honouring the deep pain and injustices that have been inflicted on the Indigineous people of this land.
As an immigrant to Canada (my parents immigrated here from Portugal when I was 2 ½ ) I had the privilege of growing up in a culturally rich and diverse community in downtown Toronto.
My classmates included kids who were Italian, Maltese, Philippino and Ethiopian. Most of us were first and second generation immigrants. We saw ourselves through the lens of a hyphenated identity: Portuguese-Canadian, Maltese-Canadian, Chinese-Canadian and so on.
We took pride in being part of the ingredients that make up Canada’s cultural “tossed salad.”
Unlike the US where immigrants are encouraged to leave behind their cultural identity to join the US ‘melting pot”; in Canada immigrants have long been encouraged to keep their distinct culture as part of what makes up our cultural mosaic.
I have always identified as a Portuguese-Canadian. I grew up speaking Portuguese at home and was brought up with many of the cultural traditions, foods and customs that are part of my Portuguese heritage.
My dad made wine in the backyard, my mom has 100 different recipes for codfish and I grew up listening to portuguese music on the radio. We spent many of our summer vacations in Portugal visiting my grandparents, cousins and extended family.
I am grateful for these rich experiences. They form a core part of my identity today. In fact, I can’t imagine who I’d be without them.
And yet the same structures that have made it possible for me to deepen my connection to my heritage have simultaneously robbed Indigeneous people of this very same opportunity.
The Indigeneous people of this country have been stripped of their language, their culture, their traditions and their right to exist on the very land that is their birthright .
While as immigrants we have been encouraged to uphold our traditions, language and culture, Indigeneous people have systematically been denied the right to live in accordance with their own values, rituals and traditions.
When I was in elementary school we were given 20-mins of heritage language instruction every day. This was part of the Ontario Heritage Language Program (HLP) that was introduced in 1977 (now known as the International Language Program).
HLP was first created to provide classes in the languages and cultures of the minority language children for the purposes of promoting a sense of self-esteem and a fuller understanding of respective cultural backgrounds.
So at the same time that my Italian classmates were being encouraged to learn Italian to preserve their heritage language, Canada’s Residential Schools were operating with the expressed mission to “denigrate and suppress Aboriginal languages and cultures.”
According to the Summary of the Final Report of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC):
Government officials were insistent that (Indigeneous) children be discouraged—and often prohibited—from speaking their own languages.
These measures were part of a coherent policy to eliminate Aboriginal people as distinct peoples and to assimilate them into the Canadian mainstream against their will.
The Canadian government pursued this policy of cultural genocide because it wished to divest itself of its legal and financial obligations to Aboriginal people and gain control over their land and resources.
So while the rest of us were taught to acknowledge and celebrate our cultural identities, Indigineous people were deprived of this same basic human right.
This cultural genocide has not only had devastating effects on the Indigineous peoples, it has impovershied our nation and world as a whole.
Indigineous culture is rich with traditions, rituals, ceremony, artifacts, stories, art and a reverence for Mother Nature that is so desperately needed in the world right now.
While we can’t undo the past we can start by taking deliberate steps towards reconciliation.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, reconciliation is defined as an ongoing process of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships... Reconciliation cannot occur without listening, contemplation, meditation, and deeper internal deliberation.
The TRC report goes on to say:
Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation; we must learn how to practise reconciliation in our everyday lives—within ourselves and our families, and in our communities, governments, places of worship, schools, and workplaces. To do so constructively, Canadians must remain committed to the ongoing work of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.
For me this starts with the very simple act of acknowledging that the land that I live and work on is the the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
This is the first step in a journey to reconciliation that is long overdue.
Some of the other actions I commit to taking include:
Reading the full summary of TRC report (published in 2015)
Familiarizing myself with the 94 Calls to Action and hold my government officials accountable to the implementation of these findings
Continuing to expand my knowledge, appreciation and understanding of Indigeneous art, culture, language and traditions.
Because it is only through this process of reconciliation that we as Canadians can truthfully claim our place as a prosperous, just, and inclusive democracy we believe ourselves to be.