Hi Friends
Today is Canada day,. and as is the case, with some holidays here in this country, there is both positive and negative reasons connected to the acknowledgement of the day for me.
I am from both sides of this coin. This is the usual circumstance for any one of mixed heritage I suspect.
If not for the colonization of this country I would not be here. If not for the abusive nature of the English Crown towards both sides of my parents heritages, their story that would not have happened.
The sad story of an *unabated* attempted genocide of my mothers people, as well as the merciless treatment of my father's ancestors, is all, within the interwoven fabric of this country, and its holidays.
As my mothers daughter I am anguished at the treatment of the Indigenous people from contact onward. These same colonizers, were also responsible for the indentured servitude of my father's father. My mother was an Indigenous woman, and my father's side of the family were what were known as *Home Children* or more correctly, impoverished orphans rounded up and sent out of England, to the colonies as indentured servants.
This would make you think that I should hold no fond feelings for this day. This could not be further from the truth. I have traveled the entire breadth of this country, and have been witness to many hopeful struggles of both the Indigenous peoples, as well as newly immigrated Canadians.
I have also seen the majesty and rugged beauty of all of this country has to offer, and this is what I celebrate on Canada Day...not the politics or the political past but the hopeful imagined future we could all share in, in the beauteous surroundings we all have access to.
Happy Canada Day
regards Debra
Friday, July 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)