‘Time To Ditch The Guilt’

For all Canadians who are carrying around guilt about what their ancestors — and not themselves personally — did to the Aboriginal peoples, please read this and then just let the guilt wash away: 

“It was not a contest between Indian cultures and European civilization, but rather one between Indian cultures and all the civilizations of the Old World taken together. Because the peoples of Europe, Asia and Africa had been in contact with each other for millennia, European civilization had incorporated within itself the advances of other civilizations past and present, including Babylonian astronomy, Jewish monotheism, Greek philosophy, Roman law, Indian mathematics (the decimal system), and Chinese technology (printing, gunpowder, the compass). 

‘Creating A Legend: The Orange Shirt’

It’s understandable that a child would be upset by having to trade in a favourite piece of clothing for a school uniform, but it was the same for all children — not just aboriginal — at religious schools. What isn’t understandable is that she would still be holding a grievance all these years later. This is where counselling comes in… 

“‘Orange Shirt Day’ began in Williams Lake in 2013 and has since spread to schools across B.C. and Canada. ‘Orange Shirt Day’ (September 30th) is a day when we honour the ‘Indigenous’ {sic, ‘Aboriginal’} children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada and learn more about the history of those schools. 

‘Decolonizing Another Campus’

The structural racism that segregated aboriginals in the 1867 BNA Act continues to be practiced by Canadian institutions – and they still think that ‘It’s for their own good’. Now, aboriginal racial nationalists also agree. Why can’t students of aboriginal heritage be regarded — and treated — as unique individuals rather than as members of a racial collective?

“On March 6, 2018, Acadia University President Dr. Peter Ricketts released Acadia’s ‘decolonization’ strategy, opening new doors for ‘indigenous’ students and scholars and new opportunities for collaboration with neigbouring Mi’kmaq communities and their leaders.